So I have not written in a while because I have been at wells almost every night for the last two weeks. It was been very interesting and fun but verrry tiring! I wish I could explain what I what I have been up to but it is really hard because there is soooo much going on and hard to explain without you being there!! Nonetheless, I will give you a little tidbit of what I do.
Above is pictured Mario and Ernesto putting a hydraulic cutter on the tubing we were fishing from the well. We had to go 1000 meters to grab it with a special downhole tool that you attach to the coil tubing. Below is Mario with the first fish we caught. The second fish was muuuch larger!! Anyway, coiled tubing is just a single, steel pipe that you can place different tools to the end and pump fluid through for the doing different jobs in the well. It is much faster and you can do more than your standard rig system which uses many different strings of tubing.
You can drill, cement the well walls, fracture the formation, fish for tools or anything else that was lost in the well, remove plugs, and so much more. So as an engineer you have to worry about the weight or load of the tubing you are putting in the well because to much weight could mean it is stuck and it could break or buckle in the well which is not good. Also you have to watch the different pressures associated with the tubing reel, downhole, and wellhead. All these things are very important because it is potentially dangerous if they get to high. There is so much more to it but I do not want you to have to worry about all the details like I do!!
Some of the things that I have gotten to see/do so far are milling cement and plastic plugs in the well, cleaning the tubing of the well, cleaning the fluid that was in a well, and fish for an old tube that was in the well. I love my job because I get to see so many different things! Other segments aren't so lucky, they do the same thing for every well. However, that means more studying for me! I have been to 5 wells so far and they have all been very different in jobs and appearance which is crazy since I have stayed in a 3 hours radius of the base. Yes all locations are desert but they are different. I have had the experience of working for 36 hours straight, working 3 days without a shower or changing clothes, sleeping in the pickup truck or on the floor in the unit cabin, etc. But I have loved all this because I get to be outside and see nature and millions of stars at night. It is a no frill life which I like!!
I have also learned within the last month working with SLB that it is a man's world here in Mexico. Pretty much everyone I work with are guys, especially on the field. Sometimes the sites are not that girl friendly either (no port-a-potty or place to change) but it has been doable so far! Also all the guys are macho men with mustaches, meat lovin, and want to be in control of everything!! You know how guys are with what they talk about and their bodily functions. They won't even let me carry some things or use the sledgehammer! Sometimes they think that I am not capable which might be true in some cases but not all! They also like to tease me about my height (which I am already used too!!) and how I swing the sledgehammer (when they let me do it!).
BUT and its a big but must of the guys I work with are very respectful to me and want to take care of me. Yes the pick on me a little being a trainee and all but they are always trying to make me feel comfortable and make sure I have gotten to eat and slept well. They are all like my big brothers!! Sometimes it is annoying but I have to say they have been gentlemen to me!! Below are some of the men in my life. They know how to have fun together but also know when it is time to work!! In second picture I really easy to find because one I am the only girl, two I am the one with the red hardhat, and lastly I am the one that is taller than all the rest!!
Psalms 136:3-9
Give thanks to the Lord of lords: His love endures forever. to him who alone does great wonders, His love endures forever. who by his understanding made the heavens, His love endures forever. who spread out the earth upon the waters, His love endures forever. who made the great lights, His love endures forever. the sun to govern the day, His love endures forever. the moon and the stars to govern the night, His love endures forever.
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