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.

Food and other happenings

I have been trying to post for the last few days with no success.  Our internet access has been a little spotty again, I may have to upgrade to a directional antenna for the Wilson Cell Booster.  I have to say that I am more than impressed with its performance thus far considering the nearest sprint tower is about 30 miles away.

I mentioned in a previous post about the food being delivered to the site for the "frack" crew.  The meals we received were absolutely amazing. In addition to the bbq pork chops and chicken & sausage we were blessed with steak, meatloaf, hamburgers and crawfish ettoufle(sp).  That doesn't include the bbq sandwich that was given to me by one of the vendors.  While we only had catering in once a day there are gates that see them multiple times a day.  The amount of food contained in these meals was plentiful and quality was excellent.   I can't imagine what the guards that have catering come through more than once a day do with all that food.

I finally talked Toie into getting one of those "Magic Bullet" blenders that you see on tv.  Its great, its small size makes it a cinch to store and its power requirements are small at 250 watts so it can be easily run off of a 400 watt inverter.  While not suited for any "heavy" blending, it does exactly what they advertise.

We had a casualty yesterday when we had a dust devil collide with our easy-up that was next to the rv. Other than the easy up frame being destroyed and a small dent in the side of the rv there was no damage.  I did have to get up on the roof to disentangle a few extension cords that had wrapped themselves around the refridgerator vent.  Toie is much more upset over it than I am, my reasoning being that I would much prefer to have a 99 dollar easy up destroyed by the wind than a 500 dollar awning that would have caused some real damage had it flipped over the rv.

We have had temperatures in the triple digits over the past few days so I have been going inside at about 2pm and just listening for the bell until about 7:30 and then coming back outside to stay.  The evenings here are just wonderful, we have had a gentle breeze most evenings and it makes it so pleasant to just sit outside.

Yesterday during my shift and not long after the easy up was destroyed I had the pleasure of seeing the ugliest cow i have ever seen.  There is a pasture that is right behind the rv and  I  walked around to open the dump valve and was quite surprised to find some cattle so close to us.  I have seen them in the adjoining pastures but never behind the rv.

I'm gonna post this before I lose it again...


Have a GREAT day!!!!

Pulling Out

We received our drivers licenses today and guess what?  We are finally leaving on Monday.  Everything over the last few months has led up to this moment, and I have to admit I have a slight case of the jitters.  Yesterday I finished securing the generator to rear deck and tomorrow I will pull the Wilson Cell Booster antenna down and stow it on the roof and then put the kayaks up there on Monday right before we leave.  I don't expect to be on the road before 10am with all the last minute preparations and re-fueling the RV.  Our goal is to make it to Sullivan Missouri the first day and Miami Oklahoma the second.  I really only want to drive about 250 miles a day and I figure 5 hours a day is enough, we really don't want to be in a hurry. 

I really can't believe that the day of our departure is finally here.  We can't wait to get south and start our new life adventure.