Thursday 20 September 2012

HEADING SOUTH

We shall be heading to the South to-morrow.   There have been various projects started and mainly finished.   So, we look forward to seeing the nature of their appearance and function.  In the next few months we might be buying what might be that last motorcar.  Given that the one El Gringo Viejo is driving right now has been "in the family" so to speak for over twenty years this next vehicle has to be chosen carefully.
     The present one has served well, but now has more quirks that only one person can ever hope to operate it.    We were going to loan it to my son some months back, after some girl ran into his neat little Mustang when he was parked at a stop light.   The "special notes and suggestions" that we wrote up to introduce our old grey (barely maroon) mare took almost two pages of single spaced typing of the size the OROG sees here.   And that was just to start rolling.   The stopping and getting back to square one has other sets of instructions.  Those, however, can always be read while one tries to work it out of 2nd gear while texting the hospital to make reservations in the emergency room.

     In any regard, the old mare has been a loyal and faithful servant, so perhaps we will find a pleasant barn where we could jack it up to keep the tires off the ground and restore it some day.  It still makes about 30 miles to the gallon of fuel.   It has also served during the past years as a device to disarm any nefarious bum who was on the prowl to impress an SUV or four-door pick-up into Cartel service.   Humble looking is also the better part of valour sometimes, too.

     Our normal route does not take us by the blow-out at the PEMEX natural gas processing and transmission plant.   To go that way means an extra couple of hours drive, passing through Linares instead of San Fernando.   Our understanding at this point is that there are only four of the injured remaining in the hospital in Reynosa.   They are, as one might imagine, very seriously injured.   There are a few, perhaps as many as six, who are not accounted for, and who might well have been immolated.   The bulk of the casualties were Schlumberger technicians from France or affiliated sub-contractors.   One of the things that was going on at that hour of that day was a cleanout of a line-feed and tank that is used for extracting nitrogen dihydroxide  (water infused nitrogen gas) and putting it into another tank for drying and preparation for turning into other products, such as anhydrous ammonia to be used in fertilizers.

     We shall be a little removed from ready comment or from reception of emails.  Any questions can be directed to Diana, and you will probably received better, and shorter, answers anyway.   There will be a couple of more entries during the remainder of the day if there are no surprises.

El Gringo Viejo