4 essays, 200 words each.

[Cooter]

Matty has been in full throttle mode since he graduated highschool. If he doesn't have true passion in what he's doing, true passion doesn't exhist.

[Ruffdaddy]

Probably right. Its just what I've observed. But maybe I've been observing burnt out people.

Do you love what you're going to be doing? Me, I merely like it.

This must be the confusion. A lot of us love what we do. When I get off work I typically do the same stuff at home just not for the company. I love designing and engineering products, and hope to have my own company a few times over before retirement.

I know strych loves this stuff, especially since he mentioned he wants to stay even after the current crash.

What is it that you do or will be doing?

[Ruffdaddy]

Probably right. Its just what I've observed. But maybe I've been observing burnt out people.

Do you love what you're going to be doing? Me, I merely like it.

This must be the confusion. A lot of us love what we do. When I get off work I typically do the same stuff at home just not for the company. I love designing and engineering products, and hope to have my own company a few times over before retirement.

I know strych loves this stuff, especially since he mentioned he wants to stay even after the current crash.

What is it that you do or will be doing?

[Strychnine]

This must be the confusion. A lot of us love what we do. When I get off work I typically do the same stuff at home just not for the company. I love designing and engineering products, and hope to have my own company a few times over before retirement.

I know strych loves this stuff, especially since he mentioned he wants to stay even after the current crash.

What is it that you do or will be doing?

Directed to me or Gasser?

[Ruffdaddy]

Directed to me or Gasser?

Gasser...i know what you do.

[Gasser64]

My goal would be one of those live-on-site consultants to an oil company. Known to some as the "company man". I'm halfway through, I stopped to make some money and get out of debt because it was crushing me. By the time I'm out of debt, I estimate that it will be fall of this year and I will start school again.

My father inlaw hired two PE's straight out of college somewhat recently. As consultants. Its my hope that in the future, that can be me. The well known oilfield good ol boy network, I guess. Although I will say that Conoco/Phillips hired him with little previous experience in that particular job, so who can say if the good ol boy is really necessary.

What do you two do specifically? It sounds to me like you're more on the design side of things.

But I like the industrial atmosphere. I like the lonely places that you find yourself when you're out on location. I like the sense of urgency when there is a problem or a big problem. I like working with all of those machines and trying to find a way to make them work better. Or fixing them. I feel like it would be a job I'd enjoy.

[Denny]

My goal would be one of those live-on-site consultants to an oil company. Known to some as the "company man". I'm halfway through, I stopped to make some money and get out of debt because it was crushing me. By the time I'm out of debt, I estimate that it will be fall of this year and I will start school again.

My father inlaw hired two PE's straight out of college somewhat recently. As consultants. Its my hope that in the future, that can be me. The well known oilfield good ol boy network, I guess. Although I will say that Conoco/Phillips hired him with little previous experience in that particular job, so who can say if the good ol boy is really necessary.

What do you two do specifically? It sounds to me like you're more on the design side of things.

But I like the industrial atmosphere. I like the lonely places that you find yourself when you're out on location. I like the sense of urgency when there is a problem or a big problem. I like working with all of those machines and trying to find a way to make them work better. Or fixing them. I feel like it would be a job I'd enjoy.

LMAO! That's sure not what a company man does.

[Gasser64]

LMAO! That's sure not what a company man does.

Not all the time, no. Many times yes. He'll engage in it because he enjoys it. He says sitting in his trailer gets boring. From everything he's said about the job, there is a lot of what most people would call down time, for him. Where he would just be sitting there watching TV. I'm the same, I just can't sit there and be bored for that long. Granted I've never worked that job, so I really wouldn't know the particulars. Just going off of what one of them said.

[Ruffdaddy]

I'm a mechanical design engineer for down hole tools and equipment. Right now I work on MWD/LWD tools, at halliburton I did wireline. I also did a lot of Project management there...and I can honestly say that group was less efficient than govt PMs...

I love technology and design, as well as coming home every day...otherwise I'd be choo chooing in the field.

[Gasser64]

I'm a mechanical design engineer for down hole tools and equipment. Right now I work on MWD/LWD tools, at halliburton I did wireline. I also did a lot of Project management there...and I can honestly say that group was less efficient than govt PMs...

I love technology and design, as well as coming home every day...otherwise I'd be choo chooing in the field.

Curious, do you use Solidworks a lot in your designs? I'm thinking of going ahead and learning that program.

[Ruffdaddy]

Curious, do you use Solidworks a lot in your designs? I'm thinking of going ahead and learning that program.

Solid works for 3D modeling, ANSYS for FEA. Hand calculations for a lot of pressure drop equations.

Proengineer/CREO for 3D at home, and a slew of CAM packages for CNC at tech shop.

Solid works is spectacularly easy. Design engineering of new products...not so much at first.

[Denny]

I'm a mechanical design engineer for down hole tools and equipment. Right now I work on MWD/LWD tools, at halliburton I did wireline. I also did a lot of Project management there...and I can honestly say that group was less efficient than govt PMs...

I love technology and design, as well as coming home every day...otherwise I'd be choo chooing in the field.

Wireline?! I knew you weren't all there.

[Ruffdaddy]

Wireline?! I knew you weren't all there.

Haha...I've got a good friend out in west Texas perfing for halliburton. I wouldn't say hes not all there but he can be pretty hot headed and enjoys to partake sometimes.

Its the hands on the monkey board you gotta look out for.

[Strychnine]

My goal would be one of those live-on-site consultants to an oil company. Known to some as the "company man". I'm halfway through, I stopped to make some money and get out of debt because it was crushing me. By the time I'm out of debt, I estimate that it will be fall of this year and I will start school again.

My father inlaw hired two PE's straight out of college somewhat recently. As consultants. Its my hope that in the future, that can be me. The well known oilfield good ol boy network, I guess. Although I will say that Conoco/Phillips hired him with little previous experience in that particular job, so who can say if the good ol boy is really necessary.

You say you're half way through. That's half way through school. That is not the same as half way down the road to getting a company man spot.

Think about this with me...

Less than 6 months ago there were 1900+ rigs operating in the US. Now there are 1192 or so and that will probably drop another 200 in the next few weeks. It's going to take time to burn up the surplus oil we have here in the US, which, as it pertains to this discussion, is both storage in tanks above ground, and also the 8000+ drilled but not completed/producing wells sitting out there. You're going to be in school for another two years getting that PE degree, which puts you graduating about the time the market might be back to "normal" (like consistent $80/bbl).

In two years you will be competing with 1000 rigs' worth of consultants. Companies will have the pick of the litter when the market comes back - there won't be any "settling" for a noob. To think you'll waltz into a consulting job without experience from the floor to tool pusher to the driller's chair is pretty naive given the state of things.




And honestly, tell us more about these two PE's that got hired out of school and put in a drilling consulting role, because I'm calling bullshit unless speng time working rigs also. No way you walk across a stage, get a piece of paper, and get to run a drill rig without experience.

[Gasser64]

pressure drop equations.

That's the only thing that scares me. What happens if you're off? Death? I'm pretty good at math but everyone makes mistakes. Granted that's not my target job, but there is no guarantee I'll even be able to get my target job. Its just what I'm hoping to get. So I still think about these things.