A smattering of not-so-serious news in a month, and a business climate, that’s packed with the other kind.
Just our usual potpourri of odds and ends. Enjoy. What needs saying more—and doesn’t get said enough—is our appreciation for all the advertisers who make this magazine go. Thanks for making this an especially good issue for us. Last month, in this space, we worked in a plug for the Burmass Tools of the Trade Exposition, slated for March 6-7 at the Midland Horsehoe Arena and, well, we’ve done it again. See you there!
He Got into Gear for Oil
Probably no politician was ever so militantly oil-minded as the flamboyant, controversial William “Alfalfa Bill” Murray,” the Oklahoma governor who called out the National Guard more than any governor before or since. Some of those summons were to police the oil fields to maintain production limits, as a means of propping up oil prices. On Aug. 4, 1931, Murray declared martial law in the state of Oklahoma, and ordered that some 3,000 oil wells be shut down. He took this step because oil prices had sunk below the costs of production—a direct result of the vast proliferation of wells in the newly discovered Oklahoma City oil field. Similar conditions were occurring in Texas, and Murray met with three other governors in Fort Worth to demand lower production. Murray he appealed to the governors of other oil-producing states to reduce the output of petroleum.
Open Mouth, Insert Food
By Bobbie Cupell, General Mgr., Burmass Oil Directory
Our Zachry Publications folks from Abilene are always thrilled to come spend a day in Midland, because they know I’m going to take them someplace really good for lunch. The first order of business for the day is, “So what yummy food are you going to find for us this time?”
Well folks, you don’t have to go far from our office to find my favorite Mexican food place, LaMision Restaurant. When a place is bold enough to be painted in neon colors and festooned with tiny papier mache donkeys, you know the food’s gotta be good. And it is. Around noon, every table in the place is full and a huge line of hungry diners eagerly await their turn at the goodies. (So come early or late if you hate waiting in lines.)
I’d swear they put something illicit on their fajitas… and in their enchiladas… and in pretty much everything. I’ve eaten here since they opened many moons ago. But my favorite thing at LaMision is their unique take on refried beans. They fortify them with chiles until they are a thick, hearty, flavorful concoction that my family lovingly refers to as “Refried-refried-refried Beans.” Once you develop an addiction to this lumpy wonderfulness, the flat puddles of beans at other restaurants seem downright unappealing.
So if you’d like to impress some out-of-state visitors with Tex-Mex they’ll tell the folks at home about, introduce them to the colorful, flavorful food at LaMision.
Next month I’ll have a fresh review for the tasting. Till then, open mouth, insert food.
Word of the Month:
Gear
Gear: n. a toothed part, such as a cog, disk, wheel, or section of a shaft, that is designd to mesh with teeth in another part to transmit or receive force and motion; an assembly of such parts. v., to put in or into gear; to prepare, adjust, or adapt to a particular situation, person, etc., in order to bring about satisfactory results: The operators geared their output to seasonal demands. The word’s etymological meaning is “that which puts one into a state of readiness.” It derives from the Old Norse term “gervi,” meaning apparel, as well as the Old High German “garawen,” meaning “to make ready.” Used in a sentence: “To make our way, we must have firm resolve, persistence, tenacity. We must gear ourselves to work hard all the way. We can never let up.” —Ralph Bunche. Again, in a sentence: “I have one speed, I have one gear: go!” —Charlie Sheen
They Said It:
“We usually find gas in new places with old ideas. Sometimes, also, we find gas in an old place with a new idea, but we seldom find much gas in an old place with an old idea. Several times in the past we have thought that we were running out of gas, whereas actually we were only running out of ideas.” —Adapted from Parke A. Dickey by the American Potential Gas Committee
“You can’t get the grease without a lease” —Anonymous
“If you want to do something big in your life, you must remember that shyness is only the mind. If you think shy, you act shy. If you think confident you act confident. Therefore never let shyness conquer your mind.” – computer programming prodigy Arfa Karim Randhawa, at age 10 years. She died at age 16, having become at 9 years “world’s youngest Microsoft Certified Professional.” From an article by Todd Bishop, on Geekwire.
“Omnia bona quoad perfora.” Loosely translated, “All prospects look good until drilled.” This was the motto used by Anadarko in 1994 following their sub-salt drilling in the Gulf of Mexico.
“We need to face it—as a nation we have a reliance on petroleum.” —Lisa Murkowski
“We need to change our national policies. We need to make domestic production a priority. This is for the people of America—that’s who it is a priority for. This is about us. It is about how we are going to live over the next many decades.” —Mark Mathis, filmmaker/producer of spoiled