Daily Archives: October 11, 2014
They Roam in Packs . . .
Well, the frack equipment really started moving in today with our vehicle count jumping up to 224 for the 24 hours, roughly one vehicle every 6 minutes or so. Now that doesn’t seem too bad, and it wouldn’t be, except it doesn’t work like that.
Because like I’ve said before, they roam in packs. I will have nothing for 15 minutes and then suddenly I’ve got ten trucks lined up trying to get in. And of course, this is the perfect time for six trucks to try and leave, all on our little one lane road, and all at the same time.
Then the opposing sides play ‘chicken’ trying to decide who’s going to have to back up or pull off to the side. But pulling off to the side was very risky today because of all the rain we had this morning, turning the road shoulders to muck.
But we’d finally get it all worked out, and then15 minutes later do it all again. Rinse, Lather, Repeat.
The way the rain started this morning was kind of weird. It had been nice all night, short sleeve weather, about 74°, and then a few minutes after 5am, it suddenly got very cold, almost a 10° drop. No wind, just cold.
Then after about 10 more minutes the winds really kicked up, with some very strong gusts. Finally after about another 30 minutes it finally started raining. And kept at it pretty much all day. Yuck!
One thing I’ve noticed about rain in this area is the way the roads handle it. Down south of San Antonio where we gate guarded the last two years, the oil lease roads are all made from caliche, a form of limestone. It makes a very hard road, very strong, as it gets packed down.
But let it rain, and the surface turns to . . . well, one guy described it as ‘slicker ‘n snot’. Crude, but very descriptive. It’s almost like trying to walk on ice. And then after it gets in your boot treads and it dries, you have to chip it out with a screwdriver because it’s hardened like concrete. No fun.
But the roads up here are obviously made differently, and don’t seem to have the ‘snot’ problem. That’s a good thing.
When Jan retired the end of November, 2007, she took off her watch and didn’t put it back on for 5 years, and that was when we started gate guarding in 2012. So now it gets used about 3 months a year.
But when she pulled it out this year, of course the battery was dead. It took a while to find the right one, but I finally found one and installed it the other day. And the watch ran great . . . for about two days. I pulled the new battery out and put in the 2nd one in the pack, with no luck. Bummer.
Then I thought about the ‘magic fluid’, Strike Hold. I was first introduce to this stuff at a RV rally in Goshen, IN this past year, when I saw a guy put his hands in a vat of it with a lit bulb, unscrew it and then screw it back in.
I had to have some of this.
Turns out that it was developed for the US military to clean weapons, and keep them lubricated without attracting dirt. And it’s also really good about cleaning electrical contacts and circuits.
A couple of months ago I pulled out our Kindle Fire and found it would not charge. Googling, I found it was a known problem with the power connection in the Kindle, and Amazon would replace your Kindle under warranty. Well, my Fire was almost two years old, so that was out. Then I thought about Strike Hold, and thought I’d give it a try. Didn’t have anything to lose.
I stood the Fire on its end and spray a couple of squirts of Strike Hold down in the connector and let it sit overnight. Next morning I plugging in the charger cable, and presto, it started charging.
So I decided to give it a try on Jan’s watch I popped the back off, removed the battery, and thoroughly soaked the insides with Strike Hold. After letting it sit for about an hour I turned it over to let it drain.
Then after a couple of more hours, I put the battery back in and the back on, and presto again, it started working again.
Like I said, Strike Hold, The Magic Fluid. Give it a try for what ails you.
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Thought for the Day:
The United States is 3rd in murders throughout the World.
But if you take out just 4 cities: Chicago, Detroit, Washington DC and New Orleans,
the United States is 4th from the bottom, in the entire world!
ALL 4 of these cities have some of the toughest Gun Control Laws in the U.S.
Might there be a connection?
dfasdfds
