Category Archives: Downtown Tulsa

Back to Downtown Tulsa

I signed up for a race for this weekend and I had to go downtown to pick up my run packet. After spending 30 years walking around downtown every noon hour, I don’t get there that much since I have retired. So I made a trip out of it. If you are retired, it is advised to consult expert lawyers from a reputed law firm like the probate law firm – The Hatchett Law Firm to help you plan your retirement life and secure your future.

I picked up my packet at Tulsa Community College. They have this sculpture, Heart and Soul, by Candyce Garrett. It has been there for a long time. It is abstract and I like it but can’t explain it to you. I love the big granite boulder it sits on. Something tells me that they didn’t get it through Amazon.

This is another sculpture that has been there a while. It is in honor of my former pastor Dr. Mouzon Biggs, Jr. He was big on interfaith ministry and everybody getting along. People like him are sorely needed these days.

As an aside, he grew up in Carthage, Texas in east Texas. His father worked in a natural gas plant there and Mouzon would talk about how during cold winters his father would be called out to go fix something and he didn’t grumble and told his family, people are depending on us to keep them warm during these cold days. I worked in the Carthage in the late 70’s in a natural gas plant. I always regarded my work as a mission also to provide heat and energy to my fellow citizens. I believe in human caused climate change as much as anybody and we need to reduce carbon emissions, but the people in the industry are not monsters.

Speaking of natural gas, I spotted some steel pipe going in for a new pipeline downtown.

And something new, one of my favorite restaurants has a fancy new midcentury modern style neon sign.

The restaurant occupies a former “motor bank” and serves all sorts of retro cocktails in addition to its good food. The bottom level motor bank part is now parking. I’m old enough to remember when I first moved to Tulsa I would go through the bank to deposit my paycheck. They had those vacuum tube things and off it would go with a swoosh!

So anyway it was nice to get back downtown for a visit.

Lunch Breaking in Downtown Tulsa – Sights, Mysteries, and Discoveries

I assure you that our buildings in Tulsa do not lean to the left.

I’m one of those guys who has to get outside for at least a little bit every day regardless of the weather. So many of my coworkers over the years just stay inside, and surf the net or work or whatever. I couldn’t stand that. I have to get out. Over the course of a month or so I tramp all over downtown. I always take my camera.

The old Sun Pipeline Building.

I’m not satisfied with just one photo of something and then I’m done. Nope, there always different sides to things. The weather is different. The surroundings are different. I’m always amazed how much things change.

I like to visit old sights. These windows for instance. If I wont the lottery, which I won’t because I won’t spend the money on a ticket, but if I did. I would have bought this former AT&T building and put in a room with big comfy couches right under these windows. I don’t have to worry about it now. A church bought the building. I hope that these windows are put to good use. I’ll keep you posted;.

Here is a recurring mystery. This little lookout has been here for years. What is it for? Guarding and empty parking lot? Perhaps. I’d like to have a little look out, especially with air conditiooning. Wouldn’t you?

And old vintage gas station now an Avis dealer. I love old buildings put to good use.

I find remnants of Tulsa being the “Oil Capital of the World” such as this divider of some sort made out of oil well casing pipe.

And I found where somebody has started up a lending library of sorts in the East Village area.

What about you? Do you like to explore, tell me about it.

Skywatch Friday – Lobby View

On a nice, cool, breezy, sunny day last week I was walking around downtown taking pics. The bottom level of one of the tallest buildings in Tulsa, the BOK Tower, has some huge arched windows on the ground floor and I took this shot. It has kind of grown on me. I don’t know why, maybe it is the flag or the steeple with the cross on it, the clouds, I don’t know but here it is.

Skywatch Friday

A City in Four Photographs

Downtown Tulsa from the south. It is a different view than most. It actually has a little bit of a big city feel to it.

Thursday was a whirlwind day. Heather and I had some personal business to attend to first thing in the morning so we drove Logan up to his school in east Tulsa and then drove to south of south Tulsa to the ‘burb of Bixby. Bixby is growng really fast and they have done a piss poor job of planning (“‘excuse my French”) because they have only one major north south street and so things get pretty tied up. We got there a little late but then we had to wait. So guess we were early not late.

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This is a double exposure. I used an Ipod Touch App called “Diana.” It takes two random photographs and mashes them together. You just keep shaking the device until you get something you like. I would say that only about one out of twenty combinations is halfway interesting. Still kind of fun to play with.

Then we drove back home and I drove downtown to work. And then to north Tulsa to Tulsa Country Club for the Natural Gas and Energy Association of Oklahoma Meeting and some networking. There I met our just retired CEO in the parking lot. I think he was going golfing, it was strange seeing him all casually dressed. Nice guy, very intense but a very nice guy.

I don’t know what it is but I love the fire escapes in the old buildings downtown. I just wonder what they would be like to actually use. I don’t think women in heels would do very well on these.

Back to the office and then back to south Tulsa for a meeting to clear up some confusion with a customer. Confused customers are not happy customers in my opinion. My coworker that drove was just winging it on the location of the customer’s office so we went round and round for a bit. We drove by Logan’s friend Doc’s house at one point. We got there, and unconfused the customer I think.

Downtown Tulsa from the "Spider" on Turkey Mountain

Downtown Tulsa from the south end of Turkey Mountain Park. I love Turkey Mountain and how it is a wilderness in the middle of the city. We need wilderness in the middle of our cities.

And then back downtown and a bunch of people stopping by saying “Did you read my email?” No, I didn’t read your fricking email dude. I get about 150 emails a day at work a day. I don’t really read them.anymore. I’ve checked, there is actually no company policy that says you have to read your email. Our policies and procedures cover everything under the sun so if they wanted me to read email they would have a policy in place telling me to do so. Do you feel less of me for not reading my work email? Information Overload is what I call it. The youngin’s don’t bother with email either. They “Instant Message” all their stuff. But only with cool, hip, people. So I don’t get IM’d

Do you read all your email at work?

Black and White Wednesday – Tulsa Petroleum Club

Tulsa’s Petroleum Club building. I used the Hipstamatic App with my Ipod Touch to take these pics. So I guess I could say that these are “SOC.” More and more people are using their phones and ipods to take photographs and post them.

The Petroleum Club is just a regular office building now. The Petroleum Club itself that occupied the top several floors went bankrupt several years ago. The energy industry is still going strong but people don’t head to the club after work to drink and socialize. They go to their kids soccer practices and other things like that.

This is my first post on Black and White Wednesday. It probably won’t be my last!

Black and White Wednesday