[QUOTE=Jemplayer;41377]Know doubt our stories are way cooler.
What about rush hour traffic?
I refuse to go out at certain times of the day because of it, but if I do get caught in it I take a look around. I find the the guy in a little sub compact car with neck tie pulled down and that gaze that one gets from looking at a computer screen all day and having to deal with an asshole boss every day and thank god that’s not me.
This is the only industry I know of that a guy without a HS diploma can make over a 100k a year. So for the guy who’s tired of busting ass at a minimum wage job and a good head on his shoulders and a little drive this is the perfect place for them.
The same can be said for working for the oil companies, but after DWH I see that coming to an end with the Government wanting more and more degrees involved.
Some bitch about the perceived lack of quality time at home. I got a reality adjustment in June when I went to school for 3 weeks. Up at 05:30 to make it to class, asleep by 21:00 to make sure I had enough sleep. Weekends off. And don’t forget that if you left a few minutes to late you got stuck in traffic coming and going. FUCK THAT! I was more worn out then this last February when I spent all month offshore on a 90 ft G-Boat and only counted 4 days were the seas weren’t above 5 ft. Also gave me new respect for my Fiancee who does that every freaking day of her life. So instead of living the rat race when I go home rest up a bit from work, I do my thing while shes at work and when she gets home all my attention is on her. Not spent wasting it trying to do stuff that needs to get done but had to wait because I was at work all day and just getting home. We both like that.
Does it such at times, hell yea it does. Nothing worse then when a your family needs you and you cant be there. But that’s the sacrifice we’re willing to make so that we can be happy. Is this job for everybody? No, but it’s perfect for me and that’s all that matters.[/QUOTE]
Yeah, it was a HUGE adjustment for me when I first came ashore. Working for ABS in most cases meant that I was working far more than I was when I went to sea. Getting used to the flow of traffic and then also having to figure the best way home from different places in the Houston area were quite a challenge. This was especially true when I was working out of and running the Galveston office. I worked most weekends, and would leave my house (an hour away) around 0600 hours. If I was lucky and it was a slow day, I would get home around 1700 hours. Quite often, though, I had to be down to the dispatch location to catch the boat (or if I was lucky, the helicopter) to go offshore. In the cases of MODU Special Surveys, I could be offshore for a few days. For routine surveys in the lightering area, I could be out for just a long day, but often I was at the whim of whatever transportation was available. There were times that I would get back in so late, that I would just catch a cheap room on the Island (that can be scary) or just go to the office and sleep in my chair and start the next day.
With the job I have now, it is a bit better. I am not on the go so much, but when we are busy, I can be gone, including international travel for days or weeks. When I do work in the office, I beat the traffic by getting into the office before 0600 (I only live 20 miles away, so the commute goes quicker than when I was working on the Island), but generally leave around 1530. Not too bad for the traffic. Of course now that the ol’ lady is an ex, and the kids are grown but living with me, quality time isn’t as much as an issue. I do miss getting large blocks of time off several times a year. But either way, I can’t complain.
I have a side business now as an auto racing photographer. When I tell the folks I know up in Indiana and such about what I do and did for a living, they have no idea. I almost feel like they think I am bullshitting them. Oh, well. As seadog! wrote, we certainly have much, much better work stories than they do. I could never have an “ordinary” job.