Well, it's been a while since I've had time to write. I'll keep this short because I'm pooped and want to get to bed. Anyway, yesterday I was at work. In case you didn't know I work on an oil drilling rig site. I'm a mudlogger so I get rocks samples to analyze for oil. I have a trailer off to one side of the rig. Oil rigs can be dangerous if someone gets careless, so I try and stay as safe as I can. Though, if a rig blew up I'd be a greasy spot on the ground; I'm that close. Here's a picture of the rig from the window of my trailer.



Anyway, yesterday was interesting. Work was going fine, it was a pretty relaxing day. We were only drilling 20 - 25 ft/hr. So, I only had to go out and get a sample every half hour. In between getting samples and logging them, I spent most of my time reading. Actually, I finished The Lord of Chaos and it was amazing. I can't wait to start A Crown of Swords. Anyway, in the early evening, probably 5pm or so, I went out to get a sample. I got back to my trailer and began to rinse my sample off when suddenly the trailer shook with a loud BOOM, then the front where the hitch is dropped causing a bunch of stuff to fall over. I didn't fall, but I was close. I think my heart stopped when that happened. I ran out the door and didn't see anything. So, I walked to the front of the trailer and found two roughnecks and a forklift. One of them ran into my trailer with a forklift! It bent whatever metal thing was supporting the trailer, that's what caused the trailer to fall. I thought the rig had blown up or something flew off and hit my trailer. I was lightheaded walking outside because I was so scared. LoL They used the forklift to lift the trailer back up and left it there until the roughneck responsible could fix it the next day. I told my supervisor about it and he was going to come out and inspect the damage.

So, yeah... how do you hit a 30 ft trailer in broad daylight? The roughneck, we'll call him Bob for privacy's sake, that hit the trailer is nice. He has does seem to have a problem though. He's so eager to outdo everyone else that he rushes things and doesn't pay attention. I've talked to him and some of the comments he's made really makes him sound full of himself. Like, they brought some things to support the trailer so they could use the forklift. When they were done he pushed on the trailer to make sure it was stable and wouldn't fall when I went back inside. He came over to me and said something to the effect of, "It will be ok, I'm like really strong so..." I almost laughed in his face. I know that's mean, but what a pompous thing to say. Another time he was telling me how he does all the work and all the other guys do is clean. Well, Bob, I heard you got demoted from Derrick Hand because you couldn't pull the stands back into the rack. Ahem. He also told me he didn't like working with the driller because of a personality conflicts. That could be true, but he seems like he's always putting himself on a pedestal a little higher than everyone else.

While I'm on the subject of roughnecks... there's a new crew on this rig and I don't like any of them. Two guys in particular. One guy knocks on my door every night asking for pain medication. The last time I must have looked uber-pissed because he scurried off without trying to talk like he always does. The other one scares me. I learned this morning that he just got out of prison. The dude is missing four front teeth and always reeks of alcohol. A couple days ago I was up in the doghouse getting info for my morning report and he was up there. He asked me how much money I made and I said something like $250 a day. He said something similar to, "You're pretty well off then. How about for $20 a day I'll catch all your samples for you?" I told him no and he kept insisting. What a loser. Before I go forward I'm going to rewind a bit. The pits (up where I get my samples) have metal grates over them. Well, right next to the shaker where I actually scoop my sample out of there is no grate over the pits. There's a metal beam that I usually put one foot on. Well, a few days ago that beam was wet and muddy. The company man and pretty much all the roughnecks were up on the pits. Well, when I put my foot on the beam it slipped and I fell halfway into the pits. I banged my knee on the way down and pulled a muscle in my shoulder because I had grabbed something while falling and my arm twisted or something. It was really embarrassing.

Moving on, last night I was out by the shaker getting a sample and Mr. No Teeth Inmate was up there. As I was walking to the stairs to go back to my trailer he said something about the pits, but I couldn't hear him that well. So, I'm like what? And he says that he heard I fell into the pits. Well, that didn't make me very happy that it had gotten around like that so I say something like "I slipped". Then, he asks me, "How old are you?" and I tell him 22. He has the audacity to say, "And you've been walking how long?" I just stared then walked away. I think he was trying to be funny, but that was rude. So, I don't like the guy.

Alright, I've got to end this here. I need to get up early for work. If it's slow tomorrow, I'll work on a detailed blog containing the rest of what I wanted to say.

Ciao!