TenTwo Studios pictures free

It's that time of year again when Lisa over at TenTwoStudios shares pictures in a countdown. She has some really awesome things on her site too besides sharing these pictures. All sorts of ideas and how tos and products to do them with besides. Please check her out. Here's the link for the pictures for free. http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/
Happy Holidays and I say "Merry Christmas". Hugz, Scary

My job Trucking Crude Oil

Here (finally) are some pictures from work. And a little bit of what I do on my job hauling Crude Oil. The Mack truck I drive with my trailers. The picture of the tanks is where I spend some of my time. (Yesterday it was 26 below 0F , with a windchill of 35 below F, I hate being on those tanks right now) We climb up and measure the oil, take the temperature at 3 depths and get the thickness(gravity) which is what determines the price the get for the crude oil. I don't know if you have heard of the Bakken Oil in ND but it is a very good crude. Some of it looks just like vegetable oil you cook with, some is green, some is clear and some you can't see through. We take samples from the top and bottom of the tank, down to the truck and put them in a machine that spins it and shows if there is any sediment or water in the oil (BS&W). They allow so much of each, depending on who is buying it.

Note the orange wind sock on top? There can be poisonous gas called H2S on the site. 1 company lost a pumper( a guy who monitors the tanks) last spring to H2S. He wasn't wearing a monitor and went on a site with the gas and they found him later dead. We must wear a monitor at all times and have masks in the truck in case monitor goes off. We have to evacuate immediately. The wind sock tells us which way to go to get upwind of the gas should it be present. We get Fit tested on the masks once a year to make sure we can move around and breathe with it on.

If the oil passes the BS&W test then we load it. I can haul 70 barrels in my pup(the baby trailer behind) and 160 barrels in the front or lead trailer for a total of 230 barrels. It varies depending on the gravity as the weight changes according to the gravity. Right now, in the winter, I have hauled as low as 38.9 gravity at 0 degrees temperature. You don't want the oil on your skin needless to say. Brrrrr. In the summer the warmest I hauled was 96 out of a new well they just set up. As of right now I haul 1 1/2 to 2 loads a day depending on where they are going. We can work 14 hours a day 5 days a week. No more than 70 hours then we have to take 36 hours off. Sometimes about 500 miles a day. We have to stay outside the truck while we unload and load in case a hose blows or something leaks. That really sucks right now with the cold. Got me and the hubby new fire retardant clothes(Required), 2 coats, 2 hoods, and 2 bibs, all insulated, $720.00. FR clothes are ridiculously priced. But we have to have them on the outside all year. Jeans run around $70 and T-shirts are $65. Our company gives us $200 every 6 months towards our FR clothes which helps a little. Ok bored enough? lol. We work 5 days on, 2 off, 5 on, 3 off which is why I don't get on here much any more. Well that's it for now. Will try and get better about posting now that the Holidays are over. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all my friends out there in cyberland. Hugz, Scary

new countdown I almost missed

http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/ As some of you know, I love TenTwoStudios products and have used them in previous swaps(Back before I started hauling oil and could do art once in awhile). Well Lisa always has a countdown at holidays where she shares free digital photos to use in your art. Hope you enjoy them like I do.

Valentine freebie pics

http://countdown.tentwostudios.com/ Lisa is having another picture giveaway for Valentine's Day go check it out.
Sorry it's been so long since I posted. No art to share again as it's still busy at the new job. We got MORE snow this week so they sent us home. I did get 12 hours in before they shut the trucks down though. The whole western part of the state where we work is no travel advised as of 5:45 am and Bismarck to Dickinson is still closed. The extreme cold we were having seems to be done, knock on wood. It's been above 0 for a week now. Melting some of the snow and we had 3 days without icy roads until this rain then 7 - 10 inches of snow fell yesterday. We came home to flooding in town. All of the street corners are lakes. Snow is still piled so high you can't see over it on the streets but it is getting smaller. Our counties are running short on money for salt and gravel and fuel for their trucks as they have been working overtime alot this winter. God bless them for the good jobs they are doing trying to keep it safe for us out there.

New grandbaby Brennon, was born Jan. 9. 20inches, 7 pounds 9 oz. Healthy and Mom is doing fine. Thank you everyone for your prayers. Her diabetes has gone away so all is well. I got to babysit for a couple hours last night so Mom could have a much needed night out.
Well I am off to bed for a bit. Take care and God Bless You All. Hugz, Scary

TenTwoStudio's countdown for Christmas

Lisa Volrath is having The annual Christmas countdown. It starts in one week! The images are finished, loaded up, and ready to roll out. Beginning December 1st, she'll countdown the days 'til Christmas by posting a new printable item---47 printables in all. Spread the word:http://countdown. tentwostudios. com/
not sure if any of you have checked out her site but she has wonderful pictures she gives away to download on most holidays. Spread the word after you check out her site. That's where I got the images and bamboo tiles for the necklaces I posted awhile ago. She also has some cute book kits and altoid tin kits and pictures sized just right for them. Happy Holidays. Hugz, Scary

More Ornaments and a job

I did some more ornaments for Christmas presents. I really am having fun doing these and hubby is ready to swipe my stuff off the kitchen table into the trash, lol. But merry merry I always say (at least until the 1st of Dec. when I go bah humbug, lol). I used images from Artchix studio and Retrocafe Art. The angel and the baby ornaments are soldered. The baby has a bale on the back for a ribbon or to wear as a pin.

Well, hubby and I were fortunate enough to be hired on the 1st interview we went on. 7 am in Bismarck which meant getting up at 5, good thing I am a morning person. Rud Oil hired us both. We will be driving brand new Mack trucks hauling crude bulk oil in tankers with 2 trailers, the back trailer is called a pup which just means not a full length trailer. 2 loads a day, 5 -12 hour days so 70 hours a week. Time and a half over time after 40 hours. $23 an hour starting, medical -they pay half- and 2 weeks vacation after 1 year. We will be driving separate trucks and will have the same hours and days off. 5 days on 2 off 5 on then 3 off. We will have to buy a trailer to live in but will be able to park it in a heated shop. We have been wanting a trailer for some time so that's not all bad. Going to go look at it on Monday. Hopefully it is like the ones we have been looking at at the RV-trailer sales places. It's a 04 or 05, not sure yet if it has slide outs. We also go for safety training on Monday. Have to learn how to breathe properly through a gas mask just in case there is a leak at the oil well or pipeline. Then we get fitted for fire retardant suits that we wear when loading and off loading, also get new hard hats, wheeeeee!!!I already have 2 but a girl can never have enough hard hats, right?Kind of like shoes. I got approved by TSA(National Security) on my background check so I can go take my hazardous material test(ICK!!). Studying for the tests ,hazardous material(haz-mat), doubles/triples(2 or 3 trailers) and tanker(hauling tankers), has given me several headaches. The hazmat is the worst of course. Lots of chemical type things to learn. Lance is still waiting for his TSA check to be completed. With the weather we have in ND, I am not totally thrilled with having to drive hazmat loads in the winter but I am going to buck up and do it. At $23 an hour each, we should be able to get all of our debts in a year or so and I won't have the headaches of doing all the paperwork I did when we ran our own trucking company. Yippee to that!!!!! Also someone else pays the trip permits, fuel, road taxes, etc. Yippppppeee to that too, lol. So thank you to all who prayed. It worked.

Now for a new prayer request. My daughter, Candice, is pregnant and due in Jan. She was just diagnosed with gestational diabetes. They aren't sure if they caught it in time for it not to stay with her after the pregnancy. She is freaking out and getting very depressed. She has had a few bouts with dizziness in the past couple days and had her sugar checked last night and it was ok but she is still worried. She doesn't get much exercise despite having 3 kids to run after and she has been very tired. I keep stressing how important it is to get some sort of activity going but I know it's hard when you seem to be tired all of the time. Anyhows, she could sure use some prayers. I have been taking the kids as much as I can just to help out. Her boyfriend isn't much help around the house or with the 1 year old. Men don't seem to understand how much a pregnancy can drain a person. The grandkids and I are going to the nursing home this morning to see Great Grampa and visit for a bit. We went to Winter fest celebrations here in town yesterday. Mother Goose story time was a big hit. Lisa makes a great Mother Goose, lol. We made cards for soldiers with glitter and glue. Trevin and Arianna loved that. We had popcorn and hot chocolate(much hotter than Nana Cheri's hot choccy at home). Carrie brought her Pynchon horses and a hay wagon converted into a seated cart for wagon rides around town. We had our snow pants on, so with the blankets provided, we were toasty warm. That was fun. Then we met Santa and Mrs. Claus and the balloon man and had our faces painted with snowmen and snow flakes. After eating BBQ's and kraut and knephla for supper, I took Trevin home for a much needed nap for Nana, lol. I had planned to be back for the ballet at 7 and light parade at 8 but slept to 7:30 and by the time Trevin got through going potty, we missed them both. He said it was ok as the next time it got dark we could see the light parade, lol. What a sweetie. It was pretty windy so we didn't walk all the way around town to see the lights as our faces were getting cold. We only live 1 block from down town so we just walked back and forth all day. Arianna stayed with friends for the ballet(she loved it) and the parade of lights. There were only 4 floats this year which is why Trevin and I missed it by minutes, lol. Big town ya know.

Ok off to see Grampa. Have a blessed weekend. Hugz, Scary