Oilfield Strong ALWAYS
I have been pretty quiet about this part of my life. To be honest I have been taken back by all the Covid 19 quarantine measures and chaos. Im quarantined with a pre-teen, a diva kindergartner, and a rambunctious toddler! Im just trying to get by one day at a time. LOL I knew that the oil field would be effected but I had no idea how badly. The events that panned out on Monday (4/20/20) left me speechless. It was a first in history! The oilfield life is all my family knows. My husband broke out in the patch shortly after we started "hanging out". Our family is built on this lifestyle and boy has it made us strong. The bonds my husband has made with his crews over the years is something special. I send Christmas cards to many of his hands, some who he still works with and others that he has not seen in years but still chats with periodically just to check on the family life and such. The oilfield isn't just a job to us. It's our way of doing life and we actually love it! It always gets crazy during election year and we normally just roll with the punches. But no-one could for see a global pandemic that would shut the world down and cause such destruction to the price of oil. At the the beginning of the year, the hubs and I were already discussing the possiblites of layoffs, stacking of rigs, etc. We were coming up with our game plan. I just thought we were being proactive and staying ahead of the ball game. Turns out that was not the case! I was not prepared to have my oilfield man left in the dark, without a simple statement as to what may or may not happen due to this global pandemic of Covid 19. The company he works for was just as shocked and put in unknown territory. I can't really blame them for their silence. It sure is nerve racking and stressful to say the least. My husband will be gone for a total of 21 days when he gets back home. (That's IF he gets to come back home.) We're not used to that extra 7 days of separation (and there is still a possiblility of a longer time away than that). He's also had to drive to 3 separate locations during this hitch and roll with whatever instructions he's given. We are very blessed that he has not been laid off, although we're certain that time is coming near. All we can do at this point is pray and be available for whatever the oil patch calls for. I pray for all those that have already been left jobless especially during this pandemic. Daily life is stressful enough let alone with no income. Ive seen so many folks praise the cheap prices of gasoline and I never have the balls to them what that cheap price actually means. Most of the time being a keyboard warrior just puts folks in a bad mood, so I stay clear of that mess. I want the public to understand, that $1.28 per gallon of gas isn't just a number. That price has stripped many folks of their only income, it has caused extra stress during this trying time, and its making the future of oil production not look so hot. Just like the rest of the world, the oil field is left with an uncertain fate at this point. Prayers for us all especially our roughnecks!
"we are tougher than the rest"
\\ Patterson Rig 245 //
Photo credit: to my hard working roughneck with the help of his pretty awesome photographer wife
