1 week in at Shaw Pipeline Services and all is well down in Houston –David and Mark and I arrived on Sunday and had a day to see a bit of the city and orientate ourselves. Houston is a vast city with a unique landscape of highways and high rises; we are living next to Rice University and the wonderful Museum District which I can’t wait to explore. The people we have met so far have been incredibly friendly with sunny dispositions to match the Texan sky.

We have been allocated our projects – myself and Mark will be focusing on a new product launch strategy for some of the newest developments for pipeline inspection (SPS supply scanners that identify weaknesses and cracks in welds of onshore and offshore pipelines) whilst David will focus on an internal communications project. It is hoped that our outputs on these will help the company solve the ‘problems’ around these. Thus, increasing efficiency of processes, sales and ultimately margins.

Christmas was not quite the relaxing break I had hoped for with a family member being diagnosed with a serious illness. This made for a trying and emotional couple of weeks.  For the first time this truly brought home the cost of opportunity – every day spent in Texas is one day less at home with those who matter most to me during a difficult time. Therefore I am utterly determined to the most of the opportunity contributing valuable, insightful work and getting as much from it as possible. Further to Sandrine’s blog I have also remarked how close the Saltire 10 became during our time at Babson and look forward to learning from their adventures across different sectors, states and time zones.

Today I think I have finally shrugged off the jet lag and have ramped up my caffeine consumption accordingly. This weekend will be about relaxing and getting some further insights into the Texan way of life.  I will share these insights and hopefully a picture of me in some rootin tootin boots as the journey continues…