West Texas Einganeers
They were the ones who actually had to do something about the bottlenecks it might find. Being a lesser engineer myself, it was felt I could communicate better with them. -- 'An Einganeer's Tale', page 54
Dale is the engineer in the acclaimed TV series LANDMAN. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend it. It is about oil production in West Texas, and the people who do it. If you're not familiar with the West Texas oil business, you might think the series is an overly dramatic exaggeration. But take it from me, it isn't.
I have a little bit of experience with these guys. As the series shows, they are indeed a breed apart. When I flew over from my ivory tower in Houston to "train" these guys on the use of my magical software that promised to help them do their job, I had no idea what I was getting myself into. The measly bottlenecks my program might identify for them were the least of their problems.
When I landed in Midland, I couldn't believe I was in the same country, much less the same state! Having already been to Saudi Arabia, I never thought there could be another place on earth as hot, flat, and desolate -- but here it was! Granted, this was some 30 years ago -- but the series pretty much shows that little has changed.
My students, though, were courteous... and sharp. They knew more about the problems of multiphase fluid flow and oil field plumbing than all my X-PERT petroleum engineers in Houston ever would. I learn from them that their problems were not because of some engineer's poor design, but just because that's the best they could cobble together under whatever the circumstances were at the time. They lived under an 'it is what it is, deal with it!' philosophy.
My West Texas experience completely changed my way of thinking in two ways. First, I saw my technology becoming more about how to do the best you can with what you've got, rather than how to modify the plumbing to achieve some particular goal. Gaining this understanding helped me everywhere else I would go.
And second? There's a bar in the series called 'The Patch'. I'd swear, it's the same place they took me to each night for dinner and drinks. The education I received there certainly did change my way of thinking!?