Our RV Adventures

Today was my last day at this gate, at least until next time. I never know.

One gate I’ve been to 4 separate times, so I’ll probably be back at this one too. And I wouldn’t mind it either. This was actually a really good gate.

I actually only had about 10 vehicles in and out of the gate. Nothing like the 60 truck convoy that came through yesterday. But I did have about 30 vehicles come in who were lost. I would tell them they were at the wrong pad, but some just wouldn’t believe me.

I had a small convoy of 10 welding trucks come in who insisted they were in the right place and insisted on going in. I told them no one was on site, but they just wouldn’t listen.

Then about 5 minutes later here they come back out and then the lead guy sheepishly ask me where the ‘other’ site was.

Well, after trying unsuccessfully to out-produce us, OPEC and including Russia, has finally gotten their act together enough to make some slight cuts in oil production. But the cuts were enough to jump the price of oil today almost 10%.

We’ll see how long the cuts hold, but it does bode well for US companies. And of course for us gate guards as well. But in the past as soon as the price goes up some, individual OPEC members get greedy again, increase their production to take advantage of the higher prices, and then it all falls apart again.

Supply and demand. Supply and demand.

As it stands right now my next gate is this Sunday on days, back at the gate where I got lost going to this past Monday. As I told Todd, at least I know where it is now.

Tomorrow Jan and I are making a day trip into San Antonio for some shopping, a movie, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”,  and then dinner at Magic Time Machine, one of our three favorite places in San Antonio.

“Fantastic Beast” is a prequel to the Harry Potter book and movie series, both of which Jan and I really liked, so we’re looking forward to it.

“We are all star stuff.” ― Carl Sagan

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For Black Friday I did get another new toy, something I’ve had my eye on for awhile, but didn’t want to pay the $70.

It’s a cup holder mount for a cellphone or tablet.

iKross 2-in-1 Tablet and Cellphone Extended Cup Mount Holder

Although I really haven’t had a chance to try it out, so far I like it. It’s sturdy and heavy, considering it’s made of plastic.

We have a GPS in the truck, but often use my Galaxy S5 phone to find someplace local. Then Jan has to hold it, or I set it up on the dash or down on the console. Plus when we’re traveling a longer distance I like to use my Samsung Tab 4 tablet to run Waze to monitor accidents and other problems in front of us. So this looks perfect.

Mounting in the truck, I found that rather than keep up with two different size holders, the tablet holder turned vertical holds my S5 from the top and bottom with no problems.

The base expands to fit pretty much any size vehicle cup holder, even the large ones in our truck. And it’s still only $20.

We’re going into San Antonio for the day on Thursday so I’ll let you know how it works after that.

I mentioned last week that our Dodge Dakota truck was approaching 250,000 miles and that we might hit that mark on our trip back to Katy for Thanksgiving, but we didn’t quite make it.

But I did watch it roll over coming back from my gate last night. So 250,000 miles and still going strong. And that 250,000 doesn’t include the 75,000+ miles being towed behind the rig, since when it’s in neutral tow mode, the odometer doesn’t register.

The only real problem is a broken exhaust manifold bolt. When you first start it up you can hear it chuffing slightly due to the exhaust manifold leak. But in about 5 minutes, the leak seals due to the heat  expansion and it’s fine. When I ask my mechanic how much it would take to fix it, he said between $300 – $800, depending on how many other bolts broke off during the repair, and recommended just leaving it alone until it got much worse. And so far it hasn’t changed.

Miss Karma continues to surprise us. She has several different cloth fuzzy mice of diverse colors, including mouse-brown and pink stripes. Although at times she will bat one or more of them around the rig, usually she has them all in a pile on the floor in the kitchen.

If you try to tidy them up by putting them all in a small box, she will get them all out again.

So this morning right before I left for the gate at 5am, Jan was packing up my lunch and I looked down at the mouse pile and noticed that Karma now had two brown mice.

And one of them was moving.

She had caught a mouse in the rig and apparently decided it should be stored with all her other mice. And she seemed somewhat upset when I threw the no-longer moving one outside. I guess she planned on saving it for a snack later, since she had just been fed. I assume a container of Meow Mix Shrimp and Tuna tastes better than mouse.

Still don’t know if I should put out the traps or just let Karma have all the fun.

Today’s (and tomorrow’s gate) are a little busier than yesterday, but not by a lot. At least right now. A Marathon guy came in about 3pm and said there would be 60! trucks coming in as a convoy and to just let them in without logging so they don’t back up onto the highway and for a mile down the road.

Sounds good to me.

I guess I didn’t make Todd too mad yesterday getting lost on my way to a new gate, since he texted me another gate for this Sunday. Nice

Unfortunately it’s still on Day shift but I’ll take it.

Wrapping up, Patsy, my old babysitter, has a new book out that was just released today.

The Whole Town’s Talking: A Novel

I call her Patsy, but you probably know her better as Fanny Flagg.

And yes, she was my babysitter when both our families lived in Gulf Shores, AL in the late 50’s. Patsy’s parents owned a small amusement park there when my parents had their motel there.

She’s about 4 years older than me, and when our parents would get together, Patsy (Patricia Neal, her real name) was tasked with keeping me in check. I doubt she was too successful, knowing me as well as I do.

Check it out.

Thought for the Day:

“Everything must be made as simple as possible. But not simpler.”
― Albert Einstein

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