Hobbs (not to be confused with Hobbits)

It is Sunday afternoon and I have been living in Hobbs, New Mexico for about a week now.
Work down at the plant is interesting. For the most part, I am in a very large trailer which on the inside looks very much like a large office. The trailer is known as a ten-wide because it is the length of ten trailer widths. I have been working in document management. The days are pretty long -- we work 7-6 -- but, while we're out here, there's not much else to do. It's been very interesting meeting people from all different states and even some European countries. Everyone has been really friendly and quick to help us out.

Today I went to the First Presbyterian Church in Hobbs with Allison. It was a smaller church with mostly elderly people, but they were all friendly and made sure that they introduced themselves to us. One family there were from Holland (the country) and were also living in Hobbs because of the LES plant.

Today I also found a place to live after the hotel reservation is over. It is a small house in Hobbs with two bedrooms, a bathroom, a kitchen, and a living room. It comes completely furnished with pots, pans, linens, appliances, and even a TV. All the utilities and internet access are included in the $1300/mo rent. The reason I am looking at living in something other than a hotel is that I can earn even more money by switching to per diem. By doing that I will earn $100/day, tax free to use on my expenses. I plan on bringing my car down here since that will be a good deal cheaper than renting a car. I will be renting the place with my coworker, Dave Morris. Funny how again I will be rooming with another David. After four years of it in college, you would think I'd be done.

The scenery is a bit lacking out here. Every morning we drive by about 50 oil pumps in the field. One pump is actually located just about 10 yards away from the house I'm going to rent, as seen in the picture to the right. We can also smell the oil in a few stretches of the road. However, as seen in the picture at top, we get a great view of the sunrise.

It has been pretty wet this weekend, which is really abnormal for New Mexico. We should be getting a lot more sun later on. When we first arrived, it was in the high 90s. We have heard stories of temperatures in the 100s. That should be quite the experience. I also have yet to see any tarantulas or scorpions, but I hear they are common.

It's time for me to go out to dinner with Allison and Dave. The nice thing about being on expenses is that we can eat out all the time. Tonight we plan on going to the Chinese buffet, which we hear is pretty good. I will try to write again soon.