Here I again, marching orders for Nigeria again. Chevron has another 27 mile pipeline at the SCC pipe mill in Abuja. The first time I went because I'd never been, thtecte 2nd time was because of the grilled giant prawns. This time I want to see my friends that work at the mill for SCC. Our commute is a 14 passenger van escorted by two 4-man pickups armed with AK-47's, one front and one rear. But they cannot protect from rampant stupidity.
The low-boy hauling this crushed a drainage culvert, tipping over the truck and dumping this in a ditch. The culvert wasn't buried enough - it was too much work to dig more!
Even at the plant, the 12 hour night shift quits working about 3 am so they can sleep until 6 am.
The hotel manager characterizes the national mentality with "every day is a new day". This is meaning one must retrain every local employee at the start of each day. The expats are all "normal".
So we work two 12 hour shifts six days a week. There is no point to go anywhere as there is nothing to see here in the capital city of Abuja. There are no stop signs and the lights are always green for the major street. Since I've been working at SCC, they have never had a operational product tracking system. I have worked with the smartest, sweetest girl from South Africa - all the management is from South Africa.
Both Nadia's fiance' and uncle work at the pipe mill. They were nice enough to invite us to their annual company party and we lasted until midnight.
With this being my third trip here, my system has to get re-acclimated to the local food and cooking - But at least I know what to avoid to not get amoebic dysentery. We have had two people that required heavy-duty antibiotic shots to get cured.
It boggles my mind what kinds of diseases Stanley had to contend with in the Congo. I am certain now that this is my last trip here. It has screwed up my spring in St. Lucia for 3 years now - enough is enough!
