Entry 26:
4 December 2002, 7:55pm
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.
Entry 27: 8 December 2002, 10:35pm
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!
Entry 28: 12 December 2002, 6:16pm
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.
Entry 29: 17 December 2002, 4:29pm
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!
Entry 30: 23 December 2002, 9:25am
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.
