Feb 20th - Surfside Beach to Livingston

As we left the Surfside/Freeport area I was again amazed at all the industry (jobs) down here. We have driven by Shintech Inc several times; it is a large facility. I looked it up on the Internet and found that it is the largest maker of PVC in North America. DOW's facilities down here absolutely dwarf the Shintech facility. There are hundreds, quite possibly over a thousand, of vehicles in what looks like DOW's construction parking lot. It looks like there is a fleet of old school busses that ferry workers to the construction site. On top of that, even with all these chemical and refinery facilities there are no chemical odors, nor smog. 40 years ago the refineries around the Beaumont, Port Arthur area were pretty stinky.

We saw a “Help Wanted” sign at one of the Buckees stores, they are similar to a Casey's. The lowest starting salary was $11/hour. Several of the jobs posted started at $12/hour. We wouldn’t have to worry about the government raising the minimum wage if it would just get out of the way and quit strangling existing business preventing the formation of new business because of all the regulation. More jobs equal higher pay for people who want to work and who are willing to learn a skill.

35 miles south of Houston, at 10AM, dash thermometer said 71. Now, at 2:30PM in the campground it is 65 degrees. Those of you up north probably think I’m nuts when I tell you that 65 feels cold because it is cloudy and windy. We will think we are going to freeze to death when the overnight low drops to 31 degrees Monday night.

May God bless you and yours.