Other things. Sorta like posts, but not.

Monday, October 31

My Amazing Work of Art: The Molehill

We have a cold front today.  The high is only 68*F.  The low is 42*F.  
Sadly it will be back into the 80s in about 4.2 days.
PS Happy All Hallows’ Eve and Happy Birthday to my cousin, Aly.
Today’s Exploit:
My masterpiece:

My back seat is overflowing, but I can still see my blind spot.  I'm just trying to be a safe driver.
Not so much out the rearview...

Sunday, October 30

Packing a Mountain into a Molehill

I’ve been a slacker lately.  
Also, I’ve been too busy to find something funny to write about.  And when I’m not too busy I fall asleep in my chair.
Today’s Exploit:
I went to Oklahoma City one last time.
I had to pack the last few items I left at that apartment and clean the floors and make sure none of the counters had egg yolk cemented to them.
Just kidding.  I’m good at cleaning up the egg yolk before it turns into cement.  Mostly I had to pack and vacuum.  
First I pulled everything from the rooms into the living room.  
Then I covered my eyes and went to find my vacuum so that I could procrastinate the packing part.  
I vacuumed the two bedrooms and the kitchen and the dining room.  
I took a load of things to the Salvation Army while Starla was still empty and went to the store for lunch and Swiffer scrubbies for my kitchen and bathrooms.
After I had lunch sitting on the newly cleaned dining room floor, while shielding my eyes from the pile that was in the living area, I got out the scrubbies and made those floors squeaky clean.  
I was still trying to avoid the hill in the living room, so I borrowed a dolly from the office and took my desk to the dumpster.  I got there just as a nice man was driving by looking for salvageable items.  He liked the desk, so I helped him pack it into his truck.  
When I took the dolly back to the office, I also took a toy dolly for the office manager’s daughters.  Because it hadn’t been out of it’s box in at least 9.72 years.  
Then the only thing left to do was face the mountain.  
I went back inside and nearly cried.  
Then I decided to be tough and take even more stuff to the Salvation Army.  Cause I drive a Civic.  Only so much junk will fit...
The Salvation Army guy was really excited about the vacuum.  
After that I went back, took a deep breath, and started toting stuff down to Starla.  
It was super-engineering to organize all that stuff to fit economically into a small space.  
It was a work of art.
I couldn’t see out the back window.
BUT I DID IT!  
And then I turned in some keys.

Saturday, October 29

They Sent the New Guy

I think someone stole my shirt.  A dirty, muddy, sweaty shirt.  
Gross.
Either that or I lost it,  which is probably more likely.  I just can't figure out when it happened.


Now I’m down to 3, which means laundry every day. 
Today’s Exploit:
I got a new trainee.
I don’t think this one had ever seen a rig before.
And sometimes he gets completely caught up in an idea that really has no bearing on this job.  And won’t let it go while I try to tell him something important.  
Also, he’s a foot taller than me and big and scary.  So I can’t yell at him to listen.
Not really.  
But he is tall.
Mostly I try to answer his questions briefly and then go back to what I was trying to explain in detail to begin with.  
I’m not really sure what to do with him.  Mostly they send me people who have been on another rig, with someone who knows what they’re doing.  So they already have an idea of what is important and what can be left for later.  
I don’t know if I’m the best teacher...
I hope he’s getting the idea.

Thursday, October 27

His Name is Jack

Sitting on the porch watching birds:
Harriet:  Are those martins?
Ricky:  Nope, they’re Smiths.  Or maybe Jones’
Today’s Exploit:
I am still trying to unpack.
I am down to 47 boxes of kitchen supplies.
I started out with 5237 boxes.
I have a table and a couch, instead of random pieces of wood.  And I hid almost all my blankets under my bed so I have room in my linen closet for sheets.  
Now I just need some pictures and maybe a rug or two for it to seem like a real home.  
It already has a pumpkin.  
His name is Jack.  He’s a happy vampire.  And he’s guarding my porch, while quickly turning into moldy mush.
I vant to share your milk and cookies.
I’ve never had a pumpkin get mushy so fast.  Stupid humidity.  

Guarding the yard that I can't see.

Thursday, October 20

Sunrise

I found my flyswatter.  Time to do battle with the mosquitoes.
Today’s Exploit:






Wednesday, October 19

I Taught Her Well

I got my pumpkin.
It was really hard to find one that wasn’t perfectly spherical.
Today’s Exploit:
I had to teach my sister how to use her blog again.
And this time I didn’t give in and fix it for her.
I sent her instructions, then I gave her instructions through Skype.  
Then she yelled at me and told me she wasn’t going to do them.
But I held out and was patient.
And she eventually got it.  And she’s really excited.  And...she knows how to fix her own blog!
My little sister is getting all grown up...

Tuesday, October 18

Morning, Honey

The mosquitoes are out.  
Tony and Ryan killed 58 last night while I fixed the computers.
Today’s Exploit:
This morning Ryan forgot something in his backpack.  When he came back to the box to get it he had, what I though was, a hilarious story.
He walked into the trailer to find Ricardo asleep on the couch.  
So he quietly shut the door and started taking off his boots.  
Just as he was slipping by the couch, into the hallway, Ricardo woke a bit.   
Not all the way, just a little.
He said, “Hi, honey.”  
Then he snuggled back into the couch and went back to sleep.  
Ryan was a bit disturbed by this.  
Ryan:  No one’s ever called me “honey” but my mom.  I think I liked it that way.  
I just laughed and laughed.  

Monday, October 17

Eeets a Gooooood Moooooo-veeee

I’m going to get a pumpkin tonight.  So I can have Halloween at the rig.  Maybe I’ll be really motivated and make sugar cookies to frost.  
Or maybe I’ll have time to make those at my new home.
Today’s Exploit:
Ricardo likes movies.  
Every time I go to the trailer he is watching something new.  
Each time he tells me:
“Have you seen this?  This is a gooooood moooooo-veeee.”
Doesn’t matter if it’s a movie made for 13 year old girls, 5 year olds or a really creepy horror movie.  It’s always a gooooood moooooo-veeee.
I’ve seen him watching “A Cinderella Story”, “The Flintstones”, Some nasty vampire movie, “Planet of the Apes”, and “The Mask”.  
Each and every movie he has seen before.  Each and every movie is a “gooooood moooooo-veeee’.  And each one always surprises him.  
He says, “What the...” at least 4.7 times each time I go to the trailer.  
Ricardo:  What the..., did you see that?
Me:  Yes.
Ricardo:  He just mumblemumble mumble, can you believe that?
Me:  Mmm.
I’m never sure how to answer, because I just saw it on the movie, it wasn’t that exciting.  And I’m not exactly sure about his stance on the subject due, partly, to his mumble and partly to his accent.

Sunday, October 16

Sleep Mode: A Baffling Experience

I finally read those dragon and wizard books by the scary octopus lady (I still equate the name Ursula with the evil witch from “The Little Mermaid”).  The ones my mom told me to read about 15.2 years ago.
A Wizard of Earthsea
The Tombs of Atuan       
The Farthest Shore
-Ursula K. Le Guin
I also just found out there are 3 more in the series.  Time to go to the bookstore...
Today’s Exploit:
Sometimes I wonder about the roughnecks I work with. 
Half of them are super-smart and I can’t hold a candle to the things they know.
But then I meet the ones that I rather doubt could find the on/off button on a computer without help.  
Yesterday I got a call saying that the computer I have on the rig floor wasn’t working.  
Me:  Hello?
RN:  Your computer isn’t working.
Me:  Ok, let me check that it’s still on the network.
RN:  The what?
Me:  It’s still communicating, you’re sure it’s not working.
RN:  Nope, it’s just a black screen.
So I walked up the 48 stairs to the sweltering doghouse.  I trudged over to where 3 guys are standing around a blank computer looking stumped.
I touched the mousepad and turned around to go back to my box.
RN:  Wait, what did you do?
Me:  Nothing.
RN:  Let me see your fingers.
Me:  What?
RN:  I want to see if you have a magnet there, or something.
Me:  The computer just went to sleep mode.  All you have to do is touch the mousepad or press a key.  
RN:  Wow, I thought it was broken!

Saturday, October 15

Pat Got a Bicycle

Last night I made creamy pesto pasta with balsamic chicken.  
Today’s Exploit:
After 2 days of running with me Pat decided he should start out with every other day.  
Then he decided he’d get a bicycle, so that he could work up to running every day.  It took him 2 .3 weeks to finally buy the bike he wanted.  
It spent another 3.4 days in the back of his truck and 2.7 in his bedroom.  I think it shared his bed.
But yesterday he took it out, and took the paper advertisements off the wheels.  And then he went outside.
When I went out to start my run, 5.3 minutes later, he was sitting by his truck.  
I guess he’d been waiting for me, because he grabbed the bike and followed me.  We got to the cattle gap (hehe) and I started running while he got on the bicycle.  
He decided that riding just behind me, so that I could barely see him in my peripheral vision, was a good place.  Not beside me, or ahead of me.  Just barely behind me.  He stayed there for 2 miles, until I had to walk a bit.  
I was ready to turn around, so he went on ahead.  
After a couple minutes of walking I got going back to the rig.  
The plus side of Pat riding just behind me was dropping 4 minutes of my normal 4 mile time.  That’s only 30 seconds from my target time per mile.  It also made the last mile really hard.

Friday, October 14

They Try To Make Things Harder Than They Are

Boys are not good at re-stocking the toilet paper roll.
Today’s Exploit:
Today I had to change a sensor, so I called to the rig floor to ask them to shut down the pumps and send someone to close the valve in the drill line.  I didn’t want to get a mud-shower.  
I got my replacement sensor and the tools to change it.  But by the time I got to my old sensor 4 roughnecks were trying to take the sensor base off.
I yelled for them to stop, and they all looked at me blankly.   
Me:  I only need to change this piece!
RN1:  You don’t need the whole thing off?
Me:  No, I just need to take this protector piece off.
RN2:  It comes apart there?  
Me:  Yep, just have to take out these bolts and then take the sensor off.  
RN4:  Wow!
So we took off the protector.  They wouldn’t let me do any of the work, as usual.
Then Number 3 started looking for a wrench.  
RN3:  Do you have a smaller one, thinner?
Me: What?
RN3:  It doesn’t work, it’s too big.
Me:  Oh.  
I took it off by hand.  
Number 3 looked really embarrassed, and Numbers 1, 2 and 4 laughed at him as he proceeded to take the sensor off and give all of us a mud-shower.  
PS Oil based mud smells really bad.

Wednesday, October 12

Myrtle’s New ‘Do

I ran 7 miles yesterday.  
It only took me 68.55 minutes.
That was an epic moment.
Today’s Exploit:
Right after I moved my things to San Marcos I went HOME for the weekend.  
I had to leave Myrtle on the counter, where she got lots of light, because I didn’t think TSA would look kindly at me taking her as a carry-on.  
I made sure she had plenty of water and told her I’d be back Sunday.
But then we missed our flight.  So I didn’t get back until Monday.  
Myrtle forgave me when I watered her right away.  She was still contented when I checked her Tuesday, so I left her to enjoy the sunshine.
Wednesday they called me to a job.  
I had plenty of time, so I unpacked a few more things, and tried to organize the never-ending succession of “Kitchen” boxes.  Then I packed up my RIG boxes and headed out to my next work adventure.  
The next morning I realized that my window in the box looked strangely empty.  
I left Myrtle sitting on my kitchen counter.  
I went home on my casing break, 4 days later.  
She wasn’t quite so willing to forgive me.  She was limp and wilty and a bit pale.
So I watered her and fussed over for a few days.  
The limpness went away, but she persisted in being unnaturally pale.  
Finally I gave up and gave her a haircut.  
Now, instead of a 5.2” messy tangle, she has a neat and tidy 2.05 inch-somewhat tame ‘do.  
And she’s green again.  
I think I’m well on my way to getting back into her good graces.

Tuesday, October 11

Silence Would Be Devine


I almost had to adopt the poor starving dog.  She followed me around for the rest of the time I was in town.  I bet she’d have gotten in my car if I gave her half a chance.
Today’s Exploit:
I’m ready for a break.  
I want my own bed.
And silence.
No buzzing, no roaring, no clanging, no yappy trailer-mates.
Just silence.  
And I want to make caramel on my new stove.
Instead I get to make the trip to Oklahoma one more time.  To clean and to get my Kitchen-Aid.  I also need to get my hangers and my toolbox.  
Then I’ll be able to put my table and my futon together.  
And I’ll sit in the silence in my new living room basking in the light that comes in.
For dinner I’ll eat at my dining table, contemplating my new cubby-shelves, and enjoying the quiet.  

Monday, October 10

Ruined with Cheese

It’s raining buckets and buckets of water.
I am now living in a swimming pool.
Today’s Exploit:
The other day, after two long stressful days with little to no sleep, I really wanted a hamburger.  
Really.
So I drove the 48 minutes to the nearest town only to discover that their restaurant was closed.  
My option was the gas station, or the everything-and-then-some convenience store.  
I chose the everything-and-then-some place, because they made hamburgers.  I went in and ordered one.  A hamburger with lettuce, tomato, pickles and mustard.  Then I went and got a cup of grapefruit and some cranberry juice and waited.
They called my number and I picked up  my order and went to find a table.
I opened my burger to find the worst possible scenario.  
They put CHEESE on it.
I was so exhausted and irritated that I couldn’t take it back and have it fixed.  So I pouted and ate my grapefruit.  
Then I took the defiled burger outside and fed it to the poor dog that was hanging around hoping for some attention.  And some food.  It looked like it hadn’t eaten anything but a bug in the last 7 months.  
The poor thing was so excited for some food it nearly knocked me over trying to get to the second bite.  But it was patient enough with me to let me stick my hand in it’s mouth to retrieve the paper wrapper it stole in its excitement.
While I went and washed my hands the dog cleaned up any scrap of food I may have dropped.  
Except the tomato.  

Sunday, October 9

Gobble Gobble

Herb, the Dirty Old Man, is back.
Still making me laugh and still making things awkward.
Today’s Exploit:
I made pumpkin cookies today.  
They were supposed to be for dinner.  
I ended up with nearly 5 dozen.  
I might not have any left by the time dinner time actually comes.
These guys are gobbling them up.

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