Updates and an Opinion

Update on becoming eligible to bid on government contracts: After spending too much time trying to register on the Dun’s website, we gave up and called them today. It turns out that establishing P.O. boxes as we wander around prevented the computer from recognizing us. We have a permanent address that we forward our mail from and use as our resident address. That didn’t work either, so I used the last address I had when I lived in a real house. Anyway, we now have a Dun’s number and now must get registered with the government. That’s the Central Contract Registration or CCR site which is now the Sam’s site. Once we are registered as a contractor we can then bid on jobs. Hopefully some of you find this informative as I will update as we go through the process.

Update on my never ending battle with my basement heat pumps: I ripped the front heat pump out of the nose of the motor home because the fan had failed. I now know how Andy felt when he removed his generator. We had a parade of folks that came through today that thought we would never get it back together; much less installed. The unit has to literally be shoe horned in and out of the space. Once it is out the fan is removed by gutting everything between the evaporator and condenser-wow what a challenge. It is back in place and working now. I like basement air; but don’t think the effort and expense to maintain it is worth it.

Update on internet in the boonies: We are stepping into the 21^st century and acquiring Wild Blue satellite internet. We were content with the Virgin air card (actually a Mi Fi) that included 5 MB’s per 30 day period. Unfortunately Virgin has a limited presence in the oil patch. We then submitted to the monopoly that is AT&T (at least where we work) and acquired phones and an air card from them. The problem is that AT&T’s pay as you go plan only allows you 1 MB of data! We have debated about getting satellite internet, especially since it requires a contract, but finally relented when they had a cyber Monday special and offered free installation and setup.

I wanted to address the disagreement some folks have over blog content. Apparently some folks take umbrage over the content of some blogs, saying their content is superfluous and inane. My feelings are that a blog should be a place where you are allowed to express yourself, whatever the content may be. Some of it may disturb you, but the freedom to do that should be sacrosanct. Not all of us are talented writers and some of us apparently think that describing our daily routine is a subject of interest. Whatever your motives, I say write away. For those of you that are not pleased with what you read, just remember-dismissing it from your screen only requires a click on your part. Sometimes I believe the blogs I read are the author’s way of reaching out, sort of a vicarious way of keeping in touch and staying busy. So be it-write away my fellow bloggers!

Gratitude of the Gate Guard Kind

I got to thinking about the things we as gate guards are grateful for. I don’t doubt the veracity or sincerity of the things we give thanks for. I just think we sometimes forget or take a lot of blessings for granted. This morning I realized AGAIN how grateful I am for having a level pad to park our motorhome on. For the last few months we keep returning to a gate on an incline. We have wooden pads that we made to keep our jacks off of the ground. They were not much help as once the jacks were fully extended we still were not level. We then fabricated ramps out of wood and plastic pads and drove up on them. Remember that each of these attempts required running around the motorhome and adding/removing whatever material we could find to get the front of the motorhome up in the air. Our final setup had the back bumper inches from the ground and our front bumper about waist high. We still were not level and; even though it was only nose down a few degrees, it caused problems. The shower did not drain properly and if you got up too quickly you would catch yourself stumbling. I didn't realize how much it affected my sleep till we settled on our current pad. I haven’t said much about it, but I have noticed and appreciated the cooler temperatures. Especially since we are now tackling the overhaul of our front air conditioner. I am grateful that the roughnecks we have on this rig don’t come and go at all hours of the day and night. I am grateful for a field superintendent and company men that value and appreciate us. I am grateful and also want to give a plug to J Bar. I will not publish his name, but one of their drivers shares what water he has remaining with us after he services the rig. There are many other things, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gratitude I feel for having so many caring and giving colleagues on (and off) gates around us. I mention this because I have also met the killjoys we have on a few gates. Boy; that will make you grateful!

I almost forgot-I am grateful I have a job!!!

Turkeys, Monkeys and Stress

It’s the day after Thanksgiving and our home is a cornucopia of sights and smells. Non perishable pies are stacked on the counters (thank God it’s not 100 degrees these days) and the icebox smells like a corner diner. We simply have no more room for storing food. This happens every year around the holidays. You would think we would learn. We seem to always snatch up the deal at the local supermarket and then can’t get rid of it all. We not only had the rig feed us, we also had a friend bring a dish from home (we babysat their gate so they could have Thanksgiving dinner at home). This year I had an idea things were again going to get out of hand so we did not smoke our turkey. We did smoke a turkey breast. Since I was otherwise occupied, Missy took on the task of smoking the turkey breast. She did an outstanding job. If there was a way I would feed the less fortunate with our leftovers.

We have embarked on the journey of becoming eligible to bid on government contracts. Since I didn’t think this would be easy (and I was right), I am going to document our efforts on this blog. We worked during two summers in the Branson area and of all the places we’ve worked that is our favorite. We both enjoy the shows and the recreational opportunities. We would like to work as gate attendants for the Corps of Engineers at Table Rock Lake. So far I know I have to obtain a Duns number and some CCR thing. I got the skinny from a Corps of Engineers employee which was my first step, especially since that would give me a human to communicate with. Today I went to the website that takes you through the steps necessary to obtain the Duns number. After many hours and failed attempts-something about their site not responding-I have given up for now. A brief excursion on the Google search engine revealed that the CCR thingee is now a SAM thingee. I’ll also pursue that later.

Things of note:

Apparently there are enough foolish people out there to cause an accident involving over 100 vehicles. I don’t know about you, but if the weather ever gets bad enough to where I can’t see I am getting off the highway. Apparently a bunch of folks on I-10 near Beaumont, Texas didn’t get the memo. I remember a memorable drive between Pensacola, Florida and Mobile, Alabama one night where conditions got that way. Fog had made visibility drop to under a hundred yards. The majority of drivers never lifted off of the throttle, at night and in a 70 mph zone. I was terrified before we found an exit.

I hope none of my readers ever react to stress by not only destroying their home; but also over thirty homes of other innocent folks. A couple is suspected of doing that exact thing. Unlike their now deceased neighbors, they were not at home. They tried to blame the explosion on a faulty heater, but the fact that they were not home and authorities feel the explosion was remotely triggered, makes them prime suspects. I can’t imagine that conversation-“Gee honey, I told you not to wait that long” or ”Wow that was a lot bigger than we planned!” You get the idea.

On a more positive note; we actually had a good encounter with a mechanic. We had him install new shocks and struts on our Santa Fe. When I went to drive it, a loud rattling (did I say LOUD?) emanated from the back of the car. A call to the mechanic resulted in him not only coming out to our site to fix it; he also admitted to having left a spacer out of one the shocks. I was impressed.

Finally, please do not ever get so stressed or out of control that you feel the need to go to your local zoo and beat the stuffing out of some poor, innocent monkey. As I like to say I can’t make this up folks. They are out there and among us!

Somebody Throw Me a Line

Well, it’s 40 some days and counting before we hit the “fiscal cliff”. This was put in place to get our representatives in Washington off their collective butts and make something happen. I believe some stop gap measure will be enacted before they are forced to take their medicine. They've done it before and one wonders how much “teeth” this “fiscal cliff” has when everyone knows there is an out. It’s odd that much of the argument hinges on taxes. You can argue endlessly; but much of the burden lies with our over bloated government and the cost to fund it. Income tax is the easy way out and the system (like much of government) is flawed and broken. If you’re going to talk taxation, you should explore the alternatives. The numbers work for implementing a flat tax or national sales tax and dumping the I.R.S. Of course the problem remains in how much we can feel secure that the folks distributing it will use it for its intended purpose. Obviously if they can’t get anything done now, the odds of tax reform are a pipe dream. How much other pending legislation remains pending or how many unfunded mandates are out there? Everyone is in a tizzy because of the timeline. I liken it to a football game where you didn't get it done and now must depend on the kicker to win the game. When our founders put all this together, they failed to implement measures to hold our elected representatives “feet to the fire”. Other than voting and anemic polls, we have little power over them.

An observation or two:

I previously wrote that the folks affected by Sandy needed to pull together to get through this horrific catastrophe. I've seen heroic efforts in this regard, with folks not even affected by the events lending a hand. Now the insurance agencies need to get in the act. I say pay up guys or at least cut them a partial check.

I have a significant passing to report. Sadly, Hostess has shut down and Twinkies are no more. Even sadder, the death throes of unions everywhere continue. The “death threat” of shutting a company down unless workers capitulate apparently is ineffective. So the bakers at Hostess have painfully learned. This is just another example of how the working man is underpaid and under appreciated in this country. 

Please don't write and deride me as being a union lover. I am far from that; but it's obvious that workers need some sort of representation and protection.