So I have been sort of dragging my feet on dealing with more of this- more of the blog and more of the budget cutting, etc. However, it's about to get real.
My husband has been able to maintain his employment in the oilfield to this point. Being a very reliable, intelligent and good at his job as led him to be one of the most needed people on his rig. Currently, instead of only being a rig electrician, they "got rid" of the electronic technician on his shift and he is expected to cover that man's workload as well. There are no plans in the future for hiring this missing person and the compensation for adding work to an already extremely full load? Keeping your job.
His rig is about to go park somewhere and sit, awaiting a return to the richness the oilfield can and probably will one day again offer. It was only about a year ago that they were screaming we were about to run out of oil, we were all doomed and oil prices were only going to get worse. Now, we are in a gi-normous oil field glut? Welcome to the politics behind the oil and gas industry. He probably will be one of the last men standing on this rig when it goes to nothing but a skeleton crew to maintain the rig so it will be fully operational at a moment's notice, but I see the wear on my husband and what it is doing to him.
Therefore, I asked him when he went out on the rig the last 3 week hitch if I could start just submitting resumes and all and see what I could drum up so that when he returned he might have some interviews going. He hates sitting on the computer and doing research, submissions, and all that tedious work. Thus, he usually just puts it off until he can't do it any longer and it is "too late" for that hitch. I have hit the world wide web "pavement" hard for him and luckily, things are starting to move after weeks of nothing. I guess that is what happens when you try to hit it around Christmas time. In addition, everyone is afraid his ridiculous oilfield salary because no one on LAND pays like that for what he does. Yes, well we are scared too.
However, the biggest positive thus far, is that in looking for HIM, I found a job. I was never unwilling to work as a stay at home mom but these are the reasons we never felt it was an option:
My husband has been able to maintain his employment in the oilfield to this point. Being a very reliable, intelligent and good at his job as led him to be one of the most needed people on his rig. Currently, instead of only being a rig electrician, they "got rid" of the electronic technician on his shift and he is expected to cover that man's workload as well. There are no plans in the future for hiring this missing person and the compensation for adding work to an already extremely full load? Keeping your job.
His rig is about to go park somewhere and sit, awaiting a return to the richness the oilfield can and probably will one day again offer. It was only about a year ago that they were screaming we were about to run out of oil, we were all doomed and oil prices were only going to get worse. Now, we are in a gi-normous oil field glut? Welcome to the politics behind the oil and gas industry. He probably will be one of the last men standing on this rig when it goes to nothing but a skeleton crew to maintain the rig so it will be fully operational at a moment's notice, but I see the wear on my husband and what it is doing to him.
Therefore, I asked him when he went out on the rig the last 3 week hitch if I could start just submitting resumes and all and see what I could drum up so that when he returned he might have some interviews going. He hates sitting on the computer and doing research, submissions, and all that tedious work. Thus, he usually just puts it off until he can't do it any longer and it is "too late" for that hitch. I have hit the world wide web "pavement" hard for him and luckily, things are starting to move after weeks of nothing. I guess that is what happens when you try to hit it around Christmas time. In addition, everyone is afraid his ridiculous oilfield salary because no one on LAND pays like that for what he does. Yes, well we are scared too.
However, the biggest positive thus far, is that in looking for HIM, I found a job. I was never unwilling to work as a stay at home mom but these are the reasons we never felt it was an option:
- I was the only parent available for 3 weeks out of the year. Kid sick? Me. Kid needs something? Me. (you get the idea)
- My salary wouldn't even be a drop in the bucket compared to what he was making and it would just further push our tax bracket.
- I would likely spend as much as I would make on gas and other work related expenses as I could make, especially because my husband likes living in a really rural area.
- My husband could better enjoy his 3 weeks home if I didn't work. We were free to go do whatever he wanted because we had the time and money. We had no vacation schedules to work around.
- Part way through we had decided to homeschool, especially because of one child who was really getting left behind in the public school system, and that was a full time job in itself.