The Intern shared his end of the year thoughts with us yesterday, and that got me motivated to do the same. Let’s get started.
- Meeting some new #EFT friends in Houston and Dallas
- Blasting Avi Mirman about the money he still owes us
- Getting to work with and for some good friends that I met through #EFT
- Growing our client list
- Finding my footing after falling flat on my face last year
- Winning the lottery
- Letting go of the negativity
- Getting to know some amazing people
Making New #EFT Friends
Writing about #EFT over the past year, I can’t not mention SBA. We lost him in June, and that was a real shock to me and a lot of other people in the #EFT community. I’m raising a beer in a toast right now. This community has been amazing to be a part of and I’ve made some genuinely great friends over the pat couple of years. If you’re ever in a rut and need somebody to talk to, please reach out.
I was fortunate to be able to make it to 2 #EFT meetups this year. The first one was during the summer in Houston. The second one was right before Thanksgiving in Dallas.
The Houston Meetup
The Houston Meetup was pretty last minute, I was able to tag it onto the back end of a trip to Galveston with my family. At the suggestion of El Petro Mundo I picked EZ’s Liquor Lounge, and even though he wasn’t able to make it we had a great turnout. I was able to meet Mark LaCour and @kells940, we also had Rachel Adams-Heard and Petra stop by for a bit.
Of course we had the regular boys show up, anytime you can get MOAR, Buck, CB (who was nice enough to take a pause from his European vacationing to stop by for a beer), Jrs, and T4 together you’re going to have a good time. I have known most of those guys for a couple of years now and it’s always fun to watch what interesting turns a conversation can take over the course of a couple beers and then some margs at El Tiempo. My memory is a little hazy but I think we were discussing how the tier 1 acreage was drilled up in almost all the major plays but as infrastructure and technology improve there have been more economical positions in tier 2 and tier 3 areas. Or…something like that. The next afternoon I got to meet the one and only Will Ylitalo, and I still cannot pronounce his name correctly.
The Dallas Meetup
The Monday before Thanksgiving I flew up to Dallas to be at an #EFT meetup hosted by @HotdogOil. We have been working for his companies most of this year but I had never gotten to meet Jon in person, so I couldn’t pass up the chance of meeting him when he was in Texas for a few days. We had a great time, I got to meet Andy Lloyd and Joshua Pollard for the first time as well. A few new #EFT buddies showed up, Real CH3 and Amalgamated Sludge amongst others who’s names or handles escape me. We even got Davis to leave his desk a little early to come have a beer, that dude works too much!
As I continue to merge my LandmanLife/#EFT connections with real world networking it has been amazing how much overlap there is between the two. A work contact that had been ghosting me for months finally responded to an email and showed up to have a few drinks with us, and one of his coworkers was there as part of the #EFT crowd. That guy has gone back to ignoring all of my emails, but some people just suck like that I guess.
We had a few visits to LandmanLife HQ from Kermit Andrews as he passed through San Antonio on his way either out west or back east. Notably absent this year, Cheese keeps standing me up for trips to San Antonio, and the one time I was in Houston he gave me a bunch of shit about how he was busy working and I needed to get a real job.
Blasting Avi Mirman
He still owes us money but he’s out there raising huge amounts of money to get into yet another opportunity to save a sinking ship. We know that Ruckus Energy isn’t ever going to have money to pay us, they have lost most of their assets. I don’t see why Fury Resources would want to pay off Ruckus’ debts either, despite the fact that they are basically the same company with a different LLC name. The way people like Avi continue to set things on fire and walk away unscathed is a real problem with our industry. I don’t see that stopping anytime soon.
So I’ll continue to be the squeakiest wheel possible. Maybe we’ll buy some billboards out in Midland…but I know we won’t ever get paid. Now it’s just about the principal. At some point I’ll let Avi buy me a couple of beers, because…I’m a landman, I won’t turn down beers. He seems like an interesting guy from the brief conversation we had on the phone a few weeks back, but again…we all know the type.
Working with #EFT Friends
This year we had the pleasure of working with @HotdogOil and @colinmhngry. I got to know both of them through #EFT and have gotten to know them a lot better working for them over the past couple of months. They are solid guys and it’s been a great experience. I never would have imagined that we’d end up having clients I met through #EFT, but then again…I met my partner at MYR Land Services through #EFT also, so I don’t know why this surprises me.
Next year I’m confident that @WTXOil will finally hire us for help with land work. It’s been in the works for a long time now. Then I will finally be able to meet @TejanoBrown and host a Midland #EFT meetup at Charla’s…that’s been put off too many times now.
Growing Our Business
MYR Land Services expanded our client list drastically over the past 12 months. We have worked on multiple due diligence projects, done more MORs and title searches than I care to remember, and found new clients in some unexpected areas. Seeing the different ways that our marketing has paid off was exciting and a hell of a learning experience. The old model of frat boy brokerages is starting to break down and we’re ready to pick up the slack that those bloated companies leave behind (along with their insanely huge invoices for sub par work).
We have worked in 7 different states and 31 different counties this year. You might even say we’ve gone…worldwide. One of our clients is from that shithole known as Europe. There’s a distinct language and cultural barrier but somehow we manage to make it work. Our Christmas card list got to 200 people easily, and I can see that doubling or more for next year.
My Rebound Year
I haven’t made it any secret that last year was really difficult for me personally, physically, professionally, and emotionally. At the start of this year I was in bad shape, but slowly starting to get better. Right now as I type this, I am in the best shape I have been in since high school, my mind is sharper than ever, my skin is thicker than an elephant, and I am more confident in my value than ever. Setting my intentions throughout the year was crucial to making positive change in all parts of my life.
That doesn’t mean I won’t smash a 12 pack, swig some bourbon, and light up a cigar. I’ve learned that taking time to slow down and appreciate the good moments makes everything easier to tolerate…especially when things go to shit.
Winning the Lottery
Some of ya’ll already know what this is in reference to. No, we did not win the PowerBall jackpot. I’m not even sure LandmanWife won any scratch off tickets this year. What we did win was the most amazing gift we could have ever asked for. After our daughter Maeve was born 2 years ago, the doctors said that LandmanWife would need some major surgery before she would be able to have another child. Since we had gone through a hell of a journey just to have our first child, that was not something that we were afraid of taking on, but finding the time to do that with a toddler in the house would be difficult. We decided that after summer was over we would get together with all of the doctors to plan a course of action. Turns out…we didn’t need to. The doctors were wrong. When I got back home from Houston after the #EFT meetup at EZ’s Liquor Lounge, LandmanWife showed me the pregnancy test. I will never forget the doctors words after having our first child, “you would be more likely to be struck by lightning than to get pregnant again without surgery.” Suck it, Doc! We have a baby boy due in March and could not be more blessed or excited.
It seemed surreal for the first couple of months because it was so unexpected. We are truly bless, and I feel like I won the lottery. I let some of the #EFT guys know before anybody else.
Letting Go
After everything that happened last year, I had a hard time processing the entirety of my situation. I didn’t have the physical energy to fight back as things fell apart when I got sick. My old boss took advantage of that situation and threw me under all of the buses he could find. There was a lot of pain, resentment, anger, and guilt associated with that. Letting go of that negativity was not easy to do, but necessary for me to continue moving forward. I’m not in AA, but I have been slowly going through my steps and making amends anyways. A few weeks ago I sat down with my old boss and apologized for being an asshole at times. He proved that he was exactly the person I knew he was, and sat there gloating about how much he appreciated that I would admit that everything was my fault and that he was always right. Well…I walked out of there with a grin, because I truly don’t give a fuck about any of that shit anymore.
It’s taken a long time to let go of dumb shit, but I can’t waste my energy carrying it around anymore.
Meeting New People
Part of my new found “no fucks given” attitude was at play when I started reaching out to random people that I have followed or admired over my career. To my surprise, some of them responded. I have even gotten to know a few of them over this past year. Cole Thompson, author of Chocolate Lizards, is now a friend of mine. That’s something I never would have anticipated, but am deeply thankful for.
Last, but certainly not least, on Christmas Eve we had a Canadian miracle happen, @AlbertaGarbage stopped by on his way from Midland to Houston and hung out for a bit. We have not gotten to meet face to face before and it was long overdue. He is another great guy that I’ve gotten to know through #EFT, and it was a genuine surprise that he made time to stop on his busy cross continent road trip. I’m glad he did. Thursday morning I went and met up with Thomas Prehn for a cup of coffee, somehow we have never crossed paths before. He’s even a fellow Baylor Bear!
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