One of the usually "sleepy" areas that has recently exploded with activity is the Anadarko Basin; a large geological formation that has made many, many men rich in oil and gas. And they are at it again. Some of our daily duties is the preparation & documentation of right-of-way in an almost 3000 sq. mile subscriber area for one of my clients that includes some of this area. This keeps at least one crew hoppin', sometime two.
Recently I decided to "get out of the office", clear my mind and try to remind myself what surveying was about. I guess I succeeded, but the open country wasn't near as quiet as I remember it. We were working on r.o.w. in a 2 section area that should have had far more cattle than men. In two square miles I counted almost thirty pickups, at least that many hard-hats, over a dozen working derrick jacks, two deep-hole drilling rigs and a tanker truck every thirty seconds.... So much for my "quiet" day in the field....
I did find some peace in the nearby town of Verden. A sleepy little town on the old CRI&P (Cry & Pee) railroad. Operated now by Mr. Herriman's Union Pacific R.R.
The local reply when asking directions in town invariably involves mentioning this:
THE tracks
A block or two north and you're right in the thick of Verden's Central Business District:
And at the end of Main Street, at Boundary Road (yes, it is a section line), the old Jailhouse...made famous by thousands of geocachers with time on their hands:
A typical and tidy S.W. Oklahoma town. I enjoyed my day.
Another interesting point in Verden is a monument that was erected to honor the Native Nations that signed a treaty here. Some hog-wash about the Caddo Nation being given lands that would never be a part of the United States...
This monument sits at the site of the Verden High School nowadays. A good reminder to all young folks that the "Great Chief in Washington" was good at three-card-montie.
I would usually be able to also report on the status of pizza in Verden, but I was lured by my long-term addiction to "truck-stop-fried-chicken"...better than pizza any day!
B-)
> I would usually be able to also report on the status of pizza in Verden, but I was lured by my long-term addiction to "truck-stop-fried-chicken"...better than pizza any day!
>
> B-)
stay away from any gas station pizza under odd lights. Total blasphemy of the sacred pie. You will go to hell if you eat it.
Hot Lamp Pizza
Had a job a few years ago in Byars, Oklahoma. A little pimple of a town on the butt of nowhere...and this is the only business in town:
"Gigi's"...they want almost 2 bucks for a soda pop. All their chips and candy bar's expiration date has come and gone. AND they sell hot lamp pizza....purchased by one of my crew in a fit of hunger at 4:30 one afternoon.
He threw it out the window about 600' down the road...:clap:
Hot Lamp Pizza
I know a guy named Verden. Well, that's what we called him. He worked in a mail room of a big state university sorting mail. A monkey could do his job. He had a purple nose. He drank like a fish. Everyday. And then he would talk. And talk. And talk. He would talk about absolutely nothing and would drive you nuts.
I haven't seen him in over 10 years. I wonder if he's still alive.
Hot Lamp Pizza
I knew a fellow named Verdon when I was a kid. His death caused his wife's death. They were somewhere near 80 and she was blind as could be. They were attempting to go somewhere in the next county, went down a poor county road, got stuck and no one came by to help. Apparently, he left the truck to squat a short distance away to answer nature's call. Apparently, he was hit with some major medical issue and fell over dead. Meanwhile, his wife had no idea what had happened. Eventually she left the truck, stumbled into a barbwire fence along one side of the road, and then wandered up and down the fence as best she could, literally wearing a path into the grass, before she probably died from exposure on a very cold winter night.
Hot Lamp Pizza
> ....A monkey could do his job. He had a purple nose. He drank like a fish. Everyday. And then he would talk. And talk. And talk. He would talk about absolutely nothing and would drive you nuts.
I knew an engineer....that's how he described surveyors...:-P
