[ROCKMAN]

Happy holidays all from Iberville Parish, La. Often our topics can be a tad depressing. But this should be a happier time of the year so here's an opportunity to pass along more cheerful thoughts. Dealers choice so have at it..

I'm in good mood despite sitting on a cold and muddy we'll site watching my hands hook up my second Christmas tree this season: the well head "tree". We'll spend the next few days perforating and completing the well. Hopefully be giving my owner a nice oily Xmas present.

[vision-master]

Santa Baby

[dinopello]

It's drizzling now and it's supposed to get cold here again for Christmas. This weekend was crazy - it was 70+ degrees and I hung out at the Bakeshop with my neighbors, one of who was dressed up as Santa, drinking coffee and eating ice cream chipwhiches. I just got back from my dog walk with my coffee and scone from Northside Social and tomorrow I pick up a chocolate pie from Leonora's for Christmas eve desert - hosting a small dinner.

All these awesome bakeries are within a 5 minute walk of my home, for which I am very thankful but it is putting some pressure on my belt.

[Newfie]

Yeah, this weekend was a gift from ma nature. Got some unexpected painting done in shirtsleeves. Then enough rain for an excuse to go Xmas shopping.

Happy Holidays to y'all!

[Pops]

[ROCKMAN]

Dino - Now you got me hungry and all I have on location is my emergency supply of Vienna sausage. LOL. So I 'll retaliate by mentioning the boneless Cajun turkey stuffed with spicy cornbread dressing waiting for me whenever I get home.

[Subjectivist]

Dino - Now you got me hungry and all I have on location is my emergency supply of Vienna sausage. LOL. So I 'll retaliate by mentioning the boneless Cajun turkey stuffed with spicy cornbread dressing waiting for me whenever I get home.

Roast goose with all the trimmings, family gathered around and a song in the heart. What more could anyone want?

[ROCKMAN]

Sub - good idea: holiday favorites. Being from Nawlins artechoke crab chowder is a biggie for New Years. And for some us older farts blood sausage and cabbage.

[Subjectivist]

Sub - good idea: holiday favorites. Being from Nawlins artechoke crab chowder is a biggie for New Years. And for some us older farts blood sausage and cabbage.

Having been terrorized by a goose as a toddler then getting to eat that same goose for Christmas dinner a few months later I have fond memories of Christmas Goose. A few years ago I introduced my niece's family to Roast Goose for Christmas but when I looked to buy them one this year the prices had gone insanely high.

[ROCKMAN]

Sub - Too bad. Makes it difficult to pass on traditions to younger generations. You can imagine the looks I get in Houston when I ask for blood sausage. Not enough old Getmans left around here. LOL. But it wasn't going to be a tradition an my 13 yo daughter was ready latch on to. Back in my hunting days always had a good supply of geese and duck. But tended more to gumbo p roasting. Good rabbitt, an Easter tradition, has also gotten pricey...if you can find it. And forget squerll

[John_A]

Happy holidays all from Iberville Parish, La. Often our topics can be a tad depressing. But this should be a happier time of the year so here's an opportunity to pass along more cheerful thoughts. Dealers choice so have at it..

I'm in good mood despite sitting on a cold and muddy we'll site watching my hands hook up my second Christmas tree this season: the well head "tree". We'll spend the next few days perforating and completing the well. Hopefully be giving my owner a nice oily Xmas present.

Rockman, if you are supervising a companies capital expenditure exploration budget why are you on-site supervising logging and completion operations yourself over the holidays? Assign it to the newbies, they should be forced to work the Christmas shift, just like we did way back when. Anybody can oversee equipment installation and run of the mill completions, go home and get the gumbo!! You aren't even in the right state right now!

[ROCKMAN]

John - As VP Ops I'm personally responsible for all such activities. My company doesn't have any juniors...we're all old gray farts. We'll essentially use the service company hands as juniors. A good option but as you know requeres adult supervision...especially when it comes to safety. And my nature...I would rather be in the field than the office. And we run on the oil patch calendar: Xmas isn't always 25 December. For instance there will be about 25,000 hands working offshore on Xmas day. This year it was last weekend for me and my 13 yo daughter. And it will be next weekend for the wife and I.

First comes family and the wells next.

[ROCKMAN]

John - I forgot to mention what else I enjoy about being on the well site: the looks I get from the hands when they see this old man roaming around on his "polio crutches". LOL. But the safety thing: I had to stop one hand from climbing up the tree to hook up the lubricator. Too wet ...too muddy...too dangerous. Made him get a ladder. The young ones tend to have too much macho BS between the ears. I also had to make two other hands get their hard hats...they couldn't fit them over their warm hats. Told them to ask Santa for some helmet liners. LOL.

The holidays just aren't the same doing them from the ICU.

[sparky]

.
It will be the usual Christmas , beer and prawns on the beach

[ROCKMAN]

Sparky - which beach?

[John_A]

John - As VP Ops I'm personally responsible for all such activities. My company doesn't have any juniors...we're all old gray farts.

VP Ops sits well sites? What do the exploration geologists and petroleum engineers do, general janitorial work around the office?

We'll essentially use the service company hands as juniors. A good option but as you know requeres adult supervision...especially when it comes to safety. And my nature...I would rather be in the field than the office.

Roger that.

And we run on the oil patch calendar: Xmas isn't always 25 December. For instance there will be about 25,000 hands working offshore on Xmas day. This year it was last weekend for me and my 13 yo daughter. And it will be next weekend for the wife and I.

First comes family and the wells next.

Roger that. Easier to do with an office job though, working GOM during Xmas wasn't a big deal until after the kids arrived.

[ROCKMAN]

John - I am a company geologist/geophysicist/engineer. The president is a company engineer/geologist and he also occasionally sits wells. I meant what I said: we have no juniors...just VP's that handle everything. Which is why our owner selected each of us. He expects everything to be handled close to the vest. He's very generous (we each get a piece when we liquidate the company). He's also has a zero tolerance when it comes to failure. Screw up and you won't be around for the big payday. Needless to say none of has a "9 to 5" attitude. I actually work 0600 to 1500 and on 24/7/365 call. Unless I'm on a wèll site. Obviously a rather unique set up in the oil patch.

[Paulo1]

All the best from Vancouver Island.

We still have 4 inches of hard wet snow on the ground and may receive a flury tonight. So, some parts of the yard will be white on the 25th. Nevertheless, tonight I marinade salmon in my private terriaki concoction for our traditional Christmas Eve salmon barbecue. For snacks we will have fresh home-smoked oysters. On Christmas day we do the turkey thing in the afternoon with relatives leaving for home on Boxing Day, (the 26th).

For us, this is a time for family and friends with extremely modest gift exchanges. I bought all families Lee Valley candle powered LED lanterns....very well made of polished stainless and a truly enduring and practical gift...to boot! Mostly, it is a mid-winter recognition that the days are now getting longer, even if the days are grey and threaten percip.

All the best to those who I have read and/or exchanged messages with for years.

Paulo

[ROCKMAN]

Paulo - very nice...thanks for sharing. And also my favorite way to do salmon too. But just not a holiday fish in my part of the world. In S La. it's often some kind of meat stuffed with more meat covered in some kind of a meat sauce.

[Newfie]

In my neck o the woods it's squirrel stew. Yum.