Thanks guys.
Well I got over it shortly after my response and follow up. If I wasn't writing my life, it wouldn't have bothered me. However, if you're referring to my "mission accomplished, moving onto pictures" post... well, I could keep it going. And wouldn't mind doing so but the reasoning there is different. The topic has definitely shifted from "My 1st day in ND, 1st sights/impressions." And would shift even further with describing my job life. So I was thinking about keeping it to my job search and my thoughts and experiences through that process. (Can an admin can rename a thread? Would that botch links up?)
I can already tell you what they will be my first day... nervous excitement.
Until I decide what do to I'll be writing with less verbosity. (My real thoughts/experiences skipping the attempt at humor and less non-oilfield info.) Maybe.
I did go to the job fair today in Dickinson, just for chuckles, as my high school chem teacher would say. It was held at a staffing agency, UCP, from 9am-2pm. Luckily Dickinson is in another timezone so I hit the road @ ~07:15 for my 175 mile drive. I thought it would at least give me an opportunity to see some more of the state. In that respect it couldn't be a waste.
I am REALLY WAITING (someone listening?) for blue skies and good lighting for pictures! There were a few sights I wanted to capture. Photoshop can only do so much though. The speed limit, something I typically would love, puts a damper on picture taking too.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by My Brain
Hmmm. Look! Trees!  Rolling hills!  The field and livestock for variation in the monochromatic grass.
That might be a good shot!
[Processing.... processing...]
Oh crap I need to reverse 1/4 mile to take it. Oh well onto the next one. |
And I see something else and the process repeats itself. Occasionally I tell myself not to think about it and just stop. But I don't like stopping on the roads either LOL. It feels like I'm going to fall off. Most don't have breakdown lanes. It's more like a rumble strip, half a foot of pavement, and a grassy slope into oblivion. (Okay, a shallow drainage ditch that you could probably drive up the opposite side.) Although it's just grass, not seeing the ground gets me thinking something could puncture my tire... which would suck for sure at this point LOL. City-thinking I guess.
There's a lot of wind turbines starting about 12 miles south of Minot on 83 and they last about 10 miles. That was a sight, and probably would've came out a lot better than my Ohio shot where I only could capture two. (No pic yet of ND turbines.) Then came the Garrison Dam. I thought, what I assume is the power plant, was cooler and grabbed a few shots of that on the way to and from Dickinson. Then (maybe it was before, can't remember) came a huge power plant in the middle of nowhere.
Stuck out like a sore thumb... bad analogy... the land is so flat... Okay, I admit, there are "rolling" hills and some of them got in the way of my shots while I was "processing."
Which was annoying, LOL. You can always tell when you're approaching a town because the grain elevator towers over "everything." Err, I mean the "rolling hills" on the horizon (which that far out are flat
). It seems every town has one, from a dust speck on the map (Ray,ND for sure, Manning, ND... I think) to the cities like Minot. It's always a surprise to see how many streets are in a town as the GPS loads them. Manning had like 10 streets. IDK how many Ray has but I think it has three elevators!
I'm not too up on the elevators or how they work despite my quick wikipedia read or if all are operational (in Ray)... but it sure looks like there are three in that small little town. Surefire way to tell you're about to enter a town... the speed limit. 70/75mph -> 45 mph for 1/4 mile or so -> 25mph, then the reverse.
Anywho, I'm curious about the power plant. Does anyone know anything about it? I did end up getting a shot of it. I remember a sign with "Synfuel" on it. Unfortunately my camera is in my car right now. I can upload them later. It was west of the road several miles before reaching Beulah, ND from Minot. Looks like they're preparing the land for something big. Lot of earth moving equipment... well maybe not a lot... but there are some units present on both sides of the road.
I had a double take while driving. There's this cemetery in the middle of nowhere. The first take was just that it was present. The second was to try and decipher the name at 75mph... "Pet Cemetery!"
(rumble, rumble, rumble). On the way back I was more prepared... "St. Peter's Cemetery."
I decided to head north from Dickinson and drive through Kildeer before heading back east. I saw something pretty nifty at the "Welcome to Golden Valley" sign near Hwy 200 & Co Rd 5. I'll save that one as a surprise.
As for the job fair, there were quite a few applicants and only one interviewer initially. They added another while I was there. Some people missed the "CDL" in "CDL Job Fair" so they were quickies. I sat in the main room eventually. I had started out in the hall. The female managers seem to dress kinda.... slutty
. I'll skip the details.
The agency itself was interviewing for a few employers and hiring on the spot for one. The door to the interview room opened and out popped the interviewer... the dude I've been talking with in Minot.
He happily acknowledged my presence with an enthusiastic 'hiya.' I thought, "I'm screwed. Well I saw some cool things on the way in.
" I also thought having the choice I would prefer him over the girl. I already have a good repoire with him. He just shoos me away 'cause I have no experience.
When my name was called it was for female interviewer. I opted to let someone go ahead of me. A few minutes later the door to his room opened... then closed. Then opened and the interviewee almost steps through... then closes. (And again... and again) We got a chuckle in the lobby. Finally when that was through I sat with him.
Quote:
Me: Hey. How are things?
UCP: Great. How about yourself?
Me: Good.
UCP: I have good news.
Me: Really? Does this mean I have to make a decision?
UCP: Yup. I was thinking about you. They're bringing on 5 new people a week for a month that I think would work well with them. [Plus additional experienced drivers.]
[Bring up I'm already hired and just checking it out. A little back and forth below...]
|
So then we got into 'why tankers?' And I responsed with what I ended my post with yesterday. That being sand goes in, water goes in and comes out... and tankers take crude...
AND a lot more water has to go than sand. I wasn't sure if that meant more drivers or more time. His response was "Yes, and yes." He also said:
- Doesn't really matter if you do sand or water. One can transfer to crude from either.
- Crude is generally hired from within. Many companies do water/crude or all three.
- More competition in water so I'd probably make less than with sand. [So far.]
- Increased competition means undercutting and companies have lost contracts because of competition
- A slow down is generally across the board for (sand/water) drivers.
- The slow down now is because of the mild winter. There was one day that was real cold. Supervisors were out there ALL the time. The slow down is a result of them taking there breaks now instead of in the -30+ degree weather. (The supers apparently not getting the nice rotations their subordinates do.) Normally the rain/mud wouldn't be too much of an issue. [That's what I was told almost verbatim.]
The pay is a percentage of the invoice, equivalent to ~$25/hr. I'm assuming it would go up once you're free from the agency's contract or the company buys you out from them. But not necessarily so. Housing FREE for two weeks, then $200/wk thereafter. The unnamed company is based out of Dickinson.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
