Happy 4th!!!!

I hope that everyone is enjoying the fireworks and hotdogs and homemade ice cream. Also, if any of you happen to have taken pictures of fireworks or family fun, please send them to my email address at mariankaus@yahoo.com and I would be eternally grateful!
I am working today, but that is a given. If you are on the North Slope, you work, for that is the only reason it exists. We do not have fireworks up here. I doubt it is an environmentally friendly, and we have 24 hours of daylight, so we really couldn’t enjoy them very much. However, it’s a fun day up here anyway. A lot of guys are wearing little American flags on their jumpsuits and the food is phenomenal, of course. For lunch we had ribs, grilled chicken, hot dogs, cream cheese stuffed jalapeno peppers, deviled eggs, 2 different types o potato and pasta salads, chili, and for dessert there was a 2 layer chocolate cake with amazing icing and strawberries and blueberries on it in the shape of American flag.
We are also having a boat race today! The directional drillers, company man, roughnecks, drillers, the engineers (that would be Jamie and I…consequently, the only 2 women on this rig besides the cook), and the cook have all built little sailboats. Ours is really cute, about 2 feet long, 8 inches wide and 1.5 feet tall. It looks like a Viking boat and is made out of cardboard and covered in Schlumberger tape! We even added pink tassels on it because we wanted to make sure the guys knew whose boat it was. :D I am going to at least take pictures, but I might even video the race and try to upload it on here. We will see. The fork lift operator (who is in charge of the proceedings actually just stopped by the MWD unit to tell us they would be meeting soon for group pictures and then the competition begins! We are pretty excited. It will be the highlight of this 12-hour shift. The reason all these guys can stop what they are doing and participate in the boat race is because we just hit the point at which we put casing in the hole (we are not finished drilling entirely) and so all we are doing right now is circulating the pumps to clean out the hole and everyone is not really needed for that. Plus, the race won’t take very long. It is windy today.
Speaking of weather, it is gorgeous outside today. It is about 56 degrees (our warmest day yet!!!) and with very few clouds and a ton of sun. The mosquitoes are out in force, but it is windy and they cannot just swarm in one spot. That is one thing I cannot just get over. I have never seen a cloud of mosquitoes before. It is kinda scary and definitely gross. I have become a mosquito killer extraordinaire! I was just bitten on the side of my wrist this afternoon. That entire side of my wrist swelled up. Kinda weird.
I have made progress on my project. I have done all I can with it on the rig, and now I have to go back into the shop and ask the guys for their input as well. I have also found out what the maximum time period I can spend in my boots is without being in pain, that cold is an entirely relative concept, and that even the most intimidating looking/sounding person can be really nice. Oh, and do not eat cream cheese stuffed jalapeno peppers. Not even on a dare. That is all.
As for you question, grandma, we talk, read up about a lot of stuff that relates or deals with ANWR up here. It is an extremely hot subject in Alaska. You can imagine the oil field’s opinion about it, and I tend to agree with them after being up here. Both of our potential presidential nominees are against drilling in ANWR, but I seriously doubt either one has really readup on what’s up here, the latest advances in the oil filed or that either of them has visited here, because that definitely changes your opinion as well. I think they should drill ANWR for many reasons, and I can write another post about why if you want. If so, or if you have any specific questions about it, just write on my wall. Also, please forward me those forwards cause I would like to see them.
I will try to get out to Denali on my next off hitch, Mary, but I am not sure if I will make it. I might be going on a fishing or rafting trip instead.
Be safe everybody!!!