So, what have I been up to?

Just hanging with the kids. Ok, seriously, the vacation is over and I've been back at work. I never realized a) how much crap I'd collected in my office, b) how hard it is to carve yourself out of multiple computer systems and c) how much fun it is interviewing your own replacement. See, they want to be able to say "Oh yeah, I can do that and I can blow the guy you had away" but they can't because you're the person who is eliminating people. It's funny. On the other hand interviewing is also kind of sad because we had hundreds apply, only 10 in to interview and only one person gets the job. Everyone comes in looking all nice and clean and chipper and excited and in the back of my mind I still can't shake that 9 people are riding home in their car saying "I think that went pretty good" when only 3 will get a call for a second interview. Oh well, life isn't fair. All of that being said, I think this is a good time for interview stories, from either side of the table, because they are a necessary evil which we should all mock.

Private Oil and Gas Investing

(For the FIU regulars that come here, let me take an uncommon side step out of my typical persona to post on a topic I've had a few people ask me about.) With the current oil prices near, and tapping $100, I've had a few friends contact me because they have been approached about investing in oil and gas projects. Since they know that I am involved in the industry, they've asked me to look at the various packages they have had submitted to them. However, the question that I always get asked is this: "Do you think I should do it?" typically followed by "Would you do it?" These two questions are the big ones that every investor has to face in asking for advice but understanding the answer in oil and gas investing is a little different. As a result, I will give you my answer to those questions and how I have come to reach them so that you have an idea of how I believe that a successful investor needs to understand that even before you analyse a deal you need an analysis of yourself. To the answer to whether I would invest in a oil and gas deal is always the same ,"No." Now this isn't because the deal is bad or the company is bad or the prospect is bad. They may very well be all top notch. The reason that I can always answer "No" is that at this point in my life I do not have the money to spend on speculative investments. I can't make this point strongly enough but all, I repeat ALL, oil and gas deals are speculative. Period. I don't care if it's shallow, in field drilling. There is a risk every time of complete and total loss of all money raised for drilling, every time. I can't afford, at this point, to put the amount of money needed to partner in a well, into something that has a reasonable chance of netting me $0 return on investment. Understand, before I make people panic and say "I'll never invest in O&G" that the stock market and the like are just as volatile. The difference is that instead of basing your investments potential off of the perceived value of a company as based by accounting statements and economist your basing the potential for hydrocarbon recover off the work of geologist and engineers. There really isn't a drop in professionalism on either side but the simple fact is it cost more to play on our side. As a result, it is cheaper for me to diversify on the stock side of the market. As a result, the key in O&G investing is diversification, both in your over all investments and in your well partnership investments. It's the same as the logic that points out that if you walk in and bet all of your money on one hand of poker you will boom or bust quickly. However, if you only play with money that you can afford to lose and you play several hands you have a better chance for success. So my advice to oil and gas investors, who already know the have the money that they need and can afford to be speculative, is to spread your exposure over the best quality programs that you can find. Don't do one big project, do smaller positions in several projects of various scopes with multiple companies. This allows you to better gauge the programs that you are involved with. Also, be patient. Things in O&G move in spurts of activity. It's a lot of hurry up and wait. This is an additional reason to spread your programs because sometimes a rig timeline gets skewed and drilling gets put off but if you money is working in different places you have a better chance of seeing continued activity and not suffering the emotional roller coaster of waiting on operations. As far as selection of a company to invest with, there are loads to pick from. My company even does private placements, but there are strict restrictions on advertising and I can tell you firsthand that some of the wells we drill don't suit every investor. So let me give you what I would consider the important things to look at in considering a deal or vetting a company. A lot of people want to tout their record and a lot of people will tell you to ask for lists of the company's production or return to the investors. I have to say that I put less confidence in this. I've seen big companies hit a bad streak and hit only 1 out of 10 wells. Sound horrible, right? What if those wells all cost the same and that well they hit nets 20 times it's cost? I've also know of companies who can hit 10 wells in a roll and all produce just enough money that keep them on line but no one makes money. It's too easy to skew the data off of well results besides each project is different for the simple fact it's a different well being drilled. The two biggest things I'd stress checking is the company's standing and the projects strength. If a company is selling interests and it's not through a brokerage that is FINRA then skip it. If they won't submit themselves to the over site of the securities laws in their sales then you might as well move on. The second one is harder to judge but the amount of information you get is a clue. If the company doesn't provide you with logs, maps and production to look over you need to be skeptical. If they do, spend a little money and check the area on sites like Drilling info to see if the production and activity in the area the are representing is indicative of what's really going on. If the investment is sizable enough, hire someone with a background in evaluation to do this for you. (You know, I like my job but if you'll pay significantly I consider quitting to evaluate for you.) While this all seems like a lot of work and worry over an investment, it is. The good thing is that my best argument for why it is worth it goes like this: I know of a well In Lavaca Co, Texas that cost $2.4 million to drill in 2000. It came on at 242 barrels of oil per day and 4.4 million cubic feet of gas per day. As of this month it has produced 235,077 barrels of oil and 5.471 billion cubic feet of gas. Even if the oil and gas prices stayed locked at year 2000 levels that's a total of $5,876,925 in oil and $17,780,750 in natural gas. Of course, oil prices rose from $25 to $94 , today, and from $3.25 per mcf to $8.12, but I think I made my point. There is quite a bit of money to be made if you can afford to invest in it wisely. So, in summary, it's not for everyone. You have to be realistic in what level of exposure and risk you are comfortable with. This is really the strongest factor in answering the question of "should I do this deal?" And once you know that, proper planning on your side can help you minimize loss through an investing strategy and diversification.

Story of my life ....

Dominos With 1500 Hard Drives - Watch more free videos

I hate my city government more than anything in the world at this second. Even more than the damn Philly Eagles.

It sucks to be a light sleeper. It sucks to be an insomniac. This, however, sucks more. It's not that I expect everyone to care. Hell, I honestly expect some of you to laughingly admit that his sucks, but mostly laugh. I just figured that you guys deserved to be able to get a decent feed of my late night sarcasm in full bloom. While not to be confused with my finer traits, it is one of the corner posts of my character, or lack thereof. At 1:30, when I want to sleep and they're going all Discovery Channel "Loud week" on "Dirty Jobs" in front of my house, it's a pretty big part of who I am. p.s. Go Fred. Don't be surprised, but I'll probably ratchet up my pro-Fred a few notches because he's the top guy in my book. No reason to be apologetic about it. So expect me to go into full "Fred" mode because for my two cents, after giving them all a solid shot at impressing, he's the only real Conservative.

The Big One Zero Zero: Ca-Ching

Today, for the first time, oil hit $100 dollars a barrel. What caused today's jump to this historic high? ~ 1st: In Nigeria, bands of armed men invaded Port Harcourt, the center the oil industry Tuesday, attacking two police stations and raiding the lobby of a major hotel ~ 2nd: A surprise fall in manufacturing activity sparked fears of yet another interest rate cut from the Federal Reserve. Interest rate cuts generally cause the dollar to fall - and oil prices rise - as investors bail out of U.S. stocks and bonds and into commodities. ~ 3rd: One trader said word among traders on Wednesday was that Mexico plans to temporarily halt oil exports, although the reason was unclear. The Associated Press reported that several Mexican ports were closed due to rough weather. PEMEX, the Mexican state oil company, could not be immediately reached for comment. ~ 4th: Analysts are expecting the latest government inventory report - set for release Thursday, to show a 1.8 million barrel decline in crude supplies, according to a Dow Jones poll. It would mark the seventh straight week U.S. crude stocks have dropped. So, in summary, oil is up because commodities traders are taking a militia attack in Nigeria, fears of an interest rate cut, a rumor about Mexican oil and an unsubstantiated expectation of US oil inventory to drive speculation. Well allow me to sound a little like Eddie Murphy from "trading places" but what is really happening here is that a bunch of brokers realized that they pissed away too much money over the Christmas holiday, they're worried about the shortfall on their personal income taxes and they are trying to put some numbers on the board to protect their corner offices from the new hires and December graduates. Really, this whole commodities process is about as scientific as reading tea leaves and doing blood auguries. But, by all means let's just toss our hands in the air and panic! $100 dollars a barrel. The end is nigh.

I'm not dead yet

I know I haven't posted in a while but to quote John Lennon in one of his more lucid moments "Life is what happens when you were making other plans." Despite taking less hours, I've had exponentially more work in the ones I have. Additionally, we have had a well that has had almost everything that can go batty do just that. As a result the new guy in charge had to go there to straighten stuff out, thereby leaving me to do a lot of his work, on top of my work, in order to ensure that the well gets down. Does this really sound like a good excuse? I hope so because it all that I really got at the moment. The unintended effet is that over the last few weeks I'm been progressive pulled out of the loop from politics, the news and to a larger degree some well needed pop culture. I mean, for the love of all things irrelevant, I have no idea what Brittany Spears is doing. It's like living in a cave! So, I'll make a little more effort to try to catch up on current events so that I can rant accordingly. In the mea time, fill me in. What did I miss?

The Ends do not Equal the means

One of the things that I often find unlikeable is that very little furniture today truly feels well made. They can put on a great presentation and they can lacquer and coat all kinds of prefab woods but it doesn't have the same attention to detail that past furniture had. The furniture that does fit the description of having actual "craftsmanship" is normally very expensive. So, instead of having craftsmen constructed goods, we now pay the same amounts for computer cut kits that feel less sturdy and are less substantial. Another comparison to this is the feeling and the difference between a mass produced, computer cut pool cue and a hand made pool cue. I know that computers are faster and more efficient at manufacturing and they make less mistakes but they can't make the cue feel the same as one that was assembled by hand. It's subtle, but anyone that plays can tell you that the best cues still had a person put them together. From diamond grinders to plumbing, there are a lot of ways that machines and computers can shorten the amount of work that we have to do. Still, at the end of the day, if you want something done right an actual person has to take the time to sit down and make sure that it's done the right way. I think that our society is struggling with that. We get so used to convenience and ease that we forget that these things that we use are still just tools. Elaborate and highly functional tools? Sure. Effective and needed? You bet. Still, a tool is only useful when it is used, or directed, by intention and we still need people who will work to supply that intention. Supplying intention takes work. There is no way to do it that does not cost time and effort. Even the tools we use to "save time" cost time in their manufacture, purchase, training and use. Besides, we all know that a tool in the hands of an idiot and an artist have different values despite being the same thing. For this reason, we need to make an effort to remember that there is no "easy" way to do things right. Doing things right requires intention, attention and time. To try to pursue only those things that are easy and quick will inevitably lead to results that are indicative of the effort expended, despite the quality of the tools used. Craftsmanship doesn't have to be dead in a convenience driven world so long as we remember that we have to have the same will to do things right regardless of the tools we have. If we lose that will, no tool will keep us from being shoddy. With that will, we can do right with any tool or none at all. So, take the time and bend your will to do it right, if for no other reason that because it's the right thing to do.

Mexico: Why they should hate the US

The immigration battle has been tied to a lot of things. The issues of drugs, terrorism, assimilation, respect for the law and even racism have been mired to it in one fashion or another. However, there is one point I have yet to see discussed. Mexico should hate us because we steal their labor. Seriously, labor matters. Look at the effort that IRS makes to recover taxes from American workers who don't pay. Labor is the backbone of any country's economy and the US, by the sheer virtue of being better, takes Mexico's most willing workers each year. Hell, we don't even recruit. For all the talk of pride in Mexican culture, you can be damn sure that you won't hear the same crowing about the Mexican economy. Compare that to the US and then remember that they do most of their trade with us. Not to dog the efficiency but most remoras eat better when they are tied to the big shark in the pond, so Mexico is having issues. So what happens to John Q Mexico, who just wants a taste of the good life for the work that he does? Does he stay in Mexico and work to fix the system? Nope, he just comes over here, busts ass and gets paid. The American dream is still alive and well if you are willing to work and Mexico suffers from it. So if you were a nation that was governed by the inept and corrupted would you let the people most willing to work hard leave? I wouldn't, that seems like industrial suicide to me, but Mexico does. They'll all but encourage it for the sliver of left overs that Mexican ex-pats will send home. It's really kind of sad and pathetic. For us in the US, I guess we have to be a little proud because at the end of the day we know that we have it good. Hundreds of thousands of illegal immigrants don't come here each year by mistake and in doing so they prove that the US is like the popular rich kid in school: If we want your girlfriend, all we have to do is ask and she'll drop you like a hot rock. Right, Mexico?

Are you a leader?

My mom found this and suggested that I share it. It's a quiz testing leaderships skills. As with all good quizzes I took it. It seems that I am not really fit to lead in today's corporate structure. Some would follow that I am not fit to really follow either. While I could look at my score of 10 out of 100 possible points as a sign that possible improvement is needed I see it as a validation of the hard work I have put into forging my "wild ass, loose cannon, think inside of what box" persona. So either I'm a "Patton" in a world of "Bradleys" or a I'm the nail that's still sticking up. We all know what typically happens to that nail, right. It gets pulled out or beat down. So, take a minute and test yourself against the quiz, then post accordingly because after this Hood might be demoting me to the FIU mail room.

Work...!!!

I just got out of a meeting, checked out my email, shoved a sandwich down my throat and went into another meeting. In the mix of all of that I wondered "If Genghis Khan had to consider the insurance implications of mobilization and demobilization costs, infrastructure fabrication costs and projected contingency overruns do you think he would have just stayed home and gone fishing?" I bet so. I know that the guy raped and pillaged his way across the ancient world but I could totally kick his ass before he even started with one good meeting and a few Excel spreadsheets. By the time I was done, he'd be so bummed out that he'd dump his loot in a IRA and decide that his purpose in life was to make pottery in Santa Fe. Genghis Khan is my bitch.

Labor Day

Labor Day is a United States federal holiday that takes place on the first Monday in September. The holiday began in 1882, originating from a desire by the Central Labor Union to create a day off for the "working man". It is still celebrated mainly as a day of rest and marks the symbolic end of summer for many. Labor Day became a federal holiday by Act of Congress in 1894. So this morning I'm on my way to buy some Starbucks coffee for my wife, because that's how cool I am, and I have the #1 Son with me. In typical kid fashion he asks why I'm off today. In typical Dad fashion I tell him that it's Labor day, then explain what Labor day is, then go off on a tangent and end up giving him a theoretical lesson on the nature of work and what I consider to be the driving factor of it. The way I see it, and what I was telling him, is that there are two competing forces in work: Being paid for what you do and being paid for what you know. In essence, you have knowledge VS ability. The thing I was telling him was that while there are a few jobs that pay highly that are based on ability, most of the high paying jobs are based on knowledge. Of course, these two things aren't exclusive of each other. Eventually, it being work and all, ability based jobs require you to know stuff and knowledge based jobs require some ability. However, I told him that the key difference is that not everyone is willing to do the work to acquire knowledge. As a result, they are normally stuck in a job class that is limited because a lack o knowledge. On the other hand, some can over pursue knowledge and end up a double Dr in the Paleontology of left handed sloths and while an expert in the subject provide little or no service to the world. Thankfully, my son has put my nerves about his future choices of employment and education at ease. He said he plans to be a professional soccer player and race car driver and a scientist who is going to discover a way to make robots that teleport and can blow up the bad guys and that they will look like bionacles so that even the bad guys will think they look cool. What more could a father ask for. Take a good look Iran, in about 30 years this could be whipping your ass. 50 tons of plastic Lego inspired fury.

For those with humor

This is an excerpt from the uncyclopedia on the entry for the occupation of geologist. The Great Geologist-Engineer Controversy Geologists, secure in their vague estimates have forever conflicted with engineers and their need for a definitive, quantifiable answer since the building of the pyramids. The ancient Egyptian engineers had determined that the Great Pyramid would require 16.356732519874886510 metric tons of stone blocks to construct. The ancient Egyptian geologists yawned and disagreed. When it turned out that only 16.356732519874886509 metric tons were required, the geologists sneered and said, "I told you your calculations were wrong." The geologists, having been proven correct and superior, have been envied by engineers since that fateful day. Geology, being an art as much as a science, has always baffled and worried engineers, hence the engineers' defensive weapons of pocket protectors, slide rules, black socks, and eventually computers. But these have been no match for the geologist's rock hammer, hand lens, and Brunton compass (Note that the Microsoft software engineers did not even include Brunton in Word's spellcheck dictionary). While geologists have provided mankind with massive sources of energy such as coal, gas, and flatulence, engineers have been relegated to merely designing tanks to hold these natural resources. It's actually a pretty funny entry.

What we call "not a good day" at work

Here's what happened the last time we let Hood and JR on a well site Here is a dramatic reenactment of the events that led up to that fateful moment.

Fighting the burn

Politics has me a little torched out. I'm glad I'm not in class right now because work has gotten a little weird. I have a new "above me but not my boss" person to break in. (I'm sorta the community bitch in my office.) Mostly, over all I just feel weird. SO, I'm going to post a little random. It might suck, but then you guys don't have to read it. I figure that it's better than nothing and a lot better than just wigging out. So here is a video to a song that I made out with a girl to once. I'm not sure why but it's just one of those things that sticks with you. I think it's because the girl looked a lot like Bjork and the song was Bjork. She was a really short girl, like 5'2'. For the record, I'm like 6'2". In the end we only went out twice because her dad was Thai and he didn't want his daughter to date white guys. Great plan moving to Dallas, Einstein. Here is a video of my favorite group doing what was their best song in the Early 90's. It was the song we were playing the night that we were throwing water balloons into the lowered pickups of all the "cool kids" outside of the Taco Bell. They, of course chased us, but when they are in a lowered truck and I am in a jacked up truck "terrain" is the name of the game. Not the smartest thing i ever did, but damn fun. Here is the song that I danced to the night that I went to an episcopal camp and was "the guy" to dance with at their dance. Was I a good dancer? Hell no. I'm baptist, I can't dance to save my life. But as the "baptist guy" there, I was the poor mans substitute for the "bad boy" at a church camp full of Episcopal girls who had gone to the same camp with the same guys for years. A lot of those girls felt it was their destiny to rebel against their parents by kissing "the baptist guy" at camp, so who was i to stand in the way of progress and rebellion and the like? Finally, this was the song, or at least the music, that made me wish that I played guitar. It's from the movie Crossroads. This scene is at the end where Ralph Macchio plays (actually Ry Cooder plays the guitar for his parts) against the Devil's guitarist (Steve Vai) for the soul of his friend who had traded it to the Devil way back when at the crossroads for a "mojo hand." So now, you've had a small exposure to musically odd Rob. I'll cap this with a song that I want to dedicate to all the ladies.

Recollections

When I was in high school, we took a "creativity test." It was a deal cooked up by a local college that asked a series of questions designed to measure problem solving ability, observation style, logic and application of creativity based against a sample of like aged and educated people. So I remember sitting there in my art class pounding through this "there are no wrong answers" test that was supposed to let me know how "creative" I was. The tests were taken and the tests were sent off. About a month later we received the results of the test, with a qualitative write up explaining what the individual scores meant and what they cumulative effect of your scores meant. As a teen who was into art and planning to go to college and major in art, I was really interested to see what this test said. Supposedly, this was a bleeding edge test that gave you incredible insight as to how and why your brain worked creatively the way it did. As I looked over the results, I was extremely happy as all my scores were very high numbers. In each section I was above the 90th percentile. My immature little quasi-man ego was stoked and I thought "Dude, I'm a creative superstud." This belief was short lived. In the qualitative section, the sum effect of my scores, boiled down to this, paraphrased here for you now: "This individual shows a high degree on nonlinear thinking skills and a high degree of perception, combined with an extremely high crossover score in logic and problem solving. The percentages suggest that the amount of mental process crossover is abnormal and we suggest that they be tested for autism or for the potential of schizophrenia. In both cases, future mental instability has a high correlation to scores at this level." Being told that your probably a nut, or at least going to become one, has a memorable effect on you. However, I don't take that test all that seriously then or now, all these years later. I'm pretty sure that if I was going to snap, I'd have done it by now. Still, just in case, if I do snap my plans are to endlessly repeat something like this: "At the doorway of his wigwam Sat the ancient Arrow-maker, In the land of the Dacotahs, Making arrow-heads of jasper, Arrow-heads of chalcedony. At his side, in all her beauty, Sat the lovely Minnehaha, Sat his daughter, Laughing Water, Plaiting mats of flags and rushes Of the past the old man's thoughts were, And the maiden's of the future. " It's from Hiawatha by Longfellow. I figure that nothing is creepier than saying something that isn't really creepy over and over until it seems creepy if your going to be a crazy old guy. Besides, it has "chalcedony" in there, which would be a little mineral collecting thing so it could be, you know, personal. Now if you guys have any suggestions for other crazy stuff to mutter, I'm open for suggestions because it's not like i want to hog all the credit and it never hurts to be prepared before one might snap. After all, let's be pragmatic, you need a good plan. Of course, if my phone rigns one more time with one more stupid question from the same stupid person at the same stupid computer with the same stupid problem, I might need to act crazy as a defense for my trial.

One more reason to hate those stupid eco-hipsters and their corn cob humping ethanol

The cost of beer has climbed 3 percent over the last year, slightly outpacing the rate of inflation, according to data from the Department of Labor. And the cost of downing a brew at a restaurant or bar jumped 3.8 percent. But the price of beer could see an even larger jump next year. The price of barley, a key ingredient of most beers, has shot up 48 percent over the last 11 months. Since some breweries buy contracts for a year in advance, the increase in barley cost has not affected most beer prices. "We're definitely concerned. We don't want to be in a position where to remain profitable we price our beer out of some consumers. We want to be able to keep our beer affordable," said Doug Odell, founder and brewmaster of Fort Collins-based Odell Brewing Co. Odell said his company's production costs have gone up 10 percent to 15 percent over the last year. Since Odell buys its barley in October for the following year, the jump in its production costs is mostly from increases in the prices of energy and glass, Odell said. The price of barley has escalated drastically, breweries and industry analysts said, in part because of a tighter supply caused by more farmers growing corn. The advent of biofuels - such as E85, which is made of 85 percent corn ethanol - has helped push the price of corn futures up 49 percent since December 2005. "More corn acres were planted this year than at any other time since 1944. Those acres had to come from somewhere," said Nancy Krull, director of marketing for the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, a commodity exchange. Now, I can't speak for the calmer heads around here, but I'm personally going to have to consider issuing a "Beer drinkers fatwa" that terrorist actions against ethanol plants might be a good thing if it keeps beer cheap. If the eco-wussies want to run around in chafing hemp clothes, I could care less. If they want to live in 0 carbon footprint homes made out of mud and recycled newspaper mache thats fine by me. But when they mandate ethanol production that is less chemically efficient, gives crappier gas milage and makes my beer cost more I'm pissed. This may very well mean war. (h/t Mom)

If you need me any time next week...

I'll be right here... Diana, Dave, Rob... don't burn the place down.

My excuse

Sorry, I've been posting way below level but, well, that's just how it is. We have a "freaking huge-ass" project at work. So I'm still going to class, then coming to work, then adding about another 15 hours per week of overtime on the project, then studying for class but only if the kids and wife aren't awake, because I really want to make sure I do stuff with them. I know you guys understand and you've been pretty cool about cutting me slack, and all, so I felt I should give an explaination. In the mean time I've had a few good things happen (more money for me) and few bad things happen (water heater cracked so I had to replace it therefore, less money) and some indifferent things happened. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to catch up soon, as the project should play out late this week or early next week. Until then, here's some pics I took on the camera phone. Let's all just imagine that they are a visual representation of me passing by what once used to be a functioning Republican party that now has gotten on the wrong side of the immigration bill despite the flow of traffic, instead of getting with it. I think that's called a metaphor, or something.

Starbucks' wisdom, or lack thereof?

I went to Starbucks this morning for coffee. The coffee I got came in the typical Starbucks cup. These cups now include Starbucks "Way I see it" sayings. The purpose is given on their website as: Sparking conversation In the tradition of coffee houses everywhere, Starbucks has always supported a good, healthy discussion. To get people talking, “The Way I See It” is a collection of thoughts, opinions and expressions provided by notable figures that now appear on our widely shared cups. This was mine, of which the picture I will post. It reads: "Why in moments of crisis do we ask God for strength and help? As cognitive beings, why would we ask something that may well be a figment of our imaginations for guidance? Why not search inside ourselves for the power to overcome? After all, we are strong enough to cause most of the catastrophes we need to endure." ---Bill Schell, a Starbucks customer from London, Ontario, Canada Now that's less interesting than cup 230: Heaven is totally overrated. It seems boring. Clouds, listening to people play the harp. It should be somewhere you can’t wait to go, like a luxury hotel. Maybe blue skies and soft music were enough to keep people in line in the 17th century, but Heaven has to step it up a bit. They’re basically getting by because they only have to be better than Hell. -- Joel Stein, Columnist for the Los Angeles Times Lest one think that Starbucks has gone anti-religion they also have these cups: The Way I See It #92: You are not an accident. Your parents may not have planned you, but God did. He wanted you alive and created you for a purpose. Focusing on yourself will never reveal your purpose. You were made by God and for God, and until you understand that, life will never make sense. Only in God do we discover our origin, our identity, our meaning, our purpose, our significance, and our destiny. -- Dr. Rick Warren, author of "The Purpose-Driven Life" and The Way I See It #158: It's tragic that extremists co-opt the notion of God, and that hipsters and artists reject spirituality out of hand. I don't have a fixed idea of God. But I feel that it's us – the messed-up, the half-crazy, the burning, the questing – that need God, a lot more than the goody-two-shoes do. -- Mike Doughty, musician So here's my question: knowing that they are going to get complaints by having cups that opine on religion and knowing that people are too PC today to not "get offended," is it a wise marketing idea to include these things on their cups? Personally, I'm OK with it because I don't feel particularly challenged by most of the cups to alter my core beliefs and it does foster conversation, which is one of Starbucks corporate image selling points. However, the greater question about whether or not our society has the patience to look at an issue and discuss it rationally is still a business gamble. Your thoughts?

Tales from the Court

I was reminded of this story by a friend and I felt the need to share it. I used to work for the Federal Court. The building is protected by armed security under the watchful eye of the US Marshalls. As a result, everyone had to pass through metal detectors on the way into court. SO once upon a time, my boss and I headed through the employeee line at the metal detectors leading into the court. As we came through, we placed our stuff in the trays. On the other end, one of the armed security guys took my knife and opened it, held it up to a piece of paper and said " This knife is illegal. I'm going to have to take it." I replied " No, it's not." Standing up and getting all authoritative he gives me his quasi-cop stare and says "The blade is over 4 inches. I could arrest you for this." He then shows me this piece of paper with a photocopy of a 12 inch ruler on it. I laughed at him and told him "The blade is 3 and 3/4 inches. I know that for a fact, but if you want to arrest me for it, please do. Until then I'm just going to hold on to your measuring paper and you can hold my knife. At the end of the day, I'll come down and we can report all of this to your supervisor." He gave me a confused look but said ok. Hey, he wins. He has my knife, right? About an hour later, I got a phone call to go down stairs to meet with the head of the US Marshalls office about the knife incident. Luckily, I knew the head Marshal because we were both hockey fans and talked hockey, so I knew I'd get a fair shake. So I roll into his office and there is the US Marshall, the security guy and his supervisor. We all sit down and he asks us what the problem is. I offer to let the security guy to go first. He does. He tells his story and adds that I was "rude, confrontational and in violation of the law." Once it was my turn, I asked if there was a rule against carring a legal knife in the building. Now this might have changed in a post 9/11 world but at the time the answer was "no." So I then asked the Marshall if he had a ruler. He did. I asked him to measure the blade. It was 3 3/4 inches. I then asked him to measure it on the piece of paper, it was 4 1/8th, or someting like that. Then he laughed and then I laughed and then both the security guard and his boss looked at us like we were nuts. The marshal gave the guard his ruler and told him to use it from now on but that other than that he'd handle it from here. They left, and then we laughed a lot more. For what it's worth, he kept the photocopied ruler and framed it and put it on his wall with a little sticker that said "US governmental ruler."

Immigration reform and my general disagreement with CNN's Ruben Navarrette Jr.

I generally try to read any of the commentaries that Ruben Navarrette Jr. does on CNN because I think he presents his opinions in an intellectually honest way. He argues his positions persuasively but I can't recall him engaging in any questionable argument tactics. He's not a mud slinger. He's not particularly caustic or abrasive. I think he tries to make a clean effort to be persuasive. That being said, I think in today's commentary he's also wrong. His point, to the best of my reading comprehension, is that a general fear of foreigners and foreign immigration drives today's immigration reform efforts. As support for his argument he points to the historical context of Benjamin Franklin's concern of German settlers in the 1700's as a analogue for the current American sentiment that drives immigration attitude. I feel that this is a poor representation of today's reality because while the historical data may be accurate it is not an effective correlation to today's world. Since the 1700, it is fair to say that ,despite his views on percentage of population to immigration ratios, the US has taken on millions, if not billions, of immigrants. That doesn't speak of a culture that fosters a general fear of immigration. To the contrary, is shows that our society is perhaps the most open and inclusive in the world. If he disagrees, a simple sampling of immigration percentages divided by diversity would more than likely prove my point. The elephant in the room is that Mexicans, both legal and illegal, recognize that the economic environment of these two nations are vastly unequal. In that, and in the interest of the "Latino cultural narrative", there is a built in cultural bias to excuse and make reasons for the behavior of the demographic that they belong to. That's not a unique invention, it's human nature. In that, the disparity of working conditions and the value of low cost Mexican labor has become their key talking points in the justification of their action. However, his oversimplification of motivation of those who want immigration reform is hardy fair in that it doesn't address a key feature of the debate: The legality of borders. As a people, I think that Mexicans, and to a equal degree the other Latin American countries, have every reason to be proud of their culture. In my personal experience, their culture has a strong history, values education, elevates the family, respects and expects hard work, encourages innovation and has a less hectic pace of life. I'd honestly say that in some respects they have a better quality of life in the areas that matter, such as protecting the unit of the family and caring for the elderly. However, they are the victims of socialism and corruption at governmental levels and as a result they experience lower levels of economic opportunity and inefficient levels of asset and resource utilization. This drives opportunity, work and workers north to the US. That, in it's self, is not the issue. The issue is that by refusing to secure the border and by refusing to document who is crossing when, we are open to undesirables, by that I mean criminals and terrorist. I don't fear Latinos and the people I know don't either. They work hard and the love their family, whats scary about that? No, I worry about maras and I worry about islamofacists using the porous southern border to enable launching attacks on our citizenry. So with all due respect to Ruben Navarrette Jr, I'd submit that most people, in any country, care about who is coming into their country because of what they intend to do, not where they intend to work and if that's a bad thing then why does Mexico maintain a militarized southern border with Belize and Guatemala? They do that because they're smart and we need to be smart as well.

Why does gasoline cost so much?

When I get asked the question "Why does gas cost so much" it means 1 of 2 things. The first is that someone wants to bitch about gas prices. They don't really care why. They just want to bitch. In those cases, I just let them rail away and nod my head in a sagely fashion because I'm not going to try to explain. The more rare second case is that the person wants to know. I'll explain production and economics as much as they care to listen to and as much as I know. In the second case, though, people are normally surprised by things like this: Venezuela pulls control from Big Oil President Hugo Chavez makes an attempt to reclaim resources by taking operational control of the Orinoco Belt. I know that a lot of people look at it and say "Why should we care" or" Well he's just protecting his country's resources." No, actually he's fucking over investors and companies here to make himself rich by jacking the prices and control of a large portion of oil that US and foreign companys found, through legal investment exploration agreements, before he ever took power. His nationalization plan may look good on paper, but when something breaks, and it will, he better hope that he can fix it. Likewise, he better pray that his people have some really gifted geologists, geophysicists, drilling engineers, development engineers, refinement people and support staff because most major companies don't want to trust a deal breaking tyrant. Sure, you may have very little empathy for the big oil companies but as a major exporter of oil to the US, we need to recognize that the erratic behavior of Chavez, like instability in the middle east, is a price affecting agent. Just like driving a car, the flow of oil is only as good as the nut behind the wheel.

Why Rob's In a low volume blog post cycle

1. Finals 2. New Baby 3. The other kids 4. Big project at work in which i have to write things like this: The tectonic stresses in the area produced a large number of compressional and transpressional structures. The Cook Inlet Basin is bounded by a series of large, high-angle reverse faults that often display evidence of right-lateral, strike-slip movement. These large, basin-bounding faults exhibit several thousand feet of vertical displacement, as well as several miles of strike-slip displacement. The basin-bounding fault system acted as a major control on sedimentary deposition within the basin and in particular, the deposition of large, braided stream-fed alluvial fans. During the Tertiary, these alluvial fans formed good quality reservoir rocks on both sides of the basin. Nearly all of the oil production in the Cook Inlet Basin comes out of the Tertiary alluvial fan deposits. Thrilling, eh? So in order to keep the ball rolling as I'm mucking about, tell me your best joke, story or antecdote involving children.

Thursday's work advice for the day

Suggestion: When everyone else is going to be "out on friday" and therefore dumps things on you that they need by the end of the day, make a mental note to breathe deeply and consider these weird facts: ~ Wild flamingos are pink because they eat carotene-containing brine shrimps (one species) or blue-green algae (another species). Lacking such food in zoos, they turn white unless fed caroteniferous substitutes--carrots, beets, or red peppers in the old days, or the additive canthaxanthin today. ~ Salmon caught in the wild are orange because of their diet of crustaceans that contain carotenoid. The flesh of farm-raised salmon, which don't feed on crustaceans, is an unappetizing gray unless the fish are given the carotenoid astaxanthin. ~ The plumage of canaries can be changed from yellow to red if they are fed paprika during molt. How does that help? It doesn't, but it is weird. I also like to remember that at any given time the only thing that keep you from seeing every person around you naked is typically a 1/8" thick layer cloth. Which is sometimes a blessing and sometimes a curse. Then, I think about Jennifer Beil. Then I feel guilty about thinking about Jeniffer Beil, because I'm married and I'm way older than her. Then I think about pie. Normally, by the time I get to pie, I'm better. Back in the zone. Back in my happy place. With pie. And my wife. and maybe jennifer Beil, as long as the wife is there. So what do you do to calm down on "those" days?

Taking 5

Sorry i haven't posted that much this week. See, I'm on vacation. With my mom taking last week off to help with the older kids and stuff around the house, it was better for me to take this week "off" in order to help the little woman. She openly has admitted to exploiting the fact that I'm here this week as she's recovering, but I don't really care, and to be honest she wouldn't really care if I cared because she knows that I wouldn't care and that if I said that I did care then I would just be messing with her. So far this vacation has consisted of me still having to go to school. I also have two really important work projects that I work on any chance I get. Also, I have to pick the kids up and drop them off and get them ready for school and stuff. Oh yeah, I've been taking my wife to doctor visits and the dentist. I've also been doing stuff with the new baby and shopping. So after looking at it technically, my actual vacation consists of not going into my actual office building, wearing shorts instead of bluejeans, getting to cook and not having to fix anyone's computer problems at work. I'm not sure, but I think I might be doing this "vacation" thing the wrong way.

The Dangers of Multitasking

Digital devices pervade every aspect of our lives. Technology is all around us. From cell phones to iPods to mobile GPS devices and DVD players in our cars. We have technology at our fingertips, in front of our faces, or within hand or arm reach at all times in our lives. At work we have computers, and access to email and other applications which have been seen to improve our production because we are now able to multi-task - or so we would think. I began writing this post at 5:35 PM, and when I began, it was with the intent to see how many interruptions I could record, and how those interruptions and distractions would affect the final time of the post. Ordinarily I will work through a task only stopping to check an email when the email notification indicates that it is from someone whom I know has something important for me at that moment, otherwise, my email can generally wait for an hour or so while I work on what is at hand. In the last hour I have checked so-called "important" emails 4 times, and have responded to 3. Instant messages are a different matter. I received an IM from Hoodlumman about 20 minutes ago and it has badly distracted me. I spent at least five minutes looking at these images of Lindsay Lohan rather than getting to the point of where the inspiration for this little piece came from (Mind you, this is not all presented in the order things occurred. I have rearranged text to keep a certain point I'm making to the end. This post was outlined before it was written. Also to help with proving the point). Now, the pics didn't distract me too long from the initial viewing, but each time I think of them it adds a few moments distraction to the effort of writing this post. The point that I'm trying to make, is that in writing this post, I have been interrupted by every sort of office interruption you can imagine. From the personal call to the professional call, from the IM to the email, and this hour almost two hour process of multi-tasking has implications outside the office. Every time I have been interrupted I have had at least a few moments of trying to "remember where I was" in the process. Now, to the inspiration for this post.... I read an article in the New York Times which discussed the dangers and problems associated with multitasking. This article made me think first about the dangers from technology in my life. I am an avid motorcyclist when I am home and able to ride as often as I like, and everything from cell phones to PDAs in use by drivers in cars have become a danger to me. Consider this, from the New York Times article: Study participants were given two tasks and were asked to respond to sounds and images. The first was to press the correct key on a computer keyboard after hearing one of eight sounds. The other task was to speak the correct vowel after seeing one of eight images. The researchers said that they did not see a delay if the participants were given the tasks one at a time. But the researchers found that response to the second task was delayed by up to a second when the study participants were given the two tasks at about the same time. In many daily tasks, of course, a lost second is unimportant. But one implication of the Vanderbilt research, Mr. Marois said, is that talking on a cellphone while driving a car is dangerous. A one-second delay in response time at 60 miles an hour could be fatal, he noted. Now, consider another oddity of the modern era. I don't only place overuse of technology as a problem for cagers. I consider myself a part of the problem. I have a heavy touring motorcycle. My bike is equipped with the following gadgets that many folks wouldn't think of: 4-speaker stereo with in dash CD player (no I wouldn't consider changing CDs whild riding) CB/intercom Weather band GPS Now some might think that is too much already, but consider that the stereo can be upgraded to include Bluetooth connectivity for a cell phone and XM or Sirius satellite radio. The distractions possible just on my bike alone are every bit as dangerous as those available to the deadliest cager. Nevermind the helmet adapters that Nolan just released which include Blackberry support. I have seen all manner of activity which have the effect of making life more, not less, dangerous, from reading the newspaper while driving, using a laptop while commuting, putting on makeup, etc, and it amazes me that more of us aren't dead on the streets. The point, is that multi-tasking is dangerous, and it appears it may not make us more productive at all. And a final note: When I finished writing this post one of my employees came in to ask some questions, and I forgot that I hadn't pressed the Publish button. This post took over two hours to write and post including all of the distractions.

Skills

When I was just another dumbass in college, I took classes in all the "basics." I then added classes in philosophy and even more classes in art. I learned the mental skills involved in debate, pragmatism, the history of Renaissance Iconographic imagery and the physical skills of drawing, painting, ceramics, sculpture, digital photo-manipulation, photography, metalwork, jewelry design, printmaking, lithography and glass blowing. Folks, that right there is a skill set that has an exceptionally limited scope of practical application. Yet, somehow, this evolved in jobs doing printing, then graphic arts, then web design, then IT support to networking. Surely a wider scope of application. So you'd think that I would stay put, right? Wrong. That landed me a job where I have now learned structural geology, GIS mapping, digitizing, well log interpretation, log correlation, seismic interpretation and reservoir evaluation from practical application standpoint. However, while practical application is great, understanding the theoretical applications is important in order to avoid theoretical mistakes that lead to practical disasters. So, I'm back in school learning the "why" to all the things I know "how" to do as well as the things I didn't know how or why they were interconnected. I say all of this to get to the point that despite the fact that I know all this stuff, the need to learn more stuff pretty much ensures that I'm going to be learning things in order to move forward until the day I keel over. I know on some days that I feel like Sisyphus in that the task of learning is a continual struggle that might appear beleaguering but I'll be damned if I don't admit that for all the difficulty learning new stuff is worth it, and fairly exciting. I can't tell you how cool it is to drive my car by a rock outcrop and to know the age of the rock that I'm looking at, or how cool it is to take the kids to the creek and to know where to look for fossils or when the kids ask why the sun is bright to be able to explain to them the idea of fission or to grasp immensity of geologic time. I appreciate all the people that encourage me in the pursuit of further education because it is hard to balance the life and keep the hours but never doubt that despite the difficulty that I'm loving it. It may not look like it when I'm bent over a chemistry book working out the electrochemical balance of a voltaic cell but understanding the reason "why" is actually pretty addictive. So for those people that give me the occasional kick in the pants or pat on the back, I appreciate it. Moral support may seem meager to people when they give it but it's a major boon when you recieve it. Thanks.

"Bemoaning the continued issues with people that use "weatherbug" in our office and the IT problems that is causes" in 5-7-5 haiku

if you want to know the local weather today stick your hand outside

Be my boss

I know that a fair segment of our traffic comes form the Uma Thurman's thong seekers and the Hillary Duff bikini picture searchers of the Internet but we still try to bring unique content to our readers. Sometimes this is easier than others. None of us are employed in particular centralized Washington job where we could dish cool and interesting partisan dirt. None of us work in Hollywood where we can email you Uma Thurman's underwear or get pictures autographed by Hillary. (Sorry, Iranian Defense department. So quit asking already.) In fact, 3/5ths of this little group works in oil. Now, I know that I get a few hits from university websites on the mineral porn posts and I also believe the the concept of six degrees of separation so I'm going to throw this out there. Today, is a special day in that, if you are qualified, you can be my boss. That's right, my boss is leaving this job to pursue other ventures and this has opened the door for employment with my centralized DFW area job. Here's a copy of the requirements that they posted. Description: An independent energy company engaged in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of oil and natural gas, is seeking an experienced exploration/development geoscientist for its Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent areas of activity. Duties/Responsibilities: This position will co-ordinate and handle all of the geoscience duties and/or tasks in the company’s areas of activity. Position requires an individual who can work to assemble and review new projects in the Gulf Coast and Mid-Continent areas of the United States as well as monitor and