I return to Thailand and start to relax. Well last year before I took the Australia job I was contacted about a job in the USA - that job got delayed so it is a good thing that I did go to Australia for 18 months. The job in the USA is now on and staffing up and they want me to interview. I do the interview and they ask me to join the project near Baton Rouge, Louisiana. They finally set a start date and we agree to terms and conditions and I get ready to return to the USA for the first time in 4 and a half years. This will also be the first time that I have worked in the USA since 2004.

Well off we go to Los Angeles to pick up my wheels. I arrive and make preparations to get to the Baton Rouge area for around mid-October. I hang out in Camarillo with my friends Daniel and Felicia for 3 days or so. This gives me a chance to get over some of the jet lag.

So off we go on the Monday and head over to Louisiana - I have not been there since my off-shore days in 1983 with a crew change in Morgan City. On the second day of driving I get a message that they do not want me on site until Monday October 22 - well I could have spent more time in Thailand with Tay. Such are the best laid plans.

I get to Baton Rouge on the I-10 and get tangled up in the traffic trying to cross the Mississippi river on the I-10 bridge. Well my exit is just before crossing the river as I am going to a town called Plaquemine. So I get off the interstate and head down LA highway 1 towards Plaquemine and there is a back up of traffic trying to transition the the east bound I-10 which is backed up for several miles. This tells me that living in Baton Rouge is not a good option if I want to stay clear of traffic jams. This is at 2pm on a Thursday afternoon. Anyhow I go find a motel and get checked in. I finally discover the the traffic is heavier than normal as a bridge to the south called the ‘Sunshine’ bridge was closed when a river barge hit the structure. It is undergoing repairs so this pushed a bunch off the traffic up to the I-10 bridge.

I relax and get some dinner and sleep still trying to get over the jet lag - it gets harder the older I get. The next day it is off to the industrial clinic for the requisite drug test - which I pass with flying colors. I get on the internet looking for an apartment to rent. Lots of stuff in Baton Rouge but slim pickings in the Plaquemine area. It is mainly rural and small town America on the west side of the I-10 bridge. I finally find a place and but it is not available until the first week of November. So I make arrangements to stay in a motel for the interim. The price of gas is sure cheaper than California - this was the price in mid-November. $2.29 a gallon then and now it is $1.91 a gallon.

I start working day shift 12 hours a day and then I tell the boss that I will need to leave early in the future to finalize my living arrangements. He then asks me if I will work night shift - this way I can get stuff done before coming to work and I don’t lose any paid time. So on to the night shift I go. This turns out to work for me really well.

I finally get into the apartment. Of course it is not furnished. So off to find a suitable bed frame and mattress. I get one of those foam mattress in a box with a frame for under $400. I am not wanting to have to buy a bunch of stuff as when the job is over I am likely going back to Thailand where I have called home for the past 20 years. To the rescue is a friend the I met in Saudi Arabia. My friend, James, lives about an hour south and has some spare stuff in the garage. So he makes arrangements to get some guys to haul it up to my apartment and move it in. I get a couch and a dining room table and chest of drawers. It is enough to get going and have some thing to sit on. When I leave he will get the guys to come pick it up. The delivery is not free but beats getting a bunch of furniture then try to sell it later. I also needed to buy a TV.