Monthly Archives: September 2014
Slower, but still Steady . . .
We had a very nice slowdown today, with only 148 vehicles through the gate, compared to yesterday’s 233. As I said, very nice.
Our rig still hasn’t ‘spudded in’ yet. Don’t know what the problem is, or if there really is a problem. They’ve got drill pipe hanging in the derrick, so that part’s ready, but no drilling.
I made our first supply run over to the Wal-Mart in Bryan this morning, and all I can say is, “I hate breaking in a new Wal-Mart.” Not only are the different departments in different places in the store, but, especially in the Grocery department, different items are in different areas. For instance, some Wal-Marts stock the vinegar in the Baking section, others put it in the can goods aisle. Some put the drinking water with the soft drinks, while others put it in the booze area. You never know.
But it took a while to find everything on Jan’s long list, long because this is the first time in two weeks since we stocked up on stuff.
On the way home I stopped off at Rudy’s BBQ to stock up on this too. A jumbo baked potato with lean brisket and a 1/2 pound of lean brisket for Jan, and a jalapeno sausage link and a 1/2 pound of moist brisket for me, and a quart of creamed corn for both of us. We’ll get several meals out of this.
Jan doesn’t normally like corn, but she likes Rudy’s. Now if they would just crumble bacon in it as they made it, it would be just like my grandmother’s, cooked up in her big cast-iron skillet. MMMMM, good.
Looks like Fall and cooler weather are right around the corner. Friday night’s low is supposed to be in the high 60’s with Saturday’s high in the 70’s. Then it’s in the 80’s as far as the eye can see, or at least, as far Weather.com can forecast.
We’ll see.
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Thought for the Day:
“Whenever we can, we follow the law.” – IRS Commissioner John Koskinen, when testifying before Congress 9/10/2014
Wonder if I can use this line during my next audit?
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Spudding . . .
Well, another bump up in the vehicle count today, with a total of 233. I think a lot of the increase was due to the ‘Spud’ meeting at the new rig across from us. And no, it didn’t have any thing to do with potatoes.
‘Spud In’ or ‘Spudding’ is the term for when the drill bit first touches the ground and they start drilling. So I guess they’re getting close, though as of 1am Wednesday morning, they still haven’t started yet.
This is what we have now.
We did have an interesting situation with the cattle guard gate that we guard. The big, heavy rigs coming over it, broke it. And I mean just about in half.
A couple of days ago, as a rig was crossing it, I heard a loud crack. And after the rig was gone, I checked it out. This is what I found.
It was just about cracked in half, with only the support beams holding it together. Then then last night a rig came through and dropped about 6 inches as it crossed the cattle guard. I told the driver he might want to say something to them about it. So this morning someone finally came out to look at it, and it was an ‘Oh Crap’ moment.
And after a lot of heming and hawing about how long the gate would have to be shut down, 3 hours, 30 minutes, 2 hours, etc., they shut it down at a few minutes after 2pm and really went to work.
They first ripped the old guard out of the ground and set it aside.
Next came the wooden support beams.
Then after digging it out, they laid in new concrete beams.
And then the new, larger, stronger cattle guard.
And they had the gate back open in less than an hour. Fast work.
Tomorrow (Wednesday) I’ll make our first grocery run over to the Wal-Mart/Sam’s in Bryan/College Station. about 18 miles away. The Wal-Mart in Madisonville is 3 miles closer, but it’s not a Supercenter. And there’s not a Sam’s there either.
But there is a Bucee’s. Decisions, decisions.
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Thought for the Day:
“The right to buy weapons is the right to be free.” A. E. van Vogt
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