Life in Elk City

It has been a cold and windy weekend. I understand why they chose here to place the wind mill farm. I am sure the wind has something to do with the wide open flat plains absent of trees that allows wind to flow so quickly. There was a cold front that came through also. Weather.com said it was a low of 24 but felt like 14, must have been the wind chill that dropped the temperature the extra 10 degrees. The winds churned up the pond behind me so it was white capping. Seriously, it is the windiest situation I have ever seen without storm clouds in the sky.
Last Friday my buddy, Ron McKenzie, came by to take me to refill water supplies and pick up applications in the area. I met his boss and he seemed enthusiastic to hire me on. I am feeling optimistic. McKenzie also took me to a few operating oil rigs and gave me the low down on the different parts. Unfortunately I forgot to bring my camera with me.
The type of work I am looking for is in the oil fields, specifically being a caser or a roughneck. Casing, as I understand it, is when a well is being dug it needs to have pipe installed where it has already dug to prevent the sides from falling in and allow mud to circulate. A Roughneck on the other hand works on the actually drilling itself. So my job essentially would be to come in after a well is drilled to a certain depth and help place the pipes into the well. Average length of each section of pipe is 40ft that screws into other 40ft sections. It is a dirty job for sure. I look forward to doing learning about the oil business. I did not realize how deep wells were dug, miles down sometimes, and not always in a straight line. I have alot more to learn.
Sometimes when I stop to think about my bus adventure I am struck by the absurdness of the situations I put myself in. Take for example, being here. I spent every bit of money I had to get here, I have maybe 5 gallons of diesel in my tanks and ten dollars to my name. I have been living this whole project by the seat of my pants. Yet somehow it always works out. Not without more than a few glitches, but somehow I always make it through. I fully believe that old adage that if you put your mind to something you can make it happen. I like to throw the spice of 'do or die' in the mix as well to liven things up. Perhaps one day I will have enough interesting life experiences that I will have something to really write about. For now, it is blogging that will have to suffice. The drama might not unfold as fast as a novel but it is reality and reality paced. My motivation isn't a fortune at the end but a fantastic life right up until the end.
Much of my free time, until I am employed, is used finding resourceful ways to survive. That is why finding the camping site with free electricity is such big deal. And it is in the city where many of the companies supporting the oil wells are located. I am online trying to find out more information all the time...about camping places, oil wells, tornadoes, and bus insulation. I can catch television shows every once in a while. I like to listen to morning news shows while I fix breakfast and work on the bus. The trick is not to move to much because the signal is sensitive and my antennae is a weak indoor rabbit ear kind. Walking on the bus causes the bus to move and sway which cause the antennae to move. Then my TV cuts in and out. I walk softly. It is really amazing how clear the picture is on my new TV though. I never had antennae reception like this as a kid. Of course I realize that I didn't have digital signals and a HD TV as a kid either. It is a nice extra, but it will be sold if need be.
It is sunset again right now and I am fighting the urge to jump off the bus and start snapping shots. It still has that effect on me, but I don't want to bore you with more sunset pics. It is the best time of the day here so far.
I haven't had an official shower since I left Nashville almost 2 weeks ago. I have had a couple sponge baths to wipe of the stank. I doubt that in my entire life I have gone so long without a real shower or bath. The cinder block porti potti here is by far the most 'scented' one I have ever used, and not a good 'scent' either. I took some cleaning stuff up there to clean it today so I wouldn't die early from flesh eating bacteria.
It really isn't too bad, I have warmth and hope. That's all I need for tonight.