Kansas Trip Report

[jb]

What the hell,,, I'm on a trip so I might as well do a trip report.

My work takes me to Goodland, Kansas this time, believe it or not, this place reminds me of my 1st trip to Russia.  Although I think it's colder here than it was in Siberia.   I expect to be camped out here in this motel until mid-Febuary.

Goodland doesn't have much to recommend it, it's a small agri-village, so common in this part of the country.  Population about 5,000 hardy souls, it does have a Wal-Mart Super Center, so I'll have all the comforts of home.  I wonder if I dare drink the tap water here?  And,,, Goodland is the home of our own Momma D and her hubby Dick.  I haven't actually met them yet as I've been a tad busy with the start up of this project, however we had a nice phone chat the other day and made promises to get together towards the end of the week.  Hey~!  At least I'll get to meet one woman while I'm here.  I'll let you know how that goes.

http://wwwa.accuweather.com/index-forecast.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=1&zipcode=67735&u=1

Gator, are you hogging all the sunshine again?

[Kuna]

Classic... too funny! 

jb... what approach are you using for this trip???  Write None - Meet None?

Success might be assured!

[jb]

what approach are you using for this trip???  Write None - Meet None?

I will be reporting daily to a beautiful Russian woman who knows where all the sharp knives are kept, so I kinda doubt I'll be spending time in the company of women around here.  Momma D being the exception.

I did bring my digital camera along, maybe I can post some photos along the way if I see anything interesting.

[Shadow]

jb I hope you hae a good trip and say hi to MommaD.

And be careful for those tornados that might take you to Oz.

[Gator]

if I see anything interesting

Interesting?!

The name "Goodland" speaks volumes.

Goodland......Kansas......population 5000.....agri-village ...... Momma D.....hubby Dick.....19 degrees (-10 C) at Christmas ...Walmart

Although "Walmart" has replaced "Peabody's Hardware" and "J & L Drygoods", all other names and terms define the soul of America.  In recent decades the center of America has moved from places like Goodland to the suburbs, and we perhaps forget that many of our parents and grandparents came from such villages.  These people gave us more than lasting impressions.  They taught us values, values they had learned as kids in Goodland.  From these people the American spirit became permanently imprinted in our minds.  

JB, you are going back in time.  Your photos will of course tell much.  I imagine a small Methodist Church..."Support Our Troops" signs and ribbons....a simple nativity scene at Christmas...reefs on doors...frozen bleachers at a high school football field (maybe no high school these days).  Please tell me McDonald's never arrived.

Is Goodland much different from a village in Ukraine?  Probably not.

[KenC]

Gator,
Your description of small town America was a chilling reminder to me of the 3 years I spent in a town of that size (pop 5,000).  I bought my first business at 27 in this town and moved my family into a huge Victorian on Main Street.  My ex's roots were there and she was as happy as a pig in mud.  I in turn wanted to kill myself!  As my business was seasonal, I had the winters off which actually made everything worse.  Thank God for cable or I would surely offed myself.  I mean when you go watch Amish cut ice from a lake for entertainment, you KNOW there is nothing to do!

Funny thing is that Lena and I happened to stay overnight in this town on the way to San Diego.  Needless to say she was unimpressed.  We arrived late into town (around midnight) and grabbed a bite to eat at the local Big Boys.  Midnight at Big Boys in a small town assures you to witness some of the most "colorful" small town characters.  Her first impression of these characters was a classic.  She asked, "What is wrong with these people?  They look and act like mutants!"
KenC
(That is not to say that there are not also some very wholesome people living in small towns)

[jb]

Gator,

You've pretty much nailed it.  Main Street is still paved with red brick pavers, there are too many closed and empty storefronts in this town.   BTW, the Church is Baptist, not Methodist, and Momma D tells me she and Dick bought the Parsonage.  How sweet is that?

When I can see my way out of the field I'll try to get some photos of "Main Street USA".   

[Rvrwind]

(That is not to say that there are not also some very wholesome people living in small towns)

Yeah, but they come out in daylight
Reminds me of home. Smalltown  Alberta, 4000 folks & everybody knows everybody. I ain't much for big cities. Even Tver, which is the same population as Edmonton, is a bit on the big side for me. In Moscow, I'm like a duck out of water!!! Country boy through & through, sorry to say.
Have fun jb & give Momma D our best for the Holiday Season!!!

[jb]

Some pics.  These are the beauties I'm using on this job.  Second pis are a couple of crew members trying to figure out how to steal my 4-wheeler.

Note the landscape, nothing between here and the north pole but a few barbed wire fences.

[TexasBoar]

Flat . . . dead flat . . . suck the soul right out of a man.  Miles Davis drove through Kansas once and came out white. 

Even Iowa's more interesting.  At least in Iowa you can go look at covered bridges.

What the heck ARE those white trucks, anyway?

~Boar

[Michelangelo]

Wow-- so bleak!

I think they can film the "fake" Mars landing there when the time comes  

[jb]

What the heck ARE those white trucks, anyway?

As someone recently posted:  "There are several mechinical devices which can arouse and stimulate a woman, chief among those are the Mercedes Benz".  Well these are the ultimate vibrator.  These are machines capable of outputting 60K tons of earthquake energy, they are used as a seismic energy source.  I could tell you how they work, but then I'd have to kill you.

[Gator]

Now I am curious.  Useful for geologic mapping?  Oil in Kansas? I thought geologists used explosives.  I don't know Jack Sh!t.

[ConnerVT]

Well these are the ultimate vibrator.  These are machines capable of outputting 60K tons of earthquake energy, they are used as a seismic energy source. 

Bet they make your 4-wheeler jump around like one of those old vibrating table football games.  (Ah--- Christmas memories.  Think I got one of those when I was 8 or 9.)

I'd be careful.  I hear there's a lot of gang activity and carjackings taking place in Goodland these days...   

[jb]

Oil in Kansas? I thought geologists used explosives.

Yes, there is lots of oil in  Kansas, and we still do use dynamite.  Dynamite is a very usefull tool, but these machines are more ecologically friendly and by the skillful application of several physical laws, we can more than duplicate the energy of a dynamite shot with these machines without scaring the pants off the farmer's daughter or making his prize dairy cows dry up.

P.S. The technique is called "vibroseis", you can google it and learn all about it.

[jb]

Trip updates...

http://wwwa.accuweather.com/radar-large.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=0&site=CO_&type=SIR&anim=1&level=state&large=1

http://wwwa.accuweather.com/index-forecast.asp?partner=accuweather&traveler=1&zipcode=67735&u=1

Needless to say, we are not getting much work done, but with the bowl games about to start maybe that's not a bad thing.

[ConnerVT]

...we can more than duplicate the energy of a dynamite shot with these machines without scaring the pants off the farmer's daughter or making his prize dairy cows dry up.

See?  Before you were married, scaring the pants off the farmer's daughter used to be a goal to achieve, not avoid...   

[Son of Clyde]

JB, say hello to Aunt Em and Uncle Henry.

[Voyageur]

JB,

I think that we used to share the same profession. I was an Engineer for an oil logging outfit for a brief time in the early 1980s. We used tools like the trucks in your pictures. It was a fascinating job, dropping tools using sound, vibrations and radioactive devices into oil wells and predicting how large - and how hard it would be - to extract the oil from the ground.

I gave it up after a few months of working 48 hours straight.  The hazards of driving sites-to-sites and then home after such a long time on the job convinced me that there were better ways of making a living. The clincher was that we had to have the truck spotlessly clean after working such long hours. But the memories are all good now, falling asleep in a cold truck (when drilling pipes are being pulled from the wells) to the sound of a diesel Onan generator.

[Gator]

JB,

80 degrees F here.  I am still running the a/c almost every day.  Have not switched the thermostats to "heat".  Too bad, because at Christmas I enjoy a real fire in the fireplace.  Must always open the fench doors and windows when doing it, but this year that may not be enough.  Perhaps I can rev up the a/c.

[jb]

This is what I got up and had to face this morning.

[Son of Clyde]

Cmon JB you are a Texan and have not been accustomed to snow. On the East coast is is very common in wintertime. I like winter.

[David1963]

This is what I got up and had to face this morning.

Well, here in Eastern Kansas we just have rain.   

[jb]

I was in Denver for the Christmas blizzard of '82, this seems to me to be about as bad.

It's official now, every road into and out of Goodland is closed now until further notice.

[viking]

What?!! A few inches of snow and they close the roads? They never heard of snow plows?