Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 29

Tuesday, April 29, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 66 degrees and mostly sunny to 91 degrees and mostly sunny. Wind, today that will hold the temperature down, it is the gusts that are the most noticeable the up and down and that brings up the dust all around us the county dirt road the open area at the rig and our short driveway were all wet down with a water tanker truck in the morning but all are dry and dusty now in the middle afternoon. (To enlarge pictures; Click on picture to enlarge, click on the <  in the upper left to return to the blog)

The planned route for our trip east next month

I have worked on our travel trip plan for next month, we try to only travel two hundred miles per day and there are not camp sites exactly two hundred miles apart so the miles vary from one hundred and sixty to two hundred and forty for my planning. I also plan fuel stops and plan alternate camp sites for a little shorter or longer drives depending on how we feel that day. I have also spent time on our going to Florida and our return to Texas.

Bonnie went to bed earlier than normal, whatever that is, as yesterday she went to bed early and got up early to do the shopping in Pearsall. Well that extended trip with the battery problem resulted in less time to nap before her overnight shift.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 28

Monday, April 28, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 74 degrees and mostly sunny to 98 degrees and mostly sunny.

This morning the rig night crew is leaving for a week and will return as the next day crew in a week. The remainder of the night crew came in this afternoon for their week on site.

It turned into an interesting day as Bonnie went to Pearsall for our weekly shopping the usual water grocery, Walmart, Dollar store gasoline, propane bottle refill and pickup mail forwarded from New Mexico. Bonnie stopped at the dollar store first and when she returned to Tan Jan it would not start low battery, there was someone there to help jump starting it and I told her to keep it running take the key fob with her and lock the car before closing the door. She got one half mile from Buster and it would not run any more after the jump start and Bonnie walked the remainder home to Buster.

                                 Happy Birthday Bonnie

I went inside and Charlie came out with me and the car would run as long as the cables were connected and stopped when I removed one. The battery cutoff switch we use when towing failed “melted”, plastic case, so that there was no continuity across the switch with the switch turned on. I removed the switch from the circuit and the car started with out a jump. Now we need a better battery cutoff switch or remove the replacement switch when we are in a traveling - towing the car mode. The stud on the right in the picture should be molded into the switch.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 27

April 28, 2014

                        Bonnie

Sunday, April 27, 2014  
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 71 degrees and partly sunny to 103 degrees and mostly sunny. 


Today the drill pipe is coming out to replace the “point” there is electrical (battery power) equipment in the leading end of the drill pipe that needs to be replaced. A slow day here at the gate until evening as the “rig crew” is shift changing. The crew on days today are going home for a week and their replacements are trickling in to be here for the day shift tomorrow.

This morning I went into Dilley for the Sunday newspaper and saw the sunrise as i was leaving town capturing this picture.

Looking east TX 85 & I 35 bridge

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 26

Saturday, April 26, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 72 degrees and mostly cloudy to 93 degrees and mostly sunny.

The gate was a mundane slow day today with a low number of in and outs with nothing exciting there. There was some fair activity in the morning and again latter in the afternoon where I was able to get a good picture.

The big thing for Bonnie and I is the fact that the new printer scanner is helping in a way I did not plan for. The company we are working for does not offer direct deposit of our pay checks (yes two checks, one made out to me and one made out to Bonnie) one half of the weekly rate for each of us. Well I was on my bank site on the web and saw the “my home bank” and clicked on that. Reading I found that I can scan the check onto the computer and save both sides. Then in the banking function deposit them. So there is no more running to the post office and waiting a week or more for the deposit to appear in our account. Same day service with the electronic technology.

Our new printer scanner

New to the site compressors (red trailers)

flair tonight

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Apr 25

Friday, April 25, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 68 degrees and fog to 92 degrees and mostly sunny. The fog lifted early so by eight-thirty ground-level was clear.

The flair stack was blowing good this morning, but only in bursts not continuously as the crew wants to see it.  There are now four of the yellow nitrogen units operating two were added overnight. (To enlarge pictures; Click on picture to enlarge, click on the < in the upper left to return to the blog)

The fourth unit is on the ground without the yellow case, on the left

Kind of a slow day for me at the gate, the well drill continues and the air compressor equipment here will be shutdown and removed tonight. Another company will provide new to the site equipment that can supply a higher pressure than the equipment that is here now. So the yellow compressors and other support equipment will be loaded and removed after seven o’clock. The flatbed trailer came in before seven but the “pole truck” needed to lift the equipment did not arrive until after eight. The new to the site compressor units arrived after seven and parked on the back side until the yellow units were moved out.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 24

Thursday, April 24, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 70 degrees and mostly cloudy to 93 degrees and sunny.

The drill stick is in and drilling and I noticed the flair stack  burning this morning for the first time, from time to time for now. It is expected to be on continuously and larger when the drilling hits the sweat spot. There were a number of investors here to “have a look see” of the operation. This also involved a catered lunch for the visitors and the crew, steak and shrimp with some trimmings, good eats. More equipment arrived after dark, equipment that is needed to complete this phase of the operation.

Here at these job sites they use these “pole trucks” for moving equipment and offloading and loading trucks. Here are pictures of the loads, a container and these yellow compressor units were offloaded using the pole truck.

Small flair

The trailer and generator on the right were moved in yesterday, there the neighborhood in expanding again.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 22 - 23

Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 66 degrees and mostly sunny to 92 degrees and mostly sunny. A nice day moderate winds higher temperatures and no rain but there was a notice of humidity.

The crew finished putting in the drill pipe thus the red lay down truck has departed the well site and additional other equipment has come in on the right side. (Of the picture)

Looking northeast

Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 67 degrees and cloudy to 89 degrees and mostly sunny.  More wind today, it is the sudden gusts that are noticeable.

When I had daylight the drill stick was out of the hole standing in the deck and by sundown it was back inside the hole and drilling. The neighborhood expanded again today with another housing trailer brought in late in the afternoon.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 20 - 21

Sunday, April 20, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 69 degrees and cloudy to 80 degrees and mostly sunny.

Pipe Sunday, they are changing the drill pipe to a smaller size now that th casing is in place inside the well. So they are loading and removing larger pipe and unloading small pipe since very early this morning when Bonnie was on duty. The flatbed trucks coming and going made for busy morning here and slowed down in the afternoon.

Using the lay down truck to bring in the smaller drill pipe

Monday, April 21, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 70 degrees and cloudy to 84 degrees and partly sunny.

The rig crew shift changes here on Sunday - Monday, day shift goes home for a week Sunday afternoon and a new crew starts Monday morning. The night shift goes home Monday morning and the new night shift comes on in the evening. It also seams that last weeks day men are coming in for the night shift this week. I went to Pearsall this week for groceries and Tan Jan needed an oil and filter change.

Awhile back I had a post on noise and I thought of that today and a few times in the past couple of days. The work today seemed to be more busy work with a larger number of vehicles on site at the same time (and the past few days more trucks on site at the same time) and multiple tasks being performed at the same time. With pipes clanging as they are moved or placed on storage racks and trucks backing to position and off load they toot their air horn before backing. The rig, when operating toots an air horn to have people respond one two or three short blasts brings different men to their proper position. An emergency will be a long continuous blast of the air horn.

All of this is raising the difficultly of sleeping during the daylight hours. As I am writing this it is night and I can hear a truck coming up the dirt road to our site, after stopping the driver opens his door to allow our interaction “signing the log sheet” and the lanyard to operate the truck air horn is caught on the door and is pulled as the door opens. Part of the “being close to the job site that we had not experienced in our three other gates. There we could not see or hear the rig or any work operation from the gate area.

Lay Down and wire line trucks in position at the rig

Busters Gate dilly Texas aster Sunday

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 19

Saturday, April 19, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 59 degrees and cloudy to 80 degrees and mostly cloud.

They finished putting the casing in the hole overnight and the cementing is in the curing this afternoon. Much more activity compared with than last Saturday


.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 16 - 18

Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 42 degrees and partly sunny to 76 degrees and mostly sunny.

Bonnie went into Dilly to mail some cards today and shopped at the dollar store. Just stroking here at the gate up and down with the drilling operation. There is oil and at two different levels or rock formations. (To enlarge pictures; Click on picture to enlarge, click on the < in the upper left to return to the blog)

Trucks; Sand blue, left, cement vessel, red lay down pipe

Thursday, April 17, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 59 degrees and mostly cloudy to 81 degrees and partly sunny.

Our electric generator received its oil & filter change gate in and out normal and  new support companies coming in to support the drilling operation.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 64 degrees and partly cloudy to 82 degrees and mostly sunny. 

The support companies came in overnight to lay down the drill pipe and cement the casing pipe after installation. I could hear strange noise as I was waking up this morning but it took until later in the morning to see and understand the operation of laying down the drill pipe the truck has a cradle hat is controlled by a cable with the pipe laid into then lowered to the table and rolled the pipe rack on the right side. The pipe on the left is casing awaiting to be installed and cemented in place.  

The drill pipe from the rack on the right is transported to another pipe rack by forklift for storage. After the second casing is installed there will be more work to the well bottom to allow the oil to flow into the well pumping area.

Drill pipe  storage

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 15

Tuesday, April 15, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 45 degrees and mostly sunny to 71 degrees and mostly sunny.

Generator fuel, yellow tank was filled today, so that is good for a while. I transferred some into the generator after the fuel truck departed. That is a big fuel tank, with the fuel in the gauge, red die diesel - off road use only, an now I can see fuel in the tank but the tank is not totally full into the neck of the filler.

The fuel gauge is now red with off road diesel fuel

This is an easy gate being the rig is small not requiring a big manpower to support the daily operation and allows me to spend time doing research on our trip east when we leave the gate in May. We have rig people that are here for a week and then off for a week so the crew alternates weeks on duty days and nights. During the week before shift or after shift they go into Dilly for food (store or fast food shops).

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 13 - 14

Sunday, April 13, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 73 degrees and partly cloudy to 89 degrees and mostly sunny.
Happy Birthday Jackie
                                             

I went into Dilly, for the post office mailing our checks to the bank getting drinking water and a Sunday newspaper also a car wash and I was back at the gate by eight o’clock for Bonnie to get some rest.

It looks like they are getting the next pipe casing ready to put down the well.

Sight Gauge on the fuel tank empty

Monday, April 14, 2014

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 74 degrees and cloudy with a front moving thru mid morning with wind gusts at 40 mph and a rains shower to 77 degrees and mostly sunny late in the evening. During the wind and showers we dropped twenty degree in temperature. 

Bonnie had a good nap last night and was ready for shopping this morning during the front moving thru. She had departed for Pearsall before the weather change came and had to deal with that, no problem just traveled slower. (To enlarge pictures; Click on picture to enlarge, click on the < in the upper left to return to the blog)  

Buster and the well site from the county road

the heavy black against the tower are double lengths of drill pipe stored on the platform.

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 12

Saturday, April 12, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 67 degrees and cloudy to 88 degrees and partly sunny.

five more of these tanks moved in yestarday

Slow day today for the gate and Bonnie had a hard days sleep, she kept waking and finally just stayed up. This morning I transferred (gravity no pump here) the yellow tank (now empty) diesel into the generator fuel tank. On this end of the tank there is a sight gauge, now indicating nothing remaining in the tank.

Well this evening the “rig people” brought me diesel and filling the generator tank for me, thank you to the “rig people”. I do not know the size of the generator fuel tank but it is large. There is provisions for two fuel gauges on the generator, both are not operational.

their generator was changed our & relocated here
and four pumping units are stored 

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 10- 11

Thursday, April 10, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 62 degrees and cloudy to 80 degrees and mostly sunny.

Bonnie stayed up this morning and took a drive onto Dilly as she wanted some things from the dollar store. For me here at the gate it seem like salesmen day signing them in for a less than ten minute pitch to the company man and they are back out headed to pitch their company product or service at another job site. I had these sales people at the other gate, actually more of them and they were in longer, but the trip in and out was longer.

sunrise

Friday, April 11, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 59 degrees and mostly sunny to 90 degrees and mostly sunny.

After staying up the longer the past few days Bonnie had a hard time getting to sleep this morning into afternoon. I did stay on shift longer allowing her to sleep later. I have been transferring diesel fuel into the generator some every day but not actually filling the tank, well that caught up to me this evening.

I did report that the fuel was getting low in the yellow tank earlier today and will get a delivery on Monday. Then the generator started to malfunction this evening, the engine was starving for fuel. I quickly went out and started transferring (gravity) from the yellow tank into the generator and we did continue to run and maintain electric power. There was eighty gallons remaining in the tank and transferred fifty gallons into the generator tank.  Now I do not know if there is enough until Monday.

Since we have been at this gate the generator they brought is larger than the one we had most of the time at the last gate. At the first gate we had a generator like this at first but when both 110 receptacles were bed it was replaced with a smaller unit and operated the remaining time with that unit and no problems. the larger unit also has a larger fuel tank. The slow gravity transfer was the reason for not filling the tank, the impression was filling a bottomless pit.

They will fill this area tomorrow

sunset

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 8 - 9

Tuesday, April 8, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 50 degrees and mostly sunny to 83 degrees and mostly sunny. There are winds fifteen to thirty mph as yesterday there were gusts even higher  along with black clouds in our eastern sky. North and east of our location there were some heavy storms at that time.

Bonnie went shopping today in Pearsall, she is now ready to go every other week since we are not on a long dirt road to get to town. The usual salesmen (woman) come in most times for about ten minutes and are back out the gate.

Taken from the far side of the dirt road looking west

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 54 degrees and sunny to 90 degrees and mostly sunny. 

I went to Three Rivers to finish our tax return, eighty six miles one way, finishing in about an hour, that is done and filed electronically. We did over pay a small amount and thus will be getting a small refund. 

Our Tax Prepared here 

I returned via Pleasanton to pickup a few things we cannot get in Pearsall as the stores there are smaller and do not stock the same items that we want. I ended up taking more time on the trip and at the tax office than I wanted as Bonnie is having a long shift. I did stay on duty longer into the night allowing her more sleep time. 

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 6 - 7

Sunday, April 6, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 60 degrees and cloudy, misty rain to 70 degrees and partly sunny. The day started with the misty rain and cleared slowly to partly sunny later in the afternoon. The real rain stayed north of our location.

“Trailer Trash” more trailers moved in today for another support company for the well site to complete the drilling operation. The day ended with no NASCAR race as they are in Fort worth this weekend and there was enough rain there to cancel for the day.

Sunday morning

Monday, April 7, 2014

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 46 degrees and cloudy fog to 85 degrees and partly sunny. 

Sunday afternoon

NASCAR race in Fort worth today. Some of the people for the new company trailers came in today and trickling in the next few days. Otherwise just normal traffic flow in and out during the day. 

These green tanks also moved in Sunday

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 5

Saturday, April 5, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 61 degrees and cloudy to 63 degrees and mostly cloudy.

Today Before Bonnie went to bed for her days sleep I went into Dilly post office with our checks to mail them. Well this post office is closed on the weekends, yes I deposited the letter in the mail deposit slot but if will rest there until Monday afternoon.

Noise, we are about 500 to 700 feet from the rig and tower, we do hear the large diesel engine running and when they raise the yellow “hook or block, that pulls up the drill pipe or lowers in into the well

” the diesel engine is accelerated for a fast rate to rise the hook and is noticeable when awake.

Yellow block

When sleeping it does not wake from sleep. There is some sort of air powered wrench that is used to couple or uncouple pipe, again the short run time does not wake you from sleep but is noticeable when sitting inside or outside. So I am saying the “rig operations” does not cause any objectionable noise. 

The dust cloud raised by the water trucks

Now the water trucks traveling past Buster are only 25 to 40 feet to the side with some being operated like they are moving down a Texas highway in stead of a dirt county road that rumbling can be more disturbing than the rig operations.

Water truck moving down the county road

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate Apr 3 - 4

Thursday, April 3, 2014
Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 71 degrees and cloudy to 90 degrees and partly sunny.

Drill pipe is going in and out there is some sort of problem down the hole. Late today all the drill pipe was out and stacked on the deck then it was put back in part way then out again. This was a real up and down day.

drill pipe stacked either side of the tower

Friday, April 4, 2014

Dilly, Texas - Buster’s Gate 65 degrees and cloudy, rain to 78 degrees and partly sunny. There was a front move thru overnight which resulted in rain for our area, tamping down the dusty county road a bit. Dust was returning in the afternoon. 

All the drill pipe went back into the ground and by the middle of the afternoon they were going in deeper.

Tuesday I went into Pearsall post office and shopping then today Bonnie went to the post office to pickup our forwarded mail and get a few more things. This company does not have direct deposit and we need to mail our checks to our bank every week, yes we get paid “weekly” as opposed to “too weekly”.