Wildcattin'

Tonight, I attended a “Wildcatter” function at our local Petroleum club. The Wildcatters Club always honors one of their peers who has gone above and beyond in our industry. The event was fun, as usual. I was able to visit with many customers, and see many of my peers in a relaxed atmosphere.

Friendships were rekindled, hands shaken, hugs given and received. Stories were told, and I laughed a lot, throughout the evening. It’s always good to laugh. Though I was one of but a handful of women present, this meeting always feels as good as putting on a favorite coat.

I walked up to a trio of men, one of whom happens to be my boss. After visiting for a minute, my boss took off to work the crowd. One of my customers started laughing. He'd never met my boss, and when he did meet him, he asked, "So - do you work for Janie?" Too funny.

I saw one of my colleagues from my early sales days. I think the guy has retired three times. As of late, he has been mentoring younger sales people. He said, “My company wants them to follow me around.” I looked at him, smiled, and said, “Well, you’ve been in this place before, haven’t you?” He looked back at me, puzzled, and then, he got it. I trailed after him many a day myself when I was starting out in sales, over 20 years ago. And I learned a lot from him. He’s a great guy – we all need more mentors!

I ran into this guy's better half, and as always, it’s a pleasure to visit with this one.

Our industry is organic, constantly changing, and as such, I was able to reconnect with some former co-workers. It’s always good to see them. Even though they’re gone, there’s still such a sense of family.

I met a man who happens to own a brother to Zack, The Wonder Dog. We were talking about hunting, and I mentioned the fact that we owned littermates. He was unaware, curious, and started asking about Zack. Can he hunt? Does he do well? Y’all know the answers to those questions. So I asked him about his dog. He unloaded on me! He said, “My dog is so stupid in the field! We were hunting the other day, and a friend of mine was working his dog. His dog retrieved a bird, and my dog went and stole the retrieved bird from my friend’s dog, ran away with it, and hid the bird.” He was laughing, though, and told me the dog is well loved, and shares common traits with Zack…such as sleeping on the bed with his owners. I just laughed. There, but for the grace of God and Zack’s trainers, go us!

It was an awesome night – it’s never boring around here! Functions will happen almost every night this week, and will kick off the Christmas party season next week. It will be hectic – but fun.

Yummy

I. Am. Miserable. I don’t want to get up, much less pack. And my feet hurt. Yup, yesterday was a day of overindulgence. Much walking. Much tasting. Okay, whining over. I have to get going. Zack and I have a field trial today, when I get home!!

I am in Houston. Yesterday, I attended our quarterly National Association of Drilling Engineers Board Meeting at the Humble Civic Center. Immediately afterwards, we were shuttled via golf carts to the Civic Center Barn for the AADE 5F.

What is the AADE 5F? It is the AADE National Fin Fur Feather Food Fest. All of the oil companies and service companies had their cooking teams out working and serving the public. The fare was highly varied and simply amazing.

I had my first crab beignet – awesome. I had lobster on noodles. I had catfish/shrimp gumbo. Gumbo abounded – elk gumbo, deer gumbo, you name it. If you were an etouffee lover, you could get it here - etouffee of all flavors – crawfish, shrimp, the works. Duck burger (I just couldn't.) There were alligator legs – frog legs – squirrel legs. Clam and shrimp chowders. One of the oil companies cooked a “Tsunami Roll”, which was full of sushi and all sorts of good things.

Liquor was flowing freely, fine wines abounded, and I even saw my first jello shot (saw, didn’t imbibe!). I had to work hard to find water, my preferred beverage.

All of the booths were beautifully decorated. One of the vendors did a salute to the troops, with girls dressed in USO uniforms. When the booth judges came around, the USO girls did a “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B” dance – it was so cute! Another vendor had an old-time saloon theme, with cowboys dressed in old-time western garb, complete with saloon girls.

Several Houston chefs of note actually judged the food, and a good time was had by all.

Ah, the perks of my job. Gotta love it!

Zoie and the Price of Oil

The picture in Sunday's Permian Basin Oil Report was captioned:"High oil prices mean holiday travel will be more expensive." Zoie's take: "Pump, schmump! Let's go hunting!"

Morning news sources said that oil reached a record high this morning at $98.62/bbl, and further predicted that oil could go as high as $128/bbl. That is craziness. I'd better call my oil purchasers and tell them to go pick up a load...oh, wait...I don't have an oil well.

It's funny - prices in the oil service sector seem to be softening, and yet, the price of oil rises. I've been in the oil industry for 23 years now...and I still haven't figured it all out. It's a new day, every day, out here in the patch .

Guess that's what keeps it exciting!

I need some Geritol...or maybe a nap would help.

We ended up taking a customer to the airport at 5pm yesterday, then headed home from Albuquerque. Yup, craziness.

I drove the entire way, since MLH needed to leave at 5 am this morning for a job. We got in at 12:30 am this morning. And then...I couldn't sleep. I guess I drank too much caffeine.

I get to the office this morning, and find out I'm leaving for Houston at 4pm today for an overnight trip. I have called and re-engaged the housesitter for Zack the Wonder Dog, and notified MLH of the change of plans.

And I have a lunchtime Assn of Drilling Engineers meeting to help facilitate, with around 100 rsvp'd.

So hear this...(the sound of exhaustion and quiet frustration as I smile and carry on about my day.)

aaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!

A Weekend in the Life of a Salesperson

This has been an extremely busy weekend. Early breakfasts, lunch dates, activities with customers, and then evening receptions every night, going from there to formal dinners.
I don’t think I’ve had so much rich food since…last year’s event in Santa Fe!

We’ve had a good time, and I thought I’d share with you the life of a salesperson during an event such as this. (I know you’re dying to know!)

Thursday
Drove to Albuquerque, arriving around 6pm
Went straight to Landry’s, reserving a table for 8
After a long dinner, took customers to casino, stayed out way too late.

Friday
Drove into Santa Fe, checked into La Fonda, a historic Santa Fe hotel, unpacked
Took customers and about 25 co-workers to La Casa Sena, where we dined on excellent fare, and were greatly entertained by our singing wait staff. I recommend this restaurant to anyone!
My boss suggested we help him take customers to the local casino. Rerun of Thursday.

Saturday
10 am Ladies’ Brunch at La Fonda Terraza , where the entertainment was Lisa Trujillo, co-owner of Chimayo Weavers, along with her husband, Irvin. Their work is on permanent display at the Smithsonian, and Irvin was just awarded The National Endowment for the Arts 2007 NEA National Heritage Fellowship. I promise, I will never look at a weaving the same again. These people gather plants, make their own dyes, and put hours and hours into weaving their wares. I am amazed, and plan to make a trip back up to Santa Fe just to visit their facility. Go! See!
12:30 pm – shopping Santa Fe with customers and their wives
6 pm – Attended formal reception for BJ Services (around 500 people)
8 pm – Attended our customer appreciation dinner (around 300 people)
10:30 pm – finally went to bed (left MLH and others milling around the bar)

Sunday
Breakfast at the hotel, talked business (it never ends, really.)
12:30 pm – took customers on a winery tour – what a fun time!

We stopped first at Balagna Winery, San Ysidro Vineyards, where proprietor John Balagna, a retired nuclear chemist, entertained us mightily! And of course, we walked away with a few cases of his wine. If you get a chance, go visit the Balagnas. Their 500 acre homestead includes a beautiful canyon and a great view of the Rio Grande River.


We then went to Santa Fe Winery, where we purchased some port and chardonnay. And someone, namely MLH, goofed off for the camera in the Wine Diva visor.

6 pm – Attended the Devon/Marathon reception on top of the Eldorado Hotel , so crowded we couldn't move (it was too cold for everyone to be outside, so we were sardined up!)
7 pm – Attended the NMOGA kickoff reception (around 1000 people)
8 pm – Went to dinner at The Ore House on the Plaza
10:30 pm – Back to the hotel, where we crashed

Monday
8 am – Up, working on the computer
10 am – Going to late breakfast with customers/friends
Noon – hopefully heading home!

Such is the life of an oilfield salesperson…and you thought all we did was have a great time!
(We did!)

Where in the world is....Janie? (Prizes will be awarded!)

Jen P won the contest and as the winner, will be the recipient of either a cool prize or some great wine from Santa Fe! So, Jen P, let me know what you want! Woohoo! Thanks for playing!

The answer to the contest: The pictures were taken while were driving into San Antonio, N.M. Isn't it beautiful? And Jen P had even been there!

This was fun. I'll try to think of another while I'm here!

Okay. I’m pulling a Jim at Serotonin Rain survey. You probably know where I’m going…but based on this picture, what town am I near in this portion of the journey? I know, if you're like me, you'll say "It's so beautiful, who cares where Janie is?"

First winner with the right name gets an (as yet undetermined) awesome prize straight from some (as yet undetermined, but cool) shopping place somewhere around here (here being where I presently am now)...unless, of course, you want a cool prize from our Winery Tour on Sunday. (Whew, that was one long run-on sentence!) You pick. Are you a winehead? Or do you trust me to surprise you? Okay, Sherlocks, get to it!!

Hints – (1)we got a little off the beaten path; (2) an old Charley Pride tune; (3) Saint Anthony of Padua (4)Texas shares a sister city of the same name. Who knew?

What not to wear made easy...

Wow. What a night. I left the office at 7:30pm, called and begged the cleaners to open up for me since I forgot to go pick up our clothes for the trip. They graciously met me and loaded my truck. MLH is just now coming in from his leases, and we still have to pack. But the neatest thing happened, and I just have to share it!

Around 8:30 p.m., I called Bob and Cherie to see what they were doing. They were having supper with friends, and I asked them to call me when they were done. I guess they heard the panic in my voice…because I was panicking. Around 9pm, they called me back and asked if I needed help.

I knew MLH wasn’t going to make it home before midnight at the earliest. We have to leave early in the morning for Santa Fe, and I had no clothes picked out. We go from breakfast meetings to golf outings to tours to formal dinners, and though I had some ideas of what I was going to take, I hadn’t worked it all out.

Bob and Cherie came through the door and we went to work. (Well, Bob went to work watching a western, which was good – we probably would have driven him to drink.) Cherie made a long arduous task fun and gave great advice. Want to check the status of a friendship? Go through what we did tonight!

Now, all we have to do is get MLH and Zack home from the field, pack our truck, and go west, young man! No way could I have been this far along without Bob & Cherie’s help. Thanks, y’all! You rock!!

Girls just wanna have...camo!

It’s midnight, Friday night. I returned from Lubbock about an hour ago, and Zack the Wonder Dog greeted me at the front door. MLH has a rig running and is staying at Pecos, and will be in tomorrow evening.

I had a great time in Lubbock – had supper with my friend Suzan Thursday night, then we met Elder Son and a friend and watched them eat supper. We all stayed up way too late, and then got up early this morning and made the grand opening of Lubbock’s new… (wait for it!)

Gander Mountain!

(Well, what did you expect? I shoot, I hunt, I fish, I have a sport dog, and dude, they have the cutest camo stuff for women!! Woohoo!! And Suzan was after the Pink Ladies 20 gauge Remington – it’s so cute…it has “Shoot like a girl – if you can!” carved into the stock.)

MLH calls while I’m checking out. The reason for my trip was a haircut and shopping to augment my portfolio of formal wear for our impending annual Santa Fe business trip/boondoggle. Here’s the drill of the call:

MLH: “Hey, sweetie, whatcha doing?”

Me: “Wow, Suzan and I are in Gander Mountain, I’m about to go to my hair appointment. This store is way cooler than the one in Houston! They have the neatest clothes and I got you a new field jacket and both of us matching Columbia orange fleece jackets for hunting and I got Zack a new leash and some choke tube lube and...and...what? What did you say, honey?”

MLH: “I said, Jane, you’re supposed to be shopping for formal gear, and Gander Mountain has no formal clothing line. Don't forget the purpose of your trip, girly!”

Me: "But..."

MLH: "Jane..."

Me: “I know, I’m heading to Dillards and Coldwater Creek, I promise.”

MLH: “You’re 5 days to countdown, get that shopping done, girl, so we can get you packed Sunday. Spend the night, if you need to do so.”

Me: "I can't, we have a training run with Zack at dawn Saturday!"

MLH: "Zack can wait until we get back from Santa Fe, woman. Get. The. Shopping. Done."

Me: “I’m on it, I’m checking out now. I did find some cool stuff to wear at Santa Fe here, you’ll like it!”

MLH: “Jane. (Pregnant pause, in a very sweet, yet exasperated way.) Formal stuff.”

Me: “Okay. I’m all over it…right after I get my hair cut. Wait, wait, ma’am…before you total my ticket, can you snag me that cute pink camo Mossy Oak cap, please? ... Okay, yes, honey, I'm listening! I'll call you when I'm finished, okay? I love you!”

I did get my shopping done. I think I’m good. Had supper tonight with Suzan’s family, and Elder Son joined us. It was good to see everyone.

And MLH is going to be so very happy…at least until he sees his bills.

Unwinding

Here I am, 11:20 pm, unwinding from my long day.

Today was definitely a “fopp” day – fixing other people’s problems. Oh, well, that’s part of the life of a salesperson…fixing invoices, chasing down unpaid invoices, scheduling jobs, and rescheduling others, all the while working on a tender and trying to order Zack supplies.

I had planned to take off Wed – Friday, but work-related things have intervened. I now have a 9:30 a.m. meeting, an 11:30 a.m. meeting, and a 2:30 p.m. conference call. Woohoo.

Well, maybe I can still get in my errands. I had taken vacation in order to get ready for the trip we will be taking in the near future to Santa Fe, N.M. Before you say, “Oh, wow!”, please figure the work factor. It is a lot of fun, but it is a 100% boondoggle, which is to say we will be entertaining customers the entire time. And in any given day, you go from “golf attire” to “dress casual” to “dressy/formal”, so it does require some wardrobe coordination. We are going to do a winery tour one day, with customers, so that will be fun. (I’ll get to be the designated driver, since I don’t drink.)

Thursday morning, Zack and I have a date with the dog trainer extraordinaire, JP Yousha. Then, everything else permitting, I may make an overnight trip to Lubbock for shopping purposes and rites of beautification, scheduled for Friday.

All that being said, I don’t know how much posting I’ll do the rest of the week, so y’all have a great week and weekend and I’ll catch you later!

Burlap Bagger

One of my friends came by today, and brought strawberry pie to my boss and I (she's a really good friend!). She took one look at me and said, “You look exhausted – are you sleeping at night?”

Guys, take note:

To any woman, that statement “You look exhausted” means a myriad of things unspoken. “You look old.” “You have bags under your eyes.” “Your butt is really big.” "Have you gained weight?" “Thought about having a facelift?” Yup, that statement means anything but “You look really beautiful today.”

And it came from a friend – so I know it’s the truth. Yuk. Give me a big old honking burlap bag and shut my office door so I will be out of sight – hey, I know how to beautify Texas! And I have been so sleeping at night!

My ol' friend stress is jacking with me again.

We’re all working on a project, different members assigned various portions. My portion is dependent upon the completion of the other portions. This project will affect years to come, is high priority…but difficult to juggle while fielding customers’ more immediate demands. And of course, the project has a short timeline and impending deadline. And we are short-staffed.

On top of that:

My insurance agent called today…seems like Younger Son’s propensity to back into poles (twice, one on each side of his pickup!), and get sideswiped on Loop 250 will cause our insurance to go up, even though only one accident was his fault. His young age isn't helping matters. Lovely.

Around 2 p.m., I get a call from the field. The job was scheduled for 8 a.m. hasn’t even started yet, and my customer is on site. I called him and let him know I’m in the loop, and thank God, he’s good with everything.

Around 8:30 p.m., I get a call from my young shooting buddy Nate. Nate wanted to tell me all about his shooting lessons tonight. I had planned to go out and watch him take his lesson. He had a great time, but I think he was disappointed I didn't show up. I'd probably have been 150% more effective had I gone to his lesson and watched him shoot.

I left the office tonight around 9, and brought my computer home to work.

But I just can’t bring myself to do it – instead, I’m going to hit the hay. That is, right after the mattress protector MLH put in the washing machine dries…and I put fresh sheets on the bed. He called after I got home.

MLH: "What are you doing?"

Me: "Laying on top of the comforter, waiting on the dryer."

MLH: “Oh, Honey…I know you asked me to do that this morning, but I forgot to put it in the dryer. I'm so sorry!"

(Isn't that sweet?) He left this morning to go out of town for an assignment in the field. Oh well, everything will be fresh when he comes home!

It's time to go to "Napper's House" as Elder Son used to call it. And it's all good. Joy comes in the morning, right? Good night, all. Sleep with angels!

Vista Schmista

MLH’s computer is trying to kick the bucket. He has a HP Pavilion 7000…big ol’ honking laptop with a 10 key. It’s barely 3 years old…and you know it just ran out of warranty. (How do the warranty gods do that?) MLH did a quick backup on the Seagate, and we went to Best Buy to see just what their best buy was. And guess what? They have three different versions of the same computer, just upgraded. And all have…Windows Vista.

I guess we’re going to be forced to make the change to the newer operating system…which means we also have to get the Microsoft Office Professional Vista version at $499, since our last purchase of such was the Office Professional 2003. And on another computer, we have Office Professional XP. Anybody need any old programs? That still work on pre-Vista era machines? Oh, wait, they’re registered to us. You can’t use them…that would be fraudulent…I think. And then, don’t forget - you need to buy the Best Buy Extended Warranty. At a cool $329. At least this version has an accidental damage warranty…as much as MLH is in the field, going down horribly rough roads, we need something like that. (And we do utilize those extended warranties, I promise.)

Dude, this is like buying vitamins from a multi-level marketer. It’s all about volume. And it must be working, 'cause Best Buy only had about half of their display models actually in stock. All the rest were “sold out” or “out of stock”. Wonder what the difference is?

Vista, schmista.

Through an Odessa Police Department Officer's Eyes

The third of three officers injured in a shootout earlier this week in Odessa, Cpl. Abel Marquez, passed away Wednesday afternoon. See story here.

When a tragedy like this occurs, a sense of shock permeates everything. We, the general public, can only imagine how the fellow officers might feel. This morning, when I arrived at work, an e-mail awaited me. As I read it, my heart broke. This e-mail is from one of the officers who serves with me on the “Bad Boy Blast” committee I spoke of in the prior post, and was written late Tuesday night, in reply to an e-mail I sent to the Bad Boy Blast committee. The author of this e-mail happens to be married to another Odessa police officer, so their entire family has been affected by this loss. With permission of this officer, I am going to share the text of the e-mail with you all so you might get a better perception of what they are experiencing. (Names have been changed to protect the officer's identity.)

“Hello Janie,

I have a few moments to actually read the e-mails that so many well wishers have sent to the OPD family. Janie, this hurts soooo bad, the emotions that I and my fellow brothers and sisters feel are just so overwhelming. We cry, we toughen up, we are angry, confused...it just goes on and on.

I went by to see Cpl. Jones and Cpl. Gardner and it was too much! Hubbard Kelly has done such a wonderful job and they look so good in their uniforms. I told Arlie's sister that he has been promoted. He now works for the Ultimate Supreme Judge of the World! He is under the command of Saint Michael now. My Scott, I always called him "professor" and he got such a kick out of that. Whenever he wore his glasses, he looked so studious and I would say "What's up professor?” He would smile and shake his head.

Scott loved to call my spouse in the middle of night whenever he would recover a stolen vehicle. He would tease me and say "Is your spouse on call? I have to find a stolen vehicle so I can wake him up!" He adored and respected my spouse. He was just a big ole Teddy Bear!

I will miss him.

I will miss them both.

You can't help but feel angry, angry that someone would have the nerve to take their life the way that perp did. He took away someone's husband, father, son, brother, uncle, nephew and best friend.

I just don't know how I'm going to get through tomorrow. The generosity of this community, both Odessa and Midland has been awesome. The calls, e-mails, donations, people stepping up to the plate to help is just remarkable. I believe that is what is getting us through.

Cpl. Marquez is hanging by life support. It's too much to bear knowing we could lose him as well. Please pray for my chief, I can only imagine as a leader how this is affecting him.

Thank you Janie for listening, I needed to get this off my mind so I can rest. Tomorrow will be tough."

I spoke with this officer earlier tonight, and amazingly, the officers did make it through today. And it was even harder than they thought - at the completion of the second funeral today, they exited the service to the announcement that Cpl. Marquez had passed.

The communities of Odessa and Midland are really pouring out love and support to these wounded warriors. The support is overwhelming, and definitely showing our public servants that this community cares about them.

I ask you to continue praying for all concerned: the families and friends of Cpl. Jones, Cpl. Gardner, and Cpl. Marquez – and all of the OPD, including the brothers of Cpl. Marquez, and of course, Chief Pipes.

It’s one way we can serve those who protect and serve us.

(Please also see Jimmy's tribute.)

Antibiotics

I feel like I’ve been run over by a train and I cannot get motivated. Saturday evening, I started feeling yukky and it worsened throughout the weekend. I ditched work Tuesday and went to the doctor. Diagnosis? Throat and ear infection. Lovely. And to top it off, Zack the Wonder Dog is making me crazy.

On a scale of 1 to 10, here’s my motivation level…

6 – answering phone calls from customers and trying to sound upbeat and help them.
5 – answering phone calls from coworkers and trying to sound upbeat and help them.
7 – answering e-mails (it’s easier, no talking) but my attitude might not be perfect
1 – putting on a load of laundry since it’s sitting there anyway.
2 – answering repeated pleas from Zack (he doesn’t need anything, he’s bored – but it’s better than leaving him in the back and hearing him bark because he knows I’m inside.)
10 – sleeping – it’s all I really want to do.

I’m ready to get better and back to real work. BTW, daytime TV sucks - if I could ever stay awake long enough to watch it.

Communication is good.

We arrived home from the Metromess (as Foo and Turtle call it) around 6:10pm Sunday. Somewhere in between Colorado City and Midland, MLH remembered we needed to visit the Alltel store since his phone was acting up.

Me: “Dude. It. Is. Sunday. And. Everything. Closes. At. 6 pm.”

MLH: “Um, yeah.”

I drove into Midland, hit the loop, and cruised past Best Buy, breathing a sign of relief. Due to “tax-free weekend”, every parking lot I passed looked like those parking lots the day after Thanksgiving. Packed to the hilt.

And, thank God, Alltel in the mall was open until 8 p.m. They didn't have the phone we needed, sent us to Circuit City to buy the phone, then we had to return to Alltel for the numbers transfer.

$400 later, new phone (and we insured this one),in hand and old numbers transferred over, MLH is ready for yet another day in the remote oil patch. Whew. I hate it when he’s 2 ½ hrs away and experiencing phone trouble. It’s just not safe.

We met Younger Son for supper, then went home and unpacked.

We’re glad to be home…for a mere five days. On Friday, we will host the XTO Energy Halliburton “Bustin’ Clays for United Way” sporting clay shoot out at Windwalker, then leave immediately after for a field dog trial in Cloudcroft. It will be nice to get to cooler temperatures.

Zack the Wonder Dog thinks so, too.

Here's to friends ... and new friends!

It's been a full couple of days in the Metroplex…

Thursday
Drove to Lewisville
Registered at Dallas Gun Club
Schmoozed with customers and peers (SWC&P)
Bought new pair of E.A.R. custom-fit ear plugs
(purple and pink - woohoo!)
Didn't stay for Thursday night activities or shooter auction
Instead went to supper with our friends from Lubbock
Returned to hotel and retired sometime around midnight
Friday
5am wakeup to wakeup call MLH for redeye flight
Couldn't go back to sleep
Worked on e-mails and got my shooting stuff ready to go
Went to breakfast at 8:30am when MLH arrived at hotel
SWC&P at hotel breakfast
Went outside where my shooting glasses immediately fogged up
Fogged up glasses – new experience
Went to Dallas Gun Club, met up with teammates
Shot at the hottest time of the day, 1:30pm
Shot the Calcutta Course (most difficult course of Gun Club)
Thought about whining, too hot to talk, just push on
Deduced I should have said "Let's don't and say we did!"
Gave up on my hope to win the 2007 High Over All Ladies trophy
SWC&P while sweating my life away
My customer won a $3500 Beretta O/U
Excited for him
Because I picked out his winning board square
I won a brand new SKB gun case
I won $100 Cabelas gift certificate
Back to hotel to meet my cousin Kristy
She drove in just to see us
First time in 3 years – we had a huge time
SWC&P in hotel lobby
We all went to supper with Kristy
And our friends from Lubbock
Back to hotel at midnight, talked until 1:30am
Saturday
Went to breakfast at 8:30 with MLH & Kristy
SWC&P at hotel breakfast
Drove to Plano for a home group meeting with a friend
Met about 30 sweet brothers & sisters in the Lord
Left there, headed to Allen
Meet Foo & Turtle of Random Synaptic Misfire
Lunched with them at the Blue Mesa Grill, laughed a lot
What a sweet couple, they're a lot of fun
We decided it's time for a Texas gathering of the bloggers
I think they should come check out West Texas
Stopped at Borders for books, then Starbucks
Headed back to hotel
Try to boot up my computer – oh, my Lord
Blue screen of death, holy crap
Called IT desk to verify, yup
Eulogy said, new computer on Monday
Thank God for backup on server
MLH & I took much needed nap
Decided to stay in, went to get burgers
Will meet Becky of Leo & Becky in morning in FW for brunch
She & her husband a huge part of the spiritual wealth in our lives
Then head west, young man…por la casa, por favor
Ready. More than ready!
Later, gaters…
Much love

Vacation, All I Ever Wanted....

Have you ever taken a couple days of vacation and spent the entire time on the phone and on your computer, working?

Yeah, me, too - just this past Monday and Tuesday. To make up for the weekend I worked on yet another project.

I got some laundry done, and some things situated in a room that is being redone…but that’s about it. Between my phone, my computer, and Zack the Wonder Dog harassing me to go outside so he could go climb trees, I sucked at taking vacation. I think I need to go to another country, that has no internet access and where my cell phone will not work.

And I have 3.5 weeks of vacation to use before the end of the year.

I don’t know if I’m going to get that vacation utilized or not…but I’m going to try, I promise.

I promise.

Takin' Care of Business!

I know y'all click on my blog thousands of times per day waiting on my next little droplets of wisdom, so I apologize for not posting more regularly.

What? Y'all don't? Click on my blog thousands of times per day?

I'm crushed. I should post more often.

But….work! And…events! And…customer dinners! And…all that other stuff! Has been keeping me from posting.

Sample day (prior to 8am!) of this week…

5:15 a.m. – out of bed, into the shower and rushing to get ready to be out of the house in time to pick up customer breakfast at…
6:30 a.m. – at ChikFilA, hauling out a large fruit tray, large chicken-mini tray, and 15 burritos to my truck to get to my customer's 6th floor office by…
6:45 a.m. – and lay out the food, place business cards, and run to the meeting room to visit with customers prior to their…
7:15 a.m. – conference call, which is the signal for me to leave, so I do, and go straight to the house, pick up dry cleaning to drop off at the cleaners. Zack the Wonder Dog decides that I must need a chaperone, and he hops into my truck. I'm okay with that, I'm going to take the clothing back to the house and drop it off on my way to the office.

Which is all well and good, except for the fact that there is a dog grooming place next to my dry cleaners. I forget that part. And when we drive up, about ten pet owners are standing outside with their pups and waiting on the doors to open. What a funny sight. Zack thinks it's okay for him to get out of the truck and go visit all his friends. I don't think so, big boy!!

Anyway, I get into the cleaners with my stash of clothing, and the owner rounds up my fresh dry cleaning. I'm gathering all my stuff, and my boss walks in with his laundry. I'm thinking, "Great. He's probably thinking I'm messing around, with my dog in the car, etc.", but he's good, as always.

I get to the house, unload Zack and all the stuff, and tell MLH what has happened. And then, he said the neatest thing.

"Girl, most of your peers are just thinking about getting up by the time you've already made 3 rounds. Don't worry about that stuff!" Think I'll keep him around.

And then, I run to another customer's office, getting there just before 8 a.m.

Two offices down, many more to go - just a portion of the day in a life of a person in sales.

Gotta love it. And I do.

Some change is good!

Do you know what these numbers mean?

390 – 1:05pm – 3:30pm – 1 – 2:25

The numbers signify a huge increase in Midland to Tulsa air traffic via Southwest Airlines – and, we don’t have to change planes in Dallas, or layover, on the way up! One flight, one stop...SWA just cut about 5 hours out of my travel day!

Woohoo! I’m all for efficiency and getting home earlier…this change will be so welcome, somebody soon may be reaping dividends on their Southwest stock!

I wonder this is an effect of repealing the Wright Amendment? Probably not, since we're still having to touch down in Dallas. Probably just an effect of high traffic count from Midland to Tulsa - elementary, my dear Kelleher.

Trials of the Patch

I was scared to look.

MLH borrowed my Yukon XL while his Ford Powerstroke was being detailed and um…augmented (a nice term for plastic surgery) at TMP Truck and Trailer. I had rented another vehicle to help assist in this amazing transformation. (By the way, medical insurance doesn’t cover this type of augmentation, either!)

Items added:

1. Trac Top Jack Rabbit Tonneau Cover
2. Whistler Power Inverter hard wired into the truck - Eric would love this – it has huge wattage capacity, and doesn’t even hurt the truck power. Might be a little hard on the recumbent, though.
3. Jottodesk Rotating Computer Table for doing reports on location
4. Full out floor liners – this should have been a clue Ol’ Yukie might be in trouble
5. Auxiliary diesel tank

I know…you’re thinking I was scared to look at the bill for all of the above, right? Not even. Whatever will make MLH's life easier out there, I’m all for it.

Remember, we’re hard-working oil field trash. But the oilfield we live in isn’t exactly clean, though better than it was, say, 30 years ago. MLH is trying to modify his truck to be more of a tool and less of a pretty thing. Meanwhile, driving Yukie, MLH promised to maintain my truck daily. Lots of times in the past little bit, he would call me, and be going through the car wash. So I knew he was trying.

But – still…I was scared. Scared to see Yukie’s condition, once she was returned. Because I know my man – he’s a hands-on kinda guy – and it’s hard for him to stay spotless out there in the patch. He’s in and out of the truck, all day long. It’s hard for me to stay clean out there, too…but I have my truck washed and waxed every Monday morning so it’s ready for customers to go to lunch/meetings/shooting/whatever. When I’m leaving a location, I pull off my steel toe boots and coveralls and put them in my hauling box in the back cargo area. The one time I didn’t, I had some type of chemical on my boot, and it ate a little hole in my floor mat. I learned my lesson. The difference is, I’m leaving a location and probably headed to the office, or even home. MLH goes from location to location to location – no telling how many times a day he's in and out of his truck.

Back to the story at hand. Yukie was parked in the driveway all weekend and I never went and looked. I was too scared. I never said a word. And MLH kept warning me…“I tried hard to keep it clean, honey, but it’s pretty bad.” Finally, last night, when MLH was cleaning it out so we could take it for detailing, he called me out. I went. I looked.

My Yukon XL is equipped with “neutral tan” leather seats. Seats that fold down flat, for easy cargo hauling. Neutral tan carpet. I special ordered that stuff, because up until the not too distant past, GMC would pair tan seats with a grey dash and topliner. I hated that. I wanted all tan. So "neutral tan" it was. Not the greatest color for oilfield use - but it was 2004. Before they started using all black interiors. So I'm looking at Yukie, post MLH and I see stripes in my truck interior. Stripes of black, gooey…dirty, oily residue. Down the back of my seats, where something had been hauled…like a packer. Or a tubing anchor. Downhole tools, anyway. Downhole tools get really, really nasty. Paraffin. Oil. Dirt. Scale. And the same kinda goo in the back cargo area. And Yukie smelled…like oilfield. Bad H2S oilfield. 200 times worse than the smell that hits you when you drive past a refinery. I don't know how MLH was able to stand it.

I just shut my eyes. Turned away. And like a good esposa, said nothing. Went back into the house. I needed a Xanax. A drink. Calgon. Something. “Just sayin’”. (Karen– that was for you!)

MLH drove Yukie to the detail shop this morning - he wouldn't even let me drive her. I picked him up, brought him back to his truck. En route back, I started talking about the Ford Expedition I was renting – it is way comfortable, I liked the way it drove, it would look good in leather, it’s shorter than Yukie, probably gets better gas mileage, etc. MLH expressed his appreciation of this new vehicle as well. Even said (under his breath) something along the lines of “Honey, you might need to start looking for another truck.” I know I heard that (and I'm saving it for later), but I’m not quite ready to get rid of Yukie. Not yet. Maybe the guys at Expert Detail can work wonders.

Woo-hoo! They did! Here she is…

(disclaimer: the little dent in the front was from another MLH driving episode)

I picked Yukie up right before 6pm. The detailers did an excellent job. I cannot believe they got those stains out. I’m telling you, it’s a miracle. Ol’ Yukie’s back in the game!! MLH was very pleased. But it’s a good thing I’m not a smoker – whatever they used to clean this baby up has to be flammable. Whoooooey! Nose plugs, anyone?

Just sayin’.

Celebrate good times, c'mon!!

I am glad to tell you that I flew to Houston and back yesterday, via the lovely (ahem) Continental Airlines Volkswagen jet.

And for once, it was an on-time departure. We made it to our appointments in the Woodlands on time!

And better yet, for the first time ever in MY traveling life, the plane touched down in Midland yesterday evening - again, right on time.

The flight didn't cancel.

I didn't have to catch a taxi from IAH to Hobby to grab a Southwest flight to get home to Midland.

The. Flight. Didn't. Cancel.

A miracle, I tell you!! Sound the bells! Fill the streets with laughter and celebration!!

Okay. You're right. I need a life. Or a drink.

Something.