It's been...one week (since you looked at me)

Ok so it's been another week (and another W for the Cats! Holla!) and I have (again) not much to report. Especially since I've called to talk to Mom and she's about the only person reading this on the regular (no offence to anyone else using this for some attempt at entertainment but I have doubts you exist).

I had a traumatic experience the other day while dropping off my rent. I was marching over to my landlady's house next door in the light rain (rain being relevant because I was just in a hurry to get this job done and get back inside) when I stepped on something that made a fantastic crunchy sound. I didn't pause to look at whatever it was and just wondered what it could have been. On my way back down the driveway I found to my dismay it had been a snail. This is distressing for a couple of reasons. 1) I killed something. Poor innocent little snail never saw it coming. 2) I like snails (at least in theory, I haven't really had many real life experiences with them). They're cute. I know they're pests but that little swirly shell is just kinda nifty. And I smushed it. I am sure Karma is on the prowl and has my number. I'm just waiting for the hit.

Tonight I had dinner with a rep from Conoco Phillips (free dinner at Harry's Uptown. FREE! Ritzy and FREE!) and a few other ladies from the college of engineering. It was pretty dang good and I wish I could afford to eat there more often. Also I think I may be in love with Conoco Phillips so bonus points there. I'm gonna try to work some game on them at career fair next week. Better dust off the ol' resume...

In the larger events category, Susan leaves this week. I'll be on a trip (I'll get to that) so I won't actually be there when the band-aid is ripped off but we keep having send off's and farewells and it's painfully real that she's leaving. Damn you Virginia Tech and your better title and pay increase. Damn you. Tomorrow we're going to the famous Brookville for all you can eat fried chicken tomorrow for a final goodbye. I swear it's like we're trying to force ourselves to have a proper anxiety attack over this with all these goodbyes. That or we're trying to get me to put on a second spare tire. Either way I don't like it.

On a happier note, it's time again for our SME trip to IMTS (International Manufacturing Trade Show) which is in Chicago! My bestie Andrew won't be there (doing work crap in TX which is super lame and just terrible timing) in spite of the fact that he moved away from me to be in Chicago. Whatever. It's still going to be a fun trip. We get to walk around a HUGE convention center full of kick-ass stuff (water-jet cutters, CNC machines, laser inspection equipment, and the list goes on!) and spend time exploring Chicago. We're also planning on a baseball game (beer and hot dogs!) and we'll tour ArmaLite on the way there (they make rifles!). Gonna be a sweet trip. I'll report back later (probably much later because when I get back I'll have a lot of catching up to do). We leave tomorrow night and don't come back until Sunday night (soooo much driving). Unfortunately that means I'm doing laundry right now to prepare. Ugh.

So anyway I'm going to fold some of said laundry now. Oh the exciting life I lead...

That's a rap!

I am still alive. THE interns kind of own your life when they get together so I have been AWOL and I apologize. Here's the low down on our wrap up:

Monday we all presented our summer experiences and projects. I started the day off right by getting on the wrong shuttle with Chris and Donald and going to the training center instead of the office. Don't worry we got the shuttle driver to come back for us and take us but he didn't know where. Fortunately we had a dream combination of people in this predicament--Donald knew the address, Chris had an iPhone, and I was willing to talk to the driver in broken English. We got there which is the point. Luckily in spite of that start, mine went really well--I was the last of the Conway kids to go and we all had basically the same experience so I was pretty sure that people were going to be clawing their eyes out by the time it was my turn but on the contrary they seemed to enjoy my take on things.

That evening was dinner out on the company tab and this meant free food AND free margaritas. Love this. It was a great knight, hanging out with my new people and eating AMAZING Mexican food. Nirvana I tell you. Afterward we just went back to the Double Tree to hang out and drink some more in various rooms. We just wanted to hang out together... Awwww.

Tuesday we had to get up (in spite of some of us having had epic nights...not me but...well we'll leave them nameless) for exit interviews. Again mine seemed fine. It was over fairly early so us girls went to our free lunch and then decided to go shopping. Cute dresses had by all (well nearly all anyway). After shopping we collected a bit of sun at the pool before dinner at...get ready...The Hobbit Cafe. Yep. It was Hobbit themed. I had blackened fish tacos which were AMAZING and we also all had a seasonal German beer they had... it was dark and serious...like a beer smoothie. Also AMAZING. We wrapped that night by again knocking back a few at the good ol' Double Tree with all our new besties. Good times. Until people started trickling out and we had to say goodbye. It wasn't quite tearful but it was sad for sure. Crazy how much you can get attached to and miss people you only met a couple months ago. Le sigh.

I spent the whole day Wednesday driving to Wichita in convoy with Eric. It was a long day... but we made it to Justin and Kevin's and enjoyed the company in spite of the fact that the air conditioning was on the fritz and we all dearly died of heat stroke. I bandaged the wound by making PW pancakes (obviously) for all of us this morning. I rock.

I made it back to Manhattan today and I promptly went to lunch with Emily, Susan and Bre. The Palace knows how to throw down a pizza. God bless them. This afternoon Emily and I went to the new city pool (aquatic park/wonderland) and worked on our tans. Or freckles. Whatever. We capped off the day by eating La Fiesta... I enjoyed a healthy sized margarita. I seem to have missed enjoying a good bev on this dry summer...

Now I sit here amidst my stuff (I am a little appalled that I have THIS MUCH STUFF!) procrastinating putting it all away by writing this. I thought about continuing this to included the things I learned this summer, the best memories, the this I may miss or not miss... but then I realized that Kyle will be here tomorrow and my room makes me look like a hobo so I need to just suck it up and save all that mushy stuff for another day.

Coming soon: Lessons learned in the oil field, Things I'll miss about Conway, Things I won't miss, and a Greatest hits list of memories. Look alive.

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.

Day 2

This morning we got a yard tour from a girl named Kelly who is only here through the weekend because she's being transfered to Oklahoma. She was nice. I'm sad she's leaving because she seems like she's fun. She and Sharron took us out to lunch today since we're new and we don't know our way around yet and so that they could expense their own lunch too. Naturally we went to Friday's and ate too much. Good times.

This afternoon all we've done is certifications for standards. We have to do about 7 or so of them and they're a pain in the...you know. We sit in the break room and try to look up answers to each test in the pages of standards for each one. It's way boring but we gotta do it. That's all that's really on our agenda because we can't do anything else until they're done and passed. Tomorrow we'll have Kelly's help and she thinks we can get it done by lunch. When we finish our next move is to the bulk plant where they mix up cement and frack components and put them in the trucks to go out to the field. We may also work in the lab here in these first few days. Testing cement I think... we'll see if I'm right.

Tonight: Walmart for groceries and then maybe some light exploration of Conway.

A bunch of sweaty interns...

So yesterday we learned about cementing. Cementing wells is an interesting endeavor. It's kinda complicated but it was presenting in a simpler way than our fracking class. We also talked about how the oil spill happened. It's really complicated to try and type it out without a proper piece of scrap paper on which to sketch this situation so if you ever see me in person and want to hear about it, I'll try. I'm glad we talked about it though because I was having a hard time getting my head around why you can't just plug up a hole that's not more than a couple feet wide (if that...it's more like a foot). Ok I'm still kind of struggling with that one but I get it a little. Anyway...

The practical part of cementing consisted of a brief tour of the equipment but that's about like any noisy plant tour in that I heard almost nothing about the stuff they were pointing at and so I learned little from it. We also did some more stuff that was "practical" but didn't involve our PPE--simulations! They were kind of fun... one was strictly computer screen and it was mostly just for kicks but the second was dummy equipment that ran water and it was pretty interesting.

Last night, we were again wined and dined (I think they are trying to cloud our judgement about their balls to the wall lifestyle with booze) at an (I kid you not) oil themed steakhouse. It was good but I've eaten better (judgement still in tact). I got to sit with Jennifer and Rifaah two of my new fun friends (Rifaah was in the hat picture and Jennifer is from Vanderbilt. Also she's hilarious and generally awesome) and we had a good ol' time ordering drinks and being sad for poor vegetarian Rifaah who couldn't eat any of the appetizers (or Land Survey's as the menu called them) because ribs and bacon stuffed mushrooms are not acceptable for vegetarians. Don't worry they brought bread and he's a good sport. We decided that the life of a recruiter is pretty much as good as it gets... you get to hang out with a bunch of college kids and get them drunk and they'll hang on your every word because they want you to hire them. Not a bad gig. Anyway...76 drunken interns later... today begins...

Today we had the most enthusiastic instructor ever: Oliver. He talked to us about sand control. I know, you're riveted already. He was seriously good at teaching and we had the most fun practical section ever. We went out and used the dummy equipment to run 16 gravel pack jobs (pretty literally since there was water and sand flowing freely in this situation...) so that we each had a chance to run all of the five parts of the job. I rocked at most of them. We all did but that's beside the point. We got to wear radios complete with headsets just like the ones they have in Nascar (I know because they had some name on them implying they were the radio of choice for racing sports). We also happened to be the first group that did this class so that meant we had to "rig up" the equipment. This means we carried and connected the giant hoses that link all the parts of the equipment (the tanks of water to the "little monster" diesel pump to the slurry mixer to the giant pump to the manifold that pumps the slurry into the ground...). These hoses are huge. It takes three people to carry them safely. Also you get to use a mini sledge hammer to tighten the wings on them which is kind fun. We spent 4.5 hours outside in our NOMEX, boots, and hardhats rocking out this gravel pack job (16 times) which means I came in from "down the hill" super hot and sweaty. A hot mess, if you will. We all were though so it's ok.

Tonight when we got home I promptly showered to attend our little tuna tetrazini dinner party (Jennifer cooked tuna helper for Victoria and I) which also included a bit of the hockey game (we weren't really THAT into it but that's what all the cool kids were doing). Now that I'm fed and showered I am accepting that I am exhausted and I'm excited to go to bed. Tomorrow is supposed to be a big day: we'll learn about coil tubing and tomorrow evening we are apparently going to the park for sand volleyball and a picnic. I need to rest up and get my game face on.

I am oriented!

What a week. Woof. We got geared up and learned all about safety procedures, protocol, and the lifestyle we are about to be submerged in. Talk about overload.

We started every day by getting on the bus at 6:30 (except that first day...) and we ended at 5(ish...) and then went to eat dinner with the recruiters. Our days basically didn't end until 9 or 1o pm. We've spent considerable amounts of time on the three shuttle buses contracted out to cart our sorry little hind-ends around and we've spent even more time listening to PowerPoint presentations about things like lifting with your legs and not your back or only driving for a maximum of 10 hours in a 24 hour period (but never between 11 pm and 5 am!).

Don't get me wrong, it's been pretty fun. Our dinners include an open bar (can you say drunk interns?) because the company culture boils down to "work hard" (SO hard) "and play harder" (no kidding). We also do have very minute times to ourselves (between shuttle bus rides) in which we can roam the mall or take a much needed nap. We have started to get to know one another (at least as much as possible between listening to talks about coveralls when there are 76 interns...) and we are "gelling" well. Seriously, I have never seen such a large group of people our age that fit together so nicely. There aren't really cliques (yet) and even when there seems to have formed a conversation group, we all are pretty comfortable joining in. It's kinda weird. I like it. I've made friends with people from Alaska, New York, California, Michigan, Tennessee, and West Virginia (to name just a few) and I've only had to endure two Dorothy jokes so far.

And then there's the SWAG (easy trigger, I mean Stuff We All Get)! I am now the proud (yes proud--I mean that) owner of two sets of blue Tyvek suits (for those of you who may not know: flame resistant coveralls in a perfectly smurf-y hue), a green hardhat (also excited about that), Red Wing boots, prescription safety goggles (they look HOT), and a sweet duffel bag to keep it all in. I have yet to don them all at once but I assure you that when I do, there will be photographic evidence. I'll probably fall in line and start referring to all of this as my PPE (personal protective equipment) as is the trend, so heads up on that one.

We are treated not so much as interns as prospective employees so they aren't sugar coating anything. This job can eat people alive. The hours are crazy (they OWN you for the first three to five years) and the work is DEMANDING (physically, mentally, emotionally...). I may spend several days on site and that means sleeping in a truck whenever I can catch a few minutes and peeing outside (no proper potty on an oil platform). As a woman I've been prepared to be treated as somewhat of an oddity and talked to as if these "roughnecks" (not people from our company but the actual work horses of an oil platform) had never seen a girl before. Should I chose to adopt this lifestyle as my career, and should I last for those first three to five years, I could be moved and placed in virtually any job, in any country in the world. I could become a sales rep, recruiter, or design engineer in France, Chad, or Venezuela. They work with you, and try to accommodate you as much as possible, but the facts are that for those first years when you are earning your keep you don't get scheduled vacation and no more than perhaps four or five days at a time. Family, if I stay with these folks, I may not see you for quite a while. It's INTENSE. The purpose of this internship program is to see if this is for me. I may very well not be. We shall see.

In the end we are geared up and oriented. We have flown back to Tulsa and we have the weekend to ourselves before we start training in Kellyville. It'll be partly classroom learning, and partly hands-on practical work. I'm kind of excited for this part.

Tomorrow I'll buy groceries, and I'll return to write more about the effects of the oil spill in the gulf. As for tonight, I'm exhausted and I'm going to bed.