In which I summit a mountain, glide through water, and generally have a rockin' time

Ok. So I will attempt to update you on what has been going on. I have had an intense week in terms of busy-ness. On the 5th of July I went on a wireline job. And then again on the 7th. Wireline is the section of Schlumberger that deals with all that happens in a well after it is drilled. They check for leaks, blow holes in the exact right places so oil will flow upwards, etc. I am not really sure about all they do, but it doesn't really matter because I like D&M better anyway! The jobs were ok, but there was a lot of waiting around on one of them because one of the computers an engineer was using would upload what he wanted. On Tuesday, I was up and ready at the usual time to go out to the rig, but Eddie (the engineer I have been shadowing since Jamie left) was already gone. Accurate depth tracking is kind of important in our job, and we were getting readings that were 20 feet off of what the depth was supposed to be. So Eddie went out 2 hours earlier than his shift started because he is the senior engineer on the rig, to try and fix it. He thought he did, but right after I got out there it happened again and then continued to happen with greater frequency as he was troubleshooting. 14 hours after I got out there, at 9:30, we finally headed back into camp with a temporary fix in place. Apparently the ASAP, a thing that controls all the sensors that are read from and that everyone sees on their computer was failing. I tried to help Eddie troubleshoot as long as possible, though I know nothing that is helpful. I mainly just ran around for him. Brought him food and such. Then, when 2 more engineers and 2 techs from the shop came out I left the engineer's unit entirely and hung out with the roughnecks (we had stopped drilling at this point so they were bored) in their meeting room on the rig, so I wouldn't be in the way. I don't feel like I did a lot during that day, but I learned so much about how to troubleshoot, and what perserverance really means. Eddie, at some points, was clueless about how to solve the problem, yet he didn't stop or give up or say it was impossible so he was going to quit. Granted, in the oil field that isn't an option, because every hour we are not drilling is costing BP a lot of money. Like, in the range of 100,000 dollars. And he may have gotten really frustrated, but I respect him way more now because he is awesome at handling pressure. Yup. I don't think I've ever done any job for 14 hours before. I love my job/internship!!!!!!!!
Then on Wednesday I went out to the rig again, but ended up having to go back to camp and pack frantically for a plane ride I didn't know I was taking back into Anchorage! I thought my days off started on Thursday, but I wasn't paying enough attention, I guess, to the schedule. The shop guys had to pick me up an hour and a half after they had dropped me off at the rig. Which is another story in itself because they had an epic rock/paper/scissors battle in order to see which of them got to take me out to the rig in the first place. I have it on video. :D
Sidenote: the righands/roughnecks love me because I bring them stuff. I gave one of them a green schlumberger hardhat, because he (like all roughnecks) collects them and I also brought them a lot of mountain dew for the rig, which they don't get at their basecamp. Oh, and I let them have my race day pictures. So yeah, we get along pretty well, and they help me out if I need it. Or they just don't mind if I hang out with them and they'll come over and say hi if I am doing stuff on the pad.
Back to the real story. So I flew home to Anchorage, surprised Robin who didn't know I was coming back on Wednesday, and then proceeded to sleep for 12 hours straight (AMAZING). The next day we rented a car, did some walking around town, and just relaxed in general. Oh, and we also went in search of stuff to make chocolate martinis, because they sound awesome, but I have never had one. It was a failure, as none of the liquor stores we went to had all of the ingredients we needed. :( Oh well, I guess I will have to save that experience for another time.

FRIDAY:
Woke up really early. Picked up our rental car which turned out to be a PT Cruiser. Oh well. You can't win them all. Then we finished packing, hit the road, and drove the 110 miles down to Seward. This trip to Seward was waaayyyy better than my last one. Right after we hit Seward, we went to the Sea Life Center. Robin and I petted starfish and anemones, and watched sea lions and seals swim around and frolick. Sea lions are huge. If I EVER met one in the water I would just cry and hope to die quickly because regardless of their agression level, they are super scary and could squish me like a bug. Next we went to a Greek restaurant where we both order these awesome pizzas and took the leftovers back to the place we were staying overnight. It was actually really inexpensive, but was cute and had a fridge, freezer, microwave, toaster, sinks, dishes, tv, coffee maker, bed, couch, huge closet and sweet bathroom in it. I guess it was kinda like a one room apartment. We then left and walked down 3 blocks to the base of Mt. Marathon. Mt. Marathon is the location of one of the most messed up races I have ever heard of. These people race up 3020 feet to the summit of a mountain and then back down again. The winners can do it in 45-50 ish minutes. After hiking it, I have no clue what kind of beastly strength they have to be able to do it. Robin and I hiked up the race trail (after getting lost for a bit) and it took us about 3.5 hours. Both of us are in pretty good shape, and we didn't ever take a lot of breaks. It is just brutal. The inclines on the majority of the trail are about 60-75 degrees. Over half of the trail we had to climb using our hands and crawling up because standing up was just not really a safe thing to do. And every time we thought we were getting close to the summit, we would get over a rocky outcropping and realize that we had a LONG way to go. The last 1000 feet or so was on an extremely steep mountain side covered with loose rocks. I don't think I have ever appreciated flatness so much in my entire life! But it was totally, entirely, 100 percent worth it. It was probably harder than my half marathon (at least i had trained for that), and I have some of the coolest memories that I could ever have!!! Are you sore, you might ask me. My response is HA. Yes. Very, very very sore. Everything from my waist down hurts today. A lot. But I already am looking at trying to summit a 6400 foot mountain that is north of Anchorage! Just as soon as my body forgets what the first on was like. :D
This morning we got up (soreness and all) and went on our second adventure. We kayaked out into Resurrection Bay. We went out with a guide and 4 other people. 2 parents, and their kids Eric and Scott who were Robin's and my age. The boys didn't seem that thrilled to be on vacation with their parents. Who knows, we might be wrong. Maybe whining is their way of showing affection. :) We kayaked 4.5 miles out in the bay and then at a really good sack lunch and did a 5 mile round trip hike (OUCH to the already sore lower body) up to a fort that was built during WWII that is no longer used now. They used to have 2 huge guns in it, and it is built entirely underground. The only reason existed was to support those guns. Very cool. Working there in WWII? Well, that might not have been so cool. More like boring, I would think. They only ever shot off the guns twice. Once to test them, and another time in order to scare the postman into telling them ahead of time that he was coming, because apparently he wasn't so good about that before. The 4.5 mile kayak back was not bad at all, because the wind was at our back and we got to ride in on some awesome swells (I think that is what they are called). Robin got really wet at one point because one actually broke over our kayak. It was sweet. Oh! And the water. I have never seen water so beautiful ever. It was all these different shades of blue and green. Kind of like it was made of gemstones. Pictures of my trip will never really do it justice, but yet again, oh well!
Finally, after having a 2 day, full body work out, Robin and I were tired and ready to come back to Anchorage. So we ate at a seaside restaurant and I downed a lot of coffee in a very short time period, and then we were off!!! Now we are back, we uploaded some pictures, talked a lot, retured the car, watched Batman Begins, and Robin just headed to bed. I think that is where I am headed as well. I am honestly kind of afraid to move. But I will be brave and make the 20 foot trek to my bedroom because I am not a fan of couches when I can use my bed! :D
Have an awesome, awesome Sunday guys!!