Hitting the Road on Friday

Off Topic
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Quick Update:

AC called me last night. He told me to tell everybody, “Hi.” He’s in Galveston Island TX, right now and has just gotten back onshore. He hasn’t really been able to post or anything because the internet connection offshore has been faulty at best. Not to mention that he has been working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day for the past 3 weeks straight, so when he’s off, all he thinks about is food and sleep.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to make the meet up on the 10th, because of his work schedule.

Also, some sad news as his grandmother just passed, but he’s feeling ok. He will be back in Baltimore on Monday to handle her affairs so he and I may get together for lunch if he can squeeze it in; but we are playing that by ear, right now, since he has to be back to work on Tuesday.

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So sad to hear about your Grandmother AC. :frowning:

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[quote]Charlie Horse wrote:
So sad to hear about your Grandmother AC. :frowning:

[/quote]
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Take care of yourself, bud.

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[quote]imhungry wrote:

[quote]Charlie Horse wrote:
So sad to hear about your Grandmother AC. :frowning:

[/quote]
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Take care of yourself, bud.[/quote]
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Condolences on your loss AC.

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[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
Quick Update:

AC called me last night. He told me to tell everybody, “Hi.” He’s in Galveston Island TX, right now and has just gotten back onshore. He hasn’t really been able to post or anything because the internet connection offshore has been faulty at best. Not to mention that he has been working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day for the past 3 weeks straight, so when he’s off, all he thinks about is food and sleep.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to make the meet up on the 10th, because of his work schedule.

Also, some sad news as his grandmother just passed, but he’s feeling ok. He will be back in Baltimore on Monday to handle her affairs so he and I may get together for lunch if he can squeeze it in; but we are playing that by ear, right now, since he has to be back to work on Tuesday.
[/quote]

: (

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AC, I hate reading that about your grandmother. My sympathy goes out to you and your family (those in your family who did what they could for her anyway). I am, however, glad you have plenty of work to do. Too much work is better than not enough in my opinion.

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[quote]Chushin wrote:

[quote]simpstr1 wrote:

[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
Quick Update:

AC called me last night. He told me to tell everybody, “Hi.” He’s in Galveston Island TX, right now and has just gotten back onshore. He hasn’t really been able to post or anything because the internet connection offshore has been faulty at best. Not to mention that he has been working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day for the past 3 weeks straight, so when he’s off, all he thinks about is food and sleep.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to make the meet up on the 10th, because of his work schedule.

Also, some sad news as his grandmother just passed, but he’s feeling ok. He will be back in Baltimore on Monday to handle her affairs so he and I may get together for lunch if he can squeeze it in; but we are playing that by ear, right now, since he has to be back to work on Tuesday.
[/quote]

: ([/quote]

X2[/quote]

X3

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Sorry to hear about your grandmother AC, I recently lost a very close family member as well. I know youre an adult but if you want to get anything off your chest feel free to shoot me a pm. Prayers are with ya brother.

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[quote]angry chicken wrote:

[quote]Bujo wrote:
Looks like you’re getting a dose of real South Louisiana weather tonight. Try not to float away.[/quote]

Yeah, no shit - everything’s pretty wet! Gotta luv the joys of tent living! But not even that can “dampen” my spirits (bah dum pshhh!) LOL

Here’s the picture of the skid I’m working on. I tested the two motors, grounded them and ran a bunch of control wiring from the panel to various flow devices. Tomorrow we finish up the pneumatics and shortly after that I’ll be going offshore to hook everything up on the rig it’s going on.

FUCKIN’ A!!![/quote]

Great initiative, great story - you made your own success that’s got to be very satisfying.

Sounds like you are running and maintaining pumping skids for a subbie on a rig - good lucky with it. The living conditions sound pretty basic, are you hotbedding?

I have just finishing a field development project offshore Nigeria and will be moving to take charge of a project in Brunei April time - if you ever need any industry related advice or assistance and I can help don’t hesitate.

And sorry for the loss.

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1280×765 104 KB

March 6th - AC says “HEY”, thanks for all the well wishes. He’s doing well and will be home soon!

View from his window.

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[quote]pushharder wrote:
Hey AC, I’m coming through town (southern Louisiana) somewhere around the 24th - 26th. You buying lunch?

(I’ll actually be driving from San Antonio to Tallahassee so could meet you anywhere along I-10)[/quote]

Sounds like a plan. PM’d you with my contact info.

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Finally I have internet!

Thank you all very much for the kind words and condolences regarding the passing of my grandmother. They broke the mold when they made her, that’s the best way I can describe her. She wrote me a thoughtful little note in flawless penmanship on stationary every week for four years while I was in prison. She was an amazing woman, and in my judgement, the only woman who ever loved me unconditionally. She will be missed.

Things are going well. I got a regular 7/7 hitch now for one of the major drilling/production companies down here. I’m in charge of the maintenance on 9 platforms in the Vermillion, East and West Cam, Grand Isle and South Tim fields in the Gulf. So I get to fly all over the place in a helicopter fixing shit, installing Generators, etc… It’s cool :slight_smile:

When I’m not on my hitch, my company still sends me out to other jobs. Two weeks ago I was working on some new builds in the shipyard at Galveston, TX (I got to party on Mardi Gras!). So things are going exceedingly well for me. My plan is working out better than I had dared to hope for.

It’s busy though - I had ONE day off in February. But for my short term goals, I’m right on track. I miss my kids, but both of them are doing well. In fact, my eldest son has been lurking and told me he created an account here! That should be interesting - you guys better play nice! LMAO He’s getting A’s and B’s and kicking ass in Track and Field.

I’m not living in the shack anymore, I broke down and rented a room a few days ago. With me being gone all the time, animals were getting in and eating holes in my clothes and we had particularly bad rain a few weeks ago which put most of my things underwater. So I decided that wasn’t the best place for my stuff. I still have full use of the property though. I’m able to go fishing there whenever I want.

My company is putting me through the T-2 certification class this weekend, which is the final offshore certification I really “need” to be marketable down here (for work in the Gulf of Mexico). So once I pass that test, I’ll have a bit more time to hang out here and post some more pictures that I’ve taken. They’re all on my phone, so I have to transfer it all to my hard drive. Which, for my computer challenged old ass, is time consuming. But I’ll get to it, I took pics of some pretty cool stuff.

So there it is. Thanks again for the kind words and wishes. I heard I missed a shitstorm in SAMA LOL

Take care, everybody.

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Haha, dude, the pole above screams gay, you know that right?

I’m glad things are going well, sorry I couldn’t make galveston, its a haul from west Houston for an eve. Sounds fairly regular though? I’m moving closer to the coast soon, very soon.

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[quote]JamFly wrote:

[quote]angry chicken wrote:

[quote]Bujo wrote:
Looks like you’re getting a dose of real South Louisiana weather tonight. Try not to float away.[/quote]

Yeah, no shit - everything’s pretty wet! Gotta luv the joys of tent living! But not even that can “dampen” my spirits (bah dum pshhh!) LOL

Here’s the picture of the skid I’m working on. I tested the two motors, grounded them and ran a bunch of control wiring from the panel to various flow devices. Tomorrow we finish up the pneumatics and shortly after that I’ll be going offshore to hook everything up on the rig it’s going on.

FUCKIN’ A!!![/quote]

Great initiative, great story - you made your own success that’s got to be very satisfying.

Sounds like you are running and maintaining pumping skids for a subbie on a rig - good lucky with it. The living conditions sound pretty basic, are you hotbedding?

I have just finishing a field development project offshore Nigeria and will be moving to take charge of a project in Brunei April time - if you ever need any industry related advice or assistance and I can help don’t hesitate.

And sorry for the loss.[/quote]

Thanks! I’m NOT hotbedding on the platforms I’m working on - they fly me back to my “home platform” every day. If I ever do get stuck on a platform due to fog or severe weather, the operators fight each other to give me their bunk so that they can get paid an extra 6 hrs overtime just to sleep on the couch. LOL

If you wouldn’t mind, I would like to bounce a few of my ideas about career development off you when you have the time. Let me know when you’d be available.

My long term goal is to transition from being a third party service/maintenance electrician working in the GOM to getting hired on with an international drilling company working overseas for a 28/28 hitch. I figure I’ll probably need two or three years of solid offshore experience in the Gulf of Mexico before I’d be ready for that though. I’m planning to stay with my current company (which specializes in I/E and motor controls) for about a year or so and then switch to a company specializing more in power, DC motors/SCR, generators and switchgear. Hopefully I’ll be able to get some SCADA and PLC training/experience in there as well. Once I have all that under my belt, I’d feel confident enough to apply to one of the big boys.

What do you think? Am I on the right track? Is that a realistic timeline in your opinion? Thanks again for offering to help a brother out!

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[quote]HoustonGuy wrote:
Haha, dude, the pole above screams gay, you know that right?

I’m glad things are going well, sorry I couldn’t make galveston, its a haul from west Houston for an eve. Sounds fairly regular though? I’m moving closer to the coast soon, very soon.[/quote]

LOL that’s why I took the pic! I tried for the duck-bill lips, but I couldn’t keep a straight face. In CFR 30 (the “code” governing the safety systems for offshore drilling platforms) the letter G is associated with the Header Pipe and one of the common modifiers is AY (denoting it’s producing hydrocarbons). So there’s a “GAY” pipe somewhere on EVERY platform. One of my pet projects for fun is to get as many “GAY” pictures from as many platforms as I can. Kinda like planking, but funnier (IMHO) LOL.

I should be back in TX sooner or later. One of the company men for one of the major contractors in that shipyard on Pelican Island just so happens to be the uncle of one of the project managers in my company. So you know how that goes! I should be there for work fairly regularly, although they just commissioned the two rigs I was working on. I’m sure they have to build the structure of the next two, so I’ll be a few months 'till I get back there for work.

No worries though - Bujo and I were talking about hitting up Houston/Galveston for Spring Break if we’re both on the beach at the same time. We’ll try to hook up then.

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[quote]angry chicken wrote:
HAI GUYS!!!

I’m fucking BACK, peeps! I drove from Venice, LA back to Lafayette and headed to Bujo’s place (then we went out and got drunk, LOL). THANK YOU all for the kind words and well wishes. Working offshore is VERY interesting, to say the least! If I didn’t think it would bore you all, I would regale you with tales of blown up generators and helicopter rides, but suffice it to say, I learned A LOT in last 15 days!. Seriously. It was some cool shit - I kicked ass and took names. I also made a METRIC FUCK-TON of money! LMAO

So the plan is that I’m flying back to VA on Monday to see my kids for a week, and I have to be back here in time to be at the dock at 7 AM on Tuesday morning the 31st. After refining my schedule (and noting that Chushin won’t be available, THIS time), I can do LUNCH in Baltimore on Tuesday the 24th or Thursday the 26th. Given that Lew is heading out of town on Thursday, that will PROBABLY make it Tuesday that we’ll all meet up. Simpster, you can carpool with me if you meet me at Tyson’s. I’ll firm it up with you guys tomorrow on the phone. And anyone else who is in the Baltimore area, PM me if you wanna hang out. Meeting people from the 'Nation IRL is cool!

I’ll holla at y’all tomorrow, cuz I’m fucking tired and tipsy. Thanks again.

[/quote]

I missed you by a weekend. First time in Baltimore, too.

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[quote]lewhitehurst wrote:
Quick Update:

AC called me last night. He told me to tell everybody, “Hi.” He’s in Galveston Island TX, right now and has just gotten back onshore. He hasn’t really been able to post or anything because the internet connection offshore has been faulty at best. Not to mention that he has been working anywhere from 12 to 16 hours a day for the past 3 weeks straight, so when he’s off, all he thinks about is food and sleep.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like he’ll be able to make the meet up on the 10th, because of his work schedule.

Also, some sad news as his grandmother just passed, but he’s feeling ok. He will be back in Baltimore on Monday to handle her affairs so he and I may get together for lunch if he can squeeze it in; but we are playing that by ear, right now, since he has to be back to work on Tuesday.
[/quote]

Damn, hope you are alright.