www.tulok.net : Earlier Entries
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Entry 25 December 1, 2002 12:00 am |
Apologies yet again, but I've been busy once more
with the road site. Vacation Road Trip Day 1 was spent last Friday taking
pictures of roads all over the extreme northeastern part of Oklahoma,
as well as a couple of spots in southeastern Kansas and southwestern Missouri.
However, near the end of my excursion, with only one more road to shoot
before the sun went down, the pick-up suddenly lost all acceleration.
The transmission was gone.So there I was, about five miles west of Jay, which is about eighty miles away from home. I was on the side of a winding country road, in the middle of the woods, in the dark. The good news is that I had the foresight to sign up with AAA last week, so I was able to get the truck towed back home. The bad news: it still cost nearly $200 for the tow, and it was nearly midnight before I got home.
So now all the money I had held back for these Vacation Road Trips is gone, I've had to break into my savings just to have food money until pay day, and any excursions I still take will be drastically curtailed, as I don't trust the car too far away from home. Any more Road Trips taken during this vacation are gonna be limited to this quadrant of the state (north of I-40 & east of I-35). And given the area where I broke down, I'm not gonna be too crazy about revisiting Grand Lake anytime soon.
The only blessing in disguise I can get out of this is that with Day 2 postponed (after getting back so late Friday I didn't really feel like going anywhere), I was able to watch college football Saturday. Specifically, to watch my alma mater Oklahoma State Cowboys knock the OU Sooners out of any chance for a national title for the second year in a row. First time that OSU has ever beaten both Oklahoma AND Nebraska in the same year. EVER! WOO-HOO!!!!!!
Well, this morning I hopped in the car (actually I walked; not a good idea to hop down stairs, but you get the idea) and started a slightly-curtailed Vacation Road Trip Day 2, primarily encompassing the Muskogee & Lake Fort Gibson areas (will put those pics on the road site tomorrow). When I left Tulsa this morning gas prices were at $1.12/gal, one of the lowest prices in the nation. An even lower price is seen in the photo above, taken Thanksgiving Eve at the Flying J Truck Stop at Admiral Pl & 129th E Ave (their prices are usually about two cents below everyone else in Tulsa). When I got back into Tulsa early this evening, everybody was at $1.10! Really surprised me that prices didn't go back up about a dime early last week: they usually do, typically the Wednesday before the holiday week (which would've been the 20th).
Let's see, what else... Oh, my shield redesign for the Oklahoma State Highways has been posted to the Shield Makeover site, the site that gave me the idea to make my own design anyway. And before anybody says anything, I know we don't have a State Highway 419. That's a discussion for another day.
Different topic. Recently there have been two new science/documentary-type shows popping up on television. They have many similarities with each other, and one major difference.
--Both shows are on cable: "The Critical Eye" on the Discovery Science Channel and an updated "In Search Of..." on the Sci-Fi Channel.
--Both are hosted by actors who played recurring characters on The X-Files: William B. Davis (Cigarette-Smoking Man) on 'CE', and Mitch Pileggi (Skinner) on 'ISO'.
--Both deal with four different topics during their hour, three one-act segments and one two-act segment. The topics tend to deal with unexplained mysteries, such as Stonehenge, the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs and witchcraft.
--But whereas "In Search Of..." tries to keep the topics mysterious, coming up with any explanation, including the impossible, "The Critical Eye's" sole purpose is to debunk, and show just how ridiculous people are in possibly believing such things.
Both shows got their hosts from the right program. Put side-to-side, "In Search Of..." is Mulder, "The Critical Eye" is Scully!
Of the two, I think "The Critical Eye" is the better show, simply because they don't even attempt to sugarcoat anything. If somebody's theory is just plain stupid, they'll say so. And as much as I would like to like "In Search Of...", I think the show worked better the way they did it back in the seventies when Leonard Nimoy hosted, with one topic encompassing the entire half-hour. Some of the topics they do, if they are indeed going to try to build up the mystery, need more than just one or two segments. On one recent episode they claimed to have solved the identity of D.B. Cooper, but it was a very rushed segment. A big topic like that should've been an entire episode by itself.
If you want to try these shows out for yourself, "The Critical Eye" has its season finale Monday night, December 2nd, with replays Friday afternoon, on the Discovery Science Channel. The Sci-Fi Channel will air the entire past season of "In Search Of..." in marathon format the Sunday before Christmas. 9:27pm
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Entry 26 December 4, 2002 12:00 am |
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A couple of months ago I signed up for long distance with
MCI (I know their company is going through bankruptcy proceedings,
but I get a special deal thru them). A couple of hours ago I tried to
place my first long distance call using the service. Lo and behold, I
get a recording saying that I'm not set up for long distance service,
and that I can make local calls only.I tried calling MCI, and their recording says to call a special 700 number which will let me know who my long distance carrier is. When I tried to call it? That's right, I'm not allowed to make long distance calls.
What I'm trying to get to is, I tried to call you tonight, Angie, but the telephone company won't let me. I'm so sorry.
And happy birthday!
In a slightly-related issue...Monday afternoon, two days ago, we reached a high of 71 degrees in Tulsa. The first two pictures above (for those who can't put 2+2 together, the third pic is Anj) are an example of how it was this afternoon. Over an inch of rain and temps in the mid-30s all day yesterday, and today the temp continued to drop all day, and the rain turned to about three inches of snow. (Click on either of the snow pics for a larger version.)
Fortunately I was able to get out in the car yesterday before the rain started & was able to accomplish Vacation Road Trip Day 3. And most of the places I went to, north and west of Tulsa, are today recovering from a pretty serious ice storm and several more inches of snow than we got here in town. I'm tellin' ya, timing is everything in this business!
If there is a VRT Day 4, it won't be till next week at the earliest. Tomorrow is a shopping day (provided I can get in the car, all the doors are iced shut), Friday I'm having the car looked at to see if it'll take me further across the state, and Saturday we've got George Carlin comin' to town.
I haven't done this much on my vacation since, well, since I went to see Anj in California a couple of years ago.
Oh, and how are these issues related? I accidentally left my cell phone in the aforementioned-inaccessible car, so I can't call Anj from it either. 7:55pm
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Entry 27 December 8, 2002 12:00 am |
Today was the 23rd Annual ABATE (American Bikers Aimed Towards
Education) of Tulsa Toy Run. It started at 56th & Riverside, went
up Riverside, down 15th & 21st, and ended up in the old J.C.Penney
section of Eastland Mall. First time I ever went to see one of these
things, and I have to say I was very impressed. Estimates are that over
18,000 people from several states showed up this year (would've been
more, but it was overcast with temps in the 40s), every one of them bringing
a toy (or dozens) for needy boys and girls, the toys to be distributed
by the Salvation Army. Several communities have similar toy runs every
holiday season, but this one is deemed the largest between the Rockies
and the Applachains.That's me in the photo, along with the giant teddy bear and five-foot-long stocking filled with smaller toys that I had collected for the kids. And by the way, I may be 37 years old, but I am NOT that gray. At least, not indoors...
As an unofficial event photographer for ABATE (I have several friends among the officers), I postponed resumption of my Vacation Road Trip long enough to snap off some shots of the Toy Run, and have posted them here (no thumbnails, sorry). Pictures 1 & 2 were taken at the starting point, about an hour before the start of the run. Pics 3-21 were taken from the Pedestrian Bridge, just north of 31st St over Riverside. Pic 22, well, I didn't want Teddy to fly through the windshield if I had to stop fast. Pics 23 on were taken at Eastland Mall.
Went to see George Carlin last night. Routine was about 50% stuff from his most recent HBO special last November, and 50% stuff I'd never heard before. Although he was good (he always is), he seemed to be out of sorts. Quite frankly, he's no spring chicken anymore, he probably shouldn't be doing a show night after night (for example, Friday night he was in Austin, TX, last night he was here, and tonight he's in Dayton, OH). Let the guy rest once in a while.
In fact, let the opening act take over. He's a stand-up comic named Dennis Blair, and I never stopped laughing the entire time he was on stage. Like Carlin, nothing is off-limits to him. I can't remember the last time I laughed as hard as I did during his routine.
Waitaminute, yes I can: during the new Visa Check Card commercial with Charlie & Martin Sheen. But that commercial was for only 30 seconds. Try laughing that hard for thirty MINUTES! I'm not gonna try to repeat any of his jokes because there's no way it'd be as funny as how he did it, but he has a couple of CDs out, available from his website (www.dennisblair.com, of course). His routine alone was entirely worth the price of admission to see Carlin.
An amazing thing just happened on CBS: at the end of the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie, THEY RAN ACTUAL CREDITS!!!!!!! No zipping through the names along the right third of the screen while promos for other shows run along the other two-thirds, no voice-overs, no triple-speeding the credits to end them faster. Normal, everyday, just-like-in-the-theatres scrolling credits! Finally, a show where the people who worked on it can show off their name to the rest of their family, just like in the old days.
So Hallmark has some clout. I luv it!
Roadklahoma can now be Googled! The main reason I changed the name of my road website was because I did a search of that word on both Yahoo & Google, and it didn't come up, not even once. Well, it can now! It can be Yahooed too. A new word has entered the vernacular, and I created it! Wow! 10:35pm
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Entry 28 December 12, 2002 12:00 am |
At left is another one of those warning signs that you
just know, the only reason it is being posted is because somebody was
stupid enough to do it (click on it for a larger version). This was
taken at a convenience store in Rogers, AR, during Vacation Road Trip
Day 4 this past Monday.The Vacation Road Trips are over, mainly because my vacation is over. After more than two weeks off, gotta go back to work tomorrow. VRTD4 went off without a hitch, even got over into Arkansas and went all the way up Interstate 540. Some very scenic, er, scenery. I definitely plan to go back along it again, although this time I think I'll wait until most of the vegetation turns green.
Vacation Road Trip Day 5 was a different story. Was going along, gettin' some good pics, when all of a sudden my left rear tire goes flat. Apparently ran over something pretty sharp, cause there was a huge gash in the side of the tire. (Do not, under any circumstances, take OK-99A between OK-56 & OK-48, south of Okemah!)
Got the emergency spare on, and limped my way back to Okemah. Got the tire replaced at R&G Auto Service, seven miles west of Okemah on OK-56. Their rates were very resonable (got that one tire changed for less than it cost to get one replaced last week at Hibdon in Tulsa), they were very nice, and I am recommending them to anyone who develops car problems in the Okemah area.
Still have a few state highways from Day 5 to post on the road page, then I'll be caught up for awhile. Startin' to get a little skittish about going out on these trips. Next time, I think I'll rent a car.
Got the Christmas lights up. Compared to everyone else's displays, mine sucks. But hey, it's the thought, right? Also changed the background colors here, gettin' them a little more seasonal.
Pete Rose is trying to get reinstated into baseball so he can get into the Hall of Fame, despite the fact all the evidence shows is bet on baseball, he very likely bet on games he was playing (both a very huge no-no in the MLB bylaws), and he still won't fess up to it.
As far as participation in baseball, I feel that as long as he admits to making the bets he should be allowed to participate in the sport. He would make somebody a great color commentator. But I draw the line at letting him in the Hall of Fame. After all, he did violate the rules of the sport in a very major way, and I see no reason why he should receive any accolades that would accompany a Hall of Fame induction. There's a reason why it's called a lifetime ban.
What I would recommend, however, is that Major League Baseball redefine the word lifetime. As it stands now, lifetime in terms of the Hall of Fame basically means "for the life of the Earth." I think that's a little drastic. I suggest shortening it to "the life of the player."
This way, Pete Rose, and his fans, will know he's gonna get into the Hall of Fame, but not until he's dead, and won't be around to enjoy it. 6:16pm
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Entry 29 December 17, 2002 12:00 am |
This is not turning out to be one of my better holiday seasons. For instance, as I was typing out the word 'seasons' above, my slow-poke computer wanna-be had only displayed up to the word 'one'. Took another ten seconds for it to catch up. Half of the blinking Christmas lights I put up no longer blink, and another display that alternates between green and red is stuck on the green. The Christmas parties at work have been cancelled this year. My plans to go see the lights in Muskogee and at Rhema appear to have fallen through.
Oh, and when you're making out your bills, be sure to pay attention to what you're doing. If you intend to pay only the amount due, be absolutely sure that's the amount you put on the check. I got distracted and, as a result, found out today that I had accidentally paid off one of my credit cards in full instead of just paying the $15.00 amount due. I can only hope that the electric bill I paid doesn't make it back to my bank before pay day Friday.
So much for me getting anybody any Christmas presents this year. Happy Humbug! 4:29pm
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Entry 30 (Note: 30-32 are shown backwards. Quirk of the software, nothing I can do about it. Sorry.) December 23, 2002 12:00 am |
Since the last entry my holiday season has improved slightly, from 'sucky' to 'mixed':
--First day back at work from my two-week vacation, I was late getting off work because my relief was late getting in. Minus.
--The reason he was late getting in was because he had stopped in the lobby for a few minutes. Pizza guy was there trying to unload about two dozen pizzas. Another department had ordered them, but had specifically asked that they be made and delivered in a few hours, not immediately. On my way out I got a large pepperoni pizza for five bucks! Big plus.
--Discovered people are actually reading this page. My workmates were checking up on my progress during my vacation. Plus.
--Another co-worker has been coming in to work sick all week Saturday he didn't come in at all. Strep. And I haven't been feeling too well since I went back to work. Thought it was just due to lack of sleep, now I'm not so sure. Potentially-humongous minus.
--The plans to see the lights had been rescheduled for tonight, until we started seeing the weather forecasts, so we were gonna try for last night. Didn't happen. So now, if we go at all this year it's gonna be next weekend, after Christmas. Just isn't the same. Minus.
--Chandler on "Friends" got tired of being away from Monica, especially on Christmas, so he quit his job in Tulsa & returned to New York for good. Means no more Okie jokes. And, this weekend NBC announced the show has been renewed for another season. Plus and plus.
--A winter storm is heading into the area. The rain has already started, and later in the day it is supposed to change to snow. Last night the weather guy on TV was saying that by the time the storm passed Tuesday afternoon we should get 6-12 inches of the white stuff. The overnight National Weather Service forecast had dropped it to 5-8 inches, and the morning weather guy just said 3-5 inches. I know lotsa people around here would like a White Christmas, but unlike most of them, I haveta drive to work on Christmas Day. Plus if the amount of snow keeps dropping (¼-½" would be acceptable), minus if it winds up heavier than forecast.
--When I woke up & looked outside I saw that the neighborhood animals had gotten in the trash. Minus, 'cause congested me had to go out in the rain & clean it up.
--With one regular-season week left in the NFL, only two AFC teams have made it to the playoffs, with ten teams still vying for the last four slots. Plus, because it means practically every game next week has significance.
--Another Dallas Cowboys coach is about to be fired. Minus, until owner Jerry Jones realizes the problem isn't with the coach, it's with owner Jerry Jones. I will never forgive him for how he dumped Tom Landry, and until he sells the team I constantly hope they never win another game. Ever!
--Currently got Regis & Kelly on the tube (200 channels & nothing else on) and just realized something: unlike practically every other talk show that has ever been on the air, R&K allow flash photography by the audience members during the show. That's nice. Plus.
OK, so the plusses are currently outweighing the minuses. But not by much. That's the problem with the holiday season: it forces you to choose between being overjoyed and underjoyed. Unlike the rest of the year, it's hard to stay just, er, joyed. 9:25am
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Entry 31 December 23, 2002 12:00 am |
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As I'm typing this it looks like the snow has stopped for the moment, and none too soon. I've been hearing branches cracking off some of the trees in the back yard (upper left pic, BTW). It's just a matter of time before one of those branches falls on a power line.
In a way, I'm glad I screwed up paying that one bill. If I hadn't, I'd've been out today doing Christmas shopping. But since I have to wait until next pay day, I can stay at home all snug & warm. As long as the roads are cleaned off by the time I have to go back to work Wednesday, I think I'll be fine.
As long as I don't have to get back up on that ladder to clean off the satellite dish again. Can't stand heights. 2:15pm
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Entry 32 December 23, 2002 12:00 am |
Here's a link to Channel 2's towercam, to see how the roads currently look. There are some other streetcams out there that I usually frequent, but as of this typing they're all snowed over. This one is the only good one I coud find. Another currently-good cam can be found on Channel 6's home page, here's the link for it. (Can't link you straight to the web cam, because channel 6 frequently and selfishly rotates the page location, so that people like me can't provide links to particular graphics; they'd rather make you visit their home page so they can deliberately inflate their counter numbers.)
The news stations are breaking in with updates roughly every half-hour. According to Travis on Channel 8 (OK, equal time: here's a link to that station's weather page) the Tulsa area has received from 3 to 8 inches of snow, depending on what part of town you're in, with another 1-2 inches expected before the storm passes tomorrow. And Travis says if you don't have front-wheel drive, don't even try to get out in this.
It has started to snow again here, but very lightly. At least, compared to what it was doing earlier. 2:43pm
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Entry 33 December 24, 2002 12:00 am |
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Well, the final totals are in: Tulsa officially got six inches
of snow yesterday and another 1½ inches this morning, guaranteeing
Tulsa's sixth White Christmas in my lifetime (37 years). The sun ever-so-briefly
tried to shine through today, helping to create some whopping icicles,
as seen above left. And above right are some people playing in the nearby
schoolyard. Hard to see it in the picture but at the bottom of the slide
they had formed some snow into a launching ramp. One kid was a good few
feet in the air. The snowfall caused part of the roof to collapse at the 31st & Garnett Hobby Lobby. Maybe now they'll have an excuse to redesign the place. Most women I know who go there are only after stuff at one end of the building or the other, and they don't care anything about the stuff in between. I realize that was probably the point of designing it that way, but that still doesn't make it right.
Tried to take a picture of the outside of my house last night, but as I tried to do it from the street so I wouldn't have to walk through deep snow I was too far away to get anything good. Was able to get a closeup of one area, though.
Well, tomorrow it's back to work, so hopefully the sun will come out and try the roads off, despite how cold it's gonna be (it's already 22 on my front porch, so it's gonna be a coooollllllllllllld one tonight). Probably won't have another update for a few days, so let me take this time to wish everyone a Merry Christmas.
Oh, and wish me luck on tomorrow night's Powerball drawing. 10:16pm
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Entry 34 December 30, 2002 12:00 am |
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According to the temperature gauge on my front porch, the last time the temperature was below freezing was Thursday morning, so the snow has been melting continuously since then. And melting into my basement. And flooding the base of the hot water heater so that the pilot light goes out. I have had to relight the pilot five times since Friday, and I still have to do it a sixth. The snow was totally melted by Sunday afternoon, so hopefully this will be the last time.
We finally got around to looking at the Christmas lights last night. Got several pictures of the lights, most of them blurred, but they have also been posted to the Excursions section.
Didn't win Powerball (didn't match a single number, in fact), but have started early designs on my Powerball house. Three stories, connecting indoor-outdoor pools, and miniature golf course. If there are enough millions left over, a Route 66 museum with a unique shape. More on that some other day.
Not much else has gone on. Special message coming tomorrow. 10:10pm
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Entry 35 December 31, 2002 12:00 am |
Well, here's the Special Message, from my neighborhood Coney Island:
Does it get any more blatant? Anyway, here's wishing you all a happy and safe new year. Hope your 2003 is infinitely better than your 2002. 2:32pm
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