That Janie Girl: Work and Fun In The OilPatch of the Marcellus Shale

Sunday, August 11, 2013

Work and Fun In The OilPatch of the Marcellus Shale

Just returned from a great trip to the wonderful P of A...I love that state!

My new boss flew us up in his jet, we were super busy with appointments and sales calls, which I LOVE! Thursday afternoon, I attended the National Board meeting for the American Association of Drilling Engineers.

This meeting was, wonderfully, followed the next day by the AADE Appalachian “Blast”, the Appalachian AADE’s sporting clay tourney benefiting the Pittsburgh Children’s Hospital. We did have a blast. The tourney was held at Hunting Hills Gun Range in Hunting Hills, Pennsylvania. Beautiful.

It was the first time I ever shot sporting clays in hard, pouring rain. Vendors manned stations, and cooked all sorts of good food: bacon-wrapped quail, jambalaya, bacon-wrapped scallops, pulled pork deep fried egg rolls, and much more. I have mentioned that the drilling group likes to eat, haven't I? Well, we do!

The shoot was really fun, even with all the rain! I shot at 9 am, and by 6 p.m. when we arrived at our friends’ house, I was still soaking wet.

I learn something on every trip. Here are my discoveries from this one:

If you’re traveling in a private jet, it pays to have superb pilots. Especially when they’re trying to land between two huge thunderstorms, and the tower gives them clearance on a runway where another plane is trying to take off. Thanks, y’all - good eye! You’re amazing!
If you have to travel on business, having good friends in the area makes your trip super sweet. My friends John and Suzan are amazing. It was so fun to hang with them, and I learned to play the domino game “Shoot The Moon”. I didn’t do too badly at it, either! Love y'all. And tell Patches the kitty that the Wonderdogs went ballistic because she had been in my suitcase, haha!
I got to see my good friends Tommy, Deb, and Daniel. I think of them, and start to giggle. We had some really funny stuff happen. Another story, another day! Love you guys.
If you decide to buy ammo in Pennsylvania, especially if you’re buying for multiple people, plan ahead and locate your ammo dealer in that area. Because you might have to buy multiple boxes instead of flats of ammo...and that’s IF they have any in stock.
If you're going to a shooting tourney and there's a good chance of rain, take (1) another change of clothes and (2) don't bother to fix your hair. Just wear a ball cap. You'll come out ahead and get 30 minutes extra sleep.
I only shot a 70/100. I need to practice more. Of course, I could always blame it on the trees.
If you’re traveling with your shotgun, be sure to take cleaning cloths, a cleaning snake, gun oil, etc. I was woefully unprepared to properly clean my gun and protect it post shoot. Hey, don’t be hating...I’m a desert chick. It doesn’t rain out here, people. I clean my gun when I get home. (Not this time!)
Corporate jets are the Way.To.Travel. Yesterday morning, wheels up at 8:30 a.m. EST, home by 10:30 am CST. Smooth, beautiful flight, great company...it was awesome. Did I mention I didn’t even have to pack my shotgun in a travel case? Suhweeeeet. Thanks, Bossman!