Still in Gate Guard Land down in South Texas…..

We are still Gate Guarding down in south Texas…..

 

I know I haven’t posted for a couple of months, but it is hard to try to find something new & interesting to write about when you do basically the same thing every day…and can’t write about the parts of our job.

Back in September I did wind up in the hospital after a trip to the ER with some pain in my chest. Spent 3 days in the hospital and didn’t get treated for the Upper Respiratory Infection/Pneumonia that I had…had to self medicate after I got home.

We did go to Victoria, TX for a few days after the hospital fiasco to just relax and recuperate. It was nice because we didn’t have anything we had to do.

An RV Service Repairman came and fixed our Bedroom A/C…and ordered the motor for our Awning, and told us that we needed a new A/C for the Living room…

This is our 4th Gate since coming back from Victoria…some have lasted a while and others just a few days. We like the longer ones because we don’t like to pack up and move every few days.

We sure are thankful that we bought that little blue Honda CRV this summer. It sure has saved us a huge amount of money on fuel driving it around instead of that great big truck!

We also have a new member of our family….we found this little thing all by himself and almost starved to death. We took him in and took him to the Vet for a check up…Fleas, Worms, Ear Mites, a Stomach Parasite, and Mal Nourished. The vet fixed him all up and we took him back home and named him Jynx…

He is now about 12 weeks old and has almost tripled in size with some loving care…he has made himself at home.

  

He caught a cold and had to go back to the Vet for some more medicine…and you can sure tell he feels better…

and he has several things to play with….LOL

 

As luck would have it, we finished our last Gate Job on Wednesday before Thanksgiving so we moved to the GGS Yard in Gonzales and had a nice quiet Thanksgiving Dinner without the interruption of the Gate Bells…it was really nice.

We are now on another Gate East of Kenedy, TX about 5 miles. We’re not sure how long this job will last but we’ll take the pay!

Our granddaughter, Britny posted a photo of some of our Great Grandkids at Halloween this year…

Caiden, Treyson, Carley, Jaelynn, & Brylee…you can tell that Brit is trying to keep them all corralled for the photo…the only other one missing is Kailynn and she lives in Hays, KS.

Our daughter, Dana text me a photo of our oldest Great Granddaughter, Jaelynn getting ready for her very first School Christmas Program…can’t believe that she is already in Kindergarten!

Christmas is just a round the corner…and we will miss seeing our kids and grandkids again this year. It gets harder every year not seeing them…but usually we see all of them in November, but with working we didn’t get to this year. Sigh….

Mac & I have both been dealing with yearly Dr appointments. We both had to find a doctor here since we weren’t going to be back in Kansas. Mac found a Cardiologist that he really likes and I found a Primary Care Doctor for myself. We both have had to have tests and Lab Work…and Mac is getting his results today and I go tomorrow for mine. Wish us luck!

I think that pretty much catches us up for a while…

Moving Soon….?

We found out yesterday that if things go well, we may be done here at this Gate in a couple of weeks or so. They think they are getting the lost tubing pulled out. Even though it got stuck again and they were thinking they might have to do a blast yesterday. Not sure if they had to or not. No one updated us on that last night. They did come down to tell us to tell everyone that came through the gate to shut off their cell phones and any other electronics before going to the well site. That is a safety precaution. Some electronics might set off the blast prematurely…so they want to be extra careful.

Things must have went ok…they said that we were far enough away that we didn’t have to do anything with our phones or other electronics.

Someone told Mac this morning that they did have to Blast in the hole and everything went well.

This gate hasn’t been a real busy one even though there are 2 wells on site and they have worked on both. The first one was a pretty easy fix, but the one they are working on now is taking them longer than they thought.

The company man came by yesterday and talked to Mac to let us know that they were thinking that they would be done in a couple of weeks and asked us to move with them to the next site if we wanted. He said that they all really like us and really want us to stay with them. That is a nice compliment. We have liked working with them also, so if things are approved with Gate Guard Services we will move to the new Site with them. It’s only about 10 miles or so away from where we are now.

Hopefully we may get a day or so off during the move so that we can go into San Antonio for dinner and maybe some real shopping…LOL. The HEB’s around here are very small and not much selection. Also the closest WalMart is not even a Supercenter and the selection is pretty slim.

I have been taking a few photos around here, but there’s not a lot to photograph. Sunrises and Sunsets….it’s amazing that they look so different from day to day. I may take my camera in with me next time I go to Yorktown and take a few photos while I’m there. Looks like a couple of things would be good photo ops….

Here are a few photos that I have taken since my last post…

Sunset…

night before Full Moon…

Our Site

Mac taking a photo of me….

taking a photo of him…lol

another Sunset…

another photo of the CaraCara that was in the field next to our rig.

View down the road toward the Well with the CaraCara flying over the tree…

My sister has a nice BIG Commercial Embroidry machine and when we were there in April we were going through her patterns and I found one that I really liked…she made me a towel and I just got it here a few days ago!! I love It!! Thanks so much Lyvonne!!

That should bring us up to date….

Have a great weekend everyone!!

(((HUGS)))

Gate Guarding

Sorry I haven’t written in a few days but there is not a lot to write about while sitting here in South Texas.

I have almost finished up the Insurance Claim for the Storage Theft from back in April. Farmer’s Insurance has been great to work with. Every time I questioned a price that they approved, they have adjusted that price to what it actually cost for us to replace.

There were so many things in that Storage Unit that we cannot replace…sentimental things. We have replaced some things already…TV, Sheets, Shoes, Antenna….things like that…that we can use in our day to day life. We have until May 0f 2013 to replace things to get the additional depreciation cost back.(They paid us a depreciated price…and when we replace an item, they pay us the additional depreciated price, so we get full replacement cost. So if we don’t replace an item, all we get is the depreciated price).

I posted a photo of a bird on Facebook that Mac & I thought was a Hawk, but a friend of ours sent me a message and told me that the bird is a CaraCara. It is usually only found in Texas, Arizona, and Mexico…and rarely in Florida. Click on the name for a link to information of the bird. Here is another link for the bird,

sometimes called the Crested Caracara

Well, back to our day to day life here in South Nowhere Texas….LOL. We are out in the middle of nowhere, about 14 miles northwest of Yorktown, TX , and about 26 miles northeast of Kenedy, TX.

Things have gone really well for us at this Gate Job. We started out at a gate that isn’t really crazy busy.

I have the night shift and it is usually pretty slow. I don’t have a problem staying up until about 2:00am, but after that I get really sleepy. No one usually comes until about 5am, so I try to rest a little bit…usually doesn’t work because I think somewhere, someone knows…Ohhh she dozed off…I better go out there and check in at the Gate…LOL. I’m so worried about missing someone that I never can really relax.

This time at night I am usually playing games on my iPad.

The crew has been very nice to us. What a great bunch of guys! A couple of days ago they started showing up with meals for us! Now they have brought lunch on Wednesday, from Hoss… Cheeseburger & Fries…

breakfast on Thursday…compliments of Brad…Sausage, Egg & Cheese Croissant…

and lunch on Thursday from Brandon…Chicken Enchilada, Cheese Enchilada, Beef Enchilada, with Rice and Beans…

and then lunch today(Friday) from Hoss…Rib eye Steak Sandwich and Fries…

The food has been really good, but remember, I work nights and get up about 1:30pm…so this is more like breakfast to me…lol.

Not sure how much longer we will be at this gate. No one has said anything about when they will be finished.

We have been taking turns going in to town so that we can get away for a little while. I have went in to Yorktown, and then went to Cuero, the closest town with a Wal-Mart and HEB. The Wal-Mart is just a small one..not even a Super Center. The HEB is also very small…no Bakery, Deli, or Meat Market.

I went in to Kenedy on Wednesday to see if their shopping was better. They do have a Wal-Mart Super Center that is pretty nice, but one of the small ones, but their HEB is probably the WORST one I have ever been in! They have no selection of anything…very small and seemed kind of dirty. If I go into Kenedy again, I will be buying my grocery things at Wal-Mart…they have a much better selection.

Well, that brings us up to today….

Have a great weekend everyone!

(((HUGS)))

Gate Guarding in South Texas

Sunday, July 15th

It’s not real exciting what we’ve been doing here in South Texas….we log vehicles in when they want to go to the Rig and then we log them back out when they leave…

There’s not a lot to write about. We have been just hanging out and one or the other of us runs in to Yorktown once or twice a week to go to the store for supplies.

Between Logging Vehicles in & out this is what we’ve been up to:

I have been doing some crocheting, a lot of reading, reading blogs, Facebook, and playing some games on my ipad.

Mac has been spending his time either outside cleaning on the vehicles, watching TV or Facebook & playing games on his computer.

See…it’s been a real busy life here in South Texas. We are busy with the Gate job, but with us having to stay on site 24/7 we do have some spare time.

It’s cloudy and looks like rain today. The temperature is only 77* today at 6:00pm. Not bad for July here in Texas. The weather looks like rain through next Friday with temps in the mid to high 90’s.

Here’s a couple of photos from last nights Sunset.

(((HUGS)))

Business is picking up at our Gate in South Texas….

Sunday was pretty slow around our gate. They are finishing up on one of the wells today and will start working on the other well in a day or two…

We were told by the Company man that we would be staying at this gate because they really like us…

We set outside some, watched TV, and kind of relaxed. They started bringing in some equipment in the evening…but only a couple of trucks.

Monday started out early with some more equipment being brought in for the “Workover” on the other well. Stayed pretty steady all day. Mac made a trip in to Cuero looking for some connections for our Wide Band Directional Antenna and to the Grocery Store. No connectors, but he did get a few groceries.

Went to bed pretty early since we knew that Tuesday was going to be a busy day… rained all night…Mac was up at 1:30am with a truck wanting in the gate, and then again about 30 minutes later…so he just stayed up.

They have been delivering some heavy equipment all morning so far…and it’s been really gloomy and just misting outside.

About 10:45am it has started raining again pretty heavy….that’s gonna be fun checking these vehicles in and out in this rain….and I think I’m getting Bronchitis….ugghhh…..

I ran in to Cuero to WalMart. I needed new print cartridges for my printer. First time into town here so used the GPS to find my way. It took me right to WalMart. When I left Cuero and came back through Yorktown I stopped at Angelica’s and got some dinner for Mac & I. We had Crispy Tacos, Puffy Tacos, and Enchiladas. Also Rice & Beans….The food was all good except for the beans…not so much.

It rained off and on the rest of Tuesday and started raining again Tuesday night for most of the night. It was my shift so I was lucky that I didn’t have any vehicles to check in or out until about 6:00am. I went to bed, but couldn’t seem to really go to sleep. Just dozed.

Today we start our 7th day of being Gate Guards here in south Texas. It has rained all day today(Wednesday)….Mac has been really busy checking in and out vehicles in the rain…thank goodness for the digital recorder. It has come in very handy today.

I have tried to sleep off and on since I will be on duty tonight but I just can’t seem to unwind enough to relax…I have a terrible headache and maybe that is why sleep just won’t come to me.

Ohh, I need to let everyone know that the Wide Band Directional Antenna that we purchased needs to have a Female “F” connector on one end. There are several kinds but if you purchase one it needs to be:

Wilson Electronics 75 Ohm Wide Band - 700-2500 MHz Directional Antenna with F-Female Connector

Click on the name above and it will take you to the Amazon.com link for the Antenna.

Otherwise the end connector will be different and you will need to find an adapter connector.

We also use a Sony Digital Recorder that we purchased at WalMart. It works great, but I wish that we would of bought one that was voice activated.

I have stocked up on yarn before we arrived here and should be able to get some crocheting done since we are pretty much tied to this place. Also, I can get some reading done on my Kindle Fire. I have lots of books downloaded to keep me busy for quite a while.

I will keep posting but it may not be daily..just depends on what it going on around here.

Have a great day everyone!!

(((HUGS)))

Gate Guarding, Saturday, July 7th

Saturday morning came early at our RV…Mac got up about 5:30am and was ready for the trucks to start rolling in about 6:00. I slept in until about 8:30 and then got up, showered, and had a Breakfast Bar.

Someone mentioned that we should tell what company we are Gate Guarding for…but that is not allowed now. Friday we stayed busy as this was our first working day.

We have a Canopy set up with our Lawn Chairs underneath. Also a table with our sign in log sheets on it.

We set up a set of Wireless Motion Sensors along with the Bells that the company set up for us. The Motion Sensors are working very well.

The Motion Sensors are

Safety Technology International STI-34100 Solar Powered Wireless Driveway Monitor

Safety Technology International STI-34101 Additional Wireless Sensor for use with STI-34100

We ordered this set and an extra monitor through Amazon.com They have been working much better than the Bells. Mac programmed one so we can tell that someone is coming in the Gate and the other to alert us that someone is coming up to leave the Gate.

We also invested in a Wilson DB 65 Pro Booster & Antenna Kit. We also got the Wide Band Directional Antenna to put up on our Flagpole. Our internet has been pretty good and our Cell phones are 4 Bars of 1x right now with just the regular Wilson Antenna. We didn’t have the right connectors to put up the Wide Band Directional…so when we get to a Radio Shack or somewhere we will need to get the right connectors for it.

Wilson Electronics 841262 DB Pro 65 dB Adjustable Gain 800/1900MHz In-building Wireless Smart Technology IITM Signal Booster Kit with Omni-Directional and Panel Antenna

Wide Band Directional Antenna 700-2700 MHz

We also bought a Misting System at Tractor Supply for about $25.00 and put part of it up to help cool things down a bit. Don’t have a photo of that….

Hope this helps anyone that is thinking about Gate Guarding. We got some of these ideas from a couple that are Gate Guarding right now…Greg & Jan White wrote about them in their blog. Click on their name and it should take you to their Blog.

I’d like to take some photos of our area, but everything looks about the same. Farm ground, Trees, and Sunflowers… maybe I can find something interesting to take a photo of later today.

and more Sunflowers…

and all the workers left the Gate by 4:00pm so we are free for the evening to enjoy some TV and the NASCAR Race.

Y’all have a great day!!

(((Hugs)))

Buying a Car, Aransas Pass, TX and a New Adventure

Well, we didn’t leave Lake Conroe thousand Trails RV Resort until Saturday morning.  Why? We bought a car. We have been looking for a small car to do all our running around in because that big ‘ole Black Truck gets terrible Fuel mileage. We wanted something pretty small because we want to tow it behind the RV and we are limited on weight and length. We looked at a lot of vehicles but we were both most interested in the Honda CR-V. We did not want to buy something very new because this will be kind of an experiment to see if we like towing it….remember the DLT…..LOL

We finally found one we liked and met the owner on Thursday evening to make the deal. Now that leaves us to run back over to Livingston, TX to get our tags & registration taken care of.

After we got that done, Mac called Bob & Molly and we met them for lunch and another great visit! Afterwards we headed back to Lake Conroe in the little Blue Bopper as Molly calls it. We had a dinner date with Arlene since we will be leaving on Saturday morning. We had a nice dinner and a tearful “see ya later”…don’t like to say goodbye.

We were up and on the road in pretty good time on Saturday. This is the first time I have had to drive and follow Mac….and it had to be through downtown Houston on a Saturday morning in the pouring rain! I was never so glad to see Houston in my rearview mirror….

We got to Aransas Pass, TX with no problems and all set up at Aransas Bay RV Resort

and then ran out to have some dinner. Sunday we were going to go to Port Aransas but it was raining…..huh….I guess it followed us from Houston. So we just ran some errands and went to the Grocery Store.

 

Monday we decided to run to Corpus Christi to Gate Guard Services to get some more information on the Gate Guarding jobs…we ended up taking the paperwork home with us to fill out. We had to have our fingerprints taken but when we got there the person who does them had left for a doctor appointment and weren’t sure if she would be back. So we took off and drove over to North Padre, Mustang Island and on to Port Aransas. We went to the beach for a little while. It was really busy! The wind was blowing pretty hard and the water was rough…

We drove around town for a little while and then rode the Ferry back to Aransas Pass and home for dinner.

Tuesday we headed back to Corpus Christi to Gate Guard Services to turn in our paperwork and fingerprint cards. They gave us our orange vests and instructions on how to get to their Whitsett, TX office on Thursday. We left and went back to Port Aransas and to the beach again….

Still windy with rough water….

 

We saw so many Pelicans today…some just sitting on the beach, and a whole flock over the water dive bombing for their dinner….it was sure funny to watch them.

We rode the Ferry back to Aransas Pass and went to China A for some dinner.

Wednesday, July 4th, we just hung out at the RV. Mac had been working on our Water Pump. There was a leak somewhere and he took it apart and never got it fixed, so he decided that Thursday morning before we left town he would go to the RV Dealer and just get a new one. We just replaced that one last September while we were in South Dakota.

Mac was up and off to the Dealer when they opened at 8am. He returned with the Water Pump and got it installed and we finally took off about 11:15am. We arrived at Gate Guard Services Whitsett Office about 1:30 and talked with Jamie & Diane for a while. Then Jamie sent us to Kenedy, TX to wait for Mark to meet us and lead us to our new Gate Job.

It was pouring rain again…imagine that…lol We arrived at the gate about 6pm and got all set up. No work tonight, but had to be up by 5am this morning(Friday) for the truck to start arriving. We have to sign in every vehicle that comes to our Gate and then Sign them back out when they leave. We signed in about 40 or so vehicles today and then signed them back out early this evening. Nothing for tonight so we will get to sleep and be up by 5am again tomorrow…

Took a few photos around our site today…

Sunrise…very foggy this morning

our site setup

and Mac trying to be Official…

Stay tuned and we’ll try to keep you updated on how things are going with our new Gate Guard Adventure…

(((Hugs)))