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March 26th 2006 -- New Blog Layout, Bon Jovi has Europe in his hand April 13th 2006 -- Good Stinking Friday! April 21st 2006 -- Viva Las Vegas! Met up with John and Ashley Harrell May 12th 2006 -- My dad doesn't love me, and other big news May 19th 2006 -- Yes Mom, I've been to prison June 5th 2006 -- Romance and Relationships (aka "I will never let a woman in my life!' -- Henry Higgins) June 2006 -- My first *real* climbing experience. Devil's Tower July 10th 2006 -- 12 days in Florida, David Tyus's wedding, hangout with family and friends July 2006 -- Job decisions...Schlumberger Transfer Baker Hughes Offer August 29th 2006 -- Packing, and lost memories Sep 30th 2006 -- Singapore – Tropical “shopping” paradise Oct 1st 2006 -- The Thrilla in Manilla: Singapore Air vs. Air France 9-Nov-2006 Some information about Indonesia Dec 2006 -- Houma: First impressions March 26th 2006 -- New Blog Layout, Bon Jovi has Europe in his hand A long awaited update and a new look. So sorry for the delay in updates. November through January were extremely busy (less than 5 days off during that time span) and when I had some more time in February I was so far behind in my blog I had no idea where to start. So let's start with an "easier design. From now on I'll be dividing the we pages into "years" rather than months. This will facilitate updating. If you read often, and are trying to find something on a rather long blog page, just hit "ctrl + f" to find a certain word or phrase. Well I spend the month of November in Edinburgh -- so the
last two thanksgivings I've celebrated in Scotland. I believe that I had
fish on both days :) One nice thing is that Scotland has added sliced turkey
to it's list of deli meats in the last year. It's funny thinking of turkey as
a North American bird and not something universal -- but goes to show how
much where you grow up influences you. I also now have irrefutable proof
that Europeans worship Bon Jovi. (see picture
The real highlights were visiting Adam Smith's grave (his book Wealth of Nations could make him considered the greatest humanitarian of all time -- because from that book accelerated the wealth that let nations develop anything from charities to vaccines), or hiking up this hill that overlooked the city. See the pictures section for more. December and January were a blur because I worked so much. We now how more engineers at the shop though, and I'm getting all my time off (which is awesome). I'm also up for a transfer soon. Once that's all settled I'll be sure to put it on a blog. Shea Willis, my best friend by situation, not by choice :) (We were raised together from birth due to our families being so close, but I'm not complaining -- Shea's a great friend that's shaped my life!) got married in March to Misti Hammons. This is a friend that we went through all the awkward early teen years when girls went from annoying, to pretty and annoying...now he's married. Man on man...craziness... Well this has gotten long enough already. One last piece of news is that Armando is no longer with us in Williston. One of the funniest people that I have ever met, and a good friend got his dream transfer back to his home of Brazil. He lives in a beautiful city now -- Aracajou. Congrats Armando! More to come later!
April 13th 2006 -- Good Stinking Friday! To you oh Lord I lift my soul To you or Lord I place my trust Do not let me be put to shame Nor let my enemies triumph over me.... MY HOPE IS IN YOU!!!
I can remember my junior year of college trying to memorize the psalm (31 is it?) that this Third Day song is based on. I only got about 1/2 way. Phill Graham and I were in ceramics class and I would recite it in there because I got bored. Phill later became a ceramics engineer. I'm listening to this song right now... So it's Good Friday, and I just posted the following on my myspace.com website.
?Good? Friday???
Ok, so I can remember 4 of the last 5 Good Fridays. The four that I can remember all sucked (at least on the surface). I'm not a person that has mood swings, or "good days" or "bad days", but some bad things happened on all of these Good Fridays -- bad enough that I remember them several years later. But even today, driving home from work early, I felt God's presence. Ok ok, most of you guys know that I claim to be a Christian. But you also know that I'm not extremely vocal about it, nor have any of my friends claimed that I "beat them over the head with it." Most of my closest friends throughout my life don't share the same commitment/beliefs that I do, and it's never been a problem. But this isn't *good* friday. Even though some bad stuff happened today, this is really *Great* Friday. You see, I celebrate the death of someone today. A willing death, one that the person went to as a gift for me. I truly believe that. And I know that may make me sound looney -- maybe that's why I'm not vocal about it. But I want you guys to know that this is me -- this is really who I am. Jesus provided for me on this day, and I can *feel* it. This really is Great Friday.
--boone
My first trip to Vegas So I’m a little ashamed that this is my first trip to Las Vegas. I mean, I have had a very close friend and former roommate living here for the past 2 years. John Harrell – the very same whose ribs I broke 6 hours before his wedding ceremony (very good story) and the same who saved my life while surfing (even better story). John is enjoying life, he and Ashley (his wife) had twins – Conner and Madison. They are adorable, but like a pair of carrier monkeys got me sick for the rest of my week in Vegas. Last night was the first night that I had more than 3 hours this week from flu-like symptoms. My week at Vegas was eventful, none-the-less. I was able to meet some other engineers in the company, and some management. Among the meetings – which were good – I was able to ride ATVs for the first time, take a quick tour of the Hoover Dam (we are a bunch of engineers after all), and I went to The Blue Man Group and Lance Burkman. At the Blue Man Group we got the tickets late and I had to sit alone. So I grab my ticket and walk to the seat. I am in the 2nd row not to have raincoats for the audience members. That’s not a good feeling. It was an entertaining show and I didn’t get paint all over me. I am not waiting standby to fly to Denver to catch the “late” flight to Williston (there’s one that arrives at 3:00 PM and one that arrives at midnight). And unfortunately I forgot my book that I was reading at New York, New York (the hotel that we stayed at in Vegas). Too bad, because I was enjoying it very much. Book 11 of the Wheel of Time series. I started reading the story when I was 19, which coincidently was the age of the 3 main characters in the series. When I turned 20, so did they. Likewise 21, 22, and I think I left them there. So now I am 26 and they are 24 I believe. It was a neat trend while it lasted. I did not buy this book when it first came out, mainly because now it takes a couple of year between books and I honestly forget what has happened in between printings. Also, Book 10 was probably the worst book in the series, a waste of reading it. This one, I am happy to say, is easily one of the best of the series (I’d say 1, 6, and 11). And I left it in the hotel. No one to blame but myself. I also met an engineer working in Hobbs, New Mexico who also graduated from the University of Florida. Turns out he was really involved in Baptist Student Union and knew all 3 of the Killingsworths. Crazy. We both recognized each other from our time in the Engineering section of Campus as well. Small world sometimes, small world. We were having conversations about James and Hedda, Trey and Jenny. Who would have thought that I’d still be talking about those guys with a “stranger” at a meeting in Las Vegas. Cat Stevens was right – it’s a mad mad world. Ok, that’s it. No massive gambling. No hookers. No drugs / excessive alcohol. No “sin” of the famous “Sin City”. Well I couldn’t help myself and answered, “dam yes!” when responding to the roll call at the Hoover Dam. But does that really count???
My dad doesn't love me, and big work news: My dad injured himself badly riding his bike off an elevated sidewalk that ended abruptly. He fell 3 feet off the edge of the sidewalk and broke his arm. Because of his lung transplant and all the anti-immuno drugs, anything like this is serious. Well he's been in Shands Hospital in Gainesville for a week and refuses to answers phone calls. This is not new for him. I have witnessed several close friends and family get on Skip's "do not answer" list, as my father calmly looks at the phone, sees it is his wife or daughter, and allows voicemail to pick up -- only to be deleted at a later time unheard. Well for the first time to my knowledge I have been "demoted" to the "Skip Baxter's do not answer list". This is new territory for me. Not quite sure how I feel about it. Can't decide if I should be upset / hurt, or vengeful and send him a set of training wells via FedEx... In other news, today I found out that my boss finally put my on the list of potential transferrs from my location. That's right, I am just now on the list. This means that until now they were telling the people in charge of transfers *not* to look at me. It was explained to me because I was too valueable. Great. So now I find out that I'm the franchise player for the Williston Wireline team. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that my boss did put me on the "trading block", but if I look at this honestly, I really should have been on this block for several months now. It kills me that this is how the system can work: If you want to move up and get a transfer you work really hard, right? Then you do a really good job and become very valueable to a small location, and then instead of rewarding your hard work they can't afford to let you go. Crazy....It's crazy to think that I could have potentially gotten my desires sooner if I had been a lesser employee. But honestly, I can see things from their point of view as well. I mean, they have to make money, right? It just stinks that it has to be at my desires/career expense. Well hopefully that is behind me as now the ball is free to roll.
Yes Mom, I've been to prison So it is now 2:37 pm on Friday, and the effects of the sedation are wearing off. You see, earlier today I was "put under" for the first time in my life. "But Boone, why? Did you have surgery? Car accident? Amputate your left big toe?" No, I'm afraid it was much worse than any of those. I had my first (and probably only) colonoscopy. For those of you not familiar with this operation, I will summarize: Modern day medicine actually evolved from the dungeon masters of the 15th Century in Northern Gaul (what is now modern day France) who were in charge of torturing the prisoners. This "dual-career" option if you will, reached its pinnacle during WWII with the Angel of Death performing medicine on the patients in the Auschwitz work camp. With the defeat of Hitler at the hands of the allies, one of the conditions of surrender was to separate the pre-med program from the major of torture -- which was subsequently moved to Arts and Humanities. Since that time modern day doctors have been slowly eradicating the antiquities of their profession, effectively removing the "holdovers" such as the Chinese Water Torture. However, several procedures that are still in practice today can still trace their origins back to the dungeons of medieval Europe -- chief among them the colonoscopy. However, much has changed in the last 600 years. Now patients have to go willingly to the doctors, which has severely lowered the number of victims. So a lottery system was developed to convince people to volunteer for this procedure. Instead of drawing straws, or selecting numbers, the crafty medical profession devised a much more sinister was to select the fortunate: "We will put blood in their stool! The ones that bleed will be the chosen!!!" Well I've been chosen for quite some time now and decided to go in to get "checked out". There is a stringent pre-medical process to prepare for the exam. Pretty much the day before you can eat 3 cups of non-red gelatin for the day, along with a minimum 12 eight-ounce glasses of water. No food. You see, for the doctor to get a good look around, he has to get all the crap out of the way. Literally. So after about 2 gallons of water for the day, I took (and I emphasize) prescription strength laxative. Since I was full as could be from all the drinking, the 8 hours before the exam I spent "pooping" water from an upset stomach. Having my pipes cleaned, I head over to the hospital at 5:45 am. They told me not to drive because I shouldn't operate a vehicle for 24 hours after the operation because of the sedation -- but I live .3 miles away from the hospital so I drove myself. Have any of you ever "kinda" been familiar with a word, without really knowing what it means? Maybe something like "oncology", or "urbane". Well, since the pre-operation preparation in the nurse's office, I no longer am confused about "enema". In fact, I am doubly sure of what one is now. After my vocabulary lesson and the pre-operation procedures, I was introduced to my nurse RN. She was very kind in a grandmother-way and her first question was what level of pain (1-10) I felt according to the "smiley faces of pain" chart on the wall. So it's 6:00 am, I've expulsed 2 gallons of liquid through my anus in a minimum of 6 trips to the bathroom since midnight, I am lying here virtually naked in front of two complete strangers, I haven't eaten in 30 hours, and am 30 minutes away from undergoing a procedure that the inquisitors only used on the heretics once they ran out of firewood. I would be lying if I said a 1 (which has a large upper-and-lower teeth smile next to it). So I said, "I guess a 2." (A 2 has a non-teeth smile.) The RN confusingly looks happy. Shortly I understand -- I have just given her a job. Her job for the rest of the operation is to inform any person she can that I am a "2" on the pain chart. Now they are ready for the operation. They explain that they will put an I-V into me to administer the anesthesia. (Please understand I have never hand an I-V, nor been "put under" before.) The nurse politely "asks" me, "Do you want me to numb you first (she shakes her head side-to-side), or just go ahead and put in the I-V (she smiles and nods her head up-and-down)?" Now what the freak am I supposed to say to that? I am reminded of when I was 20 years old and broke my nose. The doctor had to re-set it and asked, "Boone, do you want 10 seconds of pain, or 3 hours of waiting on the anesthesiologist?" Now, as well as then, my only thought in life was that somehow, someway, my father would gain knowledge of this question and my options for an answer. Inside of me the 6-year-old boy rolling and crying on the living room carpet gasping for the breath that my father stole from me with one swift "karate chop" to my soloplexes answered more boldly than I, the 26 year old man about to know what a good time in San Quinton really means, actually felt. "Aw, just stick me with the I-V, I'm tough!" And she did. Funny thing about veins. Sometimes they have "valves". What is a valve? I don't know. How do you know if you have a valve in your vein? Apparently the only way is by trying to administer and I-V yet not be able to fully insert the needle past the sensory cells in your skin, causing at least a 4 on the "smiley faces of pain" chart next to my bed. I will now switch to the two nurses dialogue: Nurse 1: "Wow. I think I hit a valve. You have really good veins too (to me the only benefit seems to be the nurses thinking you don't need local anesthesia). Nurse 2, could you come in here?" (Please be aware that the needle is still not fully in my vein.) Nurse 2: "Wow, you're not in all the way, did you hit a valve?" RN Nurse: "Be careful, he's a 2 on the pain chart!" Nurse 1: "I think so, see I can suck, and the skin moves, but very little blood." Nurse 2: "Have you tried to force past it?" Nurse 1: "See, I'm pushing really hard." (my free hand starts to tighten on the bed railing.) Nurse 2: "Maybe if you try to wiggle it." Nurse 1: "Hmm...that doesn't help either. Let's turn on the I-V bag and see if it will administer." Nurse 2: "I-V bag is on, is it working?" Nurse 1: "No." Nurse 2: "Silly me! I didn't have it on yet!" (My face starts to turn purple.) Nurse 1: "It's slowly going in, see the bulge in his skin." As Nurse 2 starts to push the bulge in my skin next to the hypodermic needle in much the same manner that a man walking past a park bench that says "wet paint" feels the need to touch the bench to test the truthfulness of the sign, I stare coldly that the "smiley faces of pain" chart next to my bed. Nurse 2: "You're just going to have to try again." Then Nurse 1 removes the half-inserted needle, and tells me that she hit a valve, tried to force past it, tried to wiggle it through, and even turned on the I-V bag but none of these strategies worked, and she will now have to try again on a different vein. I'm sure she noted my uncomfort because this time she stated, not asked, "I think I'll use the local anesthesia this time." Then the anesthesiologist comes in and explains that I'll be going to sleep soon. The RN informs of my level "2" pain, smiling and pointing at the pain chart. I must have taken personally the defeat of my veins because I instantly felt a challenge. So she administers the "sleep potion" and the nurses and doctor start to wheel me down the hall to the exam room. On the way I start to feel a little tired but think proudly to myself, "Ha! They don't know who they're dealing with! I don't have to sleep! I can go on single digits of sleep for the week and still drive 500 miles! I'll show them, they'll be ready to go and will have to go back to get more anesthesia." The last thing I remember was barely making it to the exam room, and all of a sudden I was back in my original room with the nurse saying it was all over. The doctor took a small biopsy and said he thinks everything is fine. The fastest hour of my life! Then I felt ashamed and worried. I realized that I had no idea what was done to me. They could have raped me! Then I realized, they did rape me! And strangely, somehow that was comforting and relieved my anxiety. I got dressed and went home. I ate two lunches and drank a lot of water. I hope none of you will ever win the "blood in the stool" lottery.
what "the freak" ever....
This is really about "girls who are friends", because honestly I haven't been in a relationship in just about 4 years now....With the vast majority of that time being my choice to stay out of one. "Well why not let the category be under 'friends'?" Mainly because this post is about the double-X / XY two-step that seems to complicate matters. Ok, most of my friends (especially all my "guy" friends) are probably pretty surprised just at the category of this blog because I don't really talk about girls / relationships all that much. And if I didn't happen to be online when I got frustrated I would have probably cooled off and not posted this (or talked about it) at all.... I didn't realize that I'm such a bad guy...I treat women respectfully, and try to be honest and as straight up with them as I can be without being annoying. I've never "cheated", never will. I've always waited a long time after one relationship before pursuing another because I don't want any girl to have to deal with any type of "rebound syndrome" from me. I don't "hit" on random girls, and would never really pursue a relationship with a girl that I don't see a strong future with because I don't want to "use" them for myself. I don't get drunk, cuss, or sleep around. Anytime I have gotten close to a girl (in both platonic friendships and relationships) I have tried to put them first and don't really have any hidden agendas. I'm well-read, intelligent, and have a deep concern for humanity. I don't bum money off people and have a good job. There might be a skeleton on two in my closest but trust me, they're pretty boring ones. All of these things come from me striving to have a strong character, not in a dubious effort to get a girlfriend/wife (or to "compliment" myself on a blog), but out of a sincere belief that this is how God and I "work out" my relationship with Christ. Yet I must really be a bad guy to have ticked off so many different girls. I'm not trying to...I really don't understand the whole thing at all. I just got online for the first time in about a week, and now realize that 2 of my friends shown on my "friends list" have asked me to stop talking to them. This has happened to me on multiple occasions with multiple girls. Often, it hits me out of the blue. I totally respect their right to close the friendship, but now I just would like to know what I'm doing so wrong. Often, I'm just going along and reciprocating whatever level of friendship they feel comfortable with, every time (so far) in the effort of pursuing a platonic friendship. And there are other kinds of relationships with girls too. More than once I have had a girl want more than I'm willing to give. And despite my efforts to be honest about my intentions, it seems that I "lead them on" while making an effort to show my interest is friends only. The irony of it all is that aside from some major mobility problems with my current job, I feel ready for a serious relationship for the first time in a long time. Didn't Alannis Morrisette writ a song about that? ;)
I guess I am a jerk after all. Too bad I don't get any of the "bad buy" benefits. Heck, I'm even a too wild to get the "nice guy" benefits come to think of it. It's almost enough to say "screw girls and the whole idea of them"...hence the title of this blog...what "the freak" ever...I wasn't try to be complicated at all...just wanting / willing to be friends, and if you have a problem with that, I am a pretty patient guy and will chat it out....Even one of the more recent relationships took a southerly turn when after a long time of the girl wanting more with me, and I was finally ready / willing, she had doubts now. Fun fun fun... :)
So after reading this you might be feel the need to reassure me, "Boone, you are not a jerk"...It's ok. I actually feel pretty secure in myself, and am confident of my motives / actions and do believe that I'm a "good guy". Hey, it's just the way it is. But this does lend to some confusion / frustration on my part. Girls are just crazy!!! Can't live with them, and can't kill yourself when the "10 things i hate about you" marathon comes on TBS...
--boone
So I hope that Schlumberger will transfer me soon. I have been told so many stories (read, "falsehoods") by management that I've lost a lot of faith in my transfer and the company in general. However, due to some unusual things happening in our Williston office, I do think there is a possibility of getting transferred very soon. Because of this, I've been trying to experience the things this part of the country has to offer. I've gone to the Black Hills a couple of times, Mt. Rushmore, and now I went to devil's tower.
This was the tower made famous by the movie, "Close Encounters of the 3rd Kind" (the 3rd kind is the term used for alien "abduction". The "fist kind" is sighting, I believe the "2nd kind" is interaction.) So you can go to the oldest National Monument in the US, drive around, and do a couple 3-5 miles low-grade hikes.....or you can climb the tower. Rock climbing is very popular here because of the vast number of routes to the top. So I did a really neat trip where you can stay at a lodge very close the tower, and they have guided tours to the top. Devil's Tower Lodge. This is a legit climbing trip. The first day there I spent about 4-5 hours "practicing" rock climbing on lower routes on the tower (90-120 feet). Learned out to put on the safety equipment, practice some rock climbing moves, and learned how to "clean gear". The 2nd day was summit day. I was with one of the guides. He would go up 60-100 feet first, setting gear every 10 feet or so in case he fell. Then he would stop and anchor into the wall. This was called a "pitch". I'd then come up after him, cleaning the gear that he just put in till I was with him at the pitch. Then we repeated this process again for 6 total pitches till we reached the top. The third pitch was the hardest for me. It was a 5.7-5.8 route that you had to "arm bar" for about 80 feet. Straight vertical walls with a large crack about 18 inches wide that you used to make it up. This was the pitch that I fell on right at the top, when I was about 5 feet from finishing. A little disappointing. This is because you realize that the rest of the tower, even though I had gear protecting me against falling, I never used the gear. So besides that one fall, the gear didn't help me at all, and I climbed the tower on my own. All in all it was a big accomplishment for me. I have a natural tendency to use way too much upper body strength, which made the climb much harder than it could have been. But it was by far the "funnest most challenging" outdoor activity I have done. Rafting (which I love), you can't control as much, you get in the boat and "go". Skiing is a blast, but you can decide when to stop, relax, and go again. Rock climbing was much more intense, especially if you looked down, and realize the only way is up. Visit the photo gallery (devil's tower page) for up close pictures.
Dave's Wedding Dave Tyus married Lori Mangold on July 1st, 2006. I've been friends with Dave since 1999 when we met through Campus Crusade in College. All-in-all he was the closest friend I had for those 6 years. We really influence each other. For example we both started running together, I influenced him to choose building construction as a major (now his current occupation) and he got me to start thinking about money and finances (starting with the website The Mottley Fool -- www.fool.com) We had many late-night krispey kreme adventures (sometimes after taking caffeine pills and running 3 miles), and lots of praying for each other and our families. I was a groomsman in the wedding which was held in Tampa Florida. Dave and Lori had dated from the beginning of Lori's freshman year in college, 5 years ago. Dave was the only boyfriend she's ever had. It was a long time coming, but they finally tied the knot. It was really good to see Dave (I've seen him once since I graduated in 2004), and all the groomsmen. Here's a breakdown on how much of a "national event" the wedding was in regards to the groomsmen: Dave Tyus (groom) -- Bradenton, FL Andrew Chiang -- Jacksonville, FL Phill Graham -- Atlanta, GA Todd Rio -- Boston, MA Dave Fleming -- Chicago, IL Boone Baxter -- Williston, ND John Harrell -- Las Vegas, NV It was great to get together with so many college buddies all at the same time again. We had a good time, and Dave wasn't nervous one bit during the wedding. The only event of mention was the "first act" of the new couple was to kneel and pray at the altar. Well to the surprise of all but the groom's party, when Dave knelt to with back to the congregation, in hot pink tape the word "SAVE" wan on his left shoe and "ME !" on his right. That was pretty good. Jay Kubiak After the wedding, spending quality time with Todd, Phill, and Chiang, Jenny Zichi, and Joanna Fleming, I went and stayed a day with Jay Kubiak (a close friend from high school and a couple years in college). Jay's 6' 7'', and his fiancé is around 6'5''. I felt like a midget everywhere I went for about 24 hours :). Jay, Catherine, her sister, and I went to the beach at Pass-A-Grille. We assembled a square in the ocean to throw a football. And at one point a school of about 150 sting-ray passed right through our square -- that was pretty intense. I met Catherine's family, and just like her they are really good people. Eric and Bethany From St. Pete I drove to met up with Eric and Bethany Bock in Ft. Laurderdale. Eric was a good friend throughout college and a roommate for 2 of the years. I can honestly attribute two of the most time-occupying activities of my life in the last 8 years directly to Eric Bock. Eric, along with Scott Hopkins and Tom Brown, got me to start reading fantasy fiction. Specifically he introduced me to the Wheel of Time series, and I can't thank him enough for that. Those books took up a good part of 2 years of my life, and gave me immense entertainment value. Eric also got me into video games, specifically role-playing and first-person shooter. Much of the 2 years we lived together with 4-total roommates was spent on Half-Life, Unreal Tournament, Baldur's ate to name a few. He is still getting me to play by introducing me to the World of Warcraft, which helps pass the down-time up in Williston. They are anxiously awaiting the sale of their previous house in Ft. Pierce, and the completion of their new townhouse in Ft. Lauderdale. They are doing just great. They've both have jobs that they don't hate :), enjoy the area that they live in, and have found a really good group of friends at the church that they go to there. Bethany ran a 5K race (a personal goal of her's for some time now), and Eric is doing a pretty good balancing act of husband, employee, video gamer, and working out himself. They joked about me moving down there because I'd fit in with them and their friends so well, and after 24 hours there and meeting several of their friends, I couldn't agree more. Que Sa Ra, Sa Ra.... Jax Time (July 4th-9th) On July 4th I drove home to Jax Beach and Ian Otto's pool party in honor of our victory over the mighty English Empire. Right before I left to the party I get a call from my manager in Williston, ND telling me that once again my transfer will be delayed. This time because of SLB and Deepak Garg parting ways after the rolling of a pickup. Deepak is OK, which is good news, and has left the company, in as good spirits as you could hope for, but now I'm to wait longer for a transfer that was supposed to already be come-and-gone several times by now. So, though I was bummed, I determined to not let work ruin my vacation and went to Ian's house anyway. At Ian's I met up with several "church friends" (e.g. Dave and Megan Collins, Ruth, Elizabeth and Ms. Hopkins, etc.), along with Ian's family, Ian, Richard Dubay, Andrew Chiang, Scott Hopkins, etc. I went home around midnight and not-so-anxiously awaited the next morning when I turned 27. On my birthday I spent the majority of the day with my Grandfather Chick Chalker. (One of the coolest people you'll ever meet, just ask anyone who's ever met him!) Chick is a fanatic about his yard, and will often call up my father (his son-in-law) after he mows his lawn to "brag" about how good his lawn is and how lazy my father is. Well Chick has lived for 45 years across from the "other" best yard in his neighborhood -- maintained by an 87 year old man named Fred. Well when I picked up chick, Fred was using his riding lawn mower to cut his grass. Chick has me slow down next to Fred, quickly rolled down the window and yelled, "Hey Fred! You too d*** old to push your own lawnmower??" And cackled as his waved his left hand forward while rolling the window down with his right hand and told me "go go go!". He bought me 512 KB of DDR RAM for my laptop, without having any clue what that is :) Chick and I get along pretty good. The next couple of days were uneventful as I just spent time with my family, nieces and nephews, and random friends (e.g. Skye Burelson and kids, Cara Baxter, Caige and Cole Abdullah, Jenny Zichi, my parents, etc.) The next big event was the CGN -- Computer Gaming Night -- where about 10 of us hooked together our computers for a night of video games. I now officially suck at competitive video games. I did get to spend some time with Joel Jones, Tom Brown, and Ashton Manley, which was more worthwhile than the actual video games, but they were fun too :) Ashton's still looking for a better job than a trust manager at Bank of New York, Joel is supposedly getting married to a girl that I've never met, and Tom found a job he doesn't want in a programmer for Citigroup. Things couldn't be better :) Later on Sunday we played ultimate frisbee, and (in my own opinion) I sucked at that too. Man, it made me reminisce of a time where I'd be "feared" on the computer games by all, and then could be one of the most influential guys on almost any sport we would play. No longer said the man from North Dakota that only works now, and tries to sneak in a good book and a workout routine every now and then. Life goes on, you know? :) Now, as I type this from the Minneapolis Airport during my 4-hour layover, I reflect over the last 12 days. Once again I am so impressed with how many just great friends that I have, each one can really be one of those *close* friends that challenge you to be a better person while you feel totally comfortable with. I'm also impressed with how much I like my family. Everyone loves their family, but I really enjoy mine, even when they are poor as ever and still making decisions like getting a new dog :) Oh well, time to go get some Quizno's Subs...
July 2006 -- Job decisions, interviews, and DC Trip looming Why do I always update from airports? I think it’s because I’m restless while I wait for flights, and yet there is so little to do at airports. All the non-americans at my work love airports – particularly airport shopping. This is because of the “duty free” stores – which most Americans never enter. After living in Williston for a while, and always getting excited when I go to bigger cities because I can eat at nice restaurants and go to books-a-million, I can understand what it might feel like when you leave a country that doesn’t have the material items that we do here… Next to me is a kid that must be 2.5 years old or less, and he is informing his mother that he is “sick and tired” of waiting (for the plane, which in this case, has been delayed almost 2 hours). Due to the failure of his tired to make the metal bird magically appear, he starts to hit himself in an effort to get his mom feeling guilty enough to produce this magic bird. I guess he’s not strong enough because his mother isn’t doing the “aww baby got hurt?” that he was expecting – so he starts to bite his arm. The normal human nature is an idiot. This reminds me of when Alaina and Skye (my sisters) got into a fight about 10 years ago. Now usually Alaina wins any physical contest in our house (unless it involves her big brother of coarse), but she must have been off her A-game because Skye socked her one in her nose. Alaina was hurt and started to cry and run away and yelled, “I hope it’s broken” in an effort to “get even” with Skye. I, watching the entire episode from my Switzerland position on the couch, could not help but think what a strange comment. “I hope it’s broken”. Why? To get even with Skye by maker her feel bad? SHE WAS THE ONE THAT HIT YOU SILLY! SHE WAS TRYING TO BREAK YOUR NOSE. GUILTY? I’D FEEL SATISFACTION AT ACCOMPLISHING MY GOAL.IF MY FRIEND TRIED TO BREAK MY NOSE AND SUCCEDED IN DOING SO, I WOULD DENY FEELING ANYTHING WITH THE BLOOD DRIPPING DOWN MY CHIN. Well she must have counted on Skye, once knowing the damage to Alaiana’s face, would feel remorseful. But it didn’t work, Skye just replied, “Good, I hope it’s broken too.” Back to the issue at hand. I just finished an interview with Baker Hughes in Houston. The interview went well, though I could have done a lot better. I felt they kept wanting me to ask questions like, “how many hours a day do you work”? “Where do people live around here?” And the more normal questions like those that you would expect someone who wants the job would ask. Thing is, I’m so used to working 80-110+ hours a week, and not living at home, that it doesn’t matter to me what there normal day looks like. I’m just not worried about peripheral things like that. As I was walking out the door, they asked the “salary question”. “What kind of salary do you want?” I wish I had the good-ole boy personality and could jovially respond “as much as I could get!” But I don’t.. I did the politically correct thing and said, “I imagine that you would have salary grades, so I figured that would be set for when I came in”. He said that they do have salary grades, but there was some wiggle room. Well they have my current salary so they can base their offer off of that. Of coarse salary is just one of many (and not really near the top for me) things to consider when going for a job. You just hate the feeling of leaving money on the table. Kind of like finding out you paid $700 for a TV that at a different store costs only $300. On the whole the job would be in a huge engineering / manufacturing facility. I would imagine around 3000 workers work there, maybe more than that. It’s nice, spacious, and full of cubicles. The guys who interviewed me were pretty good guys, I really hit it off with one of them. North Houston reminds me so much of Jacksonville it’s ridiculous. It would be a position that I would be one of a handful of experts in the world at specific tools. That is pretty attractive to me. I could really get lost in really getting to know a specific tool. We’ll have to see the offer, but it feels very good to know there is something there that you feel you could be happy with. Now I’m about to leave for DC and hang out with Wild Bill Fagerholm. It’ll be good to see him, and for the first time, see the Nations capital. Probably the most influential city in the world. Pretty impressive if you think about it. I’ll also meet up with crazy Kimberly Wilder (notice a lot of “wild” people live up in DC). Maybe even Jim Beers and Sheri Villicampa.
August 29th 2006 -- Packing and Lost Memories If I fall back down... You're gonna help me back up again... If I fall back down, you're going to be my friend.
Though it is just past midnight Central Standard time, and I am getting a lot done, I need to pause, reflect, and share this wit you all:
University Bicycle Center 1220 E. Fletcher Ave Tampa, Fl 33612
This is what is printed on my water bottle that I'm about to throw away. Ok, this might seem random, but it truly is not. You see, I'm about to move to Indonesia. And for years now I have had a split personality, which one side fighting to keep me a simple man with few possessions, and the other someone who loves nostalgia and has a strong memory association with random objects. And with my move, for 1.5 to 2 years, living in a dormitory-style camp, the choice is being made for me. This isn't even my water bottle. It's Jason Alderman's. He got it our second year living together at Pickwick Park, when we were both juniors at UF and he just bought a road bike. I already had one and we started riding together. That was the last year we lived together. How I ended up with his water bottle, I'll never know. But I took it on numerous bike rides all around North-Central Florida. It was a staple for me at the MSM picnics where we would meet at that park on Tower Road that didn't have water fountains. I have lots of memories with this water bottle, and like so many things in the past few days (cool, but old t-shirts that don't fit anymore, a "matt bowser home-made" bookshelf that lasted me through grad school and 2 years in North Dakota, and a pair of perfectly good Timberland Gore-Tex hiking boots -- they are more "dress boots" but I have had them 10th grade in 1995, when my dad bought them for me for Christmas for $150 dollars, an amazing amount for my family. And though they are perfectly fine, they are out of style and I have a newer pair of brown dress shoes), I am throwing it away. I've always imagined that when I would be 45, and my son would have a friend over, and we would go to the park and in a moment of parental wisdom I would go through the garage to grab us some water bottles, I would find this, and all of a sudden remember Jason Alderman, and those bike rides from SW Gainesville to Alachua, or those MSM picnics with my "too-tall" friends like Ashton Manley and Tim McClary, pretty girls like Cody or Leslie, and the enjoyment of my youth. But by moving to Indonesia, and forcing myself to be able to pack up and move continents in a day or two's notice, I am forcing myself to be the man of simple possessions and depriving myself such nostalgic flashbacks in the middle of some suburbia-garage. Oh yeah, I'm moving to Indonesia. I guess I haven't shared that before. What can I say? I found out a little over a week ago that I'd be moving for sure. I had a ton of paperwork to do, but since I was still on duty the "logging gods" decided that this was a good time to slam our shop and it was one of those weeks where I slept in my own apt 3 times in 7 nights -- the rest either working through the night or sleeping in a pickup truck as someone drove me from one rig to another. Once that foolishness was finished, I've been doing visa, medicals, and throwing away memories like crazy. I'll be stationed in Badak, which is a village of about 800 on the East Coast of Borneo, just south of the equator. It's on the beach and in the middle of a rain forest. I'll be living in a "camp" -- oilfield term for intentionally constructed living quarters for the oilfield workers servicing that area. So in this camp I'll be living in "hut like" dormitories -- a one bedroom studio. I'll have limited cable TV (a new addition!), but I don't think internet or phone. But the shop is a short walk away and there is a rec room there with connectivity. The food is provided. I'm bringing lots of peanut butter. I will be driving back to Florida....I can see the blog title now -- The Return Trip. If you forgot, or have never read my account of my drive from Houston to Williston, ND -- just see my blog in August 2004. On the reverse trip in 2006, I plan on seeing LT and Lacey Carroll in Kentucky, Richard Dubay and Ian Otto in Columbia, and then finish up in Jax Beach where I'll be till my visa is processed (1-2 weeks I think). Well I better get back to packing, I have a lot of work to do -- including finding a good spot for a water bottle.
Sep 30th 2006 -- Singapore – Tropical “shopping” paradise I didn’t buy a single thing there, but if you want to go to a city that has amazing store fronts, Singapore needs to be at the top of the list. It was a beautiful city – imagine crossing Miami and New York and you’ll get the idea. The buildings all have beautiful architecture, and instead of a concrete jungle, they are set in a literal jungle – complete with palm trees and geckos in the middle of the city. Any American looking to go on a first time overseas trip should seriously consider going here first. The most common language I encountered was English. Almost all signs are in English, the vast majority of the population that I spoke with understood it, and it has a very modern – yet distinctly Asian – feel to the city. It was a much easier transition for me than either France or Spain, and I could understand the locals better than most of my Scottish friends. I also visited what a brochure called “The First China Town”. Here was the first place that the signs were in Chinese and I felt “different” (on Orchard Blvd, where the tourist district is, 1out of 4 people are westerners). But still very comfortable. I also visited a night-time safari. This is something that the Singapore Zoo does, and I think it’s an ingenious idea. They have a whole section of the zoo dedicated to nocturnal animals and you can do walking or tram tours of these animals from 19:00-00:00. It is a great thing for tourists with families, something unique to do at night. I enjoyed it, but still had some jet lag so I only stayed 2.5 hours. I did see a lion roar, which was extremely impressive. It was also cool seeing all the crazy animals that inhabit the island of Borneo (where I’ll be living in Indonesia). One of them I hope to see is that little mouse / monkey looking guys with the huge eyes that hangs out in trees. I think you know the animal I’m talking about. Well it’s found right where I’ll be living. I’ll be sure to update you guys on the crazy animals that I encounter over here. Haha, the last conversation I had with my mother before I left was her saying, “Boone, you are not Steve Irwin, those animals are dangerous, promise me that you will leave them alone.” I remember thinking what a crazy last conversation to have with your son, and I don’t recall if I promised, but if I did I’m sure it was under duress so it doesn’t count. I also did something that I usually do in a new foreign city, but can’t explain why. I walked around looking for the “bad part of town”. I am sure this is just the ridiculous American ego in me, because somehow I figure that “Hey, I watch Sopranos, I listen to rap, my family has qualified for welfare several times, heck, COPS was even filmed in my town! This city ain’t got nothing on me.” I just want to walk through the dangerous areas, feeling hard, and laugh on the inside about how comfortable I feel. I know this is stupid, but the funny thing is, either I haven’t found the really bad parts of Edinburgh, Pairs, London, and Singapore, or they really do have nothing on the major inner-cities of the States. And I’m pretty sure I found the bad parts of Edinburgh, and when I compare that to riding my $500 dollar mountain bike through the projects of Cambridge and stopping at a Taco Bell there while I was a freshman at MIT while wearing spandex and a “dumb people go to Harvard” t-shirt, or I think about the midnight ride on the Greyhound from downtown Jacksonville to Columbia SC with a $16000 cashiers check for a vehicle in my pocket – there is NO comparison. By the way, I couldn’t find a bad part of Singapore…
Oct 1st -- The Thrilla in Manilla: Singapore Air vs. Air France I am now in Jakarta, waiting to go to Balikpapan where I will be for a few days before arriving at my home location – Badak, Kalimantran Timur, Indonesia. And as this is just another week in the craziest 6 weeks of my life. Really sense my offer from Baker Hughes in Houston, which coincided with a trip to DC, I have been in a whirlwind of activity and I don’t see an end in sight. But I digress… So my trip to Indonesia from Florida was surprisingly less exciting and somewhat more enjoyable than my trip from Florida to North Dakota. The first point I want to mention is the showdown between Air France and Singapore Air. Now I had 7 hours to get from Lagaurdia airport in New York City to Newark Airport in Jersey. So I tried to save a few bucks and I took the city bus. I had to change at Central Station, which is only a few blocks from Times Square. So I got to go by all of that, albeit from inside a bus. This was the first instance of me being “on my guard” during my trip to Badak. It seemed like I naturally expected people to be “ripping me off” or looking to scam me. I dislike this distrust I have of people in new places – it’s not from me thinking that people in big cities like Singapore, New York, and Singapore are bad, it’s more from a attitude of “not me – I’m not going to be sucker that gets scammed.” More on that later, but I eventually made it to Newark, which I was glad for, because I hadn’t eaten since 10:00 AM and it was now 8:00 PM and I know of a little place called “Big Easy Cajun” in the Newark airport. Surprised that I know (and remember / look forward to) specific restaurants in airports? Live in Williston North Dakota for a couple of years and you’d be doing the same thing bucko. Unfortunately Singapore is in a wing of the airport where the security gate (with no re-entry) is placed in between the food court and the gate – so I went through without knowing this and had to sit at the gate for the next 3 hours with nothing but the smells of Big Easy Cajun to satiate me. But then I entered the aircraft on my 18 hour flight to Singapore. So my first comparison between Air France and Singapore Air starts here: Now I’m not advocating stereotypes, but I find this illustration humorous. Picture tall, lean French models in Armani designed uniforms at 3:00 AM and you need an aspirin and they haven’t had a cigarette in 7 hours when their eyes come up from the Cosmo they’ve been reading to try to decipher what you are saying in a language that they hate and pretend not to understand. Now picture demure, cheerful Asian women in traditional garb roaming the aisle to see if there is anything they can do for you. Which situation would you as a passenger feel more comfortable? I thought so. But it gets better – I had about 30 English movies to chose from, and I could start or stop them on demand. I also played to world 6-2 in Super Mario Brothers till those loser Koopa Tropers with the flying hammers got the best of me and I gave up. That’s right, I had video games as well. I didn’t even open up my laptop or books. In one final nice surprise, I personally verified that the earth is round by the plane route – we went over the North Pole, then south through Russia to get to Singapore. That was pretty neat as well. All-in-all I highly recommend Singapore Air. And due to Air France losing my baggage, going on strike when I needed to talk to them, and eventually only refunding me for $350 (which my luggage and the two new tennis racquets total over that, before I start on all my clothes) of the $800 that I claimed, I would suggest NEVER BOOKING AIR FRANCE IN YOUR LIFE.
9-Nov-2006 Some information about Indonesia I have really been considering calling this a blog about schlumberger because it pervades so much of my information on this site. Hey, life is work for me right now, what can I say? I have also thought about making a website that compares different Schlumberger locations from the field's perspective. See, Schlumberger believes very much in transfers, that's one of the reasons why I joined this company. Most of the transfers you get offered are to locations that you've never seen, have almost no information about, and you have to make a decision based on whatever information you can gather in a few days. Then, if you say yes, you arrive and you find out if the reality matches the expectations. How many people relish the idea of moving all across the globe without information on what their life would be like there -- or in some cases, what their job would be like their either. So I wanted to have a website that Schlumberger engineers could contribute their own experiences in these locations. Complete with pictures, stories, the types of jobs they do there, and advice to help with the transfer process. One of the issues with this is that some of the locations are not that desirable to live in, and so some people in the company may be very unhappy to find out that information on these locations are in the public domain. Which of coarse is a very short-term view of things, but it exits none-the-less. Which brings me to news about myself. I have been in Indonesia about 6 weeks now, and hopefully will be leaving soon. There have been several good things about Indonesia: The Indonesians have reminded me of the time I went to the Caribbean -- some of the most friendly people I have ever met. The base salary is high in this location due to its remoteness. The local management seems to be very good and generally supportive as they can be. However, I had strong concerns about coming here, and after coming here I realized those concerns were very well founded. Unfortunately, once again there were many promises that were made to me from above that were never delivered on. So I am taking a leave of absence in the states. Hopefully I'll be there by mid November.
December 2006 -- Houma, first Impressions So I took the transfer to Larose, Louisiana. This is the open hole location for Schlumberger Wireline handling the North Gulf of Mexico. It was handled in typical Schlumberger fashion -- I got the official notice on Monday, and Wednesday I had bought a vehicle, packed, and moved all my belongings to Southern Louisiana. On my way to the shop in Larose, I had to stop and ask for directions. I spoke with someone that I am sure english is her second language. It was really amazing, I can't accurately describe it. The next day I got my haircut, and I swear the lady was Bobby Bushane's mother from Waterboy. I'm going to practice this accent just so I can describe it to my friends -- it's really hilarious. It got me thinking how the two locations in the US that Schlumberger has sent me to have really famous accents, though most people in the states never get to actually converse with someone from that area. (My first location was North Dakota -- aka the "Fargo" accent you betcha!) So I had a choice to live in Larose -- about 10,000 people and less than 5 mins to the shop, or Houma -- about 100,000 people 45 min commute, or New Orleans -- between 300,000 and a million because of the hurricane and an hour commute to work. I ended up going with Houma (The Skeleton key was filmed here). So far I like it a lot. The food is AMAZING (has all the typical chain restaurants like Outback, Olive Garden, but also tons of home town Cajun Seafood cooking -- already had some really good Frog Legs). To anyone familiar with Florida, I would say it is a lot like Ocala in the type of people, size of town, what it has to offer, and it's proximity to the state school. LSU in Baton Rouge is about 80 miles away so everyone here is a huge LSU Tiger fan. I have been LOVING it! I wear my gator stuff every chance I get, and it is so much more meaningful in enemy territory. So far I am still waiting to go offshore (should happen sometime in mid-January). Until then I am setting up my apartment in Houma. Any friends come and visit! It's a pretty nice place and New Orleans isn't too far away. I've joined a decent local gym and am still trying to find a good church to fit in. Finally, due to Richard Dubay's request, here's some information on my new vehicle. Now let me start with a warning: I had all of 1 day to buy a car. So I couldn't be too picky, and didn't have time to buy a good used vehicle. I was planning on a 30 mile commute each way, so I wanted a car for those needs. Yes, a hatchback 4-cylinder Mazda3. Yes, it's red. No, haven't said "zoom-zoom" yet, nor do I intend to. So why did I chose this? Well, same cost as caliber, sentra, civic, corrola, a tad bit more than focus, accent, rabbit -- but has independent suspension and 150 hp. Also I only filled up once on my trip from Jax to New Orleans. My first 3 fill ups resulted in gas mileage of 37, 32, 30 mpg. Since then I've been doing the more typical city + commute driving and have been getting 27 (low) and 32 (high). It's pretty sporty for the class of car it is, has nice interior and accessories (e.g. satellite radio, audio jack for mp3 player), but it still has the bare minimum passing capability on the 2-lane highway that's my commute to work. Also, I still can feel somewhat silly finding it in a parking lot and thinking, "This is my slightly effeminate car -- I wander if it hurts my dating prospects?".
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