Give me a chance, mister.
Give me a chance, mister.
It was December of 2000 when I got my first chance. I was hired by one of the big 3 O&G service companies. The operations manager gave me that chance. His words to me were basically: we hire engineers and geologists, you are a business major, not normally what we hire. Once the background and screenings were done, I was off to the rigs. Coming from South Louisiana, the only way to make money in the state was on the rigs, and I loved it! Fast forward 23 years, I still look back at those days with gratitude for all that I learned.
When I stepped into my first training class and everyone said where they went to school, what they studied, let’s just say, ULL Business Major caused everyone to look at me funny. I was in constant awe–the people around me were wicked smart, the tech was insane, and I was actually making money. For perspective, prior to working offshore, I was picking pecans on family property to pay for my nights out. I could pick 50#’s by 3 p.m., sell the pecans and have about $30 in my pocket to go out. Things were much more affordable back in those days, but I digress.
In college, I studied how to make money–finance, marketing accounting, so the first time I saw a Gamma Ray log I was like, tell me again how this tool works. It only got stranger from there. I was given a radiation badge at some point and taught about Time, Distance and Shielding - shout out to all of my triple combo hands out there. Again, wow, in summary, we send a tool with radioactive isotopes screwed into it down a >10,000 ft hole in the ground. The tool emits gamma rays from the isotope and I think knocks electrons off of the molecular structure of the fluids in the rocks. The speed at which the electrons return to the fluid molecule inside of the rock, between microscopic grains of sand lets you know what is there (oil, water or gas). To my engineers out there, this is how a business man thinks; but, what I did learn was how much the company charges per day to have this tool sending information . I was learning how to make money.
Rig life was cool, as an MWD ( job titles don’t matter) I was not the highest in the pecking order nor was I the lowest, I was the guy either fishing, watching a movie or smoking in the smoke shack. Funny side story, image 15 people sitting inside of a small shipping container smoking with no filtration; back in those days I smoked 1-2 packs of cigarettes per day. To clarify, a day was a 12 hour work day. On the rig I wrote a lot, I always had a book to write in, and they gave us these really cool books called Talley books. Fun fact, the drillers talley book holds all of the “truth” as to what really happens on a rig. The habit of writing every day was ingrained, to this day I write, and let me tell you, I take wicked details of everything.
Why this story to start with? First, I wanted to thank all of my bosses, supervisors, managers that gave me a chance over the years. I wanted to especially thank those that entrusted me with business units, employees and the training of their best a brightest.
Second, what may seem like a menial task, keeping a daily drilling diary and calculating the length of drill pipe for a proper survey developed a habit that I still employ today. Learning engineering from a hands on approach changed the way I thought, all of the math and science started to click, what I did not say in the beginning of the story was, I was a Pre-med major prior to studying business.
Third, be constantly curious, be eager to learn and don’t be afraid to get your hands dirty. The other day I was cleaning up a job site, I had my dump trailer hooked to my truck, gooseneck of course. A delivery driver walked up, saw me picking up trash, I decided to engage in conversation. Hey, want to trade jobs I asked? “Naaah, I am good” was his reply. The look in his eye said it all, (my observation and opinion) , I am not going to pick up trash. Hmmm, let’s see Waste Management is $69 billion dollar company and they pick up trash. Why do I pick up my own trash one may ask? Well, here is the answer: 1 load of debris for a waste company to haul costs me >$500 to dump, I charge market rates for debris removal and let’s say it is far less than 500. Why do this? Fixed cost vs variable cost.
Well, that’s enough for one day. The next story will be about how not to eat an elephant.
