October 29

Well, technically it’s Friday, but here in Abu Dhabi, it’s Saturday.  Well, I knew I wasn’t going to be taking many days off, so I hope I get used to this.  Woke up early again, last day of using the shuttle to get to the MLC!  Had a nice breakfast with Frank in the hotel.  SLB paid for breakfast there, so we might as well try it.  Okay stuff, but no one in this country can make eggs correctly.  Headed to class for a day of defensive driving theory.  Our teacher was a guy from southern Perth!  How weird is that?  He had a lot to say about the area, and it was nice to hear him talk.  Apparently I’m going to Newbern, Australia.  It’s fairly close to the Perth Airport, and Ashley W, from Canada, sent me the information she has received about it.  Thank heavens I know now something about where I will be staying.  Had a nice day of defensive driving mandates.   Basically, I’m forbidden to drive unsafely.  That’s cool though, because it’s nice to know that they’re thought through problems, and management has come up with good solutions.  Basic things to remember:  never drive longer than 2 hours without a break, no cell phones to be used at all, laptop secured,  help out your fellow drivers, and obey the speed limits.  All of these have lead to fatalities within SLB in the past years.  Driving fatalities are down 20% in SLB from 2006 because of this program.  I think I’m going to follow their mandates – or risk being fired!  J  We got our personal protection equipment (PPE) today as well as our LDAPs, those are our personal identifiers and emails.  Mine is mhenrikson@slb.com.  Not too shabby.  Everybody was getting all excited to leave.  Most people were leaving on Saturday morning, but a few, the ones goes to Musafa in Abu Dhabi, were leaving right there.  Lots of pictures, goodbyes, and promises to see each other again.  Finally headed back to the hotel, were I immediately put on my swim suit and got some rays by the pool.  We finally got back before the sun set, so it was nice to finally be poolside.  Ate some dinner, packed up most my stuff, then I headed out to a bar at a nearby hotel with some of the others.  They were celebrating Octoberfest, in Abu Dhabi of all places?  We had a nice time, and passed some hours away.  I talked with Yousef from Kuwait, Aziz and Khalid from Saudi Arabia.  Yousef is pretty much awesome; he’s married to an Irish woman who looks like me, has a 5 month old son, and has a British/Middle Eastern accent.  Awesome fellow.  Jessica had a few harsh words with one of the Iraquis when he called her fat, but they made up pretty quickly.  Some of them went to another bar, but I decided to call it a night.  Long day, and tomorrow is going to be a big shock.