Rig Life...

Aint too bad afterall…

When my manager told me I was going to a Land Rig for my first post school job. I was literally expecting the worst. I had heard so many stories about the bed bugs and the bad food and water. Your babe was freaking out on the inside. I don’t mind working in the field but what really freaks me out are the things like mosquitoes, bed bugs, wild monkeys, and all manner of wild animals which may be in the area. So you must understand that I packed my bags with great trepidation. One of my greatest comforts was that I was going on this job with Angel. You must remember angel my Indonesian flat mate.

So we arrived at the airport in Barodar on Saturday. We were already getting weird looks. Two foreign chicks in an obscure place. There was a car waiting to pick us up. On getting to the hotel, I was totally stunned at the quality of the place. They got us a double room to share which was absolutely fine with me. Myself and Angel have been flatmates for months now and we totally get each other. Plus, we are the only two non Hindi speakers in the crew. Even if the babe did not like me, she has no other friend but me (and vice versa) So, we both would be doing ourselves a great favor by getting on.
Hotel room

I got a call from the cell manager. I will be working the night shift while Angel will be working on the day shift. I guess its gonna be too much to have the two of us on the same shift. The work site is about 90 mins drive from the hotel. We needed to get some extra supplies so we went to the biggest mall in the city, Varodar Central. I was and still am impressed. The mall is absolutely awesome. Even better than some of the ones I had been to in Mumbai. And this was me saying I would not be spending a dime on this tour. God knows I need to get back to that mall cos I have already eyed some nice dresses.Vadodara Central

I hooked up with the rest of my crew at 5pm for the 90 minutes drive to the rig. The rig itself aint too bad at all. The workers are all trying their best. My biggest problem here is the state of the toilets. The thing is like one of those pit latrines we used to have in boarding school and it is not well kept at all. Initially, there were no locks on the door and the window was transparent. I quickly complained to the engineer incharge. There is no way I will be entering that place. Funny enough, before my shift was over, the engineer had arranged for the windows to be covered and a lock to be installed. I was well impressed. These guys are not used to having females work with them on the rigs so they are all trying their best to please me. Our VSAT did not work for the first two days. No Internet ke? I was already praying to the God of VSAT to magically realign the satellite dish to a position where there will be signal. We eventually called for an engineer to come fix the problem. Can I get an Amen in the house please.

The Rig Structure

I have managed 5 – 12 hrs shifts already and I still don’t piss during my shifts.. Lol.. I keep strong till I return to the hotel. Myself and Angel are playing this sick game.. we “keep it” till the end of our shift cos we cant bare to use the pit toilets on the site. I know it aint funny so I don’t know why I am laughing at the moment. I think angel is gonnna break first!!.

As you can see..I've been working very hard

One of the weird things I have noticed is that the local hands on the site have recently graduated from staring at me to actually sticking their cameras in my face and repeatedly taking pictures. I was just standing there on the rig floor and next thing I hear, a roustabout is clicking away on his camera. I kind of smiled in that polite manner not wanting to make a scene. Next thing I know.. Not so young man had his camera under my nose. I was really pissed off by then. Its one thing you taking my picture and me pretending like I didn’t see you. Another thing is for you to be taking my picture like am some kind of remnant from the planet Mars. I reported the guy to my cell manager who told him and his mates off in Hindi.Tcheiw.. I will show them Warri craze next time they try that rubbish. My shift is already over(6am). Its already daylight. The pick up car will soon be here any moment and I am looking forward to my nice warm bed at the Hotel Revival.. ohh.. and also taking a piss!. Which reminds me.. How come all these hotels have funny names? Remember the infamous “Hotel Cosy” Now.. I’m at “Revival Lords Hotel” I wonder where they are gonna put us after we finish this job?? I am too tired to think of any catchy names. I want to send a shout out to everyone who was wishing me well on my field visit. Sisto, Solomonsdell and you all know yourselves.. Much love!