Oklahoma or bust

Well, we got the go-ahead to go to Oklahoma, starting tomorrow. It has been an insanely stressful insanely busy last couple of weeks, and that's without even dwelling on my thesis. Right now, I'm waiting for the last of my new lightweight, wicking, long-sleeve field shirts to dry. I bought 4 of them, since I'll probably be needing to wear a new one every day because of poison ivy. I also bought a kick-ass pair of waterproof, steel-toed boots (which I can't find on the Red Wing site to link to), and prescription safety glasses. It's all stuff I will need again in the future, and we got a stipend towards the boots.
Looks like we'll be staying in small towns as close to the pipeline corridor as possible. I think the only requirement is that the hotel has internet access. I'm not so excited about this, as I was hoping we could stay at one central spot (preferably one in a decent-sized town with a real grocery store and a movie theater).
I have not had time to review our standard operating procedure documents, so I'll probably be doing that on the trip up tomorrow and in the hotel room later. The client is very specific about how they want things done as far as recording things.
Anyway, there will be some updates from Oklahoma, although they'll probably be pretty brief. I'll be trying to finish my thesis on our Sundays off, and maybe if I can squeeze in an hour here or there. And I'll be in Austin for a week in mid-June for a break.

Crazy already

We're not actually going to Oklahoma until next week, and it's already crazy. We endured 2 days of safety meetings last Thursday and Friday. They fed us well and we got some overtime for the drive back, so I can't complain too much. This week, there's lots of logistical things and practicing with the fancy GPS units that we won't even get until tomorrow afternoon and trying to get everything that's pending done before half our office leaves. And I still have to go to Louisiana and back, which will eat up all of Wednesday and Thursday.
Plus the thesis, which is not going to be done by this Friday. And my poor kitty has a urinary tract infection so we have to watch her closely and give her special food so we can sneak in the medicine. She's in the painful "working it out" stage so she's trying to go to the bathroom like every 15 minutes and not drinking much water. I ended up buying some low-sodium chicken broth (and watering it down) to get some liquids in her.
This weekend, we went straight from Houston to a co-worker's wedding weekend at the Canyon of the Eagles lodge and nature park. It was a nice place to spend a weekend with a bunch of people, although all I really did was drink a lot of beer and go to the wedding and reception. The park was nice and there's a place to take a cruise or do kayaking. I will try and get out there again sometime.
So this weekend I need to spend time with my wife (who is currently out of town again), try and hang out with my friends, go to Chaos in Tejas on Saturday night, see Prince Caspian with said wifey before I leave. Oh, and pack for a long trip.
I also need to buy some long-sleeve wicking shirts and fancy steel-toed boots, and maybe try and get some prescription side-shield safety glasses. But I might try and find some time for that during the week. Too bad I can 't get those at some place open past 9.
I don't know if it makes you tired and stressed out, but just writing this made my shoulders tighten.