Holdfast Training Services Trial Blog

As if in preparation for the move North, the snow in Gillingham began the night before the movers arrived. It hasn’t stopped for more than a few hours since, although the vagaries of the Aberdeen weather system has ensured that it hasn’t accumulated more than a few centimetres. Certainly not enough to discourage cycling to work, but it’s good to see it is not confined to us Northerners.

New Start

BP appear somewhat bemused to have another Sapper in the office and are at present deciding which team I am to work in, HR are scurrying around trying to find out how to register my employment, but despite this I ( under supervision) have managed to get an ID and so my foot is firmly in the door. I’ve been assured that I will have a laptop and a staff number soon and, much like Chris before me, the work will ramp up. Unsurprisingly I’m working in the same office as Chris at present, namely Projects and Mods, and so far I’ve mainly been referred to as Ish MKIII or Chris MKII proving there can be only one.

In the meantime I have started wading through the BP best practice doctrine such as “The Way We Work” an outline of the process by which projects and modifications are brought to the platforms and some guidance on the electronic system for managing change. I’ve booked myself on several of the courses required for onward integration, including the old heli dunker and survival at sea training which, by all accounts, is not as hard as in the good old days. No suprises there.

Bruce P60 Bridge Bearing Changeout

This is by no means on my plate at present, but I had the opportunity to sit in on Chris’ meeting with the Asset Programme Lead for Bruce, Kerry Scott. There is a distinct possibility that this project will come my way, which is mildly amusing in that it has been something of a PET project since Ish’s time with Chris writing the SOR for the Appraise phase and pushing it through to what is arguably the select phase. Either way, I’ve been reading up on it and will have my view on the situation next week.

Re-location

Corine and Hugo survived the move and are settling in well. The boxes are mostly unpacked and I have plenty of new furniture to un-flat-pack. Deep joy (love it really). Hugo was most entertained during the unpacking process and it just goes to show that you don’t always need expensive toys!

Time to enjoy this momentary lull!