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Post by Chris on Jul 18, 2014 20:41:52 GMT
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 19, 2014 3:52:53 GMT
Rather you than me.
Makes me laugh when I hear complaints about how uncomfortable people are when there are folks like you putting up with conditions like that on a daily basis so we can have this easy life.
Good on yer Chris.
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 19, 2014 12:34:47 GMT
Water, rather cold I'm sure, heights, big noise I bet and living on a big metal machine.
Couldn't do it.
Well done Chris. Someone has to !
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Post by Chris on Jul 19, 2014 21:35:19 GMT
Quite touched by that.  Thanks fellas. |
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Post by MartinT on Jul 21, 2014 6:25:19 GMT
Wow, Chris, that is quite the location! I'll never complain about my place of work again, which looks like this:
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Post by Dave on Jul 21, 2014 11:24:54 GMT
The father of a good friend from my teenage years worked on the rigs. He'd be away for long periods (six weeks at a time IIRC) and looked every bit the part; rugged, built like a brick outhouse and sporting a Captain Birds Eye beard. Lovely chap though and I remember him telling us one day that working out on the North Sea makes a man out of you, but not quite in the way one might expect. In his case he found that absence made the heart grow fonder and as such, he treasured his downtime with his wife and kids all the more. He never spoke about the dangers of his job which must have been plentiful. It was people such as him, and these days, people like Chris, who keep this country going by doing the jobs most of us just couldn't do, and on that note I'd like to pay my respects to Chris and all those who every day brave the dangers of working in the North Sea oil and gas industry  |
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Post by Chris on Jul 21, 2014 16:12:24 GMT
Theres another offshore fella on here as well - jammy - hope youre awrite mate!
Many thanks for the kind words gents it does mean a lot and forums like this remind me there is a real world going on!
Personally,I dont mind the hard work,danger and conditions but I find the onboard politics hard to deal with.
Just something I have to work on.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 21, 2014 16:18:08 GMT
Chris - do you mostly get reliable internet out there or is it subject to the weather, disconnections etc.?
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Post by Chris on Jul 21, 2014 18:08:11 GMT
The nets great mate - weve got wifi in our cabins. Very good connection as well as its satellite. Bloody expensive I believe!However its only a narrow slice of bandwidth crew are allocated so things like streaming doesnt work. I also miss out on vids and pics posted as they just take too long to load.
Also the servers are Norwegian so that can ge a right pain for things like the bank and paypal. If I ever buy anything off anyone I have to make it clear that,whilst I am scrupulously honest,they sometimes have to wait for their money. I explain this to sellers and so far guys have been very good about it and have kept stuff for me(when they could have sold it many times) till Im home and can sort it.
My saviour is things like Spotifys downloadable playlists,Ted talks and the bbc iplayer(bit limited) all of which I top up the day before I leave and can watch/listen to offline. Im a big reader as well.
All in all its very good and I have no complaints.
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Post by MartinT on Jul 21, 2014 19:21:25 GMT
Interesting, you've painted a picture there, Chris, of a life I know nothing about. Keep safe!
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2014 19:34:44 GMT
The nets great mate - weve got wifi in our cabins. Very good connection as well as its satellite. Bloody expensive I believe!However its only a narrow slice of bandwidth crew are allocated so things like streaming doesnt work. I also miss out on vids and pics posted as they just take too long to load. Also the servers are Norwegian so that can ge a right pain for things like the bank and paypal. If I ever buy anything off anyone I have to make it clear that,whilst I am scrupulously honest,they sometimes have to wait for their money. I explain this to sellers and so far guys have been very good about it and have kept stuff for me(when they could have sold it many times) till Im home and can sort it. My saviour is things like Spotifys downloadable playlists,Ted talks and the bbc iplayer(bit limited) all of which I top up the day before I leave and can watch/listen to offline. Im a big reader as well. All in all its very good and I have no complaints. Do you take a physical library with you? I have a few thousand books on the Mac and find I am quite happy reading from the screen although I still prefer the feel of a proper paper book in my hands. |
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colin14
Rank: Duo
Co-fonder of Tellurium Q, Designer and Director of TOCA, and Inca Tech, Magnum, ProAC Magnum, etc
Posts: 39 
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Post by colin14 on Jul 21, 2014 19:42:36 GMT
Hi Chris. Lots of book and films free on this site I use it a lots for old book references and some nice old music. Keep dry Col |
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 21, 2014 19:45:18 GMT
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colin14
Rank: Duo
Co-fonder of Tellurium Q, Designer and Director of TOCA, and Inca Tech, Magnum, ProAC Magnum, etc
Posts: 39
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Post by colin14 on Jul 21, 2014 20:13:59 GMT
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Post by ChrisB on Jul 21, 2014 20:20:11 GMT
The one I provided works.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Jul 21, 2014 20:27:37 GMT
Good money on the offshore rigs tho.. West Phoenix is a drilling rig innit?
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Post by Chris on Jul 22, 2014 2:38:23 GMT
y kindle is my best pal for reading - cheers for the link.
Yeah West Phoenix is a 6th gen semi submersible drilling rig. What we do is at the very forefront of exploration and production - we workfor Total the french company and we are drilling for gas. This will then get fed back to Sullom Voe on Shetland.
Its known as the Laggan Tormore project. This bloody phones driving me nuts so no link Im afraid but just google it for the company blurb. Then ask me for the truth.
As for the money - Im bottom of the food chain. Im a roustabout and my days are varied. One minute Im refuelling helicopters(very dangerous) next Im working with the crane moving equipment about. Even at the bottom end Im very highly qualified - I hold stage 1&2 crane tickets,Im qualified to drive our 2 fast rescue craft,Im a stage 1&2 rigger and Im fire team qualified which is what Im refreshing just now and hold a stack of other certs as well.
Not too keen on discussing salary (its a bit crass but pm me if you really want to know) dont know what you lads call good money but I do without a lot for half the year and have missed things like my sisters wedding due to work and its dangerous.
We are well looked after - excellent travel perks,good pension and me,the mrs and the 16 yr old are bupad up to the max.
Due to my nature - a bit sharp manly and rough - I dont go down well at all with the bosses who are always on at me to change so its a bit of a battle just holding down this job. Their problem is that Im good at it and will not give an inch.
I get home later today and get my ipad back(cant believe I forgot it) so will post up a wee bit more then. Ive a couple of pics of my cabin and other stuff....
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Post by Chris on Jul 26, 2014 20:57:57 GMT
 A weather front closing in.  You can just see the rig here about to get weighed in. Not the best pics but quite scarce as we ain't supposed to take pics on the heli...  This one was taken when we went up high to clear that bit weather. Probably about 5000ft. Not the best of pics but interesting to someone maybe. |
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Post by Chris on Jul 26, 2014 21:02:14 GMT
Heli refuel. That's me in blue training one of the other guys.  |
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Post by MikeMusic on Jul 30, 2014 9:29:27 GMT
What must that be like in Winter ?!
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