All good things must come to an end...

Today was the last day of lab. It was a crazy lab day. We had a million tests to run and most of them on some kind of rush. We had to run "mud push" tests all day long-- the spacer I mentioned before is kind of a guessing game and it's important to get it right. It's what gets pumped in front of the cement to clean out the drilling mud (mud and cement get along about as well as the Capulets and the Montagues). It has to have all the right rheology numbers AND be compatible with the mud. The compatibility test is where you see if you need to redesign your spacer. This particular job's spacer was redesigned 8 times before we left (all night they worked on it) and it still wasn't quite right. Lost of good smart people working to try and tweak the recipe to come up with something that was up to standard.

In the mean time we interns helped run rheologies on the cement samples from the bulk plant (special shoutout to Dr. Wang who taught me about viscosity...the focus of my time in the lab), did "dishes" and helped clean up the lab. Mark (who sounds like my cousin Bobby) is super nice and told us we were really helpful. I informed him that my number one priority was not to get in the way and my number two priority was to try and contribute something useful. Apparently it worked. We also met Marcus and Obaid today. They also work in the lab but they were off this weekend. Marcus is ornery but lots of fun. I'm a little sad we didn't get to work with them more. I plan to try to make it back to the lab if possible.

As I said, all good things must end, and tomorrow we go to the bulk plant. Nick has been staying there until 10 or 11 each night so I'm not super excited about it. The good news is that we're girls and apparently they've been waiting for us since they heard they were getting interns at Conway (which explains why I feel like I'm wearing a funny hat or have something hanging out of my nose every time I walk the hall or out in the yard) and so they MAY go a tad bit easier on us. Also I plan to do what I'm told and do it with a smile so they don't feel the need to be rough on me. It's these thoughts (lies?) that keep me optimistic about the next three days. That and the fact that I requested my weekend off to be this weekend for the 4th of July. I don't know what I'll do with it yet but I want to travel up north either to visit people in Fayetteville or maybe as far as KC (depending on what people are doing and if I think I can really pull off the trip). Over the next three days, I may be AWOL (I could be working late and pass out the second I crawl out of the shower) but don't fear for me. I'm probably still alive.

LabLabLab

Another day in the lab. Today we ran more rheology tests--this time solo (more or less)--and did more "dishes." We also learned a little about separators and their makeup and purpose and what they test them for. We were also introduced to oil based mud. It's nasty stuff. We also played with gelled water (I forget what exactly it's called) and it looks and feels like snot. It's pretty neat stuff.

Mark, the lab tech, is super nice and let us leave at 4 today so I could go to mass in Little Rock. Since it was my first trip to Little Rock I took Anjelica with me. After mass we went on a little adventure based on our tour guide books to find food. A lot of stuff is closed on Sundays in Arkansas but we found a tasty place called Rumba down near the River Market. Delish! Also, if you've never been before, Little Rock is really pretty. We probably took the long route both to and from but it was worth it.

Tomorrow is our last day in the lab (officially) and then we get to go be slaves of the bulk plant. It's hard manual labor in the sun. I'm hoping that I can find time to apply adequate sunscreen so I don't turn into a lobster (and later a dalmatian).

Cement testing and gelling water...

Today was our first day in the lab. What does a oil extraction services provider do with a lab you ask? They design and test cement mixes as well as frack job fluids. They do this all in the comfort of an air-conditioned trailer. Needless to say, I like the lab. We got to run rheology tests for cement mixtures that were going out on jobs and we also got to help test a water to gel mix and the corresponding breaker. I'm probably not using all the right terms here but who'll check me on it? After lunch we also watched the USA soccer match on Mark's phone while he mixed test slurry. He's into soccer so it was fun to talk to him about it. Lunch was amazing by the way; La Fuerta (sp?) is the Conway version of La Fiesta. So tasty!

We'll spend a couple more days in the lab before we move out to the bulk plant where Nick has been working and sweating is (you know) off. You haul, open and mix bags of cement and additives to make the mixtures designed and tested by Mark in the lab. It will be heavy manual labor in the sun and humidity so I'm trying to soak up the AC while I got it.

As for last night's festivities at Chris's (who had a birthday yesterday), it was fun. The nice thing about working here is that everyone's really friendly and they like to hang out with each other...probably because their schedules don't really promote out of company friends...but I digress. They invited us lowly interns on the spot and they were happy to have us. It was good times!

Oh I'd also like to add a note about the effects of the gulf incident (sorry I haven't done more of this, Bre, but I don't know what to tell you):

The company will likely cut their recruiting efforts drastically for the coming year because their policy is not to fire people if the need in their district wanes (or is eliminated by other means) but to relocate them to where they are needed. All the displaced workers are going to be filling the positions that open up around other parts of the country and so they won't need to hire new greenhorns for those positions. This has been the first few days since starting work that I haven't heard something about BP or the oil spill or "the situation in the gulf." It's a hot topic.

Mom, I know I just told you all of this but now it's properly documented in case you forget about it. It was good to talk to you tonight!

Stay tuned for the next installment of Intern Sam and the Oilfield Diaries.