Greetings from 150 miles offshore Angola...

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Arrived offshore yesterday afternoon, after a 1.5 hour helo ride and 24 hours of jet rides and an overnight stay in Johannesbug, S.A. Got some good SkyTeam miles for this one...

Working the night shift the next few days collecting cognitive workload info from our control room operators to measure their workload prior to increasing console stations in the control room.

Can't blame me for jacking up gas prices, I'm helping maintain production of a 250 kdb facility. You think this place is making money???

Traffic has gotten bad since the 4 years I was last in Angola. People are more wealthy, they have purchased cars after the satellite dishes...

Cheers.

[soonerboomer93]

is it true it's a $5 minimum bribe to pass through customs?


I might be visiting there "soon" on some stuff

[TheHumanAlphabet]

No. Not sure what you are refering to, like any other place greasing helps get things done, but we are not allowed - against company policy. So we are not allowed to gift the "Fiscal Police", that's what they are called. You are not allowed to take kwanza's out of the country by law. They stopped asking. 4 years ago a different story, I didn't give money then (that's to leave).

[olevetonahill]

WTH is a Kwanza ?

[Chuck Bao]

South Africa is definitely on my "must do" list.

Angola, not so must. But, I'm glad you're out there doing your thing, THA. Greetings back.

[olevetonahill]

South Africa is definitely on my "must do" list.

Angola, not so must. But, I'm glad you're out there doing your thing, THA. Greetings back.

Ive gotts to travel some before I croak
the Only travelin Ive done was courtisey Of the Army .

[Chuck Bao]

Well, come see me in Thailand. I think you'd get a whole different impression from your last visit to the region.

This isn't meant as a thread jack, but I don't think THA will mind, or if he does, he can bring it right back on topic.

My uncle who happens to share your first name, Olevet, and served in Vietnam so hated his time spent in Thailand and could not imagine why I would choose to live here.

He passed away 10 years ago from throat cancer and I very much regret not connecting with him and bringing him back and getting his story. I did bring three of his older sisters here (including my mom) and I only now wonder what he thought about that and their accounts of Bangkok, Chiang Mai and Phuket as a holiday destinations.

I remember my family was playing Trivial Pursuit and the question was about a secret war. My guess was Laos and it was right. My uncle said: "hey, that should have been obvious, I was in there". None of us knew.

And then I said, I speak a bit of Lao and I understand quite a bit more. My Lao friends say that I was a Lao farmer in a previous life.

He never could not reconcile this idea with his experiences, which were too painful and traumatic.

I'm thinking that traveling is good.

Hey, come see me and it will help exercise some of my ghosts (regrets) and possibly yours as well. I guess I have some frequent flier points.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Chuck, no problem. You always add an insight to all posts.

Olevet - the Kwanza is the official currency in Angola. I don't know, but it may be named after a river that has natural beauty. I don't know but most of Angola is red clay and dusty. Not sure if that is beauty??? Since I have never changed a Kwanza, I don't know how much it is worth. I always stay in company housing and don't need money.

EDIT:
Just checked 1 Angolan Kwanza (AOA) is worth 75.158 USD. A year ago it was worth 80.165 USD.

[olevetonahill]

Chuck you Hook me up Im there !
THA
I was thinkin a Kwansa was somethin Illegal
My bad !;)

[Flagstaffsooner]

I thought it was that black Christmas thing.

[arizonasooner]

Hey Eric -

What control system is being used on your offshore platforms. Honeywell?

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

Arrived offshore yesterday afternoon, after a 1.5 hour helo ride and 24 hours of jet rides and an overnight stay in Johannesbug, S.A. Working the night shift the next few days collecting cognitive workload info from our control room operators to measure their workload prior to increasing console stations in the control room.

Can't blame me for jacking up gas prices, I'm helping maintain production of a 250 kdb facility. Traffic has gotten bad since the 4 years I was last in Angola. People are more wealthy, they have purchased cars after the satellite dishes...

Cheers.Good for you/us, THA. You are doing your part to prevent the world's economy from falling on its a*s! Would that the US government do the same!

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Hey Eric -

What control system is being used on your offshore platforms. Honeywell?

Nope - Delta V

[arizonasooner]

Nope - Delta V

Great! That is actually my personal favorite system, which my boss hates because we're so much in bed with Honeywell these days... I helped install and configure DeltaV systems in Ohio and Long Beach - a far different sight from offshore Angola, I guess...

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Well, especially since the process system is Delta V, the Subsea system is Cameron and the tank gauging is Saab... Can't understand why you can't integrate the systems...

[soonerboomer93]

just tell them to find more oil, so i can be back to making platforms instead of piping tracability

[TheHumanAlphabet]

I hear Brazil just made a jinormous find...

[12]

I just realized some people on this board probably make a LOT more money than I do.

[soonerboomer93]

yeah, i know brazil made a ginormous find in q4 '07. or they announced it then. I'm not sure what my shot at that is. I'm working on avoiding angola right now.

(and if it helps 12, i make a LOT less money today then I was making same time last year)

[OUDoc]

I just realized some people on this board probably make a LOT more money than I do.

I realized that a long time ago, Bruce.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

I just realized some people on this board probably make a LOT more money than I do.You ain't wantin' to raise their taxes for punishment, are you?

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Hey 12, don't confuse traveling a lot for making a lot of money. Don't get me wrong, some people in the oil bidness do make a lot of money, but I would also bet you would be surprised at the amount of people that make a lot less than you think. We just go to "exotic" locales that many people wouldn't want to go to and get Nigerian girlfriends named "Happiness" and get ho's in Paris and Tokyo asking you for dates. ;) There can be good rewards, but then I also traveled 126 days - mostly internationally last year.

[shaun4411]

You ain't wantin' to raise their taxes for punishment, are you?


all people who make a lot of money should be taxed so they are on the same level as poor less educated people so we''ll all feel better.

[RUSH LIMBAUGH is my clone!]

all people who make a lot of money should be taxed so they are on the same level as poor less educated people so we''ll all feel better.Soon to be the way of the "New America".

[TheHumanAlphabet]

all people who make a lot of money should be taxed so they are on the same level as poor less educated people so we''ll all feel better.

You forgot the winky!

[12]

Understand, I'm not complaining about my salary. I just realized many of you utilize much more of your brain than I do. (And deservingly earn your pay)

I'm not asking for a tax debate.

I mean, we all knew that about Ike, but geeze... :O

Seriously, it is a challenge and adventure in some respects, to travel that far away. Godspeed, Sooner.

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Heading home today...Helicopter off the facility this morning and overnight in Luanda before catching my flight to Paris and overnighting at CDG before heading home to Houston... Yeah. Home for 4 days before going to another destination.

[soonerboomer93]

you can go to maine for me THB

i just got back to houston from ingleside today, then to maine on sunday

of course, i'm not technically "home" either

i do agree, living out of suitcase=suck

[TheHumanAlphabet]

Getting ready to board my TAP flight for Lisbon. Got through the money police - officially the Fiscal Police. They check to make sure you are not taking Kwanzas out of the country and then ask to see your money and then ask if any is for them. I show them my money and then say no. They then say move on. Paris, here I come...

[shaun4411]

Getting ready to board my TAP flight for Lisbon. Got through the money police - officially the Fiscal Police. They check to make sure you are not taking Kwanzas out of the country and then ask to see your money and then ask if any is for them. I show them my money and then say no. They then say move on. Paris, here I come...

the last time i was in paris, cdg was NOT a place that id want to spend a whole evening. i woudlnt want to spend a minute longer than id ever need to.

[tommieharris91]

Getting ready to board my TAP flight for Lisbon. Got through the money police - officially the Fiscal Police. They check to make sure you are not taking Kwanzas out of the country and then ask to see your money and then ask if any is for them. I show them my money and then say no. They then say move on. Paris, here I come...

I haven't read like, any of this thread, so I don't know if this has been mentioned yet. The reason why some countries have to do this is to keep their exchange rates fixed to another currency.

[12]

They check to make sure you are not taking Kwanzas out of the country and then ask to see your money and then ask if any is for them.

I can certainly understand that. Kwanzas are a hot comodity in the Indian casinos.

[12]

You ain't wantin' to raise their taxes for punishment, are you?

Geeze, Rush... lighten up. I was mearly stating a fact.

You get alarmingly close to the real thing at times.