Working hard

Work has been non stop with the drill pipe inspections since I've gotten back.  12-13 hour days back to back (no weekend in sight at the moment). I would be hating it a bit but at the moment I've been getting a lot of one on one time to do the drill pipe inspections myself as the other guy with me, Sadik, has been busy getting called out to do a few other things.. I can't wait till I get to do some MPI stuff too, but yeah the drill pipe inspections are going well and I'm enjoying it.. I have been forced to kinda cut corners which I'm not happy with but I can't do too much about it. I have noticed the corner cutting has dwindled somewhat though as I think they're kinda sketchy on what they can try get away with around me without me getting annoyed or whatever I dunno.. Relations with the boss etc still isn't very productive.  I just don't get along with him really, he's too much of a cowboy and we have none of the same interests, so going out can be kinda awkward at times.. Anyways, I would stay and type but I'm so beat, I crashed wicked early last night and I would like to try and do the same tonight.. so I'm outtie.

oh and a big congratulations to Carolyn for finishing her final day of "proper" college life.  I'm really proud of her it's so great.  :)

Goodbye UK

Sorry for the lack of updates I've been wicked lazy during my down time in the UK.. not much happened though, did the course, had some brutal exams (two full 8 hour days of them) and my head was very dizzy by the end of it all, but my results were good and i was happy with them considering i had to cram 6-8 weeks of work into 2 weeks all my results varied from 85 to 95% so I can't complain..

During my down time I've just been finding increasingly better places to eat and enjoying all the steaks and everything but I feel bad not taking advantage of all the veggies and salads I could be having also, I do a little, but not much.. I've done some shopping also and gotten a few things I needed which was good.. Seen a movie haha, sounds trivial but it was really good as there's no cinemas in Cameroon. None, in the entire country that's right.

Today I was running around doing some final things as I fly back tomorrow, I'm ready to go back, it's been really lonely here and hasn't been the most enjoyable time.. When I go back I might be going to Nigeria to get some other training, then I think I'll be going to Texas in the USA for an extended unit of training that they couldn't give me here in the UK, so I'm looking forward to that if it happens.  It will be a good opportunity for me to shop for the drill pipe inspection equipment we need also..

Anyways that's about it for a real quick lowdown, I'll update again once I'm back in Limbe..

Training in UK

this is the "Ultrasonic Thickness" device, you put a couplant on the steel and then ultrasound it and the screen reads out any defects within.. it's pretty technical when you get right into it, but that's the basic premise of it all..

                                                                    this is my classroom..

This is my bedroom from one angle...

...and from another angle, pretty big and cosy.

Heading to the UK

Pretty busy again this week, had the depth reports to do from Monday, but we finished too late and I had to spend the night in Douala.  Didn't get up to much in Douala though as had to write up the reports.. The operation was successful though and I think we'll be able to get a lot of work out of it. While driving home at 5am I got hassled by the military at each checkpoint, but nothing serious, didn't have to bribe or anything.. Next up was getting my visa requirements before I leave, which I still haven't got and tomorrow is my last chance as I leave at 10:30 tomorrow night! So hopefully everything is sorted out by then eek.. Kinda scary going to the UK so unorganised.  Got a rental car and stuff, but only booked flights and hotel today also haha.  I hope I don't get lost or anything that would be a nightmare.. I get a 5 day break in the middle though where I can have a little holiday and see a bit of the countryside which should be nice.. anyways not much else, let the next step of the adventure begin, once I have this training it's gonna be awesome.

Keeping busy

Busy busy week.. I'm regularly getting handed more responsibilities now, building a solid customer base with a few of our suppliers and spending vast sums of money ordering equipment this week.  A few guys went to the rig but I stayed behind to work on a diving container and stuff, putting my dive tech training to use by fitting it out properly.

Went to Buea (pronounced boy-ah) to get my residence card sorted so I can exit and re-enter Cameroon for when i go to the UK in just over a week.  I also got my drivers license done, had to go to the hospital for a medical check to see if I'm fit to drive.  I got the forms, gave them to some guy who went to see a doc and came back within 5 minutes with them all signed saying I'm medically fit to drive haha, wish it was so efficient in Australia.

Went out on Thursday night with everyone from work.  Friday the boss and I looked at a bar he is thinking about leasing, looks really nice, has a room in there also that he wants me to set up as a tattoo parlour.  hmm sketchy, but could be good fun. Just having a quiet weekend now though, laze about and stuff..  Monday I'm going to Douala again to do some sea bed surveys with Jules and hopefully the results will be good and we'll score a massive contract.

Highs and lows

So far, this week has been pretty great.. I'm settling into my role here much more and with everything/everyone else as well.. I had a few moments this week where I was feeling lucky to be here etc, I feel I've learned so much already and I've noticed things that've changed about me too, just when planning things and all that stuff.  It's all been very positive which is good 'cos I've been feeling pretty rough lately.. work is good, I've been included in doing some quotes and called upon to identify information about several jobs etc which is great.  I've been learning this new compressor we have and performed a service on it today and got it running (I know guys aren't meant to use manuals, but I thought I ought to in this situation!) and liaising with several companies to build relationships with them to create new partnerships to order stock etc, was very proud of myself haha.. but after lunch today things took a turn for the worse with me having to deal with a couple of workers resulting in arguments, never good and it ruined the rest of my day.. but otherwise things are good and I'm looking forward to the weekend, rest Saturday and the beach on Sunday (I'm teaching a friend to swim haha, hope I'm qualified!) I'll try remember a camera and get some snaps at the beach..

Douala

Woke up at 5am to go into the major city Douala today.  Beat the morning traffic and avoided the 3+ hours it can take to get through it all.. I had to come along to explain to some people what needs to be done with a job and how they need to do it.  The rest of the day has been meeting and greeting with other company execs and hanging out with my boss jules.  We will also go shopping later for furniture for my apartment which should be alright, it won't be ready for a couple months yet though.. Not much else, my bday tomorrow and the boss wants to celebrate it but I'm not sure if I'm ready to try keep pace with him on a night out, we'll see.
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Birthday cake Sundays

Tomorrow is Sunday, which means the kitchen makes birthday cakes.  We also get an apple each too haha..

Last couple of days have been really nice and overcast so it hasn't been hot to work in, but today was a scorcher and the humidity is so high.  You sweat so much here, I mean you're literally soaked, looks like you've been swimming in your clothes, so keeping up your water is a must.  I hope tomorrow cools down a little.

I got a subtle hint that if I wanted a job on the oil rigs I could get one if I wanted.  I'm quite chummy with the project manager here and he's pretty high up in the company and one of the main people I've impressed with my initiative etc here so it's something to think about.  My dad told me doors will begin to open here and this was the first one so far so I was kind of excited.. This job would be fly in, fly out, one month on the rig, one month at home and around 60k a year to start but plenty room for promotion. Something to save for later maybe, we'll see..

A little background

I hope this works, updating the blog from my phone.. Guess I should start with some details, I'm ryan walker, soon to be 25 years old and I've just began working in West Africa in Cameroon.  I am living in the small coastal town of limbe and life is good.  My first week in Africa is a blur I was so enthralled with everything, the culture, landscape, everything.. Plus I was only here for a day before I started work.  What exactly am I doing? At the moment I am a workshop supervisor.  The workshop is fairly new and so I'm overseeing it's renovations and organising stock control etc etc.. Luckily since I arrived it's been a little quiet and I've been able to adjust to the ridiculously hot weather and all that stuff.  But as of last week I shipped offshore for my first job on the oil rigs (see previous post), I've always wanted to do this kind of work so it's exciting for me, but it's really tough work and long days, weekends don't exist on the oil rigs either, my current mission is to just supervise and work hard alongside the team, plus learn as much as possible that I can from the mpi/ndt inspectors (magnetic particle/non-destructive inspectors) who are performing the drill pipe inspections.  I need to learn all I can so when I go to the UK for training I will have an advantage, 'cos work pulled some strings and I'll be trying to cram 3 months of courses into 2/3 weeks (!!!) So far I am really enjoying the responsibilities of my work and being able to prove to myself I can plan ahead and get the job done without hassles, but alas there has already been arguments etc but for the most part it's cool.  You're bound to get on someones nerves when living in these prison-type confined places.  I'll be out here another 3 weeks I think, I'll be more than ready to come home then.
Coming back to my life on shore though, Limbe is a beautiful place to live.  Currently I'm staying with my dad at his place (see first post), but I'm in the process of having my own apartment renovated.  It is overlooking the ocean and is right next door to a nice bar, perfect.  The food here is all very nice and fresh, though a lot of western food or brand items etc are exceptionally hard to find.  I eat healthily enough though, not sure how I will go living by myself but haha. Driving here is insanity, there are no rules on the road and it can be scary sometimes, I've already seen numerous accidents, some fatal. I have been to the Wildlife Centre, a sanctuary for gorillas and monkeys etc it was really cool (see pic).  The beach is lovely here and has black sand because of all the volcanic soil.  Limbe is at the base of Mt. Cameroon which is a huge mountain that Carolyn and I will climb sometime, around the time we climb it, don't be surprised if this blog stops as I'll probably die (see pic).. Another thing about living here is that I'm just barely tolerated by the military and police, I have to have copies of my passport etc at all times because corruption is everywhere here.  A healthy bribe scored me a 2 year residency card though so that's good.  When I get free time I don't do much because I'm so tired usually, so I just sleep.  Not much else I can think of at the moment, there's tonnes of normal life stuff I could go on about but I can't really think of it just now, I'm over the initial wow-factor and settled into a routine now, so I'll leave the first impression blog for when Carolyn comes to stay here, overall though I love this place and the way it works (well most of it, I'll talk about that later) but yeah that's me so far..

Wildlife Centre with baby gorilla

 

Faint outline of Mt. Cameroon from the rig

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