Hello again everybody,
After a four month break from exposing my dark inner thoughts to the greater public, I have decided that it is now time that I resume my self-deprecating ritual. If I haven't been in touch with you since I last posted, then I hope the past several months have been filled with joy and success and that you now have lots of money to shower upon your friends and loved ones (me included).
Update on me:
Right now, I am sitting in a logging unit on a swamp barge in Indonesia while waiting for the mud engineer to get the formation fractures plugged so that we can quit losing mud and continue drilling. Until then, I'll listen to Van Morrison and get all artsy fartsy on the web.
Funny things about oil rigs:
1. Everybody is politely addressed as boss or chief; so much so, that when I get back, my poor mother will now be addressed as such.
2. The common image of an oil rig is one of a bunch of dirty men with filthy minds in a completely oppressive environment, I think. Although that may be true in some places, there is a lot of peace out here when you can watch the sun rise and set out over the water every day.
3. Remember snack time when you were a kid? That's exactly how I feel at 5:30 in the morning when it's time for my morning coffee and croissant. I love croissants, not as much as McDonald's french fries, but close enough. Someday, I want to bake baguettes and croissants and have a super thick mustache and have a little bakery in Cincinnati where I only speak french and pretend that I can't speak English. Oui Oui!!
Moaning and Groaning
If anybody that reads this blog is into environmental activism or anything, then I suggest you check out what is going on with the Mahakam Delta here in Indonesia (east coast of borneo). I flew over the delta in a helicopter last week when I came out to the rig and the destruction was appalling. From the air, you can see what used to be a massive biological hotbed that has been "plowed over" to create a shrimp farm. I'm not the regular crusader for green, but there's an SUV with a V8 and then there's AN ENTIRE RIVER DELTA completely razed to nothing for the sake of shrimp paste. Here's a nice link on the issue.
Mahakam Delta Paper
Fun Fact o' the Day
How do you think we find oil underground? Caves right? If you thought oil was in a cave underground then you are stupid and you should hate yourself. Actually, don't. A large portion of the public believes that oil is stored in caves under ground; however, oil is actually resident in the pores within rocks. We drill to reach the rocks where the oil is stored (i.e. limestone and sandstone) and then fracture the rocks to allow the fluid (oil, gas, water, whatever) to flow to and up the wellbore. When the hydrostatic pressure within the well is no longer great enough to support a column of fluid to the surface, we can force it up by pumping a fluid with a higher density into the reservoir rock in order to provide more hydrostatic pressure to the fluid - this is called artificial lift.
Poetry
I'm hesitant to do this, but I think I will share one of the poems that I wrote a few weeks ago. I had just gotten off of the rig and was feeling more peaceful than usual. Peace brings out what little creativity I have inside of me.
There is faded paint making lines and shades
On the old basketball court behind the building.
The concrete is cracked
Some are big, some are small.
Ants run with frenzied fervor
Connecting the dots both here and there.
I find myself staring off,
Not to look, but to think.
But the boring drum of the air conditioner
brings me back to reality... or the illusion.
There are trees and grass to one side,
On the other stands a wall with a crown of barbed wire.
To a stranger watching from the window
I might seem quite strange.
But to me, the concatenation of these otherwise ordinary images
becomes a grand moment to witness.
Nothing special has happened.
To dwell in the here and now
Brings soothing peace.
It's probably crap, but it was nice at the time.
Thoughts
1. I started dreaming again. I can't remember the last time that I remembered my dreams, but things are vivid now. Although each detail can't be listed verbatim on a log, I can say that my dreams have given me a new urgency to live - and to live hard. At one point, I found myself saying to someone that I was scared that I would wake up tomorrow to see that life had passed me by. It is strange to me that at 24 years of age, I am worried that I'll blink and miss anything.
2. Point #2 is slightly related to point #1. I decided several months back that I was ready to get a tattoo. It took me several years to get to that point, but I knew that it would take me several more til I would decide what the tattoo would be. I thought about maybe getting the state of Ohio tattoo somewhere, but decided against it. My new kick is on an hourglass with wings. Some historical references say that the image represents the fact that life is fleeting. I figured that would be cooler than getting a tramp stamp on my lower back (joke, haha).
3. Life is lovely. Loving those who love you might be the finest joy achievable by (wo)man.
4. The longer I live and the more people I meet that think they have it all figured out (I can be guilty on occasion), the less I believe that anyone knows anything. I think that we can be victims of temporarily applied value systems being placed on our otherwise primitive brain. After spending my short time here on earth drawing thought after thought to its' total logical conclusion, I no longer thing that I can trust the logical faculties endowed on myself by the great creator. I do think that we can find truth in the emotions coming over us at any given time. Emotions are a primal reaction to external stimuli that are instant and free from the ever-changing logic and perspective of man. Summed up, I think that it would be a healthy experiment for people to look at things for what they are as opposed to attempting to apply a value of good or bad, right or wrong (maybe even the art of Delta Destruction).
I suppose that'll be all for today. I may start writing again on a daily basis, but that dep ends on whether I'm worth reading or not. Sometimes, displaying your inner thoughts to the public on the web becomes uncomfortable.
Til next time, take care.
-Aaron
After a four month break from exposing my dark inner thoughts to the greater public, I have decided that it is now time that I resume my self-deprecating ritual. If I haven't been in touch with you since I last posted, then I hope the past several months have been filled with joy and success and that you now have lots of money to shower upon your friends and loved ones (me included).
Update on me:
Right now, I am sitting in a logging unit on a swamp barge in Indonesia while waiting for the mud engineer to get the formation fractures plugged so that we can quit losing mud and continue drilling. Until then, I'll listen to Van Morrison and get all artsy fartsy on the web.
Funny things about oil rigs:
1. Everybody is politely addressed as boss or chief; so much so, that when I get back, my poor mother will now be addressed as such.
2. The common image of an oil rig is one of a bunch of dirty men with filthy minds in a completely oppressive environment, I think. Although that may be true in some places, there is a lot of peace out here when you can watch the sun rise and set out over the water every day.
3. Remember snack time when you were a kid? That's exactly how I feel at 5:30 in the morning when it's time for my morning coffee and croissant. I love croissants, not as much as McDonald's french fries, but close enough. Someday, I want to bake baguettes and croissants and have a super thick mustache and have a little bakery in Cincinnati where I only speak french and pretend that I can't speak English. Oui Oui!!
Moaning and Groaning
If anybody that reads this blog is into environmental activism or anything, then I suggest you check out what is going on with the Mahakam Delta here in Indonesia (east coast of borneo). I flew over the delta in a helicopter last week when I came out to the rig and the destruction was appalling. From the air, you can see what used to be a massive biological hotbed that has been "plowed over" to create a shrimp farm. I'm not the regular crusader for green, but there's an SUV with a V8 and then there's AN ENTIRE RIVER DELTA completely razed to nothing for the sake of shrimp paste. Here's a nice link on the issue.
Mahakam Delta Paper
Fun Fact o' the Day
How do you think we find oil underground? Caves right? If you thought oil was in a cave underground then you are stupid and you should hate yourself. Actually, don't. A large portion of the public believes that oil is stored in caves under ground; however, oil is actually resident in the pores within rocks. We drill to reach the rocks where the oil is stored (i.e. limestone and sandstone) and then fracture the rocks to allow the fluid (oil, gas, water, whatever) to flow to and up the wellbore. When the hydrostatic pressure within the well is no longer great enough to support a column of fluid to the surface, we can force it up by pumping a fluid with a higher density into the reservoir rock in order to provide more hydrostatic pressure to the fluid - this is called artificial lift.
Poetry
I'm hesitant to do this, but I think I will share one of the poems that I wrote a few weeks ago. I had just gotten off of the rig and was feeling more peaceful than usual. Peace brings out what little creativity I have inside of me.
There is faded paint making lines and shades
On the old basketball court behind the building.
The concrete is cracked
Some are big, some are small.
Ants run with frenzied fervor
Connecting the dots both here and there.
I find myself staring off,
Not to look, but to think.
But the boring drum of the air conditioner
brings me back to reality... or the illusion.
There are trees and grass to one side,
On the other stands a wall with a crown of barbed wire.
To a stranger watching from the window
I might seem quite strange.
But to me, the concatenation of these otherwise ordinary images
becomes a grand moment to witness.
Nothing special has happened.
To dwell in the here and now
Brings soothing peace.
It's probably crap, but it was nice at the time.
Thoughts
1. I started dreaming again. I can't remember the last time that I remembered my dreams, but things are vivid now. Although each detail can't be listed verbatim on a log, I can say that my dreams have given me a new urgency to live - and to live hard. At one point, I found myself saying to someone that I was scared that I would wake up tomorrow to see that life had passed me by. It is strange to me that at 24 years of age, I am worried that I'll blink and miss anything.
2. Point #2 is slightly related to point #1. I decided several months back that I was ready to get a tattoo. It took me several years to get to that point, but I knew that it would take me several more til I would decide what the tattoo would be. I thought about maybe getting the state of Ohio tattoo somewhere, but decided against it. My new kick is on an hourglass with wings. Some historical references say that the image represents the fact that life is fleeting. I figured that would be cooler than getting a tramp stamp on my lower back (joke, haha).
3. Life is lovely. Loving those who love you might be the finest joy achievable by (wo)man.
4. The longer I live and the more people I meet that think they have it all figured out (I can be guilty on occasion), the less I believe that anyone knows anything. I think that we can be victims of temporarily applied value systems being placed on our otherwise primitive brain. After spending my short time here on earth drawing thought after thought to its' total logical conclusion, I no longer thing that I can trust the logical faculties endowed on myself by the great creator. I do think that we can find truth in the emotions coming over us at any given time. Emotions are a primal reaction to external stimuli that are instant and free from the ever-changing logic and perspective of man. Summed up, I think that it would be a healthy experiment for people to look at things for what they are as opposed to attempting to apply a value of good or bad, right or wrong (maybe even the art of Delta Destruction).
I suppose that'll be all for today. I may start writing again on a daily basis, but that dep ends on whether I'm worth reading or not. Sometimes, displaying your inner thoughts to the public on the web becomes uncomfortable.
Til next time, take care.
-Aaron
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