The Grass is Greener
So right now I am on board a semi-submersible rig, which is currently situated off the islands of Trinidad & Tobago. Which part of T&T I am at, I don't really know. We are just in Anchorage somewhere. And it's really strange how sometimes, the grass is always greener on the other side.
The first two weeks were what some would call complete bliss. Being paid loads of $$$ to do absolutely nothing. Yup, that's what happened. The ROV crew went on board the rig, and waited for the ROV system which was expected to arrive in the next 3 to 5 days. The system was here in Trinidad they said. Well that wait turned to 2 weeks. Thank god I had my newly purchased mini PRO-LINK Wireless-N router, the WNR1004C (or without the 'C' if you are getting the set without the Wifi-N USB adaptor). Once I found out where the ONLY public internet service was available (one miserable PC in the miserable TV room), I dutifully hooked up my wireless router and created a wireless internet cafe in the TV room. So the whole crew could spend their days sitting around with their laptops (or freaking Macs), and surf the internet. Else everybody will all be waiting to take their turns in using the internet. And believe me, it was an ugly sight seeing a queue of practically 90% of the rig's crew. Or probably 45% considering that half of them are working on shift, and the other half gets off shift, racing to use the internet.
So it was two weeks of continuous freezing in the TV room (surfing the internet), eating, sleeping, showering in rusty colored water and staring off into the horizon. No shore leave for us, so there we were, waiting for our alusive ROV system which was supposed to already be in T&T waiting to be sent over to us. Despite the huge about of $$$ we are getting, it was freaking tiring. The first 3 days it was okay, but after that, the monotonous routine was cranking up our nerves. We were all like coiled springs, getting ready to pounce on the ROV system should it arrive.
The day finally came when it did arrived. After being "placed on the bench" for 2 weeks, we were a hungry pack of wolves, ripping into hooking up the ROV system when it arrived. A little too hungry I think. Within 4 days, we hooked everything up, tested everything, fixed whatever we could fix. And those days weren't pleasant. I remembered that for a moment, I actually wished that we could go back to the old days of 'not doing anything'. My hands are still hurting now, for a whole week now, from all that cable pulling, boxes lifting and opening, bolts and nuts loosening and tightening. I was stressed from the number of non-working equipment or unforeseen circumstances. Nobody likes their system to not work. Nobody likes going on shift to see that their ROV system is still not fully working, and things are opened up. However as the time went by, we dutifully repaired and troubleshooted, organized and cleaned up. Everything that can be done has been done. The system is working beautifully now.
And now, we are waiting again. For what? For the welders to come on board to weld our system down onto the deck so that we can do the load test, and do the test launch. Actually, we are waiting for the engineer to produce the suitable deck plan for the welders to weld the system down. We need them to ensure that the deck can take the weight of the system.
So time slows down again now. This is the best time of working on ROVs for me. No rush to get the system up and working. I have all the time in the world (well almost all the time) to slowly tidy up cables, make my control console neat and tidy, arrange the stores so that things are in order.
Until the next major step comes along, either the welders starting to weld or our bloody generator coming on board, I think I can be really happy now.
The first two weeks were what some would call complete bliss. Being paid loads of $$$ to do absolutely nothing. Yup, that's what happened. The ROV crew went on board the rig, and waited for the ROV system which was expected to arrive in the next 3 to 5 days. The system was here in Trinidad they said. Well that wait turned to 2 weeks. Thank god I had my newly purchased mini PRO-LINK Wireless-N router, the WNR1004C (or without the 'C' if you are getting the set without the Wifi-N USB adaptor). Once I found out where the ONLY public internet service was available (one miserable PC in the miserable TV room), I dutifully hooked up my wireless router and created a wireless internet cafe in the TV room. So the whole crew could spend their days sitting around with their laptops (or freaking Macs), and surf the internet. Else everybody will all be waiting to take their turns in using the internet. And believe me, it was an ugly sight seeing a queue of practically 90% of the rig's crew. Or probably 45% considering that half of them are working on shift, and the other half gets off shift, racing to use the internet.
So it was two weeks of continuous freezing in the TV room (surfing the internet), eating, sleeping, showering in rusty colored water and staring off into the horizon. No shore leave for us, so there we were, waiting for our alusive ROV system which was supposed to already be in T&T waiting to be sent over to us. Despite the huge about of $$$ we are getting, it was freaking tiring. The first 3 days it was okay, but after that, the monotonous routine was cranking up our nerves. We were all like coiled springs, getting ready to pounce on the ROV system should it arrive.
The day finally came when it did arrived. After being "placed on the bench" for 2 weeks, we were a hungry pack of wolves, ripping into hooking up the ROV system when it arrived. A little too hungry I think. Within 4 days, we hooked everything up, tested everything, fixed whatever we could fix. And those days weren't pleasant. I remembered that for a moment, I actually wished that we could go back to the old days of 'not doing anything'. My hands are still hurting now, for a whole week now, from all that cable pulling, boxes lifting and opening, bolts and nuts loosening and tightening. I was stressed from the number of non-working equipment or unforeseen circumstances. Nobody likes their system to not work. Nobody likes going on shift to see that their ROV system is still not fully working, and things are opened up. However as the time went by, we dutifully repaired and troubleshooted, organized and cleaned up. Everything that can be done has been done. The system is working beautifully now.
And now, we are waiting again. For what? For the welders to come on board to weld our system down onto the deck so that we can do the load test, and do the test launch. Actually, we are waiting for the engineer to produce the suitable deck plan for the welders to weld the system down. We need them to ensure that the deck can take the weight of the system.
So time slows down again now. This is the best time of working on ROVs for me. No rush to get the system up and working. I have all the time in the world (well almost all the time) to slowly tidy up cables, make my control console neat and tidy, arrange the stores so that things are in order.
Until the next major step comes along, either the welders starting to weld or our bloody generator coming on board, I think I can be really happy now.