Red Adair to the Rescue

Red Adair to the Rescue Red Adair to the Rescue Red Adair to the RescueWith his flashy name, flashy suit, and a utility belt full of clever gadgets of his own design, Red Adair was as close as it gets to a real-life superhero. As the undisputed king of oil well fire-fighting, Adair reigned for 50 years as the oil patchs first-call defender against wells gone wild.In a career spent battling some 2,000 oil well fires, Adair cut a heroic figure in his trademark red overalls. But this hero didnt bother with a secret identity. He embraced the heat of the blaze and the glare of the public spotlight with equal relish, and he took full advantage of the wealth his exploits earned. John Wayne played him in a movie (the Hellfighter, 1968), he guested on all the major TV talk shows, and he pitched Rolex watches. His outsized persona was best reflected in his fleet of statelyand bright redMercedes Benzes, Bentleys, Cadillacs, and speedboats.Adairs heyday coincided with a post-World War II spike i n global oil and gas triole to slake the rebounding worlds thirst for cheap petroleum. International exploration expanded into new frontiers offshore and throughout the Middle East. Containing well blowouts and fires became exponentially more complicated. From the Devils Cigarette Lighter in the Sahara Desert in 1962, to the deadly Piper Alpha platform in the North Sea in the 1988, to the intentionally torched oil fields of post-Gulf-War Kuwait, Adair was at every major hotspot. And when Walter Cronkite or Huntley and Brinkley assured the public that Adair was on the scene, victory was a foregone conclusion.A Heros Humble StartPaul Neal Red Adair was born in the emerging oil capital of Houston, Texas, in 1915. He witnessed his first well fire at age 6, and his innate engineering instincts kicked in immediately. According to Philip Singermans biography, An American Hero The Red Adair Story, he assured his playmates that he could put out the fire by building a truck the size of a hous e that could transport huge volumes of water to the source of the blaze.Red Adair was the 20th centurys greatestand by far the fruchtwein famousfighter of oil well fires.Adairs father worked as a blacksmith, but the family was poor. At the height of the Depression, Adair dropped out of high school to earn money for the family. He landed his first oil-related job around 1938 at the Otis Pressure Control Company, spending his off-hours studying and sketching designs for improved extraction equipment and, when needed, fighting well fires. Joining the Army in the latter days of World War II, he polished his ability to stare down danger as a member of an elite bomb-disposal squad.After his discharge, he took a job as a firefighter with the famed founder of the blowout control industry, Myron Kinley, who quickly recognized his talent. Adair launched his own company, Red Adair Co., in 1959.From the start, Adair emphasized safety for his workers and often boasted of a record he said was fre e of serious injury to himself or his employees. Then again, he had his own definition of serious.Ive got cut half in two, once, and blowed up a time or two, but nothing permanent, he once told a reporter for The Globe and Mail of Toronto.People call me a daredevil but they dont understand, he told his biographer. A daredevils reckless, and that aint me. The devils down in that hole and Ive seen what he can do, and Im not darin him at all. Im a beware-devil, thats what I am.When a Well Goes to HellFew industrial mishaps are as spectacular as an oil well blowout. Wild wells spray their surroundings with hundreds of thousands of barrels of crude each day they remain unchecked. And when a blowout catches fire, all bets are off. Fueled by an endless, high-pressure geyser of crude, a well fire creates a towering flare that can reach several hundred feet.Adair was noted for technological innovation. His semi-submersible firefighting vessel for offshore fires was the first of its kind, and one of numerous fire boats he created. One of his most enduring inventions was the 1941 development of the Athey wagon, a modified bulldozer with a hydraulic winch that helps control a long (approximately 60-foot) boom assembly for clearing debris or placing explosives at the well site.The Legacy of a HellfighterLike any good performer, Adair saved his best feat for last. Many consider his crowning achievement to be his central role in containing the Kuwaiti oil field fires of 1991 that threatened planetary environmental consequences as well as incalculable lost revenues for oil producers. Following a scorched earth retreat policy, Saddam Husseins defeated army set ablaze more than 700 of Kuwaits 1,000 oil wells. Adair was among the first responders, and his team squelched fires at 117 of the nations most productive wells. Adairs expert advice to President Bush and military leaders helped shave months off of the containment project simply through better logistics and supply lines.D espite his outward flamboyance, Adair had a major soft side. Part of his satisfaction with his wealth came from supporting charitable organizations, especially those aimed at childrens health. In the years since his death in 2004, Sunny Hinson Adair (Reds granddaughter and only living relative) continues to honor that legacy through the Red Adair Foundation and its primary beneficiary, the Shriners Childrens Hospital in Galveston, TX, which specializesappropriately enoughin treating pediatric burn injuries.Michael MacRae is an independent writer.People call me a daredevil but they dont understand. A daredevils reckless, and that aint me. The devils down in that hole and Ive seen what he can do, and Im not darin him at all.Red Adair

New research explains why you work better with TV on in the background

New research explains why you work better with TV on in the backgroundNew research explains why you work better with TV on in the backgroundSince the invention of the open office plan, employees have been battling unwanted sound interruptions and office banter distracting them from doing their jobs. In fact, researchhighlighted in Harvard Business Review has found a lack of sound privacy is the number one thing employees list as a productivity killer - ranking higher than air quality, freezing temperatures, badeanstalt building hygiene, and cramped workspaces.If unwanted noise is killing our focus, is the solution to work in total silence? New research has found that the answer is no, we dont work best in complete silence, either.Study The perfect background noise is not too silent, not too loudA study in the Journal of Consumer Research applied the story of Goldilocks and the Three Bears to ambient noise levels, and asked a group of participants completing creative thinking tests wh ich level of ambient noise in the background was too much, too little, and just right. What they found was the group working in70-decibel levels of noise, a sound condition thats equivalent to the chatter in a caf or your television set at a normal level, significantly outperformed the total silence and high levels of noise group. The moderate-noise group generated ideas that were more creative than those in the total silence group or the group that was hearing noise as loud as jackhammers.Researchers suggested that moderate noise is superior for creative thinking because its the noise level most likely to spark the abstract processing in our brains, which can bring out our innerhalb Picasso. Meanwhile, too much background noise willreduce how much information can get processed in brains distracted by the sound of jackhammers.Not all noise is equalOur findings imply that instead of burying oneself in a quiet room trying to figure out a solution, walking out of ones comfort zone and getting into a relatively noisy environment (such as a caf) may trigger the brain to think abstractly, and thus generate creative ideas, the study concludes.Not all sound is noise, in other words.A separate study backed up why a person talking in the background of your the TV can help your creativity while a person talking to you face-to-face can distract you. In a study testing how our brain waves respond to sound, the researchers found that some levels of white noise helped participants creative scores while face-to-face interactions hurt creative scores.This studys conclusion suggests that the source of noise is a determining factor of when sound becomes distracting noise. We may feel compelled to listen more closely to the office chatter of our colleagues than the background chatter in cafs or television sets. You can tune out a talking head on TV, but you cant tune out what your cubicle seatmate is saying about company gossip right next to you.So next time you want to think up your next big idea, it may be time to head outside of the office filled with distracting humans and into a caf filled with noisy humans who blessedly dont work with you. Its one scenario where noisy chatter can give you peace of mind.

Good Job Opportunities for Adult Students

Good Job Opportunities for Adult StudentsGood Job Opportunities for Adult StudentsLast week I had the opportunity to give a 30 minute presentation to a group of adult learners at the Expert Technician Academy in Parker, CO. These folks are taking classes on Saturdays and weekday evenings in order to develop the knowledge and capabilitiesfor thehard-to-fill skilled employment needs in Aerospace, Energy, IT and Bioscience industries. I shared with them some ideas for job opportunities for adult students, which include flexible jobs, of courseLike many students, these folks are looking for flexible jobs that can bring in some income to help them get through their final few classes or semesters. And since manytelecommuting and work at home jobs are freelance, contract and part-time in nature, its a perfect fit.Some of the questions raised by the group were centered aroundthe types of companies that hire home-based, flexible workers. We talked about a few of the industries such ascomputer /IT, writing jobs, and sales positions that tend to embrace this work model, and there are tons mora.Thank you again to Expert Technical Academy for inviting me to their great schoolTo learn more about good job opportunities for adult students, check out these 10 surprising freelance and contract job ideas