Catching up

Wow! I’ve been busy the last couple of days… I did manage to get off the rig on Tuesday morning. Confusion with crew change up to the very last minute. The original plan was to change out at Fourchon and fly from New Orleans to Houston. Plans changed Monday noon time. Now we were going to have to fly out of Lake Charles. So, scrambling to change my reliefs flights so he could get to Lake Charles by 0530 to catch the helicopter. Flying from there added about an hour onto the flights since we had to stop in Fourchon to get more fuel. They made it to the rig and we all got off, had some interesting weather on the way in. Lots of squalls, lightning in some of them. I was glad when we landed.

So, from Lake Charles, they picked me up and we drove straight to the airport in Houston. I had some time there to relax a little bit before my flight to Boston. I got in after midnight and didn’t get to sleep until about 0200.

The blogging workshop was great. I got a lot out of it. We did some critiques of the blogs some of the others had started already. I met a bunch of really fantastic, interesting people. We continued our fun and conversations over drinks and dinner at the hotel. So, another late night for me 🙂

Today we started the actual travel writing workshop. We learned some tips to help us catch the editors attention and some rules for great photos. There was about 100 people there. Again, I met some of the most interesting people. From all over the world, Australia, Italy, France, South Africa, Canada, Ireland, and all over the US. Happy hour tonight (with free drinks and snacks) helped us get to know each other a bit better.

I’ll try to catch up and get a few more things on here tonight but will have to stop soon, another early wakeup tomorrow 😉

I’ll try to get some photos on here in the next couple of days, I’ve got a great view of the river from my window. The moon has been full and I managed to get some decent shots from the window on arrival. Last night I went back downstairs (outside) to get some better ones 🙂

What’s going on with me today

OK, this blog has been fun so far 🙂 I’ve been learning so much. Still have a lot to go. I’ve just been putting some of the interesting stuff I come across during the day on here. Tomorrow morning I’ll be leaving the rig and heading to Boston for a class on writing/photography/blogging (by AWAI). I’m REALLY cutting it close. I didn’t plan on being on the move on the rig for crew change. I just have to hope things don’t get too screwed up in the morning and I can make it to the airport in Houston on time. The way things are supposed to work is: my relief will arrive at the heliport in Lake Charles, LA by 0530. They will leave around daylight as long as the weather looks good (no rain). They will have to stop in Fourchon for fuel so they should get out here by 0800? They will fuel again here. We should leave here by 0900, stop to fuel up in Fourchon and hopefully arrive in Lake Charles by 1100. I have a driver waiting for me there and IF all goes well, we should make it to IAH (Bush Intercontinental) by 1500. Nothing usually works out as scheduled in the oilfield! If I make it to IAH on time, I’ll hang out in the lounge and might be able to get on here to say a few things. My flight leaves at 1900, I arrive in Boston at midnight. So, straight to the hotel and BED! Up at 0600 to get ready for class at 0800! WOW! I am really excited about it. I hope I can absorb everything they’re going to be teaching us 😉