SSDD

Today in class I learned this new acronym used in the oil field: SSDD....Same Sh*t Different Day. Haha! Like my dad would say...please excuse my french. But there isn't another way to really say it. Basically what I got out of it is...no matter what day it is, you'll be doing your routine job, minding your business..but you will always run into problems (big or small) and whenever that may happen you can just, you know, toss it over your shoulder and say "SSDD!" and don't let it get to you! No biggie! Like I mentioned in my previous entry, being here has really taught me how to get over the small stuff. Seriously don't sweat it because you are not alone and looking to the next thing with a positive attitude is what counts. I'm writing this to be optimistic and kind of tell myself this as a reminder because still...I find myself with small doubts about my capabilities whenever something goes wrong. SSDD!

Another interesting thing. The girl to guy ratio here is what you would expect in the oil field. Any time I can't do something and/or complain about it, the guys always joke and say "Babe, you're in the oil field now!" aka MAN UP!!! Lol.... In our class of 27, we have 7 girls, which is not too bad!

Coming here I expected to find many other single people but to my surprise almost everyone I met here is in a relationship. I have a couple friends who are engaged and a few who were even married! Really cool for them to be in that phase of their lives and be able to do this. I've begun to find comfort in making friends with guys who are already in a relationship. I like that because the potential of anything happening goes straight out the window and it's just real friendship. No pressure and no wandering thoughts. I really like that. And maybe that is the reason I am still single because I like hanging out with people who are already in a relationship haha. But I'm just sharing my thoughts and being honest. I am sure girls would agree!

Tomorrow is Sunday and I'm going to go to the mall! Take advantage of my full day off. I might even shop for myself because I haven't spent any paychecks on myself hehehe. Minus food of course! By the way I turned 23 yesterday!!! It was a great day. We had an olympics opening ceremony viewing party at my friends room and everyone in our class is so diverse, we cheered for one another's countries when they were being introduced. I felt so proud to be Korean! Woop woop! Also, for my birthday, I was raised to not expect gifts from my parents but to be the one giving gifts to them. For having me, raising me, supporting me and loving me. So for the first time I bought them presents with my own money and it felt purely awesome. I got my dad a pair of sperrys and my mom a silk scarf!



...hey I kind of created a virtual outfit for her...like she is wearing the sperrys underneath her picture. Haha ok I am tired. Good night blogspot!

If Not Now, When?

Spending Friday night listening to the latest Incubus album while folding laundry and writing an entry about it afterwards.

My favorites are
Track 1 If Not Now, When?
Track 3 Friends and Lovers
Track 8 In The Company of Wolves
Have a listen!

I can't download music onto my company laptop so I've been very dependent on youtube. I like finding videos that play all the songs in an album at once so I don't have to look for different songs which is really useful.

Anyway...the days this month have been going by extremely fast! Besides my birthday being next Friday (yay for turning 23!), there are a lot more things to look forward to. There have been a lot of exciting things happening. PEPTEC-1 started this past Monday, which is the "real" part of technical school. PEPTEC-0 was just the introductory 2 weeks that transitioned us into PEPTEC-1. This whole week was an intense 5 days of constant studying and daily tests!

One thing I've learned while being here is to stay strong and not be discouraged easily because more opportunities will come. For example, some tests were easy but others were extremely hard and dwelling on the past mistakes and bad marks got me nowhere. I've learned to only look forward because you have no time to look back! You'll be missing all the good things that are happening in the present if you keep overthinking and regretting. I feel like I'm learning a lot not just about my job but also a lot about myself here. I am constantly challenged and I like it because I discover new things about myself. Bring it on!

For dinner today I went to Billy Sim's BBQ. I'm learning to love BBQ! Ribs and a brisket sandwich slathered in bbq sauce was what I got and they were really delicious. Before I came to Texas/Oklahoma, the word BBQ only triggered a typical occasion where there is a grill with hamburgers and hot dogs. I was so far off! BBQ is so good. Ribs and toast and brisket and pickles...eating lots of new things here and acquiring a new favorite taste :)

I'm up at 1:30am because I am trying to practice for my wellsite rotations tomorrow. It's a type of project where I have 4 hour rotations each being winchman, operator, and engineer of a wellsite job. Then an additional 4 hours after working 12 hours to compile data and analyze it. We actually get to log the wireline tools and retreive data downhole. It will be a 16 hour shift, from 10pm Saturday night until 2pm Sunday. Eeek! What a real job would be like. I haven't pulled an all nighter in forever it will be pretty tough but I'm sure I'll learn a lot!

Also today was probably the hottest day I've ever had to work outside. Wearing proper PPE is definitely important but our coveralls get so hot.... Hardhat, safety glasses, boots, coveralls with everything having to be zippered up and buttoned makes the suit an instant self-sauna. It was close to 110 degrees and please don't forget to factor in humidity. But I am proud to wear Schlumberger blue!!! I've seen 2 people already pass out from heat...scary! It's very important to stay hydrated. It made me wonder what Louisiana will be like once I start working there haha. Hopefully my body will be able to adapt quickly to the heat.

PEPTEC

I've finished my first week of wireline technical school called PEPTEC. It stands for People and Technology. I've been hearing that Schlumberger loves to use acronyms. No kidding! Everything is abbreviated here. It will take some time to actually know what all these mean. I am slowly catching on...

PEPTEC has been totally different from my last 2 weeks of training, which ended last Sunday. Everyone in my training class left except for the wireline people. Saying bye to all my friends in other segments was sad but also exciting because most of them were off to their locations to start their life on the rig! And good thing I like to keep in touch with people as much as I can.

It reminds me of college but a little more intense because there is so much material in a short amount of time and then the frequent tests that I must pass to stay in school! I'm not the world's best test taker so I will admit it gets me nervous every time. But then again I tend to worry a lot more than I need to (note to self: please work on that!!!)

Wireline school will have me here until the first week of October- I will be living in Jenks, OK until then! Btw I learned last night it's pronounced "jinx" and not like how it's spelled. Picking up bits of Oklahoma! Awesome.

Sundays have been my only free days of the week these past few weeks. But I think that's actually going to change because we'll be following another schedule that depends on our instructor, who by the way is amazing! He is funny but also serious when he needs to be. Learning about wireline tools and techniques are really interesting and I love the hands-on aspect. Everything moves really fast so I've been focused on absorbing all the information being given to me!