Leaving a Footprint

[cowman]

when I look around the oil patch and see all the self made millionaires that don't even have a high school education it proves that its there for the taking if a person has the desire to get out and make it work.

As far as debt goes, I think that farmers are likely in that category as well, and a lot of farm debt is for shiny new machinery when the old stuff could have been fixed and made do.....my point is that folks who make their living in the resource industry don't have a monopoly on debt.

[cakadu]

Emrald, I don't dispute that everyone can become prone to getting more than they need because there is such "easy" credit out there. It's easy to get - not so easy to pay back. It is a proven fact - generally - when you make more, you spend more.

I look at the number of people I know that have all the latest and greatest and are probably carrying so much debt load that if one of them, god forbid, got sick or lost their job (which in this day and age is fairly easy) then they are in a real bind. How many of them have saved enough money to live for 3 months - "just in case?"

Not all people are like that and many do have those thrifty values. There are likely just as many if not more who have had things given to them all their lives, don't understand the value of a dollar or a good day's work and still expect to have all of that and more. Kids live what they learn and if mom and dad were out there earning so that they could give the kids everything, then the kids will more than likely live that way as well.

We all likely have our own idea of what we feel is a comfortable amount to live on and I have no doubt that it covers the whole spectrum.

I don't think that today's kids can get away without having some sort of education behind them, whether it be a formal university degree or a trade, as you suggest, cowman. In fact, I have encouraged my nieces and nephews to get trades because they will end up earning a lot more money in the long run and the way development is going, there will always be a call for some trades like plumbing, electric etc.

Bottom line is that the oil patch always cycles - will people be ready for the net time that oil drops to $20 a barrel? And you're right emrald, many producers also make decisions based on when prices are really good, ignoring the fact that they will drop again.

Whatever happened to the days when you didn't get something unless you had the actual cash folding money in hand to go and get it?

[cakadu]

Most folks in the oilpatch learned their lesson in the 80's and are investing well, so they don't fall on their face if things go to heck again.

[cakadu]

That's true that the 18 to 25 year olds of the 80's are now 40 to 45 years old and one would hope that they've learned their lessons.

Today's 18 to 25 year olds don't have that experience and unless they have the history and the wisdom given to them, they could be doomed to make the same mistakes. They are perfectly well within their rights to make their own mistakes and some won't listen any way because when you're that age you know most if not all of it anyway. What they do have is being young, making lots of money and having more consumer goods to buy than at any other point in history.

[cowman]

Well Linda, I try to never be hard on the young people...after all they are the ones who are going to take care of us when we are old worthless crocks!
I agree that some of them can be "reckless", but consider this...did someone ever consider you reckless?
Now I will admit...I was damned reckless! And the really amazing thing was my son is absolutley not reckless! This old genetic thing is weird to say the least!
Now his mother was real meticulous and it just about drove me crazy! Now in the end it didn't work at all for us, but I do believe it produced some pretty decent children!
At times he exasperates me to no end...and I'm sure the feeling is mutual! I will admit I could probably drive a saint to drink.
And yet we seem to be able to plow along and understand each other, and we do share a common vision of how it should be! So without a doubt I have obtained my goal of having my child involved in my business and in my life. Does it ever get any better than that?

[cowman]

cowman, I am sure that you instilled some pretty common sense values in your son, likely he is a lot like you only you don't realize it !!!
Being reckless in ones youth isn't necessarily a bad thing( not speaking from experience of course !) as long as no-one gets hurt and the recklessness doesn't include a lack of respect for people or property that belongs to others !!! I like to refer to it as grabbing lifes opportunities by the horns vs being reckless !!!

My eldest son would have driven a preacher to cuss many times over during his younger years, but he turned out okay. Got married very young and lived through tough times and good times, still has his reckless streak at times, but is a dedicated dad and grandpa, and as reliable as they come in his chosen field. When he and I take strolls down memory lane we both are amazed that he survived some of his antics !!!!
His brother on the other hand was and still is a solid, no nonsense fellow and the thought of being reckless never crossed his mind.

[cowman]

Emerald: Aren't kids weird? My daughter caused me all kinds of problems...sort of a chip off the old block sort of thing!...but way worse!
However in the end she got her act together and gave me two really cool grandchildren, as well as becoming a nurse! Many times I despaired over her.
Not a good feeling?
I am very proud of her! She pulled herself out of a really cruddy life and became a decent human being!
People need to find their own way. I don't know why some feel the need to do all this destructive stuff to find their way? But it is their way and they need to follow it? We can only be supporters and hope it all turns out okay?

[cowman]

In the end most kids return to the values and upbringing they had. I think that the most difficult thing a parent can do is sit back and watch their kids screw up their lives, the damn kids don't realize how much we care until they have kids of their own !!!
My son lost his daughter four years ago to cancer at the young age of 20. He used to butt heads with her on a daily basis because they were so much alike. For a long time after we lost her, he beat himself up for being tough on her....said he saw his own shortcomings staring him in the face.
I told him over and over that she always knew how much he cared for her, and knew she was driving him nuts at times, but she was a chip off the old block so what could he expect ???
Your daughter is likely a wonderful mother and a very compassionate nurse....

[cakadu]

Many of my friends tell me that kids show you what you need to work on in yourself. The issues that drive you crazy with them are probably the same ones that you have, to one degree or another.

I don't imagine that as parents you ever stop worrying about your children, no matter how old they get.

As for myself, it could probably be said that I put more than one grey hair on my poor mother's head. The one thing that I miss is being able to go over all that stuff with her now as she passed away almost 23 years ago. I believe she would be proud about how the "wild child" who would never conform and never stop asking those damnable preterbing questions has turned out. In her own wisdom and motherly ways, she decided to let me have the rope that I needed, all the while probably secretly praying (and saying a million hail marys) that I didn't hang myself too badly with it.

Good values can't be beat and if you're started with them, you eventually come back - no matter what bumps, detours and rumble strips happen to be along the way.

[cakadu]

Linda,I am sure that the more mature we become the more we appreciate the things our parents told us and the examples they set for us.
I am amazed at the interest my eldest son has in politics, history etc., those were things that both my parents paid close attention to, and passed on that interest to me....

[cakadu]

On another note that does reference the title for this topic, the EUB in their wisdom has just reclassified 61 wells in our community as being critical sour wells.
This means that for years these producing wells were treated as sweet gas wells when in fact they were sour wells, and none of the precautions that are taken with sour wells were in place. These wells are located in the settled areas of our county.