Big day today. I went to see the guys I work with (okay, worked with, since I'm on Long Term Disability). Tomorrow is 9 months since I went on Short Term Disability, figuring for sure I'd be back by no later than March. Well, that didn't quite pan out like I'd liked. Cancer didn't just stop shit in my personal life, it dicked with what I thought was a grand career I had going. I was doing EXACTLY what I wanted to, where I wanted to be, with a group of men that are as good or better than any group I'd worked with before. The people at Anadarko, I still keep in touch with a few of those guys, we're friends, always will be friends. But I have been around so many people willing to work toward the same goal as these guys were and still are willing. They and my Highland Games friends became my second family. The men I worked with as I was getting sick, we had a system figured out. We knew what each of us needed to do our jobs, we'd all pitch in to help. We took a worn down, mess of a lease almost 3 years ago, and turned it into a damn fine place to work.
I bragged those guys up, and they in turn got and are still getting promoted. I didn't want anything farther up the ladder than I was doing. These are mostly younger guys, at least 8-10 years younger than I, and most way younger than that. They are good men, they work hard, they deserve the promotions they got, and will get. I'd love to be around to cheer them on, see them move up, maybe have on as my boss one day before I retire. Alas, that's not going to be.
We are oil field trash, but tough guys, so it's hard for me to tell them how proud and honored I am to have been given the chance to work with them. How much it makes my heart swell to see them do so very well at what we do. They are sharp. We work to get the job done right, and then, we laugh and have a good time. That's what work should be, not a damned challenge to get up and go to every day. It should be a place where you trust the people you work with to catch your back, I trusted these guys.
Granted, it wasn't always roses and peaches. There were days I let Mr Temper out, and he got back as much as he gave. That's what happens when you work with people, you'll get under each others skin, the thing isn't to carry a grudge. I had a boss or two that did, as far as I'm concerned those rat sons of bitches can suck it to this day.
I call them "My Boys", kinda silly since we are all grown men, and a few were damn near my age. I say that because I took responsibility for what we did, how I taught them what I could, and how well I learned what they had to teach me. They are My Boys, they make me proud to have been a part of the time from bad to damn near perfect. You have to understand, we made do with what we had. We remodeled, not really rebuilt. Cleaned the old stuff, fixed it like new, then put it together like a tank battery and field should be done. Every one of us had input, our boss would listen, we used some of our ideas, some we didn't. That's what made it successful. My Boys did, and I. We did all that.
The guys that have come in during the last 8-9 months, they reap that benefit. My Boys don't brag, but they can, and maybe they should a bit. This field promotes more from within than any where I've worked in 24 years. Not because they have to, but because My Boys can do the job damn well. There's no reason to look anywhere else. All y'all have to let the guys that came in after I left know that shit. They are standing on shoulders that made their jobs easier. Brag yourselves up, you deserve it.
It's a bit tough for me to go out. I miss they men, the field, the work, but it's sure hard to go and know I've done all I can with and for these guys. Give me the core people we started with, drag our asses to a worn out field, give us some time and money, and we can show you how to do it right.
That's what I'll miss about work, and for me, that's hard
