We have been extremely busy here at the Hinkle Ranch but are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. We started noticing a change in the flow of vehicles Tuesday afternoon. I asked one of the fracking crew how the work was going and he told me they were finishing up and would be done by midnight. Sure enough shortly after 11:00 the large diesel engines on the generators were shut down and they started packing up.
Today things have been a zoo with a lot of the fracking equipment moving out. We had quite the traffic jamb with semis and cars heading out as well as several trying to get in.
Several of the vehicles were stuck in the mud near the well so they called in a huge wrecker to pull them out. Needless to say it was quite a show watching the circus leave town. :-)
Tonight a new crew has taken over and they are drilling again to place a large vent pipe for natural gas which will be burned off. I guess we will have a large birthday candle to watch soon :-). They say they have about 1 1/2 days of drilling and then will do the "rig up" so looks like we will remain busy for a while longer.
My Dad always had the opinion that TV will rot your brain. He never had much interest (or patience) to watch any shows. I enjoy the newer reality programs and you never know what little tid bits you pick up. This evening one of the company men came out and asked if I had seen a D-6 delivered. I immediately thought of the show Gold Rush about several guys trying to strike it rich gold mining. One recent episode they were buying a bull dozer to use and wanted a D-7 but could only afford a D-6. They went into great detail of the differences and had lots of footage of both types of dozers. Well it just so happens I checked in a truck pulling a dozer and when he pulled by me I recognized the dozer from watching the show :-). I was able to tell the company man "yes, your D-6 came through and is sitting right over there". How's that for "gate guarding above and beyond the call of duty" :-).
Another show I like is Flying Wild Alaska" about a small airline in Alaska. They fly into the remote areas in all kinds of weather. The scenery is fantastic but the weather is brutal. They were flying a group of rock climbers to a remote rock face and one of the "stars" of the show asked them how they go to the bathroom while climbing. They were very honest with her and said they "just pee out onto space". They did say to be careful of the guys below you and sometimes even above you if there is an updraft. She had to ask the next obvious question though, "what about #2?" again they were very honest and said the same rules apply and referred to it as a "mud falcon". So there you go, TV as a learning tool. Now that is probably something every one of you has wondered about and now we all know the answer. I guess the name "mud falcon" is better than "holy crap" just not as descriptive! :-)
Rudee or I will be making our weekly run into Cotulla for groceries and mail. Hopefully the mud will dry up enough to get the Dakota out without using the 4 wheel drive! I'll keep you posted.
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