More about the life of a Thunder Horse Engineer

More interesting facts about life on the rig...

How many people are out here?
There are 298 people allowed on the platform at a time (due to the number of life boats).  Usually, there is so much going on throughout TH, we run pretty high to that maximum.  I am one of 7 or 8 females out of the 298...a special shout out to my engineering guy friends who prepared me for being here!  Thanks to being in engineering, it's like normal conditions.  And boy oh boy are there a bunch of potty mouths out here :)

What do I wear?
We have to wear cotton clothing underneath flame resistant over clothing.  I wear coveralls (adult onesies!).  Out on the deck, I wear steel toed boots, a hard hat, ear plugs, safety glasses, and gloves.  There are a lot of safety precautions and procedures....they really care about the safety of everyone out here.

What do I eat?
There is a cafeteria that we all eat at.  An outside company does the kitchen and cleaning stuff.  It really reminds me of being back in the dorms...so it's not that much of a change for me.  There is SO MUCH meat out here, that's for sure.  Steak night, burger night, grilled chicken night, pork chops night, the list goes on.  Usually, I'm sticking with my salad and cereal.  I did have a steak one night, for the record.

Who do I hang out with?
Everyone here is great, really knowledgeable and has fun.  It's a hard job to be out here (dirty, long hours, etc.), so you have to keep it light to keep everyone going.  I am in operations, so that means I'm in the department of people that run the processing equipment (that separates the crude oil).  There are operators, day and night crew, that work out on the deck or in the control room, the lead techs, who oversee them, the team leads, who oversee more whole-platform issues, the offshore engineers, who work on engineering-type stuff, and the OIM (Offshore Installation Manager) who is the head guy offshore.  That's a SUPER simplified description, but I think it gets the point across.  I'm in meetings with these guys, so they are the ones I know the best.  Many are from south Louisiana and Texas....I'm surrounded by people who say y'all constantly.

So, who are these guys?
Some things about these guys.  My supervisor lives in Houston but went to Berkley...he is awesome, really smart, and is always cracking jokes.   One of the other offshore engineers is from Maine - he flies in for every rotation!  Although there are people from all over the country, most of them root for LSU.  I've been told many times "This is Tiger country" (blech!  I respond to them "Wow, you guys must really be in debt to Michigan seeing that your beloved coach is a Michigan Man.  Thank me later").  A large majority are from south Louisiana, which is "coonass" country.  Coonass can be a derogatory term, but some people use it as a mark of pride.  It refers to everyone who is from south of I-10, the highway that cuts right across the state (it's an old term back from when the French were in Louisiana).  They are all about family, food and fun.  These guys celebrate Mardi Gras like crazy!  They have "themed" parties that everyone dresses up for, even the adults.  They all fish down here...they even catch crabs, lobster, shrimp, you name it!  Here is a picture of what one of my co-workers caught one time:

They are also CRAZY about this seasoning that everyone calls "Tony's."  It's spicy and yummy...and full of sodium...

One of my co-workers showed me pictures of their house - they are 30 minutes from a real grocery store!  But they have a huge garden and they hunt and fish.  Well there you go, living off the land.  Everyone likes to call me a "yankee" because I'm from so far north.  When I told them where I lived in Michigan, they got so confused why I put up my hand (I had to show them on a map that Michigan looks like a hand.  Yes, Louisiana is NOT the center of the world, there are other things beyond the state line).  But best of all, most everyone out here is fun and loves to joke around...like I said before, it's hard work out here so it's much better when everyone works to make it lighter.  If they pick on you, that means they like you.  Everyone works hard because there are limited people out here so everyone's job matters.  Everyone watches out for everyone else like a little family.  It's definitely good times.

Last thing:  Check out this super cool picture of Thunder Horse at night.  When it's sunny outside, you can see for miles and miles...the water glitters like a crazy disco ball.  When it's dark outside, you can't tell where the sky meets the water in the horizon, so it looks like you are enveloped in one big expanse of darkness except for a few clusters of twinkling lights of other platforms in the distance..talk about twilight zone!