Post: #1236

Finished my last shift with the rigs before spring breakup the other day. Worked 15 of the last 16 days. 12 hr shifts plus 2 hrs of travel time per day. My last paycheque showed only 4 of those days because of the payroll dates, and let me tell you, I made more money in those 4 days than 3 weeks at my previous job, after taxes too. Fucking amazing.

After spring breakup, I will be working a 21/3 shift. Insane, I know. These guys were drinking 4-6 energy drinks/day, popping cold medication like candy, yet you could see the exhaustion pouring out of their eyes. At the same time, these guys barely slept, drank every night and ate the worst food (non-camp means taking a ride to the gas station to pick up lunch) like microwaveable Chinese food, TV dinners, chocolate bars, chips, etc.

As for myself, though I was eating from the gas station, I picked up tuna, egg salad, or ham sandwiches for lunch. Plus at the hotel I was staying at, I made sure to take 4 servings of either bananas, apples and oranges every morning, along with a morning meal of a bowl of plain Cheerios, toast with peanut butter and a banana (hotel provides breakfast every morning). Taking multi-vitamins, eating 4 eggs/day Rocky style, and protein shakes also helped. I also made sure to get as much sleep as I could, which is usually 6 hrs, or 7 hrs if I'm lucky.

By my last shift, my energy level was still good. There were some very late nights where I only slept 3-4 hrs but the clean diet was definitely the game changer here. I'll probably have to work a few rotations under this arrangement to see if it will work long-term, but I think I have a good system here.

Working on the rigs requires extremely tough skin, being physically strong and the ability to listen.
I've heard of so many other fucked up stories but I don't wanna discourage people from coming to the rigs because these stories are just very specific cases. There's a reason why the financial rewards are so high here.

I plan to work the field for a while to build myself physically and mentally. The money I will make will be used to invest in some real estate, which I believe is the safest place to put my money towards. Once I become more financially sound after that investment, I'm planning on pursuing some higher education in the oil & gas industry. I hear Petroleum Engineering is a good place to start where I can make loads of money, so I will use my rigging experience to leverage my degree in Petroleum Engineering, or any relevant degree for that matter. Maybe I can talk to my company and see what they can do for me down the road.

In the mean time, I've been hitting the gym like crazy to build my body. 2-3 times/day. On the side, doing some reading on oil rigs, this book called "Titan" about John D. Rockefeller, and also about acquiring my gun license, because I've always wanted to shoot guns.