Our RV Adventures

Not much happened today, which was reflected in a new low vehicle count, with only 33 vehicles coming through the gate today.

Don’t know if it’s the holiday weekend or not, especially since the rig apparently got all their problems worked out and went back to drilling again this morning. But ‘slow’ is always good, so it works for us.

I did finally find out what was confusing me about how they’re drilling the 3 wells here, though. In the past (2012) when we worked a multi-well drill site, they drilled the first well all the way down to the required 12,000 – 14,000 foot level and then moved to the next hole and drilled that one.

But I was confused when they drilled the first hole for a few days, then moved to the second hole for a few days, and then the third one. I knew they didn’t have enough time to go down to 14,000 feet. And they didn’t have enough drill pipe on the pad to go that deep either.

It takes about 350 pieces of drill pipe to go that far down, and since it is all stacked right out in front of us, it was easy to see that they didn’t have enough pipe on hand.

But then a couple of days ago, I heard the Company Man telling a visitor that they’re doing these wells in sections, though I’m not sure why.

In some cases they do it in 3 stages – a surface drill, an intermediate drill, and then a deep drill, setting the casing, the well liner, in place as they go. So they cycle through the wells, doing a surface drill on all three, then an intermediate drill on all three, and then a deep drill.

But apparently our well will only be done in two sections, not three. I assume that this all varies due to the soil conditions downhole.

I did get the site WiFi code today, but that’s about all the time it lasted. . .a day. When he gave me the code, he said that they were putting in a better one, and in fact the guy was there right then working on it.

And I guess he got it installed because this evening the old one no longer works. The WiFi part is still up, but it doesn’t connect to anything. I was hoping that they might have used the same password on the new one, which would have simplified things for everyone, but no luck. So I’ll try to get the new code tomorrow.

We did get some unexpected rain about 8:30 this evening while Jan was on duty. I say ‘unexpected’ because there was no rain in the forecast, just ‘Partly Cloudy’. Jan said the ‘Partly Cloudy’ lasted for about 30 minutes, and luckily she only had one vehicle come in during that time.

I did get a photo today of where and how we’re parked.

We’re parked parallel to the highway, so entering vehicles come from around behind us and then stop in front of the canopy.

The tarp over the canopy is not very photogenic, but it works. The standard canopy fabric just does not hold up to 24/7 in the Texas sun. And a replacement is about $100. But if the tarp gets shredded at some point, and it does once or twice a year, then another $20 at Wal-Mart and I’m back in business.

I’m cheap, what can I say.

“We are defined as much by our enemies as we are by our friends.”

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Today was another two’fer, with nice weather, only about 87 degrees, and a low vehicle count, with only 49 vehicles coming through the gate.

The rig has been down for several days, with them trying to fix something that wasn’t right to start with on this new rig. As far as we’re concerned they can take all the time they want.

Jamie, our Gate Guard Services supervisor/service guy showed up about 6:15 this morning. He topped off our water tank, topped off our diesel tank, and did our two week generator service (oil and filter change) a few days early, since he was already here. And he brought me a hardhat for going on site. So we’re all set for another two weeks.

Some readers have asked about why the generator has to get an oil and filter change every two weeks, when their car only needs one every six months or so, depending on how much they drive. And the reason for the difference is that your car doesn’t run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

But actually you’re talking about pretty much the same service interval for both the generator and your car. 24 hours x 14 days equals 336 hours for your generator, while driving your car 2 hours a day x 30 days x 6 months equals 360 hours. Roughly the same.

In comparison, the Onan 7.5 kw generator in our RV is spec’d for every 100 hours, which means I’ll have to have it serviced this winter before we head out again next year.

Today was another Blue Moon BBQ lunch day, especially because today is the one day a week that they have HotShots. As I mentioned HotShots are fresh jalapenos, stuffed with 3 cheeses and chopped beef, then wrapped in bacon and cooked on the pit.

And boy, are they good. And good n’ hot, too.

I got us each two along with our meals, and after tasting one of mine, I warned Jan they were plenty hot. And trying one of hers, she said, “Wow, they are!”

And after a couple of more bites, she gave her second one to me, saying that one was about all she could handle. But she did keep eating her first one, and by the time she was finished, she took her second one back, saying that they had ‘grown’ on her.

For our meals, Jan stayed with her tried and true Stuffed Potato,

while I went with a Double Meat Sliced Brisket Sandwich.

And it was all as good as it looked!

Brandi, Landon, and Lowell spent the day out and about, watching Oklahoma get beat by UofH at NRG stadium,

and then at the Oasis Pool at the Woodlands where Landon joined a dance contest, doing the Nae Nae.

Late yesterday evening, Guard 1 called and we have a gate. Or at least another one. I had talked them on August 19, inquiring about jobs since Jamie said at the time he didn’t have anything for us.

Then of course, he called the next day, Saturday, and said we had a gate starting Monday. So you never know.

Guard 1’s gate was near Shreveport, and we certainly would have taken it if Jamie hadn’t called. But Monday will start our 3rd week here, and it’s a nice gate, so it all worked out.

Well, our attempt to have things shipped to us here at the gate via USPS didn’t go so well. Our Amazon order was supposed to have been delivered this afternoon, but about 3:15 I got a text message from Amazon saying it was listed as “Undeliverable”.

I tried calling the Hearne PO but got no answer. So I’ll have to wait until Tuesday to call them, because of Labor Day.

Tony, our landowner, says he regularly gets UPS and FedEx delivered here, as well as USPS Priority Mail, so I’m not sure what the problem is, but it is the PO we’re talking about.

I would have thought that the carrier would have known there was a problem when he picked up his mail to deliver, and not waited until late in the afternoon to discover there was a problem.

Oh, well.

Thought for the Day:

Always come to the peace table well-armed.

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