Refinery Complexities

I can only imagine how many of the random few who come across my blog realize how another week in a compound will give rise to yet another blog and potentially another reason many of you have grown sick of my rambling, but I argue that this lifestyle challenges me to be..blah blah blah…I tried to be positive and offer some words of wisdom, but nothing about a refinery compound is all that glamorous.  This blog will just be another brief window into a refinery compound and the daily routine that constitutes my life for another few weeks.  Honestly, I’d apologize if I had anything else interesting to talk about but I don’t, and unfortunately for you, this is what your going to get.  When I’m stuck in ANOTHER complex (yes, engineers often call this a refinery complex, hence the title) that revolves around the refining of crude oil then my sanity, however questionable it may be, succumbs to the monotony of daily compound life…again.

With that being said, I have to mention that this week is technically “Fall Break” for the University of Co, but as it just so happens, taking online classes really doesn’t provide you with any breaks.  Sure, I could take the week off and not do anything, but that doesn’t help out the deadline of my paper, which I’m struggling to find the motivation to do. I guess since taking online classes allows me ample opportunity to explore a lot of different locations while traveling, it also forces you to be self motivated in order to get everything accomplished on time.  Fortunately I’ve never had a problem with getting my school work done, but since this is my last semester of classes before my capstone class, I seem to be running on fumes.  I need to recharge my batteries before my final hurdle to graduation…If I could fine some turkey for Thanksgiving, that might just be the ticket for finishing off the semester.

I’m guessing this Thanksgiving, compared to last years, will be a little disappointing.  Last year we were in India and, granted they don’t celebrate Thanksgiving, they did provide a turkey meal out by the pool which satisfied my craving for a “traditional” Thanksgiving meal.  Nope, this year I’m expecting my wife to be working away at the refinery and I’m going to enjoy a nice can of tuna fish and maybe some prawn flavored potato chips.  Oh well, not much we can do about it except for trying to get out of here ASAP.

So, the only thing even relatively interesting to happen this past week was our trip into town where we mistakingly thought that we’d find some good food.  Apparently, the Taiwanese think that all American’s like Fried Chicken.  While I don’t dislike it, I just think it’s funny that they stereotype all of us based on one food; however, it’s not like we don’t think that all Asians enjoy rice at every meal. Like Dave Chappelle has said before, “We have stereotypes for a reason” (and if he didn’t say it, then I did)…I mean come on, what would Rick James think about this?  We walked into a typical “Taiwanese” hot pot restaurant and the first thing the young lady said, who spoke pretty good English, was “They serve fried chicken across the street”.  I couldn’t help but laugh and make a rude comment that’s not acceptable to post on here.  Believe it or not, as determined as I was to find something decent to eat, we ended up across the street, eating fried chicken, all the while I stared across the street at this young lady thinking to myself “it’s a good thing you know martial arts, because I wouldn’t normally stand for this.”

Other than another encounter with stereotypes, I haven’t had too much fun around here.  I’ve been doing some workouts on the 1980’s style home gym and trying to not flip out when the fire alarm starts going off, it’s gone off twice today already.  Hopefully everyone has a nice Thanksgiving and a good encounter with a Turkey and some Triptophan, maybe take back a few beers and watch the Lions loose another game.

Click Here Now…Just to Get Ready For Thanksgiving!!!

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So You’re Saying There’s A Chance?

Hello again, and welcome back to the tragic situation I call Jio Kou River Town. I’m going to have to make this post a bit short, but rest assured, I’ll make another post by Tuesday.  I realize you guys can’t go too long without me rambling on and on about how much I hate this place,…blah,blah,blah, but you’re just going to have to suck it up and listen, or just click the X on the top right hand corner of your screen. 

            Like I said last week, a big Chinese holiday is coming up.  Actually, it’s two holidays rolled into one.  China national day, the celebration of the start of communism in 1949, is October 1 and the moon festival is right after.  I’m not even sure what that is, and I’m guessing most Chinese don’t really either.  The only thing they’re sure of is that they get a week off of work, free moon pies, a free bag of rice, and a free jug of oil.  I’m not even trying to figure out why, but apparently the thought of all that free stuff excites the hell out of them.  I caught a quick picture of a couple of guys returning from the refinery with their free goodies.  Actually, if my company were to give me free Lucky Charms and milk, I’d be pretty stoked too.

            Regardless, the refinery managers finally realized that they couldn’t get enough feed for my wife and her colleagues to conduct the performance test (the reason we’ve been screwing around here for six weeks), and finally realized that they’d be paying for them to stay here during the holidays and WOW,…a light went off in their head.  Just FYI,…they pay approx. $1700 a day for my wife and three other employees to be here….that’s $6800 a day multiplied by a six day work week and they’ve paid out $244,800 for the six weeks we’ve been here waiting to do the performance test.  Good thing oil really is “Black Gold”.  Now, not all of that time was lost, but damn, come on guys….roughly a quarter of  a million later you realize you’re not going have enough feed (fuel) to run the unit at 100% for a three day test…(something’s not clicking up there).

            So, on Friday the refinery boss told my wife to get out of here that they’d sign the performance test waiver and we could go.  MAN, you couldn’t believe how stoked I was, I almost punched a hole in the door in celebration.  BUT,…didn’t guess that was coming huh? The managers came in at the end of Friday and told my wife they only wanted a temporary release instead,…someone is trying to find loopholes in the contract.  That means we still may leave but some point in the future some unlucky soul will have to come here and conduct the performance test; however, considering the fact that they can’t get their act together here, it may not happen.  But, my wife’s legal dept. if putting together another “temporary release contract” so we’re still stuck here…but hopefully not for long.  I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel; and maybe I can get out of here before my mind is completely gone. 

            Of all the things I’ve lost, I miss my mind the most.
– Mark Twain 

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Как мне бежать из этой тюрьмы?

Welcome once again to another week of my fascinating, or as I may argue, my mundane life.  This week has proven to be yet another week where I struggle with the thought of being in this place any longer.  Just more and more delays on our departure due in fact to the failure to plan on the part of the refinery.  I almost wish I had taken strategic planning this semester instead of last spring.  I could have provided a fabulous case study on how strategic planning is NOT done.  If these refinery managers could look two days into the future it would surprise the hell out of me. Given my current living situation I have to say my school work is progressing nicely, thanks to my calendar prepping assistant Sancho.  I have a little more work to do today in order to get my study materials in order for a big test next week. 

            Notice the title of my blog is in Russian; however, translated into English it means “How do I escape from this prison?”  I call Jio Kou River Town a prison and my room is the cell, and here’s why.  Obviously, if you’ve read my blogs you realize there is nothing to do here, we can’t even watch TV and can barely work out.  I calculated on an average day that I spend 23hrs inside my hotel and around 21-22hrs inside my room.  Take 30min each for lunch and dinner downstairs.  The extra hr involves walking to the store buying daily water, supplies, etc, and maybe taking laundry then coming back.  On a unique day, when it isn’t raining and I can work out, or when my wife and I venture out to one of the two restaurants we can eat at I spend about 20hrs a day in the room.  Either way, I call it my prison cell.  Compound that with the fact that I haven’t had a hot shower in 5 days then it’s getting close to escape time.  The worst part is that the hotel/Guest house told us that it would be “several days” before we get hot water.  These showers are not room temperature,…they’re COLD….it’s like jumping in a mountain river,…not something fun to do at 7am in the middle of September.

            So how do I escape undetected?  As I’m writing this, there is a huge celebration going outside to celebrate China’s transition to communism in 1949 (60 yrs woo, woo).  I believe the actual date is Oct. 1, but they wanted to celebrate now. I can’t say I’ll give it too much thought, because I don’t feel like wasting the mental energy, I’ll need it trying to figure out the key mandarin phrases I’ll need to get out.  The fact is, it provides me with ample time and distraction to scurry out.  Notice the giant picture of me (the stress is getting to me huh?)…..my goal is to either: 1) use the U.S. passport and leave via any international airport but forego detection from the microchip inside my passport 2) use the Russian passport to go north through Mongolia and into Russia, or south and enter through communist Laos or Vietnam, undetected via land crossings. From there I can traverse south via the Mekong river, (of course always keeping a keen out for “Charlie” in the trees,…my apologies if that offended anyone). 

            Чертов мужчина! (I’m not telling you what that means) Sancho I TOLD YOU TO PACK LIGHT!  Even so, my comrade and traveling companion only has one passport which limits my options.  I don’t even want to think what my wife would say about my “great escape,” I believe it’s within my best interests to remain put, (Hell hath no fury like that of a woman’s scorn) maybe I should revisit my teachings on strategic planning.

FYI, I will neither confirm nor deny that those passports or mine, or if they are even real, or if that picture is even me.

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