Catching Up!

Updates! So I haven't kept up with this like I should have - so here are some things you may have missed!

End of November: 

I flew back from Abu Dhabi after successfully completing my CORE training for Open Hole Wireline! I then went on to Kellyville, OK for a week long training for driving and whatnot! The school at Abu Dhabi was much, much better than that in Tulsa - I credit that to the fact that I didn't have to cook for myself in Abu Dhabi! :p

Thanksgiving Break:

Once I finished up my training in Kellyville I had exactly one week to travel back to Norman, see friends and family, and move to Bakersfield, California! It was definitely a short span of time, and I didn't get to nearly everyone I wanted to - but Austin and I managed to pack everything into the little red Aveo and drive into the mighty blue yonder (however that phrase goes)! 

Bakersfield Roadtrip:

We decided to turn the move to Cali into a roadtrip - more memories and a lot less miserable of a drive!! One of the cool things we came across were the HUNDREDS of wind turbines! It was truly incredible to see the strides being made for green energy! (Yes, I am a petroleum engineer. We can love the planet too.)

 We arrived at the Grand Canyon just at sunset - and it was amazing! Truly amazing. Seeing something so much bigger than myself was a very humbling moment. We stayed so we could also see it at sunrise, and somehow it was even more magical! :) 

 

Driving through California definitely tested our will. We had to deal with rain, and then a sandstorm, and then hours of stop and go traffic. It was not the welcome greeting we were hoping for - but driving into Bakersfield instantly felt like home! It is a rather large city, but it has a small town feeling! We arrived on Sunday night and had only Monday to find somewhere to live - and move in - before I started work on Tuesday. Miraculously, we managed to find an amazing apartment to live in, sign all the paperwork, and move in - all before sundown! We are living with another JFE, Joseph - which makes things a lot less lonely! :) The apartment is a close 15 minute commute from my base, which comes in handy when I get called in at 2AM!! 

Being a Field Engineer in Bakersfield:

As of now, I am a "JFE" - or Junior Field Engineer. This just means that I am still in training, and will have an engineer mentor during logging jobs. Once I break out (pass a sort of test that shows I capable of doing a job all by myself), I will drop the 'J'!! Working in California is so different from my experiences in Oklahoma! The oil here is very heavy, so steam injection wells are used. I log both the producer and injector wells! Field life has been all the I expected - long hours, late nights that turn into mornings, sleeping in a truck, eating gas station chips, being covered in mud. It's also been more than I could hope for - being trusted with collecting important well information for clients, given the responsibility to run tools that cost thousands of dollars, having to make decisions with the safety of others in mind! As a female out on the rig I have been...not lucky...but pleasantly surprised...at how much I am treated as an equal. Of course, that's how it should be. But so often that's not how it is - so it is refreshing to be treated so nicely! The other engineers respect my opinions. The operators trust my direction. 

 

Back to Oklahoma:

Two weeks ago, I was told they needed me in Oklahoma for a project. So I hopped on a flight to my home state and was fortunate enough to be able to spend the holidays with friends and family! I finished up with the project yesterday - and am now back to California! 

Back in Bakersfield:

Now that I am back in Bakersfield, things have been very busy! I've been on many jobs - and will be doing the first part of my breakout later this week! Part of why I enjoy this job is the travel - and just this week I have been able to go to some awesome places within California. I drove to the coast - a cute little town called Cayacos - and then to Southern California! 

 

And that's it! You're all caught up. Many stories left out, but no one wants to read a novel :p 

Dubai means shopping...

And shopping means the day has got to be GREAT! :) 

As you might have guessed, I decided to take an adventure to Dubai today. It started with about an hour drive to a place called Ibn Buttatta (just a "city" within Dubai). The view wasn't all that pretty...mostly sand. 

There was this neat building:

Once I arrived in Ibn Buttatta, I had to navigate to the train station. I decided to go to the Dubai Mall and see the Burj Kalifa - so off I went! It really helps that all signs are in both Arabic and English - otherwise I would have been totally lost! :p

I started out in zone 39 and had to go to 25 - about a 45 minute ride. 

This was the outside of the train station (or subway? Tram? I'm not entirely sure what to call it.)

The train ran on this bridge structure:

The view of downtown Dubai from Ibn Buttatta:

There are so many neat buildings in Dubai - the architecture is truly amazing! 

Luckily for me, the train station for zone 25 is actually connected to the Mall, so I avoided going outside all day! (It's still in the 90s here!) 

Now this mall is no ordinary mall...I though the malls in Abu Dhabi were big - this one was HUGE! I spent about six hours here and didn't see it all! 

One part of the mall is the Souk. This is traditionally where you go to do some "haggling". Unsurprisingly, I'm terrible at it. It's hard to get used to arguing over the price of things - especially when you have no idea how much it is actually worth. I suggest doing research if you have anything in particular that you want to buy. One thing that was definitely on my radar was a nice scarf, and after some practice I got a scarf originally at 150AED to 30AED! 

This mall has many neat feautures...like an aquarium, a dinosaur, and a waterfall!

I was disappointed to find out the Dino was actually from Wyoming...but it was still neat! 

As always, the mall provided some much needed humor. My favorite "interesting" things included a Pinnicio shop: 

I loved this little Mario - made me miss playing video games though!! (There is a Wii room at the Accomadation, I might have to play some Super Mario Brothers!)

There was a whole section devoted to shoes! It amazes me what some of the "high fashion" places consider to be good taste...

Yes, that is a fuzzy sneaker. Why would someone put fuzz on a sneaker? Well...it doesn't rain too much here, so I guess they don't have to worry about puddles...but gee. 

What you find in the gift stores can be considered true treasure! The most interesting things are here! Camels are a popular focus:

(It's a coffee mug!)

(A keychain family!)

I did some fancy perfume shopping! It is not for those with sensitive noses!! But it was fun getting to select my own scents and whatnot to put into my perfume! 

Of course, what kind of tourist would I be without a tacky "I heart Dubai" photo?!

After many hours of shopping and looking around, I failed to find a door leading to the outside. That mall was such a maze - it's amazing I made it back. I did manage to find a window looking out to the Burj Kalifa - the tallest building in the world! It was pretty tall,  it I think they cheated by putting that spike up there..

 Overall, it was a great day!

Word to the wise: wear sneakers. Flats may look cute, but blisters do not. 
 
 

 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 

 
 

 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Late nights...

Either mean working hard or hardly working! 

This past week I finished my second wellsite. It was a series of three jobs over three days - each job lasting about 6 hours. (And then an additional 6 for finalizing the logs). Somehow I managed to pull the short straw - my first day I had the 9pm-9am schedule!! It wasn't all that bad, and I think I was entirely too excited to get tired! Logging can be quite fun - there are so many things that you have to do at once, so many things that could go wrong, so many things that require perfect timing!

Things can get dirty on the well pad - but I've heard the mud does wonders for your pores!! :p

After we finished the wellsite, we decided that we deserved a fancy dinner at a Korean restaurant! It was called Madong, and was absolutely delicious!

I did have to request a fork...because homegirl is just stupid when it comes to chopsticks. 
 

We went with the steak and rib options - they bring out a whole bunch of meat and you have to grill it yourself! Apparently none of the others here know how to grill (lame, I know) so I was the chef for the night!

If you're ever in the area, I highly recommend it! However, be warned that getting there is very creepy. We went down one too many back roads for my liking - traveling in foreign countries tends to put you on edge anytime you get in a taxi :p 

 

 
 

 

The calm before the storm.

While this past week has been filled with many tests (which I am proud to say I did exceptionally well on all of them), next week is going to be absolutely crazy! 

But for now, I am going to sit and enjoy the little things. Like my cozy bed and comforting tea! 

I also enjoyed some nice retail therapy! We went to Yas Mall and I went into total tourist mode! 

There was a boutique named after me - it was very classy and chic. ;)

We also went grocery (re: candy) shopping! 

Ketchup chips. Yuck. 

Nutella aisle. With giant tubs of Nutella. They made up for the ketchup chips. 

Sorry Austin, I found my true love. GIANG BOTTLES OF HERSHEY CHOCOLATE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the ever-present random pictures of the most weird things. 


Now to prepare for the crazy week ahead!