Invasion!

My space has been invaded. I am not particularly happy about this.

The directional drillers arrived on the rig yesterday. They work for the same service company I do, and they are here to supervise the directional section of our drilling operation. My "office" (known as a logging unit) is essentially a hurricane-proof steel box about 10' x 8' with desk-space stretching across one length of the room which contains the 3 main computers I have to watch constantly. You can fit two people in this room comfortably. You can fit three people in this room and still have enough space to work. Any more than three and you start to suffer from overcrowding immediately, but that's not something that happens frequently and almost never lasts long.

S0 it's not like I'm actually running out of room, it's just that I am going to miss the privacy of having my little steel box to myself. No more singing loudly to music, no more talking to myself, no more picking my nose . . . ummmm I guess you get the idea. I suppose most people would appreciate having someone to talk to, but everyone who knows me really well knows that I am perfectly happy being a bit of a loner. I don't need someone to talk to all day. I'm perfectly fine sitting here in my box all by myself, thank you very much!

I guess there are some advantages. For example, we swapped movie collections today. He also went to lunch first, and was able to give me recommendations on what was good and what to avoid.

The most pertinent part about my new box-mate, however, is what he's like as a person. He and his night hand are rather typical oilfield workers. They are outspoken, god-fearing, pro-military, etc. etc. etc. The day hand would probably take pride in calling himself a "redneck" and the night hand is very Cajun (so he probably calls himself a "coon-ass"). Within a few hours of meeting them, they had already made it quite clear that they detest Obama and they think Hilary is the "antichrist". This is after they have determined, through such direct methods I could not avoid it, that I voted for Hilary in the primaries and Obama in the nationals. Since then, I have been subjected to numerous tirades on how both Clinton and Bush screwed up (they gave a rather balanced argument on this, fortunately), on America's military prerogative towards the rest of the world, on how France is "our enemy" (sorry Monique! suffice to say I don't agree), on the situation in Israel, and many other things in that vein.

In a nutshell: they have very strong opinions which they like to express. A lot. I have rather flexible opinions (and some very strong ones) which I prefer to keep to myself and only share with those I love and trust. So I do what any diplomatic person does: I nod and smile, express my agreement with them where it occurs, and take everything else with a grain of salt.

It should be interesting to see what kind of conversations occur when my night hand comes on shift, because he's a muslim and therefore anti-Israel. This directional driller I have been working alongside is Christian, and believes that the people of Israel have a God-given right to live there. I hope when those sparks fly I am looong gone.