Busy Gate

OMGoodness, day after Christmas the equipment started to arrive for the new pad….and arrived…and arrived!!! Processed nearly 300 vehicles in and 250 out.  Jim and I sat outside for eight straight hours checking in machinery one right after the other all afternoon.  That’s the busiest we’ve EVER been…12 pages of forms.

Since then it’s slowed down a bit…only about 175-200 vehicles passing through our gate, but still busy enough that as soon as I get up I dress quickly and sit outside with Jim.  I handle the portrait clipboard with notebook paper and quickly scribble down the driver’s info while standing in the middle of the road.  When there’s a lull I read the info out to Jim (who sits under the awning) and, with his nice penmanship, he fills out the legal sized form on the other landscape clipboard.  We learned this technique from our buds, Rita and Jerry, and it’s worked very nicely for us. It’s kind of double entry but that long clipboard is hard to handle and write on at the same time while standing up by the gate.  Plus it holds up the line when you are shuffling through the forms looking for someone’s entry when they leave.

We use heavy-duty Velcro to adhere the pen to the clipboard

I purposely blurred the form as not to identify the people and vehicle license plate numbers and our exact location, but you get the idea. Again use Velcro to keep track of the pen. Some gate guards adhere a small clock and book light to see at night.

We are so happy that with the fracking going on at the same time we have been included in the catered, twice-a-day meals provided the workers.  If not  we probably wouldn’t eat.  We definitely don’t have time to cook.  I basically eat standing up in between the trucks that arrive every 5-7 minutes. Last night I tried several times to make myself a cup of tea and never did find the time to get it done. 

We were getting hungry for our own cooking so I asked Jim to take the time today to get out his Dutch cooker and cook up a pork butt we had.  He used the recipe he learned in Louisiana when visiting the Museum Café in Erath for their Cajun jam session.  The pork came out so tasty. 

Saturday-Sunday we get our last midnight catered meal as the fracking is done and that part of the operation will all pull out in the wee hours of the morning.  So I’ll be busy later on tonight. One operation ends and another gears up to start.

I must say, we rather like this busier gate compared to the other gate we were on where we only waved to truckers passing by and only had to give the occasional direction.  Now we feel we are earning our keep, so to speak.

Remember, you are loved.
Read the story behind the saying HERE