Report from the border

I loaded them up the night before I left. When I get home I am going to try them in my other rifles and see if it is the same with those. I tried all 5 mags and had the same results. Even with the two rounds removed you have to make sure to push hard to get them to lock in. don't know what the problem is. I don't want to mess with them here at work. I'll do some investigating when I get home.

 

Thought I'd update a few things that I have learned recently.

I posted about the High School in Roma picking up bus loads of kids at the border every day. Well the next town down the valley is Rio Grande City. It seems they have taken a clue from Roma. A sign beside the highway advertises the "Future Site Of Rio Grande City High School".
So what's the big deal? It's 13 miles from the town! Why would a city build a brand new high school 13 miles from town?
Seems there is a bridge crossing the Rio Grande 1 mile from the proposed site.
Thier enrollment will certainly go up next year. And with it the amount of our tax dollars they get.

Car jackings seem to be way up this summer. I have heard of several cases just this week. A woman was buying groceries, she got her 80 yr old mother in the car, started it and turned on the AC, loaded her groceries and then went to put the cart up. Some wets were watching and when she tried to get in they grabbed her, threw her to the ground and took off. Just before the border the driver reached across grandma, opened the door and kicked her out of the moving car.
Grandma's in the hospital, the car, groceries and bandito's are safely in Mexico.

Another tactic that has been developed. A gang of 6-10 bandito's draw straws. The loser gets pummeled by the others. He is laid out, black and blue and bleeding in the road. When a passerby stops to see if he's Ok the others jump from the bushes and grab the driver, and any passengers, beat the crap out of them and take off with thier car.

The hottest item on the border right now is 4 wheel drive diesel pick-ups. Exactly the type that most oilfield people drive. A guy I know was in a restaurant in Laredo recently. Two sherrifs deputies came in and asked who was driving the diesel truck outside. He said it was his. They informed him that they had just caught two mexicans attempting to steal it. Seems they have a device that when next to a vehicle it an scan until it finds the keyfob code to unlock the doors.

 

Had to go back and see if I had posted this or not. The other thing that you have to watch for this time of year are these little critters.
Seems it is unusually dry this year and they are thick. We were killing 4-6 a night last month. We had our location sprayed with a commercial snake reppelent and so far have only killed 7 in the last 10 days.
They are particularly bad this year. The border town hospitols are reportedly stocking up on anti-venin

 

tastes like chicken? I mean, you grilling up those varmints?

 

"Sewer rat might taste like pumpkin pie but I'll never know cause I aint eatin the nasty MFr!"

 

Hey, MM - Without giving away too much, we know you aren't supposed to carry in the field, what do you use to dispatch those slinky little ones? Do they issue you a forked stick?

 

E.L., sorry bud I'm headed North tomorrow.

Ghrit, I use a "Roughneck".

 

A bit off topic but there is a new show on Trutv channel "Black Gold". I caught the premier episode last wed. night. Pretty real to life. It's on every Wed. at 9pm CST with re-runs all week. Like "Deadliest Catch" or "Ax Men". Pretty cool.

 

There has been a lot about the situation on the border on TV lately. O'Rielly had the Sherriff of Zapata county on the other night and he was telling about the kidnappings and carjckings and other violence down here. He told of an incident just last week of a grenade thrown into a crowded bar. Glenn Beck had a guy on whose Daughter was kidnapped in '04 and has had no word or help from the State Dept. GB reports that there are 70 cases of Americans kidnapped in or taken to Mexico.

I thought I would give an update on what I have been seeing lately. We found 5 dead bodies on and around our oil leases this past summer and fall. All killed execution style. Come to find out there was a guy staying at a ranch down the road from here who was a hitman from a Mexican cartel. They suspect him of the killings and when they raided the ranch he had slipped back across the border.

A friend of mine was coming down I-35 from San Antonio to Laredo about 2am. On a desolate stretch of the road two cars came up on him and one got in front, the other beside him. They started slowing down, trying to force him to stop. He turned on his dome light and held up his .45 and racked the slide. The cars took off.

The kidnappings, carjackings and murders continue unabated. You hear of bodies being found nearly every week. Some are illegals dead of exposure, dehydration or snakebite. some are drug deals gone bad or executions. The carjacking and vehicle thefts around the McAllen, Rio Grande Valley area are so numerous that they rarely get mentioned on the news anymore. It has been an adventure around here the last 3 years. I have seen and heard of things that I never thought I would see in the US.

I said that if Obama got elected that I would be packing my bags to go back overseas. That turns out to be prophetic. The company I am with told us they are scaling back their domestic operations. With the anti-drilling atmosphere from this new administration and the recent drastic drop in oil and gas prices, the domestic market isn't worth it anymore.

They told us that they woud be shutting down these rigs soon so we should start looking for a job. Looks like I will be heading back to the Middle East soon. At least it will be a lot safer than here on the border!!!

 

Check with Cabot, Range, Chesapeake and Anadarko. Looks like drilling just might pick up this year up here. There are a few others, but I can't think of them right now. They contract the drilling itself, comes as no surprise. Unless you wear antlers, not much chance of getting shot around here. If you know LlamaHDT, check with Dean Lowrey and tell him pagaslease.com sent you. Might get you a beer up Houston way. Or not. He's not a close friend, but might remember me.

 

Thanks Ghrit. But one of those four is the one I am getting laid off from. I know that PA is picking up. There is still work in Montana and Wy too. But I am getting to old to chase jobs. I have been thinking about going back overseas for awhile now. I need to get with a company that I can finish out my career with. There is one that has been after me to come to work for them for some time now. My international, and in particular, Mid Eastern experience makes me a top candidate. Have turned down 2 offers just this past week. So I can afford to be picky and go with the best company that I can wrap up my career with.
Besides, my Arabic is getting rusty. Finally learned how to speak it and I wind up in South Texas!