And the "Frack" goes on....

If you don't live in an area of the nation that has gas or oil well drilling going on, then the only time you've probably heard about the current gas and oil "rush" is on TV. And you may not have even heard about it from the news either. The current "gas rush" in the North Central Texas area is so big it could be compared to the California Gold Rush of 1849.

In Johnson County, Texas, where I live, new well heads and drilling rigs are going up every day, all over the county as the gas companies rush to extract the "new millineum gold" from the Barnett Shale. The Barnett Shale is a massive rock formation that lies beneath the earth's surface in seventeen north and central Texas counties. In the Barnett Shale, it is estimated there is enough gas to keep companies pumping for decades.

In order to extract some of the hard-to-get-to gas out of their hiding places, the process of hydraulic fracturing or "fracking" is introduced into the drilling process. Fracking is the action of injecting fresh water deep into the ground so that little pockets of gas and oil can be extracted from the cracks, crevices and rocks held deep within the earth's crust.

To start the process of "fracking", the companies need to obtain water from somewhere, because they could  be drilling miles and miles from a lake. A common site along the back roads and by-ways in the Barnett Shale area in Texas is shown in the pictures below. To get the water they need to the well site for the fracking process, the gas and oil companies will purchase water rights from local ranchers, farmers and landowners. The piping below is how they deliver that much needed water to the well site from local ponds, small lakes and streams.

The pictures below show the route that I take each day going to work. And as you can see, there are literally miles and miles of this piping utilized for one drilling job and that's just in the county where I live.

Hope you enjoy the story and the photos. Drill baby, drill!

The Impulsive Texan

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Where to find the best Texas BBQ by phone. It's a free download...give 'er a try

Say it ain't so!!!!!

DUBLIN – Dr Pepper is ending its 120-year relationship with its oldest and smallest bottler, which had carved a market niche by producing Dr Pepper sweetened with cane sugar.

Plano-based Dr Pepper Snapple Group Inc. and the Dr Pepper Bottling Co. of Dublin in Erath County have agreed to end their relationship to settle Dr Pepper's trademark-infringement case against the Central Texas bottler of what had come to be called "Dublin Dr Pepper," and had become a treat for soft-drink purists worldwide.

A joint statement issued Wednesday says the bottling company will continue as the Dublin Bottling Works Inc. and produce its other brands, including Nu Grape, XXX Root Beer and Big Red, all with cane sugar instead of corn-based sweeteners common in the soft drink industry.

Dr Pepper Snapple said it will continue to distribute Dr Pepper sweetened with cane sugar for which the Dublin bottler had become famous, but the drink will be bottled in Temple. It will continue to be sold in distinctive packaging, but without the "Dublin" designation.

The corporate office in Plano filed suit against the Dublin bottler in June, claiming its "Dublin Dr Pepper" brand violated the terms of its licensing agreement. Dublin Dr Pepper filed a countersuit, and denied having done so.

"We want to thank our many customers for their support of our family-owned business during the past 120 years, and we want them to know that Dr Pepper is still a big part of Dublin," Dublin Bottling Works vice president Jeff Kloster said in a statement.

"We hope customers will continue to visit our town, the W.P. Kloster Museum and Old Doc's Soda Shop, where they can still enjoy Dr Pepper sweetened with cane sugar."

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

The Great Train Crash at Crush, Texas, 1896

Texas built part of its big reputation for big, outlandish events and one particular event of magnificent and catastrophic proportions happened in September of 1896.

An agent for the Katy Railroad, George Crush, decided to have two locomotives crash, head-on, in the hurriedly put together "town" of Crush, Texas. He planned it as a publicity stunt to draw more train fares and riders. As you will read in the article, it didn't go quite like he had planned.

Crush was just south of West, Texas and north of Waco, Texas in what is now a privately owned cow pasture. The town was the second largest in Texas at the time but by nightfall of this historic day, it didn't have one resident to claim. All that's left of the occasion is a historical marker that was erected in 1977 to commemorate the uhmmm, crazy event.

Click on the link below, "Crash at Crush"  to read the story and then enjoy Texas Music Star Brian Burns rendition of "Crash at Crush" in the video below.

"Crash at Crush

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Original epic poem "Texas is Heaven" is now available for purchase

"Texas is Heaven" is now available for purchase! Be the first to own this original poem from fifth generation Texan, Stephan Marc Dubois, by visiting the link below. You know Stephan as "The Impulsive Texan". He delivers those touching and sometimes funny quips and stories about his life in Texas through his blog of the same name.

Young or old, rich or poor, living in Texas or somewhere on the other side of Earth, be sure to pick up a copy of this poem about Texas for your home, apartment or ranch. It  was written with the love and passion only a Texan can understand and you'll feel that once you read this epic poem about the Great State of Texas!

http://www.wix.com/fifth_gen_txn/the-impulsive-texan

Thanks for dropping by.

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Sunrise in Texas...

There ain't a whole lot of things that can get my mind straight, like a sunrise. A sunrise in itself, is just a sunrise, but when accompanied by other beautiful blessings from God, it's like a symphony for the eyes.

I was on my way to work this morning and passed a low-lying hay field and the sun just beginning to open it's eyes, the foggy mist hanging above the ground like Spanish Moss hanging in a Louisiana oak tree and the round bales of hay dotting the landscape caught my eye and I just had to get a quick shot.

For all of you Texans out there, this is halfway between Egan, Texas and Keene, Texas on the backroads of FM 807, near U.S. Hwy 67. What a wonderful sight this was to behold first thing this morning.

I hope you enjoy the beauty.

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...

Left lane drivers ain't right...

Even though there is a definite "dual" meaning in the title of this blog, it's true in both aspects. I'm not sure what "drives" (pun intended) folks to homestead in the left lane when they're driving but I'm certain, in their own mind they are sure it's perfectly o.k.

Well, I have a word or two about that, especially when it affects me directly. You see, I am a boring, old fashioned, believe-in-following-the-law, middled aged man. Laws are made to keep order and to keep chaos to a minimum and I drive the speed limit. Yes, on purpose.

I drive in the right lane when I'm behind the wheel and I only venture into the left lane when someone is in the right lane and not driving the posted limit, or if there is a law enforcement officer up ahead with someone pulled over or if someone is on the side of the road, changing a tire on the left side of the car. That, in my opinion, is a disaster just waiting to happen. Nonetheless, yes, I drive in the right lane at all times, period.

But take for example, you have a left-lane camper that is determined to stay in the left land AND drive the speed limit. Now, I live in the "metromess" of Dallas/Fort Worth and as a matter of fact, people do NOT drive the speed limit for the most part, right lane or left. The left lane around here between 6:00 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. resembles a practice run at any NASCAR track on any given weekend. I wonder about those folks that drive by me at 85 and 90 and I'm doing 60 or 65 and what it is that makes them want to go so fast. Now, with me doing the speed limit in the right lane and Billy Bob doing the speed limit in the left lane, it's only a matter of time until there is a bottle neck.

Ole Billy Bob doesn't think he's doing anything wrong. As a matter of fact, he starts pumping his fist out the window and pointing his middle finger at the the honking driver behind him. "What'd I do wrong"? Well, the left lane clogs up faster than my arteries at Thanksgiving and before you know it, there is a mile of honking, swerving, pi$$ed off drivers behind Billy Bob. And what comes next, I've had done so many times that I can pretty much predict to the second when it will happen again. Yep, here he comes now. Inevitably, someone in the left lane gets irate, fed up and in a hurry then whips over into the right lane behind me and decides he's gonna push The Impulsive Texan just far enough in front of Billy Bob, so he can get around and be at the Starbucks on time to meet his girlfriend for that double half-caf, skim milked caramel topped latte' he promised her the night before. After all, the right lane is clear all the way from Alvarado to Dallas, I should just ease up and let Daytona Don pass, right? Well, guess what cupcake? You got behind the wrong law abiding driver. I'm doing the speed limit and I ain't movin'.

You know the saying that you get more hard-headed the older you get? Well, I'm living proof of that. There is NO faster way for me to let my foot completely off the gas pedal than to ride my bumper, flash the lights and honk the horn at me when I'm OBEYING the law. After all, I'm in the right lane. It's designated for slower drivers and devious old troublemakers like myself.

So, we have Billy Bob in the left lane having a verbal war with the blonde in the Lexus behind him. I'm in the right lane JUST off of Billy Bobs bumper with an eye on Daytona Don behind me and we've got the traffic tied up for miles. And as they say these days, "I'm just sayin", I don't give in. I will stay on Billy Bobs bumper until the cows come home or until he decides he's had enough of the livid drivers behind him. And as it always happens, the left-lane driving mouth breathing moron always gives in and moves over ahead of me. And then like clockwork, when the clog is gone, over to the left Billy Bob migrates again. Oh, but it's ok, he used his turn signal.

Now that story makes me ponder the question, "why do people drive in the left lane?" I've thought and thought and thought and to me there can only be a few reasons. One, they like the left lane and are going to drive there, no matter what. Two, they don't like driving against the shoulder of the road and three, like The Impulsive Texan slamming on the brakes for tailgaters, they're hardheaded and doing it out of spite.

There could be more reasons or not, I don't know. But in all the years I've driven, I've come to one conclusion and it's summed up very well in the title of this blog, "Left lane drivers ain't right"...

The Impulsive Texan

"I may not get much done, but I sure am slow"...