Climbing Stairs
Dear Family and Friends,
Welcome to this week's "Thoughtlet."
These words are my personal diary and a weekly review of ideas,
beliefs, thoughts, or words that will hopefully be of some
benefit to you: my children, my family, and my friends.
"If the Thoughtlet naming tradition were to be continued this
week, the name should be some variation of `Hurricane Katrina.'
However, other than the drama of the television reports, and
a new neighbor whose parents from Sidell, LA are staying with
them until they can find out if their house is still there,
we have not been directly affected by Katrina.
Naming this week's Thoughtlet `Climbing Stairs' gives me an
opportunity to stress the little things we do each day, which
over a lifetime make much more difference than the tragedies,
like Katrina, or even the joys, like a surprise visit from
or to some of the Grandkids.
With a very little reflection, there are all kinds of reactions
to my 18 months as a full time employee at Geophysical Development
Corporation. I hate the commute, and am willing to take as long
as the time it takes to drive alone to ride with Carlos and
Lizabeth, just to not sit in bumper-to-bumper traffic. I've
stopped jogging, largely because of hurting my ankle so many
times (../9932.html, ../9950.html, ../0201.html, ../0202.html,
../0212.html, ../0213.html, ../0239.html, ../0246.html,
../0302.html, ../0404.html, ../0429.html, ../0430.html,
../0436.html, 0503.html, and 0517.html), but certainly impacted
by a full-time job and the commute. It seems like after putting
in time at the office there is never enough time left to do
other things I want to do. The positive side of the story is
there is a regular paycheck. The negative side of this is
there is never any extra consulting income, and we are not
climbing out of our financial hole, just barely holding even.
Then there is the co-workers. There are many more folks I
truly enjoy being around than there are jerks. However, like
adding a banana to a pureed fruit drink, the jerks can be
ubiquitous. For the last several months, one of the positives
has been climbing stairs at lunchtime each day I'm in the
office. It is usually just me, I enjoy it, and it has to
be good for me since I get no other regular exercise (except
mowing the lawn on Saturday mornings).
The other aspect is that this week was a milestone. It was
the first week where I made my new goal of going down and
back up 37 flights of stairs each day. To do this I walked
down 21 flights of stairs, ran back up six, walked up to 21
without holding onto the side rails, went on to 27, walked
down to floor 17, ran up to floor 19, walked on to 27, and
walked back down to floor 21, where GDC's office is. I get
sweaty doing this much stair climbing, so I take off my
tie, shirt and garment tops, put on a UT T-shirt, and carry
a small hand towel. After climbing stairs I wash my hands,
eat lunch (which is always leftovers from the night before),
read, take a 15-30 minute nap, put on some of the non-aluminum
Crystal Roll-On Deodorant Sara Ellyn introduced me to
(0524.html), put back on my garment top, shirt, and tie, and
go back to work in front of the two computers on my desk.
Having bored you to death with my daily schedule, let me
insure you are asleep and share some statistics. Since I
started climbing stairs earlier this year, I have climbed
2,926 floors. At about 15 feet per floor, this is 43,890
feet up and the same down, and twice this far forward, or
8.3 miles up and 8.3 miles down and 16.6 miles horizontally.
The first flight of SpaceShipOne reached 328,491 feet, and
I only need to climb 7.48 x 43,890 more feet to reach the
same height. It is almost like building my own space
elevator (../0249.html, ../0250.html, and ../0417.html).
Or maybe it is like creating my own Tower of Babel, since
I never reach higher than 27 floors or about 405 feet.
If you just look at statistics from climbing stairs this
week, I ran up 8 flights of stars on 5 days which is equal
to running up a 600 foot hill. I went up 23 flights of
stairs without using the railing, which is equivalent to
climbing up 1,725 feet without using my hands. I went
up 37 flights of stairs of stairs, or 2,775 feet, or
0.52 miles, or half of the distance to the top of one of
the planned Floating Ternsegrity Spheres (../0023.html
and 0534.html). I think this is kind of interesting,
especially as it provides scale to my absolutely unrealistic
chimerical projector (0533.html).
So by juxtaposition of events, it seems reasonable to ask,
`How many of the folks impacted by Hurricane Katrina climbed
2,775 feet of stairs the week before the disaster?' Certainly
some of the firemen. Maybe there are a few other weird folks
like me. I doubt if any of these folks who did this were
caught by the storm. Of course, other than Carlos Venegas
walking sometimes, I never see anybody else who works in the
25 floors of offices at One Riverway walking the stairs.
In my mind there are several related questions tied to the
Katrina disaster. `Why were there no missionary deaths?'
`Why have their been no reported deaths of members of the
church?' `Is there anything that society at large can
learn from these two facts?' `What can each of us can learn
from juxtaposition of a personal exercise goal and what we
have each learned from watching the news coverage of the
Katrina disaster?' `How can we apply this knowledge in our
lives to prepare for the next hurricane, a tornado, floods,
a drought, an earthquake, fuel shortages, a terrorist attack,
etc.?' I do hope there are lessons learned by the Federal
Government, County leaders, Cities, Stakes, Wards, and
especially by families.
It is probably important to state, at least for future readers,
the fact that climbing stairs took about 20 minutes of my day,
for 5 days, or a total of 1 hour and 40 minutes for the week.
Some evenings I spent more time than this watching news reports
on Hurricane Katrina at night after work. And neither of these
two activities actually consumed much of my week, and truly are
examples of the little things we regularly do.
Most of my daylight hours were spent finishing up the six TILES
to be delivered to Nexon by the end of August. There were
problems on Monday with well logs which were no good, and it
became somewhat of a crisis to sort out which ones to include
in one of the Tiles. Lee Bell came out of his office, which
is next to mine, as I finished climbing stairs, and wanted to
talk. We talked about exercise, about what I was eating for
lunch, about weight, and then, as usual in conversations with
Lee we got talking about the Church. He learned about the
Welfare Program, the Bishop's Storehouse, the Peanut Butter
Factory, and I even ended up reading from a Thoughtlet the
letters to Brigham Young from Peter Shirts and the response
from Brigham Young recommending Peter remain a hermit (0532.html).
There was also an e-mail from Gulf Publishing on Monday showing
how on track I've been, and yet all I could see is how poorly
I've been able to execute some great ideas. Jeanna Kozelsky
wrote:
<![CDATA[ `> Dear Guest,
>
> Just a reminder that the World Oil Visualization Preview Showcase
> is only two weeks away.
>
> Join industry colleagues from companies like ExxonMobil, Devon
> Energy, Anadarko, Kerr-Mcgee, El Paso, BP, Chevron, BHP Billiton,
> Maersk Oil & Gas, Marathon, Total, ConocoPhillips and more for
> this industry discussion surrounding the newest advancements in
> visualization technology.
>
> This one-day event, to be held at the InterContinental Hotel in
> Houston on September 8, will feature presentations and exhibition
> surrounding:
>
> -Clustering
> -Strategies for Technology Implementation
> -Workflows
> -Incorporating Risk Assessment
> -Remote Collaboration
> -Optimum Architecture
> -The Future of Visualization
> -Human Factors
> -Desktop Visualization
>
> To learn more or to register, please click the link below:
> Click here for event summary
>
> We hope to see you there.
>
> Sincerely,
> Nora Varty
> Program Director
> Gulf Publishing Company']]>
Tuesday was the next to the last day of the month and I was
very busy making maps for the last Tile. Sometime after I
finished the maps, Lee Bell walked in and asked some follow-up
questions on our Monday discussion. I reviewed the Plan of Life
and he seemed very interested. He asked me if Mormons believe
in rapture like other Christian groups. Then he explained that
there are rumors on the web that some airlines will not put
two Christian Pilots on the same plane, in case the rapture
occurs and they both disappear at the same time. I told him
this was new and frankly weird theology to me. There was
also an e-mail from Frank Lott, the geologist who is working
with John Benard:
<![CDATA[ `> Roice,
>
> I'll be driving in from Dallas, expect it to take about 5 hrs
> to get there. If I leave out around 9:00am (miss the traffic),
> I should be arriving in Houston around 2:00pm. Let's call it
> 2:30pm to be safe. If I'm running late due to traffic or
> anything else, I'll call you and let you know.
>
> Please email me the address where the meeting is to take place
> so I can generate a Yahoo Map for directions. Also send me
> your cell number in case I need to contact you once I'm on
> the road.
>
> I'm not sure we need anyone other than you, Vossler and myself.
> The Reef projects are basically "no brainers", we just need to
> convert TWT to subsea and pick some X/Y's for the location and
> permitting process. My real questions have to do with the
> Vossler anomaly and the associated reservoir targets to be
> encountered. I want to be sure that no one can at anytime in
> the future say "they didn't drill it deep enough". I also
> want to be sure that both you and Vossler agree we are drilling
> the optimum location to the concept. This well will need a
> mudlogging unit, to look for ANY associated hydrocarbons shows
> and/or pays which may or may not correlate with the seismic
> anomalies. After the well is drilled, regardless of it's
> outcome,
>
> it will be important to meet and discuss what was observed,
> what was learned, whether or not it can be applied elsewhere
> in the area, and how best to take the next step. I want to
> be sure that we get maximum benefit from the dollars about to
> be spent.
>
> And Roice, just to set things straight, the answer is NO,
> I don't get paid for this effort. And NO, I don't get a
> "carry". What I do get for all the work I've done, for all
> the considerable money and time I've spent so far,
> including the time and costs of this trip and the additional
> pro-bono work I will be performing for the group in the future,
> is the right to participate as an investor with some high
> quality individuals for some percentage, unburdened,
> non-promoted and at cost (which includes the sunk-costs and
> burdens which YOU and only your "paid" group has been promised).
> Sorry if that comes across as crass, but I want everyone to
> know where I'm coming from and to be completely upfront about
> it. So far in this project, the real looser has been John and
> his company Coastland. If the Vossler project doesn't work out,
> he'll be in the hole deeper still. But Roice, he believes
> that YOU believe, and thus he's willing to bet on you and your
> experience.
>
> I, like John, am willing to take a risk on something which as
> a technical guy I can't explain, but also believe that the
> "other technical guy "YOU" does understand, and is willing
> to stand behind. Am I wrong?
>
> In any case, let's save the replies and discussions for Friday.
> And again, I'm looking forward to working with you... I know
> talent when I see it, and I see it in you and your work.
>
> Too bad Les can't be there - be sure to give him my bests,
>
> Frank Lott']]>
I spent 4 hours Tuesday evening at II&T getting the project
restored so that Frank could come in and pick the drilling
locations. Turns out there had been a disk go out at II&T
and most of the Shackelford County data was on this disk.
I'll write more about the meeting with Frank at the end of
this e-mail. When I got home, there was a cute e-mail from
one of Andrea's walking ladies:
<![CDATA[ ` In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to
beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we
have "the rule of thumb"
Many years ago in Scotland, a new game was invented. It was
ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word
GOLF entered into the English language.
The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV
were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.
Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
Coca-Cola was originally green.
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:
Alaska
The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)
The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400
The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour:
61,000
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National
Monuments.
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from
history:
Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs
in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front
leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in
battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person
died of natural causes.
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th,
John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on
August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular
boat name?
A. Obsession
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go
until you would find the letter "A"?
A. One thousand
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and
laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey
Q. Which day are there more collect telephone calls than any other
day of the year?
A. Father's Day
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by
ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened,
making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase.........
"goodnight, sleep tight."
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a
month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his
son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer
and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called
the honey month which we know today as the honeymoon.
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old
England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at
them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down." It's where we
get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked
into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed
a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your
whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.
~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~
At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.
Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not,
you can read it.
> I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was
> rdgnieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to
> rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht
> oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is
> taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The
> rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a
> porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey
> lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?']]>
On Wednesday there was an e-mail and conversation with Christian
Singfield, specifying that by the end of next week the whole
business plan for FSI should be finished. It will include
US$80 million in equity, and US$20 million financed.
Thursday George Schultz came in and we talked about Hurricane
Katrina. I pointed out that earlier in the week I had been
asked if I thought God was punishing New Orleans. My response
was that this was a natural disaster. George pointed out that
the week after the Hurricane was scheduled to hit was set aside
to be `The Festival of Decadence' in New Orleans, and that
homosexuals from all over the nation were being encouraged to
come to New Orleans and to participate in this annual event.
If chaos theory is right, and a butterfly in South America can
create a hurricane, then given God has much better theoretical
models of the impact of butterfly movement than even Paul can
generate, then it seems reasonable there is more than just
natural events tied to this disaster. Between 911 (../0138.html),
the tsunami (0501.html), and other historical and recent events,
there does seem to be a correlation with scriptural prophecies
related to the Last Days and the return of our Savior.
Friday there were phone calls to China, meetings about the
China projects, a meeting setting out how to accomplish getting
six more Tiles out in September, and, of course, climbing stairs.
A milestone was reached at lunch. I finished reading `The Wealth
of Nations' by Adam Smith. I was going to quote some of the
insights I underlined. However, this Thoughtlet is already too
long, and so I will spare the reader, and point you to my library.
I left work early to meet with Frank Lott, Don Vossler, and
Dave Agarwal at 2:30 to review the Shackelford County drilling
opportunities. When we reloaded the data on Tuesday, I had not
been able to bring some of the wells up, and so I copied the
time-depth curve to all wells. Turns out this brought up a
well we had not seen on previous maps. This well is 500 feet
from the proposed Comanche Reef Structure, and might have
drained a lot of the structure. I talked about how the head
wave amplitude anomalies we had identified in China could
explain the large Vossler anomaly. However, I pointed out
this does not explain the depletion halos Vossler's NRG seismic
processing has shown on all producing reefs in the field. It
is a wildcat, and it is a big enough anomaly it needs to be
tested. However, as stated in Frank's letter above, I do
not have $250,000 to drill the well, and so it is up to folks
like Frank and John Benard to drill the well. Frank hopes it
will be drilled by late November. Wouldn't an 80 BCF gas field
be a nice Thanksgiving present? At $9/MCF, this means the field
would be worth $720 million, and Walden 3-D's 2% ORRI would be
worth $14.4 million, of which 0.95%, or $6.84 million would
remain in Walden 3-D, the rest going to Don Vossler and Gary
Jones. And wouldn't a dry hole be a bummer? Time will tell.
When I got home there was an E-Mail from Andrea's brother Steve,
which although it's authenticity can possibly be challenged,
having lived through these times, I know there is enough of a
basis in truth the e-mail needs to be shared with you kids:
<![CDATA[ `A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED:
IF YOU NEVER FORWARDED ANYTHING IN YOU LIFE FORWARD THIS SO THAT
EVERYONE WILL KNOW!!!!!!.......
She really was a traitor
A TRAITOR IS ABOUT TO BE HONORED KEEP THIS MOVING ACROSS AMERICA
> This is for all the kids born in the 70's who do not remember,
> and didn't have to bear the burden that our fathers, mothers
> and older brothers and sisters had to bear.
>
> Jane Fonda is being honored as one of the "100 Women of the
> Century."
>
> BY BARBRA WALTERS
>
> Unfortunately, many have forgotten and still countless others
> have never known how Ms. Fonda betrayed not only the idea of our
> country, but specific men who served and sacrificed during
> Vietnam.
>
> The first part of this is from an F-4E pilot. The pilot's name
> is Jerry Driscoll, a River Rat.
>
> In 1968, the former Commandant of the USAF Survival School was
> a POW in Ho Lo Prison the "Hanoi Hilton."
>
> Dragged from a stinking cesspit of a cell, cleaned, fed, and
> dressed in clean PJ's, he was ordered to describe for a visiting
> American "Peace Activist" the "lenient and humane treatment"
> he'd received.
>
> He spat at Ms. Fonda, was clubbed, and was dragged away. During
> the subsequent beating, he fell forward on to the camp
> Commandant's feet, which sent that officer berserk.
>
> In 1978, the Air Force Colonel still suffered from double vision
> (which permanently ended his flying career) from the Commandant's
> frenzied application of a wooden baton.
>
> From 1963-65, Col. Larry Carrigan was in the 47FW/DO (F-4E's).
> He spent 6 years in the "Hanoi Hilton". The first three of which
> his family only knew he was "missing in action". His wife lived
> on faith that he was still alive. His group, too, got the
> cleaned-up, fed and clothed routine in preparation for a "peace
> delegation" visit. They, however, had time and devised a plan to
> get word to the world that they were alive and still survived.
> Each man secreted a tiny piece of paper, with his Social Security
> Number on it, in the palm of his hand.
>
> When paraded before Ms. Fonda and a cameraman, she walked the
> line, shaking each man's hand and asking little encouraging
> snippets like: "Aren't you sorry you bombed babies?" and
> "Are you grateful for the humane treatment from your benevolent
> captors?" Believing this HAD to be an act, they each palmed her
> their sliver of paper. She took them all without missing a beat.
> At the end of the line and once the camera stopped rolling, to
> the shocked disbelief of the POWs, she turned to the officer
> in charge and handed him all the little pieces of paper.
>
> Three men died from the subsequent beatings. Colonel Carrigan
> was almost number four but he survived, which is the only reason
> we know of her actions that day.
>
> I was a civilian economic development advisor in Vietnam, and
> was captured by the North Vietnamese communists in South Vietnam
> in 1968, and held prisoner for over 5 years.
>
> I spent 27 months in solitary confinement; one year in a cage
> in Cambodia; and one year in a "black box" in Hanoi. My North
> Vietnamese captors deliberately poisoned and murdered a female
> missionary, a nurse in a leprosarium in Ban me Thuot, South
> Vietnam, whom I buried in the jungle near the Cambodian border.
> At one time, I weighed only about 90 lbs. (My normal weight is
> 170 lbs.) We were Jane Fonda's "war criminals."
>
> When Jane Fonda was in Hanoi, I was asked by the camp communist
> political officer if I would be willing to meet with her. I
> said yes, for I wanted to tell her about the real treatment we
> POWs received... and how different it was from the treatment
> purported by the North Vietnamese, and parroted by her as
> "humane and lenient."
>
> Because of this, I spent three days on a rocky floor on my knees,
> with my arms outstretched with a large steel weights placed on
> my hands, and beaten with a bamboo cane.
>
> I had the opportunity to meet with Jane Fonda soon after I was
> released. I asked her if she would be willing to debate me on
> TV. She never did answer me.
>
> These first-hand experiences do not exemplify someone who should
> be honored as part of "100 Years of Great Women. "Lest we
> forget..." 100 Years of Great Women" should never include a
> traitor whose hands are covered with the blood of so many
> patriots. There are few things I have strong visceral reactions
> to, but Hanoi Jane's participation in blatant treason, is one of
> them. Please take the time to forward to as many people as you
> possibly can. It will eventually end up on her computer and she
> needs to know that we will never forget.
>
> RONALD D. SAMPSON, CMSgt, USAF
> 716 Maintenance Squadron, Chief of Maintenance
> DSN: 875-6431
> COMM: 883-6343']]>
Saturday morning I mowed and edged the lawn. As I worked it
around the yard, my mind went back to my first thoughts about
folks in a neighborhood sharing a lawn edger as part of a
community consecration (../0020.html), and how this became the
basis for Walden 3-D, Inc. After a brief stint in the I went
in and discovered there was a voice mail from Cecilia, one of
the Directors for Emerald Energy (../0237.html and ../0321.html),
regarding some data I signed for from II&T last Tuesday. I
wrote down the wrong number. Oh well!
There were a three of interesting e-mail's. One from Audrey
with cartoons about high gas prices. Audrey still seemed in
good spirits when we talked on Sunday and I suggested gas prices
need to double in order to change the way we use hydrocarbons
and the way we build our cities (0534.html). Of course, none
of us, starting with me, can afford a doubling of gas prices.
However, I'm convinced this is cheaper in the long than setting
up for another Katrina scale or much larger disaster. Paul
had gone to bed before I called, and when I was talking to
Kate about this, specifying if there is going to be any price
fixing the government should fix it high with a tax that must
go to pay down the deficit, she said I should go into politics.
I don't think my ideas would be very popular. There was also
an e-mail announcement from Rhonda Hartmann stating she is
going to Kenya on a mission (0516.html, 0524.html, and
0529.html). I think this could be great for her. Lastly,
Craig J. Beasley, president of SEG, sent an e-mail about
Katrina and mentioning his work through SEG on the Tsunami
earlier in the year. I am impressed. There is certainly a
lot of good people doing a lot of good things, and they are
almost as much in the background of our daily lives as is
climbing stairs."
Since the 38th week of 1996 I have written a weekly "Thoughtlet"
(little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me).
Until the 43rd week of 2004 I sent these out as an e-mail. They
were intended to be big thoughts which mean a lot to me.
Over time the process evolved into a personal diary. These notes
were shared with my family because I know how important the
written word can be. Concerned about how easy it is to drift and
forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of
daily life, I thought this was a good way to reach those I love.
It no longer feels right to send out an e-mail and "force" my kids
and my family to be aware of my life and struggles.
Everyone has their own life to lead, and their own struggles to
work through. I will continue this effort, and will continue to
make my notes publicly accessible (unless I learn of
misuse by someone who finds out about them, and then will
aggressively
pursue a legal remedy to copyright infringement and I will put the Thoughtlets
behind a password).
The index to download any of these Thoughtlets is at
http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets,
or you can e-mail me with
questions or requests at
rnelson@walden3d.com
(note if you are not on my e-mail "whitelist" you must send 2 e-mails
within 24 hours of each other in order for your e-mail to not be trashed).
With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)