Our RV Adventures

After a somewhat busy time on the gate last night/this morning, I was back at the rig and in bed by 5:45am.

This gate is the Sand Truck Staging Pad for the frac gate right across the street, so we had a lot of sand trucks in and out, but we don’t have to log them at all. We’re really just a traffic cop because this is a one lane road, so we have to be sure another truck isn’t coming out before we let a new one in.

I was back up about 11 and about 11:45 Jan and I headed out to Barth’s for their Chicken Fried Steak Strips/Fried Catfish lunch buffet.

I guess we’re officially ‘Regulars” at Barth’s since the waitress now brings us our drink orders without me telling her what we want.

And when we left they had our Christmas dinner takeout meals of Turkey & Dressing with Gravy, Mashed Potatoes, Fresh Green Beans, Mac N Cheese, and Cranberry Sauce all ready for us.

Leaving Barth’s we made a swing by the bank to see if my checks had come in, but they’d closed at noon so it’s next week I guess.

This gate I’m on for the next 3 days is a 5pm gate, rather than a 5:30 one like yesterday’s, so I have to be on the road about 30 minutes earlier today. So when we got back to rig I went down for a couple of hours of nap.

When we came back from Beeville the other night we followed up on a tip Nancy Christian, our RV park owner, had given us about where to see Christmas lights in Kenedy.

And although there weren’t a lot of them, there were some really nice ones.

But this house was the best. On a corner lot it rivaled anything in the ‘small’ house category that we’ve ever seen.

I say ‘small’ because Jan and I have seen some mansions in the Houston area that looked this good, but never on a home this size.

Here’s a close-up. 

Everything is so ‘right’ that I’ve got to think that this one is professionally done, or done by someone who does this for a living.

As I said, this is a corner lot so here’s the other side. 

I guess Kenedy doesn’t have a Christmas Lights Competition because this one should have a big Blue Ribbon on it.

There’s been talk about some gates closing for Christmas, but so far nothing about this one. So I guess we’ll see.

Thought for the Day:

“We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.” ― H.L. Mencken

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At The Right Time . . .

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Today was a ‘turn-around day’ for me, getting fully adjusted to the next four days of night shift on a gate. Of course since I’m normally up until 2 or 3 in the morning anyway, it’s not a big problem, anyway.

I did stay up until after 3:30 this morning, Then got up at 11 and had coffee. Jan heated up the delicious leftover Bella Sera pizza about 12:30, and then I went back down for a nap from 1:30 to 4pm, and was on the gate by 5:15pm.

I’ve got one night here and then three nights at the Mocyzgemba Gate I’ve been at before. So we’ll see how it all goes.

Tomorrow we’ll go out about 11:30 or so to have the Chicken Fried Steak Strips/Fried Catfish Lunch Buffet at Barth’s, and also pick up our Turkey and Dressing Christmas Dinner takeout while we’re there. We have to do it on Friday because they close at 2pm and then don’t reopen until Monday morning. But turkey and dressing always taste better as leftovers anyway.

Now in other Dakota Access Pipeline news, some new info has come out in the last few days confirming one of the ‘conspiracy theories’ I talked about in The Dakota Access Pipeline – Pipeline Politics article I did a couple of weeks ago.

Here’s what I said then:

Why, out of over 50 tribes, are the Standing Rock Sioux so against the path of the pipeline when it’s not even going through their land?

Well, the thought is, because it’s not going through their land!

The Standing Rock tribe is broke. They received a $48 million settlement from the Federal Government in 2012, but spent it all. They had a $6 million deficit in their 2015 budget. So now the tribe is playing hardball.

Stay with me here. It’ll all make sense in a minute.

The pipeline took the path it did, following an already-existing pipeline, because that’s where the Corps of Engineers said it should go. It would be the least disturbance to the environment, and bypass the Indian lands completely.

But remember those 50 other tribes? Many of them got millions of dollars because the pipeline right of way went through their land. But because of the Corps of Engineers’ decision, the Standing Rock Sioux got left out. So the theory goes that when enough zeros show up on a check, suddenly they’ll be perfectly fine with the pipeline.

After all, the Standing Rock Tribal Chairman, Dave Archambault, owns a convenience store and gasoline station on the reservation and is happy to sell gas to both protesters and police alike.

Of course the more cynical among us might say that the entire problem with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline will be made moot sometime during the afternoon of January 20th.

So here’s the rest of the story.

The Indians used to get paid per barrel for the oil to trucked across their land before the pipeline came along.

The pipeline was originally going to go through their land, but they wanted the same per barrel fee for oil in the pipeline that they were getting from the trucks. The oil companies offered a lesser amount and the tribe turned it down.

Note that this was the oil companies, not the pipeline construction company.

So, with the approval of the Corps of Engineers, the pipeline was routed around the Indian land. But the tribe still demanded to be paid, and were told No.

The tribe then promised to protest and stop construction, which is where we stand today.

The original pipeline still would have crossed the river at the same spot, but they were OK with it then.

Next up, an interesting article from WDAZ-TV in Grand Forks, ND. Dated back in November, and entitled What Dakota Access Pipeline protesters aren’t telling you it details the many meetings and consultations the pipeline company and the Corps of Engineers tried to have with the tribe. The article is an interesting read.

Here are some highlights, the information coming from Federal Court records.

Protesters claim that the pipeline was “fast-tracked,” denying tribal leaders the opportunity to participate in the process. In fact, project leaders participated in 559 meetings with community leaders, local officials and organizations to listen to concerns and fine-tune the route. The company asked for, and received, a tougher federal permitting process at sites along the Missouri River.

. . . . .

Protesters claim that the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers failed to consult tribal leaders as required by federal law. The record shows that the Corps held 389 meetings with 55 tribes. Corps officials met many times with leaders of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe, which initiated the lawsuit and the protests.

. . . . .

The Corps alerted the tribe to the pipeline permit application in the fall of 2014 and repeatedly requested comments from and meetings with tribal leaders, only to be rebuffed over and over. Tribal leaders ignored requests for comment and canceled meetings multiple times.

. . . . .

In September 2014 alone, the Corps made five unsuccessful attempts to meet with Standing Rock Sioux leaders.

The next month, a meeting was arranged, but “when the Corps timely arrived for the meeting, Tribal Chairman David Archambault told them that the conclave had started earlier than planned and had already ended,” according to a federal judge.

Remember as I wrote before, the Standing Rock Sioux tribe lost both times in Federal Court. Then they started protesting.

Finishing up, I’m never in the right place at the right time.

Why is it that when I’m in Vegas I never get to see Half Naked Hookers in a turf war fight on the Vegas Strip?

Now when Jan goes to New York she managed to get groped by the Naked Cowboy,

and seemed to really enjoy it. Said it was on her ‘bucket list.’

But when I’m in Vegas this is what I get to see on Fremont St.

Of course, it seems to be my lot in life. Jan once talked me into going to see one of the Sex and the City movies with her by promising me nudity.

The only nudity in that movie was some guy’s bare butt.

Thought for the Day:

“Everyone is a moon, and has a dark side which he never shows to anybody.”
― Mark Twain

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