A Little This ~ A Little That

I have a few photos I wanted to blog about – all unrelated but neat.

One of the companies here decided to barbecue and brought us a plate.  Jim got the steak and I ate the chicken. 

The chicken was the best I ever had….tender and so moist and juicy.  Jim said the steak was great.  We had baked potatoes and a interesting rice combination with pinto beans and pork bits….I tasted it and it was good.  You notice the total lack of vegetables (except for the two thin slices of green pepper).  Rig workers aren’t big on veggies!

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Here’s Jim repairing the bell rope.  They are like the old-fashioned bell ropes they had in the gas stations back in the day to warn when an auto was outside…..the bell by our rig rings when a vehicle rolls over the rubber line.  The rope got split and he had to cut it out and join the two pieces with a connector.

We do get the most beautiful sunsets here in Texas.  Almost rivaling those in the desert of Arizona.

Things are pretty slow at the gate the last few weeks; but the pay is the same so we are enjoying the quiet lull.

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

Visits with Friends

Friday I met Linda Mossman and did laundry and then we met with Nancy Doyle and had lunch at Kadobe’s….which is becoming our “go to” place to eat.  Nancy and hubby, Tom, have come to gate guard as well.

Saturday we had a visit from our buddies,

The Two Lindas.  We see them two or three times a year as they are able to schedule their work around where we can see them.  They work for AGS, publishers of the maps at RV parks, and are on their way to parks in Rockport and Port Aransas.  

The Lindas brought lunch and dinner, which I really enjoyed because The Lindas live a very nutritional lifestyle.  This was lunch…..so yummy.

All the RV parks around here are full with rig workers, so we got permission from the Company Man for The Lindas to park in front of us and spend the night.  LOL many of the guys asked if we were leaving and if the folks in the motorhome were the new gate guards.

While they were here we received delivery of our new Lazy Boy recliners.  We’ve been looking for new recliners for years now….the ones we have are too big for us and the space. Linda is my interior decorator and helped me pick these out.

This is one of the old recliners

And these are our new recliners.  Provides us a lot more room.

One of the rig workers who is building a house got our old recliners.  We were happy to have him take them away.

One more friend encounter when one of the engineers asked Jim to go out to dinner with him. Steve has become a good buddy and we’ve shared food and recipes.  Steve makes a mean crawfish etouffee. They had a good time and it was good for Jim to get out of here for a while and have some “guy time”.

That’s been our world the last couple of days.  Life filled with friends…..it doesn’t get any better than that!!!!

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

Sad News

We have sad news to share with our readers.....we had to have Chorizo (a.k.a. Weenie) put down yesterday. The vet said he had a growth/tumor on his colon and wouldn't last long. We brought him home for a week but Wednesday he was yelping in pain and we knew we had to stop his suffering. Jim Mossman went with my Jim to San Antonio and...we had Chorizo cremated and we'll bring him back to Colorado for burial.  This hurts like hell !!!!!!

Here’s a couple of pictures of Chorizo when we first got him at six weeks old.  He was tiny.

I wrote about our loss on my Facebook page and received so many sweet sympathetic comments.  So many people had been in the same position and could relate to our loss.  Later I wrote……

Thanks to all of you for your comments about losing Chorizo. Besides our personal grief and continual tears it’s hard watching his litter brother, Poncho, so confused and wandering around looking for Chorizo. When Jim walked him today Poncho headed straight for the truck and kept jumping at the door like he was saying "come on Dad lets go find Chorizo". Yesterday after Jim left for San Antonio I took Poncho outside to sit with me and he sat facing the highway (unusual) as if he was watching for Jim's truck to return with Chorizo. Poncho has never been without another dog in his life.... at almost eleven years old this will be so strange for him.

Here’s Jim faking a smile just before he left for San Antonio with Chorizo. And my last hug. We’ll miss you, buddy.

               

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

Another Knitting Project Completed

I’ve been knitting up a storm lately.  I’m determined to use up some of my yarn ‘stash’ hidden under the bed.

This hood/cowl is something I’ve wanted for some time now. It covers my neck, ears and head. 

This one uses acrylic yarn but I think I’ll make another one in wool to make it warmer. I do like the variegated colors in this particular yarn. You knit the cowl in the round alternating a number of knit rows with some purl rows. So you get a bumpy surface with a hill and valley affect.

Do you like the look of a cowl and hoodie combination?

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

Visit with Friends

Last January Jim and I were in Quartzsite, Arizona.  We were attending a reunion of our Class of 2007…gathering of folks who belong to the Escapees RV Club who went on the road fulltime in 2007. 

There we met Lynette and Greg. During a round of introductions we mentioned we were going to south Texas to gate guard the oil wells. Lynette sought us out and asked questions about gate guarding.   Fast forward to last July when Lynette and Greg became gate guards and we started talking on Facebook.

When we returned to gate guarding last November we were only in the yard one day before we got sent out so we didn’t get to visit with Lynette and Greg.  That was rectified last Friday when they were in the yard awaiting a new assignment and drove over to pick up our paycheck. 

We had a little visit and made arrangements for them to come out and see us yesterday.  We had a good talk and enjoyed their company.

It is always nice to be able to visit with friends on the road.  You reconnect in the darnest places.

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

turban

As most of you know I knit and I seldom knit anything for myself….looove to knit surprise gifts.  But lately I’ve found a few patterns that I have fallen in love with for myself.

One of them was this Gypsy Turban. Some of my ancestors were European gypsies so I thought it would be appropriate.  I hate having my ears cold and this would solve that issue also.

It is a simple 36” band knitted in the round on circular needles in the seed/moss stitch (purl the knits and knit the purls).	Then you sew closed about 8” on one edge to create a pocket of sorts. Place your head in the pocket and twist the end.
Flip the twist around you head and you get a double layer covering your ears	And there you have a Gypsy Turban

I wore it last night after I finished it and it really kept my ears warm.  I even received a few favorable comments and a couple of snickers.

I like to wear a different hat every day as it seems to amuse the drivers and it brings them a little levity.  They all work so hard, it’s nice to make them smile and laugh.

 

 

Today I’m wearing a hat my dear friend, Salai, knitted and felted for me.  I call this my Aussie Hat.  It’s warm.

 

Weather is sunny and temps just reached 60* so that is a big improvement.  I turned off the heat pump and actually latched the door open to air out the RV as we’ve been closed up for two weeks now.

Ahhhh, the sun feels good.

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

Changes

The rain has stopped, the ground has dried, the mud has disappeared.  Jim and I have shook out the rugs, bathed the dogs paws, sprayed off outside carpets to get all the mud out of everything.  Changes….

The tubing has been completed on one of the pads and the companies involved in that left over the last few days.  It’s been kind of hard because you develop small relationships with these men that you see and talk to two to four times a day.  It’s sad to see them go. Changes….

Leo, the man who got me the bear hat, mentioned he liked my green, buttoned hat and asked for one without the button.  This is the hat I came up with.

 

 

Here’s Leo with his hat. A hat pattern changed….

 

 

 

The bleak, gray sunsets have given way to some beautiful sunsets.  This was yesterday’s sunset.

Nice change……

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

The Worm Turns

We had a wonderful, wonderful day today. Jim and I sat outside and soaked up the sun. Sunny skies, not a cloud around, temperatures in mid-70s….perfect.  The mud has dried and no dust blew….perfect.  Then one of the companies here bought lunch for their team, and us of course. 

 

Shrimp, catfish, fries and jalapeno poppers…perfect.

 

 

 

Here’s another perfect thing……

Hope you also had a wonderful day too…….

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

Cold and Rainy and Funny Hats

Long gone are the days of sleeveless blouses and capri pants.  I put away the suntan lotion and bug repellant.  The cold arrived and out comes the sweatshirts, fleece jackets and all my knitted hats and caps. 

Remember the Tweety Bird hat I had?  Well, one of the drivers tossed Jim a bag and said “this is for your wife’s collection”.  It was a bear hat.

                 

As I’ve mentioned Jim and I usually sit outside during the day to minimize the trips up and down our stairs.  But it does get cold sitting outside so I added some additional coverage.  It’s my ninja look……

            

Where we come from it can get mighty cold in the winter and we dealt with it.  In fact, the last couple of weeks Alamosa, Colorado, has been experiencing frigid temps of –20 to –35 degrees.  But here in south Texas I am freezing at +30 to +50 degrees.  It has to do with the humidity.  Alamosa has almost nil and here it is high.  My face gets really cold sitting outside in the afternoons.

Now the wet has made an appearance so out came the umbrella, raincoats, and we had to cover the all the carpeting with runners to keep all the caliche mud off them.

It’s been raining for a couple of days here and the caliche dust gets slippery when walked on and you even sink into when you stand…wet caliche has been known to take the shoes right off you and you end up stepping in that muck in socking feet!

We have to carry the pups out to do their business, carry them back in and directly into a sink of water to clean off their feet.  They do NOT like going out in the rain and sinking down in the mud. 

There’s little pebbles of dry caliche mud all over the place.  We vacuum the rug a lot and shake out the runners daily.  The pups bring bits to bed with them and I sweep off the sheets before going to bed.

Having a micro recorder has been a big help (again, thank you Rita and Jerry for that suggestion).  That way we go outside and record all the information and come back in and write it on the form.  We don’t have to be hassled with trying to write something down in the rain.

They are predicting a few more days of rain so we’ll be battling the mud for a little while longer.  Happily one of the vendors out here has been buying lunch and dinner for his guys and making sure we get our share as well.  So we haven’t had to cook much.  These drilling rig workers work very hard and are partial to barbecue and steaks.  Poor Jim has had steak three times this week…….he’s not complaining.  Last night it was seafood so we shared oysters, shrimp, stuffed crab, onion rings, fries, hush puppies and salad. I was happy!

Jim is off to Pleasanton to have lunch with Jim Mossman.  They meet once a week and that is so nice to see friends out here.  Friday I go in and have lunch with Linda and a little “girl time”.

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

Names

I get called by many different names out here gate guarding.  Of course, being in Texas where Southern etiquette is taught to young boys, I’m called ma’am a lot by the younger men.  The middle-aged men call me Miss Bobbie.  Then you have the older men and to them I’m “mama”.

I don’t mind any of the names they call me…whatever makes you most comfortable. They always say the name with a smile on their face and I know it is meant with affection. My problem is after three weeks I still can’t remember many of their names. 

Jim is amazing in that he can look at a car approaching him and he tells me who it is and what company they work for….uncanny!  He doesn’t even have to look at the person to tell who it is.  Jim memorizes the vehicles they drive.  Me, I’ve seen these folks every day and still have to ask their name….I blame it on my advanced age!

The form we have to fill out calls for finding out the person’s name, company, license plate number, where they are going and time in and out.  I get bored asking “what is your name please?”, so at times I’ll ask “what did your mama name you?” or “what’s the name on your driver’s license?”.  Sometimes I get outwitted - when I asked recently “what does your wife call you?” and the answer was “Dammit”!!!  Another time the guy said “it’s the same as your husband’s” and so I said “Oh, so it’s Honey then”.

We try to have a little fun with the guys and gals who come through our gate adding a little levity to their day.  Oh, yes, we have gals coming in.  Some are sales reps—nothing like a pretty young thing, smelling good, wearing a sweet outfit to get a sale, right?  But we also have ladies driving the big rigs working the same as the guys. I always tell the ladies to roll down their windows and send out all their estrogen as there is entirely too much testosterone around here LOL.

Last week I checked in a lady driver and then checked out a guy who made the comment with a smile, “now how can a nice looking lady like that be working for a company named Rolling Dirty?” That is kind a funny.

We also have a couple of interesting names on license plates.  One is WAN2RUN and another is RIG WLD.

This has been an enjoyable job.  Many of the guys cook for themselves and when they go grocery shopping they always ask if we need anything.  Usually we’re OK for food buying every two weeks, but run out of milk after the first week.  Someone always gets a gallon for us and won’t accept any money……..so sweet. Some of the guys stop and hand me a candy bar, a company pen or company calendar.  They are all very thoughtful.  We enjoy being gate guards.

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

New Year’s Day Dinner

Here are photos of our New Year’s Day dinner.  I like king crab legs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

and Jim prefers lobster

 

 

 

 

 

Bless Jim’s heart, he cooked and let me eat first while he watched the gate and then he cooked his own meal and I watched the gate.  We never get to eat together if we want to eat our food hot cause there never is more than 5-7 minutes before a vehicle is either coming in or going out,  so we take turns.

Jim steamed both the crab legs and lobster and they both came out tender and succulent.  Add a little butter and fresh lemon and oh, yummmm they were terrific!!!

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

Lory’s Warrior Cap

Cancer has returned with a vengeance to my dear, dear friend Lory.  She asked me knit her a soft yarn version of the football helmet hat I made a friend recently. Here I’m modeling the cap I came up with. Lory calls it her Cancer Warrior Cap as she feels she is in a real fight with cancer.

You know Lory from reading this blog as I often call her “my computer guru”. Many of you have met her.

I met Lory when I worked at Alamosa High School library in Colorado.  She was the one responsible for my career change from administrative work to computer work by suggesting I take a correspondence course in PC repair. Throughout the course she helped and encouraged me.  From that I got my job as Technology Manager for the public library in Alamosa, where I worked till I retired in 2007.  I owe Lory a lot as she has always been there for me with work problems.  Many a night she stayed with me at work till midnight trying to fix a networking problem or web page challenge.

Lory is my champion and hero.  She has the sweetest soul of any one I have ever met.  She has battled cancer twice before and she’ll battle this bout with the same positive attitude she has always had.  She is always smiling, laughing and takes time to comfort other cancer patients. Practicing her faith is her sustainer. 

I ask that you all say prayers for my dear friend, Lory, as she begins chemo once again.

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

Steps

Thanks to our good friend, Jim Mossman, we now have a set of wood steps for our RV.  He is so ingenious and came up with a pattern that interlock and only the steps themselves have any screws in them.  Such a smart guy!

Jim spray painting the parts	Painting a step
Starting to assemble	First step added
Last step holds it together	Touch up the corners

So here are the finished steps, in place and looking good!!!

This will make it much more comfortable to go up and down (or is it in and out?) our RV while we are gate guarding.  Even though we sit outside most of the day to minimize going in and out of the rig, after dark when we go inside, I still average going up and down the stairs 40-50 times a night. 

We’ll be able to use these steps in Colorado this summer also when we camphost, so that will be nice.  As any RVer will tell you those metal RV steps get bouncy.  Wood steps gives you a solid feeling and is easier on the knees and hips.  I’m happy!!!

Thank you, Jim Mossman….

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