29 June 2003 #0326.html

Fandangle

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

cc: file, Andrea, Tony Hafen, Sara and Des Penny, & 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.

"Monday morning the 23rd of June started with a meeting at 8:00 AM at II&T. Jude Amaefule was giving a presentation to Tom Bugg, the Chairman and owner of Beau Energy, Andrew Gittins, the Director and geophysicist, and Barrie Jose, a geophysicist for Sproule. Beau Energy is a new company formed after Marathon purchased Beau Valley and made Tom Bugg wealthy. I knew Beau Valley back in the Landmark days (it is named after the Beau River which goes through the middle of Calgary). Barrie Jose is an outstanding geophysicist whom I have spent time talking to on several different occassions. He was an early Landmark user, and a few years ago went to work for Sproule, which is the largest Canadian company doing engineering studies to confirm the size of oil and gas fields for banks. He now uses Paradigm's interpretation software. They liked the presentation, and I think Jude was pleased with how it went. We spent most of Monday and some of Tuesday working on this, and then Les spent a couple of days copying and e-mailing files to Calgary for Jose.

There was a call from Christopher Prince, whom I met at the AAPG in Salt Lake, and who is a Core Specialist. It is interesting how often I seem to come back to cores these days. Who knows, maybe I will end up running a core library for SUU in Cedar City some day.

Francis Cox from Brisbane sent a nice e-mail concerning the Infinite Grid(SM), which I think is worth sharing:

'Hi Roice, We haven't communicated for a while, so I though I'd drop you a note. I hope you and your family are well. There is a new Cooperative Research Centre just cranking up here that has a vision not unlike IG. http://spatialinfocrc.org/programs.html I would love to talk to them since they have identified not just the public need, but most of the steps to satisfy the need. Just the same, I think that what they will do will not satisfy the need and will rather create more GIS 'noise' out there. Trouble is, how can I talk to a group aware of the issues and dynamics without giving the game away? If you ever come to the conclusion that you and I will never make money out of this and that the bottom line for you is having access to the technology for your business, then I would have nothing to lose by talking to them. They already see the need for searchable systems, government commitment, legacy data moved into compatability and tools to uniformly access it. They just miss the concept of driving it from the mass user upwards rather than the specialist down and using the native enviroment of the net and XML to make it happen very easily and quickly. Anything happening your end? best regards, Francis Cox'


(The link he references is: http://spatialinfocrc.org/programs.html.) I responded with:

'Francis, I appreciate your honor in protecting my Infinite Grid(SM) IP. I use it so much now (for example, from the last month's work, as seen at www.walden3d.com/phoenix/ig, etc.), I'm not sure how much I can protect it anymore. Therefore, your request makes sense to me. Maybe the best thing you can do for me (and you) is get a written agreement from the Cooperative Research Center specifying: (1) Anytime they use my approach they will label it as "Infinite Grid(SM)" Technology (where SM is superscript and if they choose to TradeMark it, becomes a TradeMark Walden 3-D and Walden 3-D incubated companies can use), and thus this will become the name for the technology; (2) Anytime they reference the origins of the technology they will provide a link to http://www.walden3d.com; (3) If they apply for patents on the technology, you and I will be listed as co-inventors; (4) Any software or IG databases they develop using my approach they will provide you and me a copy of at no cost, with upgrades, at no cost for our use, for the use of Walden 3-D, Inc., and and for the use of Walden 3-D incubated companies as listed at http://www.walden3d.com; and (5) They can use us as consultants, at some preset rate [I would charge $150/hour here, $1,200/day (including travel-time) + economy plane tickets, hotel room, and food for 3 (my wife and one of our 10 children or a child and their spouse)]. Hope this makes sense, and hope you can tie together an agreement. Good Luck and Best Regards, Roice'


(The links I refererenced above are at www.walden3d.com/phoenix/ig and http://www.walden3d.com.) There has not been a response yet, and my experience is that someday in the future, there will be an e-mail, which appears to be somewhat out of the blue, saying something like:

'Roice, Would you be available to come to Brisbane in two weeks for a two week consulting opportunity with The Cooporative Research Centre. They have agreed to provide three plane tickets and to pay your fees.'


Of course, for every one of those that happens, there are ten that do not. And the point is, for you budding entrepreneurs out there, you seldom know for sure which seed is going to grow.

On Tuesday the 24th of June Robert Shirts sent Andrea a photo of Martha Stewart's jail cell. It looked very nice to me, I wouldn't mind having a room like this, and I didn't even get the fact it was a joke. Oh well!

Ben and Sarah sent their contact information and notes about their web pages, in case any of you need it and don't have it. I include it here, even though it was listed as temporary, but at least through Ethan's birthday, which happens to be the day I am finally getting around to writing this Thoughtlet:

`642 Rosecrans Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 310.796.5507' Cell phones are still the same for now and I'll let you know when they change. Ben Nelson Sr. Financial Analyst The Keith Companies Phone: 949.923.6928 Fax: 949.923.6187 Sara's Web page Hey everyone! When you get a moment, check out our website at www.bn-sn.com. I just put up pictures of the move and trips to the beach since we moved last week. I'm going to try and be good about putting some notes on what's going on with us under the journal part... Hope everyone is well and enjoying the summer. Best to all, Sarah'


(Sarah's website is at www.bn-sn.com.) I am very pleased to see this kind of effort to keep everyone informed and tied together. I think the Internet can be such a wonderful tool for keeping families close together. At the same time, I see and have experienced the total distructive force it can be in the lives of individuals and families. Like everything good in life, there can be a bad side. And when we get a lemmon, we can choose to make lemonade.

I received the following from Roger Anderson concerning The Leading Edge Article I mentioned (0323.html). I did get copies of the magazine for each of you, which I was going to give you at Christmas. However, since Sara Ellyn will not be here, I decided to pass them out now. I have given Rachel hers, and hope to distribute the rest of them over the next few weeks. Anyway, Roger wrote:

'roice, albert passed on the LE article...it is wonderful, and about time. best of luck.'


It is nice to have friends. Wish I was as good at passing on feelings with a few words. (I expect many who make the effort to struggle through reading all of the words I put in Thoughtlets feel the same way.)

There was a spam message I got a kick out of:

'Greetings, We need a vendor who can offer immediate supply. I'm offering $5,000 US dollars just for referring a vender which is (Actually RELIABLE in providing the below equipment) Contact details of vendor required, including name and phone #. If they turn out to be reliable in supplying the below equipment I'll immediately pay you $5,000. We prefer to work with vendor in the Boston/New York area. 1. The mind warper generation 4 Dimensional Warp Generator # 52 4350a series wrist watch with z60 or better memory adapter. If in stock the AMD Dimensional Warp Generator module containing the GRC79 induction motor, two I80200 warp stabilizers, 256GB of SRAM, and two Analog Devices isolinear modules, This unit also has a menu driven GUI accessible on the front panel XID display. All in 1 units would be great if reliable models are available. 2. The special 23200 or Acme 5X24 series time transducing capacitor with built in temporal displacement. Needed with complete jumper/auxiliary system. 3. A reliable crystal Ionizor with unlimited memory backup. If your vendor turns out to be reliable, I owe you $5,000. Email his details to me at: info@federalfundingprogram.com Please do not reply directly back to this email as it will only be bounced back to you.'


It was cute the first time, and then I got a dozen copies. Oh well.

Matt and I finished up his Naval Manual by Wednesday. He would work through all of the answers, I would check them, point out the ones he had wrong, and he would rework these. It was pretty interesting, and it was not what I wanted to do for every spare minute for five or six days. However, he passed, and was set and getting packed for Boot Camp by Thursday. Thursday evening I went on splits with the missionaries. There was a bit of a mix-up afterwards, and Elder Nelson and I were waiting in their apartment for about 45 minutes, while Elder Hock and Greg Branning were waiting downstairs in their car for about 40 minutes. I had an excellent conversation with Elder Nelson. His Dad is an environmental geology professor at BYU. He has a good mind, and it is fun to talk about life goals with youth and others who have not closed their minds.

On Friday there was an e-mail from David Devor announcing the birth of his son Yona Bris. I remember when David's wife died, when he remarried, and now they have a new son. And to think, I've never met him except via e-mail. There was also an e-mail from Andy Liew of IBM China saying he is taking over the PetroChina consulting, and hoping the foreign experts would be available to help him on the next steps. I wrote back I would be glad to, if they pay 50% up front and have penalty clauses for any late payments. It is like the e-mail from Frances Cox. You never know which seeds end up growing.

Saturday morning early we took Matt to the Sam's Club at Highway 6 and I-10 to get on a bus to drive to Austin for Sea Cadet Boot Camp. One of the girls in his group came up to us and said 'Is Matt really a Mormon, or is he pulling my leg?' We confirmed his church membership, and he proceeded to tell her about the church:

'We go to church for three hours on Sundays, and ... .'


I interrupted, found out she is Catholic, and explained we believe in God, in priesthood, and in modern day prophets and apostles. It was a neat discussion, and it was exciting to see Matt's active involvement. It is important for young people to have structure, and it is a joy to see how well he is doing. My analogs for Juniors in High School with no structure in their lives show this is a most important time.

After we dropped him off, we went back to the house, packed and picked up Rachel and headed out for Albany, Texas and Fandangle. I had worked late Friday night (early Saturday morning), Rachel was interested in driving, and so I slept until she had gone a hundred miles past Austin. We stopped and ate a sandwich, and Andrea drove for an hour or so. I read the `The Apology of Socrates' which Todd Staheli had copied for me. I'm sure there will be words from this slip into many Thoughtlets over the coming months and years. Especially the phrase: 'the unexamined life is not worth living'.

So what is Fandangle? And why did Andrea, Rachel and I drive six hours to a Albany, population 1921, which is northeast of Abeline, Texas? The answer is simple. Oil and gas, and exploration opportunities. I have been talking with John Benard for a couple of years. He has oil and gas leases on a 10,000 acre ranch, a 3-D seismic survey, and is interested in me doing the geophysical work on this property. The city where he lives have been doing an outdoor musical theater for 60 years describing the history of their area. The musical is called Fandangle. This was the last weekend of Fandangle, and it was an excuse to get in front of John and find out if this was a real opportunity, or if he was just blowing smoke. So we drove up to Albany on Saturday, spent some time shopping and looking around town, I spent some time with John Benard, we went to Fandangle, stayed at a bed-and-breakfast, and drove back to Houston on Sunday morning.

When we got to Albany I called and got John's answering machine. So we went in some of the stores. The second store we went in turned out to be Holly's store, John's wife. He has three different numbers, and she was able to track him down. He was in Abeline picking up a computer for his son. While we were waiting for him to get back we went over to the old jail house and the court house. What an interesting history. Albany was formed to provide a place for law abiding citizens and to counteract Ft. Griffin, one of the rough and tough saloon towns on the western frontier. Wyatt Eryp met Doc Holiday in Ft. Griffin. The courthouse and the jail house were physical statements of law and order. The courthouse has been expanded as a museum. Several different collectors have donated their collections to the museum. There are all kinds of Aztec, Maya, Olmtec, Inca, and American Indian pots and things. There are guns, and things from the old west. There is a wonderful video summarizing the history of the county. This was where the old west happened. Really interesting.

We then walked back to the store, and then we got a call from John saying their dog had been shot or something and the dog needed to be taken to the vet. John stopped at the store, picked me up, and we drove over to a neighboring town to see the vet. He had a big role in Fandangle, had his horses loaded in the horse trailer, and was in a hurry to leave for Albany. There was about a three inch hole in the right front shoulder of the beautiful golden labrador. Thinking about it, I think the dog hit up against a chain link fence, caught it's hide in the links, pulled back and pulled a chunk of skin off. The skin was separated from the muscle all around the hole. The Doc put about six wire stitches in it, and it was interesting to watch how he worked. Definitely a small town vet, with all of the side conversations about family and ranches. And definitely a professional. And all this time Andrea and Rachel sat on a bench on main street Albany watching all of the folks come by. They bought a nice cowboy hat for Rachel and a golf shirt for Swede, which says "I hit two good balls today, I stepped on a rake."

John and I talked a little bit about his project, and not very much. He was pretty upset about the dog, about not being in town when we arrived, about his son not visiting from UT Austin, and other things going on. Isn't it interesting how each of us is always finding ourselves caught up in all of the things immediately surrounding us? He took the three of us to a bar-b-que dinner on the Court House Square. Then we went to his neighbors, who has a bed-and-breakfast, and we got instructions for where to go after Fandangle. He gave us his Fandangle Patron #91 parking pass, which allowed us to drive to the front of the parking spaces.

The theater is a natural amphitheater, with benches in one side of the hill. The stage is large enough for several dozen longhorn cattle, cowboy and indian fights on horseback, tractors to drive in sets with saloons, and forts, and houses. It looks like the entire 1921 person population of Albany participates in Fandangle. There are little boys and girls running across the stage as the animals that lived here before the indians. There were teenagers doing square dancing. There were bar room brawls, shootings, the bringing of law-and-order, and in general a history of this part of the old west. What a wonderful tradition.

As I told Melanie and Ben, it is now my intention to bring grandchildren to Albany, Texas for the Fandangle, probably when they are between 8 and 12 years old. You can draw your own opinions, ask Rachel what she thinks, and I think the rest of you would enjoy going with me some time to see Fandangle."

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 © 2003 H. Roice Nelson, Jr.