Getting real for a second: 15 plus years in E&P as a landman and in midstream. I've worked for a small operator, a pubCo, a startup, a large private and recently as a consultant. I'm done. Before the crash, even in a down market, I was doing better than I ever did at pubCo.

It took everything we had for me to go out on my own, especially after decimating savings over and over again to move a family town to town chasing the dragon. I thought we were finally there. I was actually hiring contractors...growing. My spirit is now broken.

I'm sure many of you are in a similar spot. This post isn't meant to be a downer...it's meant more in the spirit of solidarity. I've always been the candid one in the group. It's OK to feel hopeless.

I'm trying to channel all that love I have (and will always have) for O&G into the next thing, whatever that might be. I can't keep doing this to my family. I wish the same for all of you.

All that buildup - knowing I made the right decision to leave big shale, finding EFT, knowing it was coming...then watching it all unwind in favor of the C-suite...it's too much. I don't have any fight left.

this thread brought to you by (possibly my last bottle ever of) Basil Hayden's