Getting things going

After Ronnie left the company I then started going on my own. My boss would schedule the classes and meetings and I'd go do them. Pay wasn't great but it was consistent and enough to pay bills. I was with my family back in my part of the country!

This job was nice in the sense that I got to travel the region and visit parts that I'd never been to. It was a far cry from Wyoming in that there is civilization all around. I went to museums and visited other things when I had the chance; my cup of tea!

I gained a lot of experience speaking in front of people for hours (see: 8) and teaching them different things related to safety, oil-field, and construction. Got to see operations of a few multinational companies (Exterran & Halliburton) and find out a little about every aspect of the oil field that I didn't have experience with.

What's funny is that in high school I very rarely talked in front of class. I was introverted except to my friends. When I went to college the one thing I hoped to be able to get over was my fear of public speaking. I minored in communications and took every kind of speech class I could. In the end, I am very confident when I get up to talk. As I speak I gain more confidence because I get a feel for the listeners mannerisms and personality and start implementing those.

Anyways, I traveled Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas on a regular basis. Learned a lot of things and it was fun, but then I was lied to. When I started I was told "between 3 and 6 months you'll get a raise, afterwards you'll receive another one at the 1 year mark". Well, as 6 months approached I asked about it. Was told that the company didn't make enough money and was going to do things differently.

I was livid. One of those 8 hour classes covered our salaries at the office. I was doing about 2 a week and giving up home time. Then things happened...

Things at home weren't dandy either. Started arguing more and she refused to go to counseling because "it was a waste of money". My thought was she was done. I found out some things a little later that made me done as well. Can't trust someone after a certain point...