Princess first trip to the Beach

In anyone else's shoes

Picture of that damned Cardinal again

"I'm not afraid of Death.  I just don't want to be there when it happens."

                                                                     Woody Allen

Were outta here tomorrow.  So instead of being upbeat and cheerful, I am Sitting here at 2:30 AM with the door closed and locked.  A bit jumpy you say? Well when I woke up my Wife said that the guys from one of the companies said that they had spotted a mountain lion just up the road.  A big one she added. They said you should be careful walking around tonight. Oh I'm careful all right.  Oh, I go outside  right after I have shone a flashlight all around the perimeter looking for the tell tale sign of eyes reflecting the light. Doing this for maybe longer than I might consider manly.  I look for the reassuring presence of my tire iron, and then I complete whatever business is at hand trying to ignore the eerie itchy feeling in the center of my back and the mental visions of the bite at the base of the neck artfully used by the cougar to dispatch it's prey. At first I thought that maybe they were fooling with her, but these guys kind of look after us.  More than once dropping off a breakfast sandwich or doughnuts (the organic kind of course) These are the kind of straight shooter type  of guys that are happy to chat awhile coming and going.  One of them even made a point of returning a tool I had left at another site.  No, all things balanced, I'll have to consider the info reliable and act accordingly.  So naturally I googled mountain lion attacks in the hopes of finding some kind of reassurance.  And, well that was a waste of time.  In reality, I am probably no closer to the wildlife now than I have been and that includes nights I walked several hundred yards up and down the road trying to get a little exercise.  But tonight, well it's just a little more real if you know what I mean.

So  fresh with the knowledge that a big cat might be at this moment circling our small trailer looking for an easy way to access your's truly for a midnight snack, I won't proffer any arrogant or condescending remarks about the absence of a catastrophe on 911.  Which was kind of my original plan. And with the exception of the truly negative folks out there, (think Glen Beck. I really can't stand that guy) I may actually try to see somebody else's point of view once in awhile.  That is if I am still alive in the morning  k, that's the deal. I still have to be alive.  And well.  Yeah, thats right, and well too.  But I am also trying to understand fears that I consider unrealistic. An altruistic first step. And maybe vice versa, say a rancher who has come across many a big cat and thinks "shoot whaddya scared of?"  But who has friends and acquaintances who live at or near the Mexican border and new and hysterical information might get him stirred up thinking "what's next? " Obviously having a different perspective than I.  Or anyway that's the conclusion I came to after reading the article I provided a link to below..  These seizures apparently occurred roughly near the location we were at last year while I suspect we were there.  I don't think we were so naive as to believe this wasn't possible, but we were also strongly reassured that activities such as these were occurring nowhere around us. And we surely didn't hear anything about it.  Blissfully ignorant.  Now I'll shake the sand out of my ears and maybe be a little more thankful than smug that the anniversary of 911 came and went peacefully.  Now gotta go. Have to head  outside again. (trepidation waits)


http://blog.chron.com/narcoconfidential/2012/07/south-texas-shale-boom-opens-private-highways-for-drug-traffickers/ Mike n' Lisa's quest blog UA-20271220-1 ga(‘set’, ‘&uid’, {{USER_ID}}); // Set the user ID using signed-in user_id.

Sunset

I seem to be a bit like Homer Simpson and his doughnut fetish.  Ummmmmmm Sunset....  Kay I really like doughnuts too.  But I took these pics last night.  They are just different perspectives of the same Sunset.  Gorgeous. 

There was also this interesting cloud,

                  Which I  did this and shared it on my daughter's FB page.   Memories......

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On the Other Hand

  Ya'll Qaeda .  Ok, I really can't leave this alone.  This term was coined by somebody else.  Seems with the coming of the 13th anniversary of 911, there is a bit of hysteria in the air.  Nothing to be made fun of, other than this term, which I thought a bit humorous with the reports of our border threats.  I saw excerpts that the Adults, meaning the military, Homeland Security etc. have issued statements indicating that there are no " Credible Threats" but there is a whole lot of tightening the security belt it seems. Well I guess the upside of having every conversation, email etc monitored by the NSA is that the US has gotten real good at catching these folks. 


“Today as always, men fall into two groups: slaves and free men. Whoever does not have two-thirds of his day for himself, is a slave, whatever he may be: a statesman, a businessman, an official, or a scholar.” 
― Friedrich Nietzsche


Taking stock of things.

It's been nearly two years since we set off in a popup camper to parts unknown.  And nearly a year since we began Gate Guarding.  One of the lowest paid in the Oil business, our paychecks are still several times what they would be had we stayed in Twin Falls and sought out conventional post retirement jobs.  Before we left,  I had befriended a couple of Old Coots who had worked at Walmart.  Guys that had previously lived successful lives and needed something to do.  And old guys being what they had always been, ever striving.for more responsibility.  To climb the corporate ladder and earn more.   And it was no different now that they were at Walmart. Thus when I went back and discovered one of these guys heading a Dept. and watching him struggling with the computerized retail equipment,  I chuckled a bit.  Knowing that he was probably making, Oh, like .23 more an hour than before. Certainly not worth the aggravation this was causing on the old guy's heart.  Just another dump on the Taxpayer by Walmart I guess, by having to pay for his Cardiologist. But these old guys just can't think or behave any different than that.  It's always ever upwards and  how they might "better themselves" and that they are likely to live forever.  And I also get that some folks  need something to do.  I  get that a lot of folks love their homes and need that base, that routine and surrounded by their "stuff" that they have collected their whole lives.  And then ther are the "In Betweeners".  The folks that do what we do several months a year but return home each year for the more pleasant summer's that the Northern states have in comparison to whatever they call this hell in Texas during the months of June through September. 

"The latest survey indicates three out of four people make up 75% of the population"

But our life, well, is a bit more interesting.  It is a full time gig.  Lisa and I have decided for better or for worse, the constant change of scenery, good or bad is worth it.  The RV lifestyle.  I have always leaned towards what my Dad always said "poor people have poor ways".    I've reflected on this and I see it a bit different. I seem to be a little more partial to older stuff.  Stuff that I need to maintain.  Make's it mine I guess.  Took me a year to learn the irrascable  and moody nature of my twenty year old three way RV fridge.  That the RV has to be perfectly level before turning it on.  To blow out the vents on a regular basis because of the dirty dusty Caliche roads we have been living on with countless trucks driving by each day.  The satisfaction that investing in a special vent and solar powered fan would have such big payoffs.  That little fridge runs like a racehorse and keeps the Chicken Breasts and Ice Cream rock hard frozen.  Water and pop ice cold, despite the hundred plus heat index outside. The satisfaction that I have replaced so many seals that we are finally water tight in the most terrific monsoon rains we have had.  I have torn down the twenty year air conditioner a couple of times for maintainance because failure of that life preserving machine in this climate is unthinkable.  Taking stock of the jobs I need to complete during our break next week.  Drain tanks and clean check valves.  Replace covers and fogg to get rid of these pesky tiny ants.  And when we finally upgrade and lose the Bronco (Sniff).  

And to appreciate the ruggedness and tenacity of Lisa.  That she would enjoy running outside into the heat sometimes as many as fifty times a day to meticulously record each entrant.  To socialize placate, and entertain the more demanding natures of some of the higher ups and landowners who drop by during the day.  A task that I am so poorly suited that we would have likely been thrown off several previous leases.  Nuff said on that point. And still retain after twenty five years that element that drew me to her in the first place. (Sexy Gramma) That she could be the perfect mate and still be fearless to the unexpected challenges and the first to say "Let's do it" to some of my most romantic far fetched ideas.  We have to move every couple of days.  Sometimes I'll work 30 to sixty nights in a row. And when we move I get to labor in the hot sun after a staying up all night and sometimes it being twenty four hours before I fall exhausted and dirty into bed.  Even though I work nights, the sun is wreaking some havoc and I have noticed more and more wrinkles and we both show the signs of this lifestyle. That part in no unmistakeable terms sucks at sixty years old. 

Ahhhh, but the payoffs.  A healthier savings account.  We now have health insurance. This time next week I should be sitting in a comfortable chair on the grass under my awning.  Sipping an adult beverage watching my fishing pole while huge barges chug by not 75 yards from shore.  Enjoying the sea breeze and looking at the seagulls and palm trees. With the weather getting cooler daily, I will get back to riding my bicycle and we will go Ghost Shrimp hunting with my two year old grand daughter on the beach. In a bit I will be looking to purchase a boat to get offshore.  I'm going to catch a damn shark before I die. We have gotten use to living in the close confines of our small Castle and look forward to hauling it to the four corners of the country.  While touring the keyes in Florida, we discovered the only way to affordably visit that area is in an RV.  Motel rooms costing upwards starting at $200 bucks a night.  There are so many organizations of nice folks doing the exact same thing we are who provide a wealth of knowledge who we run into sometimes daily. And with increasing discounts, I talked with one older guy in a pricey RV with two AC's and he said "I run those 24 hours a day.  I move to another one every couple of weeks and I pay $7.50 a day. No power, water or garbage bills. 

“I cook with wine, sometimes I even add it to the food.”
                                                                     Unknown



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Redundancy of it all is just killing me. Just kidding

"Don't complain about growing Old.  The privilege is denied to many"
          
                                                                                                                   Mark Twain, 

Well, the hit parade isn't over. At the risk of being Obituarieish it happened again. Really that's a word. I used it in Scrabble.  Anyway, my old buddy Ellery texted me and said Charlie Price is dead.  Crap. Not sure if it has always been like this or I am just recognizing it more, but folks from my circle just seem to be tipping over so to speak. I don't even have a picture of him.  Aything I might have had long lost.  I knew Charlie because for a period in the 80's we worked together as Parole Officers.  After a couple of years Charles moved  on, working overseas for the Embassy Service. Though at that time he worked in an Organisation of even then, a thousand folks or so, for that brief period of time  the Director of that Organization knew him personally and honored him with the  title of that Fffin something something  guy. See Charles was a bit oppositional. Rather a standout on this point.  Talking about him in 2014, well that means Charlie occupied a piece of the lives of the people in my circle.  He sure lives on in mine.  Plainly speaking, Charles was a memory maker. I can't say it was all good, but it sure was real.  I always thought of Charles as the Michael Belker of P&P for those that remember "Hill Street Blues". He was as big hearted and generous as he was  ornery. He loved and procreated often and even adopted a little girl .  To say he was a scrapper would be to disrespect him. All 5'9" of him.  More he was a force to be reckoned with. A Vietnam Vet.  Well educated with a BA and MA Degrees.   When he walked into a room.  Well, you just knew he was there. My memories of Charlie are more humorous.  When I first met Charles, the first words out of his mouth other than "Charlie Price" was "what have you got?".  "Excuse me "I said.  Ever the Horsetrader he said "What have you got that you might want to trade?" Over the next few years I wound up with quite a bit of Charlie's property and he mine. He took us to a fancy brunch one Sunday. After our bellies were full of fancy grub and a fair share of Champagne, He then told us brunch was to pay us for the sheetrock we would be hanging at his house afterwards. Though willing, you might as well have asked us to perform brain surgery.  The number of holes created in that sheetrock while trying to drive a nail, well, after we sobered up we also found he had a good sense of humor.  Once we were sent to arrest an dangerous offender.  Upon arrival we were met with the eerie scene of a door hanging off a hinge, loud rock and roll music playing and blood everywhere.  Used to spell innocuous words on the wall.  I recall the transformation to pure business as he took the lead entering that house as I followed.  The story had a not so dramatic ending as the offender gave up and the blood turned out to be an unsuccessful suicide attempt, but Charles left an impression on me that day that far surpassed any other opinion.  He was pure courage.  On an occasion when we were sluffing and hanging out in a Waldenbooks one day waiting for five O'Clock, Charles was browsing a Coffee table type of book concerning the Vietnam War.  All of a sudden he looks at me and says, "damn, thats a good picture of me."  And it was.  There was a full page black and white picture of a  much younger man sitting behind sandbags holding an M16 guarding an Airfield. Taken by a war photographer without  his knowledge.  An apt symbol for the Don Quixote side of his nature. For Charles there was always one more battle to be fought.  For a time we were pretty good friends.   Charles called me a few times the past several years but I was pretty wrapped up in my own life.  I haven't seen him now probably a good ten years but I don't suspect Charles made a very pretty corpse.  He didn't live his life quietly nor take defeat gracefully.  He was probably chewed up as much by divorce lawyers as he was the war or any other of his overseas adventures.  Which I'm told there are a few. I suspect Charles has left a much bigger hole in a lot of lives more than mine.  I didn't even know if he had remarried from his last Divorce or not, but Charles left a whole host of good looking kids. And isn't that the way you are supposed to go out?  And I'm told he's going to be buried with military honors.   I guess the reason I am writing this is because beyond all else, I liked Charles and at one time I am pretty sure he liked me.  For a few years Charles was somebody I looked up to.  More for his experience, tenacity and courage than his oppositional side.  I didn't know if I would even see him again, though I was certain I would hear of him, latest exploits and all.  Unfortunately, it was of his passing.  The world is just a little more diminished.  RIP Charles.

So as Ellery and I were texting back and forth he suggested we live so long we bankrupt our retirement fund.  Hell Yeah.  

In fairness, Charles was not a biter, also in fairness, Charle's thing was more finger bending. 

Belker

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Geezerly Maudlins

Until now Lisa and I have toiled on in this little post career career working as Oilfield Gate Guards blissfully ignorant of it's darker side.  Till now it has simply been mostly a social affair, OK maybe a little like a Walmart greeter who writes down license plate information.  This week however we have been assigned to a Well categorized as "high risk" for H2S gas which requires our painstakingly checking credentials, equipment, state of their beards (clean shaven) and issuing specific directives to the workers instead of the friendly back and forth banter which usually takes place at the gate.  These guys are actually working with respirators on in the hundred degree heat.  Communicating several times a day with the "Company Man" ensuring pretty strict compliance.  The last part also stressful in itself although I have not had a complaint in the world about the quality of these folks.  Some of the most decent human beings I have known.  Some folks don't realize my wife Lisa's devotion to any task assigned to her.  And after the tenth or so phone call to the Head guy, he says "You're killing me Lisa". 

The H2S trainer had my undivided attention when he told me that one "whiff" of 200 PPM of the stuff could mean good night Sally or internal injuries not worth recovering from in terms of "quality of life".  And that there exist Wells  that have as high as 60000 PPM.  Well now, no pun intended.

Forecast for the next week to be triple digit with humidity levels like the bottom of the Ocean making the Heat Index like a hundred million degrees.  First week of September so relief is due soon.  But with the humidity so high our little trailer is always dripping condensation from somewhere.  

OMG a huge pain in the Ass.  A dude demanding hyper enforcement of the "rules", which I could see if they were somehow safety related.  But now I am learning are more related to economics than anything else.  More on that later.  

"If you pick up a dog and make him prosperous,
he will not bite you.  This is the Principal difference between a dog and man."
  
                                         Mark Twain

Current events?

The news and internet chatter, (by that I mean the first three pages of Google) is currently going on about the "imminent" attack from  ISIS on Texas's most southern border. This has also been on the News.  Reading some of these internet rags claiming information "confirmed" about an army being formed in collusion with the Cartels in Ciudad Juarez.  Now I am not so naive to believe this is completely impossible but am I the only one that think these two organizations might be at cross purposes.  Hard to see how the Cartels would benefit financially from any kind of epic battle at the border.  We spent a couple of months on the Border last year and were privilege to information that many OTM (Other than Mexican) folks were showing up causing consternation. And frankly, that place is dangerous no bones about it.  And it's kind of nice not to be there anymore.  We're about 130 miles away now. But  we also just recently visited Mexico near Arizona and when people complain there is no border security It's a little hard to believe.   There seems to be a substantial bunch of folks around responsible for security on both sides.  Guess we'll see. 
  
"A lie can travel half way around the world while the Truth is putting  it's shoes on."

                                               Mark Twain (also)

Chirrr, Chirr, Chirr, (Sound of Crickets or Cicadas)

Sooo, my next point.....

Periodically in my life I have dealt with ummm for lack of a better expression is:  Seeing shit that ain't there.   In my usual manner I have just for the most part ignored it . Denial I guess.  Kind of in the back of my mind thinking, hell this is just an aging kind of thang.   If it had been voices in my head,  I just wouldn't have been lonely on the night shift.  But nooo, I get to see stuff . Like just a few minutes ago when I again, out of the corner of my eye, watched the same large spider dart under a pillow that I have previously seen about a dozen times.  Leggy hairy stripy kind of thing.   And once again I lift the pillow and nothing's there. (Not that there is a lack of real spiders around) The other evening  I could have sworn that I'd seen a fairly large animal run right by the front door,  ( the only door).  I was sufficiently convinced  to get all buck fevered and grab the camera expecting to see a large dog, Mountain Lion or Coyote. .  Busted out the door. Nope, nothing there "Do not adjust your sets" popped up in my head.  I'm kind of bemused more than alarmed about this.   And maybe it's this kind of phenomena that is creating all the fuss.


                           Two Martinis Please?

Y'all have a good week.

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