What a “Ship show” this has become.

Considering that the primary qualification for being a judge is good judgment, Mr. Shipley, this statement caught my eye..

“We were rigged up on the Charley Miles ranch along Powder River. Our tool pusher had us NOT EVEN bolt down the blowout preventer, just drill the rat hole and drill the mouse hole and get on with it. WOW.”

"WOW", indeed.

It should give one pause that you would consider the intentionally stupid act of endangering the life and limb of a crew by circumventing a safety device, an expression of "manliness" and/or macho daring.

Thinking like that is the purest example of the kind of bad judgement that fills countless graves in cemeteries across the land every day.

If you require detailed backup for that statement, here's the link:

https://arlweb.msha.gov/fatals/

Mr. Oddjob, I do not know who you are or where you live, but, any decently intelligent persons would glean from my post I was merely telling an oilfield story of 1969 that happened along the Powder River. No big deal. I was a rough neck, a floor hand, not ever in charge of squat. I threw chain and attended to the motors and used the tongs and was the lowest hand on the rig. I did what all the hands who had been in the patch all their lives told me to do. Period.
Was it dangerous? Of course. Was any of it my fault, NEVER.
See? "Ship"

Oddjob, Whomever You Are,
Do you know what a mouse hole is? Do you know what a rat hole is? Do you know anything about the oilfield? What is BHP? Why are oil wells drilled with mud?
Please do provide your intelligence about these few common questions.

Thanx, Ship

I don't understand why "OJ" is citing "fatelgrams" from the Mine Safety Health Adminstration which was created in 1977 for an activity that happened in an oilfield in the late 1960's. Oilfield safety is governed by OHSA, which was created in 1971. Retroactively applying today's standard to an event before those standards existed and challenging someone's judgment because of their participation in the past, is an odd way of analyzing current qualifications. Speaking of sound judgment...

Dobule wow, because I find myself agreeing with Oddy.

I have worked with drillers and heavy equipment for 30 years, Ship. I know that only an idiot works for sh*t outfits that take shortcuts. Richard. I included the link to MSHA fatalgrams because they are an excellent source of examples of people getting killed at work doing stupid sh*t or being victims of stupid sh*t like Ship referenced in in his ramblings. As far as I know, no other agency does this in real time like MSHA and they only do it to crap on the industry.

Oddjob,
Like I explained with 100% truth to the fellow whose handle I told him I liked, I was a floor hand, a novice, I had no responsibility on the rig, I was the least rung on the ladder, I did what I was directed to do. Would you have me tell the driller and tool pusher I was going to report them to some safety agency so and so?
Have you sneaked around for your 30 years in construction and heavy equipment amongst all of those people, obviously professionals, going by your false name, Oddjob, instead of your Christian name? How did they ever pay you, on company checks, "Pay to the Order of ODDJOB?" Does the bank where you bank accept "oddjob" endorsing your paychecks on the back of your checks? Can you or can you not be man enough to write in this very good, very good, milescity.com forum using your lawful name, the one you have on your very American birth certificate, your driver license, and your home mortgage?

Ship

Oddjob, So in your opinion I am an idiot owing something I did in 1969 when I was 22 years old in the oil patch , that 48 years later has absolutely nothing to do with being very, very, very well qualified in law to be elected and assume the PUBLIC SERVANT task of City Judge. No skin off nose. But from your warped perspective I do not believe you have any skin in the game, OK?
Reviewing what Richard Bonine writes, I think he is correct and I thank him for his MATURE opinion which nullifies the CHILDISH one you have provided.
Can you answer my three (3) very easy questions about mouse hole, rat hole and BHP?

After all, you have worked supposedly for three (3) decades in the patch and with heavy equipment, right? I only rough necked for three (3) years before going to active duty in the uniformed service of my country. Which leads me to ask you, are you a veteran like me? What branch of the American military did you serve and for how long? Thirty-eight (38) years under contract like me?

Ship