Balmy, Beautiful, Bakken Day

Minimal blogging today: traveling. High risk of typos; using iPad to blog. Auto-correct can lead to some interesting substitutions.

This may be last post until this afternon, if then.

Good for them: free wi-fi at the airport here in Williston. I am impressed. San Antonio is one of the few big city airports with free wi-fi, possibly a legacy of when ATT headquartered in SA.

It's 22 degrees in Williston; I haven't been outside yet, but the 'net says there is a 10 mph wind. It doesn't look all that windy outside. I use a weather rock to check the weather. If the rock is dry, it's not raining; if it's wet, it's raining. If it's not moving, no wind; if it's moving, a very strong wind.

I see my flight from Williston to Denver has been delayed about 30 minutes, but at least it hasn't been canceled. Yet. We'll see. I see Denver is center of a winter storm today. Hmmm.

According to Google maps, it's 1.6 miles from where I am to the airport. In San Antonio, it's almost exactly 3 miles from my little hovel to the San Antonio airport. I always walk to the airport when I'm in San Antonio; it takes about one hour. So the walk from where I am in Williston to the airport will be an easy 1. 6 miles. Most of the walk is through a residential area, and I even pass a McDonald's. If McDonald's has enough staff to open, I will get coffee, maybe breakfast. I suppose it's about half a mile to the airport from McDonald's.

Wow, this is the first time in a long time that I have felt so "sad" about leaving the Bakken. That started last night. I took one last tour of the area around Williston yesterday afternoon before it got dark. It is incredible how much building continues to go on. We saw a huge new structure going up out near Gramma Sharon's. The huge new structure is sort of between the new Motel 6 and the new 3-story medical clinic. The huge new structure turns out to be the Baptist church -- I think it was called First Baptist Church. And it appears Motel 6 is now open for business: the construction trucks were gone, to be replaced by the cars in the parking lot.

I don't understand why flight is delayed 30 minutes, although I don't care. Plane arrived 30 minutes late, and thus 30-minute delay. But empty plane on tarmac for over an hour. No evidence of any servicing. I do know there is a winter storm in Denver, my layover destination.

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Futures show oil is holding at $100.

I notice CNBC hasn't has Corzine on as a talking head for quite some time.

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I see wind as an energy source remains a pathetic issue. Link later, if I remember.

First-time unemployment benefits rose unexpectedly. Have such numbers ever come out as expected?

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Walked to airport: 37 minutes. Beautiful, beautiful walk. Lots of driver-only SUVs passed by. Willistonites no different, any more, than rest of country. Observation only; I did not want a ride. McDonald's drive-thru open but not lobby.

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I don't care for his politics, but I do appreciate immensely that Ted Turner broadcasts classic movies. I have no idea how I missed Hitchcock's "To Catch A Thief" and "Dial M for Murder." Of the two, the latter is the better, without question. It was Grace Kelly's first picture if I heard correctly.

I have read several Hitchcock-related biographies which added immensely to my enjoyment of those two movies. I preferred "the" Grace Kelly in "Murder" much more than in "Thief." Perhaps that was due to her age and freshness.