It’s been a while since I’ve shared what is going on in downtown Tulsa. So grab your coat and put on your hat and lets go.

First, Winterfest, not much going on at noon but in the evening they have ice skating and hot chocolate.

The ice rink is problematical. Sometimes they have trouble with keeping the ice frozen especially when it is windy. The operators of the rink say that the wind is a problem because the air friction with the ice creates heat that melts the ice. HAH!! Wrong. As a licensed professional chemical engineer I’d tell them that the air temperature is higher than the ice temperature so the air cools and the ice warms. The wind accelerates this. We call this convective heat transfer. If the sun is shining and warming the ice. That is called radiative heat transfer.

Lots of construction going on these days. One of my customers is building their own building. SHUDDER, I hope they make it. Building our own building in the energy business is risky. They are a conservative well managed company

The old and the new. The Midcontinent Building is in the distance. Built back in the 20’s when Tulsa’s energy industry was wheeling and dealing. Of course the black buildings in the foreground are modern. They are also the headquarters for Samson. A family owned oil company that recently sold itself to Kohlberg Kravis and Roberts (“KKR”) for $7.2 Billion. Reportedly the second biggest buyout in the USA this year. Wheeling and dealing is still going on in Tulsa. Just think shale oil and gas.

Next, a monument to Tulsa Firemen. I had to kind of study this a little bit. The guy in front is from the early 20th century the guy in back in contemporary. Tulsa firemen (and firemen the world over are awesome.)

Right around the corner is Tulsa’s monument to exotic dancers. Yeah, that what it looks like to me anyway. I don’t know why they are so close to the firemen.

Salvation Army bell ringers. Haven’t seen them in years downtown.

In what I think is the outstanding idea of the year is popup shops. Several local merchants have set up temporary stores in a couple of the old art deco buildings. They sell lots of cool stuff much of it handmade locally.  I love it, love it, love it. They are going to be open until December 30.

If nothing else check out the the lobby of the Philcade building. Host to many of the popups. The downtown deco building owners are very proud of their properties. They encourage photography and some of them have fact sheets the guards will give you. I love that generosity of spirit.

Know something else. My favorite Christmas decorations are wreaths. There, you guys now everything about me.

Hey look it’s Occupy Tulsa. Occupying looks like boring stuff to me. I don’t know how they are doing overhauling our financial system but they stay busy with general assemblies, working groups, and facebook updates. I have never seen them use the weird hand signals they use to facilitate consensus during their meetings. I guess they don’t need them when the five of them get together.

Last stop the cake shop across the street from the office. I love what people are doing with cake design these days.