Q&A from Texas Red!

Texas Red flung an interview upon me. So, here goes the answers to her questions. And man. She went a little deeper than the most!

Her questions (and my answers) are as follows:

(1) When and why did you join the oilfield industry? Well. Hmmm. I didn’t join with any set purpose – kind of hard to believe now, huh? Oil and gas is a major industry in West Texas. I was raised an oilfield brat. And when a job came available as an office manager, I took the job. My son was 2 years old…so that was 26 years ago! My, how time flies when you’re having fun! I soon was promoted to sales, and promoted, and promoted and here I is. Even in it’s worst cyclical nightmare, I love the oilfield. It’s never boring, always changing, and full of awesome people.

(2) What does your typical weekday look like---posting on the blog; lots of phone calls; meetings; travel in the field, etc.? Mondays, I drop breakfast by a customer’s office by 7 a.m., then spend most of the morning on conference calls with my staff and fellow coworkers…starting at 9am, it’s the sales call; morphing into the 10 am accounts receivable call. Meanwhile, my friend Daniel comes and steals LaToya the Sequoia for her weekly carwash. Some Mondays, I’ll then go meet another oilfield salesperson at Starbucks to trade opportunities and information (that’s how this patch works, it’s all about networking.) At 11:30, I’ll be at a customer’s office to pick them up for lunch. After lunch, I spend most of the afternoon collecting invoices, fielding calls from consultants, making sales appointments for the rest of the week, and making sales calls. I leave the office around 6-6:30 p.m., and head to the house to free Zack the WonderDog from the confines of the backyard. Then we grab something to eat, do some laundry, and if I’m lucky, I’ll spend time reading blogs. And every once in a while, writing something of content and purpose. If I'm really motivated, I'll post ahead a couple of days. Tuesdays look totally different, but that’ll save for another Q&A session, right?

(3) What would you recommend for non-hunters trying to learn about/appreciate the sport? Go with someone! Tag along. Observe the hunter, preparing, planning. A hunter is patience personified. Watch the dogs work – it is a fine dance, one that becomes a finely executed ballet when the hunter works with his dog. It's beautiful. Learn to shoot, and connect with times of old – when hunting was an absolute must, in order to live. Hunting gets you “out” – out in the open, sunshine, cold, whatever. Know that it’s a glorious thing to be outside, in the wild, with the wild, and watching a fine dog do his work to his best ability. Watch TV shows. Learn about whichever hunting sport most intrigues you, and go to it! There are classes and hunters all around you, I promise. They may be quiet, but they’re there. And almost every hunter I’ve know has an excellence about them…a love for wildlife, and for the cycle of life. You’ll see. And you’re welcome to go with me, anytime. Any of y’all are welcome to go. Just tell me you want to, and it’ll be A. Done. Deal.

(4) What do you love most about West Texas? Lord, girl. The sunsets. The people. The weather and its inherent insanity. The oilfield. The farmers. Stock shows and rodeos. Blue skies. Pumpjacks on the horizon. Oil rigs, lit up like Christmas trees, when I'm landing on the flight from anywhere at Midland International Airport. But mostly, it's the people I love. The people are great, no matter their race, religion, or gender. I love the “try” in people…they just will not give up, and they are bound and determined to make their way in this beautiful desert land that is the frontier of West Texas. I’m one of them. There are a million awesome things about West Texas. Balmorhea. Goldsmith. Ft. Davis. Alpine. Midland. Stanton. Big Spring. Odessa. Forsan. Kermit. Coahoma. Each of them has their own drawing points. Okay, enough about the towns. But wait, one more thing about the West Texas towns…the best thing is they are all great places to raise your children. How about the colleges? Did you know most every child that graduates in Midland/Odessa has the chance to go to college for free with a little community service? Are we blessed, or what? Back to what I love most about West Texas, I cannot forget Scenic Mountain in Big Spring…I have cried my heart out on that mountain. When I was younger, and lived there…and after I moved to Midland, I would drive over. And when I came to the Lord, cried out, screamed, ranted to Him many times on Scenic Mountain. And He heard my cries. And then, I worshipped. It’s a special place to me., and to many others, as well. Go pay your $2 and check it out. There’s something awesome about that State Park...

(5) What was your motivation for starting this blog? I read blogs for about a year. And commented. Before that, I wrote stories about my life experiences, i.e., vacations with the boys, a work experience, something that happened with my mom, and would send these stories via e-mail to my customers. They loved them! They encouraged me to write, to try to publish. And though I’ve not yet gone that far, I won’t forget my first try at blogging. I loved, and love, the comraderie and friends I’ve made through blogging. If I were to stop writing tomorrow, I’d still stay in touch with my blog buddies. You and they are all part of my family now, if that makes any sense. So, in essence, I started for myself – but I stay, because of y’all.

Hope you enjoyed that. If anyone else has any questions, please feel free to contact me. Like I said before, "I ain'ta skeered!" You may be bored to death, but I'll try to answer.