Category Archives: Myself

Easter Weekend Happenings

Whirlwind Easter Weekend. Saturday SuperPizzaBoy and I were by ourselves most of the day. I had taxes to do but the weather was too nice, plus I had a brand spanking new Garmin Nuvi 500 crossover GPSr that needed a workout, so we went Geocaching! Found two, one in east Tulsa took an hour to hike to and then find. SPB got a little tired of that one.

First two ticks of the season. One for him, and one for me. So we are tied!!!!

Then Sweetie and Nana made it up from Antlers with Nana’s two kittys. Meet Gypsy (calico) and Piwacket (“Wackycat”). They are spending their time getting acclimated to Nana’s new house in Broken Arrow. Gypsy was nervous and moved into Piwacket’s crate, Wacky wasn’t too happy about that. Move in is later this week! Got to meet one of Nana’s new neighbors also.

Sunday night dinner, Yogi cooked his specialty fried chicken. Hadn’t cooked it in about 15 years. It took me a little to get the hang of it again but everybody said it was pretty good. Sweetie says that I can cook it for Mother’s day. I think I will!!

The drumstick on the left tasted better than it looks.

Then a cut throat game of Farkle. A very fun game with 6 dice that I got as a birthday present. Its fun. But I never win!!! What’s up!!

Oh yeah, and I finished the taxes.

Yogi Needs …

I’ve been tagged by Baloney to participate in the “Needs” game. Its simple you type “ needs” in the Google search box and see what the first ten items are.

So here’s mine,

1. Yogi needs to do a few yoga poses in the most unlikely of places. ( Yogi needs to learn Yoga first maybe.)
2. Yogi needs to live a disciplined life. (No I don’t)
3. Yogi needs a home for 4 days. (Till Sweetie calms down maybe?)
4. Yogi needs a fenced-in yard due to his lack of sight. (Yep, and I’m not housebroken either.)
5. Yogi needs to get started on the path to a healthy, happy life. (Yes, instead of the path to ruin, destruction, and despair that I’m currently on.)
6. Yogi needs to understand that we do not have to be DOING things all the time. (I already understand that, I’m very good at not doing things.)
7. Yogi needs only one word. (hmmm….. I got it “Beer”)
8. Yogi needs a pair. (I totally agree.)
9. Yogi needs to properly align the body and stack the Spinal. (uhhhh … I’m going to click on that link.)
10. Yogi needs a live action movie (I wonder if there is movie that shows how to stack spinals.)

I tried using my real name also but I like the results using Yogi better.

I’m supposed to tag several people but I’m not. If you are reading this and want to participate go ahead! Give us a link in the comments so we can see what yours are

Boys Night Out

Once a month when Sweetie goes to book group, SuperPizzaBoy and I have “Boys Night Out.”

First we go get something to eat. We go to Johnnies a lot for hamburgers. Our other favorite spot is Mexacali’s for Mexican food. That is where we went Tuesday night. SPB is relaxing with a pre-dinner drink.

I was going to get a picture of the chicken fajitas I ordered but didn’t remember until I was well into them. You will thank me for not taking a picture of a half eaten plate of food. I considered it though.

After we eat we do various things. We have a whole series of geocaches we have placed in Tulsa named “Boys Night Out” with some tag on the end. They have proved pretty popular. That is mainly in the summer though. It takes time to properly place and hide a geocache and determine the coordinates.

Sometimes we play miniature golf, Lazer Quest is fun, Tulsa Driller Baseball Games, we have done a lot of stuff.

Tonight we did something different!

We went home so I could repair the oven. Actually I had to cut the power to it. The bake coil needs replacing and I won’t have one until Friday or Monday. The oven is on the same circuit as the range and microwave. Leaving the oven off wasn’t working. The old coil was heating up with the oven off so I shut off the breaker. So tonight’s task was to safely cut off the power to the oven.

Looks like fun huh! I have to do it right. If I screw up and the house burns down, I would never hear the end of it. Plus Sweetie may not go geocaching with me on my birthday. I love her very much but she can be mean sometimes.

So far so good.

Its Too Early in the Morning

About two or three mornings a week I venture from the house at about 5:45 am to go to my gym to workout. I just kind of get in automatic and somehow, even without coffee, I get there. I’ve been doing this for about 8 years so I’m pretty much in the groove.

Last week one morning, I was driving along in my groove. I passed a Tulsa Police car, and something chirped. It sounded like it was in my car. Now I’ve got all sorts of gadgets that are never very far from me even at that time. All of them make various chirps, beeps, and rings as part of what they do but this was different. I was looking around and trying to figure out what is going on.

I pulled up to a stop light and suddenly I heard from the car to my left and back a loudspeaker going off. I wasn’t really paying attention to what it was saying. I was still trying to figure if the chirp was one of my gadgets or a pre-explosion warning for my car. In my line of business, radios on external speakers are pretty common. If you have a com radio you can switch to an outside speaker so when you are out of your car watching other people work you can hear if your boss is about to show up.

Anyways, then the voice got louder and I looked out and back and the policeman in the car was glaring at me, yelling into his mike, talking about speeding, and checking my spedometer, yada yada yada. And then he took off giving me a hard glare on a swiveling neck as he passed by. I still don’t know most of what he said. I mean I could hear that it was high volume but I couldn’t make out the words very well.

And then I figured it out. I’m very slow at my fastest and I’m glacier speed this early in the morning. He had given me a friendly little chirp from his car to slow me down and I didn’t respond. And, then when he tried to give me a friendly little loudspeaker chat I wouldn’t even look at him.

So I don’t know what the deal is. I am certain that I was not speeding. I am certain that my spedometer works (It matches exactly the speed reading on my gps the few times I’ve checked it.) However, I am certain that I violated a fundamental rule. Never pass a policeman, unless other people are, and further, never ever ignore them. I’m also pretty sure that I had pissed him off somehow.

Not a good start to my day, acting like a dumbass. I’m not sure that this loudspeaker citizen communication program the guy was trying to do works very well either.I suspect that he had a call to go to and didn’t have time to mess with me.

Hey, check out the Tulsa Police Blog. All sorts of stuff on it.

Geek License, part iv

I got a letter from the State today. They have accepted my supplemental documentation on my Continuing Education credits. So I keep my registration.

Whew.

My self image restored.

Blog Ministry

I haven’t blogged in a few days. I hadn’t really felt like it. Last Friday night I received a registered letter from the state (is it just me or does no good news ever come by registered letter?) that informed by that I was losing my dweeb certification, oops, I mean Professional Engineer’s License because I had not passed an audit on my continuing education hours.

I was dumbfounded. I had sat through numerous seminars hearing about the poetry of subcooled reflux, the music of advanced feedforward control systems, and art of molecular sieve regeneration, all for the only purpose of grabbing the little CE certificates that they pass out at the end of the seminars. I had saved those certificates, and made copies just in case I lost the originals and scanned those and saved on two separate computers. Because you have to have those for the random audits the state performs. I was about the only person I knew that had not been audited yet so I knew it was coming and I WAS READY, BRING IT ON!

They did. I got a registered letter this past summer telling me that I was being audited and what I needed to do. So I put my stuff together, gathered up all my certificates and even included little notes on the certificates indicating what CE log entries they corresponded to. I sent it off to them and didn’t give it a second thought until last Friday.

Then Friday the shock. I don’t really understand why they didn’t take the stuff but I’ll deal with it. I couldn’t do anything right then because I had to take SuperPizzaBoy down to Southeast OK to meet up with Sweetie and her Mom, (SPB’s “Nana”).

Saturday, wasn’t a great day either. I’ll just leave it at that.

We drove back home Saturday night. Sunday morning, we had an issue with SuperPizzaBoy. Not a real big deal but he kind of escalated it by not taking responsibility for what he did. That didn’t help the outlook. Then the poor child said he wanted a friend to come over, we told him that we had a lot of stuff to do and that maybe he could help. Then he said that he wasn’t going to do “woman’s work.” That got everything going again!

So then I did my morning routine, used to be I made the coffee and opened up the paper. Now, the paper can wait, I read Baloney’s blog and then play her daily trivia quiz. Sunday she had a few kind words to say about me. Of course as self centered as I am that made my day. The other stuff is still there but things brightened up for me with her comments. We all like scratched behind the ears every now and then, right? Baloney is kind of like that I think. She just passes out electronic noogies left and right, brightening up everybody’s day so I’m beginning to think of her blog as a blog ministry.

She might need counseling in the area of appropriate photography in bathrooms, bathtubs, and dressing rooms, her love of “bad photos” and the use pictures of naked and practically naked people on the internet but we all have our challenges. Plus I’m still kind of confused by the slacks underneath dresses type fashion phase she went through but as Sweetie would tell me, those who live in glass houses…”

Anyway, her few words brightened up my day and I was able to even get through Dallas losing to the Redskins without breaking anything.

She had awarded me one of seven awards to other bloggers. So I get to proudly display the accompanying logo. I don’t really know 7 bloggers, so I am going to award one and hold the other six and dole them out as time goes by.

The rules of this award are:

1. The winner can (and should, really) put the logo on their blog.
2. The winner must link to the person from whom they received their award.
3. The winner must nominate at least 7 other blogs for an award.
4. The winner must place links to those blogs on their own blog.
5. The winner must leave a message on the blogs of the people they’ve nominated.

Drum roll please.

I make my one award to my niece Dana who is living and working down in Australia. She doesn’t post very much (hint to you Dana) but what she does say is very interesting to me. She is one of my top three nieces and the oldest as well as being one smart cookie. Dana and her two sisters, Mary, and Jillian are all smart as whips and are sweet as can be, most of the time, at least when they are around their dweeby uncle. Of course I’m prejudiced, but I’m also right.

Tagged Again

My fellow blogger Baloney tagged me in her blog so now you get to find out even more about me and I get to know more about you because by reading this you are tagged.

Here is how it is done.

A) People who have been tagged must write their answers on their blogs & replace any question that they dislike with a new question. (note, you’ll need to pull the list of questions from Baloney’s post above if you want to see which one I switched out)

B) Tag 8 people to do this quiz.

1.How many songs are on your iPod? I have 173 songs on my ipod.

2. What music would you want played at your funeral? Hey funerals are not for the dead guy, they are for the survivors. So as long as its not sentimental or maudlin I’ll be ok with whatever. Of course I’m assuming that people will show up. Softly and Tenderly is my favorite hymn. If that could be worked in appropriately that would be great. Also, the Door’s “Break on Through (to the Other Side)” would be lovely and would fit the theme, but I don’t see the pastor of our church going for it.

3.What magazines do you have subscriptions to? I love magazines! I get Scientific American (pushing close to 40 years with that one.), National Geographic, Wired, New Yorker, US News and World Report, Outside, and Sports Illustrated. In addition Sweetie and I fight over her Southern Living magazine. I read the online editions of the Wall Street Journal and the New York times.

4. What is your favorite scent? Pinon smoke.

5. If you had a million dollars that you could only spend on yourself, what would you do with it?

I would buy a nice house and property out in the country somewhere.

6. What is your theme song? Invisible Kid by Metallica.

7. Do you trust easily? Yes, too easily but I have learned a lot over the years. Tuition for the school of life is very high.

8. Do you generally think before you act, or act before you think? I generally think before I act. People think that I’m very analytical but I make decisions based on my gut feeling. I have very good analytical skills and I use them but I have to make the analysis fit with my gut before I am comfortable making a decision. Sometimes that takes some time. The scenarios I run in my mind involve trying to figure out how I would feel about the various possible outcomes. It is hard to explain.

9.Is there anything that has made you unhappy these days? The energy business is going crazy so work is very demanding. I love my job but I am running way behind.

10. Do you have a good body-image? Yep I have a great image of a body. Oh, you mean the image of MY body. What can I say, it ain’t pretty but its mine.

11. Is being tagged fun? Yep, I think it is interesting to read other people’s answers. I think it is chicken though to change the questions you don’t like. (just kiddin)

12. How do you spend your social networking (Facebook, etc.) time? I read two blogs faithfully, Baloney’s because she is a good writer and has something every day. I have a niece in Australia who blogs infrequently but it is about life as an expatriate there so I find it interesting also. I have two other nieces in Colorado who are on Myspace and I like reading what they have to say. I have a myspace page also so I check n what is up with them. Plus I like writing in my blog. I have journaled for close to 38 years so blogging is an extension of that.

13. What have you been seriously addicted to lately? The blogging, geocaching, reading, running, lifehacker.com.

14. What kind of person do you think the person who tagged you is? Baloney brings a lot of focus to whatever she is doing.

15. What’s the last song that got stuck in your head? Cyanide by Metallica.

16.What’s your favorite item of clothing? Carhart henley shirts and cargo shorts. Convenience, comfort are tops.

17. What is the perfect birthday cake? Sweetie can make several killer chocolate cakes. She is the best birthday cake cook of all time.

18. What cartoon character is most like you? The pointy haired boss in Dilbert.

19. What items could you not go without during the day? My Palm Treo.

20. What should you be doing right now? Paying Bills.

I think that I have only two people who read my blog on a regular basis, one is Baloney, Sweetie doesn’t blog but I will put her on the list. I’ll also see if my three nieces will participate.

Those who participate, please tell me in a comment where to find your responses.

Tagged!

I’ve been “tagged” by Baloney. Two different things. Six random things about myself and and then one word answers to a list of 33 questions. I admit it. I love talking about myself.

If you are a blogger, you are tagged also. Please link in the comments section. If you aren’t – feel free to leave your own random things about yourself.

Six random things about myself.

1. I’ve kept a diary for 37 years. Until earlier this year it was paper and pen. Then I started experimenting with th online google docs. Then my wife turned me on to Baloney’s blog. So this blog is a substitute for my old diary. I’m still experimenting with it.

2. I’m one of the few people who love my job. I have a commercial type job with a natural gas company. I like who I work with. I like the company. I like my customers and I love the industry. I am very lucky.

3.The older I get the calmer I am getting except for a few things. Hurting people or animals makes me angry. Vandalism makes me angry. Injustice infuriates me. My wife and I have a son with special needs and we have come to know many other parents who have children with special needs. The callousness and cynicism of our public schools toward children of special needs makes my angry and frustrated beyond words. I cannot hardly deal with it.

An oil and gas producer yelling and screaming. I let them scream. I feel like a big old rock with waves breaking over me. I don’t fight back, I just let the waves crash until they cannot go anymore. Then we can talk. Putting up with public schools when we did that with our child or hearing about the ordeals that other parents go through makes me unglued.

4. I need to be outside at least a little bit every day, no matter how hot or cold, rainy, snowy, or what. If I don’t go outside at least for a few minutes every day I get this weird since of despair.

5. I love running. I cannot run fast. I don’t run that much, two or three times a week for maybe 12 to 15 miles. I love to run outside, in the morning before work. It makes me feel strong and sets me up for the day. I run early Sunday mornings with a group of guys before church. I love it.

6. I love geocaching. Check out geocaching.com if you don’t know what that is. It involves finding caches hidden by others and setting caches yourself. I love finding them and setting them out. My son, SuperPizzaBoy and have found over 700 and have hidden 22 of them. I almost live for it.

One Word Answers to Questions

1. Where is your cell phone? bathroom vanity

2. Where is your significant other? Here in the house.

3. Your hair? sparse

4. Your mother? gone

5. Your father? content

6. Your favorite thing? GPS

7. Your dream last night? none

8. Your dream/goal? contentment

9. The room you’re in? Living

10. Your hobby? geocaching

11. Your fear? abandonment

12. Where do you want to be in 6 years? Here

13. Where were you last night? Home

14. What you’re not? dancer

16. One of your wish list items? peace

17. Where you grew up? Mountains

18. The last thing you did? Laundry

19. What are you wearing? comfort

20. Your TV? football

21. Your pet? dogsncats

22. Your computer? Toshiba

24. Your mood? Nervous

25. Missing someone? yes

26. Your car? like

27. Something you’re not wearing? socks

28. Favorite store? Belks

29. Your summer? quick

30. Love someone? Ohyes

31. Your favorite color? blue

32. When is the last time you laughed? today

33. Last time you cried? Funeral