Did Me.

I didn’t say goodbye because I’m just a flight away.

Houston: My home. You received a boy and saw him grow into a young man. Even when I left for San Antonio and Fort Worth, I couldn’t be gone for more than 3 weeks at a time. My body knows when it’s getting closer to the north beltway.

I was born at LBJ, raised on 1960, and I-45 took me home after countless memories. I sang praises of my hometown across the nation and around the globe as an ambassador for my city. I even shook hands with the Mayor on a few occasions.

You gave me a 2nd family, work, play, love, joy, and even pain to show me that I can endure. You showed me that life isn’t fair, but that’s something we’ve always known if you tuned into the local news. That doesn’t change how we carry ourselves or how we live. We’re thankful for our blessings. You gave me faith on Little York.

Houston is where my dad lives and my mom’s headstone rests. It is where I was educated formally (Go Coogs) and informally. It is where I volunteered, worshipped, worked, and played ball on the street. It is where I helped and was helped.

I have memories from Tomball to Galveston. From The Woodlands to Deer Park. I bought my first car in Baytown at 18 (Thanks pop for the 2nd half). I ran youth leagues in Aldine, took inventory of steel on N Rosslyn, worked on backyards in Pearland, analyzed data near the galleria, and worked in offices Downtown on a couple occasions. No job too big or small, I was just happy to be in the game and in the community.

I’ll be in Kansas City these days. A week in, and still wrapping my head around it. It is certainly a change of pace. Rare fish in a new pond.

Either way, I’m a few taps away on a dial pad if anyone needs to reach me.

Home is where love don’t cost a thing

Care ain’t a chore

You don’t gotta ask for more because it is often offered.

Home is a dinner table where we compliment and discuss

Love is built in silence and trust

And you know each other well enough to not debate what is proper.

Home joins you in questions to map misdirection

Shares roads to help you on your path.

Feels good like the 1st, a gift that gives birth, and foundations that are built to last.

Home understands when you go

Prays that you grow

And loves you until your return

“Anything that you need, come and find me”

Your success and safety is their concern.

Home’s got a garden where effort’s rewarded and

Soil is tended for growth.

Where dad prayed before working and prayed before resting.

Thanking God for the privilege of both.

It’s so easy to get drawn back to our phones. There is always something exciting, interesting, or mentally stimulating going on. That is why people tend to share it.

Time is finite. Our capacity is finite during most times. Our ability to be physically and consciously present affects our capacity to hold attention, the quality of that attention, and the outcomes of that attention. It may become easy to quite literally lose sight of the effects of our actions when we choose to direct our senses to different inputs.

We communicate in many ways. Some modes are words, tones, actions, expressions, body language, or lack thereof. We can trick ourselves into thinking that we are communicating one thing, while the message is being received differently. We can only control how we configure and share our communications, and take care to consider how the person or people receiving that information may perceive it.

There’s a difference in consuming and producing written language. The modes mentioned above get lost in translation. Plausible deniability and so on and so on.

We must be mindful of how we receive, process, and respond to these inputs. In some ways, our identities are tied to what we consume and engage with. In both a physical and mental sense. If I eat McDonalds and Whataburger every day, that increases my probability for (1) having a higher % of body fat (2) expecting to be served instead of preparing food for myself and others. If I just read critical content (reactionary things that bear judgement on others), that increases the probability of me reacting critically when presented with new information. And so on and so on.

I’m working to move forward in the real world. Reintroducing curiosity, servitude, attentiveness, love, humor, playfulness, trust, discretion, discernment, leadership and many other things that got me to where I got when I didn’t have much to give. The world has enough critics (some with a more solid basis than others). The world has enough people who apparently have it figured out. The world has enough aggrandization. Why add to where there is already enough? We go where the need is, and we supply it to the best of our ability.

Sinceramente,

E

Cost of transport is increasing during an inflationary period, and the consensus is that it is driven by the war between the Rushans and U Cranes.

Oh yeah, availability of nat gas was already a concern prior to all this hoopla. That’s why LNG was being marketed around town and on Wall’s street. See the Topofda archives for insights from 2020 and 2021, which kinda set the table for the present.

Oh, and Time! All things to value, respect, and nurture.

Started a higher frequency version of this on The Bird (Twitter for uninitiated). I love the practice of writing, creating, and expressing.

There is proof of these claims in the archive, and I’m glad that I did what I did when I did it. Present E can sift through and enjoy with new eyes, and from a new perspective.

Where am I at now? I’m in between. Depending on who you are, and what you know about me (or anyone for that matter), this can mean different things. Words can take on different messages depending on the context and receiver of those words. Like coming “in between” someone, being “in between” jobs, “in between” sheets, “in between” places, and being “in between” a transaction, to name a few. Sometimes it feels good to be in between. Sometimes others don’t like it when you’re in between (subject to who, what, when, where, why variables), and that’s alright. You won’t please everyone or anyone, for that matter, all the time. Stand up tall, don’t flinch for a screaming tyrant or a clever one with a cadence. I’m staying grounded, trusting in my roots, and continuing to grow. Face to the sun and moon when I rise and rest in prayer.

I used to go to SPE events often as a younger chap bc I bought into the whole “invest in yourself” thing at an early age. So I spent money on attending these events and meeting people. Student rates are super discounted relative to working professional rates, so that was helpful. I had nothing to lose, so I spoke with everyone, and I LISTENED. I still have nothing to lose today. It’s a short fall and a long road ahead.

Why do I show up to work every day? Why have I remained in my industry despite tortuous paths and plenty of opportunities to pivot to another?

I choose to work in the oil & gas industry because it is a platform for innovation, improvement, and change. Apart from the useful commodity we work to produce, it provides a comprehensive education to the systems that surround me and my community.

I get to work with so many wise and talented people, with such diverse experience and backgrounds. Whether it’s making my way through the concrete jungles of downtown or the serene back roads of South Texas, I get a front row seat to what and who fuels the activity around me. I also get a front row seat to what is on the frontier and how it fits into existing systems.

The energy supply chain is wide and each link carries with it layers of complexities. I like to tackle these complexities in ways that reach past political boundaries - which are often fickle.

When we address issues and genuinely try to resolve them - whether by development or partnership - we move the ball closer to the goal. I think it’s safe to say that companies aren’t monolithic entities. They are made up of people. These people work in good faith to meet a need and to achieve the goals of the company.

My “Why” is that I see a valuable sector in our national and world economy that fuels activity within my region. Despite the value provided, there are still critiques and even grievances towards the industry. I work to better understand the systems that surround me and to do my part in improving processes in a sustainable way.