My SIM family

It's currently the middle of the night and I am still in the lab. I have been in the lab for basically every spare moment this week and it's starting to get cagey in here. I'm running on 11 hours of sleep since Monday and it's not looking like there will be any improvement before Friday (and even then the improvement will be small). On the bright side I am "stuck" here with my team who has fashioned itself into a family. No really. We are calling Jeff "dad" because he keeps bossing us like our fathers would. We also call Brant dad because he was the one who mandated that we wouldn't be leaving for dinner until everyone reached a stopping point (which didn't happen until 8pm). Yep. We have two dads. Two "gay" dads. They aren't so fond of this. Like I said...we're not functioning at our peaks here people. Kevin, Ruth and I are pretty good kids and we're trying to be obedient to the team leaders but we tend to drift. We took a "family trip" to Dara's (the gas station across the street) for late night sodas and snacks and a boost in team morale (Kevin's personal mission on this project is team morale so we try to do things to uphold it often).

Which brings me to my next barely coherent point. My diet is abysmal these days. Well during the day it's fine. Emily has even fed me REAL DINNER twice this week. But after about 10 pm I try to be strong and fail. I either eat whatever candy I can find, drink a pop, or eat a baked good Jordan brought in (she did some baking and we are all reaping the benefits). I've just resigned myself to the fact that I have to get energy from somewhere and late night food (CAFFEINE!) is my only option (sleep just doesn't make the cut). It is what it is. I keep telling myself that after finals I'll try to reign myself in. It shouldn't be too hard because I'll go into a temporary coma once I finish everything and I'll sleep through the sugar jonesing that would pull me off the wagon.

The things keeping me going at this point besides coffee: Christmas music, Greek yogurt with honey (discovered it at Dillon's the other day and it changed my outlook on life), Kevin's morale boosting efforts, Tweeting all the ridiculous happenings of the lab, and short naps.

If you don't hear from me in the next two weeks (or for a few days after that) it's probably fine. I'm either holed up somewhere trying to furiously iron out four projects simultaneously or I've fallen into that coma I alluded to.

Countdown

to the end of this project: 1 day (technically 2 but we're pretending otherwise so we can go to the pub crawl)

to Christmas break (end of finals for me): 15 days

to actual Christmas: 23 days

People... good things are coming. At least that's what I keep repeating to myself in hushed tones when I get more assignments and tasks added to my list...

Retail therapy is always the answer

Today I found out that I won't be getting my grader job back. I was informed Monday by my department head that he let the faculty pick their graders so I should contact the faculty not him. I did this and was informed by the particular faculty that because she's new and doesn't know any students, our department head hired her graders. So I have no job. Suck. That was a kickin' gig and I'll miss it.

Monday begins my hunt for a new job. I'm going to start with the leadership building (it's new and I hear they need lots of help over there), and if that doesn't pan out I'll also have put down feelers in the career and employment services office (both in that office and through that office). If I can't find a campus job (heaven forbid) I'm going to take a stab at a mall job (GAP!) and if I can't swing that... well as Mom said, there's always waitressing.

In light of being unemployed I had to race off to the GAP to do some retail therapy. I had coupons ok?! I got some sweet stuff and it's stuff I kinda needed anyway (it wasn't THAT much on the card... leave me alone!). Emily was there to help me make good fashion choices and to support my choice to get some professional, trouser style jeans for my new job hunt. They're cute-- trust.

Tomorrow we go farmer's market-ing for some tasty, good-for-me things. That will also boost my mood. I need to start eating better and what better way than to buy pretty produce from cute little farmer guys and their wives?

So anyway, that's what's up. Someone get to work on re-naming my blog please...I'm too emotionally irritated to do it myself.

White Elephant Interns

Another day of maintenance in coil tubing. When we arrived this morning we sat around for about half an hour before they doled us out to people and their projects. I was so lucky as to be paired with a guy helping change filters, and fix a c pump on one of the pump trucks. First he showed me around it pointing out all the highlights. Then we propped the cab up (it's an over engine style tractor... old school) and looked around... then we put it down because we determined...well I dunno I think they may have just wanted to pawn it off on the mechanics. Either way we decided to wash it. That meant I stood around and waited my turn because they gave me the task of rinsing. The rinse hose has a small range but lots of water so you get soaked trying to do anything with it. I think they gave it to me because I'm the ignorant intern and they knew it was the worst part. Whatever. Anyway, they moved it into the shop afterward and I watched them change filters. I held one so it didn't spill diesel everywhere. Big day.

Before lunch we noticed that a couple guys were unloading watermelons onto the lawn in the yard--free for the taking! So I took one. Afterward I realized that I couldn't find my Clay (there are two, Anjelica was paired with the other Clay) and I was informed he probably just went to lunch. Awesome. So I did too. We ate and Slim Chickens (again) a place we LOVE. It was AMAZING as usual. We went ahead and took our time since everyone else seems to.

When we got back we were still ahead of everyone, so we visited the bulk plant. After killing some time we went to talk to Russel and Ryan about what to do with our afternoon. Unfortunately we were told just to head back to the boom truck with hydraulic problems that had been giving them fits since Saturday. We can't really help with this so we just stood and watched at a distance. Super boring. I think they forget we're around... again whatever. I wandered off to tell Russel and Ryan this and they were going to give us something else to do after they finished their paperwork but then the truck was fixed (finally!) and we had nothing to do. After a discussion of what to do with us it was decided that them spending time inventing tasks was a waste and we'd go home and work on our videos and papers. We got to leave early because we are basically inconvenient at this point. Oh well we got a short day and I'm not complaining.

After work we went to best buy to deal with Anjelica's sad camera and then we watched When In Rome... a predictable and super cheesy romantic comedy. It was cute. We also went to Wal Mart again for travel sized shampoo bottles for when we finally go out on a coil tubing job. I'm now trying to write my paper. It's been a pretty vanilla day really. Tomorrow morning we're going to go with Russel (who is the cell leader and a cool guy) to see a job site (all rigged up) for a quick tour to keep us from feeling so lost when we go...which seems like it will be Wednesday. Today wasn't a very inspiring day...sorry if this reads as boring to you (Mom, Scarlett, Nomi, Heather... possibly other people...) as it does to me. Hopefully tomorrow will be more exciting.

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.

Buhadsbjkgafiuooisdifj

I'm sick. I can only deny it for so long. It started pecking away on Friday and when I woke up today it meant business. I took more Dayquil and went to church anyway (no hand shaking!!!) and I'm so glad I did. I needed that. The visiting Monseigneur was the funniest little old mad. I loved him. The music wasn't bad either. It was a great start to what looked like a crappy day. I had hope. Hope that was doused when I got in my car and found a message that I was do report for a yard day...5 minutes ago.

I went in late (turns out it didn't really matter) and helped by standing around a lot. At one point we had to clean trash out of the cabs of the cementing trucks (don't touch a frack truck! that's THEIR mess!..and they're pigs!) and unfortunately, though the mess only filled one little trash bag, the mess what nasty. My bag ripped at one point and oozed brown liquid on my coveralls. Yep... spitter... Since I already felt like hell I did the only reasonable thing, I gagged a bit and then said "I'm OUT!" No one protested. I think they knew I'd had it. I did check before leaving that I wouldn't be shunned for it but again, they seemed to understand. That and I explained that I felt like hell.

I came home for another shower and then I 1/2 cooked 1/2 slept on the couch. After I ate I 1/1 slept on the couch through the world cup finals. Lulled by the vuvuzelas I suppose... I hate being sick. It's worse when you're alone. No one pats you on the head and give you juice (Mommie!). Le sigh. I'll live but I'm gonna be crabby about it at least the rest of the day.

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..."