Early this month we moved our belongings (books and clothes) to Denver. However, Shawn won't spend much time there. It has a good airport though, so when he flies home for his days off it won't take him too long to get back. Here is Shawn's bit about what he is doing:
I took a job with Connors Drilling (http://www.connorsdrilling.com/) as a drill helper. Basically, they take core samples of the ore for the Geologist to tell mines where they should continue or if they should build here or there. In one sense, I am a Miner (as MSHA defines it): I work underground. In another sense (as the miners themselves see it), I am not a miner: I do not work for a mining company, but rather I am an employee of a contract company that specializes in core samples. I'll be working uber-hard for 12 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 4 weeks, then I'll have two weeks off. With overtime, footage bonuses (how far my drill rig goes in a shift), and safety bonuses, I'll be able to pay off my student loans from Israel in about 50 years. I just finished the orientation meetings on Friday, and I'll be sent out to the job site on Sunday. Lucky for me, I won't have to go to any beautiful or scenic mines like Red Dog or Greens Creek, instead I get the privilege of spending eight months of the next twelve in Winnemucca, NV. Yes, the absolute thrill of Nevada's small towns are mine for the next year. Nothing like gambling and mining to make a town of 7,000 (counting the Coyotes) a destination spot. The one thing I am legitimately excited about is that Connors has one of the coolest logos in the business.
So my actual job description sounds really complicated, and I will try to leave it that way in order to make it sound more glorious. Connors gets paid for the core samples they are able to extract from the rock. Our underground rigs (which I will get the pleasure of becoming intimately familiar with) are designed to dig and retrieve samples up to 2000 feet (give or take). The driller operates the controls and makes sure that everything is working smoothly. Lucky for him, he has a minion, a Quasimodo henchman, to boss around and upon whom he enjoins the heavy labor. Things like adding extensions to the drill bit (which are called rods), mixing the lubricant and shaft wall stabilizer (called mud), boxing up the core samples, and any other menial task that is physically exerting, but requires minimal brain function. If I am a good little hunchback, and I show promise, someday, I will be promoted and I will get my own helper. So for now I need to focus on doing a good job.
We are not sure when Shawn's next days off will be, but we are looking forward to them already!
