Thursday, March 27, 2014

Morning Report - Day 21 - Thursday, March 27th

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 28th 2014 ~ 04:15 (UTC +1:00) 

Morning! I may be going to go to a weekly report. There is not much going on day to day and my thoughts are scattered.

Work:
Days on Rig:14
Current Rig Ops: Drilling
Current D&M Ops: Same
Current Weather: Thunder and lightening storm at night, day was mostly clear and hot.

Personal:
Current Music selection: Andrea Bocelli
Current Books:  
Grass Productivity by Andre Voisin (This book is slow going. It is definitely on the nerdy/technical side of grass based agriculture.)
The Life and Teachings of Hillel by Yitzhak Buxbaum
Books read: 3 + parts (parts = I am in several books right now, okay half a dozen)

Summary: 
No news. One day to the next is all the same now. The blur is really setting in and I am losing track of the days, which is a good thing. Haha, even the food is all tasting the same. I can't really call it dining, it is more akin to re-fueling. I do enjoy having meals with some of the guys from the other units, though even now our conversations are getting shorter and more work related.

C'est La Vie!

Monday, March 24, 2014

Morning Report - Day 18 - Monday, March 24th

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 25th 2014 ~ 04:30 (UTC +1:00) 

Bonjour!

Work:
Days on Rig: 11
Current Rig Ops: Drilling ahead. We will be drilling for neigh on 2 weeks.
Current D&M Ops: Same. We drilled close to 400 meters yesterday!
Current Weather: Cool evening with calm seas, day was mostly clear and hot, night some rain.

Personal:
Current Music selection: The Chieftains
Current Books:  
Grass Productivity by Andre Voisin - Frenchmen, blunt and scathing in their assessment of the USA.
The Life and Teachings of Hillel by Yitzhak Buxbaum
Books read: 3 + parts 
Distance Ran Friday: 2.5 miles
Time walking on Heli-deck: 0.5 hrs


Summary: 
This is a long section that we are drilling. There won't be much changing for the next almost two weeks and I am looking forward to the flow of the work routine that helps the time pass.

To offer an explanation about my comment about Voisin, he writes in the 1959 book, "American farmers have exploited the soil like a mine and have forgotten to respect the demands of the grass. They have made it work like a slave: they have worn it out with work, neglecting the periods of rest it required. After the grass had died from overwork it was the soil itself that succumbed. Washed away by erosion in the rivers, it went on to sleep its last sleep in the Gulf of Mexico."

Another quote that struck me in the first chapter of Life and Teaching of Hillel  has to do with how we ought to understand who it is we quote. Something that struck me and makes me nervous to go on spouting "so and so says." The quote, "The rabbis tell us that when someone utters a traditional saying in the name of a teacher, he should see that teacher as if he were standing before him." As a Christian, how do I see Jesus before I go and use His words? 

Who is Hillel anyway?

Hillel the Elder is one of the greatest Jewish religious leaders of the 1st century BC. He was a contemporary of Herod the Great (The Herod of the nativity narrative) and grandsire to Gamaliel, Paul's first rabbi and instructor. His teaching and understanding of the Torah shaped the Pharisee movement and the set the tone of the Jewish religious landscape that Jesus came to with all the other various sects: Sadducees, Essenes, and Herodians. (Pharisees have gotten a terrible rap over the years in Christian teaching which I have discovered is an uneducated and unfortunate disparaging of a fascinating tradition. A tradition that shapes the earliest teachers of the Church, including Paul who never stopped being one if you look at Acts 23:6 & 26:5, and can give much depth even to the teachings of Christ. End soap box.)

I love the chance to read so much when I have my 12 hours off tour, but I should get more sleep.

Veritas Numquam Perit!

Sunday, March 23, 2014

Morning Report - Day 17 - Sunday, March 23rd

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 24th 2014 ~ 05:55 (UTC +1:00) 

Good morning all!

Work:
Days on Rig: 10
Current Rig Ops: Drilling ahead
Current D&M Ops: Completed various morning reports and monitoring until next connection
Current Weather: During the day it was bright sunshine with high clouds, this evening it rained

Personal:
Current Music selection: Mumford & Sons
Current Book: Grass Productivity by Andre Voisin (I am not making much progress right now)
Books read: 3 + parts
Distance Ran Friday: 3.25 miles
Strength workout: 30 minutes
Time walking on Heli-deck: 1.5 hrs


Summary: 
I need to write this sooner in the evening!


"Glory is fleeting, obscurity is eternal." ~ Thomas More

Saturday, March 22, 2014

Morning Report - Day 16 - Saturday, March 22nd

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 23rd 2014 ~ 05:15 (UTC +1:00) 

Good morning!

Work:
Days on Rig: 9
Current Rig Ops: Making up the BHA (Bottom hole assembly)
Current D&M Ops: Making up our tools in the BHA
Current Weather: Light winds from the south, Nearly clear skies Saturday afternoon

Personal:
Current Music selection: None
Current Book: Grass Productivity by Andre Voisin
Books read: 3 + parts
Distance Ran Friday: Need to find conservative running plan to avoid injury
Time walking on Heli-deck: 1.5 hrs

Summary:
Life is good in the MWD D&M world on the West Es.

Friday, March 21, 2014

Morning Report - Day 15 - Friday, March 21st

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 22nd 2014 ~ 04:30 (UTC +1:00) 

Morning!
Changing up the format.

Work:
Days on Rig: 8 (It is good to be on the rig)
Current Rig Ops: Cementing casing
Current D&M Ops: Waiting on rig
Current Weather: Thunder storm with heavy rain

Personal:
Current Music selection: Trans-Siberian Orchestra
Current Book: Grass Productivity by Andre Voisin
Books read: 3 + parts
Distance Ran Friday: 3 miles - straight run
Distance Biked Friday: 5 miles - interval training


Summary:
Thursday and Friday morning I and my day back-to-back got everything ready for the next section of the well on our end of things. That means tonight was a quite evening in the unit reading, chatting with friends online (I do both those things a lot, just some days more than others), and working on some paperwork stuff for the end of well. That is several weeks away. It is good to be prepared. Ha!

Carpe Diem!

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Morning Report - Day 14 - Thursday, March 20th

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 20th 2014 ~ 05:55 (UTC +1:00) 

Good Morning! Today was productive and I am pleasantly tired. Didn't get any reading in as work kept me mostly busy all night long. On top of that my tour is quickly coming to a close which means internet is going away. Ciao!

Rig life is blurring.

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Daily Report - Day 13 - Wednesday, March 19th

The Morning Report with AK Andy - March 20th 2014 ~ 04:45 (UTC +1:00)

Good morning to you all. Not much to report. We reached section total depth in the afternoon, and my work shift has been pleasantly quiet as we circulated the hole clear of cuttings for several hours and then the crew has been tripping pipe out of the hole.

I finished a book by Wendell Berry entitled Bringin it to the Table on farming and food. It is a wonderful book with loads of wit and humor as well as depth in his insights, and philosophy that challenges accepted notions. The deeper I wade into these kinds of books the more I am finding common themes like currents. I discover more authors yet to read. New ways of looking at the world, society, and nature. Ideas about looking at the world as a whole, not in parts. A call to abandon specialization in favor of holistic understanding...

Anyway...

Oh, there was a one-sided fight on the rig Wednesday morning. Both men are out a job. The events around the lashing out attack, more of an adapt word, are messy. "A tale through too many mouths grows feathers."  I wasn't there and there are conflicting tales.  You would think in this small a population the story wouldn't diverge so much. I could say more, but it is better to be silent when prudent.

Veritas Numquam Perit!