operational advisory 20/3, page-55

rocks,

The fact that I don't continually whinge about things doesn't mean that I don't feel disappointment and frustration from time to time when warranted.

The fact is I and many others don't go getting our hopes up that any given announcement will be the one. In fact I take the opposite view, that operational updates will invariably expose warts and all information which by its very nature will include delays, equipment failures etc. I expect every OU to contain something disappointing and I hope that one in every few shows tangible progress toward strategic milestones so that we know that we are going in the right direction. On balance I expect to see progress 6 - 12 month timesframes, and accept that a few weeks is a very short period given what can go wrong and the complexity of resolving it.

I would like to see better flow rates from every well. I would like for 3rd party drilling and fracking contractors to turn up on time, charge less, and do their job perfectly every time. I would love one of the wells to be a gusher. What I would like and what I expect are however very different things because I know that Terry isn't a fairy princess with a magic wand. Furthermore I say this expecting Doc to prove me wrong.

The interesting thing is that we both read these threads but we see different things fromt he same content. Somehow you read these posts and see a large group of deluded holders claiming this announcement is "super positive", ie "seriously all you guys out there trying to turn this into a super positive announcment are kidding yourselves". I don't see anybody getting overly excited and claiming this is the fantastic be all and end all announcement that a few hoped for. All I see is disappointment of a few based on inflated expectations and a large group that knows this is just one of dozens of operational updates that reminds us yet again that this stuff ain't easy.

I'm not as disappointed as you not because I don't want more progress or because I don't want to make more money with the SP rising. I'm less disappointed than you because I obviously didn't have the same expectations and I didn't go around posting that I'll sell my entire holding by the end of the month if the SP didn't rise by 50% as some did. No, I won't be throwing my toys out the pram just because something as complex as an oil well is taking a few weeks longer than I had hoped.

Despite the inevitable setbacks along the way SSN is one of the best risk / reward stocks in my portfolio. It isn't going to be the best performing stock on the ASX continually as some seem to expect. It has done very well for me over a medium period and if I didn't think it would continue to do so I wouldn't still be holding it, would I.

Now you can continue to judge how "smart" I am based on your own unmet expectations of a stock if you like. That is your right. If you think less of me but I still make sufficient profit to take care of my family then I'll just have to live with that.