I'm Jeff and I'm from Western Canada...the good part, Northern BC and Alberta. I'm just normal oilfield trash that got interested in blogging. Can't say I am the most prolific or timely, but if I have something to say I usually will...So anyway this is just a look through my eyes once in a while...I don't claim to be right, but I'll never be left.
Visit my you tube channel under username: CDNcatskinner
"Everyones' gotta be something Me I'm stupid, It's all I ever wanted to be, Shock me again and I'll say, Anything you want me to"
I am going to make a call soon...like this afternoon. I will be phoning my Drilling Manager and putting forth a case for me to take the 16th and 17th of December off. I will need to find a replacement. I will need to pay the replacement out of my own pocket (How many jobs require that?).
Need the time off to attend the Little One's dance performance and a show that her choir group will be putting on. I promised and promises are hard to keep in this business, but this one will be kept.
This last run has been very busy. Since I came back almost a month ago the oil company has decided to bring in another drilling rig. We have to keep ahead of two again. Not so easy when the average drill time is around 25 to 28 days. Every month a new site must be ready for each rig. Thankfully the build we finished last week will have 2 wells drilled consecutively on the same pad. This will give a bit of breathing room. Unfortunately the other rig we brought in last month will need a home before Christmas. I am scrambling now and have just started the build today...right when I thought I would be done and homeward bound.
In addition to lease site preparation the oil company has thrown a bunch of new survey requests out. (this is adding to the backlog of sites that we already have plans for). I have been up to Red Earth and down here in Edson with survey crews trying to get them all completed (That reminds me that I did not submit a construction cost estimate for the Red Earth job yet, I normally refuse to estimate without a survey plan in hand, but the plan came in on Friday). I wish I had my tracks on the quad but the dealer put installation off until the 17th, I have a friend that will take the quad in that morning. Tracks would have been very useful this week. Did I mention I rolled the darn thing off my pickup while unloading? No? Well my Facebook friends were treated to the shin injury photo. I will save the details and the picture for there. Will be nice to bring my ramps down when I come back in 3 days, the borrowed ones shit out on me which is why the quad rolled. They will need modification. The tracks will make it a lot longer...have to figure that out another day
I came back to work after too little time off. Had fun with PG and the kids, did some Christmas shopping. Excited about it, mostly done, just put myself in cruise and wait for it to happen now. That is a new one for me, I'm usually the one that is out a few days before x-mas, spending too much to make up for the lack of my thoughtfulness. This time it was good to think about it and do some careful research for once.
PG and I bought something together that is going to help out a whole bunch: Purchased a sea-can. 20-footer, brand new. Had it hauled out to my folks place and put it by the barn. Its going to be used for storage. In lieu of a house of our own it is the best thing for right now and will help get organized. Already hauled some stuff over and its in use.
Today is not the best. I traveled down yesterday, took my time because of the icy roads, also slow because I was stopping constantly to send email or make phone calls for the new job that I kicked off today. I really don't know how I get things done sometimes...no plan, just make a few calls. For some reason unknown to me they seem to be in order. I was able to bid the job out to four contractors on short notice and the prices all came in today. I got some appointments set up with TransCanada Pipeline and Talisman reps and those normally take 72 hours before they will even talk. I got my logger taking down the wood, the labourers were out to get the wire fences down and the contractor is coming tomorrow to start moving dirt. Wow I can't believe it, something isn't right....
Yup...looked at my email today, another prog came out and Junior Oil Company wants to scout and survey a new location in Red Earth. Some say its the armpit of Alberta, (the Asshole position is currently held by Rainbow Lake or Fox Vegas depending on your point of view)...I just say F&*K!! I do not want to do it...I do not want work there, travel there or any other there you can think of...I had a hard and fast rule once that I don't work north of HWY 43. Last year Slave Lake was enough of a pain in my ass...Red Earth is just that much more. Farther out, living in camp, mosquitoes and rain in the summer...desolate winter and all that comes with it when civilization is 3 hours away by fast car... and that only gets me back to Slave. The problem is I only told the outfit I work for about my rule...they have nothing to do with Junior Oil Company...Junior don't know about my hang-ups. Damn this is going to suck. I found myself reaching for a non existent cigarette pack this afternoon...must be nervous stress.
So I went out and bought some tracks for my quad today, going to need them to travel around with surveyors in the snow. Can't get them put on my quad until late next week and that will probably be too late...have to rent a snowmobile in the mean time.
I got the Tatou 4S system, from what I have read they are a good contraption, usable all year long and cost less that the Bombardier Apache tracks. We will see.
I am expecting a slow down, (hopefully). We (the oil company I work for) have 2 drilling rigs going in Alberta, one will be leaving soon and a 3rd has already been released from a location in British Columbia.
It's hard to stay ahead of them and still have a reasonable amount of ...well "Life". I will be glad to get a month or two to wind down. Just chill...I don't know if it will work that way, I know it wouldn't hurt my feelings any.
Somehow we seem to put our worth in the job we do, how busy we are and how much or how little we sacrifice to make money. I know I have said it before: The oilfield life is hard for others to understand. The time away from family and friends...heck I can't even say I have many friends outside of work. My family understands because I grew up with a father that was away from home just as much if not more than I am now. New family not so much. It is very hard on relationships, and its hard for those that grew up in a 9 to 5 home to have to say goodbye for weeks or even months at a time. Its foreign, its alien.
I had a milestone birthday this past summer and some questions I have been secretly asking myself have been on my mind more than ever. Is this worth it? Am I greedy? Is there any life change I can make that will allow a "normal" life? Can the oilpatch survive and do my job without me? I say that last one tongue in cheek because I already know the answer. That's what it all boils down to though isn't it? If I say no to the next job...I want to take a month off, I want scheduled days off, I want to be able to plan a better life...won't I just get replaced and loose my place in line by some other schmuck who will do it better and with less demands than I would make?
I hate... I absolutely loath some of the people that do the same work as I do. They are greedy...and egotistical. They will stab you in the back to get a step ahead. They will slag your work. Whiny small minded bitches that like to brag.
In case some were wondering I am still plucking away on my Banjo "Lonesome". I'm learning a bit more every time I sit down with her. It has been a difficult yet interesting experience so far.
I'm coming at it from zero musical ability. I'm not even sure if I am doing anything right, I could even be tone deaf, I just don't know. The sense of satisfaction when I finally learn a lick or a short tune is good though and makes my happy. I know a bit of dueling banjos, I learned the G Lick enough to do it eyes closed and I know most of the rolls; finally cracking the secret of the alternating thumb roll last week made me ecstatic. If you understand what I just related you will find it very odd that I know the G lick yet don't know the very basic finger picking patterns. And that is why:
I need lessons. Even on my own I have had to beat out some bad habits that started almost immediately. One example is that I had read or heard that the little finger on the right hand should be anchored...well the bottom of the bridge seemed like a good place for the bugger to stay. Turns out that is wrong and will mute the full sound of possibilities. Trying to relearn what I had learned with a different little finger position set me back a long ways but its good now. I really do need lessons, scheduled one on one would be great but is impossible with my current job.
I got a beginner lesson book when I bought Lonesome but found that it can only take me so far if I can't hear what it is supposed to sound like. My next source of learning material was Youtube, and that works to a degree, but little things such as exercises, proper hand position ect....are not always taught properly. Though there are some very good instructors on Youtube, what I have found was that most of the them will only show a little as an enticement to get me to buy a lesson or program. I ended up buying some online lessons. I settled on the Tony Trisckha School of Banjo. It is an online program that could take me from beginner to more advance playing if I wanted. It seems alright so far, there are video lessons with tabs, then when I feel up to it I can record my playing on webcam and have Tony or another teacher actually critique it and give me pointers on how to improve.
Of course as with anything worth doing well, it takes perseverance and practice to get better. That is what I am lacking the most right now and it is disappointing to me. I am happy in the sense that I have not given up, but there are gaps when I just don't pick Lonesome up enough, in my opinion.
As I sit here at work watching the equipment move dirt back and forth there seems like no time like the present to set a few more goals, so here s one: In 6 months I want to know a whole song...not some simple little tune, but a substantial song that shows some progression.
I got another comment from a hippy on youtube today. Another know-it-all brain washed piece of .... Said he was unsubbing, called me ignorant, said I should show some respect for "Mother Earth" Oh yes the mantra of the unwashed... Used as if it is a holy phrase, used like a curse on those they feel do not show as much feeling and concern for the planet as "they" do.
I have a problem with that type of thinking. I have a problem with the environmental movement and the creeping way it has of becoming mainstream thinking. It's because I have some pride and a little bit of self respect. I am not a hypocrite I live in a western society and realize that there is the real world and there is the fantasy guilt ridden enviro-hippy world. That fantasy world isn't just populated by the stereo-typical dirty acid baked loser anymore. With the advent of massive culture swindlers like Al Gore and David Suzuki that profit from the environmental guilt of others, it seems that anyone can now be a hypocritical enviro-hippy.
These are the people that tell you to recycle but fail to mention the energy put in is more than the energy saved. These are the Prius owners smug in their sh*t-boxes that fail to realize the damage done to exploit rare earth minerals found in the battery, and fail to mention the toxic mess left behind when the battery is worn out. I have a problem turning my lights off for an hour every year like it somehow helps to raise awareness of the electrical toll our western society puts on our "environment". Yes like that makes a difference especially when the diligent modern enviros then turn the lights back on and microwave their hot pockets for a late night snack. Padding back to the bedroom on heated floors to sleep until they awake the next day to visit Wallmart way out in the suburbs, save a few bucks buying Chinese merchandise, never giving a second thought to the rampant slave labour, over population and environmental destruction that is occurring at an exponential rate overseas.
I have to laugh whenever I am criticized by the holier than thou environmentalists. I laugh because these keyboard commandos comment back to me using a keyboard ...get it? It is made of plastic, where does plastic come from dumbass? PETRO-CHEMICALS. There is simply no argument that can win once that fact is realized. Should not the church of Mother Earth forsake all modern convenience? If they do I will never hear from them...and viola the hippy dilemma is solved and the point is moot.
No I'm not a hypocrite, not a hippy. Just someone that realizes all too well how the real world operates and tries to make a living like everyone else no matter how high the bullsh*t is stacked in front of me
Been awhile since I posted anything to my blog, I do believe I missed the entire month of August. Things going along the same for the most part. Had a run in with a new love...grader love, as in a brand new 772GP John Deere that I was allowed to run for 5 days when my old contractor friends in BC won the latest location bid that I had to construct up there. "Up there", what does that even mean? Means I'm working in Central Alberta for the most part with the odd trip back "Home", only this time it was for a job that I was supervising for Junior oil company. Loved that grader so much that I wanted to stay, take a cut in pay go operate to be around family for once in the last 15 years. I joked with my bosses a few years ago that if they bought a G model John Deere grader I would quit what I was doing and come back as long as I was the only one to sit in the seat. The joke almost became a reality, but I have no reason to go yet. I'm not pissed off, jobs are going relatively well for Junior Oil Company and I still want the consulting money. So nice to have choices in this job environment, not everyone has that.
Mystery character?
I had my brother start on some character work for the idea I mentioned in the last blog and this is the very early beginnings of what we have planned. The little guys name and occupation have yet to be revealed. Some may have guessed, but I'm still letting the premise percolate for a time before I reveal everything. Its a good start.
I don't know what I can say about the weather that doesn't make me sound like a broken record...and we did break some records. The rain has been unbelievable in June and July. Work a day and a half, shut down for three.
The Strathcona job finished drilling and I was asked by a manager to dry the site out then be on-hand for the rig move. Oh goddammit! I don't want anything to do with rig movers other than floating around to take pictures of their cool trucks. Rig moves are dangerous, the last thing I want to be is the guy that the hammer falls on when an incident occurs. Thankfully it went well...except for one thing: We knew the truck pictured above might need some help around a few corners. As it turned out the bed truck that could have done the pulling was behind and had no way to get in front on the narrow road. The truck push comes up and asks if the dozer could be out front, I said yes but that I would prefer that he did not go past the gate. About an hour later I got a call from the contractor manager and he is quite IRATE. The point of the phone call is to find out if I sent the dozer out onto the county gravel. I said I never but I'm behind the rig and can't see what they have done. Turns out the truck push did walk the cat over the texas gate and out onto the county road. Apparently the county has informed the contractor that they are now looking at a $20,000 fine for having a track machine on one of their roads. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME! I know how they found out: Our resident landowner (remember ol' greedy gopher guts from a previous post?) Had to be him. He called the county and like the rat he is ratted on us. I'm mad. The contractor is mad...the truck push is in shit. Everything turned out OK in the end. I had to get a grader out pronto to fix 10m of barely visible tracks.
I got 2 days off once things calmed down to just one rained out job (that is 2 weeks behind schedule and 26 days long so far). I went home, that was nice but way too short. I had one thing to arrange before I went: I have had a young friend on youtube that has wanted to meet up with me for a few years now. Turns out that another friend of his that I also know from youtube was out visiting him from Newfoundland. They would be in Grande Prairie when I come through so I texted him and set up lunch. It was nice meeting Nigel and Tyler they are equipment fanatics just like me so we had lots to talk about...check out their youtube channels:
Another eventful thing worth mentioning is forgetting my laptop when I came back to work, oh well I hated the long drive back, but I got to spend another day with PG and the kids. ;-)
I have this idea that I am trying to flesh out...youtube has offered me a "store" button on my catskinner channel. I thought why not, if the product is good and people want to wear it or drink from it...why not have some fun branding the name and a character, it'll be an adventure and a new hobby for me. Got to warn you though, the things I find funny usually fall on the side of vulgarity and very poor taste. I expect nothing less and if the ideas I have down on paper so far are any indication....
This is a hard entry to write and for that reason no companies or people will be named. Like the last post mentioned, June has been a tough month. The pressure is building to get things built at work and the weather has not been cooperating.
I have a certain job that needs to be done and for a variety of reasons it is not a good one. I'm required to get competitive quotes from three contractors and despite the language in my bid sheet, low cost bid "usually" trumps all other considerations. In the bid I describe what I want, what is expected and what the conditions are. To be honest the quote I put out was not worded or explained as well as it should have been, however personal phone conversations I had with each of the bidders were used for further clarification before the job was awarded. That is an important point as you will discover later on.
The job consisted of half a kilometer of road and a lease location to be padded with hauled fill from a "borrow" pit on a muskeg (low-ground northern swamp) Due to some environmental concerns with the local wildlife I could not use the "borrow" pit I had selected and had to designate another not so suitable area for this purpose. There was some confusion because the eliminated "borrow" still appeared on the survey plan the contractors were using to bid from, but that had been cleared up.
Onto the job: The contractor involved was one I had a history with and I trusted them. The lead catskinner was one I know...I get along with him, but to put it simply he has a union mentality that doesn't go over so well in the oilpatch. We get started on the job. It's wet as expected and even wetter because of the recent rains. The material in the borrow pit is silty the first foot or three, gets better and then runs water as the hard shale layer is reached. Its not an easy problem to solve. I call the companies manager who happens to be the owners son, (I'll call him Junior from here on in). I tell Junior two days into the job that maybe he should come to the site and have a meeting. I'm concerned, I'm not out here to break contractors or see that they loose money, but in a competitive bid world you take your chances. I could see that if something wasn't done they could loose big time. We have the meeting, discussed things heatedly and found what I thought was a solution. It involved me paying for an extra machine, labourers and water pumps to help them stay ahead of the water infiltration while they dug for fill. Junior approaches me later and asks me if I would consider doing the entire job by the hour, I tell him that I don't like that idea, you bid the job, I'm willing to help but that's it. It's strange to me that the extra $100,000 Junior thinks they might be out would have put their bid in second place on the original bid list. I get a call from Lead Catskinner towards the end of the day, despite the meeting everything is impossible to him. We have another meeting between the two of us and I reiterate the plan that will work but he just can't envision it and continually tries to champion his plan that won't work without going by the hour.
That night Junior sends me a letter on their company letterhead. For the most part it outlines why they will not honor their bid. He had someone at head office help him write it. The language is very respectful but with a threatening undertone. The letter was bad enough. Not honoring the bid is strike two. The part that got me worked up enough to throw them entirely off the job was a little paragraph describing the procedure to de-water the area and what environmental authorities should be contacted beforehand. Seems logical right? Seems benign right? Just a helpful suggestion... No. I read between the lines. What I see is a contractor trying to bully me into hourly work. I see a contractor threatening to report me if by chance they don't continue to do the work by the hour and I go with someone else. It tells me that they will come out like a thief in the night and tattletail. De-watering was never a concern of mine. There are steps to follow. I don't need to be schooled by Junior (who worked on a job of mine just after graduating from diapers).
So I have been threatened...the reasons for reneging listed in the letter are false and only used to make their case for hourly work seem better than it is. What can I do?
I think about it for an hour and calm down. I inform my manager of the situation and write the following response email to their letter:
Please email field tickets for my signature reflecting the machine hours worked over the last 3 days along with subsistence costs, mob demob and travel time the operators may require.
You may demob your equipment at your convenience, weather permitting. Please abide by the 30kmph speed limit when driving past the residences on the gravel road.
As a side note I received a call from the owner a day later (He was out of the country). I got an apology. He said the letter should never have been sent. I said our friendship was still intact, I valued him as a friend, but the chances of ever working for this particular oil company again were over. Its sad, I hope Junior learned a lesson.
June monsoons' have arrived...as June always seems to do. Its predictable and unpredictable in the most unforgiving way. I am normally a calm, take it as it happens type muppet, but the rains and delay to my work are starting to eat away at any confidence I might have had before. Its like this every year.
I have 4 locations to do before the end of June, we have had very few days this month without rain...not good. I don't think I have ever had 4 (substantial) jobs that had to be started at the same time. My pick-up or "office" is a mess as I try to correlate files, make the proper notifications, phone the people that need to be phoned and try to plan ahead.
I freak myself out sometimes trying to second guess my cluttered mind. "Did I do a first call?" "which one is the drilling rig going to first?" "Did I tell this landowner I want to start work?...no dammit that's the other job...you know...the one you haven't started because you were waiting for something to come over email" Leaving messages for people that don't seem to be tied to the phone like "YOU" are.
And then the rain...when it rains you are shut down. The equipment is parked...and you wait. The forecast says its going to be a couple of days before it clears Wish you could go home but that 4th job, you know the one with the extra special greedy landowner that wanted his entry cheque early? Smart you went and planned on Tuesday to take it to him on Friday, maybe kill 2 birds with one stone, get it over with so that proper preparations could be made. Seemed like a good plan. Rain...so here you sit when you could have been travelling home. Can't break an appointment and rile up ol' greedy gopher guts. No he wants his money NOW! Even got your cell number and called to see when he could have it. Not the way its supposed to work, but oh well...
RAIN! and its Wednesday...no way to travel home 700km's that way for 2 days when you are supposed to be 300km's the other way...bright and early...Friday in the AM.
Maybe I will get a few snarky remarks from friends, maybe I will get some weird looks from family, but I don't care, I am going to say it: Ford sucks, but I can't change brands. I've driven all the other makes, the only one that works in the bush consistently is Ford... for better or worse.
The number one grievance this time around is the fact that I bought an extended warranty policy that is almost useless because I can't afford to book an appointment 1-2 weeks in advance. I never know where I will be or what dealer I will be closest too. Ford states that the warranty is North American wide, but just try to book at any dealer other than the one you bought from and see how you get treated. I feel like I am always low on the totem pole of priorities when I try to get work done.
I came home from the latest job the other day. I have taken to going different routes, trying to find the fastest most direct road with as little aggravating traffic as possible. So this time I came through the Alberta BC border at Baytree, and like always I try to fill up in Alberta so I don't contribute or pay into any socialist British Columbia tax hole and their ongoing green-hippy-bullshit adventures in fleecing the evil motoring public. Anyway I stop at Baytree for what I thought was a good deal, hey $1.14 per liter as opposed to $1.25 in communist BC is a good deal or so I thought. Wrong. Starting my pickup the next day proved troublesome. I got some bad gas. I should have known better...little podunk gas station out in the middle of nowhere with few customers equals slow turnaround and stale water logged gasoline.
And that brings me to the number two grievance against Ford...the dealer in my hometown called Fort Motors. A look back in this blog will show just one instance of how they fucked me over, you will have to take my word that that wasn't the only time. Service is not job #1 there. It pisses me off that in a time of need not even my shadow will darken their doorway. Maybe it's my fault that I have some scruples in who gets my hard earned money, but even if it hurts me in the end it makes me happy that it will never be this dealer. I am proud of the fact that I have never bought a vehicle from them and never will.
I found a private mechanic to scan the codes...misfire on all and random cylinders along with the story and symptoms came to the conclusion of bad gas, I was told to get some fuel conditioner and run the tank out. Its still not 100% but getting better all the time...special thanks to Walts Automotive in FSJ for taking time out of their morning to give the answer I needed.. And to the dealer mentioned: See what I did just now? bad customer experiences are never forgoten or forgiven, only now its online
I haven't posted for almost a month. But I am back working at Edson Alberta again. Had to go into an eye clinic yesterday and they dilated my eyes to take pictures on the inside...cool huh? Made for a very bright world.
I did indeed get some time off finally. It was a good 3 weeks. Didn't do an awful lot, hung out with PG and the kids, went to Avengers, bought some Mothers Day gifts and hurt my fingers learning banjo (I know the "G" lick now, just can't play it fast enough yet). All in all it was good to relax and do nothing.
Went online and bought some gold, much to the chagrin of PG...it's only 5 quarter ounce coins I tell her...and gold is gold! Yeah right..."Its not helping the house down payment fund now is it?" You just never know, maybe it will...but she knows me too well. Knows that I only buy the ones I love and covet. Prying them from my miserly grasp is going to be hard.
We have been actively watching the local MLS listings. Some good houses out there but it seems like there are very few with what we want for less than $400,000. That's a tough mortgage to get my head around. To get even 20% down we need to round up $80,000 and even then it is still a $2,500 payment each month. I need to get it through my head that I need to treat it like an investment opportunity, that no matter what we cannot lose and the money is not going down the drain.
The small city we are looking at (my home town) has a very bright future I believe. With ongoing big oil and gas activity some forestry and the kicker is a multi year dam project the will probably get built (though I am totally against it). I think it may hurt even more to not buy now and then watch as housing prices go through the roof...but the question is: Do I really think I can get at least a 20% return when I go to sell the hypothetical house...if we ever do? And what if we are just now entering the biggest depression the world has ever seen and the plunge of 2008 was just a popcorn fart in the whole scheme of things?
These are the questions going round and round in my mind.
It's break-up again. February and March were crazy busy. It was starting to appear like we might work right through all the mud and headaches again, just like last year. Then it looked like I would get some time off. I was hoping for a good month or at least a half a month all to myself with no phone calls. It wasn't to be.
I got called back to survey some more locations and fix some sites that will be cleaned up when it thaws out, but for whatever reason needed work done RIGHT NOW! It put me in a bad mood. My attitude took a definite turn for the worst.
The bad karma "pile-on" started to take effect only I didn't know it at the time.
The drive back to Edson was horrible, a late spring snow storm made the road 500km's of glare ice and scared stupid drivers. Then the snow delayed that "rush" location repair. The surveying didn't go any better. What looked like such an easy site to do was later found to have a dubious natural clearing that the surveyor was in a tizzy to class and describe. The Alberta government resource development rules have gone gong show the last couple of years, but that's a whole 'nother story. I then had a run in with our resident, batshit crazy, landowner. Things started to heat up and I could barely hold my tongue and not tell him to go fuck himself, but I was able to put on a smile and say "Have a nice DAY!" then drive around his bumbling ass and leave location. I get back to see the surveyor and arrive just in time to to find that the chain-man (surveyors helper) has achieved the impossible by rolling an ATV on flat ground. He is messed up and needs to go to Edson Hospital emergency to get checked out...the rest of my day and a good part of the evening is taken up with incident reporting paperwork and questions coming down the pipe from company managers. Oh what fun ;-(
That wasn't all, please don't think that just because I ended the paragraph that the story is finished. Oh no...I had 3, count em' three, near misses while driving that would have ended very badly but for some reason didn't. The first happened on dry pavement, I have the right of way (common theme so pay attention) and was driving along when a log truck pulled up to a stop sign, stopped, then proceeded to pull onto the road right in from of me, less than 100 meters, I slammed on the brakes, he finally saw me and thankfully stopped before entering my lane. The next two near misses happened while driving home. In both cases I am on cruise in the slow lane, but always 5-10kmph above the limit. Number one dumb-ass (with BC plates) decides its a good idea to pass me right when the passing lane ends, traffic oncoming. This is after following at a distance for several miles. Binders are applied, black screech marks left on pavement, middle finger and expletives raised.. 5o miles down the road number two dumbass bitch comes out of nowhere, decides I need to be passed, but stays in the fast-lane a couple car lengths ahead. She starts slowing down, I know this because I am on cruise and I am gaining on her. JUST when it looks like I will be passing her, dumb-ass bitch decides to pull into the slow lane that I currently occupy. Again the brakes come on and I am almost forced into the ditch...horn is honked, 2 middle fingers extended and multiple expletives used (for several miles)
I get home after completing all my work..I settle into my chair, I happen to glance at my email...another survey request has popped up, posted just before 5pm which was 4 hours ago and 2 hours into my drive home...it must be a sign, but I'll be damned if I know what its telling me
Looking through some old papers I found another Facebook Notes piece (writing if you can call it) that I had done for friends back in 2008. I like the process of thinking something through, putting it on paper...I think I express emotion and feelings better that way. If somebody randomly asks "How's life?" or "Whats going on in your mind?" I will seldom have an answer. This essay was done in an attempt to summarize what my life had been like to that point. I will do a postscript at the end...things do change.
So I am 35 and this is life (Monday April 14, 2008) When you were a kid did you ever wonder what your life would be like when you were older? I did. There are milestones in mine where I can think back and pinpoint the "What could have been's".
Like Grade 5. I missed something basic in math that set my life on a track that ensured I would have very little to fear from the arithmetic demons, but it also closed some doors. I wanted to be a geologist but knew instinctively that my math scores would never be high enough to enter university.
Or how about the girl in school I never had the guts to ask out? There was one and there are very few days I don't wonder what became of her, she was my friend. I wish we had kept in touch.
In my relationship now I really don't know where I stand. There are times when I feel like taking the selfish route, tell her I'm done, but I know I can't let myself be the one to end it. So I plod on, but feel good that I have helped when she needs me.
Then there were the seemingly simple choices: I remember being 19, working in a bush camp operating heavy equipment and realized I had a piss-pot full of money and 2 choices: Take 6 months off and travel to New Zealand or buy a new pick-up. Sadly I chose the truck; it's gone now and the memories of New Zealand never were.
It's not all bad though, right out of high school I found a trade that I liked and became adept at it. It has been good to me and although the job description has changed I still love it. Some go their whole lives never finding a niche or feeling useful, but I do.
I am worried about the future and realize that now is the time to lay down some roots, start thinking about retirement. Laugh if you will but conventional thinking says I have only another 30 years to get my shit together.
Postscript:
Still love the job despite my grousing on here occasionally. On my 6th pick-up truck...it never ends.
The Girl of 12 years {Whatever that was} ended 7 months later. Haven't seen or spoken to her since. I have my PG now and don't look back. I took steps to put down those roots...the future looks good.
The following entry has some mature content...so if you are easily offended please feel free to find your reading material elsewhere. That said I wanted to do a a little blurb on the hazards of putting anything online for the world to see. In my case it is the Youtube videos that I do every so often. I started the videos just to show a few friends and family what I was up to. It has grown since then and while I am not a well known youtuber like some, I do get a few thousand views each month and make some coin doing it.
With Youtube I get viewers from all over with varied backgrounds and political leanings. Some make themselves and their views, whatever they may be, known by commenting on the videos. Some viewers comment respectfully and ask smart questions that I am more than happy to answer. Some are Youtube pros and want everyone to know how good they are. Some comments are funny or sad, illogical or down right intriguing. But then there are the keyboard commando's, faceless stalkers, cyber bullies and trash of the internet that feel it is their duty to put you in your place...assuming they know your background, likes and dislikes or how smart you are based on the content they find online.
When I first started on Youtube I was one of those pros that thought they could make one snarky comment to prove my point and make the other user look like a dumb-ass. I think over the years I have grown a little and now see that it is a losers game that makes nobody happy with the outcome. As a publisher of online commentary I have found that block tools and comment moderation can be my best friends. I rarely get into flame wars anymore...live and let live. I just don't respond. But every once in a while....I get someone who pushes my button.
One note before I go on: The following is a comment that I responded to that was posted last night on a video I made called "Oilfield Logging". Now I'm not necessarily racist or bigoted, as a matter of fact I had to wiki search the words that some may find offensive. Its a matter of hate what you know, see or hear and quite frankly I didn't grow up in an environment that had many of this particular ethnic group. So here it is:
those are really cute machines you got, but i want you to remember one thing every time you kill a tree with that machine. for every tree you kill, you put one more nail in the coffin of death of this planet. that makes you and every person that cuts down a tree a fuck'n asshole. just so you know the planet has been raped of 80% of it's forest. that's fuck'n horrible. so every time you cut a tree down, remember that you are a fuck'n asshole, maybe even a dickhead. WE NEED TREES YOU PRICK.
odmcarp 14 hours ago
Reply
@odmcarp Thank you for that insightful yet incoherent rant. It might interest you to know that I have personally cut and burned more trees than you have ever seen, true no lie, I even video it so that informed tree-huggers like yourself can get enjoyment from it. "but i(tie) want you to remember one thing: remember you are a fuck'n asshole, maybe even a (dago)dickhead" awww... but I'm just fuck'n wit cha.., I'll be sure to give your opinion some thoughtful consideration... yeah right.
CDNcatskinner 3 hours ago
I'm not saying what I did was right, it was wrong, but sometimes it feels good to burn them after they have attacked my livelihood and me as a person...and I'm going to burn them, I will go to their page/channel, find out who they are what they do...if they are stupid enough to leave their recent activity open I'm going to use that too...fair warning dummy.
I'm near Ponoka Alberta this week building a new oil well. Ponoka is a sleepy town a little east of Hwy #2 between Lacombe and Wetaskiwin. Hwy # 2 was rebuilt a few decades ago and it bypassed so many little towns in the area. You can really see it in the downtown cores. They are getting older and really only serve the needs of the local population. If not for a few wrong turns while trying to gather up a package I was expecting, I would not have even seen the downtown or knew it was there.
The big box stores don't go to the little places like Ponoka although the Super 8 motel and the new Extra Foods grocery store can be found on the outskirts... Ponoka it seems is suffering from its own form of urban sprawl while the downtown dies. Its actually a pleasure to work out of this town. No rush in the morning trying to get on the highway and its almost like they shut off the lights and roll up the streets at night
Ponoka would be a hoot in the summer I think. Its claim to fame is the "Ponoka Stampede" and it must be big if the size of the facility is any indication. Ponoka is also the site where the Alberta provincial mental health hospital is located...I got more than a few jibes from co-workers when I told them I would be going to Ponoka for a week. "Its about time" was just one of the remarks levelled in my direction.
I woke up to the sound of screaming and it wasn't my own. I was confused and it took a moment to figure out that I was a passenger in the backseat of a green 1978 Ford station wagon. Looking out the window revealed a dusky mountainous landscape passing by at an alarming rate. Downhill, with hairpin turns, I could hear rubber tires fighting for purchase on a gravel shoulder and feel the centrifugal force pushing me towards the door as the car desperately tries to stay on the road. The screaming up front didn't stop and that quick mental calculation that I am sure we can all do came up with only one solution: Car travelling way too fast to make this corner or even the next...and its a long way down over the edge. I am going to die, a sick gut wrenching feeling comes over me. I'm going to die and I don't make a sound. I look to my left at the empty bench seat...
Then I wake up. Damn. I wonder what the hell this one meant.
Way back in November of last year I posted on facebook: Megadeth, February 17th in Edmonton... hmm? Well PG must have read that and what do you know on Valentines Day I got 2 tickets to go see them with her. WOW! I was blown away.
I always thought I would like to go see them, never thought it would happen the way my work schedule is. The stars must have aligned, I had some free time so we went. Note to self: Life is not always about work.
She printed directions off google maps and away we went. PG is a good one for lists...neurotic me asked at least 5 times: Do you have the tickets? Do you have the tickets? While waiting in line: Do you have the tickets? PG rolls her eyes: Yes!
The trip down from Ft St John was uneventful, I don't speed very much anymore, but we made good time if not for the other motorists on MY road ;-) We stayed the first night at her in laws, BandP were great. (I admire B's skills, but more on that later maybe) The night of the show we checked in at the Westin downtown, good thing we did...it was full up and only 2 blocks from the Shaw Conference center. That is the only way to go BTW. No midnight drive out of the downtown trying to find a bed, just a stroll back to the hotel.
The show was like nothing I have seen and as I posted on the video I uploaded; these guys are my heroes. They rocked. It was a 4 act concert. La Cuna Coil opened followed by Volbeat (Who I will be downloading into the ipod soon) Then Motorhead, which is another band I thought I would never see. Lemmy was just as good as I have always watched on video. Then the main act: MEGADETH!! It was something to see and because Dave Jr. rejoined the group last year it was just that much better. For the Megadeth part I took out my earplugs and basked in the loudy thumpy goodness. I got goosebumps. They play so well.
The whole concert atmosphere was neat. There were the oldsters like me that grew up with this stuff and there were a lot of young kids down in the mosh pits up front. Not too many mullets to be seen, and that is a good thing, but lots of honest to god metalheads having a good time. The Westin is a fairly good place to stay, I thought it must have been interesting for the staff too see such a conglomeration of metal t-shirted and patched people all in one place. The common theme I saw the next day all around Edmonton was so many normal appearing folks sporting concert t-shirts. I was one of them. We were all linked by a shared experience, at least for one night.
It seems so quaint now...but I didn't actually listen to Megadeth or thrash metal while in high school. My friends and I were into Kiss and AC/DC. It seemed like only the burnouts listened to either Megadeth, Metallica or Slayer. I wish I knew then what I know now. Dave Mustaine is a master guitarist and a legend. Its not what first impressions would lead you to believe. I like loud thumping music with meaning and melody, Mustaine gives that to me. I read his book when the bad things happened at the Royal Alex. I have it with me now, I plan to read it again because I think I missed some stuff during my drug induced recovery.
I thank my special PG for giving me the chance to see them. I had a rotten experience way back when a girl I knew went with me and Shaner and Shaner's Uncle G to see Kiss in Vancouver. Ity was when they reunited and went back into makeup. I think it was 1999. We watched one song of the opening act and then she got a headache, being a gentleman of some sort I left with her. Shaner and the uncle were smarter, they stayed. I hate disappointments, I love that PG shared Megadeth with me...luv ya. Jeff
I have finally done something about a "dream" I have had for a long time. I don't know when it first occurred to me or how this particular thought entered my head. I do remember the Muppet Movie way back in 1980 I think it was. If you know the movie you probably heard Kermit singing the Rainbow Connection...and that muppet played a banjo. Something clicked in my 8 year old head and it has stayed with me all these years later. I loved that banjo sound and even though my musical taste has moved in different directions since and to be honest I would consider myself to be a mild "metal-head", any banjo still makes my ears perk up.
Well yesterday I went out and finally did something about that dream I have been kicking around for so long. I went to a local music store with some family members and talked to the owners about music. He was kind enough to put on an impromptu banjo performance and I was sold on the spot. I didn't buy right away, it took me a couple hours to decide but then I went back and bought the banjo you see in the picture. It's a Gold Tone CC-100R, I like it a lot It's not the cheapest beginner instrument, but its not too expensive either.
Banjo is hard, very few ever truly master it, I know that. I'm not looking to become anything at all, I will be happy just to know a few songs and see how far I can get. The older I am the more I envy those that have a skill that stays with them throughout life. I see one advantage to starting so late in the game: No one is forcing me to do it. I don't have to do lessons because I have to, I will be going because I want to. The store owner says that he has over sixty students right now and many are just like me that start out late and finally decide to do it, he said he gets people like me with the same story coming in all the time. He also said he gets a lot of guys that work in the oilfield that have weird schedules like me...I hope I can find a way to attend proper classes, its a 12 week introductory banjo program, I don't know how I will work it in...until then I have youtube and my beginner book, I'm learning stuff, its addictive, I'm happy :-)
I thought I would do a post about what it is that I do. I am a construction supervisor for oil companies, a "consultant", "rep" or to put it simply the eyes and ears for the oil company in the field. What is a lease? The lease is the wellsite/location where an oil or gas well is drilled. It is called a lease because the oil company rarely actually owns the land they drill on, they "lease" it from private land owners or the government. Public land in Canada is considered "crown" land. There are different standards when constructing on private and crown lands.
In a perfect world I get direction from the oil company to accompany a survey crew on the initial planning and spotting/scout of the lease. We decide the best way to access it, the size it will be and how it will be constructed. This is important. I have to know what the drilling rig requires for space, how it will set up and when it will drill the well. Winter operations are very different from summer. While spotting the wellsite sometimes I have to contact with the oil company's geology department if the co-ordinate they want is impossible to place in the field. This can sometimes be a drawn out and tedious process for a variety of reasons, like landowner concerns or terrain not conducive to construction (it sometimes seems they always pick the wettest holes known to man). Geology folks want to drill where they say for a reason, their decisions are based off of seismic information, so our lease usually can't be shifted very far or the well is not feasible. Once these decisions are made I provide a cost estimate for construction. Good consultants have a +/- 10% of estimating cost to actual costs. But on the other hand bad consultants simply hike the estimated cost and spend or steal until they reach that number.
Once the lease is ready to be constructed I am notified and receive a land package consisting of all the information I need to construct the lease. In this package are all the landowner/3rd party agreements. I am usually required to contact the affected parties and notify them of the impending construction. I also do a "first call" or "Dial before you dig" which is a phone call or online notification to an organization that has a database of registered underground utility owners. They contact those owners and inform them that we will be doing construction in a given area, if we are in proximity or crossing underground structures, the owner usually needs 48-72 hour notice so they can arrange marking them. This is where I find I have most of my troubles because the oil company usually thinks that as soon as they tell me to start construction, that I can. Not always true, but good consultants can get things done regardless, through previous contacts, polite phone manners and a little BS. Bad consultants mess things up and aggravate the situation by pissing off 3rd parties through missed notification, bad phone etiquette or in the worst case, hitting an underground structure through ignorance. Due diligence is very important. at this stage.
At the same time that the first calls are being done I also arrange to have a contractor to do the construction. Sometimes I am allowed to call who I like other times I am required to get competitive bids from 3 or more contractors. Good contractors with good operators are like gold, they are after all the people who make the job a success or failure. As the oil company rep I am also the guy that ensures the work is done in a safe and cost effective manner. I am required to orientate the workers to the oil companies safety culture and make sure that it is followed. I personally like working for the smaller "Junior" oil companies rather than the majors. It is not that the smaller outfits are more lax/unsafe, but it has been proven, time and again, that junior operators get things done cheaper, faster and more logically. The big ones are weighed down by their own bureaucracy and in some cases will farm work out to the juniors so that even they don't have to deal with it.
Once the job starts I go to the site daily and will stay the whole day unless I have more than one project going on. Bad Consultant Tip: They hardly ever visit the job, prefering to play golf or hang out in the lounge, getting the contactor to phone them a cost at days end. I don't believe in that, we get paid to do a job and the litigation if something goes wrong would be a bitch. The neat thing about my job is that the final product is "my" vision. You have to know what the thing will look like, how it will be built, what kind of machines to use and how to incorporate functionality that will make the drilling or production easy on the people that do that work. Having a background that includes actual experience operating the equipment is the biggest advantage I have.
I stay in contact with the drilling department and depending on how they have scheduled things my life is easy or it is a hectic gong show trying to get the lease done on time. One of the worst faux-paus I can do is promise a completion time and not deliver. It is always best to know early on that the work will not be done in time and tell them that rather than praying with crossed fingers down to the last minute. If I am wrong and the drilling rig move gets delayed there can be huge costs incurred both from the trucking company and drilling rig. In the very worst case a drilling license could be lost due to a delayed spud (start) date. Unfortunately many oil companies seem to wait until the term of the license is nearly expired before they decide to drill. Once the well has been drilled it is either put into production, left in a "standing cased" status or abandoned. In all eventualities I have work to do cleaning everything up, building production pads or total restoration back to the way it was.
I'm away at work again, roosting at the Comfort Inn at Edson AB. Rush job, but not really because the drilling rig will be delayed due to hard digging. Oh well it's nice to have the cushion...did I ever mention I hate/loath deadlines? They are a curse that shouldn't be. Due diligence and sound planning cures all. I even have a hard time watching phony reality TV shows that have them. Why don't they just do it right? Hyped ice road load counts or making a cake, I really don't care. Shouldn't quality trump everything else? Not in this world we live in I guess.
PG and I have been seriously thinking about buying a house together, I have even gone so far as to see what sort of pre-approval I might get. (will see how that goes, PG was in banking and knows the local mortgage rep at my bank...some unpleasant reviews. Rep was supposed to email me and must have forgot...not a good start)
I make no bones that the whole mortgage scenario frightens me. Sure the bank has a great interest rate right now, but that can only last so long. What happens in 5 years? What happens when the SHTF and the world credit system collapses as some believe it will?
My job is in oil and while I see no other viable alternative to our energy needs for most of MY working life, I hear rumours that the price per barrel may be heading for $50-60 in the next year. Natural gas has already tanked and is hitting some majors hard. One of my buddies in the business phoned the other day, his employer (Junior oil company) has pulled all their money for a few months effectively ending the job he had.
I don't see a good future for carrying debt right now which is why I have paid most of mine off (*previous post) Do I want to be obligated having to round up $4000 a month to make payments? I don't know what the answer is...I'm trying to make the right decisions. This grown up stuff is hard.
However...the kid side of me went and made a few more purchases, in the picture above you can see one of them. 1/2 oz of four 9's gold, 3000 total mintage. At least I have faith in this investment.
Well its January 4th 2012. I went to get a new journal from Staples, they were sold out of the one I want. I like hardcover, every page a day, blah blah...I have been keeping a daily journal for work since 1998, that's when I started consulting. Comes in handy and it's a good thing for ass covering. I forget the times, but more than once I have had to refer back in time to prove I did or didn't do something and the reasons I had for doing it.
I looked back through this blog as well. I see a lot of thinly veiled optimism, and some out-right desperation, but I'm happy to say that my biggest goal in 2011 has unbelievably been achieved...yay for me! I have paid off my unsecured debt, mainly the credit cards I had accumulated over the years. This is such a cliche'd weight that has been lifted from my shoulders, you can't imagine how good that feels. I do and I don't know how I got into that situation in the first place. And yes I did make that call to American Express, and yes I did tell them they could shove their card up their collective corporate ass...when I could get a word in edge-wise that was, as they tried to sell me on the benefits of a "different card". How good it feels to be wearing the shoe on the other foot. Hey Amex, wasn't it just a year or two ago that you were calling me when my payment was 3 days late? Ya that was you I remember well. For the information of everyone and no-one, because it is nobodies business but mine, I was never "30 days late" on anything. I was smart enough to keep those black marks off my score.
2011 was good year. I met a new person back in April, you will know her as "PG". She is great, her family is great. I worked hard, or as hard as a consultant does work :-) PG says she is proud of me, I like that. It has been hard finding somebody outside of the oilfield that can understand the hours, days and months apart from loved ones, but she does.
As 2011 ends and a whole new 2012 begins I can finally say that I have options. I have the option to tell anyone that pisses me off to F O...I'm not beholden to very many anymore. My job I can take or leave, when it comes down to the core I am a catskinner at heart...now more than ever and I have a valuable skillset that I can fall back on. But I will take the easy money while it's easy. Some people let this job go to their heads, start thinking they are more important than they are. I never got that way and I am thankful for that....Gawd I wish the F***head was reading this, but then he would need a reading comprehension level above that of a 4 year old... hehe! Hey F*ck*ead what you did to me was the best thing that could have happened, after all I would not be where I am or met who I have met without your skull-f*ck*ry....But that's enough on FH like so many other useless and inconsequential people he is part of the past. May you reap what you have sown FH.
So whats up for 2012? I am thinking maybe a house and somewhere to hang my hat (if I wore one)...just don't know if it will be a hat hook in BC or Alberta...PG and I have lots of talking to do.
