Because of my ability to NOT generate an original thought. the following are random ramblings of occurrences in our lives the past couple of weeks.
He said "Im the pretty one" and I said "you're right, you're a damn handsome man" In a joking comment how I was to discern him from the previous driver.
My last jest with maybe the last truck driver I checked in the last night of work.
0530, after about five weeks of repetitive trying to sleep during the day through the sound of not one, but several diesel engines, chemical and diesel fumes, various men yelling greetings ten feet from where I am trying to sleep, the sound of gas station bells going off nonstop throughout the day, all day, and several nights of hard decision making. Skinny armed Rob Lowe or peaked in high school Rob Lowe, our time came to an end as the Company Man drove to the end of the road and said "Hate to be the asshole, but you guys are released". One of my favorite guys he said, "it wasn't up to me. Sorry". "Your company lost the bid"
Accumulated sleep deprivation has virtually "kicked my ass". At first, with the help of Nyquil's Zzzquil I might get somewhere's of six hours sleep during the day. I may be fooling myself on that one. It's like "when did sleep become so hard?" Am I going to be able to stay awake, this fortieth consecutive night? At the end, I seem to be tired all of the time. Eventually, I guess a cumulative effect, I'll sleep a straight eight hours and feel more or less refreshed. But that is only one in every seven or eight days.
Driving the 120 miles or so home, I literally poured water on my face and then leaned out the window for the cold shock of wind on my face to revive me.
Sleep deprivation is not a new phenomenon to the Oilfields. There have been a number of high profile accidents involving several fatalities in the last few months. Most recently a rather grisly accident in Dimmit County involving several oil workers. The Eagle Ford counties boasts the highest number of driving mishaps in the state of Texas. But. Last night with the expectation that we would be on the same job another ten days, I drove the twenty plus miles to Kenedy for groceries. A small town that seems to have more or less had a construction boon to accommodate the massive rise of temporary workers.
For the very first time I drove without the proverbial numerous trucks full of workers, heading somewhere, with the most leadfoot of the bunch driving "Up my Ass'. In fact I was alone the entire trip. Probably much like someone who drove that route twenty years ago might experience. In the HEB, I could count the number of other customers on one hand. Something also unusual.
Newspapers on sale at the HEB headlines read "QUAKES ROCK KARNES". The county we are in. Hmmm. Didn't notice.
Saddest of all. I have met guys I know to be at least (you know, the "New Forty" ) in their sixties and who have been working non stop the past many many years but who are now going to be unfamiliarly unemployed. Yeah, they have made good money, but they earned it. One really needs to experience this world down here. The extremes in climate and demands of the job these folks were doing. Twelve to twenty four hour shifts. A hilarious local commercial coined it spot on, "Yeah, you, Chicken Mcnuggets, who lives with twenty other smelly dudes. You! are the backbone of America's Energy". These guys have survived in a world where mishaps ruin careers. More likely at times to get yelled at than complimented. Wearing full protective gear when the temp is in the three digits and humidity nearly the same. I mean full protective gear. Overalls, hard hats, heavy gloves and boots and safety glasses. And not just men but women as well. Well, the past two weeks we have talked with many, many extremely nice folks who have lost their jobs cause of the downturn. Numbers in the thousands around here I suspect. Lisa, well what can I say. A stickler for detail she has become extremely popular with the higher ups. I was told in confidence. While decisions are made concerning contracts in other places. Consensus is that she should run winning bid's company. Yeah, she's that good.
So anyway, pulled up to the beach. Temp is in the lower 80's No telling when or if we'll go back to work. Did I say the sky is gorgeous with just a mild breeze coming from the Ocean. Course the campground is crowded with other winter texans. and I guess that's kind of a hardship. Didn't want to paint a picture rosier than it is. Somebody has to hold the fort down.
Wellllll, that was all written two weeks ago. This is what she looks like now.
So I snuck down to the beach to take a few "Angry Ocean" Pics
Oh yeah and this whatever it is. Reminded me of Star Wars.
It was really motating through the channel
The past two weeks have been filled with preparations for the two year old grand daughter to turn three. K. this consisted of a rehearsal or "practice birthday party" over a two day period and then the real thing. Think we need more grandkids huh?
And........ wait for it....... Lisa turns fifty this week!!!!!!!!! My joke about looking for an "Old Lady Store" have not received the positive reception proof of my "wit" I thought they would. Anyway, I had to search around Amazon to locate her favorite perfume, Jean Nate stuff. I'm so comfortable that she won't read this that I can tell it here. Although she felt extremely comfortable dictating her birthday requirements. Sleepover with the aforedescribed now three year old. Spicy chicken and shrimp and coconut frosting that is on double fudge cake. Not German Chocolate.
And still providing stuff to the Bank trying to get their approval to buy stuff. Property stuff. And so while we wait.......and wait. I thought I would toss in a few links of some of the most interesting stuff I have read this week.
The first, provided by James about what our personal microbes say about us. TED talk. And my personal two cents, it's this kind of knowledge that I find comforting, a sense of community and immortality. Listen...
How our Microbes make us who we are
AND
TRAILER FOR CITIZENFOUR
The second, after watching Citizenfour which was shown on HBO last night. (The above is a Trailer) I followed up with this. Also a TED talk. Which delves a bit deeper into the subject matter. If folks like myself, previously thought privacy only matters if you are doing something wrong, there is a lot more to it
Why Privacy Matters
And the last being the 3P's of Manliness, for which the last paragraph best suits me. "Not a clickable link) http://www.artofmanliness.com/2014/02/24/the-3-ps-of-manhood-protect/
As Gilmore points out, the imperatives themselves aren’t really bad or good as far as being categories of encouraged behavior. It’s how they’re applied, enforced, and segregated exclusively to the male sex that people take issue with. Some who are very traditional will say we should carry these charges forward pretty much untouched. Some will say they are offensive, sexist, and wholly outdated and should be dropped as markers of manhood altogether. And some (and this includes us) will say that they do still have value, and that you should retain the best parts of these manly duties, discard what doesn’t work, and not throw out the baby with the bathwater.
I actually respect someone who will take any of those particular sides more than someone who doesn’t want to have the discussion at all because “manhood is meaningless.” At least have the discussion. And when you do, now you know where to start.
And this final quote about sums it up best on this cold, rainy, wet day.
The one thing that does not abide by majority rule is a person's conscience."
-- Harper Lee
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