Spanksgiving

The oil field never sleeps.  In my year and three months of working for the oil field I had a rig shut down for 4 hours.  The reason they shut down is because the roads were so snowed in that an ambulance could not get onto our location if we needed one.  Other then that, we work around the clock, day and night, weekends, and holidays.  I have actually forgotten what it is like to be in a good mood on Friday because the weekend is in sight and the feeling of dread on a Sunday night because you have to go back to work the next morning. 

Last year I worked Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years!  This year I had to work Thanksgiving again.  I decided that I was going to cook a huge Thanksgiving meal for all the guys out here because I was craving turkey, stuffing, and tators!  There were a few superintendents from Oxy in the neighborhood that stopped by as well.  All in all, I ended up cooking for a total of 40 people or so.  It was a lot of work but ended up pretty darn tasty.

The company men appreciated the meal so much that the next day I got a dozen roses delivered on the rig.  It was pretty funny and kind of embarrassing.  I am assuming flowers to not get delivered to rig sights very often.  I wonder if I would be a man if they still would of delivered flowers?  hmmmm...... Another thought...why do we not have any vases out here on location?  I had to use a water pitcher. 

Making out in the shower!

Have you ever arrived home after a 20 minute drive and hardly remember the drive?  This happens to all of us and known as a subconscious trance.  I feel in my job I sometimes do the same thing over and over again that I find myself in a subconscious trance.  For instance, one of my daily duties is sending out a morning report and an afternoon report.  In this report we document a bunch of data and the last part is writing out what occurred in the last 12 hours.  We get some of this information from the tour sheet which is written by the driller and roughnecks.  The other day I was in a subconscious trance and just copying word for word from the tour sheet to my morning report.  I was just about to e-mail my morning report when I jumped out of the trance and literally laughed out loud.  Here is what the daily tour sheet said.

Should I stay or should I go?

We have had our first snow falls of the year in the past week or so.  Here is a picture taken up by Stanley of those that do not know how to drive when a little snow falls.  In a 6 mile span there was over 70 vehicles in the ditch! Lucky I have my Ford Escape (which I prefer to pronounce as Es-cop-ee' like on Finding Nemo). 

Change

I know I know...I have been a terrible "blogger" lately!  I have a few blogs that I have fallen behind on my reading as well!  This blog is about change.  Lately there has been a lot of change going on our here.  First of all, the weather.  The days are getting colder and shorter.  I come to work in the dark and leave work in the dark.  Our rough necks have been dropping off like flies (is that the saying?  I am not good with sayings, but that would fill a whole other blog).  As soon as the temperature dropped into the 70's the tough boys from down south stayed down south.  We have had people coming and going!  Speaking of going, I headed up to a job near Stanley, ND.  Stanley used to be a very small little town in North Western, North Dakota.  I decided when I got to town that I needed my coffee fix and had to use the restroom (the bad part to being a coffee addict!)  I drove around the whole entire gas station and could not find a single parking spot.  There was a line of about 20 vehicles that were waiting to fill up their tanks with gas.  Good think I had a full tank!  I finally just parked across the street and walked in, used the potty, grabbed some coffee and went to pay.  I noticed instead of only having 2 tills they now had at least 6 tills.  Each line had 5 or more people standing in it.  As I looked even more closely, I realized I was the only woman in the whole entire store!  Eeesh!

Never a dull moment!

On a regular basis, my friends and family say, "Never a dull moment when Dena is around."  I believe this story is perfect evidence for why they say this!

Let's start off with a little oil field lesson.  When we drill the lateral it is not always a perfect horizontal zone.  If it was, we would say that our inclination is 90 degrees.  We would continue to drill at 90 degrees of inclination for the 10,000' of the lateral.  This would be in a perfect world.  Since we do not live in a perfect world, the inclination is constantly changing.  If the formation tends to curve upward, we would say it is something over 90 degrees (90.1, 90.2, 90.3, etc.)  If it is tilting downward, we would say it has an inclination of 89.9, 89.8, etc.  Usually these numbers do not go more then a full degree in either direction. 

We have to keep our motor and bit going in the correct direction up and down in the lateral and keep us in the "pay zone".  So if we have an up dip of 90.5 (our formation is dipping upward) and need to come up in the zone or formation, we would need our bit to travel at a 90.6 or higher.  Does that make sense?  If not, give me a call! ha j/k!

Well a few days ago, our dip went up dramatically and we had to come up in zone.  We were having troubles coming up, so they ended up having to take extreme measures!  Well..when it was all said and done, our inclination OF THE BIT was a 97.77 degrees inclination!!!!  This is unheard of and got us into trouble!!  I called into the office and my boss (thanks Felipe) made this for me!

Pretty hilarious!

Because of this super high inclination, we ended up bursting into the shale and that is not a good thing.  Our office on the wellsite was very stressed out!  I had to get up at 3 AM and figure out the plan forward.  First, we had to run out and catch samples every few minutes to verify that we had gone into the shale.  Once we did this, we then had have multiple conference calls to figure out all the options of moving ahead.  It took ALL day and I was stressed to the max. 

I came back into the work shack and walked by the garbage.  I saw there were coffee grounds from earlier that day and a thought entered my mind.  I grabbed a pinch, sneakily put them on a slide, and pretended to freak out when I looked at them under the microscope.  I had my night hand "take a look" and he could not for the life of him figure out what the sample was.  Like I said before, I do not love rocks, but I work with people who do.  Well this particular young man does love rocks.  It was so funny watching him in dismay by the fact that he did not know this rock.  He used the term squishy to describe it! NEVER A DULL MOMENT WITH ME!

Flare

Oil tends to pool right below pockets of gas.  This is what a rig that has gas looks like!  This was our flare the other day!  Grab the mallows! S'more time!

SLOGAN

"YOUR HOLE IS MY GOAL"

Traffic...UGH!

As I mentioned in my bio..this area used to be quiet.  If you had to pass, you could drive in the wrong lane for miles.  If you drove at night, you never had to turn your brights down.  The street I grew up on never had a stop sign.  Now I sit for 5 minutes at our newly installed stop sign just trying to get on main street!  Attached is a picture I took driving into town.  I had to go 45 on the highway...what is the point of passing?!

Life is crap...Life is good.

I saw a few T-shirts on my last days off that I thought were hilarious.  They apply to my job because ...

A) I am addicted to coffee

B) I'd rather be fishing then working (and that is saying A LOT!) Don't tell my dad, but fishing is not my most favorite hobby!

 C) I could definitely go for a beer after we finish this well!   It has been a stressful one!

OK...now that we know life is crap, it can also be good!  This morning, like all other mornings,

I watched the sunrise.  It was sureal.  Here is my view from my work shack...LIFE IS GOOD!

That's what she said...

I apologize to my mother in advance for this blog...Ky, this is for you! :)

Things that are discussed on the rig that I want to yell "THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID" when they are done talking.

1) We will need to ream the hole.
2) Pull the nipple.
3) Nipple up
4) Nipple down
5) Pull out of the hole
6) What would you like your pump strokes set at?
7) The hole diameter is...
8) Strokes per minute are...
9) Let's wait for bottoms up!
10) The rate of penetration is...
11) Hole depth
12) Don't forget to lubricate.
13) What is the pipe size?
14) Don't forget to use protection.
15) Rotating rubber head.


More to come!

Work Shack

I have officially started my second job as a lead geologist.  I was super excited when I got to work to see we had gotten a new command center (which is the shack the MWD, DD, and I work out of).  A reminder: the MWD controls the tools that bring data back to our offices and the DD basically does the calculations to build the curve.  Back to my new work shack...It has a kitchen and a bathroom!  YAY!  Last hole we had to use the bathroom AKA outhouse and share it with the roughnecks.  I held my pee all day!  I would NOT go in there.  My other option was to pee outside, which I also did not do (even though I am a professional squatter!)  Reminder: I work 12 hour days and start at a quarter to 5 in the morning.  It is so hard to go to bed early because the sun is out until 9:30 pm.  So needless to say, I have been pretty tired at work lately.  I noticed this sign was posted right by the door in our work shack...I don't know about you, but I think it is suggesting I can nap at work! :)

Shopping

It is funny how when things change in your life, your shopping experiences change as well.  When I was in college my favorite stores would of been Maurices, Herbergers, JC Penney, American Eagle, etc.  When I bought my first house, my favorite store to shop in was Home Depot!  I would ask for gift certificates to Home Depot for Christmas and Birthday presents! 

On a different note, I spent a weekend with my little sister a few weeks ago.  Her and I have a pretty good fashion sense (that I believe we got from our mom)!  I have been working now on the oil rigs for approximately 10 months.  I still try and keep up in the fashion world but it gets harder and harder to do!  Here are some examples:

My lil sis looked at me and said, "I like your shirt."  I replied, "Thanks, I got it for $3 at Walmart." (Not sure what I would do if I did not have a Walmart close by.)
An hour later she said, "I love your sunglasses."  I replied, "Thanks, I got them at Cenex." (I am officially shopping at gas stations!)
The other day, a friend made a comment that they like my hat.  I replied, "Thanks, I got it at Runnings." Runnings Fleet Farm!  Runnings Fleet Farm is my new favorite store to shop in...what is happening to me?!?!!?!?!

Smells

There are all sorts of smells on the oil field. 
1) Diesel:  I use diesel to clean my samples.  Diesel, being made up of non polar molecules, will dissolve the "alike" non polar drilling fluid that is contaminating our samples, leaving us with clean rocks to analyze!  I have a bucket full of diesel just sitting in my work shack and oh does it smell!

2) Rough necks: This spring we had a terrible storm in May.  The towns of Watford City, Williston, New Town and many others did not have power for days!  This in turn denied the opportunity for our roughnecks to shower for 5 days!  At the beginning of every shift, we have a safety meeting that is located in a very small room with lots of people (including all the rough necks) crammed inside!  I can describe the smell given off by these boys as a mixture of BO, 5 day old bacon grease (from the last breakfast they cooked), diesel, rotten eggs, the grease that is accumulating on their hair, chew, cigarette smoke, sweat, and morning breathe.

3)  There is a certain smell that the rig gives off and I can't describe it.  It is a faint smell but even after I wash my clothes, I can still smell it on them.  I wash my rig clothes, box them up, and store them in the garage on my days off!

4) Lately, the smell of grilling has made it's appearance!  Summer is finally here and our new shacks have built in grills!  Yummm!

5)  Coffee:  There is A LOT of coffee that is drank out here!  Early mornings + long shifts= not a lot of sleep= lots of coffee!

6) Cigarette smoke:  One guy I work with smokes at least two packs a day.  He coughs like he is coughing up chunks of his lungs.  I refreshed my memory on how to do CPR, just in case! (Not really sure if I want to do mouth to mouth if it comes down to it!)

7) Lastly, this made me chuckle.  I got a call from our safety guy asking if I had an extra box of sample bags that another rig could borrow and replace.  I said I sure did!  15 minutes later he stopped by to pick them up...side track for a minute:  This is the first rig where I actually work with another girl!  She is the MDW and works days just like me.  Most of the time it is just her and I in the work shack all day long.  OK back to the story.  This safety guy comes in, I hand him the box of sample bags, we all chat a bit, and he leaves.  He doesn't just leave the room, but he also leaves behind a very POWERFUL smell of CK1.  Remember that cologne from like the 1990's!!!  UFF DA!  We had to open the windows because it was SO strong! 

If you look to the right...just type in your email address and you will be notified when I have a new post! :)  Have a great day!

Purse

The other day my purse broke!  I was racking my brain to figure out a way to fix it.  Luckily, I had some zip ties in my office.  Before I started this job, I had never used a zip tie.  Now these lovely little inventions are part of my "essential items" list.  Attached is a picture of my repaired purse!



The Arrows are not part of my purse!



My brand new shack!

I am almost officially done with my very first job as a lead.  We are about half way done with the lateral part of the well.  In case you didn't know, we drill straight down about 10,000 feet, then drill a curve, then drill horizontally for about 10,000 feet.  I am the lead geologist for this brand spankin new well by Oxy.  I am going to post some pictures of my very own living shack.  It is brand new and super fancy!!!

Hard Wood Floors!

Stainless Steele Appliances!

Leather Couch and Surround Sound!

HUGE Flat Screen TV!

The un-made Bunkbeds!  Sorry mom...

Another flat screen TV in bedroom.

Shower and toilet

Vanity

Yo!

Click HERE!
I put together a word document on what my job actually entails.  It is kinda long, but has lots of cool pictures! :)  Check it out!

Use login: oilfieldwoman@gmail.com
password: oilfieldwoman1

Promotion!

I am currently in training to become a lead geologist which is super exciting!  This job we are doing has been very stressful.  Not only do we have to land the curve exactly in the Three Forks, geo-steer our way through the lateral to make sure we don't get out of the "money zone", but we also are running two cores.  A core is when they go down with a different bit and actually cut out a 60' interval of the earth that is the size of a hockey puck (but 60 or more feet long).  This was very stressful because we had to start the core at a very specific point as well.  We have been working many 20 hour days, stressed to the max, that type of thing.  The guy who is training me said he feels like he is training a mob bosses daughter to ride a bike.  If she falls and skins her knee, someone will be right there to gash up his knee.  Make sense?  If I mess up something on this job, it reflects on him.  I thought this was funny.  I went to tell my night hand about it and I said, "Bob (not actually his name) says he is a mob bosses daughter." ...this job is wearing on my brain!

A new experience for me...

My whole life I have grown up using the expression "Uff dah".  Today I said it as I was picking something heavy up.  The two guys I work with have never heard the expression before!  Can you believe this!  I was just flabbergasted to hear that there are people in this world that don't know what Uff Dah means!  They even noticed that it was written on my Fargo marathon bag I have in the office.  Now they use it numerous times a day...I can't decide if they are mocking me or actually like saying it!

Night pictures

At night the rig is very lit up!  Sometimes I look at the rig and pretend I am in Vegas!

Nonportable-Nonpotable

There have been numerous times in my life where someone has told me I need to pay better attention to minute details.  In college I would email my sister my papers for composition and she would proofread them.  I would get it back with swear words on it because I did not pay enough attention to the details of the paper.  I have spent a lot of time trying to improve this one flaw of mine but I recently made an oops.  Our water on the rig is transported out here from who-knows-where.  Sometimes it has a funny smell, sometimes it has a funny tint, and sometimes it is just fine.  Kind of like Mexico, it is a known fact out here to not drink the water.  For some reason, this was not brought to my attention.  Everything in our shack that runs water has a label "nonpotable".  Also, I miss read the word nonpotable and thought it said nonpoRtable.  So in my super smart mind, I assumed you just could not transport it.  I figured they pay a lot of money to get it out here so they didn't want anyone taking any back home with them.  Well I had been getting pretty sick for some time (I won't go into details) and noticed that everyone else had bottled water.  I was going off about all the water bottles and waste they were producing, which lead to the conversation that you are not supposed to drink the water.  Which then lead to a bet that the words on the toilet were nonpotable, not portable.  I lost the bet.  Just a FYI, nonpotable means "Water that has not been examined, properly treated, and not approved by appropriate authorities as being safe for consumption".  Gross. 

I love rocks!

OK, I do not love rocks.  They have never been a passion of mine and never will.  I do work with some people who LOVE rocks.  They have rock collections.  Just holding a rock makes them happy.  This is just bizarre to me.  I have never really collected anything in my life.  I guess I did go through the beanie baby phase..but who didn't! :) 

My shack

For the time that I am out on the rig, I live in a shack.  Here are pictures of what some of the shacks look like.  They are fully stocked with pots and pans, towels, bedding, etc.  Not to shabby!  It is like camping but way better!

Oil field is like the dorms...boys are gross!

As I was drifting off to sleep I was thinking of how much living on the oil rig reminds me of the dorms. 
There are a few differences.
1)  I did NOT live in a coed dorm room.  Here I am the "coed"...the only girl!

2) I do not have to attend class...I do, however, have to work!

3)  There is no alcohol allowed on the rig...however, there was no alcohol allowed in the dorms.  I never broke that rule in college (wink, wink).  I can lose my job if they find alcohol outside or inside your body when on location. 


Similarities include the following:

1) Lots of pranks- in college my friends moved my entire dorm room into the laundry room!  Nothing will ever beat that prank!!

     a) I never open a cupboard without standing as far away from it as possible.  I have had way too many cups of water dumped on me that have been propped up against the door on the inside of the cupboard.

     b)  I have found a fake snake in numerous places.  My cereal box, my whirly popcorn popper, my computer bag, my sample of rocks, just to name a few.

     c) One of the roughnecks hid in the trash box.  When I hauled out the trash he jumped out and scared me.  I threw the garbage and took off running.  It scared the bejesus out of me!

     d) Boys are gross.  The other day I went into the bathroom to put my hair in a ponytail.  There was a big number two in the toilet!  I came out and one guy was laughing.  He took a number two and left it for the next guy.  I don't think he was expecting the next guy to be me!  

     e)  We have a trainee working out here with us.  The other day he had to go up to the dog house to get information. 

2) Everyone eats like college kids.  Lots of ramen noodles!  I did dye Easter eggs for the guys on the rig.  They were extremely impressed!!  This is a picture I took with my phone...I am the only one out here that doesn't have some kind of smart phone! 

3)  Showering reminds me of the dorms.  Everyone has their own shower, but the hot water is limited.  Actually out here, the water (period) is limited.  Yesterday we were running low so everyone had to pee outside!  I was the lucky one and got to use the toilet but had to obey the rule "If it's yellow, let it mellow, if it's brown, flush it down."  I wish the guy from number 1d would of obeyed this rule! :)

4) When you have time off you find silly things to do.  We had the afternoon off so a few of us headed to Minot.  I convinced 2 guys to stop and tractor supply and hold the baby chicks, ducks, and bunnies!

I think that is all for now!  Maybe I will add to this as the night goes on!  Have a great week everyone!

PS.  Here is a pretty view of the lake (left), a farm, and the rig I am currently on (far right). 



The Trap

As a geologist, one of the things we are responsible for is monitoring the gas.  We use a "trap" that is mounted on the possum belly.  The possum belly receives the flow of drilling fluid that was used to drill the hole.  It is located at the head of the shaker.  The shaker is a device that removes cuttings from the drilling fluid after it has been down hole.  The trap is attached so that its lower end is constantly beneath the surface of mud flowing in the possum belly. The mud is drawn into the trap where it is agitated to release the different gases which are drawn off for measurement. This trap weights 287 pounds (OK maybe 40lbs).  It is an awkward shape and a pain in the rear end to hook on to the possum belly. 

A few jobs ago, I was asked to take the trap up to the possum belly and get it all set up by myself!  I didn't want to look like a wimp, so I did.  I got it all the way up to the shakers and I just could not lift it up (shoulder height) by myself.  My lead had to come out to help me lift it up.  We get it set up, plug it in, and guess what?  The motor is not working!  He then tells me to take it down and carry it to the work shack, once again by myself.  I do this, needless to say I had black and blue legs for 2 weeks!  We end up getting a new one and get it set up. 

We finish the well 18 days later and he tells me to go up to the shakers and take the trap down.  GRRRR!  By this time, I know some of the roughnecks, so I feel comfortable to ask them for help.  I get up there and there is one guy standing there.  I get him to help me and he ends up doing it all by himself!  He takes it down and carries it all the way to our work shack! 

I walk in and all the guys I work with are rolling with laughter.  I don't get what is so funny!  Turns out this guy that helped me is the MUD ENGINEER! Oopsies!

Feminine Hygiene Products

I just started on a new rig last night.  I arrived, met with my new lead, discussed the plan, and started unpacking.  We decided to get settled into our living shack before we set up our work shack.  After a couple hours of disinfecting everything (I think I am a germ-a-phob out here!), I got into my FR (fire resistant) clothing and my bedazzled steel-toed boots and headed over to the work shack.  I was hanging out waiting for my lead to come over.  He arrived carrying two things in his hands that caught my attention right away.  I was distracted by someone (I am easily distracted) and started working on something.  In a couple of minutes, I looked at my lead and it hit me.  He was opening two pads!!  I asked him, "Are those what I think they are?"  Two guys that have been working with him for 10 or more jobs hadn't noticed until I said this.  Sure enough, they were maxi pads and he was putting them in his shoes!  We all just started to laugh and didn't really know what to say.  Supposedly he gets blisters from shoes on his achillies tendon.  Band aids don't work.  He has spent hundreds of dollars trying to find something to put in his shoes to prevent this and maxi pads work the best! I have attached a picture.  Of course, being a girl, I noticed.  No one else had noticed for years!!  He did mention that they soak up the sweat (gross).  Also, he left them in the back of his pickup along with other things on his last break.  His shoes were the only thing that stayed dry!  The jokes started with, Have you tried ones with WINGS? or are these SUPER absorbent???

sick

A few nights ago I did not feel all that great.  I had a headache and my stomach was rolling.  I stuck it out and worked through the night.  The whole night I had that feeling where I wanted to throw up, but just couldn't make myself.  If I would of thought about this a little more, all I would of had to do is go into the bathroom and look at the toilet.  Imagine five men sharing a toilet for over a month.  Do you think they clean it?? Heck no!  If I would of gotten close to that thing I prolly would of been "calling dinosaurs" right away!  This saying kinda fits because dinosaurs=fossils=fossil fuels=oil=we are drilling oil. HA!  This reminds me of Mrs Doubtfire's rap.  I'm a raptor, doin what I can, gonna eat everything til the appearance of man.  Yo-yo see me, I'm livin below the soil.  I'll be back but I'm comin as OIL!

Continuing on...So I still felt like poo and had to go to the safety meeting.  Half way through, I had to leave because I was going to visit dinos.  Later I found out that right before I left (I didn't pay much attention in the meeting) the guys were getting chewed out because someone found dirty magazines in the tool shack!  Naughty, naughty!  They thought I left the meeting because I felt uncomfortable about the dirty magazines!

my lead

My lead is from out of state.  The other day he was walking from our work shack to our living shack (which is about 4 trailers down).  As he was leaving I looked at him and couldn't help but laugh.  He put on snow boots, his HUGE winter coat, big gloves, and his hard hat (which has a thingy hanging down off the sides that cover your ears).  He reminded me of the kid off of "The Christmas Story" that gets bundled up too much that he can't hardly move! Except this kid was going out to play for a whole day.  Funny stuff...

Hobbies

One thing this job has given me the opportunity to do is discover new hobbies.  Below is a list of things I have taken up.  Looking for more ideas!!!

• Reading...I always liked to read. I have been on this rig for 7 days and have read 4 books.  You do the math!
• Blogging...duh!
• Playing guitar...This is not going so well.  When I play a G and C it doesn't sound pretty.  And I know what you are all thinking...did I tune the guitar or am I playing the chords right.  These are questions that remind me of tech services at the high school I taught at.  Whenever I had a problem with something they would always ask..Is it plugged in?  Is it turned on?  Grrrr!  My mom tuned the guitar before I left and YES my fingers are in the right spot!
• Watching movies.  MWD (Measurement While Drilling engineer) are the guys that are in charge of the tool part of the assembly.  I like to call them "Movie watching dudes".  They always have the newest movies or the best movies available for me to borrow!  I have watched more TV and movies this last 6 months then I have in my entire life combined!

Sleep

There are three parts to the drilling assembly.  The part that spins and drills the hole is the bit.  It is at the very end of the pipe.  Next to it is the motor and then is the tool.  The tool sends information back to the command center (working shack) that allows us to drill a successful hole.  We finished drilling the vertical hole yesterday and had to trip out (pull all the pipe and assembly out of the hold) and change the assembly so we can start drilling the curve.  In other words, I dont' have to work!  I decided to get some sleep (keep in mind I am used to working all night).  I laid in bed around 1 am.  I tried counting sheep, my mind starts to wonder.  I then tried to imagine being on a beach somewhere on the coast of some island.  I imagined the humming of the rig to be waves washing up on the shore.  I start twittering my thumbs.  I end up reading all night and sleeping all day! Grrr!

Where are we?

The tool pusher came into the safety meeting about a month ago when we had been having the terrible cold, snowing typical ND winter day after day after day.  The only thing he said was, "The bible says hell is a place of ice cold and darkness".  Everyone just sat quiet, then it registered what he was saying.  I believe he thinks he is in hell.  Dem der outta staters can't handle dis Nort-dakota weather!

Compliment

I was told yesterday that I am the prettiest girl on the rig (I am the only girl on the rig probably in a 40 mile radius!)

October 2010

I got off work around 5 in the morning and went right to bed.  Around 9 am someone was pounding on my door saying that I had to get up because the drug dogs were here (just like at school!!).  I got up and went to the safety shack.  Everyone on sight was in there including Tim Fischer (my neighbor in Killdeer).  He was driving truck and once you come on location you can't leave until the dog checks are done.  He was NOT happy!  So we got to hang out for a few hours.  I am tired and totally out of it.  When they get done, the company man pulls us all outside and tells us the results.  Everything was fine, he thanked the guys for coming out, thanked everyone for being patient, etc.  As he was finishing up talking, he brought his hands together which I took as he is going to start clapping.  So what do I do?  I start clapping so loud and fanatically (like I was giving a standing ovation at some amazing concert).  Everyone stops and looks at me!  My face turned red and I was totally embarrassed.  From then on, the rough necks always clapped when I walked by.  UGH!  Keep in mind I was on a lack of sleep! :)

TV

We would not survive without TV.  Some of the shows the guys watch that annoy me because they watch them ALL the time!

• Married with Children
• Westerns
• NCIS

Lots of the guys I work with play video games on their computers.  Personally I think this is nerdy, but I look at rocks for a living so I can't say much! :) Games they play...

• World of Warcraft
• MMORPG  (something something something role playing something)

December 2010

The New Town bridge!  Lots of snow this winter!

My first rig

My first rig by Williston.  I bedazzled my steel toed boots! Our living shacks are shown also!

Haha!

October 2010

Rig update:  This is a picture of me right before i climbed to the top of the derrek.  It is called the crown.  I feel like I belong there because I have given myself the nickname CRUDE QUEEN.

Work can be boring sometime.  Sometime we are drilling 30 feet and hour.  I watch movies, read books and other things to keep me busy.  Today I tried chewing nicorette gum to see if I would get a buzz
I work all night since I am the second hand. 

My mom was bringing me out ingredients to make cookies.  She texted me and asked if I have oil out there (on the rig).  I thought she meant if the rig was producing oil so I told her we have ALOT.  She did not bring me cooking oil so I was unable to make cookies!

Never a dull moment (except for the 12 hours I work and the 8 hours a day I sleep)

Another girl!

September 2010
I started working with another girl.  She smokes, swears, and drinks bourbon straight.  I don't do any of these things.  I am not sure if I belong out here! :)

Went for a run outside today.  Only in North Dakota can you run and end up herding cattle for 3 miles!

Interesting Facts

I am not an official geologist.  I do not have a geology degree.  I have a chemistry and biology degree.  I do love science.  I do not love rocks.  I work with people who LOVE rocks.  I mean REALLY love rocks.  It is their passion.

What do people call me?

Nicknames for geologists:

• Pebble Pusher
• Rock Hound
• Rockist
• Pebble Pimp
• Mud Logger
• Dirt Doctor

Funny things we say:

• I am having gas problems (we monitor the gas that comes up hole)
• That "rocks"
• more to come...

Introduction

I am not a writer, so this is going to be a new concept for me.  I am originally from a small, quiet town in western North Dakota.  Killdeer is what the town is called and it is no longer quiet.  It is booming with traffic that is rushing from rig to rig.  I got a job this summer working as a geologist.  I live on the rig for around 3 weeks.  Many funny and interesting things happen.  This blog will tell my stories!