It'll All Be Okay
I talked to Mike a couple of times...he's freaking out to an extent as well. However, he also says it might be a blessing in disguise, but then he says he hopes he passes it and can work a couple months more and then quit after he's found another job. I guess I should tell you all (since I have a lot of new friends, and because it has been so long since I've been using my journal) why this is so...conflicted.
Back when Mike and I were split up, about a year ago, he was working in a factory which he really really hated. Like two days before we reconciled he interviewed for a gas and oil field job. He had worked for another company for 3 years and while he loved the work, he hated the company. This new place he interviewed for would mean he would be gone all the time, which some of you have already picked up on me hating. But, the money was going to be good, and he was so depressed in the factory, he really needed what this job had to offer.
At first he loved it. After about a month he got on a rig with an operator that he totally had a dude crush on. The guy has been everywhere and done everything. Then, about six months ago, Boss man decided "Hey...we're always in Williamsport and we spend so much on hotels, why don't the four of us guys rent a house together!" Mike and another guy didn't want to do it. They thought it could go pretty poorly. See, Boss and the fourth hand were always spending their money at strip clubs and bars, and then would let Mike and Joel (the other hand that was against the house deal) pick up the tab for hotel rooms and such. Mike was frustrated by all of this, but not near as much as I was. It is important to know that Mike is sort of a door mat. It's part of the reason that we broke up before. I steam rolled him all of the time, and he couldn't handle it. Now he can stand up to me, which is wonderful, but he still has a really hard time standing up to other people. Also, if you know anything about the oil field, there is this thing called being 'Run Off'. Mike's operator could just decide he didn't like Mike and force him off the crew. It's a pain in the ass, and Mike has been so worried about it that he won't speak up.
So, the guys get this house. Which upset me terribly. I was already having a hard time with Mike being gone all the time, and reffering to hotel rooms as 'Home', and then they get a home! And it's SOOOOO much nicer than ours. After about 2 weeks the boss man decides he's going to kick one of the guys out, and move his old lady and kids down.
Now- the rent for this place is $1,800 a month. The guys get $175 dollars a day in per diem. That's a LOT and they all get it. However, for some reason Mike and Joel were/are each paying 900 dollars a month in rent! Then, back in April when we were on vacation, Mike tells me that before he left Boss man's old lady said she was going to make a chore chart for the guys. Because the house is not a hotel, it's a small family (which offends me, I am Mike's family, THEY are not) and each person needs to pull their weight. She stays at home with her two kids and smokes more pot than I could ever imagine. I watched her smoke like two ounces in one night, on her own. It was crazy. So now, Mike and Joel are expected to work 16 hours a day, sleep, pay for everything, AND do house work. And then, after our vacation, Mike gets a call from his boss the day we are leaving NC to say that he has to come back to Williamsport the next morning. I take him out there, and he didn't go back to work for 4 days. His boss just wanted extra help with the kids. And now, last Tuesday Mike has to go out of town, works in OH for two days, and then goes back to Williamsport, to house sit while his boss is on vacation.
Mike is sick of it, but is the type of person who doesn't leave one job without having another lined up, and wanted to get a year or more in at this job before he started applying at other places. So, to deal with all of that stress, plus the fact that his parents are pressuring us to get this house that they trashed fixed up, he started smoking again. At first I was upset, but then I thought, well...there's nothing I can do for the stress part right now, and as long as he's being honest with me, then it's okay. I would rather him be less stressed. It eats him up and he gets so unhappy, if it helped, it helped. Now I feel like I helped lead us in the wrong direction.
So- I didn't do housework, I talked to Mike a couple of times, and then watched Mirror Mirror and played with Ivan. He's a vicious little shit. The picture above is one I forgot I had. He looks so young!
I have a couple of new pen pals lined up, I'm pretty excited about that. I have some letters to write, and I borrowed my Dad's car (ours is STILL in the damn shop) and bought 39 dollars in stamps. 2 books of US ones and a book of International. Those bitches aren't cheap.
I thank you all for your support. I'm loving my new LJ friends already!