Hobbs School back on the market

According to the big For Sale sign out front, the school is once again for sale. Keller Williams Realty has the property listed at $2,000,000. The cafe and rv park are open and thriving, making for a good investment opportunity.

View Oil & Gas Completions on the RRC

View Oil & Gas Completions on the Rail Road Commission website. Some experimentation is necessary. Searches need to be narrowed down to just a few months or a month at a time. Fisher County is in district 7B. Clicking "Search", "Tracking No.", "W-2" reveals interesting information.

I get an error message when I try to "View Form/Attachment". I "Click here to activate the Adobe Acrobat plug-in" and it brings it right up.

I had sort of figured this out myself, but Wade Caldwell on the Mineral Rights Forum for Scurry County explains it well.

Unraveling the house

I am in both of these photos and both were taken in the same spot in my front yard. The pretty lady in white is my mother. Yeah, I've been here a long time.

My connection to Hobbs is insular, consisting of memories and the knowledge that I am at the site of my history. I sometimes wonder why I'm still here. It might be because I feel like the memory keeper of those who have come before and after me, and because I feel some sort of obligation to be where my family expects me to be, here in Hobbs. Or maybe it's because I got a sweet deal on the house and I would have never had the opportunity to own my own home, otherwise.

Speaking of the house, I went to paint a room yesterday, and uncovered a hornet's nest. Well, actually, many, many dirtdobber's nests, which seem to be all that is holding the place together. I decided to pull off some trim, and that led to me knocking a hole in the sheetrock, which led to me realizing that in some spots there's no sheetrock beneath the many layers of paint, and behind that no insulation but many of the aforementioned dirty, larva-filled nests. Then I decided to demo a little and now I know that I need a new house. The man who takes care of these things (the husband) is evaluating the situation, which is probably not so dire. You should see what he made happen when I decided to pull up the living room carpet. He's a magician with the hammer and nail.

I'm off to paint the kitchen cabinets, because I'm hell-bent on painting something. I'm trying real hard not to pull a thread. Just paint. But I did notice a hole in the baseboard under the sink...

Jody Nix and the Texas Cowboys play Hobbs Feb. 22

The date is marked "tentative" on the Jody Nix website, but I heard it directly through the grapevine that the band would be playing at the Hobbs gym next month.

If you go up around the school, you'll see that the grounds are overrun with equipment, rvs and people. An electric company has taken up residence for the next couple of months.

I was driving east of Camp Springs the other day and spotted a beautiful pheasant rooster. The photo doesn't do him justice. It's funny because I was just talking to someone the other day about how long it's been since there was one up by the school, near the McCombs heifer pasture. This dude was cool as a cucumber, just like the other one I saw. He didn't take any notice of me making big u-turns so I could snap his picture. He's probably used to the paparazzi, being so glamorous and all.

A country party

- Black-eyed peas fans -

Here are a few photos from the Hobbs New Year Dance. It looked like there were about 150 people there all at once, maybe more with coming and going. Ages ranged from little bitty babies to people who have been adults for quite a while. People were rarin' to dance and the music was accommodating. Greg Maldo's band was really good, and a local talent Kyndra Vaught sang two songs, with the band accompanying. Howard and Judy served black-eyed peas and cornbread in the little annex building connected to the gym. You could also buy soft drinks, water and coffee in there. The band stood on a stage that has been built where the visitors side bleachers used to be. It was a good set-up and the crowd flowed in and out of the spaces. Maybe more of these events could be coming?

Hobbs New Years Dance, 9 p.m. in the gym

The turnout is expected to be good for the New Year's Dance to be held in the Hobbs School Gym. People from Rotan, Roby, Sweetwater, Snyder and a few other far-flung places have made plans to be there.

Greg Maldo will be making music to scoot your boots to with his five piece band.

Cover charge is $10 per person, setups available, BYOB.

Come ring in the New Year with us!

Texas Legislative Session begins Jan. 8

There's an article on the Platts website about legislation that will change the name of the Texas Railroad Commission. Because that's what everyone is concerned about. The name. Most important legislation, ever. Anyway, that is Filed House Bill 203.

Other bills that have to do with energy are Filed Senate Bill 71, SB136, HB100 and HB314. Some are duplicates. I couldn't find the one mentioned in the article about forced unitization that would require the owners of mineral rights to join in blocks with other mineral owners under certain circumstances.

There are all kinds of bills filed, and it makes me wonder how the other half lives. I have a very calm life that has nothing to do with human trafficking, prostitution, heir contention, termination of child support due to mistaken identity as a parent, wrongful imprisonment, or the need for a peace officer when entering the marital residence.

There are also the super-hyped, high-profile bills regarding cell phones, smoking, abortion, drug-testing of individuals applying for financial assistance, and abolishment of the death penalty.

Some of them are very pertinent, such as changes in ad valorem taxation, as in SB95, which enables Senate Joint Resolution 9. Oh, and also HB130, relating to honesty in state taxation.

Many traffic accidents are caused by drivers falling asleep, so I'm glad to see the introduction of HB295, proposing a commission to study drowsy driving.

And you have to wonder what HB101 is all about, relating to the use of radio frequency identification technology to transmit information regarding public school students. Will they be putting ankle bands on all the kids?

Go ahead and read the bill descriptions at Texas Legislature Online. You won't need to watch the soap operas today.

A little technology rant

If computer commercials were truthful, they would show a woman kneeling on her knees, using her iPhone screen as a flashlight to light up the USB ports on the back of her computer so she can insert a memory card adapter, which she will have to wiggle many times and hold her tongue just right in order for the computer to recognize it. Forget all the folding, dancing, music, movie-making, and happy smiles that they show in those ads. It's just a relief when something semi-works.

Now, excuse me, cuz me and my stupid computer have work to do.

Snow, oil and a big party

- Greg Maldo -

It looks like we've got a chance at snow on Christmas Day, according to the National Weather Service forecast. Looking at the temperatures, it's definitely time to bring the wood in, with highs in the 30's for a couple of days.

Plans are going on for the New Year's Dance in the Hobbs School gym and the entertainment will be Greg Maldo from Lubbock. I talked to Judy Gordon at the cafe yesterday and she said she didn't know whether to expect five or 500 people to show, but that folks she didn't even know were coming up to her when she was at the store and telling her they were going to be there.

Dad and I cruised by the new Davenport rig and there was about a third of a load of pipe in the air. We couldn't tell if it was coming out or going in, but there's a lot of people and equipment there. There's a guard on that gate, just like on the first rig. We've speculated about why that is, as it isn't protocol. Patents? An incident? Safety? I guess we could call Devon's publicist and get the real story, but you know I'm a lazy reporter.

If you want to keep abreast of news on local oil, I would suggest taking out subscriptions to the Roby Star Record / Rotan Advance, The Snyder Daily News, the Colorado City Record, the Sweetwater Reporter and the Lubbock Avalanche Journal, or check them out online. I get most of my news from the Colorado City and Lubbock sources. Some of the Colorado City articles are reprints from the Snyder paper.

Deer and dancing, new cafe hours

The guys have a bunch of cameras down on the lease and I find the photos fascinating. A list of characters emerges after looking at the pictures a few times. There's High Antlers, Broken Antler, Spot the Pig, and a Racoon known as That Little #*$?! because it gets on the feeder reel and sticks it's paw up the hole and pulls out corn.

The entertainment for the Hobbs New Year's Dance will be Greg Maldo from Lubbock. You can check him out on reverbnation and facebook. More information to come.

The cafe is now open Mon - Sat 7 a.m to 8 p.m., and Sunday 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dad and I had breakfast there on Saturday morning and it was SO good: hash browns, eggs, sausage, toast, coffee and orange juice. Make your way to the Hobbs Cafe and the sample the fare if you haven't yet.

There are a lot of rumors about the production on the first Davenport well (yup, a second well is being drilled), but they're too outrageous to repeat. I heard the numbers from more than one person, but no confirmation from a reliable source. I do know for a fact that there is a guard on the front gate, because he came out when I was taking a photo of the lease sign. I jumped in my truck and drove off like Bonnie, but he was only coming out to talk to a truck driver that was leaving.