Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Jan 12 - 14

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Tuesday, January 12, 2016
Morning 39 Degrees, Wind SE calm & variable, Humidity 94%, partly sunny.
Afternoon 60 Degrees, Wind N 4 & gusting to 9 Mph, Humidity 52%, partly sunny.  

   I had stored under Buster for a long time (never know when you want this) a electric clock radio, I got it out and set the alarm for zero dark thirty. When I got up I reset it for the afternoon get up for my wife. When she came to the gate in the afternoon she brought the clock radio with her for the radio listening during her overnight shift. Now we are using the alarms on our telephones for waking up. We normally do not have the telephones on the bedroom at night some other people we hear actually check their telephone during the night.

Looking in from the road at the gate area

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Morning 41 Degrees. Afternoon 64 Degrees, Wind variable gusting to 5 Mph, Humidity 72%, partly sunny to mostly cloudy.  

 

I used the radio today listening to talk radio helping to fill the time between vehicles coming or going from the gate. It does help pass the time waiting for vehicles. It seems like every day they are disconnecting the equipment and changing something inside and reconnecting, no picture never thought to take one.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Thursday, January 14, 2016

Morning 50 Degrees, Wind E & variable gusting to 1 Mph, Humidity 85%, overcast.

Afternoon 64 Degrees, Wind SE 2 & gusting to 4 Mph, Humidity 56%, sunny. 

Today is our last work day and then a four days off, yea. The days are getting routine with the regular shift change and daily visitors. Officially the work day starts at six in the morning, are required to have transportation available at the gate in case of emergencies, are fire retardant clothing pants and shirt with safety (steel toe) shoes. We have attended oil company safety training, H2S gas safety training and a gas mask fit check (part of H2S training). That is why we have rented a car and if we are assigned different gates we need additional transportation.  

 

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Jan 10 - 11

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Sunday, January 10, 2016
Morning 34 Degrees, Wind N 3 & gusting to 6 Mph, Humidity 85%, partly sunny.
Afternoon 50 Degrees, Wind ne 1 & gusting to 3 Mph, Humidity 59%, mostly sunny.
 

A little hard getting out of bed today after putting in twelve hours, commuting and making (heating up leftovers) my own dinner. But I needed to relieve my wife after her twelve hours on the gate site.

The picture was taken from inside the gate looking out. The tree on the left is blocking a view of the while pipe fence of the first gate I was posted at last week. The road to the right of the picture is the way we drive in from the FM road. The second generator is there because of power surging and lights going out.

The television’s owner showed up this afternoon to take it to another site. It was nice having it for the football games. I did get to watch the first game again today. I watched some of the second game at home in Buster before going to sleep last night and again to night. the company also supplies a small, microwave oven and refrigerator in the shack. Same routine again today the weekends are usually slower with fewer “visitors” checking on work progress. Besides today the equipment was disconnected most of the day from the well.

The crane is holding equipment in place to send a probe down the well.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Monday, January 11, 2016
Morning 32 Degrees. Afternoon 54 Degrees, Wind NE 1 & gusting to 2 Mph, Humidity 78%, partly cloudy to overcast.

The equipment was reconnected to the well this morning and back to weekday routine of gate traffic coming and going but it is a low volume gate, vehicles coming and going. It was a longer day for me without the television to help past the idle time between vehicles coming and going. I’ll have to bring more with me for the idle time awaiting vehicles. We are going to continue working this gate until Friday morning when my wife is relieved. We will have four days off and come back to this gate for another four days. For now we will continue the cycle of four on and four off. Cell telephone service is in and out the best being four G two bars and it is not steady changing to three G and one X and no service. It is like now it is there and it is gone (service). Texting is the most reliable service but that is in and out with some text not sent messages, requiring re-sending the text message. 

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Jan 7 - 9

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Thursday, January 7, 2016
Morning 54 Degrees, Wind NW 2 & gusting to 5 Mph, Humidity 97%, partly cloudy fog.
Afternoon 67 Degrees, Wind WSW 4 & gusting to 7 Mph, Humidity 71%, mostly sunny.
 
We went to Kenedy for more fire retardant clothing another shirt for me and a pair of pants need three sets for the laundry cycle. We will work the weekend and Monday at the gate in the picture.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Friday, January 8, 2016

Morning 48 Degrees, Wind WSW 1 & variable gusting to 2 Mph, Humidity 97%, fog.

Afternoon 66 Degrees, Wind SSE 5 & gusting to 6 Mph, Humidity %, mostly sunny.  

   

Just hanging out today mulling work tomorrow. Making a list of what I want with me lunch snacks water drinks. Things to keep me going thru the day shift and other  comfort things. 

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Saturday, January 9, 2016

Morning 34 Degrees, Wind  & variable gusting to  Mph, Humidity %, mostly cloudy .

Afternoon 61 Degrees, Wind N 5 & gusting to 14 Mph, Humidity 67%, mostly sunny.  

 

 

The picture above was taken last Wednesday from the first gate I was at. The crane up in the air is where I am at today. The light to the left is where I am located.

 

I was on the gate site at five-thirty to relive the night watch and settled in for twelve hours of work. Only a sixteen mile commute from the RV park and it is an easy trip on FM paved roads most of the way. My wife relived me at five. Nothing exciting happened today as it is Saturday or weekend routine. Just the workers changing shift and service trucks delivering or picking up. A previous gate guard has brought a television to the guard shack so I was able to watch the early NFL wildcard playoff game, yea for me. Basically one channel on the television a local over the air (antenna, twenty something rabbit ears) UHF digital that actually has four feeds. The fourth has a weather show all day, with the other three ABC, NBC and CBS. The “rabbit ears worked pretty good but did need some adjusting at times during the day.

This picture was taken outside the gate shack.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Jan 5 - 6

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Tuesday, January 5, 2016
Morning 37 Degrees, Wind NNE 2 & gusting to 3 Mph, Humidity 88%, partly sunny.
Afternoon 63 Degrees, Wind NE 8 & gusting to 9 Mph, Humidity %, mostly cloudy.

Look in to the gate site

I was on time at the gate, the directions were correct and good. I had also checked the location on my map program last night. Driving to a new location in the dark for the first time is is not my “cup of tea”. This is not “new” work site just new to me. Paul was already there and I would be there with him all shift. The oil company is winding down the work task at this site as starting yesterday there was a large move out of equipment with more coming out late today. I will work the site alone tomorrow but it will also close after more equipment comes out.

Looking out from the gate site

The gate guard setup with a generator and a trailer shack is different than having Buster there on the gate site but we can deal with it. The location is sixteen miles from the RV park so it is not a bad commute, and there is no traffic to deal with in the small town. This is “was” a twenty-four hour gate and the gate guards can agree to shift change when ever they wish between five and six. Paul had relieved the night guard at five this morning. Paul and I were relieved at five-fifteen this evening and we had some sunlight driving home to Buster.

The way I came to the gate

There is another gate there at the end of the road. Right of center there is a crane up in the air at the work site.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Wednesday, January 6, 2016
Morning 52 Degrees, Wind ENE 4 Mph, Humidity 98%, cloudy overcast.
Afternoon 62 Degrees, Wind NE 5 Mph, cloudy overcast rain.

This was an easy day for me and short, less than twelve hours. I relieved Robert at five o’clock with no vehicles coming to the gate before six-thirty. Then it was only one until nine-thirty when the “big rush” came with two flatbed trucks and four pickup trucks. These vehicles were all gone before ten-thirty and I closed the gate and left for Buster.

Bonnie worked another gate with Mary Jane today near Karnes City about twenty-eight miles from Buster.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Jan 2 -

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Saturday, January 2, 2016
Morning 40 Degrees, Wind NW 3 & gusting to 4 Mph, Humidity 93%, rain (.32).
Afternoon 42 Degrees, Wind NW 3 & gusting to 5 Mph, Humidity 93%, rain.
 
An all day rain totaling just under an inch measured. We took a ride to Victoria, Texas (southeast of here) to check out the area. We have not explored Texas east of interstate thirty-seven as all of our gates have been on the west side or west of interstate thirty-five. It is a city of over sixty thousand population the biggest in the area we are unless you go to San Antonio.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Sunday, January 3, 2016

Morning 41 Degrees, Wind NNE 2 & gusting to 5 Mph, Humidity 96%, overcast rain.

Afternoon 59 Degrees, Wind NNW 3 & gusting to 11 Mph, Humidity 61%, partly sunny.  

Late morning the sun started coming out for the first time in a while and it felt good. Last NFL Sunday of the regular season.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Monday, January 4, 2016

Morning 37 Degrees, Wind N 1 & gusting to 3 Mph, Humidity 87%, mostly sunny.

Afternoon 63 Degrees, Wind  & variable gusting to  Mph, Humidity %, mostly sunny.  

   

Busy day for us running around getting ready for work we were out and on the road early today. First up was thirty miles to Kenedy for fire retardant clothing, shirts and pants last week we picked up safety shoes. Called our coordinator for the H2S gas training class that would start at ten o’clock, it did not work out. We drove thirty-three miles further southwest to Three Rivers for two things, we got our pants hemmed for free (sister store) and a H2s class at two o’clock.

In between these we put a better effort into getting a rental car and have some lunch. We called around the local cities everything but San Antonio, so we were on line to Expedia clicked on rental cars and made a reservation at the airport for later today for a compact car for a month. It was the lowest price we could find anywhere. 

This will allow us to work two gates. When we are out at different work sites we each are required to have transportation if there is a safety issue at the work site. After the class we headed to San Antonio airport (eighty-two miles mostly interstate highway) to pickup the rental car stopped for some last minute things at the store. Our coordinator contacted me for a gate in the morning, be there at the gate at five-thirty. After the shopping and to stay out of rush hour traffic we stopped for dinner before going home. 

We had no rust hour traffic but there was a detour at the exit we wanted to take for construction. Then at the detour exit there was a stalled car in the left turn lane but it is dark now and we are familiar with the area, fun. Eighty-three miles later we are home a thirteen hour day. Work tomorrow sleep fast four am comes early.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX -Jan 1

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Friday, January 1, 2016
Morning 44 Degrees, Wind NE 6 & gusting to 10 Mph, Humidity 89%, rain.
Afternoon 50 Degrees, Wind NNW 5 & gusting to 11 Mph, Humidity 90%, rain (.26).
 
Bowl Games Day, a lot of college football on television today. Yesterday after the safety meeting we stopped at the new HEB grocery ant gas station. Interesting there is a convince store and McDonald”s with gasoline selling at $ 1.509 a gallon. I was thinking of the time about a year and a half back about gasoline selling at this price and thought that it was only a memory never to happen again. I also dream of the $ .249 per gallon I paid in 1973 buying 48 gallons about twelve dollars.

Even the diesel fuel under two dollars seems like fantasy after feeling that $3.699 in 2014 was a “cheep” price. Who ever thought the OPEC oil cartel would pump and sell as much as they could produce after limiting production for so many years. Even our round trip east this summer diesel purchases were at least one dollar per gallon less than the year before.

One location that I purchased diesel over five years, Tallahassee, Florida (2015 - $2.529) (2014 - ($3.889) (2013 - $4.269) (2010 - $3.169) (2009 - $2.669). The lowest price per gallon I paid for Buster is $ 1.889 per gallon in March 2009 in Eloy Arizona. The most we paid for diesel fuel in Tampa, Florida May 2008 $4.699.

We are still admiring, a year latter, that we have done the right thing in changing the refrigerator to the residential type. We are able to store more and the temperature is constant thirty-eight degrees, not fluctuating from forty-four to sixty-four degrees.

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Dec 31

Iron Horse RV Ranch - Yorktown, TX - Thursday, December 31, 2015
Morning 44 Degrees, Wind NE 5 & gusting to 8 Mph, Humidity 84%, overcast.
Afternoon 54 Degrees, Wind NE 5 & gusting to 9 Mph, Humidity 65%, mostly cloudy.
 

We were in Kenedy, TX (twenty-four miles southwest of Buster’s parking) at seven thirty for a eight AM safety meeting from the oil company. Needed this safety meeting and FR (fire retardant) clothing (long sleeve) and safety shoes (hard toe). Looks like Monday for the H2S gas safety training and more clothing. I was only able to buy one shirt today and need more, as they do need to be washed once in a while. This job will be six to six so there is no night work.