We attended a lot of seminars at the Escapade near Tucson and this was just one of many offered. The title of this seminar intrigued me as I like to think of myself as a gatekeeper of sorts and the power that entails. Plus the hook they used was you could make $4000 a month. And their motto was “it’s not easy but it’s not hard”. Hmmmm.
I had visions of sitting quietly at a gate to an oil field making sure it was secure and safe with lots of down time to read and quilt. I was curious so I had to go and learn more.
I learned that you are parked out near oil drilling or fracking sites and are the official gate keeper, meaning you check everybody in as they come and go. The busier gates can see 800 vehicles a day, about one every two minutes. Well, we certainly wouldn’t be bored with nothing to do.
The locations are less than desirable, with not much to see and do nearby. But that’s not a problem since you wouldn’t have any time for relaxation anyway. Your job is to be there 24/7. How you arrange the shifts is up to you, you can each do a 12 hour shift or break it up to your liking. I’m thinking this might not be great for marriages in a small environment.
He started the presentation explaining that working the gate was a bit like being in a minimum security prison. Maybe this is partly because they require your fingerprints on file before you can work for them. Well, how can anyone not love this!
They suggest you have comfortable chairs and some kind of canopy for shade, preferably with a misting system (he recommends the Ocean Breeze Misting System) to deal with the temperatures reaching up to 117. Okay, I'm less than thrilled now.
Because you are so far away from any kind of civilization you are provided with water wagons and honey wagons to pump out your waste. Your power comes from a huge diesel engine generator that he described as “kind of like being parked next to Niagara Falls, but you get used to it.” I guess there’s not much problem with that disturbing your sleep since you wouldn’t get any in the first place.
Well, as nice at it would be to make some good money while in our rig, I just don’t see Left Brain and I doing this any time soon. I guess I'll stick to playing pickleball and reading my books in the shade.
Long Live the Gatekeeper Queen
I'm with you on this one :)
ReplyDeleteDiana
Hey there......PLEASE write to me at teh52@outlook.com. I wrote to you BEFORE we both went out on the road. We are from PA and I 'think' YOU and I have the same birthday....6/29 and we both had gardens. We have been gate guarding in the Texas oilfields at a gate for over a year now.....IF you would like to visit us and REALLY LEARN the REAL TRUTH about gate guarding.....write to me AND I will send you pictures and as I said you and anyone else interested in gate guarding can visit with us and get the REAL picture and experience gate guarding. Tebra from PA
ReplyDeleteI guess some gates are best kept by others.
ReplyDeleteprobably pretty tough, indeed!
ReplyDeleteGosh, gate keeping sounds like a pretty good job for just some people. Most of us like to be near other people and places (not too close). The solitude could be great but after a while I would get to feeling a bit lonely I'm with you, better to stick with the fun stuff you already have.
ReplyDeleteWell, we are our last day here in Florida. Tomorrow morning we head back home. I'm going to miss being able to sit out on the porch. Even Pogo will miss it. He loves being out there. Today is laundry day, and hopefully we'll get to the flea market one last time. We'll see. You have a wonderful day. Hugs, Edna B.