We went out to Western Oklahoma to visit Sweetie’s family last weekend. Out there, the sun burns hot and bright during the day.
Everybody looks forward to the sunset.
SuperPizzaBoy decided it was cool enough finally to come out for a swim.
How hot has it been where you are?
Last weekend the ventured to Clinton, Oklahoma for Sweetie’s family reunion. While there SuperPizzaBoy and I ventured to the very nice Route 66 Museum. It is a great museum but I was struck by how much gas station memorabilia they had. Especially the signs. I had actually worked for many of those companies.
My first oilfield job was with Mobil Oil. I worked as a summer roustabout in the Permian Basin of west Texas for two years and as a summer engineer one year. Mobil was my first employer out of college. I worked as the West Ranch oilfield on the Texas Gulf Coast That was back in the day. The employees were very proud of their company and it was a big family atmosphere. Mobil is now part of Exxon.
My second job was with Champlin Petroleum in east Texas. Champlin was a medium size very aggressive exploration company that was part of the Union Pacific Railroad. Their assets are now owned by the huge independent Anadarko Petroleum.
I worked for Shell for a couple years here in Oklahoma. They bought the assets I was working for and then they sold them. I never did figure those guys out. One thing, though, don’t call their shell a “clam.” That drove the Shell lifers nuts. So I always made it a point to do so. It is called a “Pecten.” To me, it will always be a clam.
Check out Signs, Signs.
(My Canon Soul)
I got me a new car. Yep, I turned in the old 2002 Toyota Tacoma pickup and got a brand spanking new Kia Soul.
(My Takashi blue tint Soul)
I loved the truck and didn’t ever have a problem with it but I didn’t like 18 mpg mileage.
(Lomographic Soul #1)
Plus we don’t go camping any more so I didn’t need to carry all the gear that it takes to go camping. Especially when you are an old fat guy like me that likes his comforts.
(Lomographic Soul #2)
And I had been conferring with the family mechanic. To get all the recommended service done would have been quite a chunk of money, and I’d still have a truck with over a 100K miles.
(Lomographic Double Exposure Soul)
The Soul doesn’t have the best mileage out there and it isn’t the lowest price, and it looks like kind of strange. I was all set to buy a Honda Fit but found out that to get satellite radio built in I would have to pay $2000 for a “Navigation Package” but that it would give me turn by turn directions. Sorry Honda, I’m a geocacher. I own four GPS’s. I got turn by turn directions out the butt. Bad move Honda!!!
(Sweetie deciding whether she is going to steal my Soul.)
But it is funky looking, I can plug my ipod to it, it has Satellite Radio. It has good power, its fun to drive. Lots and lots of safety features, and a great warranty. You sit upright, and I liked the dealer and the sales lady. It’s not a sedan. I kind of wanted an Austin Mini. This is my cheaper, more reliable, roomier, higher sitting up Austin Mini that I can plug my Ipod Touch into.
Plus it has a cool commercial. I don’t recall ever having seen the commercial but I am very good at tuning out commercials and boring people.
This commercial appeals to my young, hip, urban, contemporary midlife crisis side.
Wish me well!
Today is Independence Day!! It’s the day to show our flag.
And shoot fireworks.
But lets remember those who are serving and have served to make it possible for us to have our party.
Many, many served.
Some got hurt.
Some gave all they had.
Have a Great July 4th!
You know, it is 106 degrees out here, if there were any shade, and there isn’t. Lets get this show on the road!
The audience has had all the refreshments that they can stand. Nobody has shown up yet.
Well finally, is that him, the critter in the white coat?
Look, both of them are coming, we can finally get started!
Isn’t Juliette just the sweetest girl that you have ever seen?
Truthfully though, Romeo is such an ASS, if you ask me.
Oh Romeo, you big baby. Get back here.
Sorry guys, the big whiny baby has walked out. The show is cancelled. We have free treats for everybody. Check back tomorrow!
Check out the 7MSN Ranch for a patriotic donkey parade.
I bought The Outsiders at the annual book fair at my son’s school. It’s a slim paperback that can be read almost in one sitting. I’ve been interested in the book ever since seeing the movie of the same name. It was filmed on location here in Tulsa so it was interesting to see our former family church shown as a hospital and so on.
This is a very powerful little book. It is set in a city in the 60’s and it is about teenage gangs. There are two types of gangs, “greasers” and “socs” (pronounced “soshes” in the movie.) They don’t really know why they hate each other they just do. The protagonist in the book is Ponyboy, a greaser.
Everything is pretty cool between the gangs until somebody tries to bridge the gap. The result is immediate, violent and tragic. The book is about Ponyboy and his relationship with his family, friends, and fellow gang members and how he is trying to figure out what is going on in this world.
The book is marketed toward teenagers but I loved it. It is awesome and I give it four stars out of five.
The Social Animal is a fascinating non-fiction book. It is about how we make decisions about ourselves, others, and the choices we encounter. It is how we achieve success and how we define success. It presents a lot of research about how quickly we make judgments and how resistant we are to changing our judgments. It talks about how much we let our subconscious make decisions for us and how some people overrule their subconscious. He talks about what character is, how it can be molded and changed. Most of this isn’t just stuff that he believes. He cites research to back it up. Fascinating.
If you love Pop Psychology and Sociology (as I do!!), then you’ll love this book. It has proven to be very controversial among the so called experts so Mr. Brooks must be on to something. I am not qualified to pass judgement on his conclusions but I found him to be very insightful. I am not into building a personal library but I may keep this one. I will loan it out though, or you can to the library. If you buy, get a coupon.
I rate this this book 4.5 stars out of 5. I don’t rate too many books that high. Get it, read it, tell us what you think.
We got the Summertime Blues but we are pretty happy right now.
Have you ever had the Summertime Blues?
I like the Alan Jackson version
But I LOVE Blue Cheer’s version from the mid 1960’s. I couldn’t get enough of it. One of the early heavy metal songs. Love the drumming action, love the hair. It was all so shocking back then, now its funny. It is still a great song.