The Steamtug Blog

Even the singer Glenn Campbell thought this place was nice! After a week of plant process design reviews in Houston, the big concrete jungle, I detoured past the famous Johnson Space Centre and down to the coast to Galveston Island. Beautiful architectural buildings, coffee shops, a vintage sailing ship and a great railway museum. It’s got the lot! (continue reading…)

It takes a crazy man to put a jet engine into a truck…. so how crazy would you be to put 3 jet engines into a truck? “Shockwave” was just one of the amazing attractions I saw at the Chenault air base here in Louisiana at their annual airshow. With Hurricane Patricia breaking up over the gulf, it was bound to start raining soon, but there was too much to see and do before she arrived. (continue reading…)

I have had to spend some time in the 4th biggest city in the USA, Houston. I have been part of the plant design review team who are still working out how everything is going to work in our new plant we are going to construct. So while in Houston, I got to catch a ball game… Baseball, it’s just not cricket! The Houston Astro’s were playing the Los Angeles Angels. Although we lost (me being such a big Astro’s fan…) it was a great experience to see a real live ball game. (continue reading…)

We used to travel to Murwillumbah, Northern NSW for our Christmas holidays when I was in those impressionable teenage years, to stay at my Uncle’s caravan park. My cousin Steve had his car license and used to take me to the drag races at Surfer’s Paradise International Raceway and got me hooked on fast cars and booze. My dream was a Chevy Corvette and a bottle of Southern Comfort, and all these years later I can tick it off my bucket list! (continue reading…)

On the weekend, I got out and toured around the local area and bayous. No I know what John Foggerty was singing about all those years ago…  I drove down to the coast and saw the oil rigs dotted along the skyline in the Gulf of Mexico, had lunch with Forrest Gumps brother, visited the oldest wooden bridge in Louisiana, saw Loggerhead turtles in the swamp and ran away from an alligator! (continue reading…)

What did you do for the 4th of July celebrations? We had the Friday the 3rd off which is the way they usually take public holidays off, then Saturday my new friends Will and Sarah took me out on their boat, cruising all the way up the Calcasieu river, tying up at the river side boozer at Logger head! (continue reading…)

I always wanted to say that… and this past week, I had to visit Houston for meetings regarding the design of the new plant we are building here. I have never been so early into a project, and its a bit of a luxury for  me to be part of the design phase. They say everything is bigger in Texas, so how do you like my new ute? (just kidding….) (continue reading…)

So that’s just what I did! I picked up everything and moved to Louisiana USA! Bold move, some say… But not long after arriving I started a new job to design, commission and start up a brand new LNG (liquified farts) plant in Lake Charles Louisiana. (continue reading…)

It’s a very sad day for me… My last day working for Origin Energy as a Capability Delivery specialist. I started with them, February last year as the control room operations specialist, but due to a mistake in my contract, they moved me after 1 year to a field position. This meant too much waiting around in airports and I decided I didn’t need this job all that much. So I am leaving, my last day today. (continue reading…)

Coming back out here to the land of the Maranoa drover, things are looking different. 2 weeks ago it was still green from the summer rains (wet season), but now all looks dry and is desperate for rain! But don’t bother looking on google maps where I have gone, it’s so far up a black fellas bum, they don’t even have the tracks drawn in for the city folk living in the modern world! (continue reading…)