News Flash -- Fri., June 29

Cotulla, Texas: 

We're on the move. Bob had his second interview with a company in San Antonio today and was hired. He will be a Controller Consultant for a small general contractor. He starts Monday, July 2. The company is cool with us traveling and Bob can work remotely by computer and cell phone.

For the first three weeks (before our Yellowstone trip) he will work 40 hours per week. (Not many hours at all after you've worked 12 hour days gate guarding. LOL.) He will be learning about their business, their computer programs and the exact details of what he will be doing. Once we leave on our trip he will work approximately 20 hours per week.

Our notice was given to LOMA today. Replacement gate guards will be here sometime before noon tomorrow. Whoa, wait! Before noon tomorrow? Yikes. Must get the 5er ready to move. We've been here two months. Bob has the bikes up on the ladder and our fresh water hoses put away. Before bed, I will stow the kitchen stuff that has been living on the counters. Wow! We're excited.

Before we close slides we've got to try to get the spiders and other weird bugs off. It's a good thing Bob sprayed Spectracide around the perimeter of the 5er! But that was on the ground. The spiders are everywhere, especially under the slide-out shades. I tried to take a nap this afternoon and there was a spider on the headboard on Bob's side of the bed! Eeek!

Gate guarding has been an interesting experience to say the least. We now know we can handle it and maybe we'll come back to it in the future. The main drawback will be missing our new-found friends. I'm glad many of you write blogs so we can keep up. You can bet I'll continue reading yours and writing mine.

All four wells on our site are in production so we are moderately busy with tankers and support crew coming and going. We are definitely a 24/7 gate. (I've had three tankers in between midnight and 2:00 a.m. Saturday morning.)

One adventure ends and another one starts. By tomorrow night we should be back in an honest-to-goodness RV park with pool and laundry room.

Travel Bug out.

To Hell and Back -- Tues., June 26

Cotulla and Laredo, Texas:

Gate guarding is not all birds, antelope, flowers and rainbows. Here's a little of what the dark side looks like.

This morning I woke up to the smell of sulfur (H2S gas). I had a meltdown. Started crying and couldn't stop. For the past four to five days the wind has been blowing smelly gases from the work pad directly to our RV. The gas is heavier than air so it comes down off the pad to our RV which sits lower than the pad. Bob and I both have sore throats and stinging eyes. I wonder what it's doing to our long-term health.

Between the 100+ degree temperatures, the smell, and rarely getting away, I told Bob when he found me crying, "This is my vision of what hell is." I feel like there's no escape. That was about 10:00 a.m. I couldn't go back to sleep so I read until I fell asleep. Woke up at 1:00 p.m. The temperature outside was 102. Our refrigerator is still not cold and then the water pump on our company-provided generator trailer stopped working. It was all too much for me today.

Bob, bless his heart, could tell I was not a happy camper. He suggested I take a trip into San Antonio or Laredo to get away for a day. I was hesitant because our gate has become busier and I didn't want to leave him with part of my shift. He insisted. 

Once I got to thinking about it, my excitement level ramped up and my mood changed. I checked out movie theaters and times in San Antonio and Laredo. Laredo is a bit closer so I chose "Marvel's The Avengers" or "Men in Black 3." I was more interested in "The Avengers" but the timing of the movie didn't work out by the time I shook my booty into gear.

The drive to the movie theater in Laredo took about one hour and ten minutes from our gate. I made it in time for "Men in Black 3." When I bought my ticket, the guy at the counter said his friends thought MIB 3 was the best of the series. 

I hadn't had lunch, so I hit the snack stand and purchased Nestle's Buncha Crunch and a small root beer to abate and assuage my growly tummy until after the movie.

"Men in Black 3" was okay and had a touching ending, but no way, no how was it better than the first MIB! Clever scenes and lots of special effects made MIB 3 interesting, but the humor in the original MIB won hands down over this.

After the movie, in rapid succession, I spent money at Walmart, Target, a gas station (I bought gas for $3.11/gallon; saw it even cheaper at $3.07/gallon), and Subway. I didn't take time to get my car washed and vacuumed, but I know where a car wash is next time I (or we) go to Laredo. Overall, I found Laredo to be a nice town.

Tomorrow, Bob is going to Dairy Queen for lunch with the Gate Guard Guys. The wives/significant others thought it only fair that the men have good conversation and good food. So Bob will have his little get away. On Friday Bob is going to San Antonio for a Costco run. (Hopefully our refrigerator is repaired before then.)

Here's another thought for anyone thinking of gate guarding: Be sure you plan alone time. Two people spending so much time together in a confined space, makes it easy to get on each other's nerves.

Sure we love our spouses. As Bob says, on this job we're joined at the hip everywhere except bed. Being on duty 24/7, with each of us on a 12 hour shift, there's not much time for intimacy. It's come down to: be quick, be creative or miss out.

When I headed out of Laredo this evening, a huge thunderstorm glowered (origin of glower means "to be overcast") to the west. Added to that, the setting red-orb-of-a-sun made for a dramatic sunset. Didn't have my camera. The red sun had a few clouds in front of it. The clouds had a red lining from the sun behind them, PLUS streaming rain pulled down the clouds in dark gray wisps in front of the brilliant red sun. Very beautiful and dramatic.

About 15 miles out of Laredo on I-35 north, I saw a sign for a rest area and visitor information center. Since I was in need of the facilities, I pulled over. OMG! I thought I was headed for a fancy motel. The information center is a beautiful adobe building with a dome and lushly landscaped grounds complete with ponds, birds, pampas grass, trees, and a beautiful sculpture of Texas. (You can sure tell my mood has changed...we're back to birds, sunsets and landscapes.) Unfortunately the visitor center closed at 5:00 p.m., but the restrooms were open and clean. Whew.

The journey home went by fast with massive lightning flashes (in the distance) as entertainment. After I got back to the 5er, I continued to watch the lightning out of the dining room picture window. Flashes streamed from clouds to ground in big bolts. Other lightning flashed across the whole sky making intricate electrical abstract art. 

Throughout all the arcing, flashing and bolting, I hoped for rain to clean our vehicles, cool the air and tame the dust. No such luck. We received a few drops that made individual indents in the caliche dust, but no relief from the searing temperatures. As one of the truckers who came in tonight said, "We got 100 drops of rain."

At Kit and Jerry's site six miles down the road, their outdoor thermometer measured 111 degrees today. The oil rig crew on their site measured the temperature at 115. I wonder how hot hell is (if there is an actual hell).

My belief is we create our own heaven and hell in our mind and if we look at things differently we can change the outcome. Thank you so much Bob for reading my mind as to what I really needed and insisting I take a break. It made all the difference in changing my day from hellish to entertaining.

Travel Bug out.

Creepy Crawlies -- Sun., June 24

Cotulla, Texas:

"Creepy, crawly
Creepy, crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly crawly
Creepy, creepy, crawly crawly."
~The Who, Boris the Spider lyrics

Tonight, this is not about spiders. It's about beetles. South Texas has a record number of beetles, not to mention other bugs. Working on the night shift, I see many bugs under the tower lights.

I am not paranoid. When I feel something crawling on me, it REALLY is a bug. Tonight each time I have come in I have felt AND FOUND bugs crawling on me. 

One time in, I felt something on my ankle. In the dim light of night time, I saw a relatively large bug crawling on my left ankle. The bug took flight and landed on our dining room table light. The cats went nuts. The bug looked like a dragonfly while in flight, but wasn't because its long wings folded down at its sides.The bug got stuck in our lamp fixture, so I unscrewed the glass fixture and got the bug out...took it outside. It was harmless. 

Next time I came in, I felt something crawling on the front of my neck. I swiped at it and a longish, thick, segmented black beetle fell onto the table. That one got smooshed by me. It was a black blister beetle.

A little bit later I felt a bug on my forearm. A small, reddish beetle was walking down my arm. Haven't identified that one yet.

Just now, while typing, I felt something on my left ankle. I looked down and it was long, white and had a hard shell on the end...my shoelace. Ha ha. Maybe I am a little paranoid.

Here are pics of some nighttime bugs:

Field cricket--multitudes of these all over. Roadrunners love them!

Field crickets congregating at the watering hole (AKA where our air conditioner condensation drips)

Katydid?? Not sure what this is.

This web site from Texas A&M University is a wealth of information for identifying Texas bugs: Field Guide to Common Texas Insects. There's a lot to learn. Most insects are harmless to people. Although one bug we've seen a lot--a blister beetle--has a toxin in its body that can cause blisters on the skin. One of the cats tried to eat a blister beetle one night, but didn't. They backed off from it. Smart kitty kitties.

Also see my blog from May 26: Schuhplattler Polka for more on Texas bugs.

I can't believe I spent a whole blog on BUGS. Ewwww.

Speaking of which, Travel BUG out.

 

Sable Antelope -- Sat., June 23

Cotulla, Texas:

Long dry spell for us as far as seeing exotic animals on the ranch across the road. Today, however, was my lucky photography day. A few sable antelope were grazing across the road, one came down the fence line. I told Bob, "Every time I go out there to take a picture of sable antelope, they stampede away."

So, ever hopeful, I grabbed my camera and SLOWLY sauntered toward the road, sometimes straying to the left, then to the right, stopping, walking forward a few feet, but never looking straight at the gorgeous, chestnut brown, mask-faced beauty about 100' away.

With the zoom lens, I was able to snap these photos before one of the other antelope "yelped" (?) a warning and "my" antelope bolted off into the trees. (Double-click to enlarge photos.)

Our gate, antelope across the road. Close!

We can see the antelope from the 5er. Pretty mask.

Gorgeous horns.

Pregnant? (Don't even know if this is a female.)

The gray cottontails are out again this evening. Earlier in the day the mockingbirds were teaching their young how to fly and hunt. A family of four was sitting in the mesquite tree by Bob's truck and you could hear them communicating with another bird or two across the field.

Watching the beautiful animals today caused my mind to wander to the subject of hunting. I can't wrap my head around it. Conflicting thoughts occur to me. People hunt for food which I can understand if they're hungry and game is plentiful. Hunts are also scheduled if one species over-propagates and there are no natural predators to cull the group. Culling the herd or flock or whatever can help stop the spread of disease, can stop over-grazing, and over-population.

What I can't wrap my head around, and perhaps hunters out there can help me "see," is why animals are hunted as trophies to hang on the wall. Why can't a hunter "stalk" the animals with a camera, take an intimate, up-close photo of the animal in its natural habitat, enlarge it into a poster, and hang that on the wall? The animal lives. The species doesn't become extinct, and future generations can then enjoy the LIVE animals as well.

Is hunting such a primal instinct from our caveman days that it's in humans' DNA? Why only some people? Others wouldn't dream of harming an animal. Is it needing to feel powerful? Can anyone explain it to me?

Tonight in Oregon, our pinochle group is playing. For many years when we lived in Oregon we played pinochle once a month. I sure do miss it. Mom, my sister, my son, and my brother and sister-in-law still play, plus many of our friends who were regulars. Hello to the group! I wish for you many pinochles, double runs and thousand aces.

That's all I've got for today. Enjoy the rest of your weekend wherever you may be.

Alarm Follow-up -- Fri., June 22

Cotulla, Texas:

Yesterday morning Bob made an excellent omelette for our breakfast--two eggs, mushrooms, green peppers, avocado topped with salsa.  I love it when he cooks. 

A couple of mornings ago Bob was up on top of the 5er washing the roof. Of course when you wash a thick layer of caliche dust off the roof, you then have to wash the rest of the 5er too. It looks so much better now.

We didn't get much sleep last night with the H2S alarms. The alarms stopped sounding after an hour and a half. 

Today, we had alarms again and terrible smells in and around our RV from the gas and oil. Even though the temperature was hovering at 100 degrees, we opened up all the doors and windows and turned on overhead exhaust fans in an attempt to remove the odor. My throat was sore by the late afternoon and I don't have a cold. I asked the workers coming in if there was a problem. I was told that there was a gas release and the workers right next to the well had to wear masks, but we were far enough away not to worry. Yeah, right. For me "far enough away" is about a mile, not 500'.

Our missing Priority Mail package was at the post office today! Yay. It was mailed to our last RV park (we had checked out of the park in late April) and had been there since May 11. I'm happy our stray package found its way to us.

Today, I did our laundry in Cotulla, then met a friend for lunch at JJ's Country Store restaurant. We had Mexican food. I had a combo plate with taco, chicken enchilada, pinto beans and rice. 

On the drive home from town, five or six cows were in/on the road, escapees from one of the ranches. 

Wildlife sighting: The roadrunner continues to procure its meals from under our 5er. Joining the roadrunner, but at a different seating time, was the red cardinal. On the way into town, I saw a scissor-tailed flycatcher.

Tonight, I was checking tankers in and out. I filled 2/3rds of the log sheet.

While at the laundromat, and again tonight between checking in tankers, I read "One Ranger," a biography about a Texas Ranger. Very interesting, historic and entertaining book. I'm about 1/3 of the way through it. The book brings to life the area we're living in. Thank you to Jerry for loaning us the books.

The cats were particularly playful today. Fun to watch them!

That's all for today.

Over and out.

Nerve Wracking Alarms! -- Fri., June 22

Cotulla, Texas:

Our wells are in the flowback stage. Huge flames are shooting out of the pipe. When our site's night safety man came on duty, he told us he would watch out for us if anything happened. 

At about 1:00 a.m....alarms, more alarms. Tonight, the H2S alarm and red light keep going off on the pad by our 5er. I made Bob get dressed in street clothes in case we have to leave. It's so dark out there I can't see which way the wind socks are going. No light towers are turned on near us on the pad. A light tower way far back in one corner away from us is on and our light tower is on, but our light tower faces the gate, not the pad. I'm scared. Don't know if I'll get much sleep tonight! It's 2:15 a.m. and the alarm has been going off intermittently for over an hour.

Tonight, Bowie was disturbed by the alarms and took a ringside seat to see the action..notice flames in background.

Weird posture for a cat.

"Stop with the pictures already. And could you do something about the alarms?"

Other than that, the day was normal. Bob made a trip to the post office. We are trying to track down a package that was sent to our last RV park in early May. Bob was able to get a tracking number on the package from our mail forwarding service which may help us find it. Today is laundry day. I will check the post office again when I'm in town.

Today was cloudy and cooler with possible thunderstorms in the forecast. (We didn't get any rain or thunderstorms for that matter.)

Wildlife sightings were impressive today. Two gray cottontails were hopping around. The roadrunners have decided underneath our 5er is the big bird "bug buffet." All day, the roadrunner(s) went under our stairs, grabbed bugs then headed into the brush. Very entertaining. The mockingbirds are out again, as well as the pyrrhuloxia. Every once in a while, we see big fat lizards running around outside our 5er. They like the bugs too.

More roadrunner pics:

Roadrunner with bug in bill.

Typical roadrunner stance. Note bug in bill.

  The mockingbird wanted a photo too.

Hopefully no more alarms go off and we can get some sleep!

Travel Bug out.

Thank You -- Tues., June 19

Cotulla, Texas:

Milestones: Yesterday I wrote my 200th blog and a week ago I achieved 50 subscribers. A few weeks ago The Napping Blogger Award was presented to me, and today I received the Versatile Blogger Award. I will write more about the Versatile Blogger Award in another post.

 

Thank you to everyone who reads and/or subscribes to my blog. Nothing is more satisfying than creating/writing/photographing TravelBug-Susan. For years I have loved learning new words, writing, proofreading and editing. So it's nice to be validated for doing what I love. It's my creative outlet. (If I was paid to do it, that would be the icing on the cake.)

Gate update: The gate was slow today (eight entries on the log), but we did have some excitement. A portable unit was brought in to burn off a chemical from a different part of the site. It was very close to our rig. Most of the time they were here the flame was very small, but as they were finishing up we heard a loud WHOOSH and a huge flame came out of the little pipe (two or three different times). I tried to get a pic but wasn't there at the right time, so you'll have to settle for a picture of the small flame.

The other "news:" Yesterday when I was taking my shower the water pressure went way low. I had to turn on the water pump and then the water pressure was wonderful. 

Bob went out after my shower to see what the problem was. Apparently our water filter caught and stopped a big blob of something, rolled it up into a little ball. He cleaned it out and our water worked fine until today. 

Another blob of something stuck at the entrance to our water filter. I went out to look at with him. He unrolled the blob and it was stringy and yellowish...some kind of algae? Yuck!!! I'm glad I drink bottled water.  

We opened the big black water tank. The water looked pretty clear and we didn't see any algae; however, the top of the water had a film on it and there was sand covering the bottom of the tank. 

Our water will be refilled tomorrow. Before they refill the tank we are going to drain it, then have the sand flushed out. I don't know if the water pump on our generator trailer is clogged or what. It seems like it would need to be changed out once in a while. I'll say it again, I'm glad I drink bottled water!

Once again the south Texas sky and clouds are spectacular. Sustained winds and much blowing dust were the order of the day.

Bowie was standing on the chair with his paws on my computer. He wanted to type my blog today! How cute. But you'll have to use your imagination because I wasn't quick enough with the camera. You can also see Sunnie's tail sticking out from behind the laptop...his new favorite place.

The Bag Conquerors, a Pictorial -- Sun., June 17

Cotulla, Texas:

Somebody had to do it. The bags were getting unruly; a handle sticking out here and a bag bottom there. The bag of bags didn't stand a chance.

Bowie was the first to subdue the bags, getting right in the midst of the pile and tossing and shredding. Sunnie came along to finish the job.

Both of them finished off the bag of bags by strewing the entrails far and wide.

Fini. Fait accompli. The bags are officially dead. And on the seventh day, the cats rested.

Makes Scents -- Fri., June 15

Cotulla, Texas:

In an effort to make sure our black water tank (like a septic tank) is empty, we read that Calgon water softener will loosen everything stuck to the sides of the tank and to the internal sensor, and "take it away." (That's a little play on the Calgon commercials of old, "Calgon, take me away...) 

Anyway, the first time we used Calgon we found it in liquid form. Easy to use, no muss, no fuss. The next time we looked for Calgon all we could find were bath beads in different scents. We chose lavender vanilla. The instructions stated to dissolve the Calgon in warm water and pour it, along with a gallon of water, into the empty black water tank, i.e., through the toilet. Bob took care of that this morning after he emptied the black water tank into the company-provided external tank. 

I asked Bob, "Does this mean our black water tank will smell like lavender vanilla?"

His quick-witted comeback, "About as much as my farts will smell like peaches."

Gate Update -- Thurs., June 14

Cotulla, Texas:

For the past few days our gate has been slow (1-2 log pages). Last night I had one trailer come in to pick something up at 11:48 p.m. Bob didn't have anyone until 6:00 a.m. today.

Some workers say they're wrapping it up; others say not. Don't know if we're movin' or stayin'. I hope someone lets us know before moving day.

Dairy Queen in Cotulla has become the ladies meetin' place. I've set up a meet for next Wednesday,  June 20, at 1:00 p.m. Last week there were three of us and it looks like we may see two or three more this coming week, depending on how busy people are and whether or not someone's moving. It's really nice to have good interactions and conversations because gate guarding can make you feel (choose one): isolated, stir-crazy, ding-y, imprisoned, bored, at one with the desert scrub, buggy, unkempt.

Seems people have been dropping dogs off in the desert and the dogs are finding their way to gate guard's RVs. Kit and Jerry had a mama Labrador decide that under their motor home was a perfect nursery. She gave birth to 11 (!) puppies. Now Kit & Jerry will be the first to tell you they're not particularly dog people. What to do? Kit asked all drivers coming in their gate if they knew anyone who wanted a dog with puppies. One worker called his wife and they decided to take mama and all pups! Wow. That's a lot of dogs. And quite a relief for Kit and Jerry!

Another gate guard couple with three indoor cats had a scrawny, malnourished, limping dog show up at their RV. They've never had dogs so weren't quite sure what to do with it. There is no Humane Society in this area. Their solution: go to the store and buy food, bed, chew toys, and treats. I'm not sure, but I think they just adopted a dog. The dog bed is under their RV. Outside temperatures are at 100 or more degrees.

How can people so heartlessly drop off an animal in the desert scrub in summer spring? Do they think a mountain lion will eat it? Do they think it will die of thirst and starvation? Why couldn't they take it to a no-kill shelter in San Antonio, 1-1/2 hours away? It's sad.

We're six weeks into our gate guarding gig; have five weeks left to go. Think about this, our temps have been in the highs 90s to low 100s for the past two weeks. This is spring. Summer starts next Wednesday. So far, so good with our air conditioners and generator. Seems even the bugs bug off at this time of year. Haven't seen any mosquitoes or bite-y flies for over a week.

The caliche dust is like a fine sand. We have to dust frequently, wash our air conditioner filters, vacuum, scrub the linoleum and shake out the area rugs. When I washed out the main air conditioner filter yesterday, I filled the kitchen sink with water, rinsed out the filter. The water was so sandy, I had to drain the sandy water and repeat the rinse two more times. Dirrrrrty!

Bob is plowing through more Lee Child books. I am working on reading "American Idol," about 3/4's of the way through it. It's interesting to learn about the back story of how Idol came to be, the audition process, the backstage happenings, the judges' interactions, the staging, the marketing...it's Hollywood, but inspired by the British "Pop Idol."

Bowie and Sunnie (cats) are doing great. Sunnie loves the new wet food we bought on Tuesday. Bowie turns his nose up at it and won't even try it. 

Bowie says, "Why are we changing wet food? It it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Sunnie on the other hand enthuses, "Oh yum! This is so much better than that other stuff! More, more."

At least one of the cats will eat the food we bought Tuesday.

Bob went into town this afternoon to pick up mail and buy some groceries. Main grocery item we were hoping for was more of the delectable Texas peaches. The Super S in Cotulla does not have them. They had rock hard peaches from California. Yuck. No more fresh, local peaches for us today. He did bring back corn on the cob, apricots, avocados and tomatoes. I plan to make fresh guacamole tomorrow. Mmmmmmm.

For dinner tonight we had a huge green salad with tuna salad on top. Very satisfying and healthy. Tomorrow night, tostadas with guacamole and Cholula hot sauce.

And just so you know, our refrigerator is nice and cold again! It's the little things out here.

Travel Bug out.

Roadrunner PDA -- Wed., June 6

Cotulla, Texas:

Night shift. Medium-strong winds. Things that go bump in the night. I heard a bump outside and went out to see if our garbage can lid blew away. Nope, it was attached to the can with a bungee cord. I walked around the 5er, didn't see anything amiss.

Now I am back inside the 5er waiting for vehicles to come to the gate, reading "American Idol," napping, waking when the motion sensor sets off our alarm. So far, multiple false alarms as dust blows in front of the sensor.

Every once in a while at night, I make the rounds and look out all the windows of the RV, looking for illegal aliens, animals, interesting bugs. It's 11:30 p.m., the time when weird creatures come out. Last night I saw my first scorpion. We've seen lightning bugs. I saw an armadillo the first week we were here.

Last night around 10:30 when I went out to close the gate after the last semi had come in, I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up. Maybe it's a myth, but I've read that if you feel the hair on the back of your neck stand up and you get goosebumps (chicken skin, for my Hawaiian ohana), then it's probably a mountain lion. While I was outside, I heard an owl and what sounded like cubs of some kind mewing.

Tonight, I looked out our hall window and saw something four-legged. At least I thought I saw it. It froze. I kept watching and it moved, so I really did see it. I went for the binoculars but by the time I got back to the window it was gone. My best guess is coyote or bobcat; although it could have been a mountain lion, but it didn't look big enough. I saw it at the edge of the trees, right at the edge of the available light.

We know that there's a pond across the road on the ranch. I'm guessing lots of desert animals go there at night for water. 

As much as I would like to go walking at night when it's cooler, it ain't happenin' folks! I prefer not to become prey. I will watch from the safety of the 5er. When I go out to let in a vehicle, I figure the noise, headlights and rumbling will scare away any critter in the vicinity for a little while.

I had another nature moment today. Involving roadrunners, no less.

Perfect camouflage--find the roadrunner! Hint, you can see its tail.

Roadrunner hiding from me in the tree.

Won't come down until I leave.

There he is...but he's more interested in something else.

A female roadrunner!

I never, ever thought I'd see this!

All done.

Time to skedaddle.

Parallel Universe -- Sun., June 3

Do you ever have a day when you feel like your life isn't your life? Well today is that day for me.

First, I partially woke up and it was incredibly light in the room. In my slowing awakening mind I thought all the lights were turned on in the middle of the night. Bob happened to be standing nearby and I mumbled, "Why is it so light in here?" Then I opened my eyes and said, "Oh, it's daylight." We laughed. It was 8:00 a.m.

Went back to sleep because no how, no way was 3:00 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. enough sleep. 

I woke up again at 11:45 a.m. to Bob bringing me breakfast in bed!!! A three-egg omelette with avocado, mozzarella cheese, and sauteed mushrooms. What a guy. OMG, we've been together 29 years and this is the first time he's brought me breakfast in bed. Definitely a parallel universe kind of day.

Bob has cooked before. He makes excellent shepherd's pie (with cornbread on top instead of mashed potatoes), chicken enchiladas and grilled tuna and cheese sandwiches. Plus he helps in the kitchen with cooking prep, making salads and doing dishes. [An aside: In his college years--and for a while after while traveling the country with his first wife, Laurie, and their four-year-old son, Randall--he was a short-order cook for Sambo's Restaurants. That's a story for another day.]

Today is moving day at the gate! Bob is getting a workout. He has vehicles coming at him from three directions at one time.

Traffic jam at the gate.

Rush hour!

Round 'em up, move 'em out!

Awesome size.

Mobile crane.

If you look closely the driver is waving. What a ham.

Get along li'l doggies. [Um, how about BIG DOGS!]

Bob is dwarfed by these

Tanker

Boots & Coots Field Office

Crew sleeping quarters

Water or a chemical?

Satellite dish

Generator

3:45 p.m.: My shift. Incoming. The next phase must be starting. I have big equipment coming IN now. They're finishing up the coiled tubing phase then they have to move out the previous equipment to make room for new equipment.

Well, I got confirmation from someone who just dropped off equipment. On their way out they yelled, "See you in the morning." Next phase is something called "packing," according to Bob.  


I looked up packing and found this: 

Oil and Gas Well Drilling and Servicing eTool

Below is an excerpt from the abridged version of the Dictionary of Petroleum Terms provided by Petex and the University of Texas Austin
© Petex 2001

packer n: a piece of downhole equipment that consists of a sealing device, a holding or setting device, and an inside passage for fluids.

packer fluid n: a liquid, usually salt water or oil, but sometimes mud, used in a well when a packer is between the tubing and the casing. Packer fluid must be heavy enough to shut off the pressure of the formation being produced, and should not stiffen or settle out of suspension over long periods of time, and must be non-corrosive.

packer squeeze method n: a squeeze cementing method in which a packer is set to form a seal between the working string (the pipe down which cement is pumped) and the casing. Another packer or a cement plug is set below the point to be squeeze-cemented. By setting packers, the squeeze point is isolated from the rest of the well.

packing n: 1. a material used in a cylinder on rotating shafts of an engine or pump in the stuffing box of a valve, or between flange joints to maintain a leak proof seal. 2. the specially fabricated filling in packed fractionation columns and absorbers.

packing assembly n: the arrangement of the downhole tools used in running and setting a packer.

packing elements n pl: the set of dense rubber, washer-shaped pieces encircling a packer, which are designed to expand against casing or formation face to seal off the annulus.

pack-off n: a device with an elastomer packing element that depends on pressure below the packing to effect a seal in the annulus. Used primarily to run or pull pipe under low or moderate pressures. Also called a stripper.

pack off v: to place a packer in the wellbore and activate it so that it forms a seal between the tubing and the casing.

Our four wells have all finished fracing. Here's more info on fracing: Eagle Ford Hydraulic Fracturing Facts. Coiled tubing is also complete. 

Do you feel like you've joined my parallel universe?

Snake on Site with Photos -- May 30

Today laundry lurked waiting to be cleaned. I got up at the crack of 9:00 a.m., ate breakfast, and Bob loaded the dirty laundry into the Escape pod. We also put in five books we've finished reading. The books will be dropped off at Kit & Jerry's on the way home from town. One thing about gate guarding, we have plenty of time to read.

Before I left for town Bob said, "Look at the pictures in your camera." Earlier in the morning, Bob saw a snake and pointed it out to some of the workers. The snake didn't have a rattle so it wasn't a rattlesnake. That didn't seem to matter to the workers, they killed it anyway. Turns out it was a bull snake, one of the good snakes that eats rattlesnakes. I don't understand why some guys think they have to kill everything. Here are some photos of the snake, estimates are it was about 4'-5' long.

Worker holding dead bull snake.

Dead bull snake -- the workers coiled it up to try to scare their buddy.

Today's laundry experience was much better than the last time I went to Garcia's laundromat in Cotulla. The laundry room was clean, there were no ants inside, the equipment worked and it was all local women doing their laundry.  Garcia's Grocery wasn't open today, so I went to the bank to buy some quarters. Wednesday morning seems to be a good time to do laundry here.

Upon finishing the laundry, the pharmacy was next on the list for some personal items. Super S grocery store was my next stop where I stocked up on apricots, yellow squash, red potatoes, mushrooms, cauliflower, bananas, limes, and mothballs. Yep, more mothballs. Last night we started seeing black ants in the kitchen. We heard ants don't like mothballs, so I'll put more under the rig around the supports and the tires. 

On the way out of town, I had lunch at Dairy Queen; then headed off to see Kit & Jerry to give them the books.

Jerry was busy checking trucks out of their gate. After they went through, I told him I had some books for them and he said, "Go on in and see Kit." Grabbed the books, met Kit at the door, we went inside where it was cool, and chatted for a bit. Their gate is cranking up and they're busier. I told Kit I bought some corn on the cob and she told me on TV she saw a different way to prepare it. Put the corn--husk, silk and all--into the microwave. Cook the corn four minutes per ear (so if you put two ears of corn in the microwave, cook them for eight minutes). When they're done cooking, cut off the bottom end, hold the silk and shake the corn out. I told her I would try this.

For dinner we had salmon burgers on whole wheat buns and corn on the cob. I cooked the corn as directed, but when we cut the end off the corn and tried to shake out the cob, it didn't work. So we peeled off the husks carefully as they were HOT. Once the husks were gone, it was EASY to shake the corn out and no silk stuck to it. (OK, I take that back, two pieces of silk stuck, but they came right off.) It was easy to do. The corn was wonderful.

Last night, I had one semi with trailer come through at 1:45 a.m.

This evening we had a delivery and that guy told us to expect a lot of tanker trucks tonight. Then we will be cranking up tomorrow morning. It is 2:10 a.m. and no tanker trucks yet. I have a feeling Bob is going to be busy in the morning.

I told Kit as I was going into Cotulla I saw a monstrous piece of equipment heading out of town, it looked like an oil tower. She said a big piece of equipment came in to their site, but we ascertained the timing wasn't right for what I saw to be what had been delivered to them.

Coming back to our site, I noticed something big had knocked over half the tree at the end of our road. Said half of tree was blocking half of the road off Hwy 469, I had to dodge around it to get back to the 5er. First thought I had was, "Oh, the big rig was going to OUR site." Turns out I was right. Here's a photo of it installed.

Tonight I had a good glimpse of the Springbok antelope and was able to get nice photos. They are beautiful creatures! Click on photos to enlarge them. You can see their beautiful corkscrew-like antlers.

Springbok antelope

At night all kinds of interesting critters come around: armadillo, deer, cottontails, skunk, house cat. House cat? What? There's no houses around here. Yet about 1:30 a.m. I looked out the window and saw a cat, house cat sized, house cat coloration, long tail. I don't know where it came from. I went outside and did the "Here kitty, kitty" call. It looked at me, didn't run at first, but changed its mind and ran back into the trees and scrub brush. First time I've seen a cat out here other than our own in the 5er.

Revision to a previous blog (Snakes on a Plain): In the twilight one evening, Bob thought he saw eland on the ranch across the road. We have seen the animals in question again and are sure they're Axis deer, three of them are albino (as they are white) and hang out with the normally colored (tan with white spots) Axis deer. If you look up "albino axis deer" on Google, you'll find photos of them. They are shy and run away when I try to photograph them.

It is now 3:10 a.m. and I just checked in seven trucks, one of them was a semi cab towing huge equipment. All of it went to Pad B. We heard Pad A will start working again in the a.m. Bob is going to be a busy guy. He just woke up to start his shift.

Good night all.