Golden Handcuffs

I worked on oil rigs in Alaska for a few years.  My exit from one rig occasionally haunts me.  

So I'm writing this pretty much as a way of expressing what went wrong.   

I was working when the price of oil was very low and several rigs were stacking out (shutting down).

I kept getting sent to different rigs at a lower position after long layoffs,  where I had to adopt a "just happy to be here" attitude.   I ended up on one rig called "142".   On this rig things were a little more political than I was used of.

One day I decided to fill out green cards which were ideas for improvements. I filled out several cards that day, including redisigned pipe racks, modifications to the skate, potential problems that could be alleviated.  That same hitch I received a great review for my performance evaluation where my supervisor marked exceeds expectations in every category.  That was the best review I ever received on the oil field.  

I'm not sure what went wrong but I was "written up" that same hitch.   Somebody up high decided my performance was lacking.  They decided to make my next 3 months a living hell filled with paranoia before they ultimately ran me off of that rig.  

I came back the next hitch and was instantly attacked.  The toolpusher commented on the rigs condition and ordered me to get to cleaning "NOW!" After I finished doing his orders I was attacked for not doing other jobs that I should have accomplished while cleaning.  My toolpusher called me a "dumb ass native." and bumped me with his shoulder.  

They made a rig cleaning checklist and wrote that everything in my area needed to be worked on.  My relief handed me a note that he got from his supervisor saying "save it all for Dru."  That hitch I started recording everything, knowing that things weren't right.  I recorded my encounters with the toolpusher,  I recorded my encounters with the tower pusher who came up saying "what they're doing to you is not right and illegal."  I recorded a conversation with them saying I was "just another _____".  (crew member who repeatedly messed up.).  I was repeatedly bashed and talked bad about.  I'm not sure if other people were in on it, but I just scrubbed an area and an hour later was balled out for the area being messy.   I went and took a look and somebody had really trashed the place.  

The next hitch somebody got hurt and I moved up to fill in his position.  I felt like I did a good job and stayed busy at that position.  It was a break from my paranoia,  I was finally getting complimented as doing good.  Then 1 week into the hitch they called me into the office.  I recorded this as well.  I thought I was being offered a promotion, but I was being sent home and fired.  The whole crew was very upset at this point,  I almost got choked up from my crew being so upset.  

I was closing on a house, I HAD to keep working.

Anyways that was the closing of my time on that rig.  It still haunts me from time to time. Somehow 1 week after being "exceeds expectations." in every category, I was "needs improvement." in every single category.  

I called the office and had to beg for another job.  They told me to meet them in Anchorage, which I recorded as well.  They sent me to the "Steelhead" offshore rig.  A rig that wasn't easy to work on.  That rig was a constant learning experience.  That rig kicked my ass.  That rig also brought the love for Oilfield work back.  I came across a lot of people that were alot better and harder working than me,  I was able to shine because my problem solving ability was actually heard and respected.  My crew was pissed off just like me.  I fit in. 

However the poison from my run off experience was already instilled in me, so I decided to start saving up money and plan my exit from the oilfield.  My corporation took pretty good care of me from that point on.  I have all of this evidence but I would never take people down with me.  I ran into a pusher from another rig recently who said something like: "when are you coming back?"  my response was "why would I?  when I could provide for my family without it?"  I still have a lot of love for my crews, for a few of those crazy hard working miserable rigs. The rigs where you don't know how you're going to have energy for tomorrow.  But I hope I never ever ever have to go back to those golden handcuffs.

 

Killed it

I was explaining to Doz yesterday that I couldn't play good against certain people because of grudges or hate that I had for them.  I could play hard but wouldn't be able to shoot.   I started to play better because I killed that hate,  I'm only playing because basketball is fun for me. Why let anger or hate destroy that fun?   Once I kill the hate I'm free to focus on the things I want to do.

I noticed that in the Thanksgiving tournament I had fun when we were winning,  but hated the two games that we lost.   I switched the attitude for North American to have fun every game, and played alot better.  Our team came up short in both tournaments but I had more fun in North American.   If pressure to succeed,  pressure from a crowd,  or your friends is affecting your fun you have to kill the pressure.  

Once you learn to kill whatevers preventing you from doing what you want to do,  and focus on having fun,  everything becomes easier.  My last race at EWU I PR'd in 105 degree weather.  Beat a couple of people that were way faster than me.

Most of that season I would get mad because I was chasing a time,  I'd PR almost every race,  but would fall short of the expectations I had for myself.  Some of the faster people on our team would tell me, "You have to be happy,  you just ran faster than you've ever ran before".   But I would buckle under the pressure to succeed that I set for myself.  I wasn't supposed to race at conference, after my last meet I kind of partied for 3 days,  and then the coach said "You're going to Cali".   

When I got there it was ridiculously hot,  everybody else who was racing looked nervous,  and the people on our team said "Look at Dru,  he's bouncing around, looking relaxed." You can always do better than you did,   even in that race when my throat caught on fire it caught me off guard.  I slowed way down for a couple of laps because my throat was burning. But when it was all said and done that was one of my favorite races, because I killed the pressure and lived in the moment.

If what you're doing becomes more of a chore than fun,  learn to kill the negativity.      

My Complaints With Borderlands 2

The below list is taken from http://explosivealan.com/2012/10/02/10-reasons-i-hate-borderlands-2/

I'm adding my 2 cents at the bottom.

1. It seems intent on stopping me playing everything else.
2. I threw a gun away and felt slightly emotional about it and that’s really not normal.
3. Face McShooty’s never coming back, is he?
4. Why am I stuck on the ground in this stupid Bandit Technical when I could be in a Buzzard?
5. “No matter how much you tip her, Moxxi will never sleep with you.”*
6. I still haven’t earned my second turret.
7. I’m not allowed to live up to the reputation I apparently have among the Bandit population as a “midget lover”.
8. The Energizing Bane gun. But only because it renders you practically immobile. Otherwise I’d use it all the time, especially in co-op.
9. Christ it’s three in the morning and I’ve got work tomorrow and my eyes are really dry like painfully dry but I am halfway through a mission and I’m in the right place to finish up another one too so I might as well kill two birds with one oh Christ it’s four in the morning.

The Missions aren't always clear.  I didn't know that I had to kill every robot and scag in one mission to get a door to open so I spent hours trying to find a way into a place that didn't exist.  

If you turn off the game sometimes it starts you way back, disregarding previous saves.  Some of the side missions are ridiculously long,  and not well thought out.   I kind of wish there was a way to upgrade guns that you love,  to keep them relevant at least a little while longer. 

If you die they do a percentage of your money that automatically goes away,  so in one mission I can go from 20,000 to 6,000. 

I personally enjoyed Rage alot more,  because the missions felt more focused, and the vehicles drove a lot better.   However this is a game that I will complain about as I beat over and over again,  like Dead Rising 2

Indian

I remember growing up in McGrath Alaska.  Everytime I would get a tootsie pop I would look for the lucky Indian.   The Lucky Indian was rare,  but the local shop owner would give you a free tootsie pop if you found one.  I guess the lucky Indian was an urban legend,  that was so strong that a lot of stores adopted.  If you found a lucky indian you could redeem him for a prize.



I changed my design slightly from the original tootsie pop indian.  I gave him Timbs and a backpack.   Thought about giving him dre beats headphones but I liked the face how it was. 

I had to think about where I wanted the design on the shirt,  I wasn't sure if I wanted it off to the left,  or if I wanted the center of the weight to be in the middle.  I printed on some test shirts until I finally got the placement where I wanted. 

Permaset Supercover ink was used.   I printed on brown shirts with white ink.  Different color options were suggested,   I thought about other options but couldn't make my mind up so I went with white.

Alex a worker at Nomadic Stars told me I was pulling my shirts wrong.   He showed me a way that can prevent some stretching,  as well as keeping wet ink from getting on the shirt in places it shouldn't.   You start at the bottom and pull halfway up the shirt,   then go to the top and pull the shirt halfway.

After that is done you pull the shirt from the shoulders and put it in the oven.  The Lucky Indian Shirt is available at Yukon River Creations, in the Tanana Valley State Fair.

Nuchalawoyya Red and White

For my Nuchalawoyya sweaters I started off with American Apparel  sweaters.  I like them because they are light weight and soft.   I know in Alaska a lot of people want heavier sweaters in the winter,   but I think the sweaters are small enough to throw on under a jacket.

Before printing sweaters I have to make sure there's a lot of tact layed down.  When there isn't enough tact the sweater can lift off of the surface,  which can really mess up a print.

I lined the sweater up where I wanted it,  and made sure to press down,  so that the sweater would stick to the surface.

I printed the Nuchalawoyya and stars layer first. I chose to print this layer with white ink to make sure that it stood out from the black sweater.

I didn't like my first red color so I had to clear the screen out and start over.  The color wasn't bad it just was a little too dark.  I mixed in a little bit of yellow,  as suggested by Gary,  to brighten my red up a little bit. 

The red was still a little dark so I had to flash it.   This means that I put it under a heat source to dry the ink,  so I could print on it again.   I wanted the red to be bright,  but no so bright that it competes with the stars and Nuchalawoyya layer.  

After finishing the Nuchalawoyya sweater I put it in a rotating oven.  I would show this but this blog only allows me to post a few pictures per post.   The oven dries the ink and cooks it into the shirt.

After printing several shirts I noticed the white ink was starting to gunk up.   The finish line was really close with just 7 sweaters left to print.   Oden the owner of Nomadic Stars,  where I printed these shirts suggested that I take the white ink out and thin it out,  then reapply it to the screen.   Because the printing process was taking a long time and I still had another design to print,  my initial tendency was to just power through the gunky ink and get it done.  

However I remember what happened in my last print when I tried to just go through some gunky ink,  and how it messed up my last couple of prints.  So I did what was suggested.   It may have slowed me down by half an hour,   but it payed off.    

The final result is shown below.

My Mega Man approach to Running.

On my run yesterday I was thinking about some of my friends on the team at EWU. I was thinking about how Curtis Suver and Patrick Chessar would always tell me "Enjoy it, you're not going to win, gotta get pumpmed about the PR's" That used to annoy me, because I was rarely happy with how I was running.

I'd set goal times that were out of my reach and get mad everytime I didn't get them. The last two years that I ran for EWU I pretty much PR'd every single time I raced. Pretty soon my times weren't that bad anymore. I think what Suver and Chessar were trying to say is I gotta enjoy all of the little victories.

When you play Mega Man you pretty much get your ass kicked repeatedly. Every single level can seem impossible when you start playing. But then you take your time and eventually get better at each little section. By the time you're ready to face Dr. Whily you make all of the levels look easy. You don't get frustrated because you're getting yor ass kicked, you take all of the little victories and build off of them.

I went through injury after injury last year, and never got my mileage up. Working sitting down for 40 hours a week also contributed to my weight gain. This summer I'm taking my time and building my mileage slowly. I'll race occasionally and get my ass kicked, but I'm slowly getting faster. I probably ran around 50 miles last week, and even though I'm not seeing the results on the scale I would like to, I'm happy with the little victories. I mean look at where I was last year. I know if I can get my mileage up a little bit more, and add some speed wokouts, I'll eventually get to where I wanna be.

So yeah I might suck it up for a while, get my ass kicked, but each time I'm moving forward towards the goal. Even though I'm getting dominated by Bubble Man eventually I'll be beasting Quick Man and Metal Man, and maybe next year I'll be ready for Dr. Whily. Just taking it one day/one obstacle at a time, enjoying the little victories

.

Cheers, Dru-P

One mile at a time

Working on getting back in shape one day at a time. I'm using future races as motivation, but at the same time I'm trying to look at the big picture.

My first goal is to lose 20 lbs, I wanna lose between 20-40 lbs this summer. Which means I might not be competitive to race, because it's hard to drop weight and keep strength. Just listening to my body, and trying to slowly add mileage.

I had to take 2 weeks off to allow my knee to recover which slowed everything down, I ran short for 2 weeks, Did some short and long for a week. This week I'm trying to go long everyday, but if I have to stop I'll allow myself to stop, also I don't care how slow I'm running this week or next week. I'll try to go next week without stopping during my runs.

I'm not going to worry about speed for at least a month, the weight is the first issue that I have to deal with. When I ran out in Washington my weight ranged from like 140-180. I ran best between 150-155 out there. I'm sure I could have been lighter but I wasn't too concerned with all of that. After taking 2 weeks off for my knee I weighed myself at like 208, I think I was about 195 before taking 2 weeks off.

So if I'm in the 180's by Nuch I'll allow myself to run that race. If I'm in the 170's by WEIO I'll allow myself to run that race. Weight isn't that big of a factor, but it's about the big picture and overall health. When I got hurt I'm sure a lot of it was because I was playing on these hard ass basketball floors, running around, and just being fast and heavy. Just thought it would make things easier on me if I lost some weight. I also plan on going on a 3 day water diet at some point. I hardly ever drink water, I just drink Juice, Pop and Beer. So I'll eventually try to cut back a little on the non water drinks. eventually. haha

Good luck me,
Dru-P