Final Post from the Slope

Tour of Flow Station 2

I got a tour of Flow Station 2. I had to have a hard hat, protective glasses, a flame retardant suit and steel-toed boots. I have to admit that I was a bit scared through the whole thing...every where you looked you saw signs that read DANGER, CAUTION, WARNING, HAZARD, FIRE, EMERGENCY, POISONOUS GAS, HIGH VOLTAGE... When the kids were little, I told them "this is a hands on your tummy store" if we were in a store with breakable items. The Flow Station 2 Tour was a hands on your tummy tour. Tim, our tour guide, who retired from Flow 2 as a Maintenance Team Lead said, "don't lean up against anything or you'll shut the whole place down." While standing in front of the Halon Gas tanks, he said, "if there's an explosion, if we can get the Halon Gas released quick enough, it will squelch the whole explosion." About this point I wondered if the tour was such a good idea. It was fascinating and I learned a lot, but I don't think I'll sign up to do it again.

These Southern girls...what are you going to wear when it gets cold?

I did get the chance to put on my Arctic Gear. That's the Arctic Ocean behind us and it was chilly that day...but not cold enough to wear the blue Michelin Man outfit...I just wanted the picture. We saw seals out on the ice sunning themselves and we saw an Arctic Fox hanging around the Seawater Treatment Plant. I never saw a polar bear, but you can see in the background the cages that you walk out into, so that you can look around to see if there are any bear in the area before you walk out in the open to your truck.

Arctic Fox

The last night on the Slope I didn't sleep too well. I think I was too afraid I would sleep through my alarm and not get up in time to get my bags to the Baggage pick up room by 8am. We left for the airport at 9am to turn in the truck and then wait for our flight. I think I've mentioned before that there is no alcohol on the Slope. Well, you can buy just about anything you want on the plane back to Anchorage for $2...Crown, Scotch, Vodka, Beer, Wine...all $2 and you are allowed to buy 2 drinks. EVERYONE has their $4 handy when they get on the flight! There was a light snow in Deadhorse when we took off but the weather cleared and as you can see from the picture, we had a fabulous view of Mt. McKinley as we flew by.

Mt. McKinley

I'm now in the Seattle airport on my way home to Atlanta and I can't wait to get there. This two-week hitch seemed longer than others. However, as I reflect on my experiences, I realize that people - good people - make any situation bearable, even enjoyable. I will always owe Tim Heily a debt for watching out for me, keeping me safe, and making me laugh. I hope someday that Stone and I will get a chance to visit him at his vineyard in Washington.

An Update from the Slope

Yesterday I saw the sun and the moon for the first time in a week. The temperature was -2 and it was a crystal clear day. Today the temps were up to 20 and it felt almost balmy.

The big fellow in the picture is Tim Heily, my partner in all these presentations. Tim spent 30 years working on the slope and he can talk the talk and walk the walk with the rough crowds we meet with. I'm glad to have someone with his experience and reputation working with me. He is a hoot to hang around because living inside this giant is a kid, full of life, who laughs and jokes and has a never ending supply of stories describing some of the stuff he pulled while working up here. Tim has gained a little respect for me too...we had tough customer we were presenting to earlier this week who was giving me a hard time, but I stood toe to toe and got him to commit to taking the action I needed. The next morning at breakfast, Tim told a guy, "Initially, I thought we should be issued fire arms to defend ourselves in case the teams mutinied against us...but we have our own fire arm - and she's sitting right over there."

I wish I had more time to blog but the days are long and packed. Up at 5am, breakfast at 6, drive to the facility from 6:30 to 7:30, present from 8-11. Eat lunch and then drive to the next facility from 11:30 to 12:30 and present from 1-4. Drive back home from 4:30 to 5:30. Dinner at 5:30 and then answer email, edit our presentation based feedback from the day, etc. I fall into bed at 8:30pm and am asleep by 9.

Of course, that's not as bad as the people who work here. Everybody here works a 12 hour shift and usually for 14 days straight. Then they go home and are off for 14 days. It is a hard life, but they are paid well. They work 84 hours a week; the first 40 hours at a base pay, and the next 44 hours at time and a half. Take my word for it, NO ONE misses the bus that takes you to the airport to fly home.






Greetings from the Great White North

The Arctic Ocean is behind me

I flew into Deadhorse Monday afternoon. As the plane dropped down out of the clouds and you could see the barren landscape for the first time, I was seized with terror. It took me a few minutes to figure out why I was so afraid. I realized that with all my world-traveling, I had never really been far from civilization (albeit Japan and Korea were not civilizations I was familiar with). For the first time, I was really far away and I felt like little William Thatcher wondering how I would find my way home. The wind was blowing and the temperature hovered around 17 as I left the plane and walked to the bus that would take me to the Prudhoe Bay Operations Center (PBOC), which would be my home for two weeks. It's a dry cold...at least that's what they say. I'm happy to have my coat and hat and gloves and warm boots.

The saying up here is that "the odds are good, but the goods are odd." There are few women and about 8,000 men...grizzly, gnarled, leathery men. From what I've seen, an attractive woman could make a fortune up here because most of the women have been road hard and put up wet. I decided when I came that I wasn't even going to try and fit in - I'm a towny, not a Sloper - and no matter what I did I wasn't going to look or act like a local. So I decided to go the opposite direction and I brought all my jewelry and scarves and perfume and I was determined to have success being ME! So far, it's working. I get lots of stares but everyone I've spoken to has been very nice and polite and helpful.

I'm in a room with a suite-mate; a young girl named Danielle who works days and takes a shower at 5am every day. We share a bathroom of sorts; a toilet on one end of the hall, a shower on the other and a sink in the middle. A SHOWER. There's no tub. I took my first shower in a year. Our individual rooms come off of the shared hallway. There are no locks on any of the doors; I have no TV in my room and no internet access except in common sitting rooms. The first night I lay in bed and read a page or two of a book I forgot I packed and wondered if I could survive for two weeks. I quickly fell asleep and slept like a rock.

Things are getting really white

At 6am the first day, we drove an hour in the dark to the site for our first presentation. I said it was like the line from the Polar Express, "I could see lights twinkling in the distance - it looked like the lights of an ocean liner sailing on a sea of ice," except it wasn't the North Pole; it was Flow Station 3.  When we got there, the management told us to reschedule and go home - they were too busy to talk to us. Not a very good start. So we took the opportunity to drive around a bit...hence the photo. That's the Arctic Ocean behind me. There's no land between me and the North Pole. You can't tell it from the picture, but I have on my Halloween scarf and pumpkin earrings! It has been snowing constantly for three days and things are getting really white. They are predicting a "blow" on Saturday and I'm told that we'll be lucky to see two feet in front of us. I haven't seen a caribou or a polar bear, but we have seen several red fox. I told Tim, the man I'm traveling with, that this place could be an effective prison because there's no place to escape to.

There are a lot of rules up here:

• you must put "grippers" on over your shoes every time you go outside - sort of like rubber cleats
• you have to put booties on over your shoes when you come back in because your shoes are wet and they don't what you to track wet and dirt all over the place
• you must wear protective glasses when you ride in a car
• you must hold the hand rail when walking up the steps
• don't linger too long in the cafeteria because there's limited tables
• you need to use hand sanitizer before getting in the cafeteria line
• don't make any noise when walking through the sleeping wings as the night shift is sleeping
• and on and on

I'm trying my best to watch and mimic others.

We gave our first set of presentations today and I have to say that all went well...but it was a non-union facility. Tim spent 30 years up here on the North Slope, and he calls the Union sites "the dark side." If I'm honest, I'd have to say I'm a little nervous about presenting to the Union guys - - good thing that's not for a few days.

And lastly, a word about the food. It's plentiful. Hot coffee, hot soup, and snacks available 24 hours a day. Breakfast has EVERYTHING. Dinner is hearty - meat, vegetables, potatoes, salads, pudding - and a frozen yogurt dispenser. So far I'm doing pretty well, sticking to my meat and veggies diet but the frozen yogurt is looking really good. I can hear Stone now, "7 degrees, and the ice cream is selling like hot cakes! We close down the ice cream shoppe at the beach by September."

Preparation for the North Slope Visit

I will be traveling to Prudhoe Bay, otherwise known as the North Slope for two weeks the end of October. You can see on the map that I'm flying into Deadhorse! You would actually have to travel south to reach the edge of the Arctic Circle. I believe the temps will be in the single digits while I'm there. Everyone here says it won't be very cold in October...and I tell them that it sounds pretty damn cold!

BP has five 737 flights a day from Anchorage up to the Slope and I learned that from October 1 onward, you are not allowed on the plane without a heavy jacket or coat, boots, hat and gloves. In addition, if you are driving from facility to facility (which we will be), you have to have 'arctic gear' in the car in case the car breaks down and you get stranded.

Today I was taken to a room in the basement where they have 'arctic gear'...OMG. I look like a navy blue Michelin Man. The arctic coveralls and jacket I was assigned are worth $2,000 and are so heavy I can hardly get them on.

I also need a flame-retardent suit and steel-toed boots if I want to go into certain parts of the facilities. Since I want to see as much as possible while I'm there, I was given a flame-retardent suit and I bought myself a pair of steel-toed boots at the Army-Navy store across the street.

A friend of mine said, "will you be disappointed if you never have a reason to put all that arctic gear on?" I said, "no I won't be disappointed, because I'm going to don it all so that Tim can take my picture, and then it can live in the car for the rest of the time."

I promise to send pictures.

 

Winter has arrived

Fall is over and winter has arrived. Saturday, September 29, Anchorage saw the first snow fall. While the snow didn't stick around long, the hillsides got 5+ inches. So that means that Fall lasted all of about 2 weeks. WOW - that was fast. You blink and you miss it.

A friend took me up into the hills over the weekend on a crystal clear blue day - a rather rare day I'm realizing. You can't see it in the picture but we could actually see Mt. McKinley in the background. Anchorage is at sea-level and Mt. McKinley is the tallest spot in North America. Both could be seen from our vantage point.

We could see the Sleeping Lady covered in her blanket of snow.

 

I've had some fun over the past few days. I dressed all in black and wore my black wig last week and spoke in my best Russian accent. Today, October 1st, I came to work in my pink wig to remind everyone that Halloween is just around the corner. They all think I'm a little crazy, but appreciate the energy I bring to the team. Check out the fishnet hose!!

 

I get to go to the North Slope for two weeks when I come back to Anchorage after my week in Atlanta. The North Slope is where the oil is drilled and then sent down the Alaska pipeline to the Anchorage habor. The North Slope, or Prudhoe Bay, is within the Acrtic Circle - - I'll have to dress warmly!

 

I have extended my time on the project until at least November 21st, just before Thanksgiving. I think everyone is a little nervous about me rolling off the project and they are looking for reasons for me to extend. I think they see me as a security blanket...someone who has a lot of knowledge, skills and experience which they don't want to be without just yet.

Lastly, I wanted to tell you that I have crossed something off my Alaska Bucket List. On Sunday, my friend took me to Kincaid Park, which is right next to the Alaska Airport. While driving through the park, we saw a MOOSE! He was galloping along the fence-line.

 

When the fence opened up, he ducked into the woods - - but the other side of the fence is the airport. Now, someone will have to round him up before he shows up on the tarmac and causes flight delays...or worse.