Cooler weather ahead....

Sometimes its the simple little things in life that can excite you like our friend here to the left.

Well the fall weather has finally arrived and I have discovered that what few winter clothes I have are still in storage lol.

I went out on one of our jobs when the temperature was in the mid 30's and quickly figured out I needed to repack my 'work' bag.

My work bag has 3 changes of clothes, toiletries, (baby wipes etc) and a nice little food stash.  You never know how long a person will be stuck out on one of our job sites, or bounce from one to another.  The job can definitely give you plenty of hours that's for sure lol.

I have to admit I have tried to ignore what our 'government' has been doing in the last few weeks because it all just completely ticks me off.  Other than a few up there that are trying to bring things to like and change things it is just the same status quo.  When you pay close attention there isn't a bit of difference between either parties 'Carrier Politicians'.  They like to vote things in for 'the common good' but if you notice they exempt themselves from it.  If its so good why do they do that?  To me that's a monster warning sign saying that its not as good as they like us to believe.  Enough about politics though.

I am excited about getting things together this winter so we can have a spring garden.  It has been a very long time since I have worked any type of garden but I look forward to it.

The Weekend Trip....

I'm sure before we left this is what our animals were thinking...lol

This last weekend Jennifer and I went and took a trip down to Texas to retrieve her pickup (that Cody will be driving) up from a repair shop and bring it home.  We were going to rent a U-Haul trailer, but a friend had a car trailer and let me borrow it.

Well we get down there just fine and on the way we discussed swinging by her old house so she could pick up a few things, spend the night there to save money, and then visit with her parents for a little while in the morning and drive back.  Simple right?

Well, once we got the pickup loaded we noticed that we had two low tires on the back so I got those aired up, only to discover that they had some nice little nails in them.  Ugh, so we bought some stuff to repair it but decided to just go down the road a ways to get out of the rain and keep an eye on it.

Just 10 miles down the road, at some point I had busted a spring on the back and that allowed the tire to walk around, chewing into the trailer before it blew.  It was a good thing I grabbed  a spare tire before leaving.  The problem was that although it was the right size, the rim didn't 'quite' match.  So we unloaded the pickup, strapped up the axle, and limped into town driving both.  I got the tire swapped to the right rim, and went by TSC (Tractor Supply Company, a great farmers store) and picked up a new spring.  I had my basic toolbox with me.

I was just starting to attempt to break those nice rusty bolts when Providence stepped in.  A nice gentlemen stepped up and suggested that we just go down to his shop where we could use the air wrenches etc.  We got down there and in the process of taking off the old spring discovered that we needed new U bolts.  So we went and picked those up while he worked on it.  When I got back I helped him get the rest of it off and the new spring went on quick.  We asked what we owed and he stated 'Oh, just what you think you owe me'.  The barter system at its best!  You don't find very many people like this around anymore.  We settled on 60 dollars, but also gave 20 to his kids that helped out quite a bit too.  I know it was money very well spent.

While talking to him I found out that he was planning on drilling his own water well.  He had traded for a simple drilling rig with a good amount of pipe and bought a good mud pump.  He had really done his research on it and I wished him the best.

We reloaded the truck and went down the road.  I stopped a little while later and was checking the tires when the nail in the other rear tire decided to pop out causing a fast leak.  I quickly grabbed the plug kit and plugged it right there in the parking lot and got it to seal up.

After finally making it to her old place we spent the night and then got what few things were needed, then went and visited her parents.  The drive back was a little longer than we anticipated since I wanted to avoid driving through Dallas, that trailer had me nervous lol.  It made it just fine and we got home late that night.

I have to say I am very glad we had someone watching over us on that trip, and I recognized the fact.  I have heard stories about that kind of stuff happening but never put much thought to it.  Well I do now.

 

A week long orientation...

I have been down here in southern Oklahoma for orientation since Sunday night.  I have to admit I haven't been through a week long orientation course ever.  The longest was 3 days lol.

That isn't to say that a week isn't needed.  We have covered quite a bit but there is still more to go over.  I never realized fully how much Halliburton pays attention to safety and detail.  We have a few more safety courses to take before things will be wrapping up.  They really do try to take care of their people.

The crazy thing is that none of the stuff we are going over this week is even remotely related to the job I will be doing.  I will start to cover that next week when I get back to the camp or 'location' I will be working out of.  Things are shaping up pretty interesting.

I know I am missing everyone back at home quite a bit and I can't wait to get back there when I finally leave here Friday.

The weather has been pretty nice and I am really enjoying this nice fall weather.  I hope it continues like this as the heat was getting a little old lol.

Well I have some homework to finish that they sent home with us so I better get busy.  Later!!

A week away from home....

On a happy note I have gotten the final word on the job I had applied for.  I go for orientation next week, for a whole week down to the southern part of the state.  The company is one of the largest in the oilfield industry.  I have to admit their benefits package is one of the best I have ever seen and that along with the ability to move around the company really sold me on it.

It's going to be interesting to see how everybody does being separated for a week.

On another note we are still looking for a suitable place that is not going to cost us our livelihood for the next 30 years lol.  We really don't want to be working just to make a house payment.  Right now we will just have to see what the lenders will do but I can say it has not been an easy process.

The weather up here has started to cool off some which is really nice.  I mean heck, it IS Fall after all so we need some of that nice fall weather.  A little more moisture wouldn't hurt either.  Although we didn't do any gardens this year I think we will try to get something set up and going next spring and see how it goes.

On a last note, with the picture above wouldn't it be interesting to hear what the 'neighborhood watch' saw and how they would say it lol.

A great start to the week.....

Well I think I have a slightly better attitude than the guy in the picture to the right but I do have my days....but who doesn't lol.

Anyways so far the week has started off pretty well.  Yesterday I had an appointment for a pre-employment physical and it went very well.  Now I just have to wait and see how long the rest of the process works.  The benefits this new job far outweigh the old one.  The two biggest are the health care coverage and how they work the retirement plan.

On another note the better half started her job at the school cafeteria and it sounds like she really enjoyed it.  She had fun with it and the kids enjoyed seeing her there too.  She was a little worried that she would be like our friend above but it didn't turn out that way which is good.  The group of ladies she is working with sound like they are pretty open and accepting and like to have fun lol.

The state of Mortgage lending today....

Well unfortunately I have found out how much 'fun' it is to try and get a mortgage in 'today's world'.

I have been looking for something since Jen and the boys have moved down.  We had optimistic hopes that we could find something doable at a reasonable price....

One of the first things we found out is just how much the mortgage industry has changed since the crash of 2008.

They have pumped how much money into our 'economy' with QE and all of the other programs that our wonderful administration came up with so banks will lend.  But the banks have cranked down hard on the credit scores so they aren't loaning the money they received.  It's a lose lose situation for everyone it seems...except for the big banks that is that received all that money.

One of the first changes was that you have to have a 'paper trail' for any cash that you put down.  You can't just slap down cash you have to show where it came from all thanks to our wonderful Federal government.  They also have to do a more extensive 'background check' to see your past history.  All of this mandated by Homeland Security to 'track' terrorists.

Honestly, do you think terrorists are going to use a mortgage company to buy a home or property when they are trying to keep a low profile?  They are more than likely to do a cash purchase 'under the table' to where it would be untraceable.  Do they think we are dumb?

All our wonderful 'Federal government' did was elicit more control over our lives.  What is it to them where I get my money?  Why should they be in the middle of a written contract made between me and the lender I have chosen?  What and how I live my life is not their problem, I should be able to do it how I please.

One of our options is to go back to Texas where the boys and Jennifer lived.  They have a nice property with everything a person would need on it.  We were using this as a 'fallback' option in case of a SHTF scenario.

We did get qualified on a manufactured home.  The problem is that the payment was twice what we anticipated with an outrageous interest rate to boot.  The other problem was that it was only a 20 year mortgage since its not a standard home.  Taking that into consideration we decided we didn't want to be up to our ears in debt like that.  We both kinda like the idea of not having a huge house payment so we can continue to get the small things we need to be self sufficient.

So right now we are just looking at any other options and see where life will lead us.

Accidents.....

Ok, first off watch out for those naughty cats around your vehicles, you never know what they might be doing.

On a more serious note I had a very long day today.  This morning, I was driving one of our transports through town when I had a vehicle that was sitting still waiting to turn suddenly do it when I was less than 60 feet from them.

First lets look at the physics.  I was driving a truck that when fully loaded weighs 40 tons.  The other driver had a vehicle that might have weighed 1 ton.  I was doing the speed limit, which was 35 mph.  To say that I turned his truck into a pile of scrap metal.  The other driver did suffer injuries.  When I ran back to the scene he was knocked unconscious from the collision.  Multiple witnesses stated that he had been sitting stationary for a while before surprising everyone by turning in front of me.  The circumstantial evidence points to the possibility of him being distracted possibly by texting and driving.

People, that cell phone is not worth your life, or your possessions.  There wasn't a single thing on his pile of scrap truck that was salvageable.  The truck I drove on the other hand suffered superficial damage due to the pipe bumpers we have on the front.  I received no citation for the accident and honestly he should receive one for 'Failure to yield to oncoming traffic'.

Today's technology can be a blessing, but it can also be a crutch and drag you down with it.  Don't be a slave to the technology.  Instead of texting someone, have an 'old fashioned' face to face conversation.  You would be amazed at how nice it can be.

I spend most of the day doing drug screens and writing accident reports.  I sincerely hope that the driver that pulled out in front of me will be ok although I know he sustained some injuries.

So be careful when driving and keep your head on a swivel.  I was watching him as I approached and he still surprised me.  All I could do was brake and brace for the impact keeping a firm grip on the steering wheel.  I know that's what kept me from going off the road or hitting others.