Daily Archives: October 31, 2015
Well, that was fun . . .
NOT!
It’s amazing, and scary, how fast the weather can change, going from good to very, very bad in just a few minutes. Like these RV’ers at the River Ranch Campground in New Braunfels, TX.
They went from this,
to this so quickly they didn’t have a chance to leave.
Notice the 5th wheel that didn’t even get his slide in.
We’ve driven over this campground on I-35 a number of times and always remarked how beautiful it was, located right on the Guadalupe River. But having seen in the past how fast a river can rise, it always made me a little queasy. And it doesn’t even have to be raining where you are. But ten miles upstream it can be a whole ‘nuther story, with the water level rising 6 to 8 feet in just a few minutes and heading downstream to you.
Our hearts and sympathy go out to all affected by this storm.
In comparison, my little adventure this morning doesn’t even rate, but at the time it did keep me busy.
After on-and-off slow, drizzling rain most of last night and early this morning, it finally let up, and when I check the radar about 3am, there was nothing to be seen. But a new, much more powerful storm announced itself a little after 5am, with a big WHUMMP!, as a sudden wind gust tried to pick up the canopy. Within seconds it was pouring down, heavier than any rain we’ve had since we’ve been here. And the wind didn’t let up either, but if anything got worse.
We’ve had storm damage to our canopies before, so my preparations have evolved over the years.
This was at our second gate in 2012, about 2 weeks into our first gate guarding adventure.
We were following a Marathon drill rig, and a tornado was sighted about 5 miles away. The Company Man came and told us to evacuate to the Tool Pusher’s trailer, which was an oversized cargo container tied down to the ground.
So Jan and I crowded in with about 30 of the crew to wait out the storm. Jan had wanted to bring the cats, but I had said No. Mister would have been fine, but Emma would have freaked out.
When the storm passed and we went back to the rig, this is what we found.
I was actually able to repair the canopy frame and get it all back together with a little work.
Then last year, in 2014, a downdraft hit us in the middle of a bad storm, leaving us with this.
Notice that it’s just crushed in from the top. With the canopy shredded, this is when I started using a tarp instead, much stronger than the thin canopy fabric.
And the fact that a new canopy was $80, and would take 10 days to two weeks to arrive, and I had a tarp in the back of the truck didn’t hurt either.
This year I did things a little different. The canopy frame, which survived last year’s storm, is staked down, and also weighted down with 4 – 50 pound containers of water. Then the tarp is just laid over the frame, and not really tied down to it, but it too is tied off to stakes in the ground.
This lets the tarp give some, and lets the wind blow through without trying to take the frame with it. And based on this morning, it was a pretty good plan.
When the storm first hit, I bundled all the electronics into garbage bags and stowed them in the truck out of the way. Then I just waited it out, keeping an eye on things. We did have a couple of gusts that got under the tarp and billowed it up with a loud SNAP!, but it all held together.
I went inside a little after 6am when it looked like things were dying down, and luckily, by the time Jan went out at 7 it was pretty much over.
We only had 48 vehicles through the gate today, the big majority of them water tankers taking out water from the Flowback. As far as the Flowback itself, we only have a crew of six running things, three on the day shift and three on the night.
During the week, there’s always a bunch of management types passing through, but it seems they don’t work weekends. Much the better for everyone, I’m sure.
Our grandson Landon has apparently decided on a career in Law Enforcement. Here he is walking down to receive his diploma after Academy graduation.
And here he is with his first ‘collar’.
A recidivist candy-napper if I ever saw one. Kitty does have a kind of wild look in her eyes. Must be high on sugar.
Love those mirror shades.
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Happy Halloween!
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