0130 am, alarm goes off and I think about justifying not getting up till 2nd alarm and remember I have to go into work early today. I'm currently starting day 13 of my shift of 14 days and since I started a day early, well lets just say I'm ready for my week off.
0200 after getting dressed and taking care of almost all the things I need to do before leaving the apartment the company provides me in Dickinson ND, I get a call from my boss. he needs the fuel card, he's heading to the northern location, What apartment I'm I in again? #2 Grant, come on in doors open I'm just ready to leave. I don't mind going in early or staying late, it's all overtime at this point. We're short handed with ET's (electronic Tech's) and getting a few extra hrs never hurts the pay check. Grant grabs the card and off he goes...lol he's on his weekend off. Just promoted to salary and Monday through Friday hrs. this is the 6th time in 2 weeks he's had to help cover on his time off. Lucky him.
0210 grab my lunch and computer and out the door. 30 mile drive to location, going west. The nice thing about this early is there is hardly no traffic. in a few hours you'd think you were in Chicago.
0245 pull into location, they are still fracking a stage, everything is running that is a good sign. They don't have an ET on this shift Grant or I were on call if there was a problem. no problem. no call. that meant 5 hrs of undisturbed sleep.
I poke my head into the data van, check out how things are going. I get the usual comments about how we aren't needed blaa blaa blaa. they are just Jealous. So I go back to the truck and turn off the engine and recline the seat and relax. 1 1/2 before shift change, If I don't get a call over the radio, I'm not needed. Start thinking about the day and what I want to get done between frac stages. What I can do if we are down a while.
This site has three wells. we finished one, sanded off the 2nd, (that's not a good thing) and are working on the third. It's been one problem after another. we are all getting close to our days off and we want this to be done. besides, you don't get any bonus if you don't complete stages.
0400 my shifts shows up, I get yesterday's time card completed and join the guys for the safety meeting. They are just finishing up the last stage ready for turn over. Now we have a 2 hr wait for Wireline (another company that has to ready the well for the next frac stage). So everything is pretty easy going. I update Grant via text and talk with the treater on a few issues. and ultimately go back to my truck and site and wait some more.
I check the news and my email....nothing exciting. I txt Vickie good morning. I saw lightening in the west on my way in looking like we are going to be getting some rain today. I'll take cloud cover, that direct sunlight with the humidity is just too much....lol Glad I don't have to labor in it. I really have it pretty easy. Outside of making rounds on the equipment while running and a little fix here or there, most of my time is inside a vehicle. There is an advantage to having some skills.
0530 getting ready to go. Wirelilne is getting ready to be complete. equipment checks, getting to our places. reading everything. I sit in the datavan and watch the treater and company mans computer screens. there are a few things I want to watch while we do this stage. Not a problem yet, but trying to stay on top of it. You never know when You have to be ready to act. while my job is actually boring when everything is working, it gets real busy real quick when something breaks.
0755 finished up the stage, managed not to fall asleep in the datavan. textbook...yea just made an extra $25 for the day, now three more of these just like that and I'm set for the day.
0815 company man gets a call, stops wireline, and redirects them. Coil Tubing is coming in to work on one of the other wells. (they are a specielty service to fix things that go wrong) they have to unplug the 2nd well we did...they come with a big crane, a truck with 24000 feet of 1 1/2 tube on a reel and all the special tools needed to get the well open again and ready to frac. really amazing stuff. so that is about the next 5 hrs while that is being set up.
1315 ready to start the next stage 20 mins in another big problem. a piece of equipment breaks down and well, here we go again. Company man says shut it all down, now we have to wait for coil tubing to finish before we can fix this problem. the equipment is fixed but it stopped the frac and almost screened off this well....lol not good. so the mechanic and me go and check equipment. I shut down the computers in the data van to reset them, and to interrupt the people in it as best I can.
1420 I ask the treater if I can run to town and get gas. I don't need gas but I want to get off the site...lol he laughs and says get out of here, so I go to the dairy queen which is across from the gas station (about 5 miles away) I go inside and its packed, which is just fine to me. I've got time to kill. so 30 minutes later I had a burger and fries and head back. nothing has changed. Everything is shut down. They won't start up again till tomorrow. the night shift will have nothing to do...I'm sure they will all find a nice truck to hide in.
1550 night shift is here, we are out of here and not a moment too soon. I won't get extra hrs tonight but I will get extra sleep. early start in the morning and after my shift someone has to get me to Waterford city to get my truck and things, that's an extra hr. than 800 miles of driving and I'm home....yeaaa....been a good two weeks 216 hrs of work. 10 days of bonus on the well sites...this is what I come up here for.
Keep on driving 
We'll find more oil!
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