PHIL1203 09W1 14FA Critical Thinking: Week 2

PHIL1203 09W1 14FA Critical Thinking: Week 2: Please refer to our course syllabus concerning topic (s) for this week's blog.

Around the world diverse cultures have different styles of
clothes. Man began to wear clothes originally to keep warm or cool, depending
where in the world they lived. In the northern climes like Russia or northern
Canada, there is a need for warmer clothes. Coats and pants made from animal
skins, like seals, that are tanned or treated. Wool from furrier animals, like
yaks, make softer clothes worn next to the skin, or woven for scarfs and hats.
In the desert places, flowing loose garments are essential to allow the breezes
to keep one cool. Head coverings are scarf like. In all cultures, you can tell
the status of the wearer, by how much embellishment there is on the clothing.
More colors and fancier embroidery would mean you might be looking at the head family
of the tribe. The type of sewing and embroidery can be identified as being done
in certain areas. I learned when we were in Norway that each small area or
perhaps village had its own pattern and when people came together for dancing
or celebrating an occasion, each knew where the other was from.

Season coming to an end

Well, it has been almost a month since I have updated SlipperyMedic. Let’s see, where to begin. Ok, shortly after moving into ZamaCity and onto a critical sour site, I was spelled off by another medic due to Alberta Occupational Health and Safety Standards limiting workers to a maximum of 21-days. Not being aware of this, day 24 came along and I was approached by the tool-push and he informed that I should be looking for a relief. I contacted dispatch and they were able to find someone to replace me in 4-5 days. Day 29… another medic arrived and I headed to Whitecourt, and following some post-trip paperwork, I proceed to Valemount for some glorious days off, or so I thought.

Frozen water line… good thing I brought my coveralls home with me. Most of my days off were spent under my house with a steam hose and heating chamber borrowed from the local sawmill. After taking apart the water line, I shoved the steam hose in the line coming from the water shed, but I found out that the exposed copper line was attached to an underground ABS plastic line and the steam hose would not go past the coupling. The only thing I could go was add some salt and water and pour it down into the pipe. Hopefully, with the warmer weather Valemount has been getting, it will be near-thawed by the time I return home again.

I started looking at the eaves trough – it runs down the house and onto the lawn directly in the area of the incoming water line. After a few good snow falls and some cold weather, I probably have a 10’x10’ chunk of ice surrounding the waterline. If water is not flowing through the line on a constant basis, I do not think it would take very long for the line to freeze.

This brings some summer project planning and re-routing of the eaves. The deck on the southeast side of the house is completely rotten, so in order to avoid a lawsuit from people falling through, I will rip it off the house, rebuild the stairs to the front door, and re-route the runoff tube around that way instead, or maybe dig under the driveway and run some PVC to the hillside. Hopefully, the golf course’s backhoe will be in good working order. Shovels and I do not get along.

Six days off, then a phone call from Whitecourt… back to the rig I was at, only this time armed with my rowing machine - did I mention how good the food at camp is?!? The rig was in another location already. It was a simple hole, as far as wells go, straight vertical, no directional drilling. The last hole of the season for Nabors24 Drilling Rig and the entire crew was antsy for some extended time-off. Not me… off to Lakota22, conveniently, 22km from Zama.

Said my goodbyes to the outgoing Nabors24 crew, stayed one more night on the lease and then spelled off another medic at Lakota22. With only a few drilling days left, this site hosts the last derrick standing in the region. From what I understand, this crew was also one of the first in the region as well... long winter for them. The hole is completed, cementing today and they are rigging out tomorrow. I will be released by the consultant sometime tomorrow afternoon and on my way back to Whitecourt. Then onto Valemount to begin some home renovations, inside and out, as well as to begin getting firewood for next winter.

If Nabors24 drills during the summer and IPS regains the contract for emergency medical coverage, the tool-push will be asking for me specifically. It is nice to have something to look forward to, however last year, the 'summer' for Nabors24 began in September. If I play one more game of Spider Solitaire, I'll snap.

Moving day...

Well, the time has come. The drilling crew finished the hole, cementers completed securing it and huge trucks came on site on February 22nd. Much like lego, the rig came down, taken apart and transported onto a new site in the township of ZamaCity. Drilling of the new hole began early this morning.

Shale, shale and more shale

The drill crew have been to re-piping the borehole due to multi-directional shale formations near the bottom (1492m). Shale, being an unstable formation, sluffs into the borehole and prevents the WireLine (imaging device) to reach the bottom to analyze the the completed drilling operation. Weatherford Wireline Services have left the site, so it looks like the drill crew may be preparing to move to another site soon.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

I can't remember the last time I had steak and lobster twice in one week... oh yeah, NEVER, until now!!

Circulation

Have been in a sour zone for about three days, maintaining circulation is important as it keeps H2S confined to the source - so far, so good.

We will be at this stage for the rest of the project.

Masks and oxygen tanks are constantly checked. While crew member clean the 'cellar', an H2S Specialist is present for any potential rescue procedures.

In the beginning...

So, my name is Owen and this is my blog... SlipperyMedic... currently reporting 'live' from Nabors24 Drilling Site, contracting under Industrial Paramedic Services.

Below is a summary of my first week in the petroleum industry...

2008-02-06

After getting the all-clear from my doctor, I contacted the IPS dispatch centre in Whitecourt to update them on my availability. They stated that a call-back and post would be later in the afternoon. No more than 20 minutes later, that call came and a post was determined. So after few loads of laundry and a bit of packing, I left the peace and serenity of the Valemount Pines Golf Course and headed off to the hustle and bustle of Whitecourt, AB. Arrived 21:50, local time, checked in with dispatcher, received job sheet and performed pre-trip on crew truck to be exchanged with outgoing crew member at site (one-hour northwest of High Level, that’s almost in the NWT)!

2008-02-07

Left Whitecourt with a crew truck at 06:00, stopping to refill the coffee cup several times! Many firsts along the way… never been this far north for one, Peace River, High Level, etc. Had brunch at Twin Lakes Paradise Lodge – a little timber construction restaurant / gift shop in the middle of nowhere. Actual coordinates are nice… re: small miscommunication from dispatch nearing the end of the trip. For instance, a physical location such 15-12-16-05-W6 is far from 15-12-116-05-W6. Arrived Zama City, 10 hours north of Whitecourt.

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Rig Physical location: 5-13-117-6-W6. Working under Nabors24 – a drill site that is contracting to Apache Drilling. Responsible for two 12-hour shifts with 10-12 people working each shift (07:00-19:00-07:00). Project should last another two-weeks, variables being geology, depth of drilling, etc. Then production and service rigs come on site. Not too far from an H2S pocket, everyone wears a 'sniffer'... personal H2S detector. Met my outgoing medic, an EMT-A (PCP-IV). He seemed a little squirrelly and ready for some time-off. Took me on a tour of the site. Met the consultant and geologist. Everything was new to me, of course… Doghouse, BOP, Pusher, Derrick, etc. I live in an on-site shack, while the crew travels to a camp approx.12km from the drill site. Sewer lines were frozen, but now clear. But no water until the water truck arrives.

2008-02-08

It’s -34C, clear skies. Other medic left after breakfast and I met up with the site consultant, went over Emergency Response Plan, for both the site and company policy. Had safety meeting with day-crew, will repeat with night-crew. No internet, yet. Should have brought more movies!

2008-02-09

‘Rough’ day today, steak and lobster for dinner.

2008-02-10

Routine day, until early morning, a roughneck knocked on my door at 01:40 with flu-like symptoms, slept it off in the spare room until shift change.

2008-02-11

H2S drill today at 16:30 – 3m10s to execute… all personnel were accounted for. H2S drill this evening at 21:15 – 2m57s to execute… all personnel were accounted for. If man-down was discovered, rescue and recovery would have been more than 4 minutes. Not good odds for resuscitation.