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Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Public Television Documentary on the Bakken

I have not watched the documentary (I don't watch television any more, unless I am somewhere where I can catch NASCAR, or maybe some football). My television watching is pretty much limited to the original Perry Mason series on Hulu.com. But I digress.

What makes me think this documentary would be about par for public television? Here's the synopsis, verbatim, from the website: The 60-minute documentary shows us:
  • the towns that don’t have the infrastructure to support the uncontrolled and dramatic growth;
  • the ranchers who now view bumper-to-bumper traffic all day rather than the rare vehicle traveling along the two-lane horizon to horizon; and, 
  • the oil workers who earn huge salaries but live in makeshift housing without hope of finding homes suitable for their families. 
Sounds pretty grim up there in the Bakken. I guess the roughnecks and truck drivers earning $100,000 salaries could be flocking to Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Yemen, Libya, Saudi Arabia, or other such oil countries to drill wells and experience the above, along with:
  • roadside bombs;
  • miserably hot weather most of the year;
  • sand;
  • more sand;
  • no alcohol (which might be good);
  • sand;
  • burning US embassies;
  • makeshift housing without hope of finding homes suitable for their families; and,
  • did I mention, sand?
Anyway, it's there if you want to watch it, at the link.

4 comments:

  1. Nobody in there right mind would want to work in the Middle East today!

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    Replies
    1. I agree. The key phrase is, of course, "want to work."

      Regardless: I'm not saying it's not difficult to work in the Bakken; I'm just saying "compared to what?"

      Delete
  2. I watched it after I sent it to you. The pictures of the landscapes and equipment were very good. The show has about 15 stories. A couple are really good. The one involving Capital Lodge explains how the man camp (crew quarters work, actually seems real efficient), story on the the C store in Stanley explained what the store was and what is is today (how they transformed from a small go get your gas, cup of coffee and BS for an hour, versus today 150 semi's parked, 50 customers in line), the C store tells about supplies that you sell, the rest was a lot of change is to fast, its not the same, so you can fast forward through the segments you are not interested in rather quickly. Kent

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sounds fairly balanced, nice. Too bad the print teaser suggested a much more negative documentary.

      Delete

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