Mixed Feelings

When it is all said and done we are true gate guard rats. We have been at this for almost a year and a half, other than an occasional break or two. Missy has managed to get home to Oklahoma a couple of times during that stretch but I have remained here; even working solo during her absence. Well we are both tired and Missy wants to spend some time with her son, so we are going to take some time off. Most of our time has been spent working for one company and we have been more than satisfied with their support and care for us. When we took our last break we were "chomping at the bit" to get back to work after about two weeks. I guess we actually must enjoy doing this! Like a lot of things in life; how you deal with people and your attitude have a lot to do with success in gate guarding. We enjoy meeting and befriending folks. We also have enjoyed learning the process that is required to extract oil from mother earth. For many months we have been following a pair of rigs that have been hell bent on breaking each others records-from spud to terminal depth (or TD). Consequently we would find ourselves picking up stakes and moving every 14-20 days. Now we have been on the same gate for over two months and have settled in. It is with some mixed feelings that we say good bye to this little pad we call home. While we were appreciative of the lengthy stay, we will not miss all the ancillary activity that goes along with a lease this big.. Our wonderful (comparatively speaking) road has all but been destroyed by caliche truck traffic. The master plan calls for fourteen pads when it is all said and done. Every time we think we are going to catch a break another pad begins and the trucks start to roll. I can put up with all kinds of distractions when I try to sleep, but the cacophony of caliche trucks is not one of them. The folks who volunteered to take our pad say they love a busy gate. Well they will certainly will get that and more as fracking is on the horizon and coil tubing has already started. So, in about a week we'll say adios to the oil patch. We'll see if we remain gone the entire planned four weeks!