I... just... no.
It's 7:00am and I still haven't slept. I've been in bed, but I'll be damned if I could sleep. But I digress...
I live on top of the Barnett Shale, which is a huge natural gas deposit the whole DFW Metroplex sits on. There are natural gas rigs EVERYWHERE around here, some within a couple blocks of each other despite the gas companies saying they should be X far apart, etc. If you've ever seen the documentary "Gasland" or seen any of the news reports about flammable tap water, tremors in areas that aren't earthquake prone, water well pollution, cancer outbreaks, etc., that kind of crap is courtesy of these gas companies that assure you NONE of that is their fault... the fact all that stuff happens right after they start drilling everywhere they go is purely coincidental. isilwath talked about the damn things a few months ago up where she lives.
One of those natural gas rigs is behind my house a little ways. There's a row of houses behind us on deep lots, a little street, a little lake, and then the gas rig. It's ugly, it's noisy, and we had no choice about it being there. Although the tall rig is now down there are still storage tanks and a valve thing there permanently.
We had some monster storms blow through here last night at about 1:30 or so. There were some gusts of wind up to 90mph, hail all around us (but not at our house thankfully), tornado warnings to the west and south of us, etc... pretty much welcome to spring in Texas standard fare. Once all the bru-ha-ha of the storms had passed my mom and I were going to bed (my dad was already in bed) when we started hearing the strangest noise coming from outside, and it was LOUD. It sounded like a large glass patio table being dragged across concrete in two short bursts every few seconds. We were looking out the windows toward the street wondering what in the world it could be because it sounded like it was coming from behind our neighbors across the street.
My dad heard the noise, too, and he came out to see what was going on. I walked toward the back of the house to see if it was louder or softer back there, and when it was louder the sudden unnerving thought hit me:
"Oh my God, the GAS RIG..."
I opened the door to our back porch and the sound was definitely louder and there was a very strange smell filling the back yard and seeping into the house. I know natural gas is odorless, but part of the refining process of natural gas is adding a scent to it so it can be detected. I think my heart stopped for a moment when I had that realization that it was the rig making that gawd-awful noise.
We called 911 because we had no idea who else to call to see what on earth was going on. The line was busy. That's NEVER a good sign. When we got an operator as soon as we stated our location she started talking about the gas rig without us even mentioning it. Another not good sign. She said the gas company said it was the rig releasing compressed air. Rewind to my previous mention of how gas companies NEVER tell the truth about what they're doing or what they're causing. We ask if we need to evacuate. The operator says they have a technician on the way to the rig and if we need to evacuate, the cops will come to the front door.
Oh. Dear. God.
Then came a flurry of getting dressed and prepared to evacuate if we had to. I unplugged my external HDD (which basically holds a large portion of my existence) and put it in a tote bag along with my mom's external, my main meds, two of the only photos I have of Nanny and Inky, my mom's mementos she keeps next to her chair of one of the few photos of Angeline and her (Angeline's) old driver's license, and a couple other small heirlooms. Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
All this time that horrible sound is shooting through the house every few seconds and the smell is getting a little stronger on the back porch as time passes. All of us are praying to the heavens that we aren't in danger and that the gas techs will be able to fix the problem. Finally after about an hour and a half the noise FINALLY stops. We waited for another 45 minutes or so before returning to bed, and I've been wide awake ever since even though I'm tired as hell. I'm just too wired after having that bad of a scare.
I'd bet you anything we will hear NOTHING about this on the news tomorrow, TV or online. Gas companies are good at keeping screw-ups and malfunctions like that under a tight lid so they can still pretend to look good.
I've hated that gas rig ever since it first went up. I hate it even more now.
I live on top of the Barnett Shale, which is a huge natural gas deposit the whole DFW Metroplex sits on. There are natural gas rigs EVERYWHERE around here, some within a couple blocks of each other despite the gas companies saying they should be X far apart, etc. If you've ever seen the documentary "Gasland" or seen any of the news reports about flammable tap water, tremors in areas that aren't earthquake prone, water well pollution, cancer outbreaks, etc., that kind of crap is courtesy of these gas companies that assure you NONE of that is their fault... the fact all that stuff happens right after they start drilling everywhere they go is purely coincidental. isilwath talked about the damn things a few months ago up where she lives.
One of those natural gas rigs is behind my house a little ways. There's a row of houses behind us on deep lots, a little street, a little lake, and then the gas rig. It's ugly, it's noisy, and we had no choice about it being there. Although the tall rig is now down there are still storage tanks and a valve thing there permanently.
We had some monster storms blow through here last night at about 1:30 or so. There were some gusts of wind up to 90mph, hail all around us (but not at our house thankfully), tornado warnings to the west and south of us, etc... pretty much welcome to spring in Texas standard fare. Once all the bru-ha-ha of the storms had passed my mom and I were going to bed (my dad was already in bed) when we started hearing the strangest noise coming from outside, and it was LOUD. It sounded like a large glass patio table being dragged across concrete in two short bursts every few seconds. We were looking out the windows toward the street wondering what in the world it could be because it sounded like it was coming from behind our neighbors across the street.
My dad heard the noise, too, and he came out to see what was going on. I walked toward the back of the house to see if it was louder or softer back there, and when it was louder the sudden unnerving thought hit me:
"Oh my God, the GAS RIG..."
I opened the door to our back porch and the sound was definitely louder and there was a very strange smell filling the back yard and seeping into the house. I know natural gas is odorless, but part of the refining process of natural gas is adding a scent to it so it can be detected. I think my heart stopped for a moment when I had that realization that it was the rig making that gawd-awful noise.
We called 911 because we had no idea who else to call to see what on earth was going on. The line was busy. That's NEVER a good sign. When we got an operator as soon as we stated our location she started talking about the gas rig without us even mentioning it. Another not good sign. She said the gas company said it was the rig releasing compressed air. Rewind to my previous mention of how gas companies NEVER tell the truth about what they're doing or what they're causing. We ask if we need to evacuate. The operator says they have a technician on the way to the rig and if we need to evacuate, the cops will come to the front door.
Oh. Dear. God.
Then came a flurry of getting dressed and prepared to evacuate if we had to. I unplugged my external HDD (which basically holds a large portion of my existence) and put it in a tote bag along with my mom's external, my main meds, two of the only photos I have of Nanny and Inky, my mom's mementos she keeps next to her chair of one of the few photos of Angeline and her (Angeline's) old driver's license, and a couple other small heirlooms. Then we waited.
And waited.
And waited.
And waited.
All this time that horrible sound is shooting through the house every few seconds and the smell is getting a little stronger on the back porch as time passes. All of us are praying to the heavens that we aren't in danger and that the gas techs will be able to fix the problem. Finally after about an hour and a half the noise FINALLY stops. We waited for another 45 minutes or so before returning to bed, and I've been wide awake ever since even though I'm tired as hell. I'm just too wired after having that bad of a scare.
I'd bet you anything we will hear NOTHING about this on the news tomorrow, TV or online. Gas companies are good at keeping screw-ups and malfunctions like that under a tight lid so they can still pretend to look good.
I've hated that gas rig ever since it first went up. I hate it even more now.