Bete Liquid

Some twenty or thirty years ago, finding the right career was restricted by lack of global internet tools, limited by more old-fashioned (if you will) values and opinions, and less important than “finding yourself.” I remember when my therapist, the savior of all saviors as far as I’m concerned, laughed with me over how I had gone about finding the right career: I had signed up to all the courses that I found interesting and many I hoped were in some way related, then tried to decide on a major/career. She lightly joked that a lot of people decide first, then do the footwork of taking the mandatory and essential and relevant courses, doing internships, and getting in at some entry-level. Obviously, I didn’t have the tools we have today for finding the right career, nor did I know about their existence and usefulness, at least.

For instance, lots of students will use personality testing and employment/goal assessments for finding the right career – right from the commencement of their semesters in college. ERIK, Psychometric testing tools, and career skills assessment batteries will help to define aptitude and save you time futzing around with majors and minors that you FEEL you MAY like…when six years later on decide you need to start all over finding the right career, as Offshore Drilling is not for you or interplanetary travel studies will take too long or anthropological studies of tribes now extinct are wiped off the college catalogs three quarters of the way into your educational plan.

An incredible implement of guidance, information, and statistical projection for finding the right career is the Index to Careers Guide, produced, updated/maintained, and provided both online and off (in college and high school career centers, for example) by the U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics. If finding the right career is a assignment you feel or may think requires a knowledge of salaries, working conditions, descriptions of the nature of the work involved, training and other qualification requirements, the number of jobs/positions held in that field and the competition involved, and projected job openings, then go to http://www.bls.dol.gov and type in any career title or browse the index of thousands of positions/job types.

One more remarkable tool is one that comes in workbook form and accompanies the What Color is Your Parachute and The Boxes of Life books by Richard Bolles. The workbooks (and books) have you take rigorous (but exciting, fun) quizzes that lead you to slowly but surely deduce or do a process of illimination experiment that assist you in finding the right career FOR YOU…not your Mom, your dead Grandfather, or the culture around you who has all kinds of opinions about who you are and who you should be but who does not pay your rent or feed your kids when push comes to shove. Nor are they the ones who need to live in your skin, sleep through the night, or answer to your higher needs and greater consciousness….

Steven J. Acren
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/finding-the-right-career-defining-the-job-that-best-suits-you-81866.html

Twenty or thirty years ago, finding the right career was limited by lack of global internet tools, restricted by more old-fashioned (if you will) values and opinions, and less important than finding yourself. I recall when my therapist, the savior of all saviors as far as Im concerned, laughed with me over how I had gone about finding the right career: I had taken all the courses I found interesting and many I hoped were somehow related, then tried to decide on a major/career.

She gently joked that many people decide first, then do the footwork of taking the required and necessary and relevant courses, doing internships, and getting in at some entry-level. Clearly, I didnt have the tools we do today for finding the right career, or I didnt know about their existence and usefulness, at least.

For example, a lot of students will use personality testing and employment/goal assessments for finding the right career right from the start of their semesters in college. ERIK, Psychometric testing tools, and career skills assessment batteries will help to define aptitude and save you time futzing around with majors and minors that you THINK you MIGHT like when six years later decide you need to start all over finding the right career, as Offshore Drilling is not for you or interplanetary travel studies will take too long or anthropological studies of tribes now extinct are wiped off the college catalogs three quarters of the way into your educational plan.

A fantastic implement of guidance, information, and statistical projection for finding the right career is the Index to Careers Guide, created, updated/maintained, and provided both online and off (in college and high school career centers, for instance) by the U.S. Department of Labor/Bureau of Labor Statistics.

If finding the right career is a task you feel or think requires a knowledge of salaries, working conditions, descriptions of the nature of the work involved, training and other qualification requirements, the number of jobs/positions held in that field and the competition involved, and projected job openings, then go to www.bls.dol.gov and type in any career title or browse the index of thousands of positions/job types.

Another brilliant tool is one that comes in workbook form and accompanies the What Color is Your Parachute and The Boxes of Life books by Richard Bolles. The workbooks (and books) have you take intensive (but interesting, fun) quizzes that lead you to slowly but surely deduce or do a process of illimination experiment that helps you in finding the right career FOR YOU not your Mom, your dead Grandfather, or the culture around you who has all kinds of opinions about who you are and who you should be but who does not pay your rent or feed your kids when push comes to shove. Nor are they the ones who need to live in your skin, sleep through the night, or answer to your higher needs and greater consciousness

Chris Kennelly
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/finding-the-right-career-for-you-80134.html

PEX Update Here’s How to use PEX by a bona fide DIYer!

In my last article about my tankless water heater I made several references to as to using PEX. Since I figure not a lot of people understand or even know what PEX is I thought I’d devote this article to a little education for the DIY weekend warrior that may be considering changing over his water heater, but, may not want to get involved with copper and soldering and flux, etc. DIYers, it’s time to look like a hero, again!

What the heck is PEX?

Lets start with a little background about PEX. Here’s some info from Wikipedia:

“Cross-linked polyethylene, commonly abbreviated PEX or XLPE, is a form of polyethylene with cross-links. It is formed into tubing, and is used predominantly in hydronic radiant heating systems, domestic water piping and insulation for high tension electrical cables. It is also used for natural gas and offshore oil applications, chemical transportation, and transportation of sewage and slurries. Recently, it has become a viable alternative to polyvinyl chloride (PVC), chlorinated polyvinyl chloride (CPVC) or copper pipe for use as residential water pipes. PEX tubing ranges in size from 1/4-inch to 4-inch, but 1/2-inch, 3/4-inch, and 1-inch are by far the most widely used.”

Ok, so we’re not talking about using it for natural gas or Offshore Drilling, but, we are interested in using it as domestic piping, maybe even for radiant heating, hmmm? Why would we want to use PEX? Here are some of the benefits:

• PEX can be used for hot or cold water AND it has fittings to make it adaptable to copper and PVC.

• PEX is incredibly FLEXIBLE! This is one of it’s shining properties for us “less talented” DIYer’s. I don’t know how to sweat a copper elbow and really don’t care to learn. But, PEX can be bent into a radius (for example, 3/8″ pipe may be bent to a 4″ radius and 1/2″ pipe to a 5″ radius). Huh, no sweat. (Get it?)

• Since less fittings are required there are less points at which a leak can happen. Smart, no? Obviously, the more fittings the more potential “problem” areas. Take out the fittings, take out the leaks.

• PEX is also less likely to burst. It’s flexibility also gives it the ability to expand and contract.

• If, for some reason you need to repair it, there are easy to use kits that you can purchase.

• PEX has all the typical fittings as well, like shutoffs, elbows, etc

Making the Connection

PEX general has two methods for installing it. One is compression (too much work) and the other is insertion (yup, much easier). You don’t even have to use that stinky glue and cleaner like you do for PVC! This is living large.

You’ll find that it comes in rolls, typically 100ft., or in lengths that are generally 10ft. long. If you desire you can get it in red (for the hot water) and blue (for, duh, the cold water) or you can stick with plain old white and mark them yourself.

PEX is generally recommended for interior or buried projects, but, I would check with either the manufacturer or your plumbing supply house for any exterior ideas you may have. PEX piping is freeze damage resistant and can expand and contract as water freezes and thaws within the tubing. No tubing material is freeze-break proof, however, and PEX should be installed using the same locally-prescribed insulation requirements to prevent freezing of any plumbing system.

PEX is the snaps!

One of the best reasons I enjoy using it is the ability to “snap and go”. Just measure your length of pipe, snap it into any connector you using and “go” on down the line. I would also recommend laying it out in a dry run first to determine what types of connectors you may need, if any.

Well, PEX warrior, it’s time to engage and go forth! Your friends and neighbors will stand in awe at your prowess and marvel at your courage. Talk your local supplier and see what you think. The hero in you will emerge.

Soooo, that’s how to use PEX. To get information on my tankless water heater click on the  link in my bio.

Thanks! Ray

Raymond Dudley

Sometimes misunderstandings between co-workers on say a gas-drilling rig is not so much about what they don’t like and more about what they don’t know.

Consider the performance review Andrea Gill had as a young graduate management engineer in her first gas job. Gill’s boss told her that fellow gas job employees who knew her well spoke well of her, while those who hardly knew her or knew only of her didn’t like her at all.

“It struck me that the people I knew the least were people who I disliked for no reason other than the fact that they were male and in the roustabout gas jobs or on a different team and I was a ‘blue crew drilling rig team player’,” Gill remembers. “I was young and full of myself and disapproved of their old ways of doing the same gas jobs as mine. I still had a bit of a smart-ass intellectual chip on my shoulder.”

As a result of her gas job experiences on the rig, she changed her attitude toward co-workers that she thought didn’t like her and went out of her way to communicate openly with them. She found out that she admired and respected many of those gas job colleagues very much, but only after she had made the effort. Her review the following year was very different, and the feedback from her colleagues was entirely positive.

The lone ranger

Try as you might, you can’t force anyone to be your friend or to like you. In truth gas jobs aren’t about being popular but rather being effective as part of a team. You will find communication skills and teamwork as part of every gas job advert and a key element in every gas job interview you attend.

Andrea Gill often found herself to begin with as the odd girl out in the traditionally macho world of the gas jobs, especially offshore. She’s found that being a female in predominantly male workplaces often set her apart from everyone on day one in the gas job.

“It’s a lot of work sometimes, but I’ve found that the key to fitting in is to make people feel comfortable around me,” Andrea says. “I know if they are, I will feel comfortable around them.”

After months of struggling to fit in, she’s developed some methods for forming good relationships between herself and her colleagues. Here are some tips she’s garnered for getting on in the gas job:

Ø Don’t gossip about others. You’ll only make people think ‘I wonder what she says about me when I’m not here’.

Ø Always maintain people’s self-esteem even you have to correct some aspect of the gas job performance.

Ø Make only promises you can keep. It builds trust.

Ø Ask for other people’s feedback on you and take it on board.

Gas jobs demand great teamwork but it doesn’t just happen. Rather it is a skill that can be learned and improved upon with experience.

Lina Smith
http://www.articlesbase.com/business-articles/teamwork-is-a-gas-job-its-not-them-its-you-735630.html

Oil is a natural fuel that is formed from buried, decayed plants and animals, under extreme heat and pressure over a time span of millions of years. Similarly, natural gas is the result of these deposits and sometimes even gets mixed with the oil. The primary function of an oil and gas extraction company is to locate, extract and refine these natural resources. Big oil companies carry out large-scale extractions, while private contractors support the mining sub-sector.

A job in the gas industry is very rewarding. You simply need to identify the sphere of work that interests you the most. The gas industry has a number of job opportunities. Depending on the qualifications and placements available, companies hire employees for diverse onshore and offshore operations.

The jobs available in the oil and natural gas industry is divided into three categories:

-Upstream- Operations in oil production come under this category. The requirement is for contractors who specialize in seismic testing, engineering, service rig operations, drilling and identifying the manufacturers of the special equipment and supply.

-Midstream- This involves the refining and transportation of oil after drilling and extraction. Besides this, making and managing of oil pipelines helps the pipeline operators earn billions of dollars.

-Downstream- This involves effective sale and wholesale operations carried out by gas distributors.

The big companies are involved in all the three spheres. This means that they extract, purify, transport and sell oil and natural gas. Small-scale companies focus on any one particular area – it could be either drilling or the laying of pipelines.

Upstream sector jobs are the most sought-after, since jobs are often international and involve extensive travel. Personnel are employed in Alaska, the Arctic, Canada and Iraq and the Middle East. Once you gain the required experience and skill, you can find a position with any large company and enjoy traveling to different places.

You need not limit your job hunt to oil and gas companies only. Multinational and big companies very often outsource work to oil service companies that lease and install facilities or equipment. Service companies send their employees to the operations bases of the companies, whenever and wherever needed.

Entry-level positions in the oil and natural gas industry are mostly in the production, purifying and transportation divisions. Jobs such as oil engineering and exploration require hands-on experience and training.

Some Of The Jobs Available:

Petroleum Geologist: Required to analyze and interpret gathered information. This position usually heads the exploration operations. Another job in this stream is that of a paleontologist, who studies fossil remains.

Rotary Drillers: They supervise the operations of the machinery and control the drilling speed and pressure.

Pump operators: They maintain the pump motors and other similar surface equipment that is used to extract oil from wells. The production supervisors and engineering team supervises their work.

In addition to the positions mentioned, there are openings for electricians, welders, laborers and instrument repairers. In the non-automated plants, maintenance personnel and operators are often needed.

Tony Jacowski
http://www.articlesbase.com/careers-articles/opportunities-in-the-gas-industry-125772.html

The dramatic run-up in oil prices in recent years has been the subject of much attention and many headlines. What has received far less attention is another increase: the parallel rise in the costs of drilling for oil and building the infrastructure necessary to pump it out of the ground.

This surge in costs has a significant impact on the oil industry’s ability to meet growing global demand for oil and the timing of developments. These rising prices figure directly into the price of crude oil, gasoline and other products.

Among investors and within the industry, this rise is a major preoccupation, and with good reason. For the increase is substantial. Project costs are up 68 percent on average since 2000. That is the conclusion of our new IHS/CERA Capital Cost Index. And most of the real increase has been in the last two years.
What’s driving these cost increases? We call it the “double bubble.”

Two kinds of goods and services are needed to transform an initial discovery into a producing oil field. The first are commodities like steel and general-purpose equipment such as generators that provide electricity in remote locations. The second kind is equipment specific to the oil industry, such as drilling rigs, along with the experienced workers who can run them. Both kinds of costs have taken big leaps in recent years. That’s what we mean by the “double bubble.”

The major oil price spikes of the mid-1970s and early 1980s were accompanied by global economic slowdowns. Not this time. The costs of raw materials and general-purpose equipment have risen sharply because of the strong global economy, led by Asia’s expansion. As a result, the oil industry is competing with many others for raw materials.

Simple goods such as large-sized truck tires are in short supply. So are long-lead-time, complex goods like ship hulls. For example, hulls needed for oil tankers are in short supply in part because of high demand for container ships in Asia.

The costs of oil field equipment and labor are also up sharply. Higher oil prices mean producers have strong incentives to do more drilling. But the equipment required to drill is complex and expensive.

It isn’t possible to increase the number of hundred-million-dollar drilling rigs or billion-dollar offshore platforms available for use overnight. As a result, oil producers are competing with each other for the same scarce pieces of equipment to develop their fields. Costs have naturally spiraled as a result.

Over the past four years alone, drilling rig rental rates have more than quadrupled on a global basis, with salaries for expert personnel experiencing 50 to 100 percent increases. Since drilling equipment and labor represent between 30 and 50 percent of overall costs, it is easy to see why project costs have risen so rapidly.

The service industry-the contractors that do much of the work for the oil producers-has gone through a major contraction over the last two decades. When oil prices ran up in the mid-1970s and early 1980s, oil-service companies expanded rapidly.

When prices then fell in the mid 1980s, these companies were stuck with a vast overhang of equipment that depressed the rates they could charge throughout the ensuring two decades. They were hit again with the oil price collapse at the end of the 1990s.

In the face of these two collapses, capacity in the service industry went through a substantial shrinking.
Adding to the constraints is a worldwide shortage of experienced people to run oil field equipment. It’s almost as though a middle generation has disappeared from the service industry, a loss that will take years to overcome.

To quantify the impact of this double-bubble, CERA, in partnership with its parent company, IHS, tracks changes in the costs of oil and gas field project development in its Upstream Capital Cost Index, or UCCI. This IHS/CERA index demonstrates the aforementioned 68 percent leap in real costs since January 2000.

Escalating costs have the effect you would expect-they reduce drilling activity. Most oil companies fix their capital budgets one or two years in advance. When the money’s spent, it’s spent. In 2006, rising costs forced several small firms to terminate their drilling campaigns before year’s end.

Cost pressures have led other companies to reduce the number and scope of projects that they undertake. In addition, higher costs have forced oil companies to reevaluate the projected profitability of projects they approved during the 2000 to 2004 period, to take into account the new price-cost tradeoff that is in place today.

In some cases, unplanned cost overruns encountered during early project phases have pushed some projects into the “no-longer-economic” column, and caused their backers to pull the plug.

Markets sort themselves out. A continuation of high oil prices will eventually bring more oil equipment and personnel on line. Some of it will come from non-traditional sources, like China and India. But lead times are inescapable.

Signals sent by higher oil prices take several years to register fully, since the response involves mobilizing equipment with price tags that can extend into billions of dollars.

Moreover, it takes time to attract skilled workers who require long periods of training. Expectations are important in the decisions that people make, whether in terms of a major commitment by an oil service company or the decision by a younger, technically trained person to go into the oil industry.

People do have more confidence today. However, even with relief on one of the bubbles, the other one will continue to have its impact.

Strong economic growth will keep the costs of raw materials and general-purpose equipment high. And that translates into higher oil field development costs.
About the IHS/CERA Upstream Capital Costs Index (UCCI)
The IHS/CERA Upstream Capital Costs Index is similar in concept to the Consumer Price Index (CPI) used to track the cost of a fixed basket of goods and services.

In the case of the UCCI, the items tracked are the equipment and services required to construct a fixed basket of oil and gas projects. The UCCI helps to track and to provide a better understanding of rapidly escalating costs in the energy industry.

Daniel Yergin
http://www.articlesbase.com/environment-articles/a-double-bubble-drives-rising-oil-production-costs-132230.html