Christmas is coming.......

And so here I am (still) in the Sultanate of Oman surrounded by vast expanses of nothingness..... loads of sand and two trees in the distance. In the wilderness of Oman there are no lights and decorations to remind us that Xmas is just around the corner till I saw one legendary figure that always makes an appearance around Christmas - Santa Claus - helping to rig up lines for the cement job....

Dream Run

Jogged non-stop all the way from Rig to Camp last night - ALL OFF 9 KILOMETRES.

Dream Run (7kms) here I come! .............

Half Marathon (21kms) the year after that .......

Someday I'll probably do the entire Marathon - 42 kms.
WOW! that'll be like going from Malad to Churchgate. Why not just take the train...one wonders!

STOP PRESS!

I can clearly remember at least three occasions that dad took me to his workplace to spend the day with him. Secretly, I'm quite positive, he hoped that I would want to take up after him if exposed to the trade. But the simple reason was that I was at home alone and could do more damage if left alone at home.

But there was one time when I almost caused a serious accident while at the press (Dad's a printer and so he works at a printing press). I was at the press with dad and he was trimming some books that had just been bound. He had his hands under the blade lining up the books and I - inquisitive man that I am - pulled a lever and the blade dropped. Dad realized what I had done and pulled his hands away in time. He was considerably shaken up at the time and scolded me severely. I'll never forget that incident and I wonder if he remembers.


Here's a picture of another son in his father's workplace. This driver brought his son in his trailer to the rig. Brought back memories!!

Thailand - more pictures

This is the Yamaha we hired for the day. Rithika and myself roamed all around Pattaya

Here's Rithika quite fedup with all the picture taking. All she wanted to do was get back into the pool



Outside on the Hotel Balcony - The view was fantastic



The View from the hotel balcony - 8th floor

Thailand

Diwali holidays have come and are almost gone and this time I have been home for the entire duration. So we decided on a trip to Thailand. Here are a few pics mostly of Rithika as Jacqui was off shopping and I was the baby sitter. And all baby wanted to do was swim. Here are the pics. Slow connection at home and so I'll upload some more later.

Trying out the new swim suit

Having a whale of a time. More like a dolphin actually with all the jumping et all.

Behold! .... The Father

SMOKIN'....!!

Me and some of the men smoking shisha - hookah - hubbly bubbly. Click on the picture to enlarge and get a bit more information.

Ring around the Crown

A week ago one of the men called me out quickly with the camera to take a pic of this 'ring' around the crown (top section of the derrick) in the mast .


At first I thought it had something to do with the sun being hidden behind the crown, sort of like the annular ring around a total eclipse, but the picture below shows differently. This 'ring' remained in the sky for about 20 minutes and then dissappeared. Mysterious!!


Now I'm sure there's a perfectly logical explanation to this phenomenon, but I haven't the faintest clue as to what it might be.

More .... much more rain.

And so I hear that it's been coming down somewhat fiercely in Mumbai. Sadly I am not a part of it as I am presently in the Sultanate of Oman where it is sunny.. and not in the context of it 'being a beautiful sunny day'. It is waaaay sunny, and prolonged exposure leads to all sorts of unhealthy problems. But enough about the sun, I am discussing the rain, the lack of it in Oman and the abundance of it in India. Just heard from one of the guys who got off the phone with his wife that it is also raining hard in Kerala.

What is funny is that there are people I'm sure, who complain when it doesn't rain and I know that those very people also complain when it rains a lot. In their defence I fully understand that they have to go to work whether it rains or not meaning that it's wet and clammy when it rains or it's hot and clammy when it's not.

Me.. I don't particularly complain when it doesn't rain because I get to do the regular chores and outdoor excercise like running and walking and generally stuff that cannot be done (sucessfully) while it's raining. Ahh! ... but when it rains .... I just love it! .......... granted ofcourse that running, walking and other forms of outdoor excercises and events are out.

What I do then is swim.

Rain Man

Very soon it will rain. Very soon I will be home. 7th June is the day that it is supposed to rain in Mumbai for the first time. I will give it four days more till the 11th because that's when I will be in Mumbai.

I love the rain and the fact that I was born in the rainy season probably has nothing to do with it. The smell of fresh earth, the change of colour of the leaves from brownish green to bright green, the taste of wet whitewash type paint -Yes! don't know why but I loved it - wonder if it had anything to do with the lead in the paint? I remember clearly standing at the foot of the steps, just off to the side so that no one would hit me as they came running down the stairs, and licking the wall and loving the taste of the wet paint - "What a nut!" you might be thinking.I love looking at the rivulets of rain finding their way to join each other and form a larger 'river' in which I'd float paper boats if allowed to go out and if not then I'd have to be content with the imagination that one of the many twigs floating down the 'river' was a boat.I love the sound of the rain and especially how cool the place gets. I love sitting at the window and looking at the rain coming down at an angle (because of the wind). The swaying of the branches, the cloudy skies (make great photographs), the way the water runs off the leaves and I could go on and on. And this is only about the Rain in Mumbai. The rains in Goa, Lonavala, Kerala - one could write separate books about.I must add here that my job in the oilfield allows me to totally enjoy the rain without any of the worries associated with getting to work in the rain, or getting to work on time, or getting to work with clothes in a shabby condition. But I'm sure that if I ever have to work in the rain, I'll rise to the challenge and enjoy it.

The European Roller - in Oman

Coracias garrulus - a buch of them visited Rig 33 today. At first when I saw one flying past with it's flashy blue and brown I thought it was a kingfisher and I was thinking, man! this bird is right out of it's element. Later I saw the bunch of birds sitting near the water pit and had a closer look at them and realized that it didn't look like the kingfisher on a bottle of 'Kingfisher Beer' and so it couldn't be a kingfisher. Just goes to show that drinking beer can be such a good source of information.

So anyhow, I looked it up and found out that this is the European Roller (scientific name: Coracias garrulus) which is native to Oman but sadly - let me quote from Wikipedia - "hundreds, perhaps thousands, are shot for food in Oman every spring".

Kerala Wildlife - Grey Headed Fish Eagle

This majestic bird (Ichthyophaga ichthyaetus) was hanging around the resort we stayed at in Alleppy. Saw it on two occasions. As the name suggests this bird lives on fish and the back waters surrounding Alleppy provide all its food requirements.

Also available in the back waters of Kerala is the currymeen fish that we ate on three occasions - very, very tasty and apparently not readily available in other parts of the world except in Lulu Supermarkets where it is available frozen to serve the Malayali populace of the gulf.

It's a bird...., it's a plane....No! it's MUNDU-MAN

Max and I in traditional wear - The Mundu (lungi). The warmer the climate, the higher it gets

God's Own Country...

....Is what the Keralites like to refer to Kerala as and it truly is a beautiful country. And so as promised here are a few pictures of our trip to God's own country.

Munnar. Behind us - tea gardens

Mattupetty Lake and Dam, pronounced Maa-too-pett-ty with all the Malayali accent you can muster.

Father and Daughter fishing while parked for the night on the backwaters

Rithika and Asha with the hills of Munnar as the backdrop

Holiday Plans

Have to do an extra week at work this time but it will be worth it because when I get home the exams will be over and it will be holiday time for Rithika. And so, we're off to Kerala for 5 days. One of those days will be spent on a Kettuvallom (House Boat) on the fascinating backwaters. The rest of the days will be spent in Munnar and Thekkady. Pictures will be posted.

Vulpes Ruepelli

'Ruppell's sand fox' or the 'Desert fox' as it is better known here, is another animal that frequents the Rig 33 camp regularly in search of scraps of food. There are other similar Omani animals that also frequent the Rig 33 camp - the men who work here, but the desert fox is the lesser of the two evils and a much more interesting subject.

This animal is supposed to be independant of water and generally lives on berries, fruits, lizards, small rodents and carrion, but here at Rig 33 this lucky bugger gets chicken, lamb and even beef sometimes. Pictured here he (she? I don't know as I didn't look) is about to carry off a bag of chicken.

Another Fine Specimen

Notice the form and line of the jaw, the grace and the poise...... Great isn't it? ..... A fine specimen

Now let's talk about the bird - This bird is known locally as the 'Hud Hud'. In English it is called the Hoopoe. This beautiful bird, I'm told, is native to Oman and this bird was passing over the Rig 33 when it looked down and thought to itself, "Ah civilization!" and decided to visit.

This bird has a crest that it raises whenever it gets alarmed. In this picture I am quite sure that it had just got a good look at me. Yes! Yes! I know that I am an alarming sight sometimes.

Some trivia about the Hoopoe:

The Hoopoe is on the Old Testament's list of Unclean Birds and it's diet of insects and worms may have been among the reasons why this is so. (see Leviticus 11:19 and Deuteronomy 14:18)

Wildlife Again .... just passing through Oman

What the F**K !! ....... It's a DUCK !!!!

Saw this duck in the water pit and I rushed to get a better picture but it took off. A lot of birds and animals head to the water pit thinking they can get a drink. But the water is these pits is very high in mineral concentration and cannot be drunk unlike the other 'mineral' water that we get in bottles.

Couple of days later the duck (still looking for water to drink) headed to the camp. There it was caught because it was too tired to fly anymore. One of the the Omani guys has taken it home to tend to it....... or so he says.!

Omani Wildlife again

Yet another fantastic insect of the Omani interior. Green this time

Saw another insect on the rig today though I am suspecting that this may not be an insect of the desert. It's green and I would imagine that it needs greenery to blend in. But it's so beautiful and because I saw it on my rig it is worthy of this blog.

Oilfield Riggers and Animals

Tools and Equipment that we Oilfield animal-loving Riggers have named after animals

Cat Head

The large cylinder on the side of the rig (usually spinning) that is used to lift items. A rope is wrapped around the cat head several times, and the friction of the rope against the rotating cylinder provides the pulling force.

Cat Line

The rope used on the cat head

Dog House

The steel-sided room adjacent to the rig floor, usually having an access door close to the driller's controls. This general-purpose shelter is a combination tool shed, office, communications center, coffee room, lunchroom and general meeting place for the driller and his crew.

Dogleg

A particularly crooked place in a wellbore, a dogleg commonly refers to a section of the hole that changes direction faster than desired

Gooseneck

An inverted "U" shaped section of rigid piping normally used as a conduit for high-pressure drilling fluid.

Mousehole

An opening in the rig floor near the rotary table, but between the rotary table and the vee-door, that enables rapid connections while drilling.

Monkey board

The small platform that the derrickman stands on when tripping pipe. Best job on the rig

Pig

A device with blades or brushes inserted in a pipeline for cleaning purposes.

Rabbit

A slang term for an internal drift diameter gauge typically used to check casing or tubing joints

Rathole
1. A storage place for the kelly.
2.Extra hole drilled at the end of the well to ensure that the zone of interest can be fully evaluated

3. Extra hole drilled at the bottom of the hole to leave expendable completion equipment.

Spider
A steel housing with a tapered bore which is located at the rig table. The spider is used to accommodate the slips to hold the drill pipe or casing

Now here are a couple of others that are more crude but certainly deserve a mention

Donkey's dick
A slim long rubber tube like bladder used on the inside of a pressure sensor
Also a long stout flexible rubber used on the end of logging tools as a guide in open hole (Ha!)

Cow's C*nt
The curved open area behind the hook on the travelling block. When I was a derrick man I remember being told to put my head in the cow's c*nt and pull on the horns (of the elevators).

I'm that there are more but these are a few of my favourite ones. (sung to the tune of, 'A few of my favourite ones' from the 'Sound of Music').

3° Celcius

Last night it was down to 3° Celcius and there was a stiff wind blowing too. Must have been one of the coldest nights I have ever experienced (other than one New Year eve spent with friends in Pune - but I was full of rum then) Boy was it cold! Now I know all you Canadians and Kiwis will say 3° C. is nothing. Remember, that you are geared up for this sort of weather, but we in the warm winters of the Sultanate of Oman are not. Don't get me wrong here - I'm not complaining. I love it when it's cold because one can deal with it by throwing on some more clothes but when it's hot, there's only that many clothes one can shed.

Greetings

Happy New Year Y'all!

A bit late-ish I know but in the words of the original Athanasius - "Better Late Than Never".

It was a fantastic 2007 Christmas for me because I was with the family this year. I got to Mumbai at 5 a.m. on Christmas day. Went home and got into the large giftwrapped box that was prepared earlier by Jacqui. Then Rithika was woken up and told that her X-mas gift had arrived and that she had to come out and open it. And as she opened the box I chose to pop out.

The look on her face was priceless. There was a mixture of fear, amazement and awe. Fear because the gift was alive and had moved...., Amazement because she saw that it was me......, and Awe ........ well.... I look at myself in the mirror and stare in awe. No shortage of vanity here (you might be thinking).

The New Year's party was a good thing till ofcourse the cops arrived and shut us down. But what was had was pretty good and was just getting better at the time of the intervention. Must find a way to prevent this from happenning again. Alas! if there only was a basement available I would probably have to be installing a laminate flooring every six months because it'd get danced out in that amount of time. And so for 2008, gays and gals here's wishing you ................... have a ball !!.....or two !!.... three if you must.