I just got the true story on some scuttlebutt that has been bouncing around the last few days. I'm working graveyard this week, so I didn't have contact with anyone who knows.
This morning I was relieved by the Foreman and got the facts (as much as he knows).
My company is in escrow and being sold.
THE BAD:
I've only met the guys that are buying the company once, briefly, about a year ago, so I have no idea if we'll get along or have the same goals.
I make an appropriate salary, but ...new peons are cheaper, or the owners can just say "This is what we'll pay you."
They plan on me doing the work more fitting for a 20 year old.
THE GOOD:
They've got a reasonable budget to start correcting the ongoing problems with the facility and expanding production.
I have over 25 years experience in the oil field, I'm worth the money.
The budget (initially) sounds like they plan on using contractors to do the heavy work.
These are just my initial thoughts. I'm not going to go into panic mode just yet. It will take at least 3 months to get all the details worked out(permits, royalty contracts, etc.).
The only thing I know about the "possible" new owners from when I met them a year ago, is that they are that they are Iranian, they drive Benzes and one of the brothers has hair longer than I do.
One other piece of good news is that they have oil sites in Texas (and some other state that I immediately forgot because I just went "No way I'm going there"). So I may be able to transfer to Texas with a job in a couple of years. YeeeeeHaaaaw!!!
Or I get "let go", have to sell my house (with a 400% profit), and move to Texas. The Emperor just bought big new house, he must have a room to let.
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Monday, July 14, 2008
Bachalorhood
He He, eat your heart out guys, My wife just flew off for a three month visit with her sister in Montana. Yeeeehah!!!
Course in about 2 weeks I suppose I'm going to have to figure out how to wash my underwear and socks. Food....food is going to be fun. I don't cook, and my boy learned from me. The wife left us a weeks worth of prepared meals, but after that, well, maybe you guys should buy stock in Burger King, Jack-in-the-Box, etc.
For some reason my liberal hippy/capitalist in-laws decided to move to Montana and open a restaurant/bar. The rebuilding phase of the project is done and my wife went up for the set-up and get he project going.
My life is now an experiment of going from Work (go make money), Home (try to get some sleep so I can go back to work...and fix some things around the house), to Work, Home and Crap I've got to do at home and get the boy to contribute. I haven't had to function on my own for 25 years, and I get to drag my son into it at the same time.
I've got to go to the Supermarket in a few days and I HATE shopping. I've done it before, and I know the rules, but I hate being around people who also know the rules but are to damn dumb to figure apply them. If you're going to use a check to pay, fill out the other lines on the check, the hard stuff, like date, Payee, memo (if you use it), signature. Don't wait till the total shows up and then start looking for your checkbook, then drag out your coupons so you have to write a new check.
If that's my biggest bitch, I suppose we'll survive, but I've gotten old and I don't like changes in my lifestyle.
Course in about 2 weeks I suppose I'm going to have to figure out how to wash my underwear and socks. Food....food is going to be fun. I don't cook, and my boy learned from me. The wife left us a weeks worth of prepared meals, but after that, well, maybe you guys should buy stock in Burger King, Jack-in-the-Box, etc.
For some reason my liberal hippy/capitalist in-laws decided to move to Montana and open a restaurant/bar. The rebuilding phase of the project is done and my wife went up for the set-up and get he project going.
My life is now an experiment of going from Work (go make money), Home (try to get some sleep so I can go back to work...and fix some things around the house), to Work, Home and Crap I've got to do at home and get the boy to contribute. I haven't had to function on my own for 25 years, and I get to drag my son into it at the same time.
I've got to go to the Supermarket in a few days and I HATE shopping. I've done it before, and I know the rules, but I hate being around people who also know the rules but are to damn dumb to figure apply them. If you're going to use a check to pay, fill out the other lines on the check, the hard stuff, like date, Payee, memo (if you use it), signature. Don't wait till the total shows up and then start looking for your checkbook, then drag out your coupons so you have to write a new check.
If that's my biggest bitch, I suppose we'll survive, but I've gotten old and I don't like changes in my lifestyle.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
T.V. Heaven
I watch way more television than I should. part of it is I grew up with TV and parts I just am use to the noise running in the background. I sleep with the set on.
I've slept with either the TV or radio running since I was about 10.
I'm in heaven today, remember the excitement back when "24" was going into it's second season? That's how I feel now.
"Burn Notice" finally goes into it's second season. I fell in love with this series by accident. New show, nothing else on, what the hell, give a look.
It had a new plot, well there are no new plots, but a unique slant on an old plot, interesting back story(ies) running through it, and it was funny.
I rate it up there with Magnum P.I., JAG, NCIS, I'll bet the producers of Burn Notice sat in a room a long time watching these programs and figuring what it was that made them work. They did.
I could give a rat's ass whether the "spy" crap is accurate or not. The articles say "The show's propmaster actually builds the gadgets Michael builds on the show in order to see if it could actually be done, then teaches Jeffrey Donovan how to do it in significantly less time than he did it.", but like I said, I don't really care. Give me an entertaining story and some fancy two-step, I'm sold.
I'll also mention that a small reason I watch might, just might have something to do with Gabrielle Anwar.
A brunette with an Irish temper and a gun? Say no more.
Sunday, July 06, 2008
Cool Pics Of My Old Oil Field
I intended to post some political commentary on some articles I read this morning, but when I got home, it was 100 degrees and the A/C is crapped out. I'm hot already, no need to get myself hotter.
I did some net searches just typing in things and seeing what popped up and I ran across some pics of my old oil field just west of downtown Los Angeles. These are of the jack-line sites.
This site was converted to individual pump jacks just before I started working there. It worked 6 wells. The building stood for about 5 more years and we'd store minor stuff that we didn't care if it got stolen, but basically it was a place for rats and cats to increase their population.
A close-up of one of the pumping jacks.
This next site was operational for about 4 years after I started there. I wish there was a pic of the inside of the power house. Big gears, 6 ft, long flat belt drive system...(insert Tim Allen grunt here).
Next is a plan of the site showing how three wells were run off one power plant. The concentric wheel that drove it always had one well at the top of it's stroke, one at the bottom and one half way. A position and balancing act.
Efficient? Yes, very! The only problem was if you had a problem with one well and had to work on it, the other two were off as you lost your counter balance. Three units down instead of one. We switched to individual pumping units in the mid '80's.
This well is at the corner of Rockwood and Glendale.
You want to know how close to the civic center we were, just MapQuest it...I did it for you here (lazy bastards), just back out one click (-), "A" is the site and the spot that says Los Angeles is city hall.
This is the power house. Wow, looking at it now, we should have slapped a coat of pain on it, but back then to me, it just looked like oil field.
I want to point out that the Queen Anne style house on this site was occupied by an owner. This was the fall back property for the Manleys. They started here and, if times got that bad, would return there. When the Manley member of the family that lived there, for 48 years, died, we rented it to one of our employees for the incredible sum of $180/month. (Kept his wages low...Oh yeah, he was Hispanic.)
In reality, the guy we rented to was the guy right below me in seniority, and made a damn good salary. Wife and three kids, it was a subsidy from a corporation. He got inexpensive rent...we were assured of someone in the area to respond to any oil field problems. A good trade.
This is how the site ended up. I saw it everyday, and didn't notice how crappy it looked, but it was in the middle of a crappy looking neighborhood. We had to put in the chainlink to keep people off the property, the area was getting a little scary and because nobody wanted to see oil wells, we put slats in the fence which gave them an easel to paint on which made the city bitch at us about covering up the graffiti, hence a crappy looking fence.
If this field were still producing, and I had anything to do with it, I would have proved that oil production and people could continue to coexist.
I did some net searches just typing in things and seeing what popped up and I ran across some pics of my old oil field just west of downtown Los Angeles. These are of the jack-line sites.
This site was converted to individual pump jacks just before I started working there. It worked 6 wells. The building stood for about 5 more years and we'd store minor stuff that we didn't care if it got stolen, but basically it was a place for rats and cats to increase their population.
A close-up of one of the pumping jacks.
This next site was operational for about 4 years after I started there. I wish there was a pic of the inside of the power house. Big gears, 6 ft, long flat belt drive system...(insert Tim Allen grunt here).
Next is a plan of the site showing how three wells were run off one power plant. The concentric wheel that drove it always had one well at the top of it's stroke, one at the bottom and one half way. A position and balancing act.
Efficient? Yes, very! The only problem was if you had a problem with one well and had to work on it, the other two were off as you lost your counter balance. Three units down instead of one. We switched to individual pumping units in the mid '80's.
This well is at the corner of Rockwood and Glendale.
You want to know how close to the civic center we were, just MapQuest it...I did it for you here (lazy bastards), just back out one click (-), "A" is the site and the spot that says Los Angeles is city hall.
This is the power house. Wow, looking at it now, we should have slapped a coat of pain on it, but back then to me, it just looked like oil field.
I want to point out that the Queen Anne style house on this site was occupied by an owner. This was the fall back property for the Manleys. They started here and, if times got that bad, would return there. When the Manley member of the family that lived there, for 48 years, died, we rented it to one of our employees for the incredible sum of $180/month. (Kept his wages low...Oh yeah, he was Hispanic.)
In reality, the guy we rented to was the guy right below me in seniority, and made a damn good salary. Wife and three kids, it was a subsidy from a corporation. He got inexpensive rent...we were assured of someone in the area to respond to any oil field problems. A good trade.
This is how the site ended up. I saw it everyday, and didn't notice how crappy it looked, but it was in the middle of a crappy looking neighborhood. We had to put in the chainlink to keep people off the property, the area was getting a little scary and because nobody wanted to see oil wells, we put slats in the fence which gave them an easel to paint on which made the city bitch at us about covering up the graffiti, hence a crappy looking fence.
If this field were still producing, and I had anything to do with it, I would have proved that oil production and people could continue to coexist.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Live Blogging The 4th
I'm going to sit in my front yard and describe the fireworks show taking place about four block away from my house.
All times PM PDT
8:45: It's dark already and all they've done is launch a few concussion bombs about 45 minutes ago.
9:03 : It's finally got going
9:05: OOhh!!
9:10: Aaahhh!
9:15: Long boring pause, must be the ground display stuff that I can't see, I'll run inside and get a couple more beers.
9:25: OOhh!!
9:30: Aaahhh!
9:35: Long boring pause, must be the ground display stuff that I can't see, I'll run inside and get a couple more beers.
9:40: Still paused...maybe I'll walk up there...NO, remember, six beers already and get up for work at 3:30 AM.
I lied. I wrote the above just to fill time until the show started.
It got going at 9:20 and was over by 9:40, I guess times are tight. It was a good show, 95% involved aerial stuff that we could see, just a big lack of those really cool flash/concussion ones.
Hope your 4th was a happy one and your hangover doesn't need the whole weekend to get over.
All times PM PDT
8:45: It's dark already and all they've done is launch a few concussion bombs about 45 minutes ago.
9:03 : It's finally got going
9:05: OOhh!!
9:10: Aaahhh!
9:15: Long boring pause, must be the ground display stuff that I can't see, I'll run inside and get a couple more beers.
9:25: OOhh!!
9:30: Aaahhh!
9:35: Long boring pause, must be the ground display stuff that I can't see, I'll run inside and get a couple more beers.
9:40: Still paused...maybe I'll walk up there...NO, remember, six beers already and get up for work at 3:30 AM.
I lied. I wrote the above just to fill time until the show started.
It got going at 9:20 and was over by 9:40, I guess times are tight. It was a good show, 95% involved aerial stuff that we could see, just a big lack of those really cool flash/concussion ones.
Hope your 4th was a happy one and your hangover doesn't need the whole weekend to get over.
Happy 4th - 232 Years And Still Going
I can't put into words how blessed I feel to have born in this country. I hope I appreciate the blind luck of where I was born with all the freedoms handed to me to the same degree as my friends at the Rott and other blogs that emigrated to this country.
Talk about being born with a silver spoon in your mouth.
It astounds me that these people who've grown up in Britain, Denmark, Russia, Australia, and many, many other countries keep saying "Look, I lived there and did everything I could to get the the U.S.A." They know about the history and laws of my (our) land than I do. It can get downright embarrassing.
I also have to mention the many that are still in far away lands that say that when of if the opportunity arises, they would leave their homeland and come here in a heartbeat.
I have to get up at 3:30 AM to go to work tomorrow, but I'm going to take a lawn chair, "some" beer and sit in my front yard tonight so I can watch the aerial show put on at the High School about 4 blocks above my house. I may fall asleep when they do some of the fancy ground displays, so I'll have my cell phone with me and the alarm set to go off in time to go to work.
A couple of things I ran across today, some may not be attributed because I was at work and bouncing on and off the net, but if I found it at your site...thanks.
Found this at Hot Air. Imagine, the fight in Iraq is going so badly that they managed to get 1,215 troops re-enlist in Baghdad on Independence Day
God bless them all.
This from Penn and Teller:
An excellent point, but when I see someone burn my flag, I know it's just a cloth symbol, but I really want go jihadi on their ass because it is an insult to me. They are saying they reject and renounce everything I believe in. They don't want to change it, they want to destroy it and build something else.
You always here that freedom isn't free LC 0311 crunchie I.M.H. (or just crunch if you're on his good side) posted about what our founders put on the line by signing the Declaration of Independence and what happened to them.
Independence Day, the Cost of Freedom
What these men put on the line and suffered for their commitment to freedom and fairness is more than I could ever imagine.
Finally....Something to remind us of why we still have to fight to maintain our freedoms, our sovereignty, our (maybe) too comfortable way of life.
GOD BLESS AMERICA, LAND THAT I LOVE
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
George Carlin
I know I'm late on posting about Carlin's passing, but I had multiple feelings about it.
He was a comic that covered a lot of untouched ground.
My first impressions of him where during "That Was The Week That Was" sometime in the '60's as the "Hippy Dippy Weather Man". Next was the "Seven Words" routine.
He started out as observing society and pointing out where we imposed silly rules about how we talked or dealt with life, but as he (and I) got older, I started to see a viciousness in his routines and I didn't like it.
Of course someone else said it better:
Remembering George Carlin
by L. Brent Bozell III
June 26, 2008
I've become a curmudgeon, but I love my country and like most of the people in it. It just seemed that Carlin took it that step further and started to dislike the country and the people living in it.
He was a comic that covered a lot of untouched ground.
My first impressions of him where during "That Was The Week That Was" sometime in the '60's as the "Hippy Dippy Weather Man". Next was the "Seven Words" routine.
He started out as observing society and pointing out where we imposed silly rules about how we talked or dealt with life, but as he (and I) got older, I started to see a viciousness in his routines and I didn't like it.
Of course someone else said it better:
Remembering George Carlin
by L. Brent Bozell III
June 26, 2008
I've become a curmudgeon, but I love my country and like most of the people in it. It just seemed that Carlin took it that step further and started to dislike the country and the people living in it.
Do You Sell Used Cooking Oil?
Since the price of gasoline crossed $4.00, I have been getting an increasing number of phone calls that are just annoying the hell out of me!
Phone Rings...Most likely this occurs when I'm at the farthest point in the yard, so I walk quickly (no more running for me, that ended about 3 years ago when I tripped over my own feet and went down. Took me two weeks to work all the pains out) hoping whoever is calling will let it ring more than 6 times.
[Note: I am polite throughout the conversation, just getting a little exasperated as it progresses]
ME: [answering phone] "Name of Company" Oil.
CALLER: Who's is this?
ME: "Name of Company" Oil, may I help you?
CALLER: Do you sell used cooking oil?
ME: No. This is a crude oil facility.
CALLER: You don't sell used cooking oil?
ME: No, sorry.
CALLER: Do you sell new cooking oil?
ME: NO, as I said this is a CRUDE OIL facility.
CALLER: So, you don't selling any cooking oil?
ME: No.
CALLER: Do you know someone that sells used cooking oil?
ME: No, sorry.
CALLER: You don't know anyone?
ME: NO! I told you this is a CRUDE OIL FACILITY. What makes you think I'd know where to buy cooking oil, used or new, outside of a supermarket? [then being helpful] Maybe you can try "restaurant supply" or "recycling services" in the Yellow Pages.
CALLER: Do they sell used cooking oil?
ME: I haven't a clue, perhaps you should call them and ask.
CALLER: So, you don't sell used cooking oil?
ME: [AAARRGGHHH!!!] No! I hope you find what you're looking for, good luck.
CALLER: [click]
I admit, to a certain degree, I milk it. Most of the callers seem to be in their late 60's+, but they made me drop what I was doing and scurry across the yard, so I'm willing to sit for two minutes and go through the routine...again.
For most of these guys I'd be willing to bet that if they converted their vehicle over to running on used cooking oil, the cost of conversion added to the price of used cooking oil these days (nobody gives it away anymore), they wouldn't outlive the the investment costs.
Phone Rings...Most likely this occurs when I'm at the farthest point in the yard, so I walk quickly (no more running for me, that ended about 3 years ago when I tripped over my own feet and went down. Took me two weeks to work all the pains out) hoping whoever is calling will let it ring more than 6 times.
[Note: I am polite throughout the conversation, just getting a little exasperated as it progresses]
ME: [answering phone] "Name of Company" Oil.
CALLER: Who's is this?
ME: "Name of Company" Oil, may I help you?
CALLER: Do you sell used cooking oil?
ME: No. This is a crude oil facility.
CALLER: You don't sell used cooking oil?
ME: No, sorry.
CALLER: Do you sell new cooking oil?
ME: NO, as I said this is a CRUDE OIL facility.
CALLER: So, you don't selling any cooking oil?
ME: No.
CALLER: Do you know someone that sells used cooking oil?
ME: No, sorry.
CALLER: You don't know anyone?
ME: NO! I told you this is a CRUDE OIL FACILITY. What makes you think I'd know where to buy cooking oil, used or new, outside of a supermarket? [then being helpful] Maybe you can try "restaurant supply" or "recycling services" in the Yellow Pages.
CALLER: Do they sell used cooking oil?
ME: I haven't a clue, perhaps you should call them and ask.
CALLER: So, you don't sell used cooking oil?
ME: [AAARRGGHHH!!!] No! I hope you find what you're looking for, good luck.
CALLER: [click]
I admit, to a certain degree, I milk it. Most of the callers seem to be in their late 60's+, but they made me drop what I was doing and scurry across the yard, so I'm willing to sit for two minutes and go through the routine...again.
For most of these guys I'd be willing to bet that if they converted their vehicle over to running on used cooking oil, the cost of conversion added to the price of used cooking oil these days (nobody gives it away anymore), they wouldn't outlive the the investment costs.
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