Out Of Gas

EXTRA! EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT: Oh! that isn't exactly what it was. The headline in the irregular paper ( that's the local daily paper, except Sat. and Sun.) said "Governor declares state of emergency across New Mexico". What was that emergency. Well, I'll tell you, then we will explore the implications a bit. The emergency was, many places in the State had no natural gas service. That's the natural kind that is pumped from the ground. As a result, a few cities were cut off completely, and many more had gas curtailments, so that many citizens were with out any way to heat their homes. Result: frozen and busted pipes. Insurance claim amounts yet to be determined. But, how can that happen in a State that produces a hugh amount of the nation's natural gas and oil. That is the question that is now being ask by many of those serving in the State think tank. More commonly known as the legislature. The answer. We get our gas from Texas. And the Texas company that supplies said gas, said they had compressor problems, and couldn't pressurize the lines to get the gas to the State. So, in a week and a weekend that is the coldest on record in many places, ( extremely sub zero) and in others since way back in the 1960's, much of the State lost gas service. And many suffered. Even now, as I write this, there are still some areas of the state that is just now finally getting service returned to them. After many days of freezing. And living in shelters that have been set up by the cities involved. But as people lost gas service, they plugged in electric heaters, overloading the electrical circuits, causing rolling blackouts in some parts of the State, adding to the problem. And as many are getting gas service back, and pilot lights being relit, they are told, Oh! when the gas went off, it caused problems to your old furnace, so we can't light you up until you buy a new furnace. Cost! 4 to 6 thousand dollars. Lots of problems for many in the State. Due to a loss of gas. Why? Well,
lets explore this just a little bit. The good, the bad and the ugly. Oh! that's the title of a poor spaghetti western. Sorry. Just the bad and the good, then. As I ramble around this, you decide which is which. To start this exploration, the Green Bay Packers, won their division ( which ever one that was ) in football. The Pittsburgh Steelers won their division also. The division that the Packers didn't win. As a result of that, these two over paid teams met in the Dallas Cowboy Football Stadium to play in a bowl of Chili. Oh! not JUST a Chili Bowl, but a Super Bowl. One that produced a lot of gas, I would imagine. But I digress. The afore mentioned cold spell also hit Dallas. And it snowed there, and froze there. And the snow had to be removed from the roof of the Chili Bowl. And that takes a lot of heat. Not to mention heating it for the game. Which takes a lot of gas. And the fans that paid overly high prices to set in a warm seat and view the smash and grab. If they were lucky enough not to have one of the seats that was sold, but unsittable in. And where did said natural gas come from. Well, ummmm, lets just tell New Mexico we have compressor problems, and send that gas to Dallas, to heat up the roof of the chili bowl and get the ice and snow off it, and warm up those high priced fans seats, so they will want to come back sometime. Maybe even to root for the Cowboys. OK, so maybe I went a little too far with that one, but the real Cowboy fans can always hope. And for the good. If Chicago had won the division, ( which ever one it was ) instead of the Packers, then the Bears would have been in the bowl of Chili and the President and his family were going to attend. Yep, that's the one. You know, the President of the U.S. of A. But Chicago lost, the first family didn't attend, and the taxpayers won. Always some good comes out of disaster somewhere. And That's The View From The Ditch Bank