…..and I enjoyed this job. I had heard some very bad reviews of the area
but, frankly, I’ve worked in much, much worse including a few in the U.S. My company sent an instructor here about
eight years ago who got deathly sick—lost something like sixteen pounds and
took eight months go gain it back—and he had absolutely terrible reviews of the
place. But, if the domes were built five
years ago, that instructor didn’t have the benefit of my living quarters and I’m
sure the food has improved since then too.
I won’t be coming back…..my turn in the rotation is so far into the
future that I’ll be retired by then…..but I wouldn’t hesitate to.
On my final day, all the
students I worked with got together and gave me a traditional Kazakhstan robe
and Russian Cossack hat. Yes, I may look
like a dork in it, but it’s absolutely beautiful with embroidery and fur-lined
collar. It’s floor-length, so I don’t
know how I can display it at home but I’ll figure something out.
Some final thoughts on the
compound: although it’s relatively new,
it’s beginning to show it’s age but, then, over 5,000 people rotate in and out
of here every 28 days. Even the Kazakh
locals rotate—there’s literally nothing out here except one tiny remote village
that has nothing to do with the oil compound.
Supplies and personnel are transported in and out by train and a small
commuter airplane service. Literally
everything here was brought in from somewhere else.
The world literally has an insatiable appetite for oil.......
This photo of one of the
remote refineries says it all—desolate landscape—and could have been taken just
about anywhere in the world including Port Arthur, Texas.
The people I worked with were
among some of the friendliest I’ve ever met on this job. There’s actually an element of sadness at
leaving tomorrow. But I’m definitely
getting on that commuter plane.
Headed to Kosovo in about three weeks with a side-trip to Vegas in-between.
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