Goodbye Oil

I started working in Alberta’s oil and gas industry over six years ago. I had zero experience but, I like a challenge, I am mechanically inclined, I learn fast, and I’m stubborn. So, I basically started out to prove to myself that I could. Because… well, why not?

The first couple years I worked strictly in natural gas. I basically started out as a ‘chart checker’ and gained experience as problems came up. There were a few pump-jacks, some small compressors, and an archaic compressor station. It’s amazing how fast you learn when plopped out in the field with no training and little help… in the winter. Those middle of the night call-outs were miserable, but part of the job. I figured it out, but after two years, it was time for a change.

I moved on to a different company and into heavy oil. It was a bit of a culture shock – I went from being pretty much totally alone to working out of an office with over forty other pumpers. There was actually some training this time and I really lucked out and was trained by someone who actually knew what he was doing. I learned fast, took the extra courses to better myself in my job and I worked really hard to prove myself.

I started out on a pretty simple run. Not too many wells so there was time to spend learning. Basically, the well becomes my responsibility after it has been drilled. All of the equipment such as a drive head, which rotates the down hole pump, an engine skid for power, production tank(s), and a multitude of piping, etc. is installed – then, it’s my job to ensure the oil – and usually also natural gas – are pumped up from the depths of the earth, efficiently (also cheaply, safely, and with “fun and integrity”). There are a lot of important components to producing heavy oil, it was one heck of a lot busier than working strictly natural gas. I was enjoying the new challenges.

After about six months, I was moved to a busier run (more wells – bigger production) and then had the joy of training a summer student who was to become my partner for the summer months. Let’s just say it was a really, really, long summer.

After just over a year, I was moved to a run that had a salt water disposal facility, water transfer systems pipelined to that facility, and a heck of a lot more production to deal with. A new challenge, a lot more to learn, and the added bonus of now being on call – again. I’m still on that same run, three years later, and there are still new things to learn. Some shifts are better than others. Some shifts come and go with no major issues while others are a complete nightmare. There are days when I’ve thought, “this is a pretty good job really”, and then there are those times when I’ve wanted to park the truck on some lease and just walk home, and stay there.

 

All in all, the past six plus years have been pretty good. I’ve accomplished things I never knew I was capable of, I’ve learned a lot and I’ve made some really great friends regardless of being the “girl” in this predominately male industry. I’ve worked hard and partied hard along side these guys and I’ve only once encountered a selfish jerk who tried to push the limits.

During my time working in heavy oil, I’ve been part of a team of really great guys. Guys who are always there to help if needed. I’ve been really lucky to have been partnered up with experienced guys who’ve been in this industry for twenty years or more. Together we’ve laughed, we’ve cried, we’ve ranted and raved. We’ve bitched about head office in Calgary and silly management decisions. We’ve hung out on a summer day over a pizza at lunch, or beer and wings after a particularly tough shift. Wednesdays (shift change day, the only day you work with your partner) were rarely painful, most were a chance for me to learn from their experience and sometimes, just maybe, I managed to teach them something too.

But today is the start of another new chapter in my life.

This job with it’s eight days on and six days off schedule may seem like a dream to some, but I’ve missed a lot of things I can never get back. As others with this type of shift can attest, it always seems like the weekends you work are the weekends that things are happening.

I missed my daughter’s first ever “first place” ribbon at a horse show. Crying on the phone with Husband as he gave me the details of her win.

I missed being able to help my son move into his first purchased home. A huge milestone for a young man moving forward with his life, his way.

I’ve missed so many birthdays, Christmases, anniversaries, and other events due to this job. Hobbies that were such a huge part of our family have been completely neglected. Horseback riding, quadding, sledding, all things we don’t do as a family anymore. A lot of memories have been made while Mom was working or stuck by the phone, waiting on the dreaded call-out.

I sometimes wonder if I had spent all of this time (like many other pumpers) without the inconvenience of being on-call, if I would be more willing to continue on. Probably not but maybe I wouldn’t be so burnt out. It takes something out of a person when you go to bed with that phone on your nightstand, willing it not to ring overnight. But when it does, you’re heading out to your run in the middle of the night, hoping the problem is simple enough for a quick fix so you can go back home to sleep. Add all that fun to an industry that hit bottom here over the last couple of years and you’ve got a whole lot of miserable pumpers being asked to do way more, for less. It takes a toll on a person, and their family.

A lot of guys have been doing this job for many, many years and have managed to maintain their extra-curricular lives… usually the guys with wives at home with or without normal jobs, doing the cooking, cleaning, laundry, gardening and host of the other usual “homey” things keeping life in check. I’m gone at least twelve to fourteen hours a day and so is Husband, nothing gets done around here when I’m on shift. Then days-off are a whirl-wind of chores, and gotta-get-this-shit-done before I go back to work, hence the burnout. There is just no time for a life. The past six years can be counted in eight and six day increments… and they’ve gone by fast.

I’m not asking for anything fancy… I just want to be able to take care of myself, the man I love, and be there for my children when they need me. Honestly… I dream of being able to use the damn bathroom like a normal person! It may sound odd, but I’m tired of trying to find a private spot (is someone going to drive up, are there secret security cameras on this location?) to pee. Summer is one thing but add the blowing, brutal cold of a -40°C winter day to that necessary bodily function and damn!  Squatting in the elements with my bare arse and lady parts getting frost bitten is not my idea of a good time. Don’t even get me started on the nastiness that is a port-a-potty — especially one shared with truckers. Bleh.

I just simply don’t want to be out here anymore, in the coldest, darkest winter days and nights (any summer day or night for that matter either), fixing something that has stopped the precious oil production.

In all honesty, this was never a permanent thing for me anyways. I’ve never “bled blue” as we say of those who are company men for life. It was always a stepping stone, an experience, part of my path of doing and learning new and different things, but it’s now time to move on.

My health is on a downward spiral and my relationship with Husband is sometimes full of friction. That’s the part that hurts me the most. He’s my rock. He’s my partner in this crazy life, the only one I want to be by my side. My hostile, bitter mood about work is taking its toll and I can’t continue to allow that.

Am I putting extra pressure on him to carry the financial load? Yes – for now, but he, better than anyone, knows what it’s like to dislike your job. He worked in the drilling industry for twenty-three years, he knows the sacrifice (way better than I do) that working in this industry requires of a person. He’s supportive, he’s understanding, and best of all… he believes in me. Together, we’ve accomplished some amazing things and I know we’ve got a lot more to do.

So, today begins a new chapter for us. I’m off on a new path of creativity and design, where I feel more at peace with my self. Where I feel like what I’m doing is making a difference, making people smile, bringing them joy. No more working for the big, faceless corporation as just another anonymous employee number on the books. Hopefully my leaving ensures some semblance of job security for someone who really feels that this industry is their future. I hope it does.

As for me, I’m out.