I WANT YOU!
I want you, my dear readers, to submit your questions about oilfield life, oilfield work, and my life in general in response to this post. I have 5 days left before I leave the rig for my self-determined Thanksgiving break, and I will do my best to answer any and all questions as thoroughly as possible between now and then.
You see, I came to a small sort of epiphany during my last break. I was up in Boston, visiting friends and family, but I was unable to completely relax. I still felt the weight of my job pushing me down, even though I was on "official" vacation, and should have been able to release those feelings. But they kept pressing on me, and I eventually realized it was because everyone was so curious about what I was doing, I kept fielding questions and going into long, detailed descriptions about all the facets of my life and work. After four straight weeks on the rig, this was like reliving a traumatic episode again, and again, and again (although far less serious than actual trauma -- my job isn't that bad).
But I was unable to let go of the constant weight of my work, and was therefore unable to fully enjoy my vacation. So during this upcoming holiday, I am going to do my best to promote my own peace of mind by saying "NO!". I am NOT going to answer any questions about my job, I am NOT going to go into drawn-out explanations of what it's like for a woman to live on a floating steel island with 150 men, and I am not going to discuss the technologies I utilize to help oil companies find their prize. So apologies in advance to everyone who might want to pepper me with questions over turkey and cranberry sauce, but I'm not gonna do it this time.
To make it up to you, however, I will devote this next week to answering all of your questions through this blog so that you may satisfy your curiosity in advance. Whoever feels so inclined may either post a comment to this post or email me in person to submit their query. I am scheduled to leave the rig on Tuesday morning, so hurry up and start asking away!
And remember: once I step off that helicopter, I will pretend I no longer work in the oilfield. If you ask me to my face how my job is going, you just might receive a confused look and "what job?" for an answer. Any questions posed online will then be put aside until I've had time to decompress.
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2 comments:
So being confined with a bunch of people for a few weeks can be seen as a bonding experience in some situations. Is that the case for working on an oil rig? - do you make friends and hang out and feel close to the people you're with? Or do you just interact purely on a professional level, then hide away in your room on your own at nights to relax, and then after a few weeks you go off to the next rig and forget about the people at the previous one?
Nice try! Writing from after Thanksgiving and you did give in to answering some low stress work questions. Hope you got some release. I think jumping in the frigid Duxbury Bay might have taken your mind off the Gulf.
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