Happy New Year, everyone!
I hope that 2013 is a great year for all and that it ends better than it has started with the Republicans agreeing to commit suicide for half of the revenue that Obama initially demanded. In case you are wondering, our staunch spending/tax cutting warriors in the Senate did neither, accepting a deal that raises taxes $41 for every $1 in cuts.
Awesome.
Well, we sort of expected to get well and truly screwed but I at least hoped to get dinner before the violent, submissive sex…now we are buying dinner but we don’t even get to eat it.
Good times…good times…
Well, I have a bit of an announcement as well.
I’m done.
I am retiring from the blog and blogging activities effective the end of January.
I will be turning the blog over to Joe, who has agreed to carry on with the experiment that we started sort of by accident two years ago when I moved my writing from my old TownHall site and Joe joined up as the blogging site at the old Panama City News Herald site was getting shut down.
I wanted to stick around to see the 2 millionth page view and it looks as if that will happen this month, which will also be the two-year anniversary of TRNL. We will be making a transition of ownership over the next thirty days and by the end of the month, I will no longer be part of this media experience.
I’ll be sporadically contributing this month as we get all of our stuff relocated from Edinburgh but January promises to be a busy, non internet enabled month…
I am also making some significant alterations to my career as I move back to the USA that are necessitating these changes. I have been in discussions with my bosses for a few weeks about my role after repatriation and the career opportunities that I want are not immediately apparent with my current company and as such, we have negotiated a separation agreement that will complete sometime around the end of the first quarter of 2013.
As such, a search for my new career home will start immediately.
I will be working on a couple of special projects for Oceaneering during the first quarter but will be active in the job market.
Oceaneering has been a fantastic company to work for and I could not ask for a better situation. I have had the most successful and rewarding 4 years of my career and have worked with some of the most ethical and fair people, most of whom I now consider true friends. I have made great and lifelong friendships in Panama City, Florida and Rosyth, Scotland and I appreciate every single minute that I spent at each location. It is just a fact of work life that as you get closer to the top of a company, the more significant positions tend to be less and less available and the turnover rate is very low in successful companies, which Oceaneering is.
I liken it to a football team made up of really good players. There can only be 11 starters on each side of the ball and when other players on the roster are good enough to start, sometimes they have to change teams to have that opportunity. That’s where I find myself as I only joined OII four years ago, there are a number of great players ahead of me on the depth chart…and I want to start. I’ve always been the kind of guy who wanted the ball in my hands with time running out. I’ve done it in high school, in college and in business and nothing beats the feeling of taking and making that shot as time expires.
I am pursuing a position as a divisional VP in a larger company (over $500 million in revenue) or a COO/CEO/President role in a mid-sized company ($100 million to $500 million in revenues). I want to stay in the oil and gas sector as well. In these roles and especially in public companies, my opinions and positions become inseparable from those of the company and as such, public disclosures and pronouncements as I am prone to do here could reflect in a negative way on my future company.
This fact has led to the difficult decision to withdraw from the blogging world. I’ve tried to cut back and it just hasn’t worked, I’m an “in for a penny, in for a pound” kind of guy and I apparently have to go cold turkey to stop.
I withdraw with great appreciation to all here, the co-bloggers, the commenters, the readers and to all of the other sites in the blogosphere who have blessed us with links to our work. It is my hope that the RNL continues to grow in readership and influence under the new leadership.
It has been fun and hopefully we have made you think – even if you disagree.
Adios,
Utah
The Rio Norte Line 
I hit the button to like this post…. but I really don’t like it. 😦
Utah, I myself have been trying to find a way to walk away from this little crack addiction we call the Rio Norte Line, but it’s a difficult habit to have.
Hope to see you back here again some day … even if as an alternate alias commenter. God’s speed, and best wishes with your future endeavors, my friend. It has truly been a pleasure.
Fair winds and following seas, Utah. Blessings upon your search for the goals you have set for yourself. Stay safe, be happy, enjoy. The Rio Norte Line has provided me with the opportunity to express my own opinions, respect other people’s right to their opinion, and has provided countless hours of entertainment. Thank you.
Came late to the game…..so I hardly knew yah. But as I said what did shine through was pure Gold. I agree with Augger, Hope to have some “alias” input from U as the battle continues and heats up.
You’ll be back; we’re an irresistable lot. Now, on to business; did you notice that Rubio was one of the senators who did NOT vote for this deal? Yes, Floridians rock!
Love you, too, my sweet but I do have to dissappear for a bit. Remember, absence makes the heart grow fonder.
I saw Rubio’s “nay” vote – Cantor has also started a mini-rebellion in the House, too. Good for them. Eternal champions, both.
I’m watching a very interesting fairytale called “Once Upon a Time”, and hoping that everyone shall live happily ever after.
Shall I test the “absence makes the heart grow fonder” BS with you boys? You were crawling out of your skin last time, but I can oblige………………beg!…………….now!……………..on your knees!…………. Lutheran, not Catholic, in the house! Uh-huh! Beg or submit to penance. I believe you boys are very well aware of what that includes.
Oh, time for my show……
http://dryerreport.com/obama-and-friends/
Going to miss your posts. You’ve made me think, sometimes you’ve even scared me a little, but I like the way you tell me the truth as you see it, no PC BS here. For someone who’s lived in CA many years, that’s a novel experience!
Godspeed to you, I know you will be successful at whatever you tackle next.
I am new to this blog, but have enjoyed most of your posts. Even when I disagree, you provide food for thought. All the best!
Best of luck to you Boss. You’ll be missed. I’d come to really enjoy your writing. You’re one helluva lot more articulate writer than the vast majority of “professional” writers.
Take care & God bless
You the man, Mike……………hope we hear from ya again some day.
I wish you well in your future endevors. But I just started reading this and love it so much. This is very stressing to me. Finding a person that says what I am thinking is hard. Good luck
Thanks, all.
The career consultants that are working with me discourage active blogging, FaceBook or Twitter during a job search…These days and at the level I am trying to stretch to reach, jumping from a GM of a 150 million business to a VP position of a 400 million business is a pretty high leap. The fact is that there aren’t that many of those positions out there and those that are available all have a long list of stud Clydesdales vying for them. A good friend of mine (who is a VP) told me that with these positions, it is as much about “deselecting” yourself as it is someone actually selecting you.
I guess I made a mistake in not remaining anonymous but I’ve always felt that if you were going to say something with conviction, you should be prepared to stand behind it…and that is what I have tried to do. Anonymity sometimes encourages a storm of bullsh*t.
I hope that I can return at some point later in the year but I need to get focused on the career change and getting back to the US from Scotland after two years out of the country. January will be busy.
I’ll probably still chime in from time to time but I just won’t be able to pay attention to the blog as much frequency as it needs. This is really an opportunity for the other co-bloggers to step up and get their work out there. We have some very good intellects with excellent writing ability on board here…I would encourage them to use the space that I have been hogging. I’ve also been compiling the material for a book but haven’t touched it in almost a year, I would also like to try to push that to a point I can get it published…I know that writing poorly is very difficult, I can’t imagine what it takes to write well!
Well if not a Storm….at least a few “showers and lightning”.
The subject of your book is Political, Social Commentary, Cooking ??…….. {yes I am being pushy.. :- )). }
Political, social commentary and philosophy written in novel form.
Judging From your posts and choice of Articles selected here, I will definitely be on the look-out for it !
((…it’s good you left out the cooking btw… ;- ))….))
Thank Goodness! I thought it was going to be a tell-all about your hook-up with Lindsay Lohan. Ooops! Did I let the cat outta the bag?
Can you not take Augger’s suggestion and post anonymously?
Like you wouldn’t know it was me…we’ll see.
Yeah but we wouldn’t tell.
I could so fool you before you fooled me. Trust. I need to have Mr. Kells set up another account (the lack of technological knowlege is the only thing stopping me at this point.) I’ll have you and B. eating out of my hands……just you all wait……………….Suckers!
And This is EXACTLY why good hygiene is important.
Kells,
The last time you tried that, I had you pegged by your third comment. You’ll do no better the second time around. You can’t help but be you — even when you’re trying not to be you. 😉
I’m new here too, but I wish you the absolute best. You’re right about the blogging, FB, etc. I had a job as Finance Director of a small (150 person) company and felt like I had to comport myself in a professional manner even when not at work.
Well, except for the time I drank too much wine at the company picnic and ran around pinching everyone’s butt and yelling “Class Action Lawsuit!”. 🙂
That’s all well and good…..but did U make any money off the Deal….that’s the question… ;- )) .