4th of July Weekend

Friday was Chandler’s first day of work.  Chandler was my RA in Marietta and just got hired full time here in Farmington.  It was so good to see someone from home.  So on Friday me, Chandler, and my people went to see a performance of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.  It was a really good performance despite the fact that none of my brothers were in it ;) The stage was really neat as it was an outdoor amphitheater kind of thing. 

  

Saturday I did a bunch of boring stuff.  I decided to see if I liked shopping anymore than I used to.  The answer is no.  I went downtown to a bunch of little shops and think that it would have been so much better with Mother Dear and Aunt Linda there. 

Sunday after church I was going to meet up with some of the interns at Navajo lake which is about 45 min from Farmington.  Well, I drove out there and called my friends to get better directions when it started to spit a tiny bit of rain and get slightly windy. 

I need to pause here and explain some things about New Mexicans for those of you from Ohio.  If it is a windy day, even if it is sunny and 75 degrees, it is considered bad weather.  If it ever drops a drop of rain people freak out.  On this particular day when it was spitting a bit of rain literally hundreds of boats came off the lake because it was “bad weather” and like an hour later the “rain” had stopped and it was beautiful.  They also have this thing called “monsoon season” where it might “rain (aka drop a drop)” everyday for 3 weeks.  I think it is ridiculous.  It actually did rain for real for about 45 min last night with some thunder and lightning and a cute little downpour (it was glorious).  In Ohio, it actually floods but we just call it “spring” we don’t have all those fancy words like monsoon.   Anyways…..

So they were leaving just as I got there so I called another friend from the office who invited me to come chill at their houseboat for awhile.  I didn’t actually get to go in/on the lake or cliff diving which was the original plan, but it was better than just going back to the house.  This was the biggest most extravagant houseboat I have ever been on.  It was so big that they couldn’t even take it out on the lake because it would topple over.  3 stories tall, a hot tub, 4 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 3 bars, 2 living room areas, and I don’t know how many porches/decks.  Yeah.  It was cool to hang out there but the company was not the best.  As nice as all the stuff was they were not really happy and you could tell.  But it was a neat experience.

That night I went to Farmington’s fireworks.  They were kinda lame. 

Monday I went with Adam and Justin (interns), Erin (Justin’s girlfriend), and Chandler to Silverton to see the fireworks.  On the way we stopped at a ski resort and did some alpine sledding.  It was a good time.

 

Then we finished a beautiful drive to Silverton.

 

Silverton is a really little old mining town in Colorado.  Literally it is just two streets located in a valley surrounded on every side by huge mountains.  We got there around 5 and picked out a campsite at the base of one of the mountains and then walked into town to get some ice cream.  After some over priced but-oh-so-delicious goodness we went back to our campsite and made my first bonfire.  Even though Colorado is green it is dry so everyone is super cautious so it was by no means a Duncan fire but it did make me happy. And we had marshmallows.  

 

 

 

The fireworks in Silverton did not disappoint.  Although I still think that Marietta’s Sternwheeler Festival has the best ever, this was really good.  They shot them off from the mountainside and so we saw the flash and then about 3 seconds later the huge BOOM and then it would just echo off the walls of the mountains around us and it was like a low rumbling the whole time.  And also we thought more than once that they were done but then they would just shoot more off.  It lasted a good 40 minutes but my camera died and this is the only pic I got.

The next morning I got up early and went for a walk and it is so hard to describe the beauty of the mountains and to just show pictures but that is the best that I can do.  I took these with my phone that morning. 

 

Oh yeah, and this statue/shrine was on the hill right behind the fireworks so I went up to explore.  I guess they dedicated this to “Christ of the Mines” after there was a huge flood and everyone was safe.  Pretty cool.

So on Tuesday we drove back to Farmington and I basically just chilled for the rest of the day and got ready for another week of work.  So that was my 4th of July weekend but I have to admit even with all these adventures to different places I would have much rather been joining my family with their obstacle course :) 

Its been awhile

It has, and a lot has happened.  Where do I start? Last Friday I went on a geology field trip and we went to a bunch of outcrops in Farmington all the way to Durango.

           

The next day I ended up having a much needed lazy morning and that afternoon myself and two other interns (Brett and Libby in case you were wondering) went hiking in NM at a place I think is called Canyon Head, but I’m not really sure.  But it was awesome! On the way down we did what I call sand skiing which is basically trying to keep you balance while sliding down an extremely steep, sandy hill. So much fun!

      

As we were climbing up the canyon there was a narrow path that I wanted to explore.  Brett said that he had been there before and there was no way he could get his dog out that way.  Both the interns were tired (and so was I) but I really wanted to explore it for myself so they graciously decided just to wait for me.  So I started down this path about 3-4 ft. wide and 15-20 ft. cliff going up on either side of me.  I came around the bend and saw a nest and all of the sudden a huge white owl (looked like this) swooped down towards me and up through the opening and away.  It was so awesome and huge and frightening…. Anyways, I’m glad that I went on that adventure. 

On Monday we went on a rig tour which was really cool but it took us like 3 hours to get there and then we searched for another couple of hours for the second rig and didn’t find it and it ended up taking all day long for only a 1 hour tour.  Sad day and big fail.  It was a good thing that I liked the interns I was with or it might have been miserable.

Tuesday I had meetings and stuff that would be boring to you but is still very exciting to me.  Then on Wednesday and Thursday I was out in the field again.  I have not gotten to drive any trucks yet :( But I did get to drop a plunger and see a bunch of fancy equipment. 

              

On Friday we went on a field trip to some of Conoco’s vendors and this is what I saw….

    

Yesterday most of the interns volunteered with Habitat for Humanity and painted some apartments.  It was nice to actually do some real, outdoor, physical labor for a change.  Then I took a nap, and then went hiking in Colorado.  Now it is Sunday and I am gearing up for another exciting week.  Sorry not alot of details but I’m just trying to stay caught up so I don’t forget.    

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.