In the Field

Ok, so I’ve been pretty busy lately and haven’t had much time for blogging but there are some updates to be made.  First of all, the rafting trip on Saturday was a blast!  There were 17 interns there and we got onto 2 big rafts and swiftly floated down the Animus river for about 3 hours.  The water was about 40 degrees and yes, I jumped in….twice.  I don’t have any pictures of that event.  The next day (Sunday) after church and lunch I had an urge to go to Colorado.  It is quite unexplainable but I needed to explore.  So I did, I drove the jeep….Oh Yeah! The Jeep :)

So anyways, I drove for about 1 1/2 hours to this trail and got out and if you want to see pictures of that they are on my facebook.  It was so refreshing and energizing to be in the mountains.  I am definitely going back, but next time I will take people with me so that my dear mother won’t have to worry. 

Monday was my first day in the field and as promised, I have pictures of my awesome clothing.

And some other nifty stuff

Monday was good, although I didn’t get to do much, and there wasn’t anything exciting to do that day so I felt somewhat useless.  I did learn a bit about the components of a well pad which was cool and I got to see some stuff in action.  The best part was getting to ride around in a F250 Superduty on dirt roads that I didn’t know existed all around Farmington. 

Tuesday morning I was in the office again, and in the afternoon we had a defensive driving course so that now I can drive those big awesome trucks if my MSO doesn’t mind.  And I got a hat on Tuesday.

  

Today, was a really good day. 

I got to go in the field again but with a different guy.  Although he was not one of the ones who will permit me to drive his truck he did let me help him on the sites and did a good job of explaining the things going on.  And there was alot more variety today so I think that today was better. 

We started at a well that needed a little prep for First Delivery (the first time the gas from a well moves through the meter to be sold, its like a baby being born except not quite).  First we had to purge the lines (get all the oxygen out) and I got to turn valves and such.  Then while my MSO was on the phone I talked to a crew that was putting up the pump controllers.  Then there was another crew that had to test the flame arresters.  Basically, there is a heater on the separators and with natural gas around that is a bad idea.  So there is this safety thing called a flame arrester that prevents bad stuff from happening, but it had to be tested.  So these guys put gas inside it and then lit it on fire to make sure it all worked.  They told me that sometimes there would be a big boom and some flames, but unfortunately, it worked so there was just a little poof.  After they finished testing, I got to witness my first First Delivery! (FYI not at all as traumatizing as seeing a baby be born).   

Then we rolled off to the next site.  At this place the same crew tested the flame arresters and again, I was somewhat disappointed.  Then we had to replace some parts to some….thing, I think it was called a dump (It was some box on the separator). 

The third site we went to I got to see my very first rig! It was a swabbing unit that had just recently unplugged a bridge in the bottom of a welbore and so there was a ton of gas and gunk spewing out of a vent.  Also, I met the first (and she said probably only) female rig operator in the area.  She has been working on a rig since 1992 and was proud of it and told me all about it.  Anyways, this is the rig and the lady and my MSO. 

Oh, and this site was located on the top of a mesa and so riding up on the dirt road you could see everything for miles around and you just kept driving up and up on these secret road and it was awesome!

The next well we went to we had to fix the cap of a lubricator that was leaking and then I got to start a compressor.

So yeah, it was pretty fun, and I feel like I have learned more about the oil and gas industry in the last 2 1/2 weeks than I have in the last 2 years of college. 

Tomorrow is a geology field trip, Friday is a trip to a vendor and free pizza, and Monday is some other field trip. 

I’m staying busy and having tons of fun but I really do miss my family and there is not enough time in the days to get everything done that I need to.

Getting into Routine

I don’t have any new pictures but I figured I’d do an update anyways.  On Monday I sat in some meetings with some important people from Huston.  The meetings lasted just about all day.  For the most part they were boring.  Although I did finally meet my supervisor on Monday. 

Tuesday I took my Leadership Safety Course which was ok.  Conoco REALLY stresses the importance of safety almost to the point of ridiculousness.  For example, we are not allowed to walk down the stairs without using the handrail.  I know that there is a reason for every policy…..but really?  One cool thing is that they strive for zero incidents and have seen huge improvements in the last 5 years. So that was all day Tuesday.  After work I went and played ultimate “Frisbee” with a football and got a membership at the college gym.  They have a sweet rock wall.

Wednesday morning I went shopping and loved it.  We went to this place called Boot Barn and I got steel toed boots and flame retardant clothing (FRC) and I soooo cannot wait to go out in the field! (Pictures to come) Then there was a BBQ for the interns and buddys.  At that gathering I made some weekend plans to go rafting in Durango on Saturday so I will have to let you know how that goes. 

This morning I had a Well Review meeting and burritos.  Then a chemical meeting.  Then an intern meeting (at which lunch was provided of course).  Then I got some more of my Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) such as my hard hat, safety glasses, ear plugs, and gloves.  (Again, I will take pictures of this awesomeness in the future). 

Now off to soccer.

Wordless Wednesday…Because there are no words.

         

Sunday

Today was my first Sunday at World Harvest Center.  It was so wonderful to be greeted and welcomed by a large family who was excited to meet me.  Also, some of my favorite people, Jim and Jean Hodges were there.  They are the leaders of FMCI which is the network of churches that Church of the King is part of.  I have known them my whole life and love them so very much. 

 

Before church started Miss Jean gave me a hug from my mother, and all the rest of my family.  It was cool because God knew exactly what I needed.  Today was the day I missed my family the most so far so it was really cool.  Also, worship was pretty awesome and I think there is alot of opportunity to grow here.  After church I had lunch with Mr. Dennis and Miss Pat and I have a picture of them so you know who I am talking about.

Then the Hodges’ came over to visit until 4 and it was wonderful to spend some time with them.  I am so blessed and so honored to have them in my life.  The rest of the day has been good and tomorrow it is back to work. 

More from the Land of Enchantment and Colorful Colorado

I don’t have a whole lot to write about.  I have gone running twice now and the altitude is kicking my butt.  The altitude here is 5300 ft.  I went to Colorado yesterday after work to have dinner with “my people” as Timmy calls them.  We went to Durango which is a tourists town.  It was a really nice place and the food there was good.  One really neat thing was driving from the dessert and seeing the Colorado mountains in the distance behind the dessert mesas.  I tried to get some pictures but it didn’t work so well because we were driving.  I’m hoping next weekend to go to Colorado and play in the mountains or something.  I miss my brothers because they would love to go on an adventure there with me.  Another interesting thing here that if there are any farms they all have irrigation systems that look funny.  Today I slept alot which was nice, went running, did some landscaping, and jumped into the pool for the first time.  I have never been in a pool by myself and it was really weird.  I’m not sure I like it.  Anyways, here are a few of the pictures I took.

“Work”

So, yesterday was my first day of officially entering the corporate world.  First I must say it is the exact opposite of working for Iris.  I am so spoiled here I hope I don’t become a brat.  I pray God will always keep me humble and help me to manage His wealth with wisdom.  That being said, I have no idea why they are paying me so much to do what I’m doing. 

I’ll start with the beginning of my day yesterday. Got dressed all professional.  It felt like the first day of school so I had Miss Pat take a pic for me. 

Walked into the office. 

Some people call it the “crystal palace” It has four floors and its own security system. This is the awesome badge they made for me. 

Now I can enter all the secret passageways whenever I feel like it.  Then I did boring orientation stuff for a couple of hours with three other interns.  Then I met my group.  I am in the first delivery group which I figured out goes something like this.  The land and reservoir people decide where to drill and the safety people make sure it is ok (the other boring floors). Then the awesome people on my floor do drilling and completions and then it comes to my group.  My group gets the new wells up and running and monitors them for a period of time before handing them off to production.  Pretty neat right? I have a supervisor, a mentor, and there are two others in this group.  Also a part of First Delivery Team (FDT) are the MSOs which is an acronym for something I can’t remember but means the guys who visit the wells out in the field.  So that is the basic set up for my group. 

After meeting my people I got my own office! (slash cubical) With two monitor screens!

 

And get this one.  We get lunch breaks everyday.  For an hour.  My mentor was very confused at my surprise at this fact.  I guess it is a normal thing for most businesses.  Also, we don’t have to work on Saturdays AND we get done by 4:30 everyday.  It is absolutely craziness. 

So I got my office and then my group went out to lunch.  We went to El Rios and I got a burrito with green chili.  I didn’t know about all this green chili stuff but I guess it is a big part of the culture here and it was really good.  When we got back to the office I just worked on orientation stuff.  Boring.

Then at 4:30 there was a gathering at a hotel of the interns and mentors for a meet and greet type of thing.  Not my favorite type of thing but there was food.  Ok.  So it wasn’t so bad to meet a bunch of people, I might secretly have liked it a little.  There were some interesting people that I look forward to getting to know better this summer. 

After that I went to church.  I cannot express how grateful I am to have a family here.  It is absolutely amazing to come to a place and be able to just jump in and know that these people live for the same things I do.  Worship was awesome and I think I am really going to love it here. 

Last night I was too tired to blog, so I slept. 

So….today. 

This morning I got to the office at 7 and met all the MSOs and attended the well report meeting.  I was completely lost for the first half hour but I caught on some and wrote down a bunch of questions which I asked the other engineer later on.  Oh yeah, I haven’t met my supervisor yet because he is on vacation and my mentor was out golfing for the company so they weren’t there today.  And after the meeting two of the people in my group and myself just sat in their office and talked about random stuff for about an hour.  It was like a social hour break that I got paid for! Anyways, when the engineer was answering my questions one of the MSO guys stopped in and offered to show me some stuff.  So we went out to his truck and he very patiently explained what must be very elementary things to me and it made sense and I was able to connect it with some of the stuff that was said at the meeting earlier.  It is so exciting to me. 

I can’t help but think that I got put on the most exciting floor with the most exciting group and my project is going to be pretty sweet too.  I am so “pumped” to be able to go out in the field and it is just awesome for me to learn all this stuff….ok I’m sounding like a nerd but its true! I really am so very excited. 

Anyways.  So the morning was fun and then I went with some of the other interns and my assigned “buddy” (from a different dept. who I hadn’t met yet) to lunch at the Three Rivers Brewery.  I had a really good time with them and really like my buddy and think we are going to get along great.  I had a delicious burger but the only problem was that the food took awhile to get to us and certain people (obviously not myself because I scarfed it down) were slow eaters.  My lunch break ended up being about and hour and 45 min.  but nobody in the office cared.  Actually they weren’t even there when I got back (but I had left early to go with the group)  I almost feel guilty but that is the culture there.  I don’t want to fall into it.  I want to work hard the whole time I am getting paid to work.  I just haven’t figured it all out yet. 

After lunch they gave me a free t-shirt because on Fridays we wear red to support our troops. 

After lunch my work was more boring stuff completing online training courses.  Oh, and I did meet with my mentor for a few minutes at the end of the day.  He gave me some assignments to work on for tomorrow.  I have to read this book :) and memorize this diagram.

 

On the drive home from work I did my best to snap a few pictures for those at home demanding them but it was difficult for me to concentrate on driving but these were some of the good results. 

 

For dinner tonight I don’t want to rub this one in but…. I had grilled steak. 

After dinner Miss Pat took me around the town a little more and due to the demand I got these pictures for all of your enjoyment. 

So yeah.  Hope you enjoy.