Oil and water don't mix as BP's spill shows.

By Dan Pelland, tech guru guest writer

Remote-operated vehicles (ROV’s) worked on apparatus at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, trying to save a planet. I couldn’t stop watching the live feed from BP. It’s almost interesting enough to dispel some bitterness I feel at the unfolding events down there. Maybe that’s BPs whole idea as their digital imaging technology brings a tragedy into our living rooms.

Early Thursday morning June 3, about 10:30, engineers began work, apparently to disconnect damaged pipes atop the now infamous blowout preventer. Two ROVs were visible. The point of view was a camera onboard what looks like a Millennium II cage-deployed ROV, owned and operated by Oceaneering International, Inc .

The ROV had a circular saw gripped in its right hand. As the ROV maneuvered into position, I could see how intensely difficult the adjustments must have been for the operator 5000 feet above. Regardless of what hi-tech equipment I was looking at, placing a tool with this kind of precision, without the benefit of tactile feedback, requires an extreme amount of skill and patience.

As soon as the blade began to spin, a thick cloud of mud obscured the camera but the operator held the saw in place and kept up the cut. I knew, from my own experience, what could go wrong in a situation like this. A little off axis, and the blade could bind and, in an instant, wrench the tool out of hand.

On the second cut, it happened. As I watched the saw fall out of the ROVs gripper, I knew what the operator was saying. I wondered if it was in a Cajun dialect. The camera panned downward. The saw had come to rest, precariously, on the top of the BOP (blowout preventer). The second ROV moved in to assist. It took the two operators, working from separate consoles. More than 30 minutes to recover the saw and get back to the cut.

Finally after more than an hour of careful maneuvering, a strap around the main riser was removed. At the moment it broke loose, I yelled.

video by alexhiggins732 via Youtube.com

The human factor of BPs oil spill

Regardless of the ill will and contempt many of us feel for the oil industry right now, there are men and women working as hard as any human ever has trying to mitigate the damage to our treasured resource. This is an intense drama unto itself, as compelling and fascinating as anything I’ve ever seen. The fact that I can watch it unfold in real time is a testament to the ingenuity of people like the staff at Oceaneering who put this technology to work.

Oil spill larger than Connecticut

Connecticut isn’t one of our largest states, but it’s intimidating to consider that three and half million people, the population of Connecticut, live in an area about the size of that mess in the Gulf of Mexico. You can not see end-to-end of the BP oil spill from one spot, unless you’re in space.

Gizmodo, a cool website for uber-geeks, has information today about how to map the Gulf oil spill over any land mass using Google Earth. The work is from Paul Rademacher via The Daily What.

Blogger Eric Berger, the SciGuy says the Gulf Spill is being tracked via satellite from space.

The Toronto Star writes about human and animal hair being used to clean up the Gulf oil spill.

One more thing. Chicago’s WGN radio morning talk guy pointed out that while BP owns the oil involved in this disaster, a multi-megabuck company called Transocean owns the rig, pipes, processes, technology, and responsibility for safety out in the Gulf. Some months ago, they were bragging about what a tremendous project this would be.

As I understand it, there was only one person from BP company on that rig most times. The rest were of, from, or working for Transocean. And did you know the WGN guy also reported there was a party happening onboard when the explosion took place? I haven’t read this info anywhere else, and no one can let BP off the hook, but I wonder what the real stories are under the stuff we’re getting in the media?

Reading this may save your grandchild’s life–or yours. Using a cell phone and sending text messages while  driving is as dangerous as drinking to excess and getting behind the wheel of a car.  Texting is the most dangerous distraction on the road and an epidemic among teens whose heads are firmly in their back pockets. If you know teen drivers – ride herd on them until they get it. You’ll save lives.

Are the Feds hiding evidence?

Two consumer groups FOIA-ed (Freedom of Information Act) documentation that indicates possible hanky panky in 2003 by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Network news mediasays NHTSA declined to conduct a study related to cell phone use by motorists.

NHTSA allegedly squelched pounds of existing documentation that indicates extreme danger when drivers use cell phones. Even hands-free cell phones. Drivers on cell phones, says that documentation, caused nearly 1000 highway fatalities in 2002 and were responsible for 250,000 accidents. The data in 2002 said 6% of drivers were using cell phones at any given time. Imagine what that figure is now.

In 2003, traffic fatalities due to cell phone use more than doubled, and texting didn’t even exist.

I took a defensive driving course a couple of years ago, something I strongly encourage my peers to do. It was fascinating – I learned things I had never known and revisited basics I had forgotten.

A key points our instructor made: Your car, at highway speeds, goes half the length of a football field in under 2.5 seconds. If you look away from the road long enough to locate and pick up your beverage, unwrap your burger, swat your misbehaving child, or glance at your map, you can easily find yourself in an emergency situation facing a traffic hazard you never saw coming.,

If you are texting, you look down in your lap. Your thumbs are busily punching text buttons while your knees steer the car. You compose a text to your BFF (best friend forever), it could be your last thought. Or the last moment of someone else’s life. All because of 140 characters of text that were so urgent.

You don’t text, you say? How about your kids, nieces and nephews, grand kids? My daughter does. My neighbor texts in the car. My real estate agent texts or talks on a cell phone constantly.

You don’t think it’s a big problem? This year, many cities, like Chicago, outlawed texting while driving. I challenge you to watch other drivers carefully as you drive home today. See how many swerve slightly as they go. Are their heads canted downward, toward their laps? Are their hands on the wheel…or texting? You’ll see an amazing number of people in that position as they fly down our roads and highways. If you honk – you’ll get the finger.

If that text-addict screws up – you may get dead.

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