Remember That Bucket List?

Well, we are constantly adding new "must see/do/have" things to that list.  For maybe 3 years or so now Bill and I have driven past drilling sites (oil, gas, water?) and seen those "guard" RVs parked at the entrance. We keep sayin to each other "We could do that"....  "That looks like something we'd like to do..."......  stuff like that.....

We have listed all the things that appeal to us...  the remoteness, and (for Bill) seeing all the equipment that's brought in and used, and just the process of the job itself.

In another life or two ago, Bill drilled wells, did well maintenance, and drove a lot of that heavy equipment.  He still has his CDL and still is in demand at National Wildlife Refuges for all kinds of jobs, so just being around this kind of life would come second nature to him.

We had no idea how to even look into such a prospect...  but...  since I started this blog a couple of months ago I put out some feelers, and my good blogging friends headed us in the right direction.

Chappy Trails ... bloggers who are now doing exactly what we want to do... have been very helpful by sending me info about their jobs and how they manage those strange shifts.  (Thank You)

We found that first off, you have to (at least in Texas) get a Level 2 Security Guard license.  Of course I googled that and got some info... 

Then a week or so ago we were driving back from Cleburne and saw a new drilling site set up...  AND...  a guard trailer sitting at the entrance.  We drove past...  kind of looked at each other...  and I did a 3 point in the road and drove back to talk to the guard.

Paydirt!  This young man told us he works 12 hour shifts, doesn't live on site, and that the company he works for is the Red Horse Security Co. out of Ft Worth.  He gave Bill sketchy directions of their location.

Yesterday we headed into Ft Worth...  easily (well, somewhat easily) found the company and talked with the manager.  Now...  her first name is "Trick"... there's no way we could go wrong dealing with a woman whose name is Trick!....    She was very helpful...  told us how to go about getting licensed. 

Can you believe (of course you can!) that RIGHT NEXT DOOR there's a company that trains people to fill security guard positions (at all levels)... and so...

We went next door...  found that Mary Jane gives classes 3 days a week.  We could have stayed and done it then, but...  (and here's where my years working in a very structured organizaion come in)... I thought maybe we'd better get there when the class started...  not an hour or so into it.

Soooooo...  Bill & I went back today for the training class.

Training is hardly the word I'd use.  We got there at 8:30...  Mary Jane took us, and one other guy, into a room, handed us a 20 page booklet (printing on both sides)... AND a 50 question answer sheet....  AND...  a test booklet.  She said that all the answsers to the questions were in the book, but not in the order as the questions were asked...  it was an open-book test and we had as long as we wanted to complete it..... and she left the room, closing the door.

She went out to conduct her Level 3 Security class....  (Level 3s carry firearms... Level 2s don't ) Bill & I looked through the book, looked at each other...  and I truly could not make heads nor tails of a thing.  The voices from the classroom next to us kept me from even thinking!  I got totally frustrated. 

Well, after getting myself calmed down, I finally got to work on the test.  Since I had never in my life even read anything about being a security guard or levels of confrontation (CONFRONTATION?  Hey!  I'm not signing up for the military...  all I want to do is record license numbers of trucks bumping over the damned cattle guard!!!)...   And worst of all, the questions would jump around and question #3 would be about bomb threats, question #4 about citizen arrests...  and maybe question #42 back to bomb threats. 

Like I said, I like structure... I  like reason....  I like order..... 

I kept telling myself that a Level 2 guard position wasn't just to man a drilling site...  heck, it could be a Wal-Mart security person...  AND ...  we ALL know what kind of people THEY have to deal with! You might need some intensive training to deal with some of those "People at Wal-Mart" videos type of people.  So suck it up and finish the test!

Anyway, to get on with this saga...  Bill and I and the 3rd person all finished about the same time.  (10:30am)  Bill and I compared answers (well, it WAS an open-book test)...  and went back into the other room.

Mary Jane graded the papers...  As usual, there were a few "trick" questions...  (actually, Bill & I "discussed" the answers to 2 of those very questions...  but...  we came to the wrong conclusion)... and the 3rd question we missed had one little word that screwed us over...  )  So we both got a 94% passing the test quite nicely.  The other guy, who, when we "discussed" some answers, kept insisting that the type of fire extinguisher you use for an electrical fire would ruin a computer got 92%....  Frankly, if my laptop were smoking I'd just figure I'd used too many 4 letter words.

So..... all this long, drawn out narrative is just to show you this....

Hey Folks!  We Passed!

Even has the Star of Texas making it official!

Now, we won't actually be persuring this type of work until this coming fall, so until we actually get hired on with some company, we won't get licensed.  But...  Trick, at Red Horse, told us that her company is interested in folks like us... 

At least the test part is out of the way!

That's All For Today.....