Why can't I stay out of the Sun?

It's been a nice couple days here. The RV is positioned so that I get shade all day long without the awning being out. Most of the time a nice breeze is blowing to keep me cool and the scenery is nice. This morning it was so foggy that I couldn't see over 300 feet and could even see my shadow against the fog with the lights on behind me.  Traffic actually slowed down for awhile, a few gravel trucks went by with their flashers on and quite a few people used the apron of the gate road as a place to turn around, and being that we have the only light tower near the road for miles we were like a beacon in the mist.  After the sun came up I turned off our generator to check to oil and left it off for almost an hour. The fog kept things nice and cool and the silence was beautiful.  As used to the drone of the thing as we are, sometimes its nice not to hear it.

Still working some bugs out of the new coach. The antenna wire for the television had become brittle and broke a few days ago. I need to fix the battery tie-downs and I will probably check the air filter and plugs soon too.  Most things seem to be small maintenance items. The old girl just needs a little TLC.

I've had a few thing rattling around the old noggin as of late about doing the gate guard thing. The list kinda goes like this:

1.) This definately is not for everyone.
2.) Talking to the safety guys is super-beneficial.
3.) Don't get attached to your Ez-Up.
4.) Flexibility is a must.

The hours can be brutal. Working 80+ hours a week, most of them outside, with no days off takes its toll. Working out a schedule quickly helps, so does going to town. Sometimes a little break is good. Being able to move reasonably well is an absolute must. The other day I was running backwards up the road towards the pad so that I could get trucks off the busy highway. One of the truck drivers told me he had never seen a gate guard do that before. There is a bit of physicality required to do this.

We have made a habit to find out who the safety guys are pretty quickly when we start a new gate.  We are H2S awareness certified and may get "fit test" certified soon too if the guys have the time.  Fit testing is to make sure you can put on a gas mask properly in case you happen to be involved in an H2S event. These classes don't cost a thing and the information can save your life.

I swear the wind in South Texas likes to eat ez-ups.  In our case, it was a wind "out of nowhere" that was the demise of both of ours.  The first one was lifted straight up into the air and then thrown over the top of the RV. The little ropes that come attached to them just aren't enough. The second one got rolled across the road and seemed to survive okay, we put it back up and tied it back down for the remainder of that gate assignment.  I even started removing the tarp when the winds picked up to prevent it from happening again. When we put it up on our next gate, a wind hit it and folded the frame like it was made of paper. A little duct tape got it through the week but it didn't survive being taken down again.

Staying flexible and keeping an open mind is an absolute must, things can change here in a matter of moments and being able to roll with the punches is an absolute requirement. Traffic can go from a nice slow pace to rush hour in a large city in seconds.

There are other things that doing this requires, a good first aid kit, a good set of tools, multimeter, a sense of humor, just to name a few.  When I was on the roof, the guys ging through the gate seemed to be entertained by it. Maybe it was because I was laying on my stomach waiting for Toie to hand me a tool and I was waving, who knows.

Job Security

I found an interesting article today while looking up a few phone numbers.  

Economist puts Eagle Ford lifespan at 16+ years.

The Eagle Ford Shale should have a 16-year productive lifespan that could grow as drilling capabilities improve, a Texas A&M University economist told San Antonio business leaders Thursday.... To read more, click here.

Its that time of year.

Andy over at My Old RV has an excellent blog post today about the availability of Gate Guard jobs this time of year. I won't recreate it, but if you want to read it you can do so by clicking here.

Things have definitely slowed a bit here and we count ourselves lucky by having a gate. We had planned it out to spend a few of the summer months here just for that reason. It's easy to forget that up north it is quickly turning to winter and the "Winter Texans" are on the way south. I guess that we are in the same category this year being as it is one of transition for us.

We are still in our first year of full timing and so far it has been quite an adventure. We realize, now, that this is just the tiniest tip of the iceberg, so to speak and that many more adventures are in our future. We are learning that we really like the San Antonio area, not enough to re-invest into a sticks and bricks lifestyle, but enough to make it one of our winter-time favorites.

Toie and I were discussing satellite TV the other day after she saw a post on Facebook from Edgar Hansen about it being crab season in Alaska. We were weighing the option of doing it now or waiting until we get into a newer coach. She told me about a satellite setup that one of the ladies at a gate guard luncheon had told her about and how she thought that would be the way to go being as there isn't any real setup to it. Place the unit where you want it, turn it on and it does the rest. I've seen what she is talking about and will definitely research it further as an option if our newer coach doesn't have satellite installed.

We are hoping that our next gate is a longer term than the ones we have been on previously. One reason is so we can save more quickly for that newer coach and another is so we can setup mail service.  We still haven't decided if we are going to keep our residency in Iowa or change it to an RV friendlier state next year. 

We are digging the full-time RV lifestyle though.  We may check out options for the northwest soon, the freedom is so exciting.