Well, today is my last day to see my girl before I head back out. I don't know how long I'm gonna stay because I finally got the call this morning that everything had cleared at my new place of employment, and they were ready to discuss a start date. Probably gonna have to toss that back and forth for a bit to make everybody happy, and then its off to deal with the rest of my life. I am SO not looking foreward to leaving. I just don't wanna have to deal with the frustrations out there. But it will be nice to get back into a regular, rock solid schedule again. It's nice to know exactly what time you'll be where and what you'll be doing. My girl and I are headed to the big city today, gonna do some shopping, and I have to take back some electronic stuff while I'm at it. I'm thinking about getting a new camera or camcorder, as Uncle Sam was particularly nice to me last year. We'll just have to see. So this is definately going to be my last hitch with my drilling company. It will be the last time that I have to climb a derrick and go out on the monkey board and hang off of a rope, putting pipe in the hole. The last time I'm just gonna be another meat-headed, do-anything kinda guy. It's kinda sad to me, I had at one point dreamed of working my way up to being a driller or a tool pusher, like my father before me and his father before him. But I must look out for what is best for me and my future. I don't want to work myself to death, I don't just have brawn, I have the brains to do more, just as my forbearers did, I'm just making the move more quickly. I can't say it's right or wrong, but I am leaving one dream behind to persue another, more profitable dream. One that will hopefully put me in a position to comfortably have a family in the years to come. We'll see. My stress level is through the roof. It's not a panicy kind of stress, like when I first went offshore, worried that I would not come back in one piece. Its a looming stress, a stress that is quietly, softly, patiently telling me that if I screw this up, my professional life is over. And I know that this is not true. It has taken me less than 2 years to get here, and I can certainly rebuild, and I've held higher paying jobs before, but I have never respected a job like I respect this one. Pray for me guys, I need it. Take care, and God Bless.