Happy Hour Oysters

Since my visit to Biloxi, MS I have been wanting oysters. The other day I was waiting around for the hot shot (driver) and I was flipping through the free local paper and BAM. That's right, I hit a double whammy of a pub with 40 beers on tap and 35 cent oysters till 7pm. So had this been any other bar I would say cheap sea food is a recipe for disaster. Fortunately the bar is located in "River Ranch." See RR is like the Galleria of Lafayette where it is twice as much to live, and everyone on the commune gets a free gym membership. By the way its a mile a way. Anyways, me and a buddy of mine went for dinner and ate tons of oysters and enjoyed the 40+ beer menu for $11 plus tip. I dont think Ive gone out to eat for under $18 buck since I got here. Ok Easter lunch was CiCi Pizza for $5.

Sorry for the uneventful post but seriously you know how I am about a steal of a deal mixed with food and a good time.

MISSISSIPPI

Me and 3 other guys from work, packed the car and headed east to a little Vegas on the coast. It was a YEE HAW weekend. I just got back from Biloxi, Mississippi about 3 hours away. Luckily our boss let us out of work early on Friday, which made for an early arrival in time for a great dinner. We asked the front desk where to eat and the lady just raved about the food at a place called Shadies. While the place was legit I think the namesake came from the neighborhood. Anyways, we enjoyed some amazing oysters and gumbo before throwing back a local Mississippi brew. The beer was Southern Pecan by Lazy Magnolia, WOW it was nice. From the restaurant we headed to the Hard Rock Casino. Once inside I had a crash course in Craps and ended up taking home about $500 bucks. The night ended with a $7 limo ride back to the hotel like big spenders, it was the same prices as cabs.

Saturday started late and we made it to te Grand Virage Buffet. Riding high from the night before I think I hit the jackpot again eating about $30 in shrimp and crab legs. The next festivity was the Rodney Atkins country music concert. My buddy Blain was able to get tickets from a friend that allowed us to meet and greet Rodney before the show. A special thanks to Kati for hooking us up. The picture below says it all. The show was great and we had the best time. Unfortunately we headed to the Hard Rock again and I treated them to about all my winnings from the night before.

Now its Sunday night and its back to the grind. TWIC cards this week which are passports to go offshore. Maybe in another 2 weeks I’ll have news on when I’m going offshore, until then I’m studying. Here is a teaser from a guy in well testing who just got back. The basket is the way you get onto the rig.

Helicopter training DONE

There are three things I've wanted to do since I started my new job. The first was drivers training and the second was heli training. The last thing on my list is actually getting out on a rig, and theres no date set so far.

The main reason I wanted to complete drivers training was because I wasn't allowed to drive or rent a car till I passed the course. The second reason was because I got to do 360's in a full size truck. Unfortunately they wouldn't let us take photos so you'll have to imaging it. If your having a hard time doing that, then go to Stadium and B Street the for first snowfall and watch the cars slide through the intersection.

Now on to heli training. Today was packed full of trying not to fall asleep in classes, then lunch, then into the pool. For the first bit I had to jump into the pool and climb into a 25 person life raft. Inside the raft it was a hot wet indian sweat cerimony. If I have to ever spend more than 10 minutes in an emergeny raft I will flip out. Imagine sitting on a waterbed cross legged with 25+ people under the covers. Ok, on to the fun stuff. So for heli training we climbed into a 4 person death trap that was dropped into the water and we had 4 simple steps. Hold your breath, knock out the window, unbuckle, and finally crawl out. We did a total of 5 drops with the last 3 going inverted. I figured this whole thing would be easy and I could just open my eyes underwater but I was wrong. In the end it wasn't as fun as I thought and really just a scary reality. I have a nice video but its kinda large, so check my facebook or email me. If theres any luck I'll get it posted here. Im wearing red in the back on the right and I end up swimming out the left side. Enjoy

Crawfish

Tonight was Crawfish night, well sorta. From what I've been told your only suppose to eat crawfish on months ending in an "r" so we figured it was the last time to get them before there out of season. The deal we thought we were getting was $3.33 a pound but that ended right before we got there so I think it went to $6 a pound, but it was good. After about half our food was gone a lady at the next table came over and asked if we were from out of town. I guess out shucking skills were poor. she jumped right in an showed us the trick. needless to say its an art and we reverted to the smash and pull method.

For those who dont know how its suppose to be done, its a push twist and pull. Now thats just to get the tail off. If your lucky the first ring stays on the body and the meat just needs to be yanked out. Hopfully we'll be able to get back there for sunday lunch and do it like a pro. In case your wondering I sucked the goodies from one head, but its really just spices and yellow goo.