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Thursday, November 27, 2014

India To Increase State Budget To Acquire More Hydrocarbon Assets In 2015 -- Rigzone -- November 27, 2014

Rigzone is reporting:
India’s state-owned Oil India Ltd.’s next fiscal budget will be increased to $635.44 million as the company seeks to purchase more hydrocarbon concessions globally, chairman and managing director Sunil Kumar Srivastava commented in Singapore last week.
Wanna bet China is thinking of doing the same thing?

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Living The Dream
A Note for the Granddaughters

A UC-Davis economics professor says the "American Dream" is a myth. Another silly story. Only a white male professor in a dead-end job over the age of 30 could come to that assessment.

It would be interesting to see his definition of "the American Dream."

Sports
The odds of becoming a professional athlete may be abysmal, but a lot of NFL players, NASCAR drivers, and PGA golfers are living the dream. Our younger granddaughter's "dream" is to get a college soccer scholarship. I can almost guarantee that will happen. Our older granddaughter dreams of a becoming a marine biologist. That will happen, without a doubt, if her dream does not change (spoiler alert: there are already hints that her dreams have changed).

Liberal arts education
For many students, their "American Dream" is simply the opportunity to graduate from a liberal arts college. Until recently, the vast majority of graduates from a liberal arts college had something their parents often wished they could have had: a college degree.


Military experience
Everyone in today's US military is a volunteer. Many are there because they lived achieved their childhood dream: to attend one of the military academies.


Medicine
Through the 1980's it was very, very rare for women to be accepted to a US medical school. I could be wrong, but I believe more women now apply to medical school than men, and the ratio of female medical students in the US may be tilting in favor over males. The share of medical degrees earned by women increased from 5% in 1952 to 48% in 2011

Aviation
Every commercial pilot is living her dream.  

Living longer and in better health than one's parents
It almost goes without saying that this is happening.

Quality lifestyle
Without question, one American dream is to enjoy one's life with a rewarding occupation. Increasingly, technology is eliminating mundane jobs, leaving in place the opportunity for more rewarding jobs. 

It's sad that a professor looks at the "American Dream" only in terms of dollars and no sense. The professor might want to read "When G.M. Was Google," in the current issue of The New Yorker, and concentrate a bit on the bits about Google and Microsoft:
Google doesn't stress out about work-life balance among its employees: work this meaningful and fulfilling isn't just work. When Laszlo Bock talks about what he's learned at Google, he isn't just giving you career advice; he's giving you life advice.
I have a friend whose daughter worked for Microsoft for several years, to earn enough money to pay for medical school. She is now a physician and living the American Dream, with a husband and two children. She was extraordinary in her talents, but ordinary in her background.

To your "American Dream," whatever and wherever it might be:

 

CO2 Solutions And UND-EERC Partnering In CO2 Capturing Studies -- November 28, 2014

Links

Basin Oriented Strategies for CO2 Enhanced Oil Recovery, Williston Basin, 2006 -- excellent
EOR, at energy.gov

Updates

March 9, 2016: this page will be the "start point" for EOR-CO2. 
 
Original Post
 
A reader sent me this as a short note. I'm posting it here for easy googling, and waiting to see if anything comes of this:
CO2 Solutions from Canada is partnering with UND's EERC to test their just-patented CO2 capturing process. This has the potential to economically provide large volumes of carbon dioxide.
Remember, Ms Neset suggests 20 to 40 percent of  original oil in place is generally recovered from oil fields. CO2 EOR may be one way to do it.

Link here.
Under the program, CO2 Solutions will test its technology at EERC's existing testing facility using natural gas and coal flue gas in December, 2014. The program's goal is to evaluate several CO2 capture technologies that are among the most advanced systems under development for application to power and steam generation plants.
"We also expect that the program will benefit our U.S. market entry, particularly for commercial applications such as Enhanced Oil Recovery, through the exposure of our technology to the program's prominent industry participants. 
The testing program is supported financially in part by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
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Call It What You Want
Global Warming
Extreme Weather
Ice Age Now
Early Winter

We spent a lot of time in the Boston area the past four years. I loved it but my wife and son-in-law did not like all the snow. Most of it fell in January/February. I see tonight, more than 16,000 are still without power due to 15 inches of snow. And it's not even winter yet.

From the Farmers Almanac (date unknown):
The Old Farmer's Almanac's long-range weather predictions for 20142015 are available—and another teeth-chatteringly cold winter is on its way across the United States!
"Colder is just almost too familiar a term," Editor Janice Stillman said. "Think of it as a refriger-nation."
With its traditionally 80 percent–accurate weather forecasts, The Old Farmer’s Almanac predicts that this winter will be another arctic blast with above-normal snowfall throughout much of the nation.

Details, Details, Details -- About Par For The Course -- The Proposed Reservation Refinery On Hold While Tribal Chief Gets Ducks Back In Order -- November 27, 2014

KNET is reporting:
Leaders with the Three Affiliated Tribes in western North Dakota plan to revise their plan for an oil refinery on the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation.
Yes, that refinery, the refinery for which "ground was broken" a year and a half ago (May, 2013). 
Tribal chairman Mark Fox tells the Minot Daily News that the project has been at a standstill while the tribe deals with environmental measures and other procedural items.
Details, details. Procedural items. Like meeting BLM, EPA, USACE, NDIC, and EIEIO rules and regulations. 
It is planned on land about 2½ miles west of Makoti, in southwest Ward County.
I wonder when the project "went on standstill"? June, 2013?


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Arch Shipping More Coal

With all the attention on oil the past few weeks, I've completely forgotten about coal. In fact, having seen so few stories on coal in the mainstream media, I assumed coal was dead in this country. I certainly did not expect this. Market Realist is reporting:

During the quarter, the Appalachian segment shipped 3.6 million tons of coal. The shipments included 1.7 million tons of metallurgical coal and 1.9 million tons of thermal coal.
Both thermal and metallurgical coal shipments increased over 3Q 2013, when the company shipped a total of 3.3 million tons coal (1.8 million tons thermal and 1.5 million tons metallurgical).
Management noted that Leer mine, which started production in 4Q 2013, exceeded expectations. The company’s Appalachian coal (both thermal and metallurgical) sold out for 2014.
On the basis of 2014 guidance, we may see shipments of 1.7 million tons of metallurgical coal and 1.5 million tons of thermal coal in 4Q 2014.
You can tell that the company is reducing its exposure to Appalachian thermal coal from the numbers.
Yes, the company is reducing its exposure to thermal coal, but still: with all the natural gas being produced, and with all the time that power plants have had to switch to natural gas, this is really quite surprising. It tells me something -- probably logistics -- keeps coal in the game. It also tells me that the US has a huge appetite for energy (from all sources).

This must be music to Warren's ears -- all that coal still being shipped by rail.

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Curious

I was curious what might be going on at the Target store down the street. It was closed all day, but was scheduled to open at 6:00 p.m. and be open until midnight, in anticipation of Black Friday, less than eight hours later.

So, well after dark, about 8:00 p.m., at the end of the first quarter between Seattle and San Francisco I put new batteries in the rear red light on the bike, re-positioned the red light on the back of my back-pack, and headed to Target.

Wow, not a spot left in the parking lot. Cars in trail at the front door, unloading passengers and loading large flat-screen (are there any other kind) TV sets. Inside, the check-out counters "ran" smoothly; more than enough counters open. Even two baristas on duty at Starbucks; normally there would only be one at this time of night, if the coffee shop was even open.

I didn't need anything; it was simply curious. Blu-Ray DVDs: $4.00. Regularly priced $14.99 at Target; checking Amazon for identical DVD priced $8.96 and $9.99 at Amazon tonight.

America: wow, what a great country.

6/9 Wells To DRL Status; QEP With Several Nice Wells -- November 27, 2014

Active rigs:


11/27/201411/27/201311/27/201211/27/201111/27/2010
Active Rigs183191185202163

Wells coming off confidential list Thursday, Friday:
Friday, November 28, 2014
  • 26757, drl, Hess, GN-Hoehn-158-98-1201H-1, Rainbow, no production data,
Thursday, November 27, 2014
  • 23751, drl, Statoil, Judy 22-15 4TFH, East Fork, no production data,
  • 26758, drl, Hess, GN-Stundal-158-97-1819H-1, New Home, no production data,
  • 27141, 1,137, QEP, Moberg 2-22-15TH, Grail, t7/14; cum 68K 10/14;
  • 27142, 723, QEP, Moberg 2-22-15BH, Grail, t7/14; cum 59K 10/14;
  • 27143, 1,417, QEP, Moberg 1-22-15BH, Grail, t7/14; cum 59K 10/14;
  • 27332, drl, Hess, CA-Halverson-154-95-0409H-8, Hofflund, no production data,
  • 28081, drl, CLR, Franklin 2-29H1, Stoneview, no production data,
  • 28284, drl, XTO, Carus 24X-36D, Lost Bridge, no production data, 
A pattern continues to develop:


Random Update On CLR's Hartman Wells -- November 27, 2014

Updates

August 29, 2017: production data updated, below. 

January 28, 2017: production data updated, below.

March 5, 2015: a fairly exhaustive update of the Hartman wells has been completed.  

Original Post
A reader commented:
On an unrelated note I eagerly await completion information on the Hartman wells by CLR.
Completion reports were recently added to the well files but a note indicates testing equipment was down so no production information was available????
They do list the proppant weights, types, and volume of liquid used in the frac and the dates fraced. From late July to early September. I wonder how accurate the information is?
All 6 wells used about the same volume of fluid, 5 of 6 wells about 200,000 lbs of proppant with one TF3 about 1/2 that. Most wells about 1/3 of the proppant was ceramic except the TF1 well which was around 80% ceramic if my memory serves me correct.
I scanned all 6 files then posted from memory. For reference these wells are only a few miles from the Hawkinson wells sweet spot and are spaced twice as close and appears to have used significantly more frac effort.
Note: some wells CLR used a lot more proppant than historically typical for CLR (which they suggested they were going to do).

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You have hit on the same problem I have: just too much information flowing (pun intended) from the Bakken. I, too, am eagerly awaiting results on CLR, EOG, and other wells and noting the completion techniques. Whiting and NCS (coiled tube fracking) are going to be particularly interesting.

All this time, we seem to have been focused on "sand vs ceramic" and how much proppant to use. Perhaps Whiting and NCS have found the real secret if we want to see the bar reset at a significantly higher level: precise placement of fluid and proppant.

But I digress. Thank you for the reminder about the Hartman wells and the data that is starting to be released.

It looks like it's time to have a stand-alone post on the Hartman wells. 

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The CLR Hartman Wells in Chimney Butte Oil Field, Dunn County

The Hartman wells are a pilot density project which I refer to as a 660-test. See CLR's corporate presentation, September, 2014. If the wells are not updated below, check this post also.

The Hartman wells in section 28-146-95:
  • 23212, 1,656, CLR, Hartman 4-28H, 30 stages; 2.7 million lbs, t12/12; cum 174K 6/17;
  • 23213, 1,703, CLR, Hartman 3-28H, 30 stages; 2.8 million lbs, t12/12; cum 208K 6/17;
  • 27452, 829, CLR, Hartman 10-28H, 30 stages; 6.6 million lbs, t10/14; cum 205K 6/17;
  • 27450, 348,CLR, Hartman 8-28H1, 30 stages; 6.2 million lbs, t10/14; cum 154K 6/17;
  • 27454, 450, CLR, Hartman 6-28H2, 30 stages; 6.1 million lbs, t10/14; cum 125K 6/17;
  • 27451, 254, CLR, Hartman 9-28H2, 30 stages; 6 million lbs, t10/14; cum 118K 6/17;
  • 27453, IAW/54, CLR, Hartman 5-28H3, 30 stages; 2.9 million lbs, t1/15; cum 1K 4/15; uneconomical; 100% water; being used temporarily as a monitoring well; once density monitoring is complete will decide whether to plug or re-complete for another purpose;
  • 27455, 426, CLR, Hartman 7-28H3, 30 stages; 5.5 million bls, t11/14; cum 169K 6/17;
Other Hartman wells to the east in the same section:
  • 21524, 732, CLR, Hartman2-28H, 35 stages; 3.6 million lbs, t5/12; cum 261K 6/17;
  • 17530, 780, CLR, Hartman1-28H, a Three Forks well, a cased hole, 2.1 million lbs, t11/09; cum 301K 6/17;
  • 30668, conf, CLR, Hartman11-28H, no production data as of 6/17;

Slump In Oil Price Now Bigger Economic "Blow" Than Ebola -- November 27, 2014

Updates

November 28, 2014: related links today -
Original Post
 
That didn't take long. I thought of that -- about Africa -- this morning on my bike ride, but didn't have a chance to post it. Now it's being tweeted: slump in oil price now bigger economic "blow" than Ebola.

Analysts said Saudi would have had to cut production by a million bopd to stem the slide in oil prices; I disagree. Two million barrels of oil have to be taken off the table every day -- I think it can be done: a half-million off-shore; 3/4 million less from Africa; a half-million from North Sea, Norway; 1/2 million, maybe even a million from marginal plays in US -- that's a solid 2 million bopd.

These two sites, over at "Data Links" will be closely watched over the next six months:
I can "argue" Saudi Arabia's decision both ways, but it's not surprising. The one thing that I think all can agree on: for a "production cut" to have been effective in stopping the slide in prices, the cut would have had to have been substantial. Most pundits said one million bopd. I don't think so; I think the Saudi cut would have had to have been two million bbls.

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Ferguson -- Parting Thoughts

The other day I posted my "parting thoughts" on Ferguson and had not planned to re-visit it, but in light of Schumer's comments another thought arises.
It is ironic that the racial protests came within 72 hours of Obama announcing amnesty for 5 million Hispanics.  
There's a lot of inaccuracies in that statement, but that's how a lot of folks see it.

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Global Warming

From CBS-Minneapolis-Local: this could be the coldest Thanksgiving since 1930.
Minnesotans woke up to subzero temperatures on Thanksgiving Day and if the mercury doesn’t make it up into the double digits, the day could be one for the record books.
And the warmists concede: the "average temperature" of the world depends on where you place your thermometers, and if there is not a thermometer where you need one, just make up a number. (I can't make this stuff up.)

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TrainWreck
The Los Angeles Times is reporting:
California's health exchange is leaning on insurance agents to enroll thousands of people in Obamacare coverage. Trouble is, some agents haven't been paid for months.
In some cases, agents are owed thousands of dollars in commissions for getting folks signed up earlier this year. And they said they still face long waits on the phone to get simple issues resolved for customers.
Their experiences could sap much of the enthusiasm among Covered California's most effective sales force. The exchange's 12,000 certified insurance agents brought in 40% of individual enrollment in the first year, or more than 500,000 people.
Most of these agents will return to their original calling as used car salesmen. I imagine one or two could enter politics, following in the footsteps of our VEEP.

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A Note to the Granddaughters
Book Reviews

Books reviewed in the November 22 - 23, 2014, issue of The Wall Street Journal that caught my eye.
  • "The Viking Makeover," The Age of the Vikings, Anders Winroth, 320 pages, $30
  • Two new translations of Leo Tolstoy's Anna Karenina, one by Marian Schwartz (764 pages, $35); one by Rosamund Bartlett (847 pages, $30)
  • "Greek Gifts," Why Homer Matters, Adam Nicolson, 297 pages, $30 (I just finished reading a book on Homer this past week; the second time I've read that particular book)
  • "The Greatest Show on Dirt," Fat Tire Flyer, Charlie Kelly, 258 pages, $30
  • "Shaken and Stirred," two books on the cocktail renaissance, drawn from Manhattan bars, Death & Co, David Kaplan, Nick Fauchald & Alex Day, 299 pages, $40; Liquid Intelligence, Dave Arnold, 416 pages, $35
  • "The Incentives to Murder," The Mystery of the Invisible Hand, Marshall Jevons, 342 pages, $25
  • "In Praise of Gental Apologias," True Paradox, David Skeel, 175 pages, $15
Death & Co:
Jillian Voss made a variation on the Hemingway daiquiri with three kinds of rum, vermouth, kirsch, maraschino, grapefruit liquor, and acid phosphate.
The Mystery of the Invisible Hand
The author, Marshall Jevons, does not exist. This is the fourth in a series of books written over the past many decades; the murder mysteries are the result of a long collaboration between two academic economists, Kenneth Elzinga and William Breit, who met at the University of Virginia in the late 1960s. The authors worked under the pseudonym Marshall Jevons -- atribue to two great 19th-century British economists, Alfred Marshall (1842 - 1924) and William Stanley Jevons (1835 - 1882). Breit died in 2011, and Mr Elzinga completed this final volume alone.
Fat Tire Flyer
The invention of the mountain bike might be the most intriguing story in the history of the bicycle. It is certainly the most unlikely. Around 1973, young hippie bike bums in California began riding pre-World War II, single-speed "cruiser bikes" downhill, at full tilt, on dirt trails -- for fun. The aged bikes, nicknamed "clunkers," were cheap and dispensable. Riders hammered them until they broke and then bought another one.
The greatest concentration of riders actively modifying clunkers was in Marin County, north of San Francisco. There fortune threw together a critical mass of athletic, inquisitive, competitive cyclists. None of them had gone to college. Few had proper jobs. They included Joe Breeze, a racing cyclist who also built frames, and Gary Fisher, an ex-Category I road racer and excellent mechanic. Later, Tom Ritchey, a junior road racer and accomplished frame builder, joined the scene, ...  yes, I'm going to order a copy from Amazon...and it's already sold out over on Amazon.com!!!

2015 Spring Floods In The Bakken? -- November 27, 2014; Storm Now Has A Name: Cato

I assume it's just a matter of time before we start seeing these stories. Don noted that the snow pack must already be quite huge in the Rockies for this to have occurred ... and it's only November. The Billings Gazette is reporting:
A 31-year-old snowmobiler from North Dakota died Wednesday after being buried in an avalanche in the Henderson Peak area near Cooke City. 
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Second Autumn Event, 2014
Now Has A Name: Cato
Global Warming
First entries November 25 - 26, 2014
 
Albany, NY, breaks 1888 snowfall record with 6'7" inches falling on Wednesday - Approximately 15 people reported protesting in Ferguson, MO, as snow falls on area 
More than 48,000 New York customers without power due to snow storm
Northeast: 730 flights canceled; 4,300 delayed 
More than 300,000 customers without power in New England due to snow storm
110,000 folks in Maine with no power, electricity -- November 27, 2014
Now has a name: Cato -- November 27, 2014
New weather storm to hit Pacific Northwest, Seattle, Portland -- November 27, 2014
Avalanche in Rockies in November -- November 27, 2014
110Kin Maine; 30K in Massachusetts; 195K in New Hampshire without power -- Nov 27, 2014
Minnesota coldest Thanksgiving since 1930 -- November 27, 2014
16K in Massachusetts remain without power; 15 inches of snow -- Nov 27, 2014
Earliest winter in decades sweeps nation -- November 27, 2014

Estimated Ultimate Recovery In The Bakken: As Much As 20 - 40 Per Cent -- Top Geologist, North Dakota -- November 27, 2014

Coincident with being honored with the top API award, Ms Neset has a Q&A in The Bismarck Tribune.
At this time in the exploration phase, it is estimated that approximately 7 percent of the original oil in place is being produced. If this seems low to you, it is. Typical oil fields will produce over 20 percent to over 40 percent of the oil in place. We must remember that the percent of oil produced is a function of several factors, which we will discuss.
Ms Neset does not fall into the trap of providing her estimate of original oil in place (OOIP) in the Bakken. At one time, Harold Hamm has suggested a trillion-barrel reservoir (rounded; his CLR slide presentation actually said 903 billion bbls), but since then he has dialed back to 500 billion bbls.

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Politics -- ObamaCare

In a different story I saw this but can't find it now, so this link (which I don't like) with regard to Schumer/Hillary will have to do

We have two facts to deal with:
  • it is now clear that Schumer is running Hillary's campaign
  • it is now clear that Schumer is beginning the process to claw-back his (and Hillary's) stance on ObamaCare
Oh, one third fact: Schumer and Hillary can read polls. This should get their attention:
Even my wife, a staunch Obama supporter, agrees that if an old white man who supports ObamaCare tries to get the Democratic nomination for president, he will be sorely trounced.

Ah, yes, here's the article I was looking for, in The Wall Street Journal.  Note the last paragraph:
Mr. Schumer is a leading Democratic ideologist, so perhaps he’s even front-running the Hillary campaign. Republicans should test the limits of his new health-care reform realism in the next two years.
It looks the WSJ writer is a bit slow off the mark if the above linked story is accurate about Schumer running Hillary's campaign.

There are two completely different story lines to follow now:
  • the future of ObamaCare
  • the future Democratic presidential nominee
I think the writing is on the wall for ObamaCare. It will wither on the vine; the House and Senate will keep the good parts (which are few but very, very easy to keep); the best thing the GOP can do now, is let the Dems sort this out.

It's the second story that is more interesting.

I took a small poll this morning. I surveyed one individual. The results: 100% of those polled agree that if an old white man who supports ObamaCare tries to get the Democratic nomination for president, he will be sorely trounced.

The question is whether an old white women who supports ObamaCare can get the Democratic nomination.

I don't think there's any love lost between Mr Obama and Ms Clinton. She's itching for a fight, and she's adamant that she will be the Democratic nominee.

Right now, after Schumer's speech, Billary must be getting a lot of pressure from her donors, not whether she will run or when she will announce, but on her stance with regard to ObamaCare.

She needs to get ahead of this before a good-looking (male or female), charismatic, respectable orator from the "conservative" wing of her party takes the Schumer bait, pounces, agrees with Schumer, and takes off running. Billary is noted for flip-flopping "late" -- after everyone else has seen the writing on the wall. 

Right now, in the thesaurus I use, the synonyms for ObamaCare are: Obama, Hillary, and Pocahontas. Two of the three will never change; the third has a history of being able to climb out of quicksand.

Updates to the Schumer story, my thesis:
Biden, Hillary distancing themselves from Obama -- Washington Times, November 28, 2014

Kathy Neset -- Outstanding Achievement Award -- November 27, 2014

WillistonAPI is reporting that Ms Neset was honored with API's highest award:
The Outstanding Achievement Award identifies individuals and organizations deserving of recognition for an activity or accomplishment that can be described as an outstanding achievement in the Williston Basin. The award is presented to one notable company and individual each year.

Kathleen Neset, a New Jersey native, was presented the Outstanding Achievement – Individual Award and has decades of experience working and living in North Dakota. 
As President of Neset Consulting Service and co-owner of Neset Farms, Kathy is often called upon to present, educate, and advocate on behalf of the industry and North Dakota. She presents clear, concise and compelling information on the responsible development of energy in the Bakken. As both a geologist and a farmer/rancher, her voice carries credibility and accuracy of information that benefits not only the oil and gas industry, but landowners and the state of North Dakota.
See Ms Neset's recent column in The Bismarck Tribune.

Happy Thanksgiving -- 2014; New Dickinson Refinery To Start Accepting Crude Oil Next Week

OPEC
Night Business Report: OPEC meeting.

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MDU / Calumet Refinery West of Dickinson 

This really is quite an achievement: first refinery to be built in the US since 1976 will start accepting Bakken crude oil next week; located four miles west of Dickinson. The Dickinson Press is reporting. There was no mention when POTUS, Hillary, and Pocahontas will hold a press conference to say "they didn't build that."

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A Note to the Granddaughters

I had hoped to be in the Bakken over Thanksgiving but that was not meant to be. So, now, not sure when the next visit to North Dakota will be.

It's a beautiful day here in North Texas, not a cloud in the sky as far as I can see. It is a bit cool, brisk, but a nice bicycle-riding day. Target/Starbucks is closed; opens tonight at 6:00 p.m.

The free-standing Starbucks down the street is standing-room only, so that means all the Starbucks will be standing-room only. So, back to Old Faithful: McDonald's. And then they had a line of folks. A lot of grandparents, it appears, taking toddlers out for breakfast. My hunch is that it was a win-win for everyone. The working parents got to sleep in; the grandparents took the grandkids out for breakfast.

I hope McDonald's employees working holidays get triple pay. I know the hourly clerks/cashiers in southern California supermarkets get triple pay for working the holidays. 

Last night, the granddaughters worked on desserts for today, and when they had breaks we watched Midnight In Paris. The first few minutes of the movie is music -- beautiful music -- and "snapshots" of Paris. No titles, no dialogue, just music and scenes of Paris. We paused the movie every few frames to see if the granddaughters -- age 8 and 11 -- could recognize any of the sites and/or sights. I was amazed. From context, both the older and the younger granddaughter "translated" moulin rouge. Color me impressed.