Friday, May 25, 2012

New Routine, Morning Visitors, Flowers

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                            The wells are somewhere down this road.

This my third week as a gate guard.  There definitely been ups and downs.  Hopefully there will be more ups than downs going forward.  This gate works a bit differently than the other.  The first one was a well that was just started, hence all the traffic.  There are so many parts to this drilling business, with so many different kinds of materials being brought in and taken out.  I am glad that I not part of that right now, however, talking with the workers, it is quite interesting as to what everyone does.

The gate that I am on is a production well, actually there are 3 wells.  There is no pump like the ones that you see along the roads that bring the oil to the surface.  These particular wells use the underground pressure to bring the crude oil into a storage tank.  Both crude oil and water come up and is separated into their own tanks.  The trucks that come to this gate are the water and crude oil trucks that take the oil and water from those tanks to wherever they take it.  There is always a safety man at the wells.Every 12 hours someone comes in to relive the previous person.  Sometimes they do nothing except sit in their truck for their entire shift. (now that is b-o-r-i-n-g.)  Someone has to be there when the truck drivers load up.  Usually the only other vehicles that come in are people that monitor what the wells are doing so that they can let the drivers know when to come to take out the crude oil and water. It could be anywhere from 0 to maybe 8 a day.

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Some time each morning, Hyme, the Ranch Foreman will come to get the totals for the previous day, otherwise the owner won’t know for several days by internet reports how much the wells are producing. It is just a check and balance for the owner.  We visit for a while so he can cool off and I can learn more of what goes on here.

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Occasionally there will be others that may come in on ranch business, for instance, a couple of days ago, Hyme met someone at the gate who would be stocking the pond with minnows and later will bring in some Bass.  This is a Hunting Ranch where the have high fences and gates so that the deer stay.  The owner has 2 other ranches and breeds deer and later in the fall, he will bring in some bucks.  The hunters pay by the points on the antlers.  I suppose all you hunters will know what that means.  I guess every week or so the owner will come by, but I haven’t met him yet.

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As to the number of vehicles that come, it will be 10, maybe 15 all day, however they can come at any time.  This morning one came in at about 2:30, the last one last night was around 9:30.  I normally sleep 5 hours at a time anyway and then maybe go back to sleep, but some times not.  So this gate will be good.  There is a big lull in the afternoon, so I can take a nap if I want to. 

I might even be able to post more often, if there’s any thing to post about.  Since I am so close to the road, I haven’t seen any wild life,except for some birds.

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This fine fellow came to check out the bugs that are fried by the light.  I think that this is his mate.  It’s a bit smaller, but the tail feathers are about 9 or 10 inches long, maybe longer.  The closest that I can come to as far as identification, is maybe a Scissor-tailed Flycatcher.  Judy, what do you think?   He has come by each morning.  He’s the first one that sat still long enough for me to get the picture.

I think that I will close this for today and try to take a nap before the night crew come to visit.

Thanks for visiting

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Susan and Angel

15 comments:

  1. This sounds considerably better for one person. Love the wildflowers. Are you inside or outside the game fences?

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    1. I'm inside the gate It's a large ranch and the deer and turkey stay away from people.

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  2. This sounds like a much situation for a solo guard. I bet you'll get a good routine going before long! Stay cool, stay safe and enjoy!

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    1. I intend to just that, as soon as David gets here to fill the diesel and water tanks.

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  3. Hi Susan, I'm not Judy but yepsters on the bird ID - those are Scissortails. :) I just got caught up on your blog - man! You have had a rough go of it girl. And I thought my move to the "hood" was bad! You are an amazing woman and a HUGE inspiration. Thank you for sharing your experiences. I'd like to think that I could do this if I needed to, but I just don't know. Couldn't do it with my dogs anyway. Unlike Angel, Nonni & Bentley need long walks. That wouldn't work for the 24/7. I am so proud of you! Stay safe and well. Love and hugZ.

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    1. Angel would like to go on long walks, but she is just happy to be wherever I am. She is so much happier with me having this job. Would you say that she is spoiled?

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    2. I would not say spoiled - indulged maybe. LOL. As are mine. And Nonni has to have the exercise or she'd end up eating the trailer! :)

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  4. Oops, meant to also tell you that I love the pictures! The flowers are gorgeous and I love the clarity and depth you are getting. Do you mind sharing how you are able to do the bevel and shadow borders? Thanks Susan!

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    1. I just use a little SONY Cyber-shot camera and use Live Writer to write my blog.

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  5. Susan, you are correct. That is a Scissor-tail. They flit around the lights taking care of the moths. Have you seen the green jays? We have them over here on Highwy 469. Glad to see you have a much slower gate. Kit

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    1. No, I haven't seen the green jays or many others either.

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  6. Thanks for the info - kind of sad about the bucks, but I guess that's life, huh?

    I like that bird, what a long tail!

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  7. It all comes down to money. Everyone is trying to make a living? Me too, I just don't need as much as you and I both know.

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  8. Hi Susan,
    Another Susan here. I've enjoyed reading your blog. We are new to gate guarding as well, started May 3. Our gate is six miles from Kit & Jerry off of 469 on Harvey Smith Rd.

    As far as your internet connection...we were having a very hard time with ours. Bob went to Best Buy in SW San Antonio and bought a Wilson. They said they've never had one returned at that particular location. It's a SignalBoost DT Desktop Cellular Signal Boost Adjustable Gain In-Building Wireless 800/1900 MHz Smart Technology II Signal Booster, Model #271265. The package came with SignalBoost DT, desktop antenna, cradle antenna, coax cables, cable connector, pole mount, wall mount and window mount options.

    We went from an E connection to 4G. Happy, happy!

    I hope that helps.

    I'd like to invite you to visit my blog http://travelbug-susan.blogspot.com. We have a lot in common.

    Your pictures of the scissor-tailed flycatcher are awesome. The one we have here doesn't come any closer than the telephone line across the street; although I did see it fly over our rig one day.

    Susan

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