All,
I have take an office job and will be flying a desk for a while, thanks to all those who have enjoyed the rants.......The new blog starts tomorrow.
The offshore engineer shal return in a diffirent capacity.
Regards
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
Another Long Night
So trying to get to sleep and stay asleep seems to be recurring theme of the week so far. Robbie left today and so was in for a shower at about 10am followed by the arrival of my new day shift compadre Garry at about 1. I gave up on the sleeping thing at about 14:00hrs read for about an hour and then had a shower. I dragged my carcus down to the TV room and sat in front of it for a while. Not really absorbing anything. I went outside to see if I could see Gary. I expended alot of waset energy floating around between the tv room and the boot room with no sign of my back to back. At about 5 I finally gave up and tannoyed him. He'd been up in the heli lounge for the last couple of hours. We ate and chatted and then it was time for the pre-tour meeting. At the start of the shift the senior guys on the rig tell us all that has been happening and all they expect to happen over the next 12 hours(a standard tour) After that its time to get to the unit for some sitting about. Surfing the net and reading. Not alot gets done.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Switching over to Nights
As part of the continuing diary of the offshore engineer for the last 2 week hitch for a while the first day and night offshore are always the most difficult. Usually bacause you are trying to turn your world upside down. Once you have arrived you then have 3 or four hours to try to get a little sleep. Anyone who has ever slept for this length of time will know that you generally wake up feeling more tired than when you went to sleep. This is something to do with your body going into a transition sleep between light sleep and deep Rem sleep. You are not in your deepest sleep so therefore don't recharge properly but you go far enough into it to allow waking up to be painful. When the alarm does get you up you stumble around for a couple of hours then find the lightswitch and get out on shift. Your back to back explains the state of play and gives you the tour. The night passes without too much hasstle a few glitches but nothing too tough. And by 6am all you crave is bed. Afetr knocking off your force yourself to eat a little breakfast and then head for Zed's. The first 3 hours is exhaustion sleep, then a bathroom break, then another hour snoozing and then another bathroom break. by 12 noon your body is already trying to get you up. You again have a sleep where you never quite get into that deep zone and are still tired. I decided to waste some time in the gym at this point. Tramping down the staris into the bowels of the rig passing watertight doors, the only indication that this floating drilling rig is a ship when it isn't jacked up on the sea bed drilling an oil well with the lettering stencilled onto the door"must remain closed while at sea". 30 mins cycling(it could have been longer the bike wanted me to do an hour) then 30mins on the X-Trainer followed by 15mins on the treadmill. it would have been longer but some idiot came in and without asking put the telly on and then the stereo. full volume dance over my Ipods Jimmy Hendrix just got me upset and I went for a strech and a shower. By this time it was almost 3:30 and a cup of tea and a read took me through to dinner at 5. Afetr the ops meeting at 5:45 I cornered the STC(Safety Training Coach)and got some training material for the evening and met Robbie in the boot room for a brief handover. Right now I feel very tired. It will pass and I will have 40winks in front of the TV later if nothing is going on. Trying to phone home has become a little frustrating too, the call dials out but there seems to be a jam at the BP exchange and won't dial past that. Tired and frustrated while tring to turn my world onto its head. The rig rumbles away in the background not really giving a toss about my frustration or the frustration of the others on board. Just a large hollow meccano set wired for sound and sparks to keep everything running. A huge diesel engine at its core running day and night burning up the refined version of the stuff being pumped out of the ground all around us. People, fuel, electricity, air, hydraulic oil and water being pumped around its arteries by motivation, pumps, turbines, and compressors. At its brain a radio room receiving instructions from town.....little do they know that each part makes a little decision of its own.
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Parafin Budgie
This being my last trip working regularly in the north sea I have decided to do a diary of posts or a sequence of events of what it is like to travel, live and work out here. it of course all begins at the heliport where you are weighed and measured for your trip. Everyone has a card produced by a company called Vantage which gives you a reference number. All your training details are referenced to this number and you become that number when you enter the heliport. The checking-in girl checks your ID and passport and asks you step on the scales. I am not the lightest worker and gingerly step onto the scales and take a long hard look at the number thinking that will only go up once the galley offshore comes into the equation later. I check the personal details and next of kin. This always strike home the danger you are about to put yourself through and you can't help but flash across to that phone call or visit. the horror that ensues. Then the girl asks you how many bags you have and to put them on the scales. The check in tab is secured to the handle with the destination and then you lift your bags off and carry them over to the security desk. "Any lighters or matches?, any medication?" asks the little mannie behind the desk, usually a semi retired gent. Both the lighter and matches are of course contraband on the rig and the Medic must examine all medicines arriving offshore. The security guard starts to rummage inside your bag. "Any laptops or MP3 players? Do you have a mobile?" All must be checked that they are working properly and that they are then switched off. I have no idea why they need to be functioned tested probably to check they aren't some kind of insenduary device in disguise. Your bags then leave you at this point and disappear to the helicopter. The next time I see them it will be on the rig. After this I have an hour in the lounge. The lounge has a cafe and some large screen TV's and in this particular one a couple of internet stations. I send an e-mail to my wife, my sister and my pal. Shortly after I am called through to the gate. Just like and flight gate there is a detector and a search. another ID check and then it's through to the departure lounge. We all watch the safety video, detailing all the things to do in an emergency and how to put on your survival suit. How the helicopter safety sytems work and how to operate your re-breather. Then the attendant arrives and calls out everyone's name handing then their survival suit. Tucking in your socks definately helps getting your suit on. It stops your trouser legs from getting dragged up to your shins. climbing inot the siut you wonder if this will be a safe place if it all goes wrong. The kneck and wrist seals hug your skin like the tightest fitting jumper your granny knitted for you when you were at school. and then you fasten the zip from right shoulder to left hip and you are in. Squat down to expel trapped air and hold open the kneck. Then you feel like a vaccum packed smokie! The life jacket goes on over the top and the crotch strap clips you in. Tighten it all up and tuck in any loose ends and you are good to go. The attendant come in and gives you the final check and chat. "make sure you have gloves in your sleeve pockets and a hood in the leg pocket of your survival suit. secure all reading material in your suit pocket while embarking and dis-embarking" it is all carefully scripted and signed off by the nearest passenger. We are then all escorted to the helicopter, which is running and ready to go. The ground staff check everyone is securely strapped in and then closes the door. The pilot does his comms check"can you all here me?" everyone raises a thumb." We should be about 55minutes out to the rig today. the weather is fine and steady and it should be a comfortable flight for you today. Any problems then please come forward and bring it to out attention." The helicopter taxis out onto the runway and then the noise increases and the helicopter lifts vertically into the air. Then the nose is pointed at the ground and the helicopter drags itself along through the air until it achieves enough forward speed for the wings to act properly. The passengers read books, papers and sleep there way through the flight. then 5 mins before the rig there is announcement and we land.
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Back to back
I suppose up to this point I have more regularly been the second or third man on a job and now I am a little more experienced I have started to do more day shifts and been more responsible for just doing the job before and getting things right. trying to make sure the data I was sending in every morning was to a high enough standard and if it wasn't giving myself a good swift kick in the bollocks if it wasn't(quite a trick and if you haven’t tried it....don't, you'll only do yourself an injury). I think that the more I did it the less I ever thought I would get to the point where I would be supervising another MWD hand. Well now it is happening it appears to be less plus points on day shift than I thought there might. Well I suppose that the day shift is much better for your sleep pattern although getting up at 4:30am doesn’t seem to be agreeing with me as much as I thought it would. I seem to find my sleep occasionally disturbed by, well I don't quite know how to put it, by the other guy. The less experienced version of myself, the guy that is doing the job that I have been doing for the last 18 months. It is a bit weird to think that he is relying on me the way I relied on the day guy. I must admit though that I don't remember being quite as bad as this guy. I mean I did know when the tool was pulsing and when it wasn't and I could track depth pretty well. But that aside, I suppose its back to where I left off with Reeves. Being that first guy is always a bit different and there is a mindset that you need to get into to do it. The mindset is "trust no-one" always check everything that has been handled by anyone else and make sure you cover your arse with the biggest piece of steel that you can find an then galvanise the steel.
June and July Posts
The times they are a changing - The Noughties working man
This is offshore, advertised as the most hostile toughest working environment in the world. The roughtiest toughtiest bunch of glass-eating hardheads in the world. There is macho and then there is offshore! This is surely the best melting pot in the world in which to gauge how culture changes. Listening in on coversations at the dinner table and in the tea shack you can get an amazing picture of what you can and can't talk about if you are a bloke. This week the Roughnecks(the roughest toughtiest bunch out here) are talking about the nutritional value of penut butter. The conversation usually starts with, "I can't believe your eating that shite!" "How(pause), I'ts full of protein." "There's more fat than protien in that, whats the fat content?" "Aye your right, but there is 25 grams of protein in it." "Is that per 100 grams?" "No(pause as the label is read), it says per serving." "Its still shite!" Food nutrition is something that we all took for granted until the food standards agency decided that we could all be better educated about what we eat. But what is recommended is always an average. Everyone is different and everyone requires a different amount of nutrition daily. The information helps and it is remarkable that we all take an active interest in how much of everything we eat a day. I think the roughnecks need a better idea of the nutritional value of Jock Pie, beans and chips. And the catering crews need alot more training in nutrition and eating healthily on a budget.
Downtime and WOW (waiting on weather)
The Fog......... The peep peep peeeeeeeeep, of the fog horn every 4 seconds is heard everywhere on the rig from the Galley to the Helideck, from the rig floor to the warm cosy place that you are curled up in thinking "I'm going off today?" The helicopter flights start to slip every where and instantly all turn to the internet to surf to the scotia or bristows website. "Has there been any flights lifted from town yet?" "Nah, there's no vis in Aberdeen." "are you on the first or the second flight?" "The second, why do you think it will get bumped?" "No chance! Thats the crew change flight and the OIM's going on holiday tomorrow. I think you'll be safe the first flight will get cancelled first!" "peep, peep, peeeeeeep. peep, peep, peeeeep. peep, peep, peeeeep." And as always we will just have to wait on weather.
The Offshore Medic Your own personal doctor....offshore. The perfect partner for any hypochondriac. These guys and gals are fantastic. Nothing surprises them they are always there to help from a sniffle to a fatality. They don't really get enough praise because they are only every needed when it all goes wrong. I have been medicated and stuck back together by these people and they are they best. Offshore workers are the healthiest workers in industry and this along with the medical very 2 years keeps us that way. If you are feeling at all unwell get to the doctor.
This is offshore, advertised as the most hostile toughest working environment in the world. The roughtiest toughtiest bunch of glass-eating hardheads in the world. There is macho and then there is offshore! This is surely the best melting pot in the world in which to gauge how culture changes. Listening in on coversations at the dinner table and in the tea shack you can get an amazing picture of what you can and can't talk about if you are a bloke. This week the Roughnecks(the roughest toughtiest bunch out here) are talking about the nutritional value of penut butter. The conversation usually starts with, "I can't believe your eating that shite!" "How(pause), I'ts full of protein." "There's more fat than protien in that, whats the fat content?" "Aye your right, but there is 25 grams of protein in it." "Is that per 100 grams?" "No(pause as the label is read), it says per serving." "Its still shite!" Food nutrition is something that we all took for granted until the food standards agency decided that we could all be better educated about what we eat. But what is recommended is always an average. Everyone is different and everyone requires a different amount of nutrition daily. The information helps and it is remarkable that we all take an active interest in how much of everything we eat a day. I think the roughnecks need a better idea of the nutritional value of Jock Pie, beans and chips. And the catering crews need alot more training in nutrition and eating healthily on a budget.
Downtime and WOW (waiting on weather)
The Fog......... The peep peep peeeeeeeeep, of the fog horn every 4 seconds is heard everywhere on the rig from the Galley to the Helideck, from the rig floor to the warm cosy place that you are curled up in thinking "I'm going off today?" The helicopter flights start to slip every where and instantly all turn to the internet to surf to the scotia or bristows website. "Has there been any flights lifted from town yet?" "Nah, there's no vis in Aberdeen." "are you on the first or the second flight?" "The second, why do you think it will get bumped?" "No chance! Thats the crew change flight and the OIM's going on holiday tomorrow. I think you'll be safe the first flight will get cancelled first!" "peep, peep, peeeeeeep. peep, peep, peeeeep. peep, peep, peeeeep." And as always we will just have to wait on weather.
The Offshore Medic Your own personal doctor....offshore. The perfect partner for any hypochondriac. These guys and gals are fantastic. Nothing surprises them they are always there to help from a sniffle to a fatality. They don't really get enough praise because they are only every needed when it all goes wrong. I have been medicated and stuck back together by these people and they are they best. Offshore workers are the healthiest workers in industry and this along with the medical very 2 years keeps us that way. If you are feeling at all unwell get to the doctor.
Monday, July 30, 2007
New Up-Starts
To all those new to the oil industry and offshore life.
STOP PISSING OFF THE EXPERIENCED PEOPLE OFFSHORE!
When you start with a new employer it is important to know your place and realise that you must start at the bottom and work your way to the top through respect, hard work, keeping your nose to the grindstone and being as helpful as you are able. You will not win friend in high places by starting your vocation with a "ooo, you don't want to do it like that" attitude. Also very unhelpful is the "well I'm not doing that", the "I think that you should do it this way" and above all "that's not how they taught us to do it in school" mantra. Remember kiddywinkles this is not school it is the real deal! This is the place where, if you pay close attention, you will learn how it has been done for years and then if you are all very good little boys and girls in about 10 years you will all be invited to stick you oar in and make things better for everyone.
That doesn't mean that you shouldn't practice your rowing early, in fact buy an oar, sit on the boat and watch how the big boys do it. By this I mean speak up when you are away ask questions like "why are you doing it like that?" or "why cant we do this instead?" and if you are really adventurous try "what if we did it like this?". For the observant in the group you will have noticed that the last three all ended with "?". This is your most effective form of punctuation as a new start add it to the end of every sentence and you will almost always get a positive response, providing you use a little common sense before it.
Above everything else do not, DO NOT, even if your life depends upon it go back into the office and start any sentences with "When I was offshore I saw........" The end of these sentences are usually something that they really don't want to here in the office and involve vast amounts of fannying about with a dozen different paper systems all of which will do very little and might even negatively effect stock prices. If you are offshore and you do see something ask a question.
You will see things offshore that look like they are a little bit odd. These guys have been doing what they do for a very long time and have all learned the hard way. Their are systems in place to help them learn from their mistakes and to let them express themselves to the town bods. Use these systems too and then you are playing the correct game and are unlikley to piss off the world. Good Luck
Angry Uncle Scott
STOP PISSING OFF THE EXPERIENCED PEOPLE OFFSHORE!
When you start with a new employer it is important to know your place and realise that you must start at the bottom and work your way to the top through respect, hard work, keeping your nose to the grindstone and being as helpful as you are able. You will not win friend in high places by starting your vocation with a "ooo, you don't want to do it like that" attitude. Also very unhelpful is the "well I'm not doing that", the "I think that you should do it this way" and above all "that's not how they taught us to do it in school" mantra. Remember kiddywinkles this is not school it is the real deal! This is the place where, if you pay close attention, you will learn how it has been done for years and then if you are all very good little boys and girls in about 10 years you will all be invited to stick you oar in and make things better for everyone.
That doesn't mean that you shouldn't practice your rowing early, in fact buy an oar, sit on the boat and watch how the big boys do it. By this I mean speak up when you are away ask questions like "why are you doing it like that?" or "why cant we do this instead?" and if you are really adventurous try "what if we did it like this?". For the observant in the group you will have noticed that the last three all ended with "?". This is your most effective form of punctuation as a new start add it to the end of every sentence and you will almost always get a positive response, providing you use a little common sense before it.
Above everything else do not, DO NOT, even if your life depends upon it go back into the office and start any sentences with "When I was offshore I saw........" The end of these sentences are usually something that they really don't want to here in the office and involve vast amounts of fannying about with a dozen different paper systems all of which will do very little and might even negatively effect stock prices. If you are offshore and you do see something ask a question.
You will see things offshore that look like they are a little bit odd. These guys have been doing what they do for a very long time and have all learned the hard way. Their are systems in place to help them learn from their mistakes and to let them express themselves to the town bods. Use these systems too and then you are playing the correct game and are unlikley to piss off the world. Good Luck
Angry Uncle Scott
Monday, July 2, 2007
The Gym
The concept of exercise on a rig is somewhat similar to that of a hamster in a wheel. This is the time you get to exercise but you know you will never be truly free to go anywhere. The room you can use while away is the Gym. This is a fluid concept when offshore. Most will imagine a small spa where you sign in and the steward gives you a towel and invites you to try the Jacuzzi. I'm afraid the reality is a little different. The gym is a room with some exercise machines, some free weights and some TV's. A place to get on the treadmill and watch TV. Get on the exercise bike and listen to your i-pod. They vary from 1 bike and 1 rowing machine(from the 1980's). to the full, up to date, 3 Treadmills, 3 Bikes, Recumbent Cycle, X-trainer and full free weight suite. Water cooler occasionally working in the corner. The Gym is adorned with pictures of stretching exercises or instructions on how to use the machines. Usually the TV's are set to EmptyV or Sky(it's all blow out of proportion and usually speculation)News and are usually at full volume because most people on a rig are a little deaf. Through years of working next to loud plant and equipment. There are a number of unwritten rules in the Gym. It is always a place of silence though. Generally no one will talk to one another, unless the Driller and AD are weight training together. The TV channel shouldn't be changed without consulting anyone else in the room(just a quick "are you watchin this pish" should do). Aways clean your machine after use, there will be bottle of cleaner and towel. Anyone breaking the rules or making up their own better beware, they will become Gym outcasts. There is still a sense of togetherness about the Gym users. A kind of "were all going to be much healthier and we know how to look after ourselves" smugness shared by all who don their shorts and t-shirts and clamber into the wheel. Maybe we can't go anywhere but at least we are going.
Thursday, May 17, 2007
Scribing Up.
Another fabulous day on the rig, another BHA(bottom hole assembly). This means we have changed out all the downhole drilling equipment for another set-up. Why? Well we were trying to kick off from the present well path after leaving part of another BHA in the hole. So we have to be able to steer hole away from the “fish” or other items lost in hole.
There are, as always, more than one way to skin a cat. With this BHA we are using a motor with a bend in it. Which is exactly that, a mud motor, which turns the bit and nothing else as you pump mud through it. Above this spinning bit is a bend of 1.4ยบ that can be oriented when we get down to the bottom to point the bit in the direction you want to go. So all you have to do is be able to tell which way the bit is pointing when it is 10,000ft away.
Imagine you have a 1,000ft long drinking straw and you turned one end half a turn, how much would the other end turn? Not one bit. It would just twist up. No imagine a piece of drill pipe, same problem. There is no way you can mark up a pipe at surface and know where the end is pointing. Enter the MWD engineer. We have a tool in the hole that will tell us which way is up, using magnetometers measuring the magnetic field of the earth and its just behind the motor.
Now we get to the fun part. When everything is screwed together the bend in the motor will never line up with the reference line on the MWD tool. So we have to measure the angle between the “highside” of the MWD tool and the direction the bit is pointing in. This is the Scribeline Offset. It is a very very very important measurement. If it is wrong wells have been drilled in entirely the wrong direction, which might lead to some very probing questions.
The Directional Driller marks the highside of the motor. And then transfers this highside line up the tool to the MWD scribeline. Then he marks that line, with a torch strapped to the MWD tool or a polystyrene cup and the whole thing is lifted into the air and the line on the motor is checked with the cup or torch. Any adjustment is made an the tool lowered down again. The angle from the MWD scribeline to the Motor highside is then measured, from us to them, clockwise looking downhole. The scope for error at this point is huge, as you have just introduced a human element. At this point we are like airline pilots one wrong move could cost lives! Well, not really, but you could cut the tension with a knife. The tool is run into the well. Highside is pointed where we want to go and mud pumped through the string to make the bit, and the bit only, turn. This is Sliding, drilling without rotating, and the bit will slip slide away from the old hole into a whole new place of its own.
There are, as always, more than one way to skin a cat. With this BHA we are using a motor with a bend in it. Which is exactly that, a mud motor, which turns the bit and nothing else as you pump mud through it. Above this spinning bit is a bend of 1.4ยบ that can be oriented when we get down to the bottom to point the bit in the direction you want to go. So all you have to do is be able to tell which way the bit is pointing when it is 10,000ft away.
Imagine you have a 1,000ft long drinking straw and you turned one end half a turn, how much would the other end turn? Not one bit. It would just twist up. No imagine a piece of drill pipe, same problem. There is no way you can mark up a pipe at surface and know where the end is pointing. Enter the MWD engineer. We have a tool in the hole that will tell us which way is up, using magnetometers measuring the magnetic field of the earth and its just behind the motor.
Now we get to the fun part. When everything is screwed together the bend in the motor will never line up with the reference line on the MWD tool. So we have to measure the angle between the “highside” of the MWD tool and the direction the bit is pointing in. This is the Scribeline Offset. It is a very very very important measurement. If it is wrong wells have been drilled in entirely the wrong direction, which might lead to some very probing questions.
The Directional Driller marks the highside of the motor. And then transfers this highside line up the tool to the MWD scribeline. Then he marks that line, with a torch strapped to the MWD tool or a polystyrene cup and the whole thing is lifted into the air and the line on the motor is checked with the cup or torch. Any adjustment is made an the tool lowered down again. The angle from the MWD scribeline to the Motor highside is then measured, from us to them, clockwise looking downhole. The scope for error at this point is huge, as you have just introduced a human element. At this point we are like airline pilots one wrong move could cost lives! Well, not really, but you could cut the tension with a knife. The tool is run into the well. Highside is pointed where we want to go and mud pumped through the string to make the bit, and the bit only, turn. This is Sliding, drilling without rotating, and the bit will slip slide away from the old hole into a whole new place of its own.
Wednesday, May 16, 2007
Parallelism, spinning plates
This seems to be a very philosophical title but there is no need to be as deep. The reason we are all here, and when I say here I mean the rig, is Money. Money we all need to pay for and fuel or homes, feed our families and provide us with a few luxuries to make spending the extra time away from home worth the while.
Some folks on the rig are happy with that life. They enjoy or have become content with consistency of their day to day work and the familiarity of their surroundings on the rig. These people are part of the institution that is every individual place offshore and this is their place. The institution makes it easy to dissociate itself with the other part of that persons life that takes place with their family and friends in a different place and time from this. It is almost as if the two existences run in parallel. For even when the crew member isn’t here there is a presence, reminders and markers of that persons place on the rig.
Others on the rig attempt to move away from this place as often as their day to day responsibilities allow them. They are living a life of escapism into worlds of computer games and movies emerging occasionally to sustain their profession or body. When they return to the other half of their lives that happens away from this place do they still try to escape from that place too? To live your life outside of reality is another parallelism. You are here but not, you are elsewhere but not. And then to be at home is a third and fourth parallel on which you live life.
The ability to cope with this parallelism is what make some people better at working away. They are able to sustain a parallel existence. A life which changes irregularly and has a blocky profile as their time switches between each parallel.
I am not a person who can live in too many parallel worlds. I am bad at keeping the plates spinning in my absence. I let them crash to the floor, one by one, until there are one or two wobbling away in the foreground my limit is three. Home(Jenny and Family), work and one other, which is usually the plate that falls off and I put back on quickly while no one watches. This means that home and work wobble and the other plate could be the first one that comes to hand as I stoop down quickly to pick it off the floor. This could be Sailing, Motorbike or Friends.
So the two or three parallels that I live on when offshore are my bandwidth, the speed of my connection with the outside world. A world of parallels on which I live, work and exist. These parallels change when I am not offshore. They drop an octave to a place where my three parallels are different again and the work plate rarely makes it off the ground…..unless I pick it up by mistake.
Some folks on the rig are happy with that life. They enjoy or have become content with consistency of their day to day work and the familiarity of their surroundings on the rig. These people are part of the institution that is every individual place offshore and this is their place. The institution makes it easy to dissociate itself with the other part of that persons life that takes place with their family and friends in a different place and time from this. It is almost as if the two existences run in parallel. For even when the crew member isn’t here there is a presence, reminders and markers of that persons place on the rig.
Others on the rig attempt to move away from this place as often as their day to day responsibilities allow them. They are living a life of escapism into worlds of computer games and movies emerging occasionally to sustain their profession or body. When they return to the other half of their lives that happens away from this place do they still try to escape from that place too? To live your life outside of reality is another parallelism. You are here but not, you are elsewhere but not. And then to be at home is a third and fourth parallel on which you live life.
The ability to cope with this parallelism is what make some people better at working away. They are able to sustain a parallel existence. A life which changes irregularly and has a blocky profile as their time switches between each parallel.
I am not a person who can live in too many parallel worlds. I am bad at keeping the plates spinning in my absence. I let them crash to the floor, one by one, until there are one or two wobbling away in the foreground my limit is three. Home(Jenny and Family), work and one other, which is usually the plate that falls off and I put back on quickly while no one watches. This means that home and work wobble and the other plate could be the first one that comes to hand as I stoop down quickly to pick it off the floor. This could be Sailing, Motorbike or Friends.
So the two or three parallels that I live on when offshore are my bandwidth, the speed of my connection with the outside world. A world of parallels on which I live, work and exist. These parallels change when I am not offshore. They drop an octave to a place where my three parallels are different again and the work plate rarely makes it off the ground…..unless I pick it up by mistake.
Thursday, May 3, 2007
Agenda and Priority
Everyone has there own little agenda. They have been self programmed by life to prioritise. This is great and means that generally all the important stuff gets done and anything that is a little less important is put down to "well if we get the time, we'll get it done." Unfortunately there are stronger and weaker personalities in the world who use different manipulative techniques to "push" their agenda to the top of the priority list. They use persuasion, temptation, flattery, friendship, anger and occasionally bribery to manipulate others, swimming their way to the top of the list towing their agenda behind them.
These manipulators are usually either infuriating, charming, annoying or a combination of any of these. They spend their lives trying to get people to do their bidding and trying their very hardest to get there own way. They are focused and ruthless. They are also a little bit funny. It is amusing to think that pushing your own agenda is so important that you would push people into what ever corner they need to be pushed to get something to happen.
Surely there are different ways to motivate people. Through setting an example, through suggestion and allowing people to prioritise themselves, through discussion and agreement. And "at the end of the day" what is the point in putting yourself through all that effort to get what you want.
I watch these personalities while I'm offshore, I allow myself to indulge in a little chortle and ask the manipulators as many questions as possible to try and find out what it is they are really worry about. I always find that they are not really interested in what they are doing. This must be soul destroying, especially offshore. If you have no interest in your job out here then why are you travelling all this way. You could be doing the same thing anywhere else. Just as long as it is as far away from me as possible.
These manipulators are usually either infuriating, charming, annoying or a combination of any of these. They spend their lives trying to get people to do their bidding and trying their very hardest to get there own way. They are focused and ruthless. They are also a little bit funny. It is amusing to think that pushing your own agenda is so important that you would push people into what ever corner they need to be pushed to get something to happen.
Surely there are different ways to motivate people. Through setting an example, through suggestion and allowing people to prioritise themselves, through discussion and agreement. And "at the end of the day" what is the point in putting yourself through all that effort to get what you want.
I watch these personalities while I'm offshore, I allow myself to indulge in a little chortle and ask the manipulators as many questions as possible to try and find out what it is they are really worry about. I always find that they are not really interested in what they are doing. This must be soul destroying, especially offshore. If you have no interest in your job out here then why are you travelling all this way. You could be doing the same thing anywhere else. Just as long as it is as far away from me as possible.
Saturday, April 7, 2007
March Articles
Downtime and WOW
The old adage "If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change" is especially relevant to offshore. Weather systems move through quickly, especially in the spring. The day can start off with the most beautiful sunrise of gold and amber and by 07:30 it’s all gone and the fog has decended. By lunchtime two quick showers have given way to brilliant sunshine. In the evening snow falls lightly on the deck as temperatures plummet. Four seasons in one day. The sea state changes nearly as quickly. As the wind speeds increase, the sea rises and the supply boat turns back. Then it arrives again and the skipper won’t come anywhere near the rig. This inevitably leads to waiting on weather (or WOW) which gradually loops round to hurry. The equipment needed to do the next job waits on the boat, the boat waits on the weather and the weather just keeps happening. The result of all this weather is that when things do start to get moving again everything is done at pace. Shortcuts are taken, not ever deliberately compromising safety directly but there is an indirect safety cost. If things are not found to be faulty now, when they are found to be faulty later there is an effort which has to be made to remedy the situation. This all involves extra unplanned work pushing the job along the time curve again. The longer the time spent doing one task, the longer the time spent exposed to danger. By doing a job right first time and taking a little bit more time over it then you are exposing people to a risk for a shorter "net" time and decreasing the risk of them being injured. This culture of doing things correctly is not one which is seen often in the offshore environment. That is not because companies are putting pressure on people to do things quickly. People put pressure on people to do things quickly. Peer pressure, self imposed performance criteria and a belief that if you are quick then you are good. These attitudes are born in childhood as we compete to be the best, developed as teenagers as we compete to get the girl(or guy) and continue in adulthood as we strive to provide the best we can for ourselves and our family.
Position Vacant
Wanted: Proof Reader for small internet Blog Salary: A crate of beer Skills: Must have previous experience as an internet moderator and be living with my sister. Reply to: the usual e-mail adress if you can spare the time to do some corrections please.
Offshore Convenience
There are many different types of places for you to "go" offshore. The toilets are not always the high piont of any rig. Most systems have been designed for boats. Most offshore rigs are just glorified ships. So as in any ship there are a few different ways to dispose and store waste for later collection by the supply boat. The main cubicles are in the boot room or changing room and were designed with the average American in mind. Privacy is not always guaranteed; probably back to the days when the Tool Pusher (drill crew chief) could see how many of is crews were spending too much time sitting around. The cubicles can have all sorts of instructions on the wall from the Station Bill for the rig, mentioning all the alarms and actions in case of emergency(ironic), to notices reminding you to leave the bowl the way you found it(please use the brush provided), to a small notice reminding you to wash your hands to prevent infection. Occasionally a notice saying Please do not put cigarette ends, matches or any other items in this toilet other than toilet paper. There may also be some notices posted by the rig crew themselves mainly directed at the Pusher. Most Semi Submersibles and Jack-ups use a vacuum, system. In some systems notices are posted to remind you to close the lid before flushing. Some are so powerful care is needed so you don't get you shoes washed at the same time as you flush. Remembering these rigs are occasionally forty years old the engineering used for these contraptions is often a little outdated and any repairs are a little on the fly. Press the button and you may be in for a bit of a surprise as the pipe work all tries to jump off the wall at you. Platform toilets are just like your average everyday toilet in a restaurant. Well a filling station anyway. Paper will always, without exception, be the cheapest and hardest money can buy. Don't expect Andrex here. This is probably to give you somewhere to write the next set of work instructions or the shift handover notes. You will never run out of paper though as there is nowhere on board to store it so it ends up stacked in the cubicle. While "having a rest" you may be greeted by a fellow rigger coming in next door muttering "I'm gonna feckin' clear this place." shortly followed by a small chirp of "Medic" somewhere in the background.
The old adage "If you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change" is especially relevant to offshore. Weather systems move through quickly, especially in the spring. The day can start off with the most beautiful sunrise of gold and amber and by 07:30 it’s all gone and the fog has decended. By lunchtime two quick showers have given way to brilliant sunshine. In the evening snow falls lightly on the deck as temperatures plummet. Four seasons in one day. The sea state changes nearly as quickly. As the wind speeds increase, the sea rises and the supply boat turns back. Then it arrives again and the skipper won’t come anywhere near the rig. This inevitably leads to waiting on weather (or WOW) which gradually loops round to hurry. The equipment needed to do the next job waits on the boat, the boat waits on the weather and the weather just keeps happening. The result of all this weather is that when things do start to get moving again everything is done at pace. Shortcuts are taken, not ever deliberately compromising safety directly but there is an indirect safety cost. If things are not found to be faulty now, when they are found to be faulty later there is an effort which has to be made to remedy the situation. This all involves extra unplanned work pushing the job along the time curve again. The longer the time spent doing one task, the longer the time spent exposed to danger. By doing a job right first time and taking a little bit more time over it then you are exposing people to a risk for a shorter "net" time and decreasing the risk of them being injured. This culture of doing things correctly is not one which is seen often in the offshore environment. That is not because companies are putting pressure on people to do things quickly. People put pressure on people to do things quickly. Peer pressure, self imposed performance criteria and a belief that if you are quick then you are good. These attitudes are born in childhood as we compete to be the best, developed as teenagers as we compete to get the girl(or guy) and continue in adulthood as we strive to provide the best we can for ourselves and our family.
Position Vacant
Wanted: Proof Reader for small internet Blog Salary: A crate of beer Skills: Must have previous experience as an internet moderator and be living with my sister. Reply to: the usual e-mail adress if you can spare the time to do some corrections please.
Offshore Convenience
There are many different types of places for you to "go" offshore. The toilets are not always the high piont of any rig. Most systems have been designed for boats. Most offshore rigs are just glorified ships. So as in any ship there are a few different ways to dispose and store waste for later collection by the supply boat. The main cubicles are in the boot room or changing room and were designed with the average American in mind. Privacy is not always guaranteed; probably back to the days when the Tool Pusher (drill crew chief) could see how many of is crews were spending too much time sitting around. The cubicles can have all sorts of instructions on the wall from the Station Bill for the rig, mentioning all the alarms and actions in case of emergency(ironic), to notices reminding you to leave the bowl the way you found it(please use the brush provided), to a small notice reminding you to wash your hands to prevent infection. Occasionally a notice saying Please do not put cigarette ends, matches or any other items in this toilet other than toilet paper. There may also be some notices posted by the rig crew themselves mainly directed at the Pusher. Most Semi Submersibles and Jack-ups use a vacuum, system. In some systems notices are posted to remind you to close the lid before flushing. Some are so powerful care is needed so you don't get you shoes washed at the same time as you flush. Remembering these rigs are occasionally forty years old the engineering used for these contraptions is often a little outdated and any repairs are a little on the fly. Press the button and you may be in for a bit of a surprise as the pipe work all tries to jump off the wall at you. Platform toilets are just like your average everyday toilet in a restaurant. Well a filling station anyway. Paper will always, without exception, be the cheapest and hardest money can buy. Don't expect Andrex here. This is probably to give you somewhere to write the next set of work instructions or the shift handover notes. You will never run out of paper though as there is nowhere on board to store it so it ends up stacked in the cubicle. While "having a rest" you may be greeted by a fellow rigger coming in next door muttering "I'm gonna feckin' clear this place." shortly followed by a small chirp of "Medic" somewhere in the background.
Friday, March 23, 2007
Responsibilties
Keeping up your end of the deal. Holding your own tower. Taking personal responsibility for what you do. These are all important, or I feel they are all important. I have my own set of values that I have decided to live my life by. Tell the truth as often as is believably possible. Do the very best that you can.
These principles may seem a little bit archaic. In modern society there seem to be less of this ethic and a higher value placed on possessions and idols. Perhaps this is the skewed interpretation that is the result of growing older. But as I think back and remember my past and the past of the people around me I realise that we were all learning and making mistakes, not knowing how to express ourselves properly. So we lashed out, we told half truths, we isolated ourselves in a vain attempt to not be hurt and we learned from the reaction of others to our mistakes. Very occasionally we listened to our peers and elders and the advice they had to give. In fact I am still doing that, maybe a lot less than I did as a teenager but occasionally I'll say something I didn't mean to say or do something I didn't mean to do.
Everyone makes mistakes, it's what makes us human. We learn from them sometimes. Sometimes we don't. I believe the best we can do with this humanity is to stand up and say, "Yes, it was me, I fecked it up." and then ask "how do I fix it." Take some responsibility for your actions and you will always gain a little respect. Even if it is just for yourself.
Earlier this week I had a BHA to do. This is when we get equipment ready to go into the well. This is probably the most stressful part of the job. If everything works then its great for building your confidence. You connect everything together with the help of the rig crew and a finger.* Once it is all connected together then you plug into the tools and program the electronics. This takes about an hour but the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong is the difference between putting a multi-million dollar formation evaluation tool in the oil well and putting a lamppost down a hole. So there is a little anxiety associated with getting it right. There should be a little anxiety with getting it right, it is an important part of the process. While concentrating on this e-mails are flying in thick and fast. Among them an e-mail regarding correction for the logs from the last section of hole we drilled. The tone of the e-mail was sarcastic and condescending. Now needless to say this is not the type of e-mail that you really want to receive when you are trying to concentrate on the important BHA. to put it bluntly it made my blood boil. I continued to program the tools and do all my pre-drill checks. The tool went in the hole.
The ownership that I take to my work is that when something needs to be done, I do it. I am responsible for making sure everything out here runs smoothly. I check and double check my work. As I double checked my inputs into the tool I noticed a discrepancy between the serial number of the tool in the hole and the surface system. My mouth dried up, thoughts started to fly, my heart raced and a mild/medium panic started. I went to try and get a little advice and some support from town. After much to-ing and fro-ing I called town and was relieved to be told it didn't really matter. All would be fine. and the weight was lifted from my shoulders.
I asked the question. I made the mistake. I felt a little foolish. When all was said and done everything was fine. If it hadn't been fine I would have wasted about 4 hours of rig time. If I hadn't asked the question it could have been days of rig time or weeks of rig time. All because it took a little responsibility for making a mistake.
* The finger pointing engineer. the knowlege that is stored in the finger is mighty. "Please connect that to that" "Could you torque that up to 66.5kilo-pounds please." Not that noe of these are questions.
These principles may seem a little bit archaic. In modern society there seem to be less of this ethic and a higher value placed on possessions and idols. Perhaps this is the skewed interpretation that is the result of growing older. But as I think back and remember my past and the past of the people around me I realise that we were all learning and making mistakes, not knowing how to express ourselves properly. So we lashed out, we told half truths, we isolated ourselves in a vain attempt to not be hurt and we learned from the reaction of others to our mistakes. Very occasionally we listened to our peers and elders and the advice they had to give. In fact I am still doing that, maybe a lot less than I did as a teenager but occasionally I'll say something I didn't mean to say or do something I didn't mean to do.
Everyone makes mistakes, it's what makes us human. We learn from them sometimes. Sometimes we don't. I believe the best we can do with this humanity is to stand up and say, "Yes, it was me, I fecked it up." and then ask "how do I fix it." Take some responsibility for your actions and you will always gain a little respect. Even if it is just for yourself.
Earlier this week I had a BHA to do. This is when we get equipment ready to go into the well. This is probably the most stressful part of the job. If everything works then its great for building your confidence. You connect everything together with the help of the rig crew and a finger.* Once it is all connected together then you plug into the tools and program the electronics. This takes about an hour but the difference between getting it right and getting it wrong is the difference between putting a multi-million dollar formation evaluation tool in the oil well and putting a lamppost down a hole. So there is a little anxiety associated with getting it right. There should be a little anxiety with getting it right, it is an important part of the process. While concentrating on this e-mails are flying in thick and fast. Among them an e-mail regarding correction for the logs from the last section of hole we drilled. The tone of the e-mail was sarcastic and condescending. Now needless to say this is not the type of e-mail that you really want to receive when you are trying to concentrate on the important BHA. to put it bluntly it made my blood boil. I continued to program the tools and do all my pre-drill checks. The tool went in the hole.
The ownership that I take to my work is that when something needs to be done, I do it. I am responsible for making sure everything out here runs smoothly. I check and double check my work. As I double checked my inputs into the tool I noticed a discrepancy between the serial number of the tool in the hole and the surface system. My mouth dried up, thoughts started to fly, my heart raced and a mild/medium panic started. I went to try and get a little advice and some support from town. After much to-ing and fro-ing I called town and was relieved to be told it didn't really matter. All would be fine. and the weight was lifted from my shoulders.
I asked the question. I made the mistake. I felt a little foolish. When all was said and done everything was fine. If it hadn't been fine I would have wasted about 4 hours of rig time. If I hadn't asked the question it could have been days of rig time or weeks of rig time. All because it took a little responsibility for making a mistake.
* The finger pointing engineer. the knowlege that is stored in the finger is mighty. "Please connect that to that" "Could you torque that up to 66.5kilo-pounds please." Not that noe of these are questions.
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Tea Dance
The tea dance is a ritual performed on every offshore rig in the world. It is a behavioral ritual which is observed as the hive attempts to make a cup of tea for each other. The cup is retrieved from the dispenser; the tea bag is plucked from the tin and placed into the cup. At this point worker number two approaches the cup dispenser. A sidestep to the urn as a drone replaces the box of milk in the fridge. Worker two, heads for the sweetener. 1 step back to allow the OIM into the cup dispenser. And worker 1 sidesteps in front of the urn. Step to the side to watch him fill his cup. OIM approaches the coffee taking 3 steps to the side Worker 1 steps backwards and allows access to the urn. Fill cup. Step to the side for the milk worker 3 approaches the cup dispenser. OIM leaves. Until someone thinks up a better way to arrange the Tea and coffee making facilities in the galley then this little social dance of trying to get the tea made without literally treading on toe will go on.
Queen Bee!
Queen Bee!
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Slow Nights at the Office.
Just drilling is an interesting sensation. Everything is working; everything is transmitting as it should. Everything is being stored into the computer database as it should. Its almost like floating along on a cloud of expectation. Always expecting something to go wrong and waiting for something to happen. Sitting at the workstation in the cabin; quiet, serene, sedate and safe. The cabin is warm and snug. The white noise of the computers and other equipment rumbles on. The occasional Tannoy breaks the silence.
While we sit at our stations and wait for the next event we read, we play solitaire and we figure out what we will be paid in next months wage pack. Counting the days then subtract the tax and then the plans, the schemes and the lies we tell ourselves and each other. What will we spend all that money on? Selfishly, we are splashing out on our dreams. Allowing our fantastical imaginations to blow every penny.
Then we are rudely interrupted by our employer. Something happens. We listen to the rig as all its little divisions whir into life. Tannoys, phones and squawk boxes crackle and chirp instructions like a busy aviary at feeding time.
There are reports to update and logs to make. Everything must be done at midnight, the reporting hour. How much have we drilled and how long have we been circulating? What have the drilling parameters been for the last 24 hours? What type of drilling mud have we been using and is it in the same condition as we started? All questions need to be answered on the midnight report. What tools are there on deck? Who is coming to the rig and who has gone?
The return to calm is gradual. Cross checking data with colleagues and filing all the appropriate paper work soon surrenders to silence and inactivity. The cloud surfing continues and the air of expectation hovers around the floor.
While we sit at our stations and wait for the next event we read, we play solitaire and we figure out what we will be paid in next months wage pack. Counting the days then subtract the tax and then the plans, the schemes and the lies we tell ourselves and each other. What will we spend all that money on? Selfishly, we are splashing out on our dreams. Allowing our fantastical imaginations to blow every penny.
Then we are rudely interrupted by our employer. Something happens. We listen to the rig as all its little divisions whir into life. Tannoys, phones and squawk boxes crackle and chirp instructions like a busy aviary at feeding time.
There are reports to update and logs to make. Everything must be done at midnight, the reporting hour. How much have we drilled and how long have we been circulating? What have the drilling parameters been for the last 24 hours? What type of drilling mud have we been using and is it in the same condition as we started? All questions need to be answered on the midnight report. What tools are there on deck? Who is coming to the rig and who has gone?
The return to calm is gradual. Cross checking data with colleagues and filing all the appropriate paper work soon surrenders to silence and inactivity. The cloud surfing continues and the air of expectation hovers around the floor.
Friday, March 16, 2007
The Small Red Light
Phone home…..the places to do this on a rig are scarce. Most of the rig phones don’t have the ability to get an outside line. The result is 40 guys trying to call home in an evening. The offshore solution is to limit the amount of time on the phone. Most rigs there is a small sign reminding you to show a little courtesy to your fellow man by limiting your call to 10 minutes. The result of over running is a hard stare from the persons waiting in a queue to use the phone. The alternative is the small red light. 6 minutes into the call the light will illuminate to let you know you will be cut off in 1 minute, giving you 60 seconds to say you farewells. There is a reciprocal light outside the phone booth, letting all in the queue know that you are on your last minute.
Working in an Oven
Working out in the North Sea in March with expected blizzards on the way. Most normal expectations would be to arrive to a freezing cold working environment. As I walk across deck and open the door of the pressurised unit which will be work for the next 2 weeks I am greeted by a blast of heat. The temperature inside the unit is at least 80F. I quickly strip off my fleece and everyone is wondering around the unit in t-shirts.
"Is the Air Con working then?" I venture an opinion. which is immediately shot out of the sky by a volly of sharp stares frome sweaty faces.
" You're on night's. It gets a little cooler at night."
As the shift goes on the heat cools to a bearable 69F and things start to mellow. Lets hope that nothing goes wrong. That will increase the pressure in this unit as Boyles law may explain a few blown gaskets and hotter heads!
Scott Fricasse
"Is the Air Con working then?" I venture an opinion. which is immediately shot out of the sky by a volly of sharp stares frome sweaty faces.
" You're on night's. It gets a little cooler at night."
As the shift goes on the heat cools to a bearable 69F and things start to mellow. Lets hope that nothing goes wrong. That will increase the pressure in this unit as Boyles law may explain a few blown gaskets and hotter heads!
Scott Fricasse
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
February Articles
Downtime and WOW (waiting on weather)
I am, as always, into “hurry up and wait” mode. The condition caused by working on a multi million dollar project. When the cost of waiting around for somebody to do something increases to a certain threshold the people who are paying the bills start to get a little twitchy. If there is nothing that can be done because, for example something has been broken, then the people onshore with there fingers on there wallets begin to ask this question. “What is happening next?” invariably followed by “Can we do anything to be ready for the next event?” This is not a bad thing planning ahead is good. Saving time and money is good. Unfortunately the end result is “hurry up and wait”. The end result means that additional pressure is put on to try and be ahead of the curve and that is usually when things get missed. People have a tendency towards panic and this is a perfectly normal response to pressure. But the truly gifted person is the one that can keep there heads while all around are losing theirs. The condition of hurry up and wait only seams to last a short while. People on the rig then settle down into “nothing worse can happen” mode. The example from this week is a broken drill line. All hands are mobilized to assist with slipping and cutting a piece of damaged drill line cable. The job takes place at a sensible pace to carry out the work safely and in the background everyone is saying “what’s next?” So we start to do some work which will get us “ahead of the curve” this involves testing some tools in our case. We get so far and the crane that is being used to fix the drill line is working right overhead of where we need to set things up. We retreat into our warm cosy cabin and wait. We sit here waiting for the drill line to be fixed asking ourselves “what’s happening next?” So the question maybe doesn’t just come from the people onshore with there itchy twitchy fingers on there wallets. Maybe it comes from every individual who has been brought up to ask the question “what’s next?” from drive and ambition to get things done and the satisfaction of getting to the end of a day and being able to say “we got something done, what are we going to do tomorrow?” so maybe the example of hurry up and wait isn’t an accurate representation of what is going on. We really aren’t hurrying up to wait we are hurrying up to get things done, to have achieved something and recognize that we have achieved something. Are we really being hurried? Or are we hurrying ourselves on? Trying to achieve by rushing. This doesn’t make any sense, to rush to achieve. Better to slow down and achieve. Then the achievement can be recognized and savored.
Zen Master Scott (from the Tao of Cox)
Home from home
You arrive out to the place you will eat, sleep live and work. You expect you will never see anything as bad as the last rig you just left. When you are handed the card and the medic says “Your on nights”
“No” you reply “I am on days, didn’t my employer let you know what we are out here to do?”
“Sorry mate, lifeboat 3, the briefing is at 08:20hrs” military time suggests you respect his authoritie!
You wonder into the cabin, stow your gear, and then go to stick your toilet bag in the head. The smell meets you as you open the door. Glancing into the shower tray you see enough mildew and mould to grow potatoes in. You dump your bag and lift the lid of the toilet seat to be met by your cabin mate’s dinner. “hmmmm”, this will be what you call home for a week or two.
Scott
International Bright Young Thing
The industry is changing. Everyone wants to maximize profit and there is a shortage of people to work offshore. This usually means getting whoever will put on a hard hat. The net result of this is a truly multicultural, multilingual crew. All of whom speak varying degrees of English( the common denominator in the North Sea). It would be tremendously bigoted of me to suggest that our Serbian mud loggers have worse English than some, but yesterday he told me that his colleague had gone for meat. This said our driller from “the Broch” has his share of problems getting the message across too. With his thick Doric it is often a good thing to ask “Sorry could you repeat that please?” to be met with “am aff fir ma tatties”.
Ghengis McCann
I am, as always, into “hurry up and wait” mode. The condition caused by working on a multi million dollar project. When the cost of waiting around for somebody to do something increases to a certain threshold the people who are paying the bills start to get a little twitchy. If there is nothing that can be done because, for example something has been broken, then the people onshore with there fingers on there wallets begin to ask this question. “What is happening next?” invariably followed by “Can we do anything to be ready for the next event?” This is not a bad thing planning ahead is good. Saving time and money is good. Unfortunately the end result is “hurry up and wait”. The end result means that additional pressure is put on to try and be ahead of the curve and that is usually when things get missed. People have a tendency towards panic and this is a perfectly normal response to pressure. But the truly gifted person is the one that can keep there heads while all around are losing theirs. The condition of hurry up and wait only seams to last a short while. People on the rig then settle down into “nothing worse can happen” mode. The example from this week is a broken drill line. All hands are mobilized to assist with slipping and cutting a piece of damaged drill line cable. The job takes place at a sensible pace to carry out the work safely and in the background everyone is saying “what’s next?” So we start to do some work which will get us “ahead of the curve” this involves testing some tools in our case. We get so far and the crane that is being used to fix the drill line is working right overhead of where we need to set things up. We retreat into our warm cosy cabin and wait. We sit here waiting for the drill line to be fixed asking ourselves “what’s happening next?” So the question maybe doesn’t just come from the people onshore with there itchy twitchy fingers on there wallets. Maybe it comes from every individual who has been brought up to ask the question “what’s next?” from drive and ambition to get things done and the satisfaction of getting to the end of a day and being able to say “we got something done, what are we going to do tomorrow?” so maybe the example of hurry up and wait isn’t an accurate representation of what is going on. We really aren’t hurrying up to wait we are hurrying up to get things done, to have achieved something and recognize that we have achieved something. Are we really being hurried? Or are we hurrying ourselves on? Trying to achieve by rushing. This doesn’t make any sense, to rush to achieve. Better to slow down and achieve. Then the achievement can be recognized and savored.
Zen Master Scott (from the Tao of Cox)
Home from home
You arrive out to the place you will eat, sleep live and work. You expect you will never see anything as bad as the last rig you just left. When you are handed the card and the medic says “Your on nights”
“No” you reply “I am on days, didn’t my employer let you know what we are out here to do?”
“Sorry mate, lifeboat 3, the briefing is at 08:20hrs” military time suggests you respect his authoritie!
You wonder into the cabin, stow your gear, and then go to stick your toilet bag in the head. The smell meets you as you open the door. Glancing into the shower tray you see enough mildew and mould to grow potatoes in. You dump your bag and lift the lid of the toilet seat to be met by your cabin mate’s dinner. “hmmmm”, this will be what you call home for a week or two.
Scott
International Bright Young Thing
The industry is changing. Everyone wants to maximize profit and there is a shortage of people to work offshore. This usually means getting whoever will put on a hard hat. The net result of this is a truly multicultural, multilingual crew. All of whom speak varying degrees of English( the common denominator in the North Sea). It would be tremendously bigoted of me to suggest that our Serbian mud loggers have worse English than some, but yesterday he told me that his colleague had gone for meat. This said our driller from “the Broch” has his share of problems getting the message across too. With his thick Doric it is often a good thing to ask “Sorry could you repeat that please?” to be met with “am aff fir ma tatties”.
Ghengis McCann
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Mr Angry
Anger is a good thing, or so all the psycho-analysts seem to advocate. Release your anger, don't keep it in. Anger kept in will hurt and harm you. So why does it provoke such a negative response from those on the receiving end. The net result on the recipient is usually guilt, another "negative" emotion.
How does this all relate to offshore life? My example is being woken at 4 in the morning by a trainee looking for a cost estimate for our equipment over the last 24 hours. The trainee had been shown where all this information was available and had been asked for the costing at 01:00hrs in the morning. The Co-rep had been in receipt of the costing for the last week and it hadn't changed for a week. So when I was woken at 4 in the morning for this, slightly less than critical, information I felt a lot of anger. I wanted to grab the trainee and shout at him "why didn't you look at the sheet for the last week?" I felt like marching up to the co-rep and shouting "Is this really critical at this time and what makes you think it has changed today after it has been the same for the last week?" But I lay in my bed and woke up. I got dressed quickly and went down to the co-reps office and said " were you looking for the costing for today?" "Sorry about that, you would like that at midnight?" I was timid, restrained an subservient to the client, just like a good service hand should. I came out of his office carrying even more anger and guilt. So what is the solution to all of this? How should I release this anger and prevent this guilt, which is doing nothing but harm to me? Should I care less about my job?
I will probably do what I always do and bury it all. Move on to the next day. This will bring another group of problems to be solved. Will I be able to solve them all? Probably not but I will always try to and if I don't get them all done then some of them will slip till tomorrow. If I resolve not to try to solve all the problems will my anger and frustration subside? Maybe. I should just continue to do all that is in my power without taking so much on that It makes me feel ill, which is how I feel now.
Mr Angry (Scott)
How does this all relate to offshore life? My example is being woken at 4 in the morning by a trainee looking for a cost estimate for our equipment over the last 24 hours. The trainee had been shown where all this information was available and had been asked for the costing at 01:00hrs in the morning. The Co-rep had been in receipt of the costing for the last week and it hadn't changed for a week. So when I was woken at 4 in the morning for this, slightly less than critical, information I felt a lot of anger. I wanted to grab the trainee and shout at him "why didn't you look at the sheet for the last week?" I felt like marching up to the co-rep and shouting "Is this really critical at this time and what makes you think it has changed today after it has been the same for the last week?" But I lay in my bed and woke up. I got dressed quickly and went down to the co-reps office and said " were you looking for the costing for today?" "Sorry about that, you would like that at midnight?" I was timid, restrained an subservient to the client, just like a good service hand should. I came out of his office carrying even more anger and guilt. So what is the solution to all of this? How should I release this anger and prevent this guilt, which is doing nothing but harm to me? Should I care less about my job?
I will probably do what I always do and bury it all. Move on to the next day. This will bring another group of problems to be solved. Will I be able to solve them all? Probably not but I will always try to and if I don't get them all done then some of them will slip till tomorrow. If I resolve not to try to solve all the problems will my anger and frustration subside? Maybe. I should just continue to do all that is in my power without taking so much on that It makes me feel ill, which is how I feel now.
Mr Angry (Scott)
Sunday, February 25, 2007
Then....The wheel fell off.
Maintaining your kit when you are offshore really isn't as straightforward as it seems. Your tools and equipment are usually scattered around the rig in various inaccessible positions which require a harness, fall arrestor, tools aloft register and a good knowledge of limbo dancing. So that as you limbo between the doghouse roof* and the geolograph line* you manage to stop yourself and your toolkit from falling on the driller.
When it breaks, and something always breaks, the first question anyone will ask you is, "how long will it take to fix it?" My standard answer is "about 20 minutes". If the same person asks me again the second answer is "as long as it takes" and if someone asks me a third time they will be in a harness as fast as there arms can carry them into it. Then they will find themselves up a ladder holding a torch.
The example from today is a wheel that measures a cable which is attached to the rig. This cable moves as the rig moves and measures depth travelled into the well. The depth wheel is under constant stresses from the wire and a bunch of pulleys the wire goes through. it is held onto the rig with 2 grub screws and vibrates off more than once a hitch. Once it falls off you are knacked! Well until you get your self into the harness and limbo it back onto the rig.
*Rig equipment associated with MWD that breaks down a lot.
When it breaks, and something always breaks, the first question anyone will ask you is, "how long will it take to fix it?" My standard answer is "about 20 minutes". If the same person asks me again the second answer is "as long as it takes" and if someone asks me a third time they will be in a harness as fast as there arms can carry them into it. Then they will find themselves up a ladder holding a torch.
The example from today is a wheel that measures a cable which is attached to the rig. This cable moves as the rig moves and measures depth travelled into the well. The depth wheel is under constant stresses from the wire and a bunch of pulleys the wire goes through. it is held onto the rig with 2 grub screws and vibrates off more than once a hitch. Once it falls off you are knacked! Well until you get your self into the harness and limbo it back onto the rig.
*Rig equipment associated with MWD that breaks down a lot.
Saturday, February 24, 2007
.....and then everything shut down and all was quiet
A power cut is often a disconcerting thing. Never quite sure if it is just you so after popping your head out the door you discover your neighbour on there doorstep with a polite "so is your power off too?"
It is very similar offshore. The power goes out. Then everything is quiet, a little strange on a drilling rig. Its like going from the middle of a big city at rush our to the rolling hills in the countryside in the flick of a switch. There is still light...even on night shift. Emergency lighting kicks in and bathes the rig in romantic soft light. All of the surrounding rigs sparkle like stars at the new moon. The supply boat bobs around with a halo. So what do you do?
First, report to the drill floor. Up in the doghouse all hell has broken loose. We can't move the pipe, we can't circulate mud this is the worst case scenario the Co-rep is panicking about the hole caving in and us getting stuck. Best to retreat from this area as soon as possible.
Next the phone rings.
"how are you getting on?" ask the Directional driller " have you got any power?" he asks hopefully.
"No nothing, we will need to get the air on first before we start up the unit."
"OK, well everything is pretty messed up here, call us when you know something."
"OK"
Meanwhile the data engineer is struggling with there unit and ask for help. I explain about the lack of air.
Then the Power is back on, but no air. We try to start the unit with no success. Wait for air.
Scott the Powerless
It is very similar offshore. The power goes out. Then everything is quiet, a little strange on a drilling rig. Its like going from the middle of a big city at rush our to the rolling hills in the countryside in the flick of a switch. There is still light...even on night shift. Emergency lighting kicks in and bathes the rig in romantic soft light. All of the surrounding rigs sparkle like stars at the new moon. The supply boat bobs around with a halo. So what do you do?
First, report to the drill floor. Up in the doghouse all hell has broken loose. We can't move the pipe, we can't circulate mud this is the worst case scenario the Co-rep is panicking about the hole caving in and us getting stuck. Best to retreat from this area as soon as possible.
Next the phone rings.
"how are you getting on?" ask the Directional driller " have you got any power?" he asks hopefully.
"No nothing, we will need to get the air on first before we start up the unit."
"OK, well everything is pretty messed up here, call us when you know something."
"OK"
Meanwhile the data engineer is struggling with there unit and ask for help. I explain about the lack of air.
Then the Power is back on, but no air. We try to start the unit with no success. Wait for air.
The power restored and the rig returns to its usual drone, consuming masses of power to drill a hole which may yield absolutely nothing.
Eventually we get things up and running, re-boot PC's. Re-establish communications with the tool and go back drilling. during the whole event(about 1 hour) there wasn't a single Tannoy.Scott the Powerless
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
What’s it all for
I am tiered, but then that seems to be my default position for the first couple of days away. Lack of sleep that’s caused by trying to reverse your body clock from 6am to 6pm. Going from an existence in the daytime to an existence in the darkness before finally emerging from the long 2 week tunnel into a world that has moved on a fortnight leaving you behind. The days following this rebirth are to be a mixture of 3am and 4pm with blackouts of sleep in between.
But so long as you expect all of this to happen to you and don’t allow things to be effected to badly by it you may survive.
I had better explain myself. I am an offshore engineer working in the North Sea. I have worked in remote locations for about 7 years since leaving the first job I had after university but I have only been a regular visitor to the North Sea for a year.
I hope that posts and articles on this blog will do a couple of things. One is to allow me to muse, ponder and “let go of” various thoughts and incidents which happen in the day to day life of this particular offshore engineer. Two is to attempt to explain how this affects the day to day running of lots of different aspects of offshore and onshore life. Three is to hopefully allow any other person to use this information to there advantage. Ok that may all seam a little ambitious and a little self centered but I know that there is a lot happening out here that has analogies to a lot that is happening on this rig. I believe that as this blog grows up it may be a source of information and a social outlet for offshore folks everywhere. A place they can describe there world and how it relates to them and everything else.
While doing all of this it is not my intention to harm or hurt any individual or company. I am not out to slander anyone or to “grass up” bad practices and such. I will try to leave out any information that may cause offence and will attempt to present a true version of what occurs offshore. By the same measure, if there is something going on out here that is grossly negligent and there is no other way for me to express this problem to the people that matter, it will appear here.
Scott
But so long as you expect all of this to happen to you and don’t allow things to be effected to badly by it you may survive.
I had better explain myself. I am an offshore engineer working in the North Sea. I have worked in remote locations for about 7 years since leaving the first job I had after university but I have only been a regular visitor to the North Sea for a year.
I hope that posts and articles on this blog will do a couple of things. One is to allow me to muse, ponder and “let go of” various thoughts and incidents which happen in the day to day life of this particular offshore engineer. Two is to attempt to explain how this affects the day to day running of lots of different aspects of offshore and onshore life. Three is to hopefully allow any other person to use this information to there advantage. Ok that may all seam a little ambitious and a little self centered but I know that there is a lot happening out here that has analogies to a lot that is happening on this rig. I believe that as this blog grows up it may be a source of information and a social outlet for offshore folks everywhere. A place they can describe there world and how it relates to them and everything else.
While doing all of this it is not my intention to harm or hurt any individual or company. I am not out to slander anyone or to “grass up” bad practices and such. I will try to leave out any information that may cause offence and will attempt to present a true version of what occurs offshore. By the same measure, if there is something going on out here that is grossly negligent and there is no other way for me to express this problem to the people that matter, it will appear here.
Scott
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