Indy 500

[wolfeman131]

Man, are there many things that are more incredible than open wheel race cars? I have a hard time sitting for 4 hours watching cars go round and round in a big oval, but the Indy 500 pulls me in every time. The technology, the speed, the paint jobs . . .

I got to sit in Bobby Rahal's Indy car as a kid and have been hooked since.

[rdlangston13]

Man, are there many things that are more incredible than open wheel race cars? I have a hard time sitting for 4 hours watching cars go round and round in a big oval, but the Indy 500 pulls me in every time. The technology, the speed, the paint jobs . . .

I got to sit in Bobby Rahal's Indy car as a kid and have been hooked since.

INDY sucks NASCAR is better

[jpetty3023]

INDY sucks NASCAR is better

So negative David!! Must be cause your stuck at work for the next 2 weeks!


Sent from my home phone..

[WaterBullDawg1980]

http://exclaim.ca/images/talladega_nights.jpg

[rdlangston13]

So negative David!! Must be cause your stuck at work for the next 2 weeks!


Sent from my home phone..



11 days sir.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

David, what in the heck do you guys do at night on a rig? Drink? Play cards? Work?

Are these rigs out in the middle of nowhere where nothing is around you? What do you do if a big storm is coming?

[moombadaze]

Shake N Bake

[WaterBullDawg1980]

David, what in the heck do you guys do at night on a rig? Drink? Play cards? Work?

Are these rigs out in the middle of nowhere where nothing is around you? What do you do if a big storm is coming?

Bump for David.......I am a little obsessed with his job.

[rdlangston13]

Bump for David.......I am a little obsessed with his job.

I work offshore so its a little different than land. At night the people who work days sleep and the people who work nights work. Ummmm no drinking, no alcohol is allowed. We can play cards, the entertainment on my rig (which is actually a drill ship) consists of the following; XBOX 360, Wii, Ping Pong, weight room, cardio room, sauna, about 8 channels of TV, golf simulator (when it is working), air hockey, and wifi. We also have those pool type chairs so you can lay out on the top deck if you so desire (a bunch of the european dudes do this, weirdos!)

if a big storm is coming what we do depends on how big the storm is. for hurricanes all non essential personnel will leave the rig and the rest of the people will drive the rig out of the way of the storm. tropical storm we may just suspend operations for a few hours until it passes and ride it out.

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Yeah figured alcohol may be a no go. You never know though, as crazy as it sounds we have "beer cart" Fridays. Exactly like it sounds....cart is being pushed around with you guessed it,....beer on it. But then again we are not workin on an offshore rig.

Sounds like they have you guys covered as far as keeping you busy. How many folks are on your rig? Close quarters?

So you get the euros in their mankinis on the top deck huh? They are a different breed that is for sure.

Ever been in any really bad weather? How far off shore are you anyway? Can you still see the shore? I thought I remembered you saying you got on a boat somewhere in La to go to your rig but couldn't remember how far away it was.

Cool job man, you should take some pics if your bored.

[rdlangston13]

Our max POB (personnel on board) is 180 and right now I think we are at like 174 or so. they like to keep a few empty beds in case BSSE (the government people) show up for an inspection and have to stay over night. The rooms are not too bad, the normal crew rooms are 2 man room with a bathroom so we dont have to use community showers or anything which is a plus. The living quarters is deck 6, 7, 8, and 9 while offices occupy deck 10 and deck 11 is the bridge. Deck 5 is the galley and gym and deck 4 is the change room. Oh and we also have a music room with some guitars and drums for people who play. We have an elevator but I prefer the stairs, helps keep me from getting too round!

The ship itself is 749 ft long i believe and 136 ft wide. That may not be exact but it is within 10ft i am sure. we have 6 azipod style thrusters, three forward and three aft with a top speed of about 11 knots. 6 really big wartszilla engines power the electric generators that supply all out power and we can hold something like 3.2 million gallons of diesel. i think we can run in transit for like 2 months without needing fuel. I know we made it all the way from singapore without refueling.

As far as how far out we are I am not sure. It takes about an hour by chopper so I would say 100 miles or so. No land is visible but we do see tankers pass and there are a couple other rigs drilling around us. Our water depth is around 4,200 ft.

Here is a picture i snapped of the rig while i was in singapore.

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m523/rdlangston13/417988_10151303819835394_500730393_22896067_162392 578_n.jpg

[rdlangston13]

here we go, went outside and got some gps action

http://i1130.photobucket.com/albums/m523/rdlangston13/Picture059.png

[kaneboats]

Shoot, David, I think you're closer to me than you are to home. Stop by for some dinner on Sun. or a boat ride any time.

[deerfield]

David - What led you to work on an oil rig ship? Your job is different and pretty interesting.

[rdlangston13]

Schlumberger recruits from UTI (Universal Technical Institute) and the money seemed good and the schedule seemed awesome. That is pretty much it. I worked for Sewell Cadillac in Dallas for a year before I came out here. pretty much got in contact with a recruiter while I was in UTI and went to an interview but they did not hire anyone under 21 and I graduated at 19. The summer I turned 21 I did a 2nd interview and got an offer and started a week after my 21st b-day.

It is different and that was part of the attraction, now the whole discovery channel feel has worn off and its just work. But I love having two full weeks off every 4 weeks.


Kane, I would be down if they would let me borrow the fast rescue boat for a couple days!

[hsurman86]

The schedule does seem pretty awesome but there is a down side too....being away from your family for half a month is hard on everyone involved but it's the price you pay!

[WaterBullDawg1980]

Our max POB (personnel on board) is 180 and right now I think we are at like 174 or so. they like to keep a few empty beds in case BSSE (the government people) show up for an inspection and have to stay over night. The rooms are not too bad, the normal crew rooms are 2 man room with a bathroom so we dont have to use community showers or anything which is a plus. The living quarters is deck 6, 7, 8, and 9 while offices occupy deck 10 and deck 11 is the bridge. Deck 5 is the galley and gym and deck 4 is the change room. Oh and we also have a music room with some guitars and drums for people who play. We have an elevator but I prefer the stairs, helps keep me from getting too round!

The ship itself is 749 ft long i believe and 136 ft wide. That may not be exact but it is within 10ft i am sure. we have 6 azipod style thrusters, three forward and three aft with a top speed of about 11 knots. 6 really big wartszilla engines power the electric generators that supply all out power and we can hold something like 3.2 million gallons of diesel. i think we can run in transit for like 2 months without needing fuel. I know we made it all the way from singapore without refueling.

As far as how far out we are I am not sure. It takes about an hour by chopper so I would say 100 miles or so. No land is visible but we do see tankers pass and there are a couple other rigs drilling around us. Our water depth is around 4,200 ft.

Here is a picture i snapped of the rig while i was in singapore.


Awesome. Thanks for sharing man.

So, the question on everyone's mind.....what kinda wake does that ship put out? :)

[rdlangston13]

The schedule does seem pretty awesome but there is a down side too....being away from your family for half a month is hard on everyone involved but it's the price you pay!



it is hard but there are alternatives if it gets too hard. It does howevere allows US to do a lot of fun things most people do not get the chance to do, like spend tons of time at the lake house and go on multiple trips a year!

[rdlangston13]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing man.

So, the question on everyone's mind.....what kinda wake does that ship put out? :)


really not much of one, i was pretty disappointed, i think we move too slow.

[New Guy]

as crazy as it sounds we have "beer cart" Fridays. Exactly like it sounds....cart is being pushed around with you guessed it,....beer on it.

I want your job!