Four Star Week.....

Sometimes in life, things seem to come in clusters. This week it was interaction with U.S. Army four star generals. Last weekend, as noted below, we spent a great two days with my old friend Gen. Tom Hill and his wife Toni. This week's four star encounter was with none other than recently retired General Tommy Franks.

Gen. Franks was back in his old hometown to receive the honor of "Outstanding Citizen" from the local boy scout council. No small award, as past winners who have picked up their awards here are President G.W. Bush, Texas Governor Rick Perry and First Lady Laura Bush. We attended a small reception for the General before the main event which gave us a little one on one time with him and a chance for me to say hell-o to him from several mutual acquaintances like the aforementioned Gen. Tom Hill and my good buddy, author Joe Galloway. Tom and Joe both know Tommy Franks well. We also presented the General with one of the photo images that Galloway took in Vietnam of the actual battle portrayed in the film, We Were Soldiers. The General seemed most appreciative.

We were the guests of Julie's employer, Limark Corp. who were a major sponsor of the event, so we sat at one of the head tables and had the opportunity to say hell-o to Governor Perry. Equally as interesting to me, as an old Eagle Scout, was the great privelage to be seated with the National Executive Director of the Boy Scouts, Mr. Roy Williams. And since everyone at the table was associated with scouting, we had some great conversations about our days and our experinces in the program.

Thanks to Limark Corporation for their kind invitation and it has been fun attending two formal dinners with four star generals in the last six days, but now, I'm looking forward to an informal dinner with the bride to be......Frito Pie perhaps!

The Oil Field.....
I love the oil business, and not just for the money. Quite frankly, most of the time we in the industry don't make as much as the popular consensus or the press ascribes to us. Most of us are not J.R. Ewing. Most of us make a pretty good living, but I dare say that the across the board wages in say, the computer industry, are higher than the average of all those in the energy industry.

One of the things I like about the business is that we are working for ourselves and have a chance to be innovative without asking permission from any higher authorities. Also...truthfully, I love the chance to go out of doors, which is where I prefer to be...and to work with big powerful Bubba type equipment. At least be around it. Not to offend anyone, but it's still pretty much of a mans world out in the oil field.

One of the several creeping changes in the oil business in West Texas is the fact that newly found deposits are increasingly rare. Therefore we come up with ways to better utilize the fields that have been found in the past. One of these methods is to go into old wells that have drained dry their original producing formation, and to try to produce from another untried zone. A "recompletion" we term them. We are currently recompleting a well in Andrews County Texas, attempting to coax more oil from the top of the Devonian formation, the lower half of the zone having been depeleted. Others within close proximity have had some success in this, and for about one third the cost of drilling a brand new well, it is worth the effort to try. This old well was plugged, that is....all the possible producing zones in the well bore have been covered with concrete and now this material must be drilled out in order for us to reach the Devonian over 12,000 ft. below. Catch a glimpse of this operation at the Linaka re-entry photo site.

Old Friends....

There is nothing finer than spending time with old friends, which is what Julie and I did this past weekend in San Antonio. Actually my old friends, but of course, Julie fit right in and she felt like she knew them from the myriad of stories I had told her. The occasion was a college fraternity reunion honoring my dear friend General Tom Hill who was named the Trinity University Alumni of the Year. As Tom said in his acceptance speech, "who would have ever thought this would happen". All of us at the table laughed out loud at that, perhaps a little to loudly.

But Tom has done well. He is only one of a handful of Generals in the Army today with four star rank, and he commands all military forces in the Carribean, and Central and South America. Which includes the miasma in Colombia and the Al Queda detention center in Guantanamo Bay Cuba. Needless to say he had some interesting stories to relate! Like the time he called the head of the military in Colombia to suggest that he support the new president and their constitution. The Generalisimo there said he would and in fact was at that very moment doing so. Tom said that on the phone he could hear automatic weapons firing right outside the Generals office, so he supposed he wasn't lying.

Tom and Toni are great friends and great people. I lived with them at Ft. Benning Georgia when I was a new 2Lt. in the Army, and we became very close. They have traveled in the Army life, so I don't get to see them much at all, though we do call and keep up. So it was a thrill to be able to spend some good time with them in San Antonio...and of course have them meet Julie. Toni kept telling me how much she like Julie and I think Julie enjoyed them, and it was rather exciting to a point. After all she's never ridden in an armed convoy before. Tom, because of his position, has a security staff that travels with him. Three very serious, intent and large young men who wear blue blazers everywhere. The blazers are to hide their automatic weapons. It's a nice feeling, while driving around San Antonio, to have a Ford Explorer following you with well trained young men packing automatic weapons, there to jump in if anything should go amiss.

To honor Tom and Toni, many of my fraternity brothers came to town, and we all had a wonderful time, like you do when you tell the same stories that you tell everytime you get together. But they get better with age, and I didn't mind, Julie got to hear a little about my past life, from those who lived it with me. She didn't jump ship on the drive back to Midland, so I suppose it all went well.

If you'd like to browse through a few pictures of the weekend here they are.

Canned Spam......maybe!

I've always believed that nothing will thwart Spam until it is made illegal. All the blacklists, server and client side filters, and searching out DNS numbers and reporting repeat offenders will do very little until there is actually some punishment involved for the scum who spam.

But now, a glimmer of hope is on the horizon. The Senate has passed anti-spam legislation that is a good start to curbing the problem. And there was no waffling, the vote was 97-0 in favor. As one Senator related, he gets more comments, letters and emails about Spam than any other topic. That's saying something in these troubled times. The vote was 100% in favor, in part, because there can be no one lobbying for Spam. Who would do so, the medical fakirs, Viagra con men, or get rich quick scheme criminals? No, there is no good in Spam.

The bill will not totally prohibit unsolicited email, but will fine, heavily I might add and with jail time, anyone who sends messages under false addresses, highjacked ISP's or where the product is a scam......in other words, everyone who sends Spam these days. I'm not naive enough to think that this will stop all spammers, but it will help. And..it will give prosecuters something to work with. However much of the Spam comes through foreign sources now days, so I would hope that there would be some wording in the bill that penalizes the major US backbone carriers like Verio, Level3, and Sprint if they allow the traffic to come into the US over their lines.

It's about time.......

The thrill of speed......!

The John Foster Open Road Race was run yesterday and by all accounts was a big success. For out of towners, this is something relatively new for Midland and West Texas, an unlimited speed time trial event on the public roadways. If you've ever had the urge to take the old family station wagon and go as fast you can on the open road, this is the event for you.

Approximately 100 miles of remote, yet in good condtion, backroad highways are closed off for several hours while entrants race from St. Lawrence to Rankin to Midland. As you read if you perused the website, the vehicles are divided up by performance classes from your basic car, minimum speed 85 mph, to the unlimited cars with speeds in excess of 200 mph. There are some safety requirements, generally a little more stringent according to the speed of the vehicle class, but basically the event is open to all comers over age 21 and able to pay the somewhat hefty entry fee [most going to charity].

I have mixed feelings about the race, though in the main they are positive. It's a little known fact that I, in my earlier years, attended the Bob Bondurant Racing School in California. A great time and better learning experience concerning driving vehicles very quickly. We learned the basics in suped up production model cars and culminated our experience by driving Formula Ford 2000 machines. Thus I have some knowledge on the topic and even more hefty respect for driving at high speed. Many things not good can happen, and happen more rapidly than one thought possible. I'm not sure that some of the drivers in this event are prepared to cope with such emergencies.

I think that this type of race is a good concept and if I still had one of my Corvettes and it was in good shape, I'm sure I'd give a hard thought to participating in the John Foster. ......however. The however is that I really think that the organizers need to consider very strongly being more circumspect with whom they allow to drive in the event. As the old saying goes, this is an accident waiting to happen. There is a vast difference in having driving experience at somewhat above highway speeds like we do in W. Texas, say 85 mph, and driving the family car at 125 mph. Something will happen. A tire will go, hit a bump the wrong way with soft shocks, be hit with those sudden W. Texas wind gusts and tragedy strikes. It's only a matter of time.

Don't get me wrong I haven't given up on speed in my old age, I think the event should go on, but all it will take is one death with the inevitable lawsuits and the race will be history. Just take a look at the rules and the types of cars allowed in the race. Come to think of it, I really have been getting the urge to get another older model Corvette.

Major League Disappointment.....

As readers know I try and report the news without comment or bias....well some comments and my biases are always justified. But tonight I have to violate my reporting ethic and say my peace on the just named World Series teams. What a major league disappointment.

Who really cares about the Florida Martins or whatever they're called and the once again in the fall classic New York Yankees. A team from Florida named after a bird or a fish or whatever doesn't belong in the series....period. And the Yankees, the best team that money can buy, are seemingly always there. They also feature Roger Clemens, who is without doubt a Hall of Fame player but scores below zero in the category of being a human being. Sorry to say he's from Texas, but he is an anamoly. Most Texans aren't dirtwads, as he is.

You are not a true baseball fan if somewhere within, you weren't rooting for the Chicago Cubs. You may have a hometown or regional favorite club, but your heart told you to at least wish the Cubs the best. The Cubs are the team of the common man. Hard workers, a little inept at times, but always in there trying their damnedest to win the big one. This time, and once again, hard work did not overcome ineptitude and it may be an entire century, or longer, before they do make it to the Big One.

And though not really a Red Sox fan, we were just hoping to see them beat the Yankees if for no other reason than a good ol' Midland High School graduate, Mike Timlin, pitches for them which he did tonight. All in all this will be a Series that I doubt we will watch and besides we won't get to see several of the games anyway, we'll be in San Antonio next weekend whooping it up on The River with old college friends I've known for 35 years. But it's to bad....it could have been such a great Series.

Cure alls........
You can have all the riches in the world, money, fame and a good looking young compassionate fiancee, but if you don't have your health you have nothing! I have learned this once again. For today my sickness is breaking and once again I have all these, excepting fortune and fame. But a sweet fiancee to nurse me on the road back to health is good enough! As you can see by the photos taken yesterday [left] when I was in the death grip of the consumption and the one on the right now that I'm recovering, there is all the difference in the world!

And thanks to the thousands of readers [well OK a couple of emails and a few "comments"] who took the time to send their home remedies. Especially Kev in Australia who remitted one of my old favorites the "rum" cure. In my case being born in Kentucky, I used to take the Early Times whiskey cure. And it really worked. A day home from work sipping the sweet nectar would actually not cure the common cold, but by afternoon you would most certainly not give a damn about the illness. However, in my sad and pathetic case, not only would I forget about the sniffles, I would also forget that I had a job and a mortgage and bills to pay. Thus, and with a great effort, I gave up the whiskey cure almost ten [10] years ago. As they say the cure was killing me, thus the reason for my unfortunate stay in Intensive Care previously mentioned.

I think, actually, the cure that turned the corner today was the chicken soup so graciously provided by my Mother-in-Law to be Pat. A steamy medley of chicken, broth, liberal garlic, onions and black pepper with assorted vegetables. Don't laugh, I have read scientific reports that conclude that there is something in chicken soup that actually does promote the demise of a cold more quickly than most other substances. I didn't try the weedy plant that the Big Gold Dog eats, but that idea still intrigues me.

Now, sometimes in a wistful state I may miss the whiskey cure but if that were the remedy of choice for me now I would not have much of anything including the rambling Bedford Road estate, a career or a beautiful young fiancee. I'll stick with chicken soup anytime!

Disturbing news......

I have very disturbing news today, very disturbing and I hope you can handle it.

I am sick. It is really disturbing for me because I very rarely get sick and this is a most pernicious ailment. The common cold. I'll have to say up front that I don't "do" sick to well, the reason being that this is me we're talking about, not you with your minor complaints. I went for years without having a cold and now I've had one in each of the last two years. It's shameful and I think caused by the continuing allergy problems that plague folks in West Texas. I believe this constant assault on my sino-respiratory system has caused my immune response mechanism to get fairly tired of fending off attacks on my nasal cavities and now it just gives up on occasion.

I don't deserve to get the common cold like you common people. I religously take a plethora of vitamens, minerals and herbs to stay healthy.....which mostly I do. So to feel ill is really a large deparature from normal and although I always have some breathing problems [allergy related], to not be able to breathe at all sucks rotten eggs.

Mind you, I'm not whining here, I'm just stating the facts.....I really feel ill, not like your pathetic little illnesses, but really ill. However I'm soldiering on through the day and starting to think of ways to cure this malady as it has become worse today. I'm a believer in modern drugs, a modern drug having saved my life in Intensive Care twelve years ago, but I also believe in using some of natures own remedies. I believe that sometimes by observing how animals take care of their illnesses we humans might learn a thing or two.

Recently the Big Gold Dog has been amazing me by seeking out one particular plant in the alley. This is not a common plant and he knows the one exact spot to find this broadleaf weed. Apparently this weed has some magical cureative power as he eats quite alot of it and he's feeling fine. So...following in the Big Gold Dog's footsteps I'm going to go out in the back yard and lay in the sun and then walk two blocks up and get some of this dog medicine and make a tea out of it. If it works it may make me a fortune.....Big Gold Dog Cold Cure.

The other all natural cure I would like about now is to be hooked up to a drip IV of antibiotics with an opium chaser. I'd prefer to sleep through this dire illness.

Busy week updates......

**Rain, humidity and cool weather. And then more rain. Light though and the kind that soaks into the soil. If you're not from West Texas you don't know what a need we have for this kind of weather. It's resembling last year's wet October.

**We have a new dining room table. With a good sale price and a gift certificate that Julie had at the store.....we feel like it was almost free. We were somewhat worried about the wood fitting in with the existing Mission and Arts and Crafts furniture, but it's a great fit. We can now have genuine banquets for the masses.


**I've been in discussions with the Dept. of Energy and Sandia National Labs concerning new oil field technology. You remember the Peace Dividend? Of course you do, that's the benefit that would befall the economy by switching from the production of nuclear weapons in the arms race with the Evil Soviet Empire to more positive economical endeavors for the benefit of mankind. Of course, peace didn't really break out all over and one could argue that we are spending more than ever before on defense against the Evil Terror Empire. But...slowly, quietly and in diverse areas, the scientists who once were paid top dollar to devise newer and larger atomic weapons, are using their technological skills to redefine things in the business world.

One of those areas is Microhole Drilling for oil and gas which I am researching. Instead of drill bits and pipe in the 8 to 9 inch range, microhole drilling pipe is as small as 1 7/8th inches with a motorized micro motor attached to the drill bit. The drilling pipe is actually semi-rigid continuous coiled tubing and the whole arrangement is steerable downhole allowing precise directional drilling. Using this technology we could drill certain more shallow wells for one-third to one-quarter of the costs of conventional means. And it's more friendly to the environment too. Currently the boys at Sandia tell me wells down to 3000 ft. are no problem and that eventurally wells to 10,000 ft. will be attainable. It's exciting stuff.

In the News.....

Ask anyone from around my hometown to pinpoint the location of the photo above and most assuredly they would answer, "Well, it's certainly West Texas, and if I had to guess I would say probably down around Rankin or maybe over in Glasscock County on the road to San Angelo". These would be excellent guesses, but would be off be many, many thousands of miles. I was stunned when I saw this image, for the photo was taken right outside of my sister city of Coober Pedy, Australia.

With only the barest of information that I had at the time, I had an inkling that Coober Pedy was in fact much like West Texas, from the local geography right down to the good folks who are mostly scratching a living out of the earth as we do here. I had seen a few photos of the city of Coober Pedy, and had somehow imagined that it was purely flat, but now I can visualize mesas in the distance with scrub brush and perhaps some dry stream beds or as we call them....draws. It feels just like home.

The current edition of The Coober Pedy News features yet another similarity between these Outback Aussies and those of us in West Texas, an interest in horses. Excitement reigns in CP, as the horse racing track is now set to open again after a haitus caused by loss of proper insurance. And I feel that my journalism career has been given a big boost as I have a nice mention by Gary [scroll down].

And if you are in the market for quality opals or just want to view some of these gorgeous stones go to Nick's site Opal Mines Online