Moving

Day 21 - Still

Since I am still in the same day, I'm counting this as a continuation of Day 21.  Because I have completed my original goal I will no longer be numbering my posts, but I will still be posting daily without trying to miss any.

Moving
This morning our gate manager called to say he needed to move us to another gate.  The people that are on the gate now are older and can't handle the gate.  So, we are switching with them.  Or so the story goes.

Sunday was a pretty busy day, with trucks, equipment and workers coming in to setup and start the fracking on Bohannan and trucks, equipment and the rig going out to another site from Nomac.  We remained outside with the gate open since the traffic was pretty constant.

In any case, we will be moving around noon tomorrow to about 3 miles east of here.  We will be at a gate by ourselves and Dianna and I will miss having each other to talk to and ride into town with.  They will also be moving within the week.   But they don't know where yet.

I just went outside to let a truck in and after it left a wild pig and its baby came wandering by.  On the other side of the fence of course.  I didn't get a picture because I was trying not to move so I wouldn't scare them away. They trotted away down the fence line and into the dark.

Here are some other pictures for you though.

Snickers helping Dave

A buck came to visit

Mike and Dianna on their side of the fence

And the cows came to visit

and a Bobcat

All that in one evening.

That all took me about 30 minutes.  Between the slow download speed and the 7 HUGE cold tubing trucks I just had to sign in, that's how my night has been.

Goodnight!

We're Moving

Day 21

Here we are at Day 21.  Yes, I will keep going, as long as I have internet that is.

We are moving....down the road about 20 miles.  Since we are busy getting ready I'll post more later and why.  IF I have internet.  Lets hope so.

Big Rig Going Gone

Day 20

Well today the rig left and just about everything else.  Here's the rig leaving.

It went out in 4 pieces....this is only two of them. Did you notice the axles on the last flatbed?  There are five, FIVE of them!  These suckers were huge!

It was very busy around here today.  One rig tearing down and going out and Bohannan setup trailers, equipment and assorted trucks coming in.  The rig tear down trucks were coming in and out all day.  The Bohannan site was receiving loads and loads of sand.  Lots and lots water and sand are used in the fracking process.  And it was sooooo windy today, coming out of the North.  Temps only got up to the low 60s so the wind made it even chillier.  Also didn't help that the red dirt was being redistributed all over the damn place.  In my hair, ears, nose, eyes and other crevices I didn't even know I had!

I started dinner around 3.  I made my special from scratch spaghetti sauce.  Mmmm mmmm.  Dave didn't really get a nap today, so was very tired when he went to bed at 7:30 or so.

We heard from all our kids today to wish us a Happy Anniversary.  It's so nice to be able to talk to them. Sounds like they all had a great holiday weekend!  Food, fun, shopping and spending time with each other.  We sure do miss them and our grandkids.  Except for our youngest, we probably won't see them until about May!

Right now I am waiting for the 7 sand trucks that came in about 2 hours ago to go out.  As soon as they do I'm hitting the recliner to snooze.  Its been calling my name for a couple of hours now.  When they came in I unplugged the bell, so it wouldn't keep waking Dave up.  I'll need to plug it back in after they leave.

Ok, I'm done for now.  I'll leave you with this picture of a sunset from the other evening.

SHOUTOUT:  To our friend Mike.  Happy Belated Birthday!

Our Site

Day 19


I had to go back and look to make sure that was right. I can't believe I am only 2 posts away.  Seems like the blog time has flown by.  I guess I'll have to set a new goal since my kids have enjoyed reading every day.  I've got two days to think about it and I'm sure I can come up with one.


Anyway, since those of you who are not gate guards wonder what kind of place we are camped out in, here are a few pictures.

Looking NE, gate is to the left

That's the generator/light tower on the left and the water tank on the right

Water tank and our Dish TV Dish

The truck parked between the trailer and the light tower.
That other trailer is Dianna and Mike's...just on the other
side of the fence

This is driving Dave crazy

Dirty Dirty Truck!

See all that red dirt?  It makes fine red dust and mucky yucky mud and a terrible mess either way.

Now, here's some shots from today of things moving in and out.

Here it comes

There it is! The long long trailer!

It took them 3 tries to get it out the gate.  Tomorrow (Sunday) they will be moving the drilling rig out and we hear it is longer and wider...should be interesting...yes, we will take pictures.

On a different note.  Sunday is Dave's and my 35th anniversary.  We were going to go down to Laredo for dinner, but with Nomac 3 moving out and Bohannan fracking moving in yesterday and today we couldn't really go and leave the gate to Dianna and Mike and not feel guilty.  We will go at a later date, just don't know when yet.

I'm off to bed after this.  I haven't had anything in or out the gate since around midnight and don't really expect anything else tonight.  Hmmmm sleeping at the same time.  There's a new concept!

SHOUTOUT:  To my brother Mark and his girlfriend Mitch.  About time!!

Big Trucks and Dust

Day 18 


Yes, even though I skipped yesterday, I'm still counting.  I deserved a day off, so I took it.  It was Thanksgiving after all.


Anyway, I have some pictures for you tonight.  This first one is from Wednesday night after the wind died down.  The dust the trucks kicked up just hung there.

Not fog...dust!

The next few pictures are of the big equipment that came in today.  They passed the trucks going out from the well that is done drilling and moving the equipment out.

IN

IN

IN

OUT

IN and OUT

Dave said I should drive down and look at the two well sites.  I had once before been to Nomac 3, but hadn't seen Bohannan C1H yet.  Nomac 3 is the one that's done drilling and moving all the equipment out.  Bohannan had previously finished drilling and move out the week before we got here.  Bohannan will be starting the fracking process on Monday and that is what all the BIG equipment is coming in for.

Here is a shot at Nomac 3 and the workers and cranes taking down the drilling rig.

And this is the Bohannan site.  It's just a staging area now.  That red pipe thingy is the well and is what they will attach the equipment to in order to do the fracking.  At least I think so.

Red Thingy

Staging for Fracking

You may remember I said the other night that our gate manager brought us some smoked turkeys.  Well for  Thanksgiving dinner I made roasted mashed potatoes, corn casserole, deviled eggs and gravy.  I heated up some turkey slices in the oven in some tin foil and we were all set.  It all came out delicious.  I shared some corn casserole with Dianna and Dave and later they brought us over some Pecan Pie.

Today, Dianna and I went into Cotulla.  I did laundry and she wandered around.  After laundry I picked up our mail and the water pump we ordered, stopped at the Super S grocery and headed home.  Dave said it wasn't too busy, but trucks have been coming and going all day.  Right now I am waiting for my last worker to come back in.  The recliner has been calling my name all evening and I'll be answering that call as soon as he gets in the gate.

The trucks will start all over again in the morning.  Hopefully not too early.  The company man says they should be done moving Nomac 3 outta here sometime tomorrow.  Not sure when they will be done bringing in equipment for Bohannan.

Ok, done for tonight.  It's been nice talkin at ya!

SHOUTOUT:  To my kids, who I hear did a GREAT job with their own Thanksgiving dinner celebration.  Miss you and love you!!

Day 17


This afternoon I had a few ideas to put in my blog tonight, but can't remember any of them.  Nope. Still drawing a blank.


So, Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.  I'm thankful for my children, my grandchildren, my brothers and sisters, my old friends and my new friends.  I'm thankful we are able to live this new life and I am thankful for my wonderful husband.


Till tomorrow....

West Texas Dust

Day 17


It was windy today but not as windy as yesterday.  This evening the wind completely died for about an hour, then I had 6 trucks come through the gate.  The dust just hung in the air for about 15 minutes until we got a little breeze.

That's not fog.  It's dust!

Dianna and I went to Pearsall today to go to Walmart and to the H.E.B. to go grocery shopping.  It's about 50 miles from here....11.5 miles to the highway and then 39 miles north.  Also had to stop at the TSC, so we ended up being gone about 4 hours.  I hate going off to do things like that, because then Dave doesn't get his nap and he gets soooo tired.

It always takes longer to do grocery shopping at a new store.  It just seems to take forever to find everything.  Different brands and different ways of grouping things in the store.  We didn't get back until about 4:30 and by the time we got everything put away, I rushed to make dinner.  We've been eating earlier so that Dave can get in the shower by 6:30 and to bed at 7:00, 7:30 by the latest.

I'm sitting posting this while I am eating my dinner.  What's for dinner tonight?  Turkey sandwich of course!  

Dianna and Mike have graciously offered to watch our gate for us on Saturday.  Our 35th anniversary is Sunday, so we would like to get away for a little bit.  We will probably just run into town for dinner.  Hopefully the gate is not too busy while we are gone or I will feel guilty the whole time we are gone.

I'm done eating and my eyes are starting to droop...It's 2:10 and Dave will be up in about 45 minutes.  I think my traffic is done for the night, so I think I'll snooze in the chair.

Good night.

West Texas Wind

Day 16


It was very windy today.  And I don't mean Kansas windy, I mean Texas windy. And it was hot...90 degrees.  I like the wind because it cooled the air.  I hate the wind because it blew around all that red dirt into fine dust into my hair, my eyes, my ears, my mouth and any crevice it could get through into the trailer.  Yuck!  I don't know which I dislike more...the fine red dust...or the mucky red mud.  I'll get back to ya on that one.


I can't believe I am up to day 16 already!  This already feels like an ingrained habit.  One I hope to be continuing after day 21.  I hope I haven't been boring anyone.  It could be so easy to do, especially when I am typing at 1 or 2 in the morning and I'm rambling.  Kind of like now.  :)


We were kinda busy today.  Not as busy as yesterday, but steady.  Tear down of Rig 3 was supposed to start today, but will not start until Wednesday.  The company man stopped by today and told us that.  He also told us lots of trucks will be coming in on Wednesday to load up all the rig and equipment.  Friday everything will start moving out of here and they hope to have it all done by Saturday afternoon.  That includes the rig, the bunkhouses, all the equipment and machinery around the rig and all misc buildings, trailers and whatever else.  It all goes from here directly to a new drilling site.


Monday or sometime early next week all the fracking equipment and workers will be coming in for the other site.  We are told we will be busy for real when that starts.  If they can be believed, this company only fracks in daylight hours, so we may be able to BOTH sleep at night AT the same time.  There's a new concept!  Still haven't heard when they will start fracking Rig 3.


Tonight our gate manager from LOMA brought us smoked turkeys.  He picked them up this morning fresh out of the smoker.  They sure smell good.  While Dave hit the hay, I cut and sliced the turkey.  I had too.  It wouldn't fit in the fridge whole.  Any guesses what I had for dinner tonight?  If you said anything other than a turkey sandwich, you would be wrong.  Nothing like leftovers BEFORE Thanksgiving.  Mmmmm mmmmm.


Late morning, early afternoon usually finds me sitting outside watching the gate, reading a book, talking to Dianna or just watching what isn't going on around me.  I sit outside because Dave is taking a nap and I don't want to disturb him.  He gets up at 3 am and by around noon he is more than ready to nap.  ANY way, because it was so windy, the chair I had sitting next to me to set the clipboard on kept blowing over.  I thought I would set some rocks in it.  I bent over to pick up a few fist sized rocks and when I stood up I banged my forehead on the edge of the slide!  Owwww! #%&$^*$!!  I have a nice little knot there now, but so far no bruise.


Oh, I almost forgot...when I woke up this morning I went out to the living room to check the clock, as I do every morning.  When I saw it was 10 after 10,  I fist pumped the air and gave a Woot Woot!  I had FINALLY slept for 7 hours straight!    I could sure tell the difference in how my waking hours feel.


Once again, no pictures today, but here's one from Nebraskaland Days to hold you over:

Enough rambling for now....talk to ya tomorrow!


SHOUTOUT:  To my buddy Jean - yes, you don't recognize the number.  Call me!

Today

Day 15


I don't know what else to use as a title.  Not much went on at all.  We probably had our busiest 24 hours.  Four sheets of logs.  That's 88 or more ins and outs today.  I can hear the other gate guards out there..."You call that busy?"  Not exactly.  I know it's fixing to get way busy...Fracking starts in about a week.  On both well sites.  I hear it's very busy during fracking.


I got up too early.  8:30.  That's only 5 hours of sleep and I'm feeling it tonight.  I'm about ready to sleep while I'm typing.  Conveniently, just about the time I can't stay awake anymore, another truck shows up at the gate.  About every 20 minutes or so.


Still haven't seen any snakes, much to Dave's relief.  Of course haven't seen anything but cows, wild pigs and trucks.  Lots of trucks.


We had to order a new water pump.  Ours sounds like it's sounding the death knoll and seems like it only works when it feels like it.  Not good in the middle of a shower!  Paid the exorbitant extra fee to have it delivered in two days so we would have it before Thanksgiving.


I bought a turkey breast to cook for Thanksgiving dinner and then I heard from our manager that he is bringing us turkeys tomorrow.  Fine with me.  I love turkey sandwiches.


Ok, I'm off of here.  Goodnight all!

Caught up

Day 14


Caught up.  As in the sleep we haven't been getting caught up to us today.  First Dave took a heavy nap and then I took a heavy nap.  2 1/2 hours worth.  I know I felt better afterwards.


Ok kids.  I have pictures tonight.  Hopefully they won't take forever to download.

These are all Halliburton trucks coming in to do the cement work.  There were 5 of them.

As far as I can understand, the crew is done with the drilling.  Next comes putting cement down the, over 8000 ft hole, around the drill casing.  Then they will tear everything down, start what they call "the makeover" and then in a few weeks the fracking crew will be in.  I'm not sure what the makeover involves, but I think it's finishing the tear down, cleaning up the site and installing these things:

Not much else going on today.  My night has been busy.  Lots of trucks, equipment and workers coming and going.


I was discussing with Dave this morning that I'm kind of an antsy person and the most difficult part of this for me is not being able to just hop in the truck and go somewhere.  Of course, even when I could, there really is no place to go.  We've been in Cotulla enough times to know there is not much there.  I think my next excursion may be into Carizzo Springs just to see what's there.  I hear there's a Walmart!  It's West of here about 39 miles.  Cotulla is East about 12 miles.


Well, Dave just got up for his shift, (it's 2:50 am) so I'm off to bed.

Dust

Day 13


After reading other blogs by people who are gate guarding I expected lots of dust from the caliche they lay down for the roads.  We have had a fair amount of caliche dust the last few days as 482 truck loads of it have been going into Mike and Dianna's gate.  Not only are they dumping it to build a new road to a new drill site, but the heavy trucks are stirring it up just driving down the road and in and out of the gate.


Anyway, I was prepared for the Caliche dust, but I was not prepared for the red dirt of Texas blowing all over.  But after only a week we are getting used to it.  We vacuum everyday and dust often.  Even worse than the red dust is the red mud! It rained here pretty heavily Tuesday morning and created a pond around our front (pallet) walkway.  And of course we cannot just leave the dogs in ALL the time and they tracked it in.  That's one thing I don't think we can train them to do...use the boot scraper before they come in.  Oh well, at least it came out of the towels we used to clean up with.


Dave took some pictures for you today.  Here is his visitor early this morning while I was still sleeping.

It came back later when I was out with the dogs and they went a little crazy.  Mostly because it was on the other side of the cattle guard and they can't get across it.  Also, it stood right in the middle of the road in the way of the caliche trucks.  The first truck honked and it trotted off into the trees on the other side of the road.


Dave took the camera with him when he went down to the rig to get rid of the trash.

Nomac Rig 3

We are close enough to see the rig, but far enough away not to hear any of the drilling noise.

Bohannon C1H and C4H

These wells have finished being drilled and are awaiting the fracking.

Here's our weather for the next week.

Ok, I'm off to doze in the chair....until Dave gets up.

Cotulla

Day 12

It's late and I'm tired so I might ramble or this might be pretty short.

We are 12 miles from Cotulla.  I've been there everyday for the last three days and will probably have to run in tomorrow to pick up our mail.

It's a small town around 3700 people.  Before the present oil boom it was a very depressed town. It's on the upswing with all the supporting industries and equipment needed in the fields.  While driving around Cotulla you can see all the signs of a vanishing town.  Mostly everything run down.  However, with all the influx of people in support of the oil fields there are also signs of new life.  The traffic is heavy, new stores and buildings popping up, long lines in the fast food joints around the freeway exit.  Cotulla boasts both a Family Dollar and a Dollar General.  It also has a new grocery store, the Super S.  But, alas, no Walmart.  We have to go north 40 miles to Pearsall for that.

Today we went to the laundromat.  There are 2 in town, but we went to the one that was the nicer of the 2.  Very reasonable....$1 to wash and $1 to dry (one cycle was enough to dry the jeans).  It was in a newer brick building and shared space with a cute little flower shop.  The staff, of which there were 2, were very friendly and very helpful.  You know you are in an oil town when some washers are marked "oilfield clothes" and some dryers are marked "NO oilfield clothes".

In fact everyone here is very friendly.  Everyone says "ma'am" and "sir" and are so polite.  I could get used to this.

Ok, I didn't take a nap today, I can barely keep my eyes open and there has been no traffic at the gate since just after midnight.  It's now almost 2 am.  Dave will be up in about an hour to spell me, so I think I'll go doze in the recliner.

Sorry, once again no pictures.  I'll work on it tomorrow.

Skittles, Pigs and Illegal Aliens

Day 11 (over halfway....woot woot!!)


Last night, shortly after I finished my blog entry, Skittles (my dog) and I went outside.  I didn't look before we went out, like I usually do...you know....for snakes and stuff.   Before I could even get the door closed, Skittles took off like a rocket.  She's pretty fast when she wants to be.  There was a pig across the road and she was pretty upset there was a fence between her and it.  Of course, as soon as she got to the fence the pig took off.  She paced along it for a quite awhile just hoping it would come back.  It didn't.  So now every time she goes out the door she goes right to the fence looking for it.  We used to get them riled up saying "find the squirrel, find the squirrel!"  Now it's "find the pig, find the pig!"  One of these nights she'll see another one and once again look for that hole in the fence.


I went into Cotulla this afternoon to pick up our prescriptions.  On the way back I stopped at the first gate to chat with Debbie.  She and her husband, Robert are the gate guards at the gate right off the highway.  Anyway, right before I went in, a border patrol car and a highway trooper went in and turned left.  Debbie gave me the number to the border patrol officer to call if I see any "walkers".  Apparently they said someone had dropped of some "walkers" on the ranch.  I haven't seen them, but I am keeping the gate closed tonight and the door locked and one or both of the dogs goes out with me.  Maybe soon it will be "find the "walker", find the "walker"!"


I had to wake Dave up a little while ago.  I hated to do it, but the wind picked up pretty substantially and the shelter we had set up out front was about to blow away.  I couldn't get it down by myself, sooooooo.  Anyway, we got it down and he's back  in bed.  


Nothing else exciting today.  Just another day at the gate.  Oh, except, I finally have hummingbirds at the feeder I put out 5 days ago.   Just in time for me to change the syrup because it's been in the sun too many days.


Sorry, no pictures again.  The road is still not in good enough shape for the big heavy trucks, so none came in today.


SHOUTOUT:  To The Country Stampede!  They are announcing their 2012 lineup tomorrow and I'm sure, as always, that it will be a great one.

Almost Half Way There....

Day 10

Almost half way to making a new habit.  Tomorrow will be OVER half way there.   It's working out pretty good, I think.

Well, I didn't see any snakes, spiders, bobcats, armadillos or illegals, but we did have a visitor today.

Just wandered on down the road, gave us the eye. and wandered down the other road.  I'm sure it's not the last one to come a visitin'.

We were the busiest today we've been yet. Lots of trucks coming and going.  For a change Mike and Diana's gate wasn't.  It rained pretty hard early morning and the roads are a mess.  Since they are, the big heavy equipment couldn't be brought in at their gate, so, no pictures of them today.

I got up about 9:30, got in the shower and got going.  I had a few errands to run in town...find a pharmacy and a grocery store.   Diana wanted to see if there was anywhere in Cotulla to get an AT&T phone.  Found the pharmacy, the grocery store, but no AT&T phones.  Also found a Wendy's and took lunch back to the boys.

Not really anything else going on today.  Trying to get everything dried out and the shit sucker came today.  So beginning of a new week for holding tanks.  We haven't really been conserving water since we got here, but we may see how long we can go.  We have a 250 gal water tank, and a 250 gal holding tank for black/grey water.  I'm pretty sure they are supposed to pump us every week, but the guy gave Dave his number to call him, so that's how it will probably work.

What else?  What else?  What else?  Just sitting outside once in a while watching the nightly dance of the moths committing suicide on the light bulbs of the light towers.  And if the light towers don't get em, then the bats will.  Hmmmm, I don't know what the life expectancy of a moth is supposed to be, but it's very short around here.

Well, that's it.  Talk to ya tomorrow.

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah

Day 9

That's about how I feel tonight.  I've been sitting here wondering what to write about and have been pretty much drawing a blank.  Snakes?  Spiders?  Bobcats? Illegal aliens?  How about Armadillos?  Nope.  Haven't seen any of those.  Heard about em.  Heard we should be on the look out for them.  But seen em?  Nope.

Maybe we just haven't ventured far enough away from the gate to encounter them.  Or maybe we just haven't been here long enough.   Or maybe the lights, generator noise, traffic through the gate, or the dogs are just keeping them away.  OR, maybe all three.  Who  knows.  I'm willing to bet, though, that the longer we are here we will encounter at least 4 out of the 5.  Which ones will we encounter?  I'm not placing any bets on that, although I'm sure Dave would be more than happy not to see any snakes, I would be more than happy not to see any spiders (tarantulas in particular) and we both hope not to run across any illegal aliens.  I'll be sure and let you know just as soon as we do.

Pretty boring today.  Only got about 5 hours of sleep last night, but didn't seem to feel worse the wear for it.  Got a nap in about 4:00 and am now wondering what to make myself for dinner.  Usually after I get up, I fix me some breakfast for me and Dave some lunch, then at dinner time it's lunch for me and dinner for Dave.  That leaves me to fend for myself for my dinner and Dave to fend for himself for breakfast.  It seems to be working just fine.  Dave had one of the guys who was going out to town this morning bring him back some breakfast burritos from Mcdonald's and that is cheating, if you ask me!

We did watch a bunch of VERY large equipment go into Mike and Diana's gate again today.  And I mean LARGE, as in HUGE.  The longest flatbed trailers I have ever seen with too wide and too tall equipment on them.  The trailers had 5 axles! I'm sure they didn't go anywhere near bridges or underpasses.  Sorry.  Thought I had a picture, but I don't.  There will be more tomorrow, I think, so I'll get one to post tomorrow night.

Can't come up with anymore topics from my sleep deprived brain tonight, so off I go.

SHOUTOUT:  to our Grandaughter Erica.  She had a small surgery today to remove part of a large birthmark on her back and WATCHED the whole thing.  This is the same kid who likes to watch slasher movies!  Way to go Erica!!

I believe

Day 8

I believe, that the love of two people for each other CAN conquer anything.
I believe, in the love of a parent for a child and vice a versa.
I believe, we all do have a purpose and that is to live our life as we believe it should be lived
I believe, we all owe each other something...even if it is only a little respect
I believe, grandchildren make us whole, make us catch our breath and give us joy
I believe, that no matter how old our children get, they are still our babies
I believe, in the strength of friendship
I believe, in the idea of fairies, leprechauns and Santa Claus

There are more, but that's enough for now.  I decided I wanted to focus on the glass half full instead of half empty for a change.  Too often, I think, we get stuck in the quagmire of disagreement, dissension or what we don't believe in.  It's a rut, but one we can change.

Tonight seems longer than usual, probably because there has been little traffic through the gate.  And nothing in the last 4 hours.  I've busied myself on the internet, watched a movie (Dragonheart), watched the nightly feeding of the bats and generally didn't really do much of anything.

Mike and Diana's gate was busy today as they were bringing in all the equipment for the rig.  They will be even busier tomorrow.  Road gravel (300 loads) and graders coming in, the rest of the stuff for the rig and the people who will work there.  Dave and I relax in our lawn chairs and watch it all come and go.

Today I made flight reservations for our Caitie to come for Christmas.  I'm excited for her to come and visit and spend the holiday with us.  She will be getting out of here in plenty of time to party with her friends for New Years and to spend some time with Adrienne and Sean and all her nieces and nephews.

I received Christmas wish emails from Sean's kids and just loved them.

Hi Nana this is Destiny typing. School's going great this year and I miss you a lot. Thank you for the post cards, some of the places on them look really cool. I can't wait till Christmas this year some of the things I want are a guitar, a dry erase board, and an MP3 player. love Destiny


Hi Nana i hope you  are having a grate time in Texas. I love the post cards you gave us.and  i am sad you can't come for Christmas.but i hope you have a great Christmas there. some of the things i want are teacup piggies fer real friends new born baby doll.love erica


And finally, Jacob:
 I am writing for Jacob, but I am going to write what he says so try not to get confused...lol  

Hi Nana and Papa. I miss  you. I have been a really good boy. And that's all. Love you.

What he would like for Christmas is, Transformers, Beyblades & Stadium, and a Remote Control Truck.

I guess Nana and Papa will have to see what they can do.

Ok, I'm off for now.

SHOUTOUT: to my brother Mark.  Tacos! you are too funny.

Sleep and Stuff

Day 8

Ok, got almost 7 hours of sleep this morning, so I hope that means that tonight I will get a full 7 hours.  It would be nice.  I at least felt a lot better today.

Here's a few more pictures

A wild Pig.  Good thing it's on the other side of the fence!

Dave, Mike and the girls

Dave Working the Gate

Bringing in mobile homes for bunkhouses for the crew on the new well  at Diana and Mike's gate

One of the crew from Rig 3 who came back in the gate tonight said to keep an eye out for bobcats.  Well I guess that makes my wandering around outside at 2am a little more interesting.

So the list to watch out for: Rattlesnakes, especially the young ones, wild pigs and  bobcats.  Hmmmmm.  Apparently young rattlesnakes are most likely to strike and when they bite, they don't let go.  Mature rattlesnakes still bite, but they strike and then let go.  Not going near either one!

Diana mentioned tonight that dogs can get a vaccination for rattlesnake bites.  Might look into that since the dogs are the only ones around here rooting around in the bushes.  (besides the pigs)

It was beautiful out today.  Sunny and got up to 80.  I can still go outside with no jacket on, but I imagine later I will at least need a long sleeve flannel.  It was a little more windy today than the first few days we were here.  Still not bad though.

I wonder if Sunday will bring less traffic or more.  The crew that go out seem to do it between 6 and 7 and then come back anywhere from 9 pm to 1 am.  I'm pretty sure they work 7 days a week, so probably will still have them going out at their usual times.  I have 2 out yet tonight, so when they get back in I'm probably done for the night and can snooze in the chair.  Yeah, right.

The 3 trucks I had come in early all seemed to be real chatty.  One guy said the road into here is kind of scary....very dark and about 2 miles long and since they have to go 10 miles an hour it makes it an even longer drive.

Ok, I have nothing else for tonight.  Just watching TV, reading a book on my Nook and boiling some eggs for a sandwich and extras for Dave in the morning.

SHOUTOUT:  to Dan and Eleanor.  We're sorry we missed you in Ft. Worth, Dan and Eleanor, lunch in June!

Dust, Bats and Bugs

Sunset on the Ranch

Day 7

It appears I am a day late or a day missed, but since I've only had 5 hours of sleep and one short nap it feels like it has all been one day since 2 days ago.

Dave and I decided that I would take the late night shift and him the early day shift. I stay up until 2 or 3am while he goes to bed about 7 or 8pm.  Then I go to bed at 2 or 3 am, but unfortunately I haven't been able to sleep more than 5 or 6 hours.  However, I slept 4 1/2 hours the first night and 5 1/2 the 2nd, so by the middle of next week I should be getting back to my 7 hours.........let's hope.

The first night I sat outside and watched all the bugs congregating around the light tower and then watched the bats having a banquet.  Not so many bugs last night as it was low 40's.  I guess it was too cold for them.

I had read in other blogs about the dust, but so far we haven't accumulated much inside the trailer.  The plastic covers on the screen doors seem to really help keeping the majority of it out.

Yesterday (?) Dave and Willie (our company man) moved the generator farther away from the trailer and turned the exhaust so it was pointing up instead of down.   THAT really helped the fumes not coming out right under the door.  A little less vibration inside the trailer too.

Most of the traffic going in and out has been the rig workers and delivery trucks.  Late afternoon and evening the workers run into town (Cotulla) for awhile....to get something to eat, go to the grocery store or whatever.  Tonight most of the guys came back pretty quickly because someone hit a light pole in town and knocked out a transformer.  No electricity in half the town.  The half with the grocery store and places to eat!

Yesterday, Diana and I (our gate neighbors) ran into Pearsall (40 miles up the highway)to find a propane place, and an AT&T store and a Walmart.  Found all but a propane place.  Asked around and got sent from place to place.  Finally found someone who gave us the propane guys phone number.  He couldn't meet us at the yard until another hour, so we decided to head back.  Stopped at the Cotulla post office to find out about General Delivery and the postman directed us to the Ace Hardware store.....directly across the street!  Got the propane filled and headed back.  We were gone about 4 hours.  The speed down here seems to be slooooowww.  Slow to answer questions, slow to explain, slow to help, slow, slow, slow.  Not that they don't answer questions or help, it's just slow moving, slow talking.  Good thing we have also slowed down the pace the last 7 months or we would have really been annoyed.

Diana and I got along well on our fishing expedition.  We have a lot in common.  We both have 5 grandchildren, they have 3 boys and 2 girls, we have the opposite.  She has 5 kids to my 3, but my 3 are close in age to 3 of theirs.  They have been fulltiming for about a year.  It's nice having another woman around to talk to and go do things with.  Love Dave, but I think we both could use a break once in a while!

Ok, I'm going to attempt to download a picture.  Internet is steady, but slow.  Lets see how slow.....

Our home for 5 months

Not so bad....about 2 minutes start to finish, so here is one more. 

The two gates.  We're on the right

And the one at the top makes 3.  I'm thinking that is all I can add...the photo add window keeps locking up.

I'm off to nap in the chair now.  I think all the boys are in for the night, but since it's only my second night there's no telling.  Tomorrow-Feral Pigs.

SHOUTOUT:  To all the gate guard blogs I read because they were soooo helpful in preparing us for this....Texas Heat, MyOldRV, Fork in the Road, Wandering Wendals and a few others I've run across .  Special Thank you to Bob and Gaby for spending the time with us at Benbrook Lake.  THANKS ya'll!!