November 1

Well today sure was long.  I had my first quiz over intro to petroleum engineering.  Got a 12/15, which is 80%.  I’m still above the 70% required.  Technically the 70% rule doesn’t apply during this class, but it’s best to keep it in mind.  We then went downstairs to the electrical practical lab, and we built a rope socket.  I’m not terribly great at crimping my wires, but I did manage to do everything else correctly.  Considering I can’t actually do anything with the thing, I might try to make a flower arrangement out of them.  They kind of look like electrified flowers, quite pretty.  J  Had a quick lunch with the girls, and party points were awarded to people that were late today!  Finally, we’re going to get a prize yet!  We had a commentary safety training exercise today.  I was paired with Alex from France, and we lifted wireline equipment from knee length up to a trolley.  Sounds pretty simple, and it is, but the tools are really heavy.  That’s going to take some getting used to.  The heaviest tools weight 450 pounds, and usually they are strung together so you can take multiple readings.  Those require cranes to move around!  After class, I rushed to the nurse’s office to go to the hospital to get my prescription filled.  Who knew that it would take 3 ½ hours!  Good Lord!  Traffic was just awful going to Abu Dhabi city, that’s really what took the most time.  The doctor’s office was only a 30 minutes wait, and the pharmacy was about 10 minutes.  I am telling you, they are way more efficient than most other times I have gone to the doctor.  You ever seen 8 pharmacy technicians working together with a 30 person cue?  It’s pretty darn fantastic.  My driver was Rashid, and he waited for me to get out of the hospital.  I thought I would remember him by his bright and snazzy looking white car.  Needless to say, half the cars in Abu Dhabi are white and snazzy looking.  At least now I know to look at the license plate before I let the driver go.  Dinner at MLC had a strange saffron and pistachio rice pudding thing.  I thought it was delicious, but most people disagreed with me.  I’m just staying up and studying another Power Point on oil and gas recovery.  J  Studying is going okay.  Love you all, MK