Darn Slow Internet Service...

I shouldn't complain at all actually, at least we have internet!  But after a time you kind of forget that and revert back to thinking you are in civilization and it should be faster.  Oh well.  I'm going to post some pictures here because I can't get them posted on facebook so I hope you can see them.

As for the gate, we've heard a couple of different things which neither of them could be the way it turns out of course.  Supposedly the deadline for this well is March 15, we'll see if that happens.  I know that we have lucked out with this gate because it's a slow one with no night visitors but I have to say, it sure is relaxing.  The problem is that we are getting spoiled which is going to make it tough
when we have a normal busy gate! Lol! 

Oh, yesterday, David our field service guy saw a cougar just 3 miles down our dirt road!  Thank heavens the dogs can't run loose!

Not Much Happening...

Thorny bird nest!

I'd like to post more often but there's no sense in doing it if there's nothing to say!  We've been watching the birds building their nests which is kind of interesting since one pair is making a nest out of thorns in the bottom of a cactus plant.  We also have a red cardinal (don't know the proper name though) that has been hanging around with it's mate, what a beautiful bird!  That's one thing I have to say, Texas or at least this part of it has the most beautiful sounding songbirds!  I mute the tv every so often just to hear them sing, love it!

A roadrunner just came to visit or at least to eat up as many of the resting moths that it can.  We were enjoying watching it until River, our Parson Terrier, spotted it and went into hunt mode and the roadrunner took off.  Darn!

I've been reading in everyone's blogs to make sure you get to know the company man, which we would like to do but could never figure out who that might be, until yesterday.  David with Murphy came by and when I checked him in I asked what he did and he said he was the production foreman and that this was his field.  So, I asked him if that made him the company man and he said yes, finally, after a month on this gate we finally got to meet him.  Very nice guy by the way!

So, that's it for now I'll post more when there is more to say.  I'll just leave you with a picture of some of the wildflowers that are starting to bloom.  Be safe!

Still Settling In...

Not much has been going on, trucks come in and then trucks go out.  We haven't been busy on this gate which is probably good since we are still learning the ropes, but I worry that we might become too complacent!  We haven't had any rigs come in past maybe 9:00pm or earlier then 5:30am but just incase I do sleep on the couch fully dressed, can't hurt to be prepared.  Jim gets up about 5:45am and takes care of the gate until I wake up about 8-9:00am and then we both kind of take turns, then we might take a short nap in the afternoons.

Pretty relaxing actually but having read everyone elses' blogs I know that certainly isn't always going to be the case!  To be honest, we are looking forward to a gate that is busier and I'm sure that will happen.  I'm trying hard to learn the regulars names but I'm awful at names, I swear it took me 10 years to remember my husbands!  Not really of course but that's the story I'm sticking to, I don't want the drivers to think I don't care, I do but I remember faces better so I just call everyone "hon".  Cheesy, but friendly.

The only other thing is that I have read in other blogs to get to know your "company man" which is a good idea, but how do you know who that is if they don't introduce themselves that way?  We have met a couple of the inspectors who seem to be in charge back there, and I did meet and talk with their boss (maybe that's him?) but still aren't sure.  I've read it in other places and it is certainly true here, what a nice, polite bunch of guys!  Oh, I just heard from one guy waiting for his water trucks to exit the gate that some of the guys refer to my husband, Jim, as okie.  I don't know why and he hasn't heard that but if that's true then it has to be because of the old straw cowboy hat (obtained in California) that he wears sometimes.  I don't like the hat and it sure isn't "Texan" so it looks like we'll have to get him something else.  Too funny!

Only downfall is that we sure miss the kids and grandkids!  Usually we can get some of them to visit but I'm doubtful that will happen while we are here, so we might have to take a couple of weeks off to visit.  That's it for now, time to walk the dogs.  Be safe!

Girls Day Out and Wild Pigs...

Ok, two events but not connected!  Barb and Rachel from the other two gates at our well and myself decided to have a girls day out in Laredo; shopping, laundry and lunch, what a treat!  Don't worry, we brought pizza home to the guys for watching the gates for us which made them happy.

While I was gone, Jim called to say that there were about a dozen or more wild pigs about 50 feet behind the motorhome.  You can imagine how that drove the dogs crazy!  He said all three of them were running from one end of the motorhome to the other checking each window to watch all the pig action outside.  I had a good day in town but I would have loved to have seen them myself.

We normally have about 12 trucks go through the gate each morning but on Monday it ramped up a little so now there are about 25 going through.  From what we have heard the pipe they are laying is coming our direction, since we're still learning, I don't know if that means they are nearing the end or not. 

Today we met the man in charge of the well and he mentioned that about 150 more wells were scheduled to go in, but I don't know the timeline or what part of Texas we're talking about, regardless, I thought it sounded like job security anyway.

Our plans at this time are to work through the summer which should be interesting since heat is not my friend!  I'll work the night shift so that I can stay out of most of it but I will have to give Jim breaks during the heat of the day which means I won't escape all of it.  We'll see, I'm thinking positive!

Not Much Happening...

Yesterday was quiet as you might expect for superbowl Sunday, but I still thought there might be someone come through the gate but knowone did.  Weather was cold and the ground still covered in sticky, muddy caliche!  With three dogs going out several times a day to do their "business" we had to come up with a better way to clean their feet!  We tried hanging a handtowel by the door and wiping their feet but it took forever and didn't get them that clean, so we decided to put them in the shower and rinse their feet with the handheld shower nozzle.  We put a wire gravy strainer over the drain to try to keep as much of that mud as possible from going down the drain, at least their feet were cleaner!

The game was good, we made tacos and then watched The Voice, all in all a good day.

Today is also quiet, a few went through the gate and then a couple of cars came out and said they had nothing to do in there, he also said he thought they were about 1/4 done (laying pipe I think).  Still pretty cool out but at least the mud is drying up!

I've been reading everyone's blogs and want to figure out how to put their links on my blog too.  We're still new at this of course and haven't gone through a summer but so far, we like what we're doing.  Pluses for us is that we work together so we don't have to worry about finding jobs seperately that would require us to have two cars and we can be with the dogs and take care of their needs.  I like the solitude, bird sounds, even the coyotes howing in the distance, as long as they stay in the distance! 

Milford, who works the 3rd gate on our road made us a coke can wind spinner which we really like and then today, BJ who works the 2nd gate brought us a beaded hot pad that his wife Barb made for us, so nice of all of them!  Now I have to find a hobby so I can return the favor!!!

                                                       Our first roadrunner!


Jim is napping and I have to figure out something for dinner so I'll let you all go for now.  Be safe!

A Few Hours...

Before we were assigned to our own gate we filled in for a few hours for a guard that works 24/7 by himself.  Here is a picture of his pop-up trailer that he stays in; he also has a washer and dryer set up outside the trailer.  Makes sense, he can't go anywhere working all alone!

Let's Catch Up...

We moved to a gate about 40 miles east of Laredo on January 21.  There are 3 gates on our road back to the natural gas well, Barb and BJ on the 2nd gate and Milford and Rachel on the last gate.  From what we are told they are laying pipe now and we don't know how long that lasts.  Very interesting though, so far we are enjoying our new line of work, which is very different from anything we have ever done before!

David is the GGS field tech (not sure if that's his title but makes sense to us), he is the person who takes care of us.  Great guy, friendly, smart, helpful and always ready with an answer to our questions or a solution to our problems.  Roger is the person in charge of this area, nice guy as well, in fact everyone we have met involved with GGS so far have been really nice people!

We sat for about two weeks before getting a gate which was because of the hunting on the ranches.  At least we got one!

The only big issue we have had thus far is phone/internet service.  We are with Sprint and use our phones as portable hot spots for the internet, however, this is primarily AT&T area so our phones didn't work well at all.  We had read on some of the other gate guards blogs to get a Wilson cell phone booster which we finally did yesterday and now we have both phones and internet.  Grant you, the internet is slow, way slow but it beats none!  The booster was $300 at Best Buy in Laredo. 

I'll start posting pictures as soon as I figure out how, hopefully today.  Oh, I saw my first wild pig!  I was walking the dogs down our dirt road when River alerted on the shrubs next to us and I saw a black pig running parallel to us in the bushes....so, I turned around and went home!  You can hear the coyotes hunting in the surrounding area both day and night which gets all 3 of our dogs excited and barking out the windows.  Jim took the dogs another direction on a walk and heard a pack howling in the distance and then a bit later they started howling again only they were much closer...so, he turned around and went home!  Love the bird songs here though, different and very pretty.

Ok, so now we're all caught up and I'll try to stay that way.  Be safe.