Old Friends….New Friends! Random thoughts while rigging down…

Old Friends….New Friends! Random thoughts while rigging down…
Workin in the oilpatch is like no other job…probably it’s most closely related to working a travelling circus. Here in one town today, and gone tomorrow to another.
Sometimes we’re fortunate in working in one area for an extended period of time drilling many wells, and other times it’s a one hole job. Regardless we make many very good friends and maybe at other times we can’t wait to finish and get outta Dodge due to an honorary Companyman or Bad Luck with hole problems.
Sometimes you can see the efforts of breakin out a new hand and the rewards of him succeeding and when working another rig can be proud that he said he worked for you, other times you hope another hand will never mention your name and working for you too. Either way is can contribute to your reputation, good or bad.
These days of digital cameras we can capture those good times and many times that’s what is left, memories. We always say “Lets keep in touch”…but it seems over the years it’s only just a few we keep up with. We always leave with good intentions of “keeping in touch”, exchange telephone numbers and email addresses. But like in the circus, rigging up the show in a new town we get busy and seem to drift away. The Oilfield is a small community, how many times have you bumped into an old time friend at the airport, each heading to work on opposite sides of the world or gone to another rig and hooking up with an old lost buddy?
We just had our last “Family BBQ” today, we have had this ritual for atleast once on my two week hitch’s for the last two years…it’s usually the first thing the hands ask me “When is the Mamona (BBQ)” after asking how was days off.
This time I hope things will be different, I have shown the hands this web site “Drilling Ahead” given them the URL, shown them how to post photos and encourage them to become active participants. Since Curtis has given us an avenue to make a post, it should make it easier for us to stay in touch, instead of emailing some photos to 50 people, they can come here.
So thanks Curtis for making this available for all of us wandering OFT.