Todays morning phone call

They’re concerned.

I heard that you can see Russia from there.

 

Yeah, that would be known as "bait" here in Oregon.
No, thank you.

However, the bread and stews I had were great after being in the cold wind, and on the glacier.

 

neat

 

Hey @crashman , what are the living conditions like up there? Food / workout facilities? How long are your contracts? I'm just curious.

 

I couldn't remember the name of it, but I knew it was fermented shark. Man I will try anything once but that one might make me reconsider.

 

So you became an American citizen to go further north into the cold? Weird flex but ok.

 

I wonder what percentage of Bank of America customers are pulling money out of their accounts today, after receiving this text last evening?

“BofA: Financial centers in your area may be temporarily closed or hours may be modified. For latest info, visit our website. TextSTOPtoStop”

 

I cant speak for Crash. He is probably on a drilling rig.

When I was there on a "service contract", the BP Base Operations Camp (BOC) was quite "posh".......SWIMMING / LAP POOL, racquetball, basketball, volleyball, tons of weight equipment......the food was pretty good, think like an upscale Vegas buffet every day, all you can eat. Steaks to order, surf and turf nite....they had a movie theatre (big deal in the 90's) and cable......IIRC a large enclosed "terrarium" deal right in the middle of the "Lounge area".

Outside it could be -100 windchill, and you could see it from the pool.

The rooms at BOC were single private rooms that you split a bath with the adjacent room.

Contracts changed hands every 5 yrs or so IIRC. It was pretty common for employees to just change over to the other employer if their company lost the contract.....with some "Culling" of course.

Crew life was alittle rougher. 2 to a room, but most of the time 1 guy days 1 guy nites....so "kinda" private. Think like a double wide trailer, with around 20 guys....those had a common shower / bath.....same food.....I think worst case for us was 4 to a room.

Rig Life.....I dont know. I never had the chance to visit one.....but something tells me it is pretty decent. You really need to keep folks comfortable up there.

No Igloo's if thats what you were hoping for Gino!

 

You win this thread.

 

Ha ha. Charlie described quite accurately what life was like 20 or 30 years ago. Everything was new and nice then. There has not been water in that swimming pool for about 15 years and that camp was the crown jewel. Since then it has been a steady downhill slide and a pale shadow of what it once was. I am still here because the pay is not what it used to be but still OK and I work an equal time rotation which gives me 1/2 the year off. No real contracts for us on the drilling side. The company that bought out BP does not do contracts so we are always 1 big screwup from losing the work. That makes it exciting.

Fast forward to today where we have spreadsheet managers that have no experience in the product lines they manage. Surprisingly we have alot higher crew turnover than we used to. The food is adequate but nothing great. Definitely no surf and turf nights any more. It is really dependent on the cook and they are enforcing the "only eat at the camp that you are housed" rule so if your camp cook sucks you just live with it. We have had some bad ones and some good ones. Right now I am eating lots of salad and protein bars because it is hard to fuck up lettuce. We actually bring food up and cook on our own in the shop 2 or 3 times a week to get a few decent meals. Rooms vary. Nice camps have single rooms with attached baths. Shitty camps have multiple people to a room and communal showers. Covid has pretty much eliminated shared rooms but I am sure that there will be a push to bring those back once the pandemic is over.

Workout facilities depend on camp size. Smaller camps have enough to stay in shape and the larger camps have good gyms.

 

I used to live in Calgary where I never knew what the weather would be like when I got home and it could potentially be worse than here. I have been in Texas for over 10 years now and know without a shadow of a doubt that the weather will be nicer at home than at work.

 

OK Crashman, thats it!.....If I cant be 250mi above the arctic circle, lounging in the pool on surf and turf nite with stick-picker girls, makin enough smack for Harleys, Ducati's, and Corvettes....I'm OUT braah!!...Its all yours man! just goofing of course.

Sorry to hear of the decline.....it will live on in my (and your) memory buddy!

I commuted from Jacksonville Fl for awhile.

I was on 2 weeks on/2 weeks off most of the time....when they went 1/1, even tho I was in Seattle by then, I pulled the plug.

Do they still have stick-pickers????

 

So where on teh googles earf are you?

 

Top o' the world buddy. Google Prudhoe Bay to view the pristine Arctic wonderland.