One more week to go.

Just finished week 5 of rotation 6. One more week to go before I take a two week break from Qatari activities. Time has flown by this rotation. Perhaps because I have been very busy in my new role, with more responsibilities. John Cunningham has just asked me if I could do some call-out DCS support, so I could be even busier soon. Picture shows my new desk, now I've moved from the Hot desk area. The desk has my usual setup; three screens. Other pictures show myself and good friend Sethu, from Honeywell India, heading for the control room. Still a lot of road works etc., going on, on-route. Over did it at the gym again today, so I will be resting my legs, after lunch, while watch the Royal Wedding, from my room.

Another leaver, another BBQ

This week our Foundation Fieldbus team leader, Dominic, left site. so, we had to have another BBQ, this time outside of the Phoenix Bar (Joe's room). The rain has now gone, so we were safe. BBQ, beer and Manchester United vs Manchester city, live, a true lads night out! There was more than enough food (not to mention a room full of drink), inluding four to five inch Tiger Prawns. Lovely. I have had a really busy week, trying to support several different people. I am on my own in the Technical Expertise group, DCS side, at the moment; I took over from Serkan, but nobody has taken over from me! I guess things will just take a little longer to sort out. Well the weekly workout is working. I am now down to 76kg. I was 84kg when I first came here. It is a lovely hot day here on JK Camp today, so I am now going for a walk, buy a tin of giant Cashews, before going of to lunch. I might watch a movie on my Laptop this afternoon.

New Responsibilities

We attempted to have a BBQ for Serkan's leaving the project, but the weather had other ideas. We managed to cook several skewers of meat while watching lightning storms slowly approaching our party. Then suddenly, the heavens opened up. We ran for cover, taking the BBQ with us, but strong winds meant the rain came down at a steep angle and we all got drenched. After retiring to one of the cabins and eating the meat that was cooked, we decided to change into some dry clothes and hit the camp bar instead. Now that Serkan has left, I have been given the role of Lead DCS Controls Engineer. Serkan's hand-over has helped me get into the role, so now I am looking forward to challenges that it brings. Wish me luck! We all wish Serkan the best of luck. We have had quite a lot of rain over recent days, so I am hopiong that it starts to get warmer and drier again. I will be off to lunch at the JK Camp soon, and after lunch, resting my legs, after over doing it at the gym again this morning.

Its Getting Warm Again

So hot that my finger caught on fire. Well almost!
After a few months of warm (but not hot) days, and cool nights, the temperature is starting to rise again. It is mild when going to breakfast and high twenties by lunch time. The site flag changed from Green (safe) to Orange (low risk warning) this week. The first Black (danger) flag happened in May last year, so we will just have to wait and see what this year brings. We have had a lot of leavers recently. Most of the Ozzies have now gone and several Indians have gone back to India. Blair Trainor (our network guy) left last Wedesday and my colleague Serkan Yusuf is leaving this week. I have had a busy week, getting up to speed with Serkan's resposibilities, so that I can pick them up when he leaves. I have also been working on some PID control logic that we will need to implement on one of the systems. This was quite ineteresting. Anyway, lets get on with week 3.

Return to the desert

Already been back in Qatar for one week of a six week rotation. The first sour gas has just started coming into the plant from one of the two offshore platforms. The picture shows some of the gas 'flaring from the phase-one stack. Had a pretty un-eventful week. I was invited out for an Indian evening meal in Doha on Wednesday, sponsored by Shell. But I declined, as I had just arrived back on site, and needed a few days to catch up on some sleep. Also, I had already been to this restaurant. I have been working on a VB application this week, for Fast-Trending Data storage. I have also been supporting our "Steam System" modelling guys, and also the "Startup Team". Our BMA expert (Hao You) is back on site for a couple of weeks, so I may be supporting him. Also I will be working closely with Serkan, as he will be leaving in two weeks. Been to the gym as usual this morning for a couple of hours, then nipped to the bank to get a few hundred Riyals of cash out. I will be going to lunch soon, on the JK Camp, then resting for the afternoon.