Carla Keeping Us Awake

This is my first "guest post" on this wonderful blog and I shall start by positing my favorite video from our 20 days of training at MDS. Carla was (and is) such a bad teacher that most of us (myself included) had a hard time staying awake. So to wake us up she used to tell pointless stories and mimic barnyard animal (or fowl) sounds. Here is an example:

Now a final note about Carla. She can't teach. We wrote about it before (check other posts), but really, she is such a bad teacher it needs another mention...I am not really sure why she even got the job at MDS (perhaps Reggie saw something in her no one else did...who knows). Just because you seem to know and understand certain concepts and ideas does not mean you can teach them...period. Carla needs to understand this. For two weeks we sat there listening as she read to us from training manuals...as if we were preschool children or something. At least preschool children get to listen to interesting stories, all we had were boring tales of scaffolding and confined spaces. Carla, if you're reading this, I suggest you enroll yourself in a teacher training program. Here is a good one:

Canada College TESOL Teacher Training Course

At least if you take an onsite course they will actually be able to teach you how to be an effective teacher...and that does not mean reading from books for eight hours per day. Seriously.

Plus she had the audacity to tell us that since MDS is a certified college she had to get herself certified as well...as a teacher! Yeah, right! She said something about getting a "life experience" degree...hahahaha!

General Evaluation and assessment of the 20 days training

First certificate (Pre-employement roughneck): the program describes it as a 6 days course from 9:00 to 16:00. the book, from the University of Austin, Texas is not bad. others materials: there are no simulators. in a world full of pressure gauges, electrical and hydraulic devices and computers, call simulator a pair of old tongs is ridiculous.
First surprise: the lunch break is 1 hour, 12:00 to 13:00. Some days, anyway is from 11:30 to 13:00. (1/7 of the course time, the 15%, dissapears suddenly)
Teacher: Reggie. "Time lost in speech about nothing, or trying to shell you the "3 modules driller training" is about the 20%. time lost in another ways, for instance complete lack of activity, personal phone calls, visits, paperwork.. around other 20%
Yes, you are reading properly... the teacher, when have a phone call, stop the class during minutes.
Sunday: it is a 20 days non stop course. the second surprise is that the first Sunday you have a free day (but nobody returns you 1/20 of your money)
The last Saturday the thing happens once more, but in this case is not a surprise, you´re so tired and bored that likes it.
2 days without a minute of class: another 10% of your time evaporates.
A couple of days the class finish at lunch time (Saturday after 3,5 hours, Sunday, after 3 hours class) another day more evaporates.
So... 40% of the day is a waste of time, I mean literally, without activity, I´m not evaluating the quality when the activity runs. In addition 3 of 20 days (15%) there are no activity plus 1 hour lunch time

Total: 70% of your time is stolen.

this why Reggie offers a 20 days course, when other schools are offering a week. putting air in the balloon.

Next training: Rig Pass: trainer Reggie, quality... Guess yourself. You can buy this course in a lot of serious and decent places.
3 training: Introductory level Well control.
After the pre employement, this certificate was easy to understand, maybe the only positive point I found here.You can find too this training in another good schools

rest of the trainings (about general safety) teacher Carla. Relationship with the oil and gas industry: none, are construction oriented courses, except the forklift that was warehouse oriented. The first aid was for domestic and traffic issues.

the only exception was the H2 S alive, because was provided by a external body. This, the H2S is the only professional delivered training, but logically is not a 5.000 bucks course.

Maritime Drilling Schools CEO

A picture of the CEO, Reggie i wanna mean, that you can see in the classroom board.

Safety first?

So, ya wanna be a gunner, ehnnn?

The yard, the SCRAP IRON kingdom

I wrote in a previous post some sentences about  yard, but the yard deserves its own post, in fact if you're a student of the history of the technology, you can write not a post, a complete blog about the yard. Like a paleontologist experience the joy of discover, classify and match bones, guessing the animal, the era, the function and so on, enter in the yard of the school transport you to another era, maybe the era when the oil was not oil but alive creatures.
Nothing matches, machines and structures are pull and push together.
An engine is close to a gear box. The engine have a hydraulic power system and the gear box needs a mechanical power entry  but is not really important because the engine can´t work, neither the gear box.
The gear box is close to a simulation of substructure, not too far away there are a vertical mast that is not a drilling mast.
A mast, with the monkey board close to it. unfortunately this mast is horizontal and probably will continue in the same position the next 25 years.
The Queen of the museum, the only bunch of pieces that works are the tong simulator. An 1960/70 piece that nobody continues using, but when using, you think that you are in the kind of ring you see on old fashioned Tv. films.

Engine, gear box with drawwork and substructure (the only thing in common is the color)  In front of those museum pieces a blue bit, XX century master piece

Masts. in red, travel block, and mud pipe (beyond the mast, the crown block in red too)

Help provided to get a job

I was thinking about to let this space empty, it would be the most realistic approach to the help that the school provides you to get a job, but mimic humor could be misunderstood on line.

Reggie give us invaluable advice (or unreliable, not sure):
- Search on the internet, for instance in the IADC page (considering that 2 courses are certified by the IADC, I'm not sure if i had this idea by myself)
- Be on site, go personally to present your resume. I agree... but to travel 1 month across Alberta or North Dakota cost, on average, 100 bucks a day. Not a single hint to do the same off shore.Hire an helicopter and fly from platform to platform presenting your CV? maybe no body hires you, but... you'll get a lot of fun!
- If you knows somebody working on the rigs, could be easier be hired (really, seriously? I never had though so, thanks Reginald, only for so smart advice you deserve my 5.000 bucks!)
- "So you wanna be a roughneck eh?"  Could be not the better system to be hired... but Reg have a well paid job consisting in repeat this sentence 100 a day... (If you´re not an alummi probably you´re not catching the joke, I apologize in advance)

That´s is all folks, don´t expect more help to get a job, but not less. if your reason to come to Nova Scotia is that you think that the school is a sort of sponsor, recruiter, place to do contacts with companies, read once more this post and read the official web site of the school, a lot of brilliant sentences, a lot of wonderful worlds, but no content. Sentences like "the school can´t promise you a job after completion" are fully truth. In fact is more like "The school doesn´t care about your future 5 minutes after you leave the place" and maybe neither 5 minutes before you enter.

School Size

One single class room, in my understanding, is not a school, anyway in Nova Scotia it is.
1 class room, 1 bathroom, and 3 offices (yes 3!!) 3 workers, 3 offices... A yard full of metallic rubish that one day was part of several differents rigs (the diesel engine doesn´t not match with the gear box, the gear box with the drawworks, this one with the crown and travel blocks.... The blocks, mast and monkey board came from the same 1950's rig, but are horizontal and the wire (that doesn´t match neither is not in its place) Photos of those garbage yard... in another post...

North Sydney, Nova Scotia

How to arrive to North Sydney:
Plane or bus? The plane is a 31 seats, two propeller engines, takes 50 minutes and cost 500 Canadian dollars (2 ways) from the Sydney airport to North Sydney a taxi cost $40 to 50 for a 20 minutes service.
The bus from Halifax takes 3 or 4 hours, but is $ 40. In the school can give more info about buses.
Where to stay:
Sydney is less than 30 min driving, if you have a car is a serious option.
In north Sydney, walking distance from the school there are at least 1 bed&breakfast (123 pierce street, tel 794-1080) and 1 motel (at the end of king street) there are also 1 hotel near to the ferry port.
The maritime drilling School is close to the commercial area, less than 10 minutes walking.
this is a good new because nor in the school, nor in the Mac Donals House you´ll find internet. But in the Mac Donals restaurant you can find wi-fi free. (And from Monday to Friday in the public library at commercial street)
the break for lunch is one hour or more, so if you like hamburguers and internet, it's your time!

Teachers, the soul of a school.

Teaching stile: There are only 2 teachers with 2 very differents teaching ways
Reggie, the CEO (ceo of a company with 3 workers, himself, his girfriend Linda- Wellcome Manager- and Carla-teacher & administrative manager)
Sorry I was losing the point... Reggie knows the rigs, has a huge experience working on it, but has not skills explaining his knowledge. In fact his Canadian accent is difficult to understand for most foreigners, and for many Canadians too. If the accent is not an issue could be worse, because you discover that he don´t know how to explain the matter.
Carla, Knows how to explain things, could be a good teacher, but she doesn´t know the matter and she doesn´t care about. She simply read the papers, one after another killing us of boredom, avoiding questions to continue reading, or reading the answers.
You don´t believe me? Check this.

And for the regie's fans:

The motto of the school shall be.... 100 ways to lose your time (and money) during 20 days

Our only goal after many days is get the certificates and run away, finish the class everyday as soon as possible and go to the house. Once in the house we remember that we are 14 people with a single kitchen...

The House (14 people in 6 bedrooms + 2 bathrooms)

The house: 14 people in a house with 1 kitchen (with only a standard fridge) 2 toilets and 6 bed rooms. 1 single bedroom, others for 2 or 3 people and in the ground level, one for 4 people. Most bedrooms have not closet.
If your secret wish was to live in the "Big Brother House" this experience is the most similar you could found, but with not sex, not much at least.
The $800 x 20 days are only for bed, electricity and heater. 4 pieces of soap are also provided (for all)
Unbelievable? pics are coming...

Do you wanna sleep like sardines in oil? well come to room number six, where the snoring never stops!
Share your corporal smell and belongings with 3 unknown fellows, because you go to experience too how to live 20 days without a closet!!

Sorry, the above statement is not exact... you have all those balls that for 4 people.

Scope of the Blog

There are not too much data on the internet about this school except the official web page and comments and news written by Reggie Mac Donald's, Owner of the school.
The aim of this blog is to provide the student point of view to those persons which are in doubt, enroll or not enroll, because $ 5000 Canadian is a big bunch of bank notes.
In the other hand, hopefully could be a tool to remain in touch with all the people I met in North Sydney.
the training wasn't the best I ever had, but I enjoyed very much the buddies.