Midland, Texas : the "Boom" times

With the doom and gloom of the news media, and troubled times in various places across the nation, it becomes a common practice to people new to Texas (especially Midland/Odessa) to think all that applies to us. The truth of the matter is, things here have almost always been the exact opposite of the nation itself. If you are new to Midland, or have plans to coming this way, I thought it might be a good idea to give a brief and general discription of things as they are now. This will be very general, there are always exceptions to the rule. But for the most part, you will find these things to be true. 1) Many jobs available, Low unemployment. With the price of oil hovering just under $90/barrel, oil companies are drilling as fast as they can. But it is not only because of the price. "Frac-ing," a new technique for extracting oil from shale rock, is a fairly recent technology that has enabled us to go back into areas previously thought "drained," and actually extract a lot more oil. With the advent of fracing, fracturing the shale, entire vast pools of oil are now accessable. So much, in fact, that it almost eliminates the need for foriegn oil itself. The downside is it requires quite a bit of water to do. But that's another story. 2) Growth and Opportunity. With the influx of people, all industries are growing here. Retail, Resturants & Fast Food, construction, support vendors such as electricians, hvac, carpenters, truck drivers, etc. Also, the oil industry is coming into the 21st centruy! I have a friend who quit IBM to go to work for an oil company for a very specific, very computer-knowlege-needed job. Not just anybody can do such a thing, but Geeks can! All this equals population growth, which means growth in all industries across the board. To compound all this, the Permian Basin has been chosen as the first area to create a "Clean Coal Plant." Skeptics have painted this idea as pure science fiction. Well, that bit of science fiction is literally breaking ground in the next 3-4 months! Summit Energy, a coal company based in Colorado, are moving forward with their plans to build such a plant just west of Odessa. Talk about Growth and Opportunity, this will create apx. 2,000 construction jobs and 100 to 300 permenant jobs at the plant for the long haul! One of the by-products of this plant will be liquid CO2. This can be used by the oil industry to inject into the ground in order to force oil up! That's a new technology that can change the world. 3) Housing Shortage! Yes, it is sad but true. With all the good the economy is experiencing locally, it also means we have filled up quickly and are staying that way. Hotels/Motels, rental houses, apartments, mobile home parks, all of it and more are pretty well maxed out. Houses for sale is also hovering around a 3 month inventory, for a city our size: roughly 300 - 400 properties in the MLS at any one time. This means prices are high, supply is low, and with the housing market like it is around the nation, lenders are more dificult to work with to get home loans at all! It's making for interesting times. Some investors are doing to do very well right now. Others could, if they buy smart. What we need to be on the lookout for is the investor who does not know what they are doing. If they buy property to turn into rentals, and do not know what they are doing, they run the risk of being caught unawares down the road should the oil industry ever drop. Law of Averages says it will someday... 5 years? 10? 30? Whenever it goes, if you have not planned for this contengency... you will surely pay the price. 4) TIME. More people means more traffic, lines at the stores, resturants, more calls on things, more people from various areas not familiar with our customs (poor driving skills and road rage. ;) any number or combination of these factors will slow your commute across town from 15 minutes to... OH NO... 20 to 30 minutes! YIKES! Seriously, Midland is a great town. Why people drive crazy and in such a hurry is beyond me. Slow Down! Take Your Time! The world isn't going to end if you get home at 6pm instead of 5:45pm or whatever. Now, the one time factor that is most dreadful is the movies! We only have one movie theater, so if you are going there, count on a wait. Anyone wanting to invest in a new company for Midland? We need to break the strangle-hold Hollywood Theaters has on us. ...I'm just sayin. ;)

www.AttackWatch.com - Turn Yourself In

Today, well I assume it was today, I found it today...
Today, the website www.AttackWatch.com launched into Internet history books.

By the title, you would think this is a terrorist watch group, or perhaps a whistle-blower site of somekind. Well, you'd be half-right there.

You see, the Obama campaign for re-election is in full swing. President Obama is going to run for re-election in 2012. He wants to be President for four more years, just in case you were wondering.

But it seems the nasty "media" and Tea Party "terrorists" are spreading vicious "lies" and terrible rumors about poor, defenseless, President of the United States: Barrack Hussain Obama! THE NERVE! How dare ANYONE spread vicious lies about such an upstanding, salt of the earth, wholesome person as Barry???

People are going to spread rumors such as,"he's a narcisistic hypocrite." Oh wait, I said that. Or people might say he has done nothing to help this ecoonomy, and only hurt it. Err... wait. I said that, too. Or perhaps you think his Obama-care plan is designed to get employers to drop their employees and send everyone to Medicare for insurance! Wait... that's happening to. Well, unless you asked for and got exempted from the program like GE, McDonalds, Wal-Mart, just to name a few. Even though his health care reform is so WONDERFUL... even though you are asked to pay into it now, but it won't pick you up for 3 or more years down the road. Not to mention the fact, FACT, that it is unconstitutional. But that's just a minor detail.

So, if you are a sorry "sons of bitches" like me, then I encourage you to do what I did:

Turn Yourself In.

Yes, folks. As of 2:00pm CST, I had turned in this blog, this author (me), and a rather nasty photo someone had e-mailed me (the jockstrap with Obama's logo on it, and below in quotes "Obama Supporters: Their Nuts!") Yup... turned it all in.

I must confess and come out of the closet: I just don't like the man. I'm sure he's okay to have a beer with, shoot some hoops, maybe organize a community or something. But as for being President? I'd sooner vote for Hillary than this guy. PLEASE let me vote for Hillary over him.

When you, as President, refer to yourself more than 6 times... talking about shooting and killing Osama Bin Laden... and you, the President, were not there when the deed is done? Ya got issues, bub. Take credit for saying "Go." Otherwise, give credit to the Special Forces and move on! SHEESH!

So... there it is. I expect all good, God-fearing, America-loving, Right-wing son of a bitch conservitive (daughters of bitches is okay to, I'm not excluding here, just quoting.) to TURN YOURSELVES IN!!

You're President has called on you.
Do the right thing.

This message brought to you by: that smart-ass in Midland.
My name is John and I approve of this bit of humor... laced with a lot of seriously pissed-off-ness.

Dear Mr. President:

An open letter to the President of the United States, Barack Obama.

Dear Mr. President:

I contacted your office this morning via an e-mail, but wanted to share my thoughts out-loud as well.

Prior to your election, Pres. Bush asked for and passed the TARP bill, which was intended to give you funds to help an dwindling economy and avert a depression. Hundreds of billions of dollars were set aside for his and your use. Despite these funds, because the majority of it was not used, the economy sank and has stumbled since. And now that we approach re-election time, you are coming back to America asking for more money for "shovel ready" jobs, to repair roads and bridges, to put people back to work on an immediate basis.

The timing could not be more obvious.

You ask for calm and workable retoric, yet your Vice-President calls our protest of your policies "acts of terrorism." Since when is the 1st Amendment being exercised... an act of terror? Mr. Hoffa calls the Tea Party members and republicans "sons of bitches," and yet is the Tea Party and republicans that need to tone down the retoric??

Bush is to blame. The hurricane is the blame. Wall Street is to blame. Fat cat lobbiests are to blame. "Rich" people making $250,000 a year and flying "corperate jets" are to blame. Tea Party terrorism is to blame. It seems everyone in the whole, entire world is to blame for something.

At what point do you accept ANY responsibility for ANYTHING?

Big Corperations, Big Oil, Big Money is all bad... unless they are feeding your campaign. How many auto dealerships were put out of business immediately following your election? And every one of them donated to the republican.

You play Chicago politics: the other guy brings a knife, you bring a gun.
How long are you going to keep playing this game, driving our country into the ground, before you finally see the light that you are driving ALL OF US into the ground? You're people (democrats, liberals, left-wingers, etc.) are all sinking with this ship along with the rest of "Us."

Get over the politics.
Get over the "Us vs. Them" mentality.
Get over yourself!
For the love of all things you hold dear, wake the hell up and try LISTENING for once. No matter how many ideas are presented to you, you shot them all down and bring no ideas of your own.

A Leader leads by example.
So far... I can think of nothing you have done that has the makings of any example of leadership. Could you name one for me please?

Just one.

Washington D.C. being judged???

Now, I'm no "bible thumper." I have never been one to read into superstition or give any credit to "signs" and the alleged supernatural events percieved around the world.

That being said... I do have to take pause lately.

An earthquake just outside Washington D.C. strikes, causing cracks in monuments that are hundreds of years old. Now a hurricane... a freaking HURRICANE is headed straight up the east coast, due to hit just south of D.C. What's coming next? Tornados? Alien invasion? The Second coming?

Like I said, seriously, I'm not over-reacting. Life is going on. Planning on buying a house soon. Making every effort to be here and in good standing for the next 40+ years. But every now and then... I see things going on, like what is happening on the east coast. And it makes me wonder, "Is God trying to tell us something?"

Take it for what you will. It's worth exactlly what you paid for it. ;)

Have a good one!

EntreLeadership : Dave Ramsey's latest book

For those of you Dave Ramsey fans out there, I wanted to give ole' Dave a plug on his new book: EntreLeadership.

For a few years now, he's been hosting a conference for business owners, or those thinking of starting up a business, to teach the things any business owner should know... beyond the Financial Peace he already teaches through books, seminars and on the radio.

Personally, I'm a huge fan of "business." I have a passion for hearing stories of starting with nothing, working up to "something" and points beyond. I'm hoping to join that club some day!

If you are one of those people, like me, who is not yet "debt free" then I would invite you to pick up and read the book: Total Money Make-over.

If you ARE one who is debt free, then grab Dave's latest. It's sure to be another page-turner. TMM really was a page turner for me. I read it in two days, couldn't put it down. Can't imagine his next book being any less.

Good stuff!

Midland is growing, however...

In Midland news: the City Council just passed zoning ordinances for Hwy 191 between Midland and Odessa. The thought is there to make as much of it "retail" as they can, so it doesn't end up a giant warehouse-looking district like Bus. 20 south of the airport.

Problem: 191 isn't ready to go retail.

There are no sewer or water utilities, no electric or gas, no nothing... really. It's raw land!! There are some buildings there now, couple churches, some homes scattered here and there. And of course, the new Fine Arts facility for UTPB is going up and looking good!

But tell me this, how would a retailer like Stripes, Gander Moutain, Marshalls, or anyone else build out there, when there is no water, elec., or sewer to tie into? A few landowners have voiced their opinion that the city is "putting the cart before the horse." And they are correct. The Mayor would like us all to believe that the council is "listening" to the public and citizens of Midland. Well, it is one thing to LISTEN. It is another thing to HEAR... and HEED.

The council did what they wanted when Midland Christian School expanded. They did what they wanted with the hospital expansion. They did what they wanted when Blue Ridge Apts. built COUNTER to passed P & Z plans. And yet all of this moved forward and left forgotten.

Same thing here with 191. People are allowed their say, voice their opinion, tell us your concerns... then we'll get involved, call public meetings, run around a few more months and then go ahead and do whatever the hell we want to anyway.

Diplomacy in action.

Now, granted, not everyone on the council is to blame. But the guilty parties know who they are. And you can NOT tell me I'm wrong in this. You can argue this and that, but the bottom-line is: this is all TRUE.

Still doubt me? Drive down Interstate 20 from Rankin Hwy heading east. See all the buildings? No? That's because this has all happened before. Utilites were planned for this area of the Interstate years ago. It never happend. There are no utilites... and the land is worthless to anyone that cannot afford the hundreds of thousands it would take to bring them in.

THIS... is the future of 191: nada.

Sorry... this really turned into a RANT! I'll try to be a little more positive next time around. Just had to get this off my chest.

THEY ARE ALL WRONG !!!

I really encourage everyone, liberal, conservative, republican, democrat, socialist, none of the above.... if you call yourself an American, then PLEASE, for the love of everything you hold dear: Educate Yourself.

Right now in Washington D.C., we have a bunch of crooks fighting over one idea or another, or another... all of wlhich are doomed to fail. The United States of America is freaking BANKRUPT!

Yes. Right now. We are bankrupt.

Do you really think we can go on spending TRILLIONS of dollars without making SOME attempt to a) cut spending b) pay back the debt c) knock off giving money to people that produce nothing, and expect this behavior to go on forever? Really? REALLY?

Trillion = $ 1,000,000,000,000.00 Count 'em. That's 12 freakin' zeros. And you can add another one in there because we're actually in debt into the Teens.

If any one of us... say you make $100,000 a year. But you spent... SPENT $200,000 every year... if any one of us tried this, we'd be laughed out of the bank. We'd be considered insane because we were acting in a manner that was harmful to ourselves or others. But if CONGRESS does it, it's called "balancing the budget."

Must be nice to own the printing press that MAKES the money, huh?

STOP DEFENDING OBAMA! STOP DEFENDING REPBULICANS! DEMOCRATS! THE WHOLE DAMN BUNCH IS WRONG!!! You reading this, Conaway? That includes you. I haven't seen your name in the news coming out condemning what is going on. I haven't seen you in the news standing next to anyone saying anything! Guilt by Omission is Guilt all the same.

If I were named President tomorrow, I'd declare martial law, arrest everyone in Congress, call up all the governors and tell them to appoint and send me all new people. The first amendment we'd get passed is a Balanced Budget Amendment, followed by a balanced budget. Next up: TERM LIMITS! We've got one for the President, time Congress got it to. Next up: Congress shall pass no law that exempts the members of Congress! By God, if they want to do something to us, guess what? They're in the boat with us too.

I'm pissed! I'm seriously, unashamedly PISSED OFF. Remember Eddie? "I'm Mad To, Eddie!" Well, we're there again. And if you are NOT... then by God, take the time to learn about how this government is trying to RUIN YOUR LIFE!!! And the life of your CHILDREN! GRANDCHILDREN! GREAT GRANDCHILDREN! That's what Trillions means. It means Generational Indebtedness. And both sides saying they've got the solution and the other guy won't listen... is wrong.

NEITHER has a solution. BOTH sides are wrong. Rand Paul has the BEST idea out there, but I'm not sure how much we can trust him because he through his lot in with the rest of 'em when he won office.

But stop taking one side over the other. Tell them all to STFU and CUT SPENDING!
This nation is a laughing stock. There is no leadership. They're all a bunch of babies and I'm ready to send the whole damn bunch home.

Who's with me?