Things are not always what they seem
One thing being online and chatting with people from all over the
world has reminded me of is the fact that those unfamiliar with oil field
terminology could become confused if they were to overhear some of the conversations
that went on out here.
For instance, if someone unfamiliar with patch lingo were to hear
Larry say to me,"Let's get this sucker rod tied, I got to be downhole in Katie
this afternoon." Well, that someone might think we were tying up somebody
called Rod, that we thought was a sucker. And that my hubby had just also
gleefully informed me he was about to have carnal knowledge of some gal named Katie
that afternoon.
That would be the wrong assumption to make though. A sucker rod is
a rod of metal or fiberglass from 5/8 of an inch to an 11/2 in diameter that
is used in the oil field. Used sucker rods are often recycled into a variety of
creative ways out here. We use the fiberglass ones to put up electric fences to keep
stock in. We tie the fence wire to the rod after it has been driven into the
ground. Katie is a town in Texas, and downhole is a term used to describe equipment
etc. being down a well hole.
Or if you were to hear one man say to his buddy, "Hey pass me that
pipe dope and then let's cut about a foot off this joint." You might, if you
were unfamiliar with our lingo, think those two old boys were having one hell of
drug party. Complete, with a special blend of wacky tobacco for a pipe, and
a joint Cheech and Chong would have killed for.
You would be wrong though if you thought that. Not even out here are those kind of joints that big. Pipe dope is a thick greasy substance used to insure a water tight seal when joints of pipe or tubing are put together. Pipe and tubing joints are of course used downhole to bring oil up.
And if you ask a man out here what he does for a living, he might
tell you he is pusher. He isn't selling drugs though. He is the oil field equivalent
of a salesman And he may even be pushing that pipe dope or joints. Pushers
out here sell and service everything from drilling rigs to tubing. Some
of them make as much money as the other kind, but they don't get arrested
for it. Instead, they put in long hours, drive fancy trucks, talk endlessly
on their cell phones, set up meetings between each other that are often held out
in the middle of nowhere, take prospective clients to lunch and dinner,
and sometimes to nefarious places like strip bars. So though I must
admit some of their duties might resemble those of a drug dealer to someone unfamiliar
with how things are done in the patch, things are not always what they
seem out here.
Of course when the patch is booming and people from all over are
coming out here for jobs, you sometimes see some yanks with a rather stunned
look on their face. So though being online has reminded me of the difference
in terminology out here, I have seen the effects of what this lingo
can do to those unused to our ways. It has rather the same effect as one being dropped
into King Arthur's court I would say.
