Windy City Love Song

So when I last left you, dear reader (Mom), we were on our way to Gino's East. It was amazing. After Gino's, Taberie, myself, and the boys went to go find Coyote Ugly. Bad news is, it's been closed for at least a year. Good news is, it was located right next to a couple other clubs. People, my lady bits were far too covered for me to have been there (in my Sperry's and Cardigan to boot!) and paying $9 for a drink just made it all the more... uh... special. Let's go with that.

Friday we spent most of our day at the trade show. Good times. It was a lot of walking and my normally comfy dress shoes wore a blister in my heel. Irritating. Saw lots of neat stuff (mostly reruns from last time but still worth looking at) and had fun running around with the other K-Staters. After we finished up there we headed down to the US Cellular Stadium for a Sox game. We didn't get to see a win but it was lots of fun and we got a free hat for 1/2 way to St. Patty's day (I love that Chicago celebrates 1/2 St. Patty's day). After the game we grabbed some beverages from the 7 Eleven across from the hotel and just enjoyed our own cheap company for the evening.

This morning we got up and headed up north to Murphy's Bleachers to watch the ISU game with the other K-Staters living in Chicago. It was a great time and as always we ate too much. It was a long ride home on the El (I have no idea how I'm supposed to spell that but whatever... it's short for elevated I think) feeling so stuffed but after a win for the Cats (again!) I can't complain. After we got back we took a long scenic (we stopped in Millennium Park!) walk over to the Sears (Ok Willis but no one calls it that) Tower to see the view. We got to stand in the new glass boxes that hang over the edge and take artsy pictures of each other and the Chicago skyline. Good times. Afterward we went to go stuff ourselves at Hackney's and we ended dinner by deciding to walk back home after all (we needed the exercise bad) and we got to see the crazy sculpture that looks like a baboon. I'll put up a picture later...

Tomorrow we depart at 10 to head back home. The highlight will likely be the World's Largest Truck Stop in Iowa. I missed it on the way up in favor of not getting out because I was sleeping. Judge me if you want but those 3 hours brought me to almost 8 and I survived the rest of the day because of it! It's gonna be a long day.

Pictures of the trip will get put up...when they get put up. This week SIM is due so it may be ill advised to hold your breath. It'll happen though.

Rooooaaaaadtriiiiiiiiiiip!

So Saturday was essentially all driving. Conway to Little Rock airport to Houston. It was just a long day on the road. I got to Houston about 5 (yea I didn't get lost or anything--miracle!) or so and was immediately greeted by my homegirl, Jennifer. Missed the crap outta that girl fo realz. We spent the rest of that evening on various shenanigans including, red wine + peach schnapps (which is DELICIOUS and DEADLY), dinner at Alexander the Great (a Greek place around the corner--I had braised lamb shank and it was delightful!), a run to Walgreens for CHEAP wine (we only had that one bottle which was NOT sufficient to meed the needs of all of us, let alone the new wine fetish of Julia and Jen), and drinking said cheap wine while we lounged around in Jen and Julia's room listening to some choice tunes. Those in attendance included Jen and Julia (obviously), Maria, Anjelica, Aislinn, myself, AAAAAND.... Donnald! That's right, the man we all know and love, the pimp the men envy, the one and only Rap Master D! Also known as D Money, he is so fly he can get his nails painted pink and have no one even dare THINK of revoking his man card (lest he shame them to their core with his lyrical stylings). It was a great night.

Today we spent the whole day at a race track. Not the ponies but go karts! It was a long day because there were so many (70) of us but it was a good time. We got there at approximately noon and the final race wasn't until 6 (a whole 5 hours after we began... we had to "warm up" and then qualify...intense!) so we didn't leave until... something like 8ish. Woof. When we finally made it back to the Double Tree we ate some of the tastiest pizza ever and then we all pretty much dispersed to go either to bed or to work on our presentations (don't worry I'm done). It was just a fun day but I'm wiped, however my devotion to you dear readers has kept me up long enough to do some behind the scenes reporting. You're welcome.

Tomorrow: presentations and then one of our infamous dinners on the company tab. I'm hoping my liver can handle it...it's kinda out of practice after this very lame summer. I'll let you know how it goes... eventually.

In unrelated news I finished my first recreational book in ages. State of Fear by the almighty Michael Crichton. Very good. Thought provoking. I recommend it.

And finally we'll wrap up tonight with the usual countdown:

Houston: NOW!!!

Manhattan: 4 days!!!

SFKS: ONE week!!! (MOM IT'S SO CLOSE!)

Goodnight and good luck.

Coil tubing is not for the faint of heart.

We went to our coil tubing job yesterday (the yard at 4 the site at 7) and spent five and a half hours rigging up. It wasn't so bad compared to the day to two day long rig ups of frac. The crew we were on (Nick and I) was kind of the Charlie Brown Christmas tree crew--half the crew missing, one white hat and a bunch of green hats, the janky fluid pump, and 2 3/8" coil which requires you to "stab pipe" (put the pipe in the injector head which is normally how it comes). In spite of all this we still made it home before the other crew on site (and sadly Anjelica) around 8 or so. Both crews are supposed to go on jobs again tomorrow and this seems to mean Anjelica does not get her day off tomorrow (that's right people... another sighting of the rare and elusive day off!) which blows.

On the job we can't really do much beyond rig up and rig down but this time because of the different equipment there is a separate unit for the coil that requires someone additional to spool it on and off the reel, and we got to do that. It's not super hard until you get to the edges when it kind of gets tricky on the turn around... it's ok that I was kinda bad at it because during the job you just spool it on and off the reel over and over again anyway. That's why they let the interns do it. :)

While the work itself wasn't so bad the overall job was kinda rough. We were there just short of 48 hours and during that time I didn't shower. I could have but my bag was locked in the truck during my window. I didn't even change clothes (I should have fought harder on that one...). I smelled like the inside of a fake leg. I didn't brush my teeth or wash my face either which are both kinda raunchy. I slept in my blues and boots at the kitchen table and then on the recliner. I am sunburned from my eyes down to my chin from sitting in the sun in my gear. I have grime so deep in my fingerprints I'm still getting my hands clean. Woof.

I'm just REALLY glad to be home and showered and sitting in the air conditioning. I also ecstatic that I get to sleep in a bed tonight and sleep IN (for realz) in the morning. Seriously we are one more happy thought away from tears of joy. I'll report on how awesome that turns out tomorrow. I may leave the apartment if I feel up to it...or I may not. We'll see what I feel like... man days off are awesome!

It's Thursday I think...

So the days are running together again... we had a discussion this morning before leaving the yard and someone had lost a week of their life... they thought it was the 15ht or so and this came to light when they checked their phone because they didn't believe it was Thursday.

Today was another day of staging the job. I planned my day a little better and spent my morning outside and my afternoon in the FracCAT. I didn't really do anything at all today. Just watched and listened. Towards the end of the day I did go sit next to Justo who runs the 13 pump trucks on location from the FracCAT and he kind of taught me his job. It was pretty interesting and intense. Basically, if sh!t hits the fan, it's kind of his head on the chopping block. No pressure. He let me prime up the pumps on our last stage of the night. Very thrilling. ;) We also ran into Brendan today finally. The wireline guys are there and between stages they set plugs and perforate. We assumed we'd have to see Brendan on one of these crews eventually and it finally happened today. He has yet to work a weekend and he just works when he wants to. It made me want to punch him a little bit.

Our day didn't end until 9 or so because we were late arriving this morning (had to wait for the rig relocaters... the people they hire to drive us around when we're out of vans or drivers) and on our drive home Jose (the engineer), Anjelica and I fell asleep in the back of the pick-up. This meant that the driving supervisor and Leelund (an operator) decided to mess with us and pull the ol' drive over the rumble strips, swerve and yell obscenities trick. Needless to say that was the highlight of their day.

I forgot to mention a couple of things I am thankful for. A couple of the non-tangibles...

* Notes from my mother who remind me of the closet of last summer and how awful that job was and how much she loves and misses me. Thanks Momma!

* Notes from Emily that say things like please quit your job and come back immediately or I miss you. It's nice to know I'm missed by people besides my Mom (no offense Mom, but you're a given and I love you for that!)

* Texts from Kyle that say things like you'll be alright, and hang tough. Though they kind of irritate me at the time it's only because I know he's right and I do need to just woman up already. Sometimes you just need to hear it.

*Bananas. I know it seems random but last night I didn't get cramps in my calves in the middle of the night and I'd like to give at least half of the credit to the banana I ate that morning. The other half goes to stretching. Cramps in the middle of your 6 hours of sleep suck big time. Potassium for the win!

How is it only Tuesday!?!

Another day rigging up for frac. This time with yellow crew. Our location was really pretty if you stood on the edge and looked away from all the equipment...

It was another HOT day. Ridiculously hot and sweaty we helped hook up hose and fix fluid ends. We also helped clean up a spill on site which amounts to using a pickax and shovels to dig up the ground that is contaminated and put it in buckets to take back to the yard to be properly disposed of. I also got to hear stories from on the of the mechanics that would have made sailors blush. That kid is a piece of work. Good times.

While I'm getting quite proficient at drinking exactly enough water throughout the day, I've failed at eating. We stopped at McDonalds this morning on the way to the site for breakfast so that helped tide me over but all I ate for lunch was one of those little single serving cups of applesauce. I just can't eat when I'm that hot, sweaty, and dirty. Once we call it a day and get in the truck or van to go back, I use those baby wipes to mop up my face and hands at which point I realize I'm starving and I tear into the food I brought and didn't eat all day.

Speaking of food I was out of milk and rather than come home and shower before going to the store, we went to Wal Mart in our disgusting blues. It was nasty of us but we are not the first ones to do it. We got some funny looks and the kid that rang me up and I had an interesting exchange:

Kid: "How are you doing?"

Me: "Oh I'm just SUPER" dripping with sarcasm I smile so he get's it... "I smell and I'm ready to go home."

Kid as I grab my stuff: "Enjoy that shower." He smiled so I don't think he was being a douche.

Me: "OH I WILL!" He laughed. It was just kind of a funny/sad little exchange.

Tomorrow's yard time is 4:30 so again I try to remain optimistic about getting home before the sun goes down. We just barely made it today. The good news is that we are rigged up so for a couple of days we will be staging the job which means we interns don't do much (besides sweat profusely and get coated with sand). And now begins the countdown to the end of frac week: 4 days left!

Gahhh Frac

So far Frac is my least favorite. The days are crazy long and as an intern who isn't qualified to do anything we just stand around and watch people do things...when they do them. Sometimes we stare at eachother doing nothing. It was also approximately as hot as the surface of the sun.

We had a 5am yard time this morning meaning we arrived on the job sight around 6:30 or so. Anjelica and I were then assigned to follow our new friend Chetsi (a new hire who lives in an apartment upstairs from us). She's a super green hat also so none of us are really qualified to do much. This is where a lot of the standing around originated I think. That and we were there for 14 hours and you can't possibly be busy for 14 hours straight. As far as I'm aware we completed about four stages on the two wells at the site. It could have been five because I wasn't sure exactly what was going on when we arrived that morning. When we got there they were fixing the POD (truck that mixes the sand and water for the job). At the end of the day they were having problems with the PCM (precision continuous mixer). In between there we frac'ed four or five segments of the wells and wireline guys set plugs between them. That was the day in a nutshell.

I learned a little more about the plug and frac interaction, the set up of the job (where the PCM and the acid trucks get into the sequence etc...), and the general atmosphere of a frac job. I also operated a shovel and was allowed to carry empty buckets back to the chem transport truck. I also learned that when everyone disappears they have gone to the tractor cabs to cool off and we were allowed to do the same. And we did. A lot. I also reaffirmed my ability to fall asleep sitting up and or standing propped against a truck. I didn't mean to but you can only watch sand fly into a slinger from a sand cheif for so long before your brain shuts down and your eyes and body follow suite. Woops.

Overall the day was kind of miserable. There is sand EVERYWHERE... all over everything and all over you. I can't imagine that anyone working as a frac'er would ever agree to go to the beach. It would be too much like work. On the plus side I drank just enough fluids to keep properly hydrated but I never had to use a port-o-potty (yea I sweat that much). Thank the Lord in heaven for that. I hate those things.

Tomorrow's yard time is 6:15 so that will be a bit better but I imagine that just means we'll be back a bit later. I hope not but I'm assuming the worst. We'll spend the day rigging up because we were just finishing the job when we left (it had started on Tuesday of last week and each well needed 13 stages which takes...well until Sunday night) and it is being rigged down tonight as I type this up. It's going to be a long day tomorrow and a long week. I'll try to remain faithful to you dear readers (Mom, Scarlett, and...well you may be it) and post nightly but I make no promises. If you don't hear from me, know that I am probably fine just really sweaty and sandy.

Sick and Tired

I'm not THAT sick but I've been tying to ignore a sore throat for a few days now and it's finally bad enough that I have to acknowledge it. I noticed the other day that one of my lymph nodes is kinda puffy so it's for reals. I haven't been doing much of anything between jobs besides sleeping but yesterday I had time...I spent it on my couch since I don't know when I'll be called out and as I mentioned, I've been feeling sub par. Also there was a special on the Discovery channel last night called 'When Moose Attack' and who could resist that? I finally caved at took some Tylenol last night (and then again in the middle of the night when I woke up hurting again) and I slept ok. I woke up around 10 and decided that I was going to make the grown up decision to go to Wal Mart for some drugs and tea so I can nip this thing in the bud. Normally I would just kind of ride it out but the hectic schedule (or lack thereof) would probably work against me so I decided to be proactive! While I was at Wal Mart I got my hair cut. Trimmed anyway. I was in grave need. My hair dresser was all sorts of chatty (as most are) and he told me (among other things) I should really try to get a hold of some moonshine while I'm down here. Hard to find because the cops bust them all the time, but worth the effort he assured me. Told me I should take some back for my boyfriend. My hair dresser was a kick.

So I'm sitting here watching Dirty Jobs (Mike, I have a new level of respect for you.), drinking tea and enjoying the effects of my DayQuil. I feel better already. Hopefully I can relax a while longer before I get a call to head back out to the field. Sleeping out there can't be helping my cause. Perhaps I'll try to catch a nap...

Job 2...Things are starting to run together...

I went on another job that followed nearly the same schedule as the first one again the night after. 6pm yard time and then on the job site around 9. Started working a little before 11 and wrapped up about 4:30. This time when we made it back to the yard (I again was in a coma for the whole drive home) I was told if I wanted to get some food I should do that quickly because we were going to catch another job. Exhausted, we drove to McDonalds and got breakfast. Anjelica is going into her weekend off so when we got back, Sharron told her that she wouldn't go on this second job. Turns out that crew's drivers had maxed out their driving hours so it became a huge headache to figure out how to get people there and who would do what. This is great news for us because Sharron said I could just go home with Anjelica and catch a job this evening. I'm super glad because A)I was TIRED and B)I am fairly certain that crew didn't want us tagging along anyway. Ok maybe it was just that Ross guy acting like a high school girl but it was irritating to be looked at like a nuisance.

I came home and slept until 2 when Anjelica needed a ride to the hair dresser. I ate something... thought it feels weird... my body has not accepted these new hours (just as well, who knows how long it'll last) and I think it's confused about when it should eat. Whatever. This is the part where I start to hate my "job"--I am sore from sleeping in those stupid cabs, my throat hurts from inadequate sleep (and likely being blasted in the face by AC while I am trying to sleep) and I just feel off. I just keep thinking that I only have to be tough until the end of the month. I'm just going to try to remain positive. "I LOVE lugging hoses and pipe. I LOVE lugging hoses and pipe. I LOVE lugging hoses and pipe..."