An Oilman’s Chronicles: Inspiring Tales of a Lifetime Journey in Adventure

By Jerry G. Heller

A farmers son with inspiration and developing insights was able to separate himself from the country site and the potato industry to start an international career in the oil and gas industry. He did not get discouraged by setbacks by tapping willpower from his strive for a higher plan he dreamed about at a young age and by looking for the potential life could offer and most of all how he could enjoy it. His hart was with engineering but realized he had to study languages to reach the big world, to travel and to get to know other countries and cultures in order to enrich his life and make his dream come true.
An international company with headquarters in Houston Texas offered him the opportunity. The 160 stories about his life and career can be an inspiration for many.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Oct 11, 2020
• ISBN: 9781663203267

Jerry G. Heller

Mr. Jerry G. Heller is a retired oilman who lives with the love of his life, Dineke Mooibroek. He made it from a country side environment to an international career. They have two children, Dr. Linda and Dennis and one grandchild Nienke. He is the co-author of the Family Heller and the Heller Brothers. He is active in community service organizations and loves golf. Following retirement and the influence of Covid-19 made his long wish of writing this book come into a reality and to share his inspiring life experience with the world he loved to travel. All his life he has had unlimited interests in science of space and new discoveries and firmly believes curiosity is of the essence for the human race.

Book preview

Copyright © 2020 Jerry G. Heller.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

iUniverse

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.iuniverse.com

844-349-9409

Because of the dynamic nature of the internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0325-0 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0327-4 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-6632-0326-7 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020919078

iUniverse rev. date: 10/09/2020

CONTENTS

Preface

Acknowledgments

Introduction

Chapter 1 The Very Beginning

Chapter 2 Fire

Chapter 3 High School

Chapter 4 Hitchhiking

Chapter 5 Love at First Sight

Chapter 6 Holidays

Chapter 7 Mechanical Engineering

Chapter 8 Career

Chapter 9 The Dream Turns Real

Chapter 10 Adventures

Chapter 11 Career Moves

Chapter 12 Fourth Round of Layoffs

Chapter 13 Expat Position 1

Chapter 14 Philosophy of Life

Chapter 15 Road Show

Chapter 16 Romania

Chapter 17 More Adventures

Chapter 18 Real Estate Experience

Chapter 19 Expat Position 2

Chapter 20 Family Roots

Chapter 21 Immigration

Chapter 22 Corporate Assignment

Chapter 23 Unlimited Clean Energy

Chapter 24 The Very End

AN OILMAN’S CHRONICLES

42568.png

To my family, friends, and the colleagues I had the

privilege of working with for more than forty years in

the oil and gas industry while doing our part to energize

the world. And especially to my wife, Dineke, who

was my biggest supporter throughout.

If you go through a difficult time,… keep going.

PREFACE

This life story may inspire you. I came from a rural countryside family and had the spirit and drive to investigate how, while following your dreams, life can be a happy and varied journey.

D..jpg

Jerry G. Heller

I hope many may find in this book true spirit—spirit that will encourage you to follow your heart in everything you do in life. That’s how I started at an early age. I remember it very well. A farmer’s son from the countryside, I made an international career in the oil and gas industry. While I achieved educational qualifications, my heart and common sense (though I never found out which one prevailed) took me around the globe as I added value to the energy needs of the world. Many challenges and opportunities came my way, and truly remarkable developments are intertwined with my life and career.

Leaving the potato industry in the countryside landscape and entering the oil and gas industry for me can be summed up in the words, We have … liftoff! I felt just like the giant Saturn V rocket must have as it left the launch platform on its way to the moon. It was risky and challenging, and it was never certain what tomorrow would bring.

I loved not knowing what tomorrow would bring. It kept my life quite interesting during all those years. It made every day of my life an adventure. It brought personal development at an international level and was a perfect fit for what I dreamed about. Sometimes it was hard. Mostly, it was fun. And before I knew it, it was time to retire. But I was totally happy with the life I’d lived—just following my heart.

Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson is one of my favorite books in this respect.¹

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

My thanks to:

1. Scott County Historical Society, Stans Museum, Shakopee, Minnesota, USA

2. Shakopee Brewhall Team, Shakopee, Minnesota, USA

3. Polish History Museum, Warsaw, Poland

4. Curtis Brown Group, London, UK

5. International Churchill Society, California State University, Fullerton, USA

6. Maczek Memorial, Breda, the Netherlands

7. iUniverse, Bloomington, Indiana, USA

INTRODUCTION

This book is written for readers thinking about life; the future of the human race; their happiness; religion, creation, and the universe; why humans are on this planet; and other intriguing thoughts in our free world—thoughts based on our strong instinct to be curious, which is the essence of our existence. Curiosity of primates most likely led to the development of early humans some 2.5 million years ago (some scientists doubt this number, but that’s a detail).

I am convinced the evolution is going to continue, and just as our ancestors transitioned from primates to humans, there will be another transition to superhumans in the future. According to Stephen Hawking, the easiest explanation of evolution and our existence is that there is no God. That is easy to say, as that take is all about evolution. We can ask ourselves questions though. Who started the evolution? The answer to that is not so easy. However, I am convinced (and have been since I was a little boy) that there is space after death where there is nothing but love and forgiveness—a spiritual space at a much higher level than we are used to thinking at. We think in earthly terms, and that may be why we don’t understand so many phenomenon. I was told about heaven, hell, and angels, and that’s an earthly way of visualizing whatever there may be in space after death.

I find it a pleasant thought to believe there is something phenomenal waiting for us. It gives me power but has nothing to do with what we have been told. Religion is not about which religion is right and which is wrong. In the higher religious space, it does not matter at all whether we name it God or something else. Religious people have, in times of difficulties, always one more means to find comfort and support by exercising their beliefs.

Why does a higher power not interfere when disasters strike humans? Well, that is typically an earthly question. It is not a fair question to ask at all. Here on earth, we have been given almost unlimited resources and are free to use these to our comfort and persuasion. We have been given the freedom to choose and select but do not always make the right decisions, which can lead to disasters. Imagine a higher power interfering with all our wrong decisions. How insecure would that make us? We would not feel happy at all.

Each individual’s life and experience are results of his or her own past decisions. It is entirely up to us to choose those decisions that make us happy and provide love and comfort. But how do we make the right decisions? I have done two things: I used simple guidelines, and I followed my heart without being naive. These two principles have provided safety and security and have guided me through difficult periods both in my life and my career while I stayed focused on my dream.

So far, the human race has created an ever more complicated society, a world in which a growing number of individuals either can’t or don’t want to participate. We have largely created a consumer world, and if we want to consume, we have to perform, putting everyone under daily pressure—perhaps ruining happiness for some and creating opportunities and happiness for those who see potential. We have the inalienable freedom to choose either.

Within this consumer world, we are able to feed more than 7.7 billion people on a daily basis, an amazing achievement that raises a fair question as to when will we reach the maximum capacity of our planet to feed an ever-growing population.

Will there be existential threats beyond the horizon, such as aggressive mutated viruses, a nuclear war, and failed harvests as a result of climate change leading to starvation? Or even worse, a gamma ray burst from a supernova leading to extinction of almost the entire human race and taking us back to the Stone Age?

These are fair questions to ask while we continue to be eager to find solutions in the fullness of time. That curiosity will keep the human race alive as we may populate other planets in the future. There are many planets available in the habitable zones. We just need to create ways to get there and populate them. I am sure we will.

While we are in an energy transition dictated by the need to protect the environment, we should all realize, however, that the human race has, with energy and feedstock from oil and gas, designed and built roads, buildings, machinery, planes, clothes, cars, and the beds we sleep. The GDP of many nations is more than 50 percent reliant on the sale of fossil energy. However, these resources, while not unlimited, will have an important role to play in the energy mix for a long time to come—even with a heightened focus on alternative energy.

In the second to last chapter, Unlimited Clean Energy: ITER (International Thermonuclear Experimental Reaction, I touch again on this theme in more detail, with an eye on unlimited clean future energy. That future may be closer than you think.

It is time to address growing pollution. We can hardly see the stars anymore. We’ve polluted the oceans with plastic and allowed economics to prevail over a clean environment. We all stare at our cell phones and computer screens at work and at home and have forgotten about personal communication and quality time with children, family, and neighbors. Maybe we need to get sick before we can feel healthy.

It’s annoying that an aggressive virus has forced people to once again spend more time at home, which has reduced pollution significantly while we are still consuming the same quantities. This new situation and what it means for the future is worthwhile to think about.

I was told some students have calculated the material value of a human body—consisting mainly of water, bones, a bit of glue, and just enough hair to make a brush, altogether worth some sixteen US dollars. It’s not all that much. Our spirit and consciousness may be our most valuable possessions, as these help us to make the right decisions for a happy life.

Every individual in the free world we have created is being offered opportunities beyond imagination. We just need to realize what our hearts long for, identify those aims, and stay focused. Drawbacks, which may be expected to occur, do not play an important role as long as we keep focused on what our hearts are reaching for. Pursuit always prevails. I know. I have experienced it, and this life story may prove that to you.

_GettyImages-1205822928.jpg

CHAPTER 1

THE VERY BEGINNING

I was born September 14, four years after World War II ended, as the youngest of four children. Though there was a raging war in Europe, we children were born at four-year intervals—a daughter, a son, a daughter, and a son. Home was a farmhouse. Our parents had agricultural land and raised cattle in the small village of Vledderveen in Groningen state in the Netherlands, Vledderweg 3. At that time there were 115 families locally and a population of 276. There was a primary school, a church, a baker, a café, and a blacksmith. We lived in harmony in this countryside. Transportation of large cargo was done by ship. We brought potatoes to the cargo ship by horse and a wagon.

All the bridges had to be opened by hand to let ships pass, and it was a fight for who would do the next opening and receive a five-cent reward. The main canal was dug by hand in 1856, and the roads were unpaved. We listened to plays on the radio, and the news and newspapers were an important means of receiving news, as well as word of mouth. We were Roman Catholic and went to church every Sunday, as was standard practice. After church, the latest news was exchanged, and we all returned home. There was no other means of communication, and we all regarded it as normal. We did not see the need to change. During the holy Mass, there was a collection. After some time, I found a way not to put my coin in the collection box. Instead, I used it Sunday afternoon to go to the local café and buy chocolate. Though I did not feel good about my actions, the chocolate tasted fantastic.

As a child at a farmhouse, I experienced a wonderful freedom, with lots of space and a life lived very close to nature—very valuable qualities for growing up. We had a large orchard with many different varieties of apples. Some were so big they did not fit in the pockets of my trousers. So my mother sewed new trousers with large pockets to accommodate at least four apples, two each side. I was so proud and ran across the yard or went to the neighbors with my trousers looking twice as wide as normal.

In front of the farm there was a canal in which we went swimming, fishing, or ice-skating in the winter. My mother made sandwiches with syrup while I played ice hockey with other boys from the village. My father swept the ice with a self-made broom, and we thought it would always remain like this. We could not imagine something different.

We did not have running water, but we had a well instead. It was about ten feet deep, and water was pulled up by means of a bucket on a rope. In our neighborhood, there was a lot of peat, and as a result, the water from the well was brown. All water for consumption was boiled to make sure it was free from impurities and fit for consumption. Rainwater was also captured and stored in underground tanks; this water was also boiled.

Every summer there was a lot of activity on the farm. The cattle were in the meadow, and potatoes and corn had to be harvested. We would play in the yard until dark with the dog and the cat. I had a small three-wheeled seesaw, and when my father came home from the land, the oldest horse would pull my seesaw while I sat on it and looked through the legs to see where I was going. The horse did not like it, and every time I drove toward the stable, it would start to run faster and faster. It was a mighty big horse in front of my small seesaw. It was fun, something a young boy never forgets.

Just like on all farms, we had a cat and a dog. Ours was a robust dog with short hair. It was light brown with some white spots. We loved to play with the dog, and the dog liked it even more than we did.

A peculiar man lived in the village—just like in every village, we guessed. His appearance was different from that of other people. He had a problem with his spine and had pulled-up shoulders and a bent back. He was always dressed in black. He drove a special lightweight moped, and during summertime, he passed our yard almost every day when he was on his way to his land. On the moped, he carried the tools needed to work on the land, and the whole combination was very striking. We called him Joppy.

To find more excitement, we made our dog especially aware of the striking creature passing our farm. We would put the dog’s front legs on the windowsill, grab the dog by the head, and point him in the direction of Joppy, while we said to the dog, Joppy! Joppy! Joppy! The dog would get so excited and angry it had to bite into something, so it would take a bite from the flowers. Just by the sound of Joppy’s moped, the dog