Scary. They are America's "Natural" Gas Alliance

Oh, so they're an "Alliance"??? How many things can you count wrong with this video? She lost me with hello "we all know it."

So, ANGA, what about the darn PROCESS for extracting all this "natural" gas from the shale? Huh? What about that, America's Natural Gas Alliance?? What about turning communities into Industrial Zones in order to get to that so-called clean-burning fossil fuel? What about that, America's Natural Gas Alliance? This is crazy.

Good grief!!  God. Help Us. Please.

Part time Development Professional - Grant Writer

The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence/ Westcheseter Inc. is seeking a part time Development Professional/ Grant Writer with 5 years’ experience for a not-for-profit. Applicant must have a strong background in the workings of foundations, corporate donation programs and grant writing.

Interested applicants should submit resumes to Joan Bonsignore, Executive Director of the National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence/ Westchester Inc. via email at jsb28@aol.com

Please contact Ms. Bonsignore at 914-316-1616 if you have any questions.

The Smell of Something Strange and Unusual

It's on the way.   Our neighbors within 537 feet of the Corn Valley Pad Site at 210 West Camp Wisdom (between Robinson Road and Carrier Parkway) report that a Pipe is Going Up for the Corn Valley Well 1H Flare. 

Just yesterday authorities (including the Fire Department, Atmos Energy and the Environmental Services Department) were called when unusual odors were reported coming from the site. This is a very uncomfortable situation for all our neighbors who live so close and must endure this industrial burn-off of shale gas from a gas well..

Interesting that the gas company (Atmos) employee expressed surprise at how close this upcoming FLARE will be to a residential neighborhood. I mean, after all, they are all about gas leaks.  This is some kind of LEAK.

Reminder:  It's Chesapeake.

Update:  We called the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.  They are on the way to the site right now.

Stay tuned...we certainly are.

Tip: Adding A Signature To Your Email

Many of you have asked from time to time, "How can I add a signature on the bottom of my email messages?". I thought I would take the time to demonstrate one of the ways you can do this easily.

If you access your email through Web Outlook, select the "options" menu on the bottom of the left side toobar.

Then browse down and open "edit signature".

Finally, enter what you would like your signature to look like and save. That's it. You now have a signature that will appear on all of your email messages.

Remember May 2009?

Remember the extraordinarily large fireball FLAME at Robinson Road and Interstate 20 (near Carrier Parkway) that could be seen for miles and miles and for hours and hours...and caused a great deal of concern and anxiety for citizens, well, we're about to see the same thing even CLOSER to Westchester and our residential neighborhoods!

210 West Camp Wisdom Road ~ Corn Valley's 1st Well which sits 537 Feet from Westchester Valley neighbors (who have not signed leases) is scheduled to be FLARED by Chesapeake very shortly...developing story.

Carbon Disulfide

During Tuesday night's GP City Council Meeting and during the debate about the Lake Parks Pad Site, City Councilman Bill Thorn said he had visited a shale gas drilling site with 14 wells within 200 feet of an elementary school in Fort Worth...and he implied that he saw "No Problem." 

Watch the video and read the story at the link and then let's talk.

Harmful Chemical Found At Drilling Sites Near East Handley Elementary, Dunbar High School and Burton Hill Elementary In Fort Worth ISD.

Looks can be so deceiving.

Field Sales Reps Needed

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5-2 Chesapeake Loses. We Win. (Finally)

It was a late vote. Thank you, Mayor England, for leading the City Council in support of the DENIAL of the Lake Parks Pad Site.

Chesapeake's Grand Prairie Liaison, Laura Patton, spoke for at least 15 minutes and pushed back hard against Environmental Services' recommended DENIAL of this Permit for up to 20 wells at the entryway to Joe Pool Lake.

Sometimes, leaders just seem to come to their senses. We are grateful that maybe, just maybe the tide is turning in Grand Prairie. The large landowners who leased the tracts of land to Chesapeake came to City Hall Tuesday night from all over the state. They each one came to the podium to explain how important it was to have their minerals mined out of the Earth at this moment in time. They invoked their family roots in Grand Prairie, God and how they had inherited all this farmland that "deserved" to be drilled for shale gas because they knew it was what their grandmothers and grandfathers would want for their heirs.

Well. Not yet, anyway. Mayor England thanked them all for coming to tell their stories and that he remembered their families from days gone by...but this pad site just wasn't going to happen so close to beautiful neighborhoods so near the lake.

Thank you, Mayor England, City Staff and the other 4 City Councilmen and Women Councilwoman who voted for DENIAL. It was a good evening at City Hall.



Update:  Councilmen Jensen and Swafford recused themselves for conflicts of interest. (Leases have been signed with Chesapeake by both City Councilmen.) 

Cancer-Causing Toxins Discovered Near Ft. Worth Shale Gas Drilling Sites

Is Cloud Computing in West Chester's Future?

Is the Borough of West Chester headed into "cloud computing"? Well this is not an easy answer. But the answer is "kind of" and "possibly". As the world economy continues to struggle and find it's 21st century legs I believe step by step we could be headed there.

What is cloud computing you ask? Simply think of remote back services such as "Mozy" and "Carbonite". This is very basic, but if you use these services as an example know that these tech companies simply back-up your files remotely. It you use email services such as Microsoft's "Hotmail" or Google's "gmail" your mail is stored off site. Basicly these are already in the cloud. So you can see, there is nothing out of the ordinary going on here. As opposed to having to pay for servers, software, licensing and yes, even energy some of your services are maintained by another vendor. That's it. That's cloud computing. The biggest question for every organization is what do you place in "the cloud" and what is maintained locally? The Borough of West Chester just like every other organization if starting to look at these issues.

Keep in touch because exciting things are just around the corner.

Temporary????

Link (scroll down to Page 43.)

From the January 18, 2011 City Council Hearing and Debate on the Gas Drilling Ordinance:

"Council Member Mark Hepworth said he heard Mr. Cummings use a word when he equated gas drilling to heavy industry and asked what heavy industry is. He said he had asked the City Planner what constitutes heavy industry in Grand Prairie and was told that the only business that was heavy industry is a salvage yard and the setback for salvage yards is 25-50’ and if toxic chemicals were present there is a 300’ required setback. Gas drilling is a temporary one."

Toxic emissions are NOT, I repeat NOT temporary.  They are an ongoing ISSUE in the Barnett Shale and anywhere that shale gas drilling and production are being conducted.  They are not always visible to the naked eye.



Tours of Dish, Texas or Argyle, Texas  are excellent starting points.  Shale Gas Alley.  It's tragic.  You won't hear this suggestion from the numerous shale gas operators doing business in Grand Prairie. But you are hearing it from Citizens of Grand Prairie, TX.  Thank you.

And just a reminder of the TOXIC Emissions that are

NOT Temporary

FLIR Camera

This.Is.Just.A.Nightmare.

5523 Lakeridge Parkway, Grand Prairie, TX

Map

Click Here to see the Permit on the Railroad Commission Web site API# 439-35250.  It's so cool that the nearest "Town" shows to be Fort Worth and the County is Tarrant. No mention of Grand Prairie on this Permit's W1 Form.  I guess that helps with making it seem "invisible," even though it's a MONSTER.

Wake me when it's over. But in the meantime, be sure to show up for the Grand Prairie City Council Meeting Tuesday, February 15th, 2011 at 6:15 PM.  317 College Street, Grand Prairie, TX 75050.

Click Here to See the Map to City Hall.

Meeting commences at 6:30 PM.  This will be an agenda item and a Public Hearing to discuss this Monster Pad Site that is so close to homes and children and the lake...it's mind boggling to think that this City Council is even considering it as a possibility.  



Oh, And...God. Help. Us. Please.

*Critical Update* ~ Thank You, God. Very Much.  Amen.

Seismic Testing Coming Soon to North Grand Prairie, TX

According to the Grand Prairie, TX Web site (scroll down to see the Horrible Map on Page 2 that's extremely hard to read)...our neighbors up North will now know what WE know.  The invasion of the Thumper Trucks.  Stealing information about our property (minerals ~ AKA "property")...without COMPENSATION!!  Monster trucks driving through neighborhoods, in tandem, dropping 1,000 pound weights to the pavement, enough to shake your home.

We seriously thought the City of Grand Prairie understood our concerns about seismic testing when it came to South Grand Prairie last summer.  It's clear from this ANNOUNCEMENT, they probably don't.

So, how much are homeowners/landowners being compensated? Anyone know??

Or is this just back to playing dumb about all of it??

Oh, and that Hotline Number you see ~ just know that it's not a City of Grand Prairie Hotline Number. 

Update:  We see that the energy company listed on the MAP is Newark Energy ~ for the record.

Tank Venting on a Sunny Afternoon

Bluedaze

Syncing Your Android & Network Passwords

I have found one of the biggest challenges for users of Android devices is keeping the email password synced with the network password. For anyone who has used a Blackberry device in the past this is a new issue you should be aware of.

Be aware Android users! Android devices are checking in on your Microsoft Exchange account and the password on your device must match the password on the network. If you forget to change the password on the device after changing it on the network, you will be "locked out" of the network within an hour. This results in phone calls to my office so I am hoping to educate everyone here and save all involved some time.

First, when you know you are going to change your network password, make sure you have your Android device with you.

After changing the network password on the computer select the menu button on your device, then select settings. Browse down and select Accounts. Then select your West Chester (corporate account). Enter your new password in the password field and select OK. Thats it.

Here is a video with step by step directions for syncing your network and Android passwords.

Gadget of the Month: Roku HD Player

Other than its ability to stream Netflix movies, I knew nothing about Roku when I received my first HD Roku almost 2 years ago. But you ask yourself if I have had a HD Roku player for almost 2 years why make it my gadget of the month. Well you see when I purchased one of these beauties they were new on the market and somewhat unproven. Anyway their popularity has continued to grow and a new improved lineup of Roku players hes been recently introduced. I still own one of the original models so my review is based on mine.

The thing is tiny! At less than 5 inches wide and only 1 inch tall, Roku is the size of my hand!

It’s so simple to set up. Just plug in the included red/white/yellow A/V cable from Roku to the TV. If you have an HDMI cable, that’s a better choice, but it has to be purchased separately. Then you follow the on-screen directions to add it to your home network. Don’t have wi-fi? No problem. You can plug an ethernet cable into it. And that was it! You control Roku with the included remote. It’s tiny and very basic, but that’s all you need. I was watching high definition content on Netflix in about 5 minutes

While Roku is best known for its partnership with Netflix, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it does so much MORE! Watch Amazon Video On Demand, listen to Pandora Internet Radio and stream your mp3s, watch MLB TV, NBA TV, NHL GameCenter, browse your Flickr photo albums, and even Facebook photos, too! Explore internet only channels such as Revision 3, MediaFly as well. Hulu Plus has been added this past month as well as NASA TV.So you can see there is plenty of great content on this little box.

Since it’s so tiny, Roku doesn’t consume much energy at all and always stays on (unless you unplug it, of course). In fact, it doesn’t even have an off button. No waiting for a device to start up. Just turn on the TV, click over to the Roku Channel you want, and you’re good to go! It’s an awespme device!

A couple of big differences between the original model I have and the new ones are an increase in HD video quality from 720p to 1080i and the inclusion of a USB port so local video can be viewed through the Roku player. I of course need to upgrade mine at some point soon and perhaps donate my old one to my son (Kevin) in college. It may be a hand-me-down but the kid will certainly accept such a cool gift!

Roku players start at just $59.99. The price is one of the most reasonbly price points in the technology world today. There’s a 30-day money back guarantee and a one-year warranty on the device. You just have to decide which Roku to get! The useful comparison chart on roku.com should help you choose which model is the best for you.

Up to 20 Wells Proposed for 5523 Lakeridge Parkway near Camp Wisdom (The Road to Joe Pool Lake)

Lake Parks Pad Site (Well 1H is the Red Dot) Red circular bands show the distances to residential neighborhoods300 ft., 500 ft., 600 ft. and 1,000 feet

(Below) Lake Parks IH Truck Transportation Route

From 360 to Camp Wisdom Going East to 

Lakeridge Parkway Turning South

Click Here to see all of these Documents (scroll down to Page 144 of this 151 Page document.)



It will be on the Agenda as a Public Hearing for the February 15, 2011 City Council Meeting.  (It could have been voted on this past Tuesday, but for the weather.)  Oh, Lord. This one's a doozy.  

Thank God Environmental Services is recommending DENIAL.

Looking at the maps for this Lake Parks 1H well that will be practically in the backyards of residents...not only that, but the future holds 20 wells for this proposed Padsite.  What looks like 1 (one) well, initially...is really the first stage of a MONSTER Padsite on the Road to Lake Joe Pool.



Developing Story...CHESAPEAKE.



And here's the rest of it (from the documents linked to above):

The gas well padsite proposed is situated south of Camp Wisdom, west east of 360, to the north of Webb Lynn Road, and directly off of Lakeridge Parkway. The address is 5523 Lakeridge Parkway. The padsite is adjacent to the Lake Parks East and the Lake Parks West subdivisions. The well bore is approximately 359 feet from the closest protected use (a residence in the Lake Parks East subdivision). There are approximately five other residences within this subdivision that lie within 500 feet of the well bore. The planned well bore is less than 500 feet from the nearest residences on the westside of the padsite.



Additionally, the well bore is approximately 510 feet from the Kidd Academy Day Care facility located at 5555 Lakeridge Pkwy. The permanent padsite storage tanks are planned to be less than 400 feet from the day care center.

China is Buying Shale Gas Leaseholds in Colorado and Wyoming

In case you hadn't heard, China is signing deals right and left with Chesapeake. Here's one of the latest developments:

Link to the Story

BEIJING | Sun Jan 30, 2011 11:52pm EST

BEIJING (Reuters) - China's No.3 oil and gas firm, CNOOC Ltd, announced a second shale gas deal with Chesapeake Energy, agreeing to buy a 33.3 percent stake in the U.S. firm's leasehold acres in Colorado and Wyoming for $570 million.

Just one more thing to ponder about our shale gas drilling campaign. 

You know, one of the arguments we hear so much about all of this is how producing our own natural gas will free us from our dependence on foreign oil.  Well, I guess this is a new twist on that line of reasoning.

The End of the Internet?

Today, IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Agency) announced that it had handed out two more /8 IPv4 assignments to APNIC (Asia-Pacific Network Information Centre). As a result, IANA is down to 5 /8s, triggering its special policy to hand out one address to each regional registrar (RIR). The 5 RIRs are AFRNIC (Africa), APNIC (Asia Pacific), ARIN (North America), LACNIC (Latin America) and RIPE (Europe).

IANA hands IP address space to the RIRs in chunks of /8s, who then pass it on to ISPs, who then pass it on to end users. Some large end users may approach their RIR directly, and some "legacy assignments" are managed by IANA directly.

But in the end, what does this all mean?

1 - Will the Internet stop working?

No. As a matter of fact, it is unlikely that the IPv4 internet will stop any time soon. It will likely happily exist next to the IPv6 internet. There are some transition mechanisms set up. While not pretty, the two "internets" can talk to each other via proxies and tunnels.

2 - Why do we run out of addresses?

IPv4 allows for about 4 billion addresses. There are about 6 billion people on the world... how many addresses do you need (phone, home, work...)? Its a simple math issue compounded by the fact that for efficient routing sake, we can't assign all addresses.

3 - A lot of IPv4 space is still unused. Why don't we use it more effectively?

The problem is not just that we are running out of addresses, even though that is the killer issue here. Assigning addresses more effectively would mean that assignments would become smaller and routing tables would become more complex. In order to make this work, we would have to essentially "renumber" the internet, and still be out of addresses at some point.

4 - What about legacy space? Does Apple really need a /8?

In the beginning of the Internet, IPv4 address space was handed out very liberally. Remember it was just an experiment? Some of the original participants still have large IPv4 assignments which they don't use efficiently. However, even if all of them are handed back, it would delay the problem only by 1-2 years at great expense to the effected companies (and they have contracts giving them the rights to use the address space). Some "legacy allocations" have been returned in the past

5 - What do I need to do today?

Relax. Nothing is going to happen fast. the RIRs still have space left, depending on the region a few month to a year. After that, it will get tricky. You may already find it harder to get IP address space. Eventually, your ISP may ask for some space back as they can't get new addresses from the RIR. Over time, IPv4 will get more expensive then IPv6.

6 - So I can just wait and do nothing?

No. What you should do tomorrow (maybe today?) is setup a test lab to familiarize yourself with IPv6. It is easy to get going. Ask your ISP if they support it (or when), or setup a tunnel with a free tunnel provider like Hurricane Electric [2] or Sixxs [3] (there are others). You need a plan on how to deal with it. Even if you don't need IPv6, maybe your business partners start using it and you need to connect to them via IPv6.

7 - Can't I just ignore it?

Remember why you are using IP in the first place? It allows you to connect to everything on the internet. In short: It keeps you in connected. Once these people expect IPv6 connectivity, you will likely have to move along with it. It is like any technology in that it ultimately has to support the business (and well... it is fun too!).

8 - What will change from a security point of view?

Everything and nothing. The most important change is probably the fact that NAT will become less important. Endpoint protection and carefully configured firewalls will become more important. Passive asset detection will become more important compared to active scanning. There is a lot of security gear you own that probably does a lousy job dealing with IPv6. Did I mention it requires a plan and testing?

New Barnes Assembly A Wells 1H, 2H and 4H (Just Permitted 1/31/11 by the RRC) for Chesapeake

The new ones are kinda short. This may explain some of that.

The longer one you see is API# 113-30193 (3H) ~ The one under Rule 37 Consideration right now ~Meaning: If you won't sign a lease, Chesapeake will just have the Railroad Commission conduct a Hearing at their (Chesapeake's) pleasure and make you travel to Austin on your own dime dollar and then most likely they'll just take your minerals, anyway, and FORCE you into the Pooled Unit with your neighbors and especially the large land owners. Large land owners who really need you so they can make most of the royalties, if any, for the Lease. Nice, huh?

Those pentagon (5-sided) shapes you see are apparently two (maybe three) Pad Sites Leaseholds converging at 4351 Matthew Road with currently 5 different wells permitted and/or drilled from potentially 4 separate leaseholds (that we know of) including...Barnes Assembly A, West Carpo, East Carpo and 2 "Future Wells."  There will be up to 11 wells drilled (at this time) from this location according to the Detail Map Below.  



Notice the Gas Gathering Pipeline (in green) that will get the gas out of there. What was once a beautiful and tranquil cow pasture is clearly now an industrial zone.

Oh, and there's Fish Creek, too ~ see it in bright BLUE on the Map.  A well-known old creek in southern Grand Prairie that runs right above all the drilling and horizontal, hydraulic fracturing that will be going on in that area in the immediate future.

And the latest  "Detail" of this area as currently shown on Railroad Commission Maps for these permits. (This seems to have changed over a short time.  Not sure what happened to Barnes Assembly B that used to show up. Maybe it sounded too much like Barnes Assembly A or maybe it's been put on the Chesapeake shelf for now.)

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Ah, Chesapeake

3 More Wells for the Barnes Assembly A Pad Site Leasehold (4351 Matthew Road) were approved Monday for Chesapeake by our almost-defunct Texas Railroad Commission.  

Very interesting that these horizontal wells seem to be shorter in length than our well-known API #113-30193, which dips very deep into Trailwood.  Maybe they're more like shots-in-the-dark...or rather like a lot of Rule 37 "Waiver" Notifications arriving in the mail very soon for our Trailwood neighbors. Stealing property and/or paying very little for it seems to be all the rage.  

New Barnes Assembly A Permits ~ API #113-30216, #113-30217 and #113-30218.

By the way, we simply love going to Austin, taking off work, jeopardizing our lives in snow and ice (like 8 of us did Tuesday, February 1, 2011) for the API# 113-30193 Rule 37 "Waiver/Exception" Hearing. ) 

QUESTION:  Since all the activity related to the Barnett Shale is in the BARNETT SHALE,  why are all the citizens affected by Rule 37 Waivers required to travel to Austin to DEFEND their property rights??

Somebody really needs to answer that question in the TEXAS Legislature.

Restaurant Assistant General Manager

Are you a high energy, driven and goal-oriented quick service / casual dining manager who is ready for the next challenge?

A successful 30-year KFC franchise is looking for 3 Assistant General Managers for restaurants located in New Rochelle, Port Chester and Stamford, CT.

Candidate is responsible for financial and operational performance, sales growth, cost control, planning and budgeting, customer satisfaction, health, safety, sanitation, and the recruitment, retention, and development of staff.

READ FULL JOB DESCRIPTION & APPLY

Practice Development Manager - Tarrytown

The Practice Development Manager will interact with the Center for Medical Weight Loss (CMWL) physician client in the process of launching and building a weight loss practice. You will assist the physician client in optimizing the practice success through analysis of practice statistics and one on one communication. Communication through phone consultation and implementation of recommendations is essential to the position. Collaboration with physician and physician staff is integral to the process. Adept organizational skills are necessary to track multiple physician clients through the ongoing process.

READ FULL JOB DESCRIPTION AND APPLY

Key Responsibilities:

Manage new clients in their integration of CMWL into existing practice.
Help existing clients grow current weight loss practice.

Analyze client practice data to diagnose potential issues and to intervene early when new clients are not gaining initial traction.

Analyze client practice data to diagnose potential issues and to intervene early when negative trends emerge for existing clients.

Troubleshoot office practice and/or conversions problems and develop recommendations for resolution for client implementation.

Analyze practice and financial activity reports for individual clients.

Maintain regular communication with existing client base and create retention building relationships.

Monthly Track-It Report

I thank everyone for continuing to use Track-It for submitting work order requests. Please continue to submit work orders through Track-It for the following technical services.

1. Information Technology Services (networking, websense)
2. Help Desk Services (computers and software issues)
3. Police Radio Servcies
4. Police Video & Audio Evidence Requests
5. Telecommunication Issues
6. Wireless Account Issues

If the "Track-It" shortcut is deleted or otherwise not available on your dekstop, you can always find it here, at the West Chester Employee's Technology Blog on the right side panel, under WORK ORDERS.

Be aware that service will almost always be delayed if Track-It is not utilized as it can be challenging to juggle all of these services for all departments.