28 Jul 2002 #0230.html

Brett Allen's Farewell

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Dear Paul and Kate, Melanie and Jared, Bridget and Justin, Sara, Ben and Sarah, Heather, Audrey, Rachel, and Matt via hardcopy,

cc: file, Tony Hafen, Pauline Nelson via mail, Sara and Des Penny, and Maxine Shirts

Welcome to "Thoughtlets." This is a weekly review of an idea, belief, thought, or words that will hopefully be of some benefit to you, my children, with an electronic copy to on-line extended family members. Any of you can ask me not to clutter your mail box at any time.

"Busy week. Good week. Hope each of you had something close to as nice of a week as I did. Saturday evening at Brett Allen's farewell at George Schultz' house, Andrea and I were talking to Jeff Jurinak, and I described one of the guys I worked with at Nelson Meat Packing Plant (../9721.html). Gerald Black was about 6'2" and a big man. I've already written about his vocabulary (../0028), or should I say lack there of. I don't recall where or how I saw him after the meat packing plant was shut down in 1969. However, I recall that after I received my mission call, he suprised me by telling me he had served a mission, and that his mission home was 60/64 Princes Gate, i.e. he served in the same mission I was going to serve in. I recall my shock in learning he had served a mission. I also recall his reaction to my shock. He said, `Roice, a mission is like an innoculation, sometimes they work, and sometimes they don't. I also recall realizing this is what must have happened to coach Jack Sawyer, owner of the movie theater and never one of my heros after he kicked me off of the Cedar City High School football team because I missed practices to make my annual income at the Cedar City Livestock Show. Andrea's reaction was, `So that was your preparation for your mission?'

Last Sunday I taught the Deacon's quorum for the second time, while Glen Jones was on vacation. The lesson was on tithing, a topic I can talk about with passion. Sara stopped by for lunch and to show us the new car the William's gave her. At Andrea's suggestion she is considering naming it `The Phantom.' There were several things I learned in my Sunday phone calls which the rest of you might be interested in. Ben and Sarah went to Boston this week for a CERA meeting. CERA stands for Cambridge Energy Research Associates, and Ben is representing TXU on one of CERA's long range studies. CERA is where Daniel Yergin works, who wrote `The Prize' (../9716.html, ../9916.html, and 0136.html) and `Commanding Heights.' I recommended Ben and Sarah go over to Walden Pond and Concord, which are just outside of Boston. Paul's summer job has taken a turn. Now he has to ride 4-Wheeler's in the Utah mountains, instead of just drive trucks with GPS units in them. I asked if I could get a real job working for the Forest Service. He said `Probably.' Melanie is quite serious about the business she wants to start. She wants to record baby sounds on chips and sell them to folks to put in scrapbooks. If she gets a prototype together by October she is going to show it at a convention in Las Vegas. Maybe Heather, Audrey, Rachel, and Bridget can all get together with her if she comes up to Utah then. Roice is also becoming an entrepreneur. He has written a solar system program and wants to put it on the web as freeware (hopefully people send money if they like the software).

Monday morning I was going for my run and Linda Burgerner passed me about like I pass someone who is walking. She said, `Isn't this fun?' I replied, `It would be if I could keep up.' Seems like I have spent my whole trying to keep up with the Burgerners. For some people it is the Jones. I spent the day working on the Emerald Energy Resources Limited web pages I am putting together for Nigeria. As mentioned last week (0229.html), it has come together pretty well. It is all behind password, and so if you have any interest in this stuff you will have to call me and convince me I can trust you with the password. Tuesday was more of the same. Although about 1:00 Bob Horner and company finished getting some data loaded, and so I went down to II&T until it was time for an interview. Joe Roberts had set up an interview with Rodi Drexion (sp?), the president of ADS. Rodi wants me to sell his PC clusters and 3-D migration software to my contacts in the industry. I don't consider myself a salesman, and I went to the interview anyway. Last time I talked to Rodi was when we asked him to invest in Dynamic (../0105.html). This was quite different. He showed me around. He just sold ADS to Core Labs, and Joe says he pocketed about $20 million. I remember when Rode was working for Teledyne and a Yugoslavian immigrant, maybe about 20 years ago. Their computers are very impressive. They have direct application to the Infinite Grid(SM) and some of the stuff I have been working on. I didn't tell him details, because I wouldn't trust him with my passwords. He made some comments about not having to work anymore. I got him to talk about what he wants to do now. He was very open. He said, `I don't have to worry about spending the money. I have an American wife. You know. You've had a couple of them. The other day I wanted $10,000. for something, and she said to me, I don't think we can afford it. She has spent everything already in her mind and has it all planned out.' I smiled and went on with the interview. His COO was very interested in my ideas about the potential use of the PC clusters in medical and GIS markets. We'll see where it goes.

I left their offices at San Felipe and Voss and met Andrea at the temple for our ward temple night. Andrea rode out to the temple with Kathleen Keller. In the dressing room I saw Ron Burgner. A couple of weeks ago he had confided he lost his job. I asked how he was doing. He said, `I'm happy.' I said `What about work?' He said, `I have a job. It is in Austin.' I said, `I didn't realize you and Linda missed Tyler that much.' He laughed. After the session Gary Jones mentioned he wanted to talk about some parts of the Endowment he has trouble with. So we talked right then. A brother from Corwin Slack's ward overherd us and joined the conversation. It was a neat experience. Maybe sometime when hopefully each of you go to the temple with me, we can have a similar conversation about sacred things. As Andrea and I drove home, and talked about our day, I was still absorbing the news that my personal benchmark in what a good Mormon family is, Ron and Linda Burgerner, were moving to Austin as soon as they can sell their house. Maybe, even though I paid to have all of those paintings made which incorporated 1307 Emerald Green, I will sell this house and move away someday.

Wednesday morning I went over to Dick Coons and cut a CD of all of the data I have put on the web for Jude. Dick had his co-worker from Meridian, James Edwards, there. James said he is pretty sure they have over 200 BCFE (billion cubic feet of gas equivalent) in the prospects they have been pursuing. Recall Dick gets a fee and an override on everything they bid on and win, and we get 10% of what Dick gets. So if next month Meridian buys 5 blocks, and earns $250,000, we get $25,000. And at $2/MCF (MCF=1,000 cubic feet of gas), 200 BCFE is worth $400 million. Dick's 3.5% is worth $14 million, and my 10% of this is worth $1.4 million, paid out over 10 years. We will see. Jude and his team were suitably impressed with the work I have done, and Jude gave me my first check from VRMT for the work I have been doing on the Ogedeh 3-D seismic survey. I went from Jude's shop to II&T and worked on the seismic interpretation until it was time to go to the Ward Party. The July 24th picnic was a real success. I counted 80 folks, and others said there were over 100 in attendance. There were 120 hamburgers and 60 hot dogs cooked. I made 4 dutch oven cobblers. It seemed like everyone had a good time. Matt seemed to enjoy it. Rachel even joined us on the cell phone, concerned about money for college, and after some comforting words was able to talk to several of her friends. We got home at about 9:00, and I worked until about 11:00 on Nigerian stuff.

Thursday was more of the same. At 9:30 I had an hour and a half teleconference with the folks at Texas A&M. It turns out Arnie Vedletz is one of 11 Texas administrators on the task force to get a $200 million grant to become the nation's university center for homeland security. The team he had assembled for the teleconference was blown away with what I had to show them and the answers to the questions they asked. Arnie said he is going to his boss, the Vice-President of Research, and is going to have me come up and give some presentations to them. I remain optimistic the Infinite Grid(SM) will become the GIS system for Homeland Security, and all other aspects of mapping for the next few decades. Time will tell. Sort of like an e-mail from Haden Hudson on Thursday, with two stories I believe are worth sharing:

`Subject: O'Hare History The older I get, the more interesting I find history to be. Read the following two stories together, and if you're like me, you'll learn something you didn't know. I thought they were very interesting. ---N World War II produced many heroes. One such man was Lt. Commander Butch O’'Hare. He was a fighter pilot assigned to an aircraft carrier, Lexington, in the South Pacific. One day his entire squadron was sent on a mission. After he was airborne, he looked at his fuel gauge and realized that someone had forgotten to top off his fuel tank. He would not have enough fuel to complete his mission and get back to his ship. His flight leader told him to return to the carrier. Reluctantly, he dropped out of formation and headed back to the fleet. As he was returning to the mothership, he saw something that turned his blood cold. A squadron of Japanese bombers was speeding their way toward the American fleet. The American fighters were gone on a sortie and the fleet was all but defenseless. He could not reach his squadron and bring them back in time to save the fleet. Nor, could he warn the fleet of the approaching danger. There was only one thing he could do. He must somehow divert them from the fleet. Laying aside all thoughts of personal safety, he dived into the formation of Japanese planes. Wing-mounted 50 caliber’s blazed as he charged in, attacking one surprised enemy plane and then another. Butch, weaving in and out of the now broken formation, fired at as many planes as possible until finally all his ammunition was spent. Undaunted, he continued the assault. He dove at the planes, trying to at least clip off a wing or tail, in hopes of damaging as many enemy planes as possible and rendering them unfit to fly. He was desperate to do anything he could to keep them from reaching the American ships. Finally, the exasperated Japanese squadron took off to another direction. Deeply relieved, Butch O’Hare and his t attered fighter limped back to the carrier. Upon arrival he reported in and related the event surrounding his return. The film from the cameras mounted on his plane told the tale. It showed the extent of Butch’s daring a attempt to protect his fleet. He had destroyed five enemy bombers. That was on February 20, 1942, and for that action he became the Navy’'s first Ace of WWII and the first Naval Aviator to win the Congressional Medal of Honor. A year later he was killed in aerial combat at the age of 29. His home town would not allow the memory of that heroic action die, and today, O’'Hare Airport in Chicago is named in tribute to the courage of this great man. so the next time you are in O’Hare, visit his memorial with h is statue and Medal of Honor. It is located between Terminal 1 and Terminal 2. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Story Number Two Some years earlier there was a man in Chicago called Easy Eddie. At that time, Al Capone virtually owned the city. Capone wasn’'t famous for anythingg heroic. His exploits were anything but praise worthy. He was, however, notorious for enmeshing the city of Chicago in everything from bootlegged booze and prostitution to murder. Easy Eddie was Capone’'s lawyer and for a good reason. He was very good! In fact, his skill at legal maneuvering kept Big Al out of jail for a long time. To show his appreciation, Capone paid him very well. Not only was the money big; Eddie got special dividends. For instance, he and his family occupied a fenced-in mansion with live-in help and all of the conveniences of the day. The estate was so large that it filled an entire Chicago city block. Yes, Easy Eddie lived the high life of the Chicago mob and gave little consideration to the atrocity that went on around him. Eddie did have one soft spot, however. He had a son that he loved dearly. Eddie saw to it that his son had the best of everything; clothes, cars, and a good education. Nothing was withheld. Price was no object. And despite his involvement with organized crime, Eddie even tried to teach him right from wrong. Yes, Eddie tried to teach his son to rise above his own sordid life. He wanted him to be a better man than he was. Yet, with all his wealth and influence there were two things that Eddie couldn’'t give his son. Two things that Eddie sacrificed to the Capone mob that he could not pass on to his beloved son: a good name and a good example. One day, Easy Eddie reached a difficult decision. Offering his son a good name was far more important than all the riches he could lavish on him. He had to rectify all the wrong that he had done. He would go to the authorities and tell them the truth about Scar-face Al Capone. He would try to clean up his tarnished name and offer his son some semblance of integrity. To do this he must testify against The Mob, and he knew that the cost would be great. But more than anything, he wanted to be a good example to his son. He wanted to do his best to make restoration and hopefully have a good name to leave his son. So, he testified. Within the year, Easy Eddie’'s life ended in a blaze of gunfire on a lonely Chicago street. He had given his son the greatest gift he had to offer at the greatest price he would ever pay. What do these two stories have to do with one another? Well you see, Butch O’'Hare was Easy Eddie’''s son. Source: Charles P. Owen and Judy Godwin'


Time always has a way of bringing out the best, or the worst, in each of us. Some of us never get past trauma's in our youth, like high school, and hopefully most of us are able to put the negative events of the past behind us and get on with our own lives. I look forward to when each of you kids, and those who don't read these words right now, put the negative past behind you, and remembering your heritage march off into the future. After the teleconference on Thursday morning, I went to VRMT (Vison Reservoir Management Tecnology: Jude's company), for a follow-up meeting with Johnny Kopecky of MKS concerning funding of Emerald's OPL-229. Good meeting. I learned how all of the Nigerian scams have impacted Jude and his business efforts. The more I learn the more impressed I am with Dr. Jude O. Amaefule. From there I went to II&T and worked until 7:00 when Tony Traweek came in and needed the OpenWork's license to do data loading.

Friday morning I was at II&T at 7:30. Left at 11:30 for a lunch with two Phillips and a Total-Elf geoscientists. Interesting lunch. I'm sure there will be follow-up conversations. From here I went up the tollroad to 290, and out to Telge Road and VRMT's office. Jude, Emmanuel O. Udegbunam, Ph.D., and Vince O. Eleri, Ph.D., were all suitably impressed with the results to date. I was back at II&T by 5:00 and worked until about 9:00 when Tony needed the license again.

Saturday morning I was back at II&T at 8:00, and worked until about 3:30 Sunday morning. Good results. Interesting work. Andrea fixed a nice lunch for me. Matt let me take the fan in his room. It gets very hot when they turn the air conditioner off at 2:00 in the afternoon. At 7:00 in the evening I took a two hour break to come home and go to Brett Allen's farewell at George Schultz's house. Brett's parents are good Methodists, and a few years ago when he would come to early morning seminary they got very upset with him. As my Sister Sara said when Bridget got married in the Salt Lake Temple, there are worse ways of rebelling than this. And although Brett's parents are still upset, he said they are much more accepting of his choices and what he is doing than they were in those days.

Sacrament meeting was excellent. It was Brett Allen's Farewell. Laurie Schultz bore a very strong testimony about the impact Brett Allen's conversion had had on her. How she does not just take the church for granted like she used to. She mentioned how if you believe in the church you have to put some science aside, and when I questioned her about this after Gospel Doctrine, I realized there needs to be a reasonable response to evolution and geologic age written for kids in the church. I'll add this to my project list. Maybe this type of effort could be of benefit for Roice, and others who intellectulize themselves out of the church. Brother Schultz talked about trying to talk about the gospel with his brother Phil Schultz, a famous geophysicist whom I have known for years. I told George we need to have a bar-b-que at our house for him and Becky, and for Phillip and his wife. And then there was Brett's talk. He is excited about going to Chile. He sounded like he had been a member of the church his whole life. What a fine young man. His parents, who are excellent scouters, obviously raised a first class eagle scout. I could not help but think of the Scout Oath:

`On my honor I will do my best To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law; To help other peole at all times; To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight.'


And so despite a very busy week, the events were overshadowed by Brett Allen's Farewell."

I'm interested in sharing weekly a "thoughtlet" (little statements of big thoughts which mean a lot to me) with you because I know how important the written word can be. I am concerned about how easy it is to drift and forget our roots and our potential among all of distractions of daily life. To download any of these thoughtlets go to http://www.walden3d.com/thoughtlets or e-mail me at rnelson@walden3d.com.

With all my love,
Dad
(H. Roice Nelson, Jr.)

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Copyright © 2002 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.