is
a syndicated television series spanning one decade, 2040 - 2049
Chronicles from The Bakken
Starring Samuel "Oilman" Goshwin & Liam Nikolai Gjorkstad
with occasional appearances by Archie McCool
initial funding from Apple Prairie Broadcasting
and
matching grant money from The Legacy Fund,
and
continuing support from viewers like you.
In the previous episode, nothing of interest happened. That was one reason, I suppose, the television series failed. Of course, the real reason the series failed was because no one was watching television any more; it was all about reality video from drones. But seriously, nothing of interest happened even by North Dakota standards. Sam and Liam were on the last leg -- or should we say, the last rail -- to Williston.
They were headed to Northstar Mall to pick up a new car having lost their yellow Lamborghini several episodes earlier.
Sam tapped his Apple Watch. He had not upgraded to the new model with which tapping was no longer necessary; simply looking at the watch opened and activated the appropriate apps. Apple had engineered -- some say stolen the technology from Samsung -- to track a wearer's eye movements. With single-blinking, the wearer could open the correct app. Double-blinking the left eye automatically opened the video app, and then two right-eye blinks, followed by one left-eye blink, three air kisses, and a raised right eyebrow opened the "Bakken Today" 24/7 video.
But Sam had the "old" Apple Watch and had to tap his way through the screens before he arrived at "Bakken Today." Once at the site, he could choose among 64 drone views of the "Central Bakken." The FAA restricted drone activity in North Dakota but the state legislature passed a measure banning the state from implementing FAA regulations. The Bakken had now been divided into thirteen administrative divisions. The "Central Bakken" was one of the three divisions. Most controversial was "Administrative Section 5 Bakken." This was often referred to as the "Bainville" sector. This was composed of the counties in northeastern Montana that North Dakota had annexed some years earlier. Helena, preoccupied with other business (which we might get to later) failed to notice until it was too late.
From the air, the Bakken had changed dramatically from the early days. Things had slowed down during the Great Depression of 2016 - 2017, but the Great Awakening in 2020 brought a new Bakken boom. The NDIC banned any pads with less than 16 wells, and most of the Bakken had been unitized. The Grail oil field was one of the few fields yet not unitized. The reservation, was another exception. Putting the screws to the oil and gas industry with exorbitant fees for pipelines most of the activity went elsewhere. The Williston Basin activity now extended into South Dakota. With the dramatic cutback in oil production during the Great Depression, the havoc in the Mideast caused by the ICBM launched from pad A-02, and Canadian oil sands still relatively landlocked, oil prices were such that even South Dakota oil fields were economical.
Then-president Trump had approved the Keystone XL but this time it was the Canadians who said "no." They said the "Keystone" did not have a "French-enough-sounding" name.
The Tyler pool had overtaken the Bakken as the pool to target. On EBay buttons with "The Bakken pool and Tyler, too" were selling like hotcakes, as they still say in St Paul.
Sam tapped on Drone Video ISN-18N-7W. That particular drone was responsible for a 1-mile-square sector eighteen miles north and seven miles west of the old Williston airport. If he remembered correctly that would include Blacktail Dam, where a "new" casino was now celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. Then-President Trump, on his whirlwind victory tour had flown over western North Dakota. He saw the lake from the air. Later on MSNBCFOX he told Megan Maddow that "he loved lakes, some of his best friends were lakes. Lakes need casinos. They don't need walls. They provide jobs for Native Americans. Some of my best friends are Native Americans. We will make this country great again. Blacktail Dam will be the new America. We can do it. We're America. We're all Native Americans."
Drone Video ISN-18N-7W was, unfortunately on the fritz, as they say in St Paul. Apparently the drone operator was one toke over the line. You, too, would be one toke over the line, if your twelve-hour shift was observing the wheat fields north of Williston.
Sam: "What the heck? No video? All I see is snow ...."
Laim, laughing loudly, "All you see is snow -- we are in North Dakota --"
"Yes, but this is July."
"Global cooling."
"Screw you; the drone is down. Switching to Drone Video ISN-0N-0W. Come in 0N-0W. May the force be with me."
While Sam fiddled with his antiquated Apple Watch, Liam watched the prairie roll by. Or was it the train rolling by? Liam never did understand Einstein's theory of relativity; coincidentally Einstein's observations of trains and clocks ...
"Just imagine. This could have been Buffalo Commons."
"Buffalo what? There it is, 0-0, downtown Williston. Buffalo what? Buffalo Commons?"
"Yeah, you remember. What people from the east, somewhere where they could see buffalo. You know, like the Kennedys always worried about seeing snow again."
"You know, they really aren't buffalo; they're American bison. Hey, there's the Byron Dorgan Tower, the Harold Hamm Hiland Twin Towers, and the Kalil Klondike Kondominiums. And, wow, I had forgotten about the Oasis Casino. Cashed out during the Great Awakening; built a casino. The old airport is now the Western States Drone-Port, the hub for eight western states. I bet you didn't know that. There's Amazon's Western States Fulfillment Center. Let's see what's going on at 13N-0W -- the "old thirteen mile corner."
With a few taps, Sam was over thirteen mile corner, where I-98 made a long, sweeping turn to the south. The Minnesota Welcome Center was a three-story affair that straddled old US Highway 2 & 85. It was built in the late 2020's specifically for Minnesotans. It was a mandatory stop for all vehicles with out-of-state license plates. Too many "foreigners" had been overwhelmed when entering Williston; some had become severely disoriented from the lights, the high rises, the activity. Many had lost control of their vehicles. But that was now a thing of the past. Out-of-staters were required to watch a 15-minute film of the Bakken, to prepare them for what they were about to experience. Even so, some Minnesotans had trouble adjusting. And some did return but the exact number will never be known; that information remains classified by the state of Minnesota.
"We're coming to Stanley. You know they're thinking of renaming Stanley ... "
"I don't remember the drone coordinates for Stanley ---
"STAN-0-0 will get you there; it's not the real coordinates but it's a shortcut. They're thinking of renaming Stanley ... Houston."
[The I-98 theme song crescendos as the camera pulls away with an overhead shot. In the distant, Williston is coming into view. Rolling credits.]
Then-president Trump had approved the Keystone XL but this time it was the Canadians who said "no." They said the "Keystone" did not have a "French-enough-sounding" name.
The Tyler pool had overtaken the Bakken as the pool to target. On EBay buttons with "The Bakken pool and Tyler, too" were selling like hotcakes, as they still say in St Paul.
Sam tapped on Drone Video ISN-18N-7W. That particular drone was responsible for a 1-mile-square sector eighteen miles north and seven miles west of the old Williston airport. If he remembered correctly that would include Blacktail Dam, where a "new" casino was now celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. Then-President Trump, on his whirlwind victory tour had flown over western North Dakota. He saw the lake from the air. Later on MSNBCFOX he told Megan Maddow that "he loved lakes, some of his best friends were lakes. Lakes need casinos. They don't need walls. They provide jobs for Native Americans. Some of my best friends are Native Americans. We will make this country great again. Blacktail Dam will be the new America. We can do it. We're America. We're all Native Americans."
Drone Video ISN-18N-7W was, unfortunately on the fritz, as they say in St Paul. Apparently the drone operator was one toke over the line. You, too, would be one toke over the line, if your twelve-hour shift was observing the wheat fields north of Williston.
Sam: "What the heck? No video? All I see is snow ...."
Laim, laughing loudly, "All you see is snow -- we are in North Dakota --"
"Yes, but this is July."
"Global cooling."
"Screw you; the drone is down. Switching to Drone Video ISN-0N-0W. Come in 0N-0W. May the force be with me."
While Sam fiddled with his antiquated Apple Watch, Liam watched the prairie roll by. Or was it the train rolling by? Liam never did understand Einstein's theory of relativity; coincidentally Einstein's observations of trains and clocks ...
"Just imagine. This could have been Buffalo Commons."
"Buffalo what? There it is, 0-0, downtown Williston. Buffalo what? Buffalo Commons?"
"Yeah, you remember. What people from the east, somewhere where they could see buffalo. You know, like the Kennedys always worried about seeing snow again."
"You know, they really aren't buffalo; they're American bison. Hey, there's the Byron Dorgan Tower, the Harold Hamm Hiland Twin Towers, and the Kalil Klondike Kondominiums. And, wow, I had forgotten about the Oasis Casino. Cashed out during the Great Awakening; built a casino. The old airport is now the Western States Drone-Port, the hub for eight western states. I bet you didn't know that. There's Amazon's Western States Fulfillment Center. Let's see what's going on at 13N-0W -- the "old thirteen mile corner."
With a few taps, Sam was over thirteen mile corner, where I-98 made a long, sweeping turn to the south. The Minnesota Welcome Center was a three-story affair that straddled old US Highway 2 & 85. It was built in the late 2020's specifically for Minnesotans. It was a mandatory stop for all vehicles with out-of-state license plates. Too many "foreigners" had been overwhelmed when entering Williston; some had become severely disoriented from the lights, the high rises, the activity. Many had lost control of their vehicles. But that was now a thing of the past. Out-of-staters were required to watch a 15-minute film of the Bakken, to prepare them for what they were about to experience. Even so, some Minnesotans had trouble adjusting. And some did return but the exact number will never be known; that information remains classified by the state of Minnesota.
"We're coming to Stanley. You know they're thinking of renaming Stanley ... "
"I don't remember the drone coordinates for Stanley ---
"STAN-0-0 will get you there; it's not the real coordinates but it's a shortcut. They're thinking of renaming Stanley ... Houston."
[The I-98 theme song crescendos as the camera pulls away with an overhead shot. In the distant, Williston is coming into view. Rolling credits.]
