Employment

I don’t remember what we have told who and doubt that nobody knows the whole, so here is the new job from my perspective. If your dad would post, he might give a different report.

He started 2 weeks ago. When he went in he only knew that he had a job, that it was with a company that Jacobs bought, which operates independently but is in the Jacobs building and, so far as insurance and 401K, is the same as working for Jacobs, and that the project would be taking down an offshore platform. Luke has always worked the “downside” of production, meaning the refining and storing end. This company works the “upside” which is finding and pumping. During the week he learned more:
1) He will not be going offshore often or for long. (that was a relief for me because of the heat and physical exertion.)
2) This company is the only division of Jacobs petroleum that is growing so it is a good place to be.
3) Probably because it is growing and the other parts of Jacobs are still laying off, many engineers have tried to make the move to this company. Very few have been accepted. VERY Few.

Luke feels like this job is a test, that if he does well he will be assigned to other jobs, and if he does not, he will be sent back to Jacobs where he will be either assigned to another project, put back on leave, or laid off. Since the latter 2 seem quite likely, he is trying especially hard to do a good job and make a good impression. Fortunately, his bosses are usually pleased with what he does.

He went offshore Wednesday the 29th and came home Saturday morning. All he did was meet with the representatives of the company that is to do the actual work and look over the platform. He said all that was physically stressful was the ladders. Because the platforms are as small as they can be, different levels are accessed by steep stairs which stick out over the water. (that would freak me out). Climbing steep stairs was hard; his thighs are sore. He intends to start taking the stairs at work instead of the elevator. The stair thing that concerns me (and i wish the man would go to a doctor!) is that one of his heels is wobbly (the heel itself moves). That makes going down steep stairs a little more difficult.

I am glad he is not going to be going offshore often or long. He did enjoy it though…. the weather was blustery with little thunderstorms forming and moving over.

And that is about all i know…..

I asked if he knew how long this job will last and he doesn’t, though he did tell me the duration will be measured in months.

They say the recession is over. I will be glad when we can tell it.

3 comments

  1. Thanks for the update!

    The stairs do sound terrifying. Over the water, sheesh. And I know they’re taking those stairs in all weather. >shudder< So .. the heel bone or the heels in his shoe? Either way, he should go see a doctor. Told me the Horsetooth hike was very challenging because he couldn't feel his feet. (!!) And he is good at good impressions. I hope he enjoys the job and they appreciate him.

  2. Update:
    He tells me that they realized the other day that his part of the project he was brought in to do is actually almost over. It is being handled mostly by another company and he met with and discussed and that was pretty much all they needed him to do.

    (At which point i began to panic, except that he was smiling.)

    So they have assigned him to another project, and the next day or 2 days later they assigned him to a third project. He is happy.

    People have begun to notice he is back and are coming around to see him. Some say they want him to be in their project too, but they are in the unit where he used to work. Still, it is nice to be wanted.

    —

    About his heel. It is the heel itself. It is not something he was aware of happening, he just noticed one day that it moved weird. I thought maybe it would go away… like a sprain. It hasn’t. I have been trying to get him to take it to a doctor. It doesn’t keep him from walking. It doesn’t hurt. If it hurt maybe he would go to a doctor.

    He went to a doctor when he did something to his shoulder and had surgery done when therapy was suggested as a possible way to fix it. (He felt like what was wrong was not a therapy issue and he was right. He had almost torn one end of his muscle loose. It was “hanging by a thread.”)

    But he will not go to a doctor about his feet. I have talked to him so many times about the dangers of no circulation. I have talked to my doctor about it and reported back that she said that, if caught early, it can often be corrected by medicine. Let it go too far and we are talking removing sections of blood vessels and replacing them with parts from other places in his body. Let it go long enough and we are talking amputation. Doesn’t it seem like a normal person would opt for the early fix???? This discussion has been going on for years.

    Now the reason he won’t go to the doctor is that he has just started back to work and it would not be good to take time off – good dependable impression and all. When he was home for 6 months, he would agree that he should go, but not right now because he had to do this or that or the other, but as soon as this or that was done he would, only there was another this or that. I guess his present excuse does make sense… except that THERE IS ALWAYS A REASON!

    Shall we talk colonoscopy? He needs one of those too. I don’t know what to do with the man. He is very stubborn. I have about given up.