Dedicated to My Son

You get 'em Kid!

STARK RAVING MAD!!!

This is a personal rant about what a WONDERFUL day I had today, so feel free to skip it if you like.

AN OIL FIELD PRIMER:

The production site I work at has been having problems for about the last 3 1/2 years. The oil wells that bring fluid up have an average cut (water to oil ratio) of 97%. For every barrel (42 gallons in the oil field...I don't know why), we get 32 barrels of water that we have to do something with. Normally we shoot this waste water down another non-producing well at about 1100 psi with the idea of flushing oil through the zone towards some of the producing wells...at least that's the theory. The ideal thing is to produce the maximum amount of oil while being able to get rid of the water so everything stay balanced.

MY COMPANY:

We have severe injection limitations.

The owner wants to produce a sh*tload of oil, as do we all, but he always wants to run the wells that bring the most oil which also bring up the most water. We Operators have come up with 9,000 combination's of maximum oil production and still get rid of the water, but he keeps insisting that "ON PAPER" we should be able to run this new combination that he's worked out.

It doesn't.

WHY I'M STARK RAVING:

Yesterday, the day Operator decided he would run over balanced and "hide" some of the water productions by shunting some of it to a stock tank, thereby getting the production numbers up for his last day on shift.

Well, he forgot to close the shut at the end of his shift, and the night guy after about two hours noticed the production for those two hours was equal to what we normally do in a day. It took him about an hour to find the valve that was cracked.

When I got to work this morning I had 417 bbls (17,514 gals) in the stock tank and and an unknown amount of water that had skimmed from the stock tank to our shipping tank, contaminating the oil (we cannot ship oil that has more than 3% water).

That worked out to another 123 bbls (5,166 gals)...that means I got stuck with 540 bbls (22,680 gals.) extra water to get rid of...and still try to produce oil, so shutting all the producing wells down is out of the question.

My Foreman called in sick this morning (good thing...bad thing?), so I got to make all the decisions about what wells to keep running and what to shut down. I managed to get rid of about 200 bbls but I left my relief right on the edge of disaster, and that is something I just don't like to do.

As an extra added bonus the company that handles our pipeline wasn't completely happy with the accuracy of the machine that records how much oil we ship out and wanted to run another test...out of any day to do this they picked a damn good one. I got us passed even though the bastards showed up 2 hours before they said they'd get there. (Damn, I'm good!!!)

This is not the first time that that Operator has pulled this crap, and I got to talk to the owner about what happened during our morning telephone report. This Operator is the first to talk about "team work" and is also the first to leave you hanging and the first to complain about others not doing something HE feels should have been done. I hung his ass this time, he screwed three people trying to make himself look good. He even left a note saying he would work OT during a guys vacation, not a full shift, but he'd come in for two or four hours....to help out. Damn, if I'm there for 8 to 10 hours, I might as well work the 12.

There...I feel better, tomorrow is another day with more problems and I'll get through it just like I did today.

Sanity In California?

It won't do any good, but at least somebody stood up and said it.



I've got to feel for Lockyer, a Democrat, who has finally come to the conclusion that spending more money doesn't solve the problem of not having the money to spend, and when 3/4 of the stuff you're spending it on is "junk". The man, belatedly, has shown that he does care about what is going on (could we see a conversion to the Dark Side here?).

Universal Health Care Will Make The World Better

I have a very close friend from my attempt at a college education, who is now a PhD in Psychiatry and is an avid proponent of Universal Health Care. I'm agin it and he's fer it, so we don't discuss it in detail often, because we both just piss off the other guy, and our friendship is deeper than this one issue.

He did send me an unsolicited mass Email:
Responding to lies about health care reform

By the way, there is nowhere in the legislation that outlaws private insurance. It just makes another option available. Gee, for people who are supposedly so much into free enterprise, you would think they would appreciate the value of a little competition, especially from a competitor that is as lame (so they say) as the government.

I did respond:

First off, let me make clear that though I am registered Republican, I'm really not. I am a Conservative and Federalist. You may say I'm a Libertarian, but some group took over that title and I don't agree with all they espouse.

We know you and I have different views on reforms for Health Care, so I just want to point out some things. (and I won't hate you if you still disagree...you effing commie, statist, socialist, fascist, nazi bastard!!!!!)

The common point I believe we have is Health Care needs to be reformed.

Like all things the government gets involved in, they start making rules about something that they have little or no knowledge. Their concern is how it plays with enough of the people back home to get reelected.

The problem I have with this bill is that IT ISN'T EVEN WRITTEN YET!

They cranked out something as fast as they could with huge holes in it (to be filled later), and expect us to take their word that it'll all work out right. I don't trust them, they won't give up their health care program to join this miracle of legislation (and the Unions and Federal employees are exempt also).

Everywhere this has been tried, it doesn't work.

MEDICINE AND HEALTH:
Here’s a Second Opinion

I don't see where the country with the highest approval and survivor rates has to go down to a lesser system. How about we bring them up to ours?

It will be different this time? Give me a break. Look at Oregon's state run medi-care.

(Funny video, and it makes the point)

I'm going to close this out with the words of the man that wants us all to enjoy this utopia of medical miracles that awaits us.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5XTi-WdOu2s

I know reform is needed, but details would be nice and Obambi is still in campaign mode and the Dems won't give details and won't let the Repubs even suggest ideas... and 52% is not a mandate.

This exchange took place back in August, and I haven't heard from him since.

Today while bored out of my mind, I was goofing with the internet and ran a search on my friend to see if I could get a hit...I did, and this is what I found on his web site:

Why do you charge so much?

Because our fees look high, people often think we make extravagant amounts of money. In reality, we know skilled tradespeople who earn more than we do. By the time we pay our office overhead, absorb unpaid bills, and cover the costs associated with being a psychologist (licenses, insurance, mandatory continuing education, etc.), there is not as much slack as you might think.

In addition to being clinicians, we also are in a business where our livelihood depends on getting paid for our time and expertise. Since we dedicate large blocks of time to each individual client, the amount of time we have is limited. Furthermore, the expertise comes to us at a high price, with many years of study, sacrifice, and poverty. We also face the constant need to keep up to date and further our training, and we carry a large amount of responsibility as health care providers.

Nonetheless, our fees are much lower than other professionals who also sell their expertise. Lawyers, for example, often charge two to two-and-a-half times as much as we do. Physicians often charge less than we do per contact, but you only get a few minutes of their time. If you look at the hourly rate, theirs is much greater than ours.

Frankly, we value what we do, and we hope our clients do, too. If you are going to pursue psychotherapy, you need to think of it as an investment -- an investment in your life. For less than what you might pay to put new carpet in your home, you can improve the quality of your life, have better relationships, and feel more at ease with yourself.

[emphasis mine]

I know this man, and I know he cares about his patients and wants them to be better, but I also know he has a nice house, and a business that he'd like to keep. I just wonder what his opinion is going to be when Psych care is included under health care and the government sets the price..."your fees are $X per hour, but as a cost saving measure, we'll pay 3/4$X per hour this year until we're over budget next year and then...we'll see how much we have to reduce it then.

Everythings Amazing and Nobodys Happy

How quickly we become numb to the miracles around us.



Along with the things mentioned above that have occurred in my lifetime: color TV...Stereo records...DVD's...Microwave ovens...satellites...Teflon...Permanent Press clothes...organ transplants...joint replacements...nuclear power...

60's Justice

Growing up I loved "Dragnet", and "Adam 12".

The more things Change....

Football Sunday

I'm a Raiders fan.

I was thrilled that my team was going to be on TV today...until the game started. Down 31-7 at halftime, that was the end of my hopes for anything close to a descent season, and I guess CBS agreed as they switched to a different game.

It's going to be another loooong season.

The other thing with football that bothered me today was regarding the news that Rush Limbaugh was interested in partnering in ownership of the Rams. The Players Union voted that they were against his owning a team.


Some NFL players wouldn't work for Rush's Rams

Word that Rush Limbaugh is interested in buying the St. Louis Rams has some African American football players swearing off any future employment with the team.

New York Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka and New York Jets linebacker Bart Scott say they would never play for the Rams if Limbaugh owned the team.

Kiwanuka told the New York Daily News, "I don't want anything to do with a team that he has any part of. He can do whatever he wants, it is a free country. But if it goes through, I can tell you where I am not going to play." Scott said, "He could offer me whatever he wanted, I wouldn't play for him. . . . I wouldn't play for Rush Limbaugh. My principles are greater and I can't be bought." Just what the hapless Rams need: Quality players who refuse to play for them.

Yeah....Right.



Truth to Power Mr. Smith.

Too Funny

These people were always finding water all over their pool deck and furniture, every time they came home, after being away for a few hours. They thought the neighborhood kids were watching for them to leave, and using the pool. However, they could never catch them doing it. So they set up their video cam. This is what they recorded.......



HT to my Facebook Friends Sareda and Linda

This reminded me of one of my dogs, Tori, a Shepard/Collie mutt that I had in High School. My parents had a pool and Tori loved to swim! So much so that in the dead of winter (if there is such a thing in SoCal) when it was night, 40 degrees and the pool wasn't heated, would run out the dog door, jump in the pool, swim a lap, run back into the house...then shake off.

Good thing I loved her, because there's nothing better than a damp dog getting the foot of your bed soggy on a nice winter evening.

10,000 Hits

I finally hit a milestone! Last night at about 11:45 PM I got my 10,000th hit. It took a while (3 years 10 months), but I made it. This will be my 537th post, so I average one about every two days. I'd like to do better, but I doubt that's going to happen. Actually I'm surprised I've kept it up this regularly, this long.

Thanks to all of you that drop by, even the pervs looking for 16 year old Mexican virgins (about 85% of my hits).

They Said We Were Nuts

Got this over at Sig's place.

It's downright creepy!



During the campaign when his photos started showing halos behind him and women started fainting at his speeches we kept saying this was too much of a cult of personality and deification of the man, and we were told how wrong we were. Well now they are addressing their grievances to him in the form of payer.

Deliver Me!!

The Astounding World of the Future

WTH happened to that world that was promised us while we were growing up?

I really believed we would be a lot closer to "The Jetsons" than we are.

A Celebration! UPDATED

My Son turned 21 year old today.

I cannot express how proud I am of him. He has become a fine man.

UPDATE:

In the fine Army tradition, his mates at "The Hump" helped him celebrate his birthday by teaching him not to mix beer, soju (Korean vodka) and Wild Turkey.

The pic below is his signaling that it was a lesson (hopefully) well learned and long remembered.