Mister Ian's Weblog | Monthly Archive

Archive | November, 2005

Compressors

By Ian on November 30, 2005 in Job

Yes the above is a skid mounted compressor unit. I know it is a lousy picture, the best I could find without spending too much time.

Does everything go in a big circle?

When I graduated Mechanical Engineering I worked for a company called Eagle Pump & Compressor for a couple of years. Of course in those days the Internet wasn’t invented yet but you see they now have a web site. My job was to get them going on small gas compressor units including a small sour gas stock tank vapor recover unit (In Kuwait here we call the same service Tank Vapor or TV compressors. And it is also sour here. But more than ten times the size.) Well, it has come around the full circle. Now in Kuwait, I am analyzing proposals from packagers to provide similar equipment, though they are here about ten times the horsepower. So the engines are the same manufacturers, Cat and Waukesha and the reciprocating compressors are by Ariel. The TV units here are screw compressors. I was familiar with them from air compressors I did way back at Eagle also.

And, guess where the packagers are from that we are dealing with here? Calgary mostly, now we’re looking at Enerflex , Toromont and GSI. Both use local agents, Safwan, Khuff and Al-Khorayef respectively here in Kuwait for sales, engineering and service support.

What about the pump part. Well, generally pumps are simpler and not as involvled to procure, though the service conditions vary. And they are well equipped for crude pumps as that has always been a priority.

And also I am helping with expediting the repair of a gas compressor that had some bolds fail. Simple littly bolts but the wrong type of material for the service conditions. Basically it is the sour gas (H₂S) content in the gas that is the problem. Hydrogen is nasty and it actually migrates into the crystalline structure of the metal and weakens it. That is stuff you study in Mechanical Engineering, metallurgy, failures etc. Though of course I dont’ get into the fine details, but it isn’t that complicated, different types of failures etc.

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Yet another post on what I ate

By Ian on November 29, 2005 in Food

No way. Too much, is that all I do, is that all I think of. No but it may be the most interesting.

I went to a little (two tables) Indian restaurant in Ahmadi Shopping center that I found out about when I first arrived as they are next to the place that did the passport photos that I got. You need dozens of them here whenever you get a pass or certificate for anything.

Well, they are from Kerala and they make the worlds best Lamb Curry, period. It is spicy and ecstatically good. I really shouldn’t enjoy it so much. So I had that with monster big fresh naans and water for KD 0.600 (600 fils). That’s less than $2.50 CAD.

And then there was some big KOC press conference at the Hubara Center which is the “officers mess” so instead of dinner for about KD 2 I had to go to Unity Center where I was yesterday for the safety workshop. And that dinner was less than KD 1. So today was a record in lunch and dinner costs.

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Bruce Cockburn the Mystical Musician

By Ian on November 28, 2005 in Music

Well, what can I say. I’m not the first to say that, mystic and really deserves that. Though the term has its connotations which he wouldn’t want.

I’ve been a fan of his for more than 25 years. The first album I really heard was Dancing in the Dragons Jaws from 1979 and it had a hit of sorts, Wondering Where the Lions Are. This song was partially inspired by Charles Williams‘ book The Place of the Lion. And Charles Williams due to this book was a friend of C.S. Lewis! Read the reviews on Amazon. I don’t see the book in the Calgary Public Library.

And on the web site with the comments, now I understand more about the lyrics after all these years! I know the meaning of the lion symbol. I’m not giving it away here, read the site.

At a concert while I was in university we waited after the show at the Jubilee Auditorium in Calgary and there was Bruce backstage. So we went and shook his hand and got autographs. I sure wish I had kept it. That was with my old friend Roger who was and is a guitar player and a great fan and even asked Bruce something about tuning which he answered. No eliteness about the man, certainly.

If you don’t believe the depth of his music, check out on the site where you can even listen to all the songs!

Believe it or not, the following song was written May 27, 1970!

Golden Serpent Blues

She moves like a golden serpent all day long
Moves like a golden serpent all day long
She lights the candle when the day is gone

She likes to give me honey when I’m down
She likes to give me honey when I’m down
If I ever was a king y’know she was the crown

She carries all the lines down in her palms
She carries all the lines down in her palms
She can drive away the devil with a song

Here is another very recent song on his album You’ve Never Seen Everything:

Open

I never lived with balance
I always wake up nervous
Light comes at me sideways
I hold my breath forever

I never lived with balance
Though I’ve always liked the notion
I feel an endless hunger
For energy and motion
Open
Open
Open

I never lived with balance
I want to feel you near me
There’s an aching in my hipbone
Want to let my heart drop open
It’s daylight in the city
There’s thumping in the stairwell
Kundalini sunrise
A clamouring of church bells
Open
Open
Open

You like to let me worry
But I don’t take you for granted
Come over here and kiss me
I’m savouring your picture
The street is filled with noises
Life going up and down
Light comes at you sideways
Enfolds you like a gown
Open
Open
Open

And there are many, many other depths to his music. I really think he is of the level of some of the great mystical poets. That is the thought that came to me today while driving.

Here is a site with a full listing of his albums.
And here is the official site with all the tracks to play

I could go on and list more of the great expressions of his music and may do that later.

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Another boring post

By Ian on November 28, 2005 in Food

So do I have anything interesting to say?

Well I went for dinner at the Al-Kout mall food court! There is a Thai “fast food” place there called Marina Thai along with the Burger King, Pizza Hut, Cinnabon, Tandoori Fast food and a Chinese place. I wanted to try the Thai food and actually it wasn’t too bad for KD 1.5. Does thinking you got value for your money make the food taste better?

An interesting experience, how flavors and smells bring back memories. I felt that I was transplanted back to two or three years ago in Shanghai when I went to a mall food court and had noodle soup. Must have been the spices and listening to too much Bruce Cockburn while driving. Check out his site and I think I’ll do a separate posting about him. The noodle soup in Shanghai was fresher of course. It was very interesting in Shanghai, they have a big stainless stell vessel of boiling water with a hole in the top. And they put all the noodles in a basket and immerse it in the water. And when it is nearly cooked they add the meat or fish and cook it, then toss it in a bowl with spices and halas it is ready. (Halas is actually Arabic meaning finished, done).

Nothing much interesting in the day at work. (Well actually it was interesting for me, but for you Dear Reader, not so interesting, about gas compression equipment) I got to work in West Kuwait at 7:00 a.m. after the 45 minute drive was there 5 minutes and got a phone call to come back for a meeting all the way back in Ahmadi at 8:00 at Unity Center. Unity Center was built in 1953! It was the first KOC Ahmadi employee club.

Tonight lazy, no gym, but now that Marcus and Katrina are back at Dive Caroline, diving again is planned for Thursday. Though it could be chilly, the water is rumored to be 16 degrees or so!

Tomorrow the gym. The problem here is the waistline of my pants keeps shrinking, even my belts are shrinking. Maybe it is the weather.

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Kuwait Oil Company (KOC) Logo Origin

By Ian on November 27, 2005 in Uncategorized

Apparently the logo, seen in its dynamic form here, the KOC logo of a falcon or hawk has an interesting origin. Some time ago, after oil was discovered in south Kuwait, some people were out hunting when they say a falcon hovering above a spot in the desert. They went to that spot and there was oil — the first oil find in North Kuwait. Believe it or not.

Update, 2008. The latest official logo is the following:

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Car Shopping

By Ian on November 27, 2005 in Uncategorized

Time to look for a vehicle, buy or lease, new or used, not decided yet. Some people lease, some buy used. Let’s see… I was certainly ignored in the dealerships. I guess I don’t look wealthy enough.

Nissan-patrol
Nissan Patrol From KD 10500 to KD 11100 KD

	Nissan Armada KD 11150 to KD 11850
	Nissan Murano KD10500
	Nissan Altima KD5150
	Toyota Prado 8 cylinder KD 17000 KD 6 cylinder KD 12000 Used Prada, 2004 model KD 7000
	Used Vitarra I don’t like the Vitarras. They are thinly built, I guess you could say. And I’ve heard they are not lasting as long mechanically.

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Driving – yet another post

By Ian on November 26, 2005 in Uncategorized

Driving back from the gym today. First at the left turn at the light a woman driver in full veil was doing the unoffficial left turn from the second lane, or was it the first lane? She didn’t know the difference!

Then closer to home, another car driving along with a lady driving with about a four year old sized boy standing in her lap between her and the steering wheel!

Wow!

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Wet Traffic Circles

By Ian on November 25, 2005 in Uncategorized

Another thing to watch out for. As if it doesn’t just take eyes in the back of your head. One of the traffic circles that I often pass by gets lots of water splashed on the road by the water tankers which spill while breaking and turning into the circle.

And on the roads here, even though it rained recently, any water on the road turns the film of dust etc. on the road to being more slippery than ice.

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