86th Legislature Regular Session

The Texas Legislature Online is an excellent resource to use in gaining knowledge about the current and past legislative sessions.

Here are a few bills that may peak interest.

HB63: Decriminalization of marihuana (this is how it's spelled in the bill), making possession of an ounce or less, under the right circumstances, a misdemeanor with no arrest.

HB3838: Requires mineral rights buyers to place a conspicuous statement on each page of a contract that indicates the rights are being sold, not leased.

HB1139: Prohibits criminals who have intellectual disabilities from receiving the death penalty.

SB240: The issuance of F-35 fighter jet license plates with the words "The Sound of Freedom" along with a jet image.

These bills are only a miniscule example of the business passing through our capitol chambers. This session, the Texas House of Representatives has filed 6,521 bills, the Texas Senate has filed 3,344. 1,988 bills have been passed by the house and the senate. How all that has boiled down to the over-exposed reporting on whether or not we will stay in Daylight Savings Time (HB3784) is a real head-scratcher.

If it all seems overwhelming, which it is, look on the General Reports page for an over-all breakdown of what's going on.

The frac and the furious

- Mojave 31 -

They're hitting it hard and heavy over on the Mojave lease. I can see at least five sandcastles and I can hear it just fine. The haze tells me that it's all in earnest.

The sandcastles are vertical silos filled with sand, which is used in fracking. You can read more about them on the Halliburton website.

The scaredy-cat reporter and public records

- Excerpt -

I've been trying to get back into the game of reporting, and I thought I was starting in the shallowest and easiest water to maneuver, a request for public records.

I've had trouble getting access to minute meetings, deed transfers, and certified birth certificates in the past few weeks. The birth certificates were not for reporting, that was a personal request.

The excerpt posted is a page from the Texas Appraisal Districts Director’s Manual. It states that meeting minutes are to be available to the public upon request. The first time I requested minutes from the Fisher County Appraisal District was mid-March. I was given minutes from a December meeting, but not from the most recent one, which was in February. The next week I requested the February minutes, and they were given to me. After an April 10th meeting, I requested the minutes the next day, by email. This request was unanswered. I went to the office one week later and requested the minutes, again. I was told the minutes were not available and were not usually written up until the next meeting, but they could write them up for me. I was asked when I wanted them, I said Monday. So, tomorrow I shall see.

I requested a record of transfer of deeds for March at the county clerk's office last week when I went to the appraisal office. I was told that a list could not be printed, but I could look in the records, then I was told perhaps the records were at the appraisal office. The person who I talked to seemed unsure of what records were held at that office. I was able to find all the records at Texasfile.com.

The certified birth certificates were requested from the Nolan County clerk's office. I was told that I would have to get them from the county in which each of us were born. I ordered them online from the Texas Department of State Health Services.

 It takes every ounce of my courage to go in these offices and talk to people. I may not be cut out for this business.

El Capitan 63 activity increasing

- Tanks on El Capitan 63 Lease -

Between Mojave to the west of me and El Capitan to the east, this farm-to-market highway has been bustling.

It looks like fracking is about to begin on El Capitan. Trucks were hauling in tanks and lining them up when I drove by this afternoon. This is permitted as a vertical well.

The W-2 for this well, dated June 2018, states: Please leave drilling permit open to complete well. This would explain the intermittent rounds of work going on at this lease.

Collaborative thinking is that the operator only works when there's a bit of money. They must have come up with a lot of it this time.

Salsa worth driving for

- Joe's Circle C Hot Sauce -

Whether it's called salsa or hot sauce, wherever a person may have to drive from to get it, Joe's Circle C in Rotan has the goods.

This homemade condiment is so delicious that it could make cardboard palatable.

Something that makes the trip extra special is to get a batch that's so fresh the jar is warm.

It's $5.00 for a small jar, $10.00 for a large. Sometimes there are other sizes, sometimes they may be marked hot or mild. Any size or style is better than none at all.

The store itself is super quaint, with an old concrete floor and a kitchen in the back. Other delicacies, such as homemade cakes and preserves, are also sold at the counter. Burritos, many, many burritos, are sold daily.

If it's going to be a long trip just for hot sauce, it's best to call ahead. There's no guarantee that there will be any left.

Two Rileys don't make a wrong

- Riley Sawyers -

- Riley Dodd -

While tramping around the Sweetwater Rattlesnake Round Up this year, I ran across Miss Snake Charmer, Riley Dodd, and Rattlesnake Republic star and local JayCee, Riley Sawyers. Both were gracious enough to let me snap a photo while they were having a good and busy time.

This year I tried something different, instead of going on Saturday or Sunday, I went Friday afternoon. It made all the difference, as I was able to go through each venue without being jostled by a thick crowd. The Gun & Coin Show, the main event staged in the coliseum proper, and the flea market in the old stock barn were so much more enjoyable. I could actually look at things. It never occurred to me to go on Friday, because for decades attendance was planned around work and school schedules, and I didn't think to change the time once life wasn't bound by those rules.

I know there are many other events that are going on throughout the weekend of the Round Up, but for just toddling through, Friday is the prime time.

The great Gila monster

If you've dealt with Municipal Services Bureau, you have dealt with Gila Corp. Gila does business as MSB, the ones Texans pay those high-priced surcharges to when they do something like get a ticket for no proof of car insurance.

To see how far-reaching this business is, take a look at their detailed description on Bloomberg. At the bottom of the description, it states that Gila is a subsidiary of Navient.

According to Forbes, Navient is a spin off of Sallie Mae, and both are portrayed in the media as using questionable practices and have had multiple lawsuits lodged against them.

So, Sallie Mae, Navient, Gila, Municipal Services Bureau are all interconnected.

Texas Finance Code Sec. 392.306, Use of Independent Debt Collector, states:

A creditor may not use an independent debt collector if the creditor has actual knowledge that the independent debt collector repeatedly or continuously engages in acts or practices that are prohibited by this chapter. 

 

That would mean that the State of Texas may not use a debt collector engaging in practices that are prohibited by the entire Section 392.

It seems to me that MSB is of questionable character because their parent companies are of questionable character. I believe that there's every possibility that they could engage in prohibited practices.

But who's gonna stop 'em?

Mojave goes up

- Look close, it's there! -

The rig for well 1H on the Mojave 31 Lease is visible from the road. I saw the platforms going by the other day. There's been a lot of wide loads coming down this little road. I think it's very exciting because it's the first horizontal well being drilled in the Hobbs area.

Last week there was a pulling unit up at well 1 on the El Capitan 63 lease, which is between Hobbs School and the Mojave 31.

I got a letter from some place in Dallas called Montaigne Minerals, offering to buy my mineral rights. What? Madness.

Are all these things signs of an oil field about to take hold? We've only been waiting forever. It puts me into a fervor, where I say things like "7000 feet",  "eastern edge of Wolfcamp", and "those permits are full of mistakes". I barely know what I'm talking about, but I'm having a good time doing it.

Wide open spaces

- Texas Winter -

The photo is of a typical winter landscape here in Fisher County. The area is north of my house, where the rolling plains become more hilly and craggy, intermittently broken up by cotton or wheat fields. This eventually leads to the Rough Creek area.

I want to know the name of the little bluff off to the left in this picture, but I can't believe how difficult it is to find the names of geological places in Fisher County. This is another time when I think Google is broken (I say this knowing the problem is my incapability to ask the right question). It just wants to sell me real estate.

Speaking of real estate, on the Ekdahl Real Estate site, there's a listing for Impossible Canyon Ranch, just west of Longhorn Valley. The sales video gives a nice representation of the topography of our area. I like the set up of three separate cabins and one common kitchen on the property. One house for me and each of my kids, how convenient. Now I just need to scrape up the 1.5 million for the purchase.

Check, next

- The Inner Me -

If I had a to-do list of things that were fitted to my actual daily life, it might go like this:

1. Disappoint someone
2. Get pleasure from something immensely simple
3. Be flaky, at least once
4. Make a mistake at work
5. Drive responsibly, then drive incredibly irresponsibly
6. Make a remark that sounds racist, then declare I'm not racist
7. Be rude
8. Be nice
9. Have one million thoughts, many of them contradictory
10. Love Texas
11. Hate Texas
12. Think I know everything
13. Think I know nothing

My human condition puzzles me more the longer I live.The photo today accurately portrays my true constant state of mind. The hands holding me in place are those of my mother, who, unfortunately, is not around to keep me steady when I'm swaying, although I often think, "WWRD"? What would Rosemary do? This is not really helpful, as my mother was a very confident and righteous woman and did not waver. Not very helpful for one weak sister (that's me). Still, it's nice to have a point of reference and lofty ideals.

Okay, well, now I'm off to finish my missteps of the day.