July 28, 2013
Slightly Phobic
Not too many things frighten me...at least to the point of being an irrational fear, making me run away screaming. I'm not fond of enclosed spaces and don't like being in large crowds, but I wouldn't say those fears are phobias. (maybe they are, but...) I don't like spiders, but I'm cool after they've been smashed. I don't care for snakes, so I just avoid them. How phobic are you?
| You Are 24% Phobic |
 Scared? You? Not really. Everyone has a few normal phobias, and you're no exception. It's okay to be afraid of a few things. You wouldn't be human if you weren't. |
July 26, 2013
Million Barrel Blowout
That's what they have touting on the online sports talk radio shows I have been listening to over the last week. To be honest, it really went in one ear and out the other, my being of the TV age where I've learned to tune out the adverts until the regular show came back on. Still, I understood it was to be some big concert in Monahans, Texas (Facebook page for the event).
Just as that information seeped into the far reaches of my brain, something else rose to the forefront of my consciousness; I had read about the Million Barrel Museum several years ago, even taken some screen captures of overhead imagery in both Google Earth and Bing Maps and meant to make a post about it. You can read more about it at RoadsideAmerica.com, but in a nutshell, it was a huge oil storage tank built in 1928 during the height of the oil boom in that part of Texas. Here's the Google Earth screen shot: (click images for larger view)
That's the direct overhead imagery; here's the Bing Maps view from an angle:
According to the Roadside America article, the tank soon cracked under the weight of its own 315 million lbs. of concrete and most of the oil leaked out; the facility was abandoned until a local man filled it full of water to use as a small lake. Apparently the tank was no better at holding water than it was oil, so the structure was again abandoned and sat unused for decades, full of tumbleweeds and marked with graffiti.
The article also mentions that "Texas crude is about 30 percent gasoline, which means that 200 million gallons of 1920s vintage leaked gas may still be in the ground beneath the Million Barrel Museum."
I don't know about anyone else, but there's been something in common with EVERY concert I've ever been to, no matter if it was in a coliseum, an auditorium or open-air venue like this one, namely that there has ALWAYS been...well, let's say "flammable substances consumed". I'm not sure I'd really want to go to that particular concert, especially sitting on top of 200 million gallons of gasoline.
(Edit to add: As I mentioned in the comments, that was a joke. I really don't think there's "200 million gallons of gas" underneath the the old tank. Depending upon how quickly they sucked up the oil after the tank cracked - and I'm sure they did, that was a valuable product just lying on the ground - most of the volatile part of the crude oil evaporated into the air. I've never read of any environmental disasters in regards to the area and online water quality tests for the city of Monahans show nothing more in the water that isn't in most other city water supplies)
Be that as it may, here's some more information on the site:
TexasEscapes.com
Overall View of the Million Barrel Oil Tank
Fan Page of the Million Barrel Museum
Just as that information seeped into the far reaches of my brain, something else rose to the forefront of my consciousness; I had read about the Million Barrel Museum several years ago, even taken some screen captures of overhead imagery in both Google Earth and Bing Maps and meant to make a post about it. You can read more about it at RoadsideAmerica.com, but in a nutshell, it was a huge oil storage tank built in 1928 during the height of the oil boom in that part of Texas. Here's the Google Earth screen shot: (click images for larger view)
That's the direct overhead imagery; here's the Bing Maps view from an angle:
According to the Roadside America article, the tank soon cracked under the weight of its own 315 million lbs. of concrete and most of the oil leaked out; the facility was abandoned until a local man filled it full of water to use as a small lake. Apparently the tank was no better at holding water than it was oil, so the structure was again abandoned and sat unused for decades, full of tumbleweeds and marked with graffiti.
The article also mentions that "Texas crude is about 30 percent gasoline, which means that 200 million gallons of 1920s vintage leaked gas may still be in the ground beneath the Million Barrel Museum."
I don't know about anyone else, but there's been something in common with EVERY concert I've ever been to, no matter if it was in a coliseum, an auditorium or open-air venue like this one, namely that there has ALWAYS been...well, let's say "flammable substances consumed". I'm not sure I'd really want to go to that particular concert, especially sitting on top of 200 million gallons of gasoline.
(Edit to add: As I mentioned in the comments, that was a joke. I really don't think there's "200 million gallons of gas" underneath the the old tank. Depending upon how quickly they sucked up the oil after the tank cracked - and I'm sure they did, that was a valuable product just lying on the ground - most of the volatile part of the crude oil evaporated into the air. I've never read of any environmental disasters in regards to the area and online water quality tests for the city of Monahans show nothing more in the water that isn't in most other city water supplies)
Be that as it may, here's some more information on the site:
TexasEscapes.com
Overall View of the Million Barrel Oil Tank
Fan Page of the Million Barrel Museum
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