When I think about obsolescence, I usually only thing of it in a negative sense, such as buying the newest car, clothes, cell phone, etc. One example of my own negative obsolescence is the purchase of new make-up. If I am watching a commercial that advertises a new line of mascara which is supposed to “make your lashes fuller, without the clump” you can pretty much bet that I will head right out to the store and buy it, even though my current tube of mascara is still half full. Something else that is very obsolete for me is my western show clothing. I cannot even count up the number of show shirts (or all the money) I have sitting in my closet at home. Each year, when the new show season starts and I see the latest fashions, I feel like I have to go design something new to wear, regardless of whether or not my old show clothes are still in great shape.
On the other hand, there is also positive obsolescence in my life, too. About twice every year, I get the urge to clean out my closet and get rid of some of my clothes. Even though some of the clothing is still relatively new (or still have the tags on them) I never just throw them away, unless they are worn out or torn. Instead, I always donate my clothes to the Salvation Army or Goodwill. Also, just because I get rid of a lot of my clothes, does not mean I go right out and replace them with the “newest fashions” either, I just have fewer clothes. Another case of positive obsolescence that I have dealt with is the dying out of cassette tapes. The tapes would always come unwound or would rip after only a short period of time. Now that I have really focused on it, there are several parts of life that can be looked at as being positively obsolete.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Monday, October 13, 2008
My Thoughts on Ch. 2
Chapter 2 talks mostly about the automobile and the changes we have seen in it over the years. When I first read about Henry Ford and his “Tin Lizzie” I was shocked at the extent he went to, in order to keep his car the exact same. Usually when someone is in competition with others, they try to make changes to their product in hopes of bettering their work, but Ford definitely was not interested in change. I actually laughed when I read about the look and condition of the Tin Lizzie as compared to cars from other dealers who were keeping with the times and making improvements. On the other hand, I do know that something about the Ford car must have been right because it was able to continue selling for longer than any other car had, at this time. Even while GM was coming up with new versions of the automobile, Ford stuck with the same car and pushed for its ability last, which I really admire.
Reading about the Ford’s stance on not wanting to upgrade when their product was still in good working order makes me realize how unnecessary certain objects in life are today. If only people would take the same outlook on items such as the cell phone, TV’s and clothes as Ford did with their Tin Lizzie, I think we would be much better off, both presently, and in the future. Chapter 2 has made me realize all the items in life I can reuse, or just use longer instead of throwing it away for a newer version. If something still works, why throw it away? I almost feel silly about not realizing it before, but I waste too many good items in my life, that could be used for much longer or given to someone less fortunate.
The section in Chapter 2 about “Designing for style” still sticks with so many people today who are constantly in need of the next best thing. Although some aspects of the Tin Lizzie may not have been the best, that fact is, it still worked and did what it was meant to do. Overall, from this chapter, I got that looks are not always the most important, but rather quality and usage of items are.
Reading about the Ford’s stance on not wanting to upgrade when their product was still in good working order makes me realize how unnecessary certain objects in life are today. If only people would take the same outlook on items such as the cell phone, TV’s and clothes as Ford did with their Tin Lizzie, I think we would be much better off, both presently, and in the future. Chapter 2 has made me realize all the items in life I can reuse, or just use longer instead of throwing it away for a newer version. If something still works, why throw it away? I almost feel silly about not realizing it before, but I waste too many good items in my life, that could be used for much longer or given to someone less fortunate.
The section in Chapter 2 about “Designing for style” still sticks with so many people today who are constantly in need of the next best thing. Although some aspects of the Tin Lizzie may not have been the best, that fact is, it still worked and did what it was meant to do. Overall, from this chapter, I got that looks are not always the most important, but rather quality and usage of items are.
Monday, October 6, 2008
Review of "The Prize"
In general, I guess we could say the Prize focuses on the oil industry from the first sight of oil many years ago, up until the very recently. Even though The Prize specifically goes through each chapter and describes how the oil industry evolved year to year, there is actually a more important topic than the broad outlook. I believe The Prize is more of a statement of how life has changed and developed since the first strike of oil, the people involved with starting and maintaining the oil industry, and the importance of oil for our survival in the future.
First of all, the book begins by talking about how oil was used solely for illuminating homes and businesses. As the book progresses, we see how the oil was then transferred into other uses such as gasoline for automobiles and for tankers while fighting in war. Due to oil, the entire world has changed, especially when it comes to working with varying countries and industries. As soon as the news of oil hit the newspapers, it spread like wildfires into nearly all walks of life. Also, oil has created friendships and enemies where they might have never been established if it weren’t for oil.
Secondly, the start of the oil industry was a new beginning for many individuals, personally. People such as Rockefeller and Teagle would be nobody today if it had not been for the invention of oil. There are so many household names being used today because of oil and these individuals have really shaped the world, especially in economics. Because a few people were willing to devote their entire lives to oil, the rest of the world now has so many advancements and luxuries because of their hard work.
Lastly, The Prize is known for tracking the overall importance of oil, in relationship to the future of the world. Although oil seems to be a huge pain for many people right now, it is also a need. Without oil, there are so many items that would not exist and would probably send people into more of a depression than they already are, because of oil prices. Even though it gets tiresome to talk about oil all the time, the fact is, it is a huge part of everyday life and something we will want to hang on to for many years from now.
I believe The Prize really just outlines this “monster” that so many depend on and complain about at the same time because it has become so well known and used over time. After reading through this book, the one thing that really stuck out to me was the filth involved in drilling for oil. Between watching the movie and reading about it in our books, I never really imagined the hard work, danger, and above all, the mess that went along with drilling for oil. Unless I was positive I was getting a huge chunk of money out of it, I do not think I would want to work on a drilling sight. Even above the filth, there are the obvious health issues that so many men were willing to risk, and I just do not think it is worth it.
First of all, the book begins by talking about how oil was used solely for illuminating homes and businesses. As the book progresses, we see how the oil was then transferred into other uses such as gasoline for automobiles and for tankers while fighting in war. Due to oil, the entire world has changed, especially when it comes to working with varying countries and industries. As soon as the news of oil hit the newspapers, it spread like wildfires into nearly all walks of life. Also, oil has created friendships and enemies where they might have never been established if it weren’t for oil.
Secondly, the start of the oil industry was a new beginning for many individuals, personally. People such as Rockefeller and Teagle would be nobody today if it had not been for the invention of oil. There are so many household names being used today because of oil and these individuals have really shaped the world, especially in economics. Because a few people were willing to devote their entire lives to oil, the rest of the world now has so many advancements and luxuries because of their hard work.
Lastly, The Prize is known for tracking the overall importance of oil, in relationship to the future of the world. Although oil seems to be a huge pain for many people right now, it is also a need. Without oil, there are so many items that would not exist and would probably send people into more of a depression than they already are, because of oil prices. Even though it gets tiresome to talk about oil all the time, the fact is, it is a huge part of everyday life and something we will want to hang on to for many years from now.
I believe The Prize really just outlines this “monster” that so many depend on and complain about at the same time because it has become so well known and used over time. After reading through this book, the one thing that really stuck out to me was the filth involved in drilling for oil. Between watching the movie and reading about it in our books, I never really imagined the hard work, danger, and above all, the mess that went along with drilling for oil. Unless I was positive I was getting a huge chunk of money out of it, I do not think I would want to work on a drilling sight. Even above the filth, there are the obvious health issues that so many men were willing to risk, and I just do not think it is worth it.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Chapter 13
In chapter 13 we are first introduced to Columbus Joiner aka, “daddy”. Joiner was part of the large group of men at this time who were basically con-artists within the oil industry who would send out letters, asking for donations to help find a new oil well and then promised the person a large chunk of change, once the well was up and running. Another huge player in this game was Robert E. Lee who was a descendent of General Robert E. Lee. Lee was able to acquire over $2 million before being caught by federal authorities. Later, Joiner became fascinated with the idea of finding oil in East Texas. Joiner was given the idea from “Doc Lloyd” who wrote out a map for Joiner to show him exactly where to drill. By this time, many people were aware of the scams performed by Lloyd and Joiner and they only laughed at Joiner for trying to go after this idea. Like many other deal makers in the oil industry at this time, Joiner thought of himself as a womanizer and said that every woman had a spot on her neck, that when he touched it, they would write him out a check. However, Joiner did receive enough donations to begin drilling on the Daisy Bradford farm.
After several years of trying, Joiner finally struck it big with his Wildcat on October 3, 1930 and his discovery was known as the Black Giant. Due to all of the oil being drilled, prices plummeted and “teakettles” (pint-sized refineries) produced Eastex gasoline, which was sold at gas stations to make up for the loss of money from oil. Later, Joiner decided to sell all his stocks to Haroldson Lafayette Hunt (H.L or Boy) and received $1.33 million-$30,000 up front but when he found out about Boy’s scam, Joiner issued a law suit but later dropped it and spent most of his money trying to hit it big with another Wildcat but was unable to and died at age 87.
Again, oil prices dropped and any wells only producing only a few barrels a day were shut down. Then in August of 1931, “Alfalfa Bill” Murray, the governor of Oklahoma declared a state of emergency so that all major oil fields would be shut down until oil prices reached $1. Next, on August 17, 1931 the governor of Texas declared war on East Texas and he sent in National Guardsmen on horseback to shut down production in that area. Any excess oil created was known as “hot oil” because it was being smuggled into other states, creating another drop in oil prices. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, was extremely close with Roosevelt and helped in many of the decisions made in the country dealing with the oil industry. Ickes eventually got into some trouble over a mistress of his who was sending him letters at the White House, and were accidently intercepted by others. After this, Ickes called for Federal investigators to come and examine refinery records, test oil gauges, inspect tanks, and to dig up pipelines in East Texas, in order to stop the “hot oil” crisis. Last but not least, in 1932, Congress passed a law that demanded 21 cents a barrel for crude and fuel oil and $1.05 for gasoline.
After several years of trying, Joiner finally struck it big with his Wildcat on October 3, 1930 and his discovery was known as the Black Giant. Due to all of the oil being drilled, prices plummeted and “teakettles” (pint-sized refineries) produced Eastex gasoline, which was sold at gas stations to make up for the loss of money from oil. Later, Joiner decided to sell all his stocks to Haroldson Lafayette Hunt (H.L or Boy) and received $1.33 million-$30,000 up front but when he found out about Boy’s scam, Joiner issued a law suit but later dropped it and spent most of his money trying to hit it big with another Wildcat but was unable to and died at age 87.
Again, oil prices dropped and any wells only producing only a few barrels a day were shut down. Then in August of 1931, “Alfalfa Bill” Murray, the governor of Oklahoma declared a state of emergency so that all major oil fields would be shut down until oil prices reached $1. Next, on August 17, 1931 the governor of Texas declared war on East Texas and he sent in National Guardsmen on horseback to shut down production in that area. Any excess oil created was known as “hot oil” because it was being smuggled into other states, creating another drop in oil prices. Harold Ickes, Secretary of the Interior, was extremely close with Roosevelt and helped in many of the decisions made in the country dealing with the oil industry. Ickes eventually got into some trouble over a mistress of his who was sending him letters at the White House, and were accidently intercepted by others. After this, Ickes called for Federal investigators to come and examine refinery records, test oil gauges, inspect tanks, and to dig up pipelines in East Texas, in order to stop the “hot oil” crisis. Last but not least, in 1932, Congress passed a law that demanded 21 cents a barrel for crude and fuel oil and $1.05 for gasoline.
Monday, September 22, 2008
An outline for my short essay
Here is what I have so far!
Thesis:
Although there may be some Americans who refuse to ease up on the use of oil, I believe the majority of Americans will continue to conserve oil, even if prices decline, due to related patterns shown in history, the effects of drastic increases in gasoline, food supplies, etc., and the importance of saving our environment from pollution, created by oil.
Main Points:
1.) Similar events in history prove that Americans will continue to be conservative with oil, even if prices drastically decline.
a. Prices have never been this high in the past
b. Increase in gas prices by 20% from 1975-1980 showed a cut of 6% per capita nationwide in gas consumption (The Boston Globe)
2.) Drastic increases in gas prices, food supplies, etc. has created several changes in many families across the country.
a. Over six years of rising prices has forced Americans to change their driving habits
b. Many products used daily contain oil, so the price in weekly groceries has gone up, too (class handout)
3.) Damage reported within the environment is currently being aimed towards the use of oil in the world.
a. Burning of oil is effecting the decrease in ice caps and life among mammals living in cold regions
b. Global warming may take over our environment unless we change our habits
Counter Argument:
Even though statistics show Americans will continue to conserve the use of oil if prices go down, there are also past incidents that occurred which proves otherwise.
a. Oil consumption went back up in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as the price went down
b. Many upper-class citizens have not changed daily routines due to the price of gas
Woks Cited
Krauss, Clifford. “Driving Less, Americans Finally React to Sting of Gas Prices, a Study Says.” New York Times on the Web 19 June 2008, . 10 September 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/business/19gas.html?fta=y.
Krauss, Clifford. “Reaction to gas price rise not what it used to be.” Boston Globe Online 8 April 2007. 10 September 2008 http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2007/04/08/reaction_to_gas_price_rise_not_wh....
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. (OPEC). A brief history of OPEC. 15 September 2008 http://www.opec.org/aboutus/history/history.htm.
U.S. Department of State. Second Arab Oil Embargo, 1973-1974. 21 September 2008 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dr/96057.htm.
Yergin, Daniel. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991.
Thesis:
Although there may be some Americans who refuse to ease up on the use of oil, I believe the majority of Americans will continue to conserve oil, even if prices decline, due to related patterns shown in history, the effects of drastic increases in gasoline, food supplies, etc., and the importance of saving our environment from pollution, created by oil.
Main Points:
1.) Similar events in history prove that Americans will continue to be conservative with oil, even if prices drastically decline.
a. Prices have never been this high in the past
b. Increase in gas prices by 20% from 1975-1980 showed a cut of 6% per capita nationwide in gas consumption (The Boston Globe)
2.) Drastic increases in gas prices, food supplies, etc. has created several changes in many families across the country.
a. Over six years of rising prices has forced Americans to change their driving habits
b. Many products used daily contain oil, so the price in weekly groceries has gone up, too (class handout)
3.) Damage reported within the environment is currently being aimed towards the use of oil in the world.
a. Burning of oil is effecting the decrease in ice caps and life among mammals living in cold regions
b. Global warming may take over our environment unless we change our habits
Counter Argument:
Even though statistics show Americans will continue to conserve the use of oil if prices go down, there are also past incidents that occurred which proves otherwise.
a. Oil consumption went back up in the late 1980’s and early 1990’s as the price went down
b. Many upper-class citizens have not changed daily routines due to the price of gas
Woks Cited
Krauss, Clifford. “Driving Less, Americans Finally React to Sting of Gas Prices, a Study Says.” New York Times on the Web 19 June 2008, . 10 September 2008 http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/19/business/19gas.html?fta=y.
Krauss, Clifford. “Reaction to gas price rise not what it used to be.” Boston Globe Online 8 April 2007. 10 September 2008 http://www.boston.com/cars/news/articles/2007/04/08/reaction_to_gas_price_rise_not_wh....
Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries. (OPEC). A brief history of OPEC. 15 September 2008 http://www.opec.org/aboutus/history/history.htm.
U.S. Department of State. Second Arab Oil Embargo, 1973-1974. 21 September 2008 http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/dr/96057.htm.
Yergin, Daniel. The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money & Power. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1991.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Ideas for my First Short Essay
As of now, I am planning on writing about idea number 3 on our assignment sheet. As we talked about it in class on Tuesday, I was very fascinated by the question of whether or not American's will choose to go back to their old habits if gas prices begin to go down. Personally, I think, yes, they will go back to old habits, but here is where my research will come in handy. So far, I've done a little research and I have found two different articles on this topic and one agrees with me (The Boston Globe), that American's will fall back on old habits if prices go down, but the other (The New York Times) disagrees with my opinion and thinks they will continue to be conservative.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
"There Will Be Blood"
After watching a good portion of the movie “There Will Be Blood” I am able to relate a lot of what I saw, to the things that I have read about in the book “The Prize”. The main character, Daniel, really reminds me of Rockefeller from the book because he seems so dead set on getting his oil that he doesn’t care who else it hurts. Also, I think the main character is greatly focused on making his fortune versus actually being concerned about what good he can do with the oil, just like Rockefeller was. A similarity I saw between the movie and book was the economic status of the total population. In both movie and book, you have a few select people who are wealthy beyond belief, while the rest of the population is scraping to get by. Also, the men who are set on finding oil, don’t really seem to care that much about family and love, whereas the rest of the men who don’t have the money or oil, care deeply about family and the few possessions they do have.
When it came to how the movie made me feel, I was really just shocked at how conniving and evil some people can be. I hated the fact that H.W. was hurt and lost his hearing in the movie and for what, some extra cash and more fame for his father? I think it’s terrible that Daniel will even put his family’s well-being at risk, just to get a little more oil and money. Another concern of mine was how dirty of a job finding oil was. I didn’t exactly expect it to be a clean job but there were several times when men were completely covered with oil and the only part of them that was visible was their eyes. After seeing the filth of finding oil, it is no wonder so many people died at a young age during this time, because their lungs had to have been filled with horrible, dark “gunk” from mining oil for so many years. Another part of the movie that really caught my eye was the danger involved in trying to find oil. One of the very first scenes of the movie shows a man falling to the bottom of a hole as he was looking for oil. That man was very lucky he survived the fall, especially since he was working all by himself. Further into the movie, we saw a man die from having a huge oil pump fall on his head when he was down in the oil hole. The tools these men used and the way they used them were very dangerous and it seemed that very few, if any, precautions were taken to prevent accidents from happening.
When it came to how the movie made me feel, I was really just shocked at how conniving and evil some people can be. I hated the fact that H.W. was hurt and lost his hearing in the movie and for what, some extra cash and more fame for his father? I think it’s terrible that Daniel will even put his family’s well-being at risk, just to get a little more oil and money. Another concern of mine was how dirty of a job finding oil was. I didn’t exactly expect it to be a clean job but there were several times when men were completely covered with oil and the only part of them that was visible was their eyes. After seeing the filth of finding oil, it is no wonder so many people died at a young age during this time, because their lungs had to have been filled with horrible, dark “gunk” from mining oil for so many years. Another part of the movie that really caught my eye was the danger involved in trying to find oil. One of the very first scenes of the movie shows a man falling to the bottom of a hole as he was looking for oil. That man was very lucky he survived the fall, especially since he was working all by himself. Further into the movie, we saw a man die from having a huge oil pump fall on his head when he was down in the oil hole. The tools these men used and the way they used them were very dangerous and it seemed that very few, if any, precautions were taken to prevent accidents from happening.
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