Quiet Time

Things have sure been quiet here the last three days…day and night. But I think it is the quiet before the storm, as we hear they are going to start fracing (pronounced fracking) this week.  That will definitely keep us racing around as other ate keepers have told us.  The trucks will be lining up to deliver sand a water for the fracing operation.

Our big tower lights went off again last night about midnight, so I had to rely on the smaller stand lights to see outside.  I didn’t have any traffic last night so it didn’t really matter.  But tonight the mechanic came out and fixed the problem, so we’re back in business.

Jim has to shut off the big generator once a day to check the oil level and we started just leaving the generator off for half an hour or so.  Boy is it quiet without that 15,000 watt generator running.  We actually heard birds chirping and singing…that was awesome.  Hearing birds sing is one of my most favorite things to do!!! We have started to sit outside after I wake up and have a cup of coffee and just enjoy the silence in the afternoon before we go inside and fix dinner. 

Yes, I eat dinner as my first meal; sometime around midnight I snack on a piece of fruit or cheese and crackers, and then end my day by having breakfast…yes, it’s pretty much backwards to everyone else.

Our weather has been pretty nice lately, so off came the raincoat and back on with our tee shirts.  We have to keep several different weights of coats available as the weather changes so often.  One day we started the day off with the heater on and late in the afternoon had to put the air conditioner.  Radical temps in one day.

It’s 1 a.m. and time for yogurt and fruit for my mid-day meal. 

Remember, you are loved.

Week-ends Gate Guarding

We were told weekends were slower in general than week days, and we’ve found that to be true.  Saturdays are about half the activity of during the week.  But Sundays are really quiet with only 27 entries.  So it gives us a little ‘down’ time.

Jim and I are playing around with our shifts.  We’ve kind of decided to establish “free time” for both of us.  So when he’s “on” from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. I can have some “me” time and read uninterrupted or knit a complex pattern without stopping.  And when I’m “on” Jim can take off his orange vest and have a drink and relax.  I haven’t thought of a way to have a cocktail yet, because when I get off work it’s 6 in the morning a brandy Manhattan doesn’t seem so appealing.  I haven’t had a drink in a week now.

Several folks have asked how noisy the big 15,000 watt generator is.  Actually it isn’t really noisy…more like a medium level hum. It’s more like a ‘white noise’.  That can’t be said about the generator that operates the four huge mercury lights that light up the road in front of our rig at night.  That is noisy, but like most things you get use to it and then don’t notice much.

There is another oil company drilling oil on property to the side of our front gate.  The other day they put in a cattle guard and brought in a crane to lift up cement supports and steel rails.  They hoisted them up and over our fence real close to our RV.  Things are fixing to get real busy around here with this other oil company starting up their oil drilling crew.  We had to move our bell rope because it rang every time one of their trucks came close to go into their gate.

Today we were happy to enjoy the company of our friends The Two Lindas.  They are working up above San Antonio and made the trip down for a visit.  They were kind enough to bring us a “care” package of fresh veggies and strawberries.  They also brought hummus, multi-grain crackers, smoked sausage and a red pepper pesto gouda cheese that was very unusual; it tasted like a pizza in a cheese! Oh, they also brought over a scrumptious chocolate pie made with silken tofu; it was so decadent.  We so, so enjoyed having them with us again, as it will be summer before we see them again in Colorado.  Thanks for the goodies, Ladies!!!

     

More next time about our day to day routine and what the job entails. 

Remember, you are loved.