Shel Silverstein and Christmas

Shel Silverstein was not an attractive man - in fact, you could say that in some photos he looked downright scary.

Back when Bella was a littler girl, I began reading "The Giving Tree" to her. I personally was unfamiliar with the book, which apparently was a favorite of Mary as a little girl. At first I did not know what to make of the message of the book, if anything. But one thing I did notice early on was that Bella would jump in fear when I closed the book, which had a particularly scary picture of Shel Silverstein on the back cover.

Thus began the legend of "The Man," which I use to this day with comedic effect to scare both kids after reading the book. I'll finish the story and quickly flip to the back cover and announce "It's the Man" which causes both kids to squeal in a semi-fearful and semi-joking way.

To the point, tonight after a long and fruitful Christmas Day, with both kids in their long PJs getting ready for bed, I find Bella's chasing Zack between the bedrooms, with her copy of "The Giving Tree" shouting "It's the Man, it's the Man", knowing that my work is done in this regard.

McDonalds PlayPlace

Really no place better for a 6 year old and a 3 year old to burn off a little steam, unless they run too much and try to eat a nugget...

New Job

So this week I started my new job, in the Internal Audit department at Cheniere Energy. I have returned to Technical Audit, which I think will continue to be the area where I contribute best to an operating company, at least in this stage of Cheniere's life cycle.

My boss is the individual whose recommendation was instrumental in bringing me into the previous company, and he is someone who I have wanted to work with for quite some time.

I will not be writing much about the new company here, other than issues related to national/global LNG policy, non-proprietary technical issues, or general observations about the workplace. The day job potentially involves sensitive subject matter so I will not be discussing many specifics here.

That said, looking forward to the new adventure!

It's a Wrap!

Yesterday was my last day with Ensco, the 2nd largest drilling contractor and the "offshore driller of choice."

Ensco was a great company to work for, with good coworkers and a strong leadership team moving things in the right direction in the post-Macondo world of offshore drilling. The integration of Pride International went as well as it could have gone, and the company seems well positioned for the future.

Was everything perfect? No, but the company was doing the right things in getting the right people and resources to support a shift towards what we term "performance discipline," defined as "consistently and systematically doing things in according to known good practice."

Time will tell if the recent efforts bear fruit. The industry has a long way to go to achieve quality, both in delivered equipment from the OEMs and in the work performed on the deck plates in operation. However, the problem is now recognized, at least at Ensco, which will ultimately make the company lots of money (in terms of minimized downtime) going forward if they execute.

Anyway, I wish my old company and coworkers the best of luck as they execute against the vision and core values of Ensco.

Oh, and here's a photo of me during "Chuck and Bryan's Excellent Adventure" posing near an arch in Arches National Park near Moab last year, proudly wearing my Ensco t-shirt.

Nike+ Fuelband

Decided to go high tech in trying to understand how active I am and in understanding how active I can be.

Purchased the Nike+ Fuelband and am putting it through its paces today, starting with a late evening workout necessitated by Zack's desire to keep me from the early morning workouts I had been accustomed to (story for another post).

The Fuelband tracked closely with the calorie count from the elliptical (although Nike is clear that you earn "Nike points" and it doesn't count calories). This might actually be a neat way to really measure and track my overall activities.

Now if they could figure out a way to automatically count calories consumed. I used to count calories using Lose It! but I found that I ultimately did not consume fewer calories even with tracking in a very anal fashion.

Oh, and I wrote this post from my iPhone, so there's that. And if I did things right, there will be a screenshot accompanying this post from the Nike+ Fuelband app.

Super Troopers! Beerfest!

Went to the Improv Houston last night to see Steve Lemme and Kevin Heffeman (aka "Mac" and "Rod" from Super Troopers and "Finklestein" and "Landfill" from Beerfest) do a little standup.

I don't get out much, so it was a thrill for me.  Drinks with Chuck Berry, comedy, post-entertainment beers at Little Woodrow's by the house.  Big night.

Looking forward to Super Troopers 2, which apparently is on the way.

Oh, and here are the obligatory photos - first with Chuck:

And then with me, looking a bit too happy:

Again, a fun night.

First Post!

Decided to start blogging.  Been parking a number of domains, and it seemed like the right time to get some use out of one of them.

I am a 44 year old husband and father of two great (but young - 6 and 3 years old) kids.

I retired from the Navy in 2009, after about 13 years of active service, and 7 years of reserve service, as a submarine officer.  Stayed in long enough to promote to Commander, but then hung up my sword and shield.  Needless to say, I won't ever make Captain, hence the semi-humorous title of the blog.

I work in the Oil & Gas industry in Houston (don't we all?), and am about to make a career transition, which will likely spawn a number of future posts as I discuss the various aspects of the job, policy, regulation, etc. I come across in the (uncertain?) future.

I am not as witty or insightful as others are or have been, but perhaps over time whatever I decide to place here will improve to the point that others will read it.

My inspiration is the late, great Neptunus Lex, who would have celebrated a birthday yesterday if he hadn't been suddenly taken away from us late last year.  Never met the man, but in his writings one can understand the kind of person he was, and he had incredible influence over so many of us.

Watch this space!