Snow Day

Well it is Saturday and it is a snow day at the Bates household. We are weenies weatherwise here in Tulsa. I don’t think it snowed more than two inches all day long but we didn’t go anywhere. Tulsa is just now set up very well for bad weather. I’m pretty confident that I can drive safely but many of my fellow Okies just refuse to accept that bad weather should change the way they drive.

It was pretty snowy up and down the street. And my thumb is still skin colored as you can see.

I love taking pictures of lawn ornaments when there is snow.

I had my favorite snow footgear. My insulated crocks. They are very warm and cozy and I can unsnap the liner and throw in the washer when it is dirty. Of course I haven’t done that yet. I’ve only had them for ten years so check back next year. What!

My obligatory macro pics. I’m not much of macro photographer. Of course I’m not much of any type of photographer. I’m much more comfortable with being called a picture taker. Most photographers would be much more comfortable calling me something besides a photographer also. So it is a win-win. Especially for those photographers who don’t like thumbs in the pics. We picture takers just take that in stride.

On snow days you eat good. Heather cooked this for my second breakfast and made a great stew for dinner. I contributed also, she cooked and I ate. We make a great team.

This is Abigail. Don’t feel sorry for her, she doesn’t want in, she wants somebody to come out and play with her.

Here is the obligatory snow shoveling selfie, complete with some more thumb. No extra charge. No charge for the big ole double chin either. I read that on selfies you are supposed to stick your chin out to avoid big double chins. Just think how many chins I would have if I hadn’t done that. Do you like my new tortoise shell glass frames. I like them. Everybody else goes on and on about how they like them in a manner that makes me think that maybe they don’t like them. You can also see my deviated septum. An old baseball injury from school. Oh well, so much for this.

This is just to prove that I shoveled the driveway. Not too many people do that in the neighborhood. I don’t know why. My next door neighbor does a good job though.

And here is the front of the house. Snow has its uses. I think the whole family enjoyed the snow day.

The Age of Disbelief

The March issue of National Geographic has a great article titled “The Age of Disbelief” discussing the rise of skepticism about science and our increased polarization. I found it fascinating.

Logan at Tulsa’s great Children’s Science Museum

It delved into the beliefs and disbeliefs of Climate Change, Evolution, The Moon Landing, Vaccinations, and Genetically Modified Organisms.

Indigenous South Dakota Giraffes

I liked the article because it delved into the reasons why people don’t accept science rather than attacking the people. Science, the article says, is often counter-intuitive. It doesn’t appear to make sense to us. Even scientists have trouble sometimes.

For instance, I know in my head and believe with all my heart that the earth revolves around the sun yet I can see with my own eyes that the sun comes up in the east and sets in the west. It takes considerable effort and the view of a night time sky to grasp the truth. That induces considerable awe when one begins to think about it and our place in the universe.

The whole evolution thing upsets lots of people. Many people don’t believe in evolution. The genius of the theory of evolution is that Darwin proposed it before we had any idea of DNA or RNA and all that. The problem of course with denying evolution is that one quickly moves to denying physics, chemistry, astronomy, and just about every other branch of science.

Logan at the wonderful City Museum in Saint Louis several years ago.

Vaccinations are another thing. Many well educated parents are not letting their children be vaccinated and that is endangering us all. The study published in 1998 in The Lancet has been thoroughly discredited but there are still many parents out there convinced that their children’s autism was caused by vaccinations.

Me, looking forward to more global warming

Climate change is getting a lot of press now. I’m a Chemical Engineer and I remember in my Heat Transfer classes in school discussions in our classes and text about radiative heat transfer and how certain molecules such as carbon dioxide help hold the heat on the earth. They didn’t talk about global warming because that wasn’t a concern back in the 1970’s.

Closest thing to a lab photo I had.

Many people don’t understand that science is more than just a set of facts, it is a method. It is a method that eventually gets to the truth. Some of my creationist friends tell me that scientists are always changing their minds. Well, duh, yes. That is what you do when new facts force you to change your beliefs.

Logan’s old school

The article points to a kind of tribalism that affects beliefs. The article asserts that people believe things because their “tribe” believes them. I think they are on to something. I’ve been long fascinated how beliefs are grouped up to a great extent. So that it seems to me that many evangelical Christians are also Republicans and also believe in the right to bear arms, creationism, and support the Keystone pipeline. Other people are Unitarians, who tend to be Democrats, vegans, abortion rights, and oppose the Keystone pipeline. (Everybody understands I’m going extremes, right?)

So, the article asserts, we believe things in order to retain membership in our tribe. (Maybe that is why sometimes I feel like I don’t have a tribe. Let me see, I’m a Christian, who is ambivalent about Keystone, am a devout evolutionist. I think GMO’s are probably harmless but support labelling because I think people have a right to know what the heck they are eating. I firmly believe in human climate change but wonder about our ability to reverse the changes that are coming.) Anyways the article implies that the tribalism leads to polarization. And I think polarization is bad.

Non GMO sheep. These sheep are pets who will probably die of old age.

So maybe the way out is to talk with each instead of at each other. The older I get the more I think people are entitled to their beliefs. I also think that beliefs and acting on those beliefs have consequences. I also think that our often timid science education is partly to blame. Too many people don’t understand the scientific method and how unmerciful it is too erroneous thinking. I’m not a scientist, I’m an engineer and I’ve been to technical conferences where the debates about these technical matters really got heated. Science will win in the end.

Horse mounted YogiCam

What do you think?

Additional Information: Infographics, I love infographics. I am all over information in graphical form.

Infographic on Climate Change Denials from ReUseThisBag.com

++ Click to Enlarge Image ++

Source: Reusable Bags

Infographic on Americans Views on Evolution vs Creationism

America’s View on Evolution and Creationism (Infographic) | The BioLogos Forum.

Information on Vaccines and Autism

Source: Healthcare-Management-Degree.net

Are you still with me? How about another Infographic on the Scientific Method. I like it except it doesn’t show the feedback that often occurs between hypothesis and results. Scientists have to change their feedback if their experiement doesn’t work.

How does Scientific Method work? via Cool Daily Infographics

I have to tell you that finding a decent Infographic for GMO foods was hard. I hardly consider Monsanto and the American Enterprise Institute independent sources and I thought most of the anti GMO infographics were very sketchy and were also not independent. The university sponsored data were boring long youtube videos. Here is an infographic that I thought was pretty good from GMOAnswers.com

Returning to the River

Wednesday night after work I went to go running on the trails along the Arkansas River here in Tulsa. It was the first time I’ve since I tripped and fell on Turkey Mountain during a night run. It didn’t feel bad at the time but my side hurt and kept getting worse especially when I ran.

I finally did the miracle cure for stuff like that. You want to know what the miracle cure is for almost anything. I bet you already what it is. You make an appointment to go see the doctor about it and you get cured about an hour before your appointment. It works every time!!

Anyway, Wednesday night was kind of cool but there was hardly any wind and the river was very smooth.

I ran past the University Club Tower. Just so you know, it is the eighth tallest building in Tulsa. You never know when a little tidbit of knowledge like will come in handy.

I got up to the far north end of the River Trails and went over to check out “Where East Meets West” a sculpture in honor of Cyrus Avery, the father of route 66. I approached it cautiously because at night I didn’t want to be accosted by homeless people looking for a handout. I got close and I was about to take this photo I saw this guy walking quickly over in my direction with a big smile on his face. I knew what was going to be next. A pitch about some plight he was in and an invitation to help. I’ve been through it a million times and no thanks, I don’t want to go through it again especially in an isolated area in the dark. So I snapped the pic and went back across the street and continued my run.

It was my first run in two weeks and parts of the trail were blocked off for construction so I called it quits after three miles.

So, the question of the day is: Have you ever experienced the miracle cure?

Tulsa’s Golden Driller

The Golden Driller is a statue at the State Fairgrounds and is a throwback to when Tulsa was the “Oil Capital of the World.” It has been at is present location since 1966. The oil derrick that he has hand on is a former working derrick from Seminole, Oklahoma.

I love it because it is a reminder of the heritage of Tulsa and it is one of the quirky things in Tulsa like Oral Roberts University’s praying hands.

Do you have any quirky attractions near where you live?

Linking with Skywatch Friday

Picking up the Pace a Little

Last Saturday Logan and I headed up to Ramona to visit the nice folks at All-Star Therapy Group for Logan’s horseback riding session. The weather was kind of blah so Logan rode inside. I don’t really mind because I like seeing the goings on in the arena and seeing what the other kids and their parents are doing along with the staff and volunteers. There is never a dull moment but photographically it is difficult with lighting and all. I have a new Ipod Touch, it is my third. I love those little devices and go through them. This one has a time lapse photography function so I made this five second video of Logan riding Cisco, round and round.

And while I’m picking on Logan I’ll go ahead and show this time lapse of him unloading the dishwasher. I’m one of those dishwasher loading nerds who prides himself on loading the dishwasher in an efficient manner and part of my plan in loading is how I am going to unload it. He doesn’t really share my enthusiasm for such things, which is a good sign if I think about it. Anyway, I used my new toy to do a time lapse of him unloading the dishwasher.

I’ll keep you posted on the progress we make, or don’t make.

2015 Darryl Starbird National Rod & Custom Show

Saturday I dropped the kid off at his Improv group and headed over to the Tulsa Fairgrounds in order to check out the Darryl Starbird National Rod & Custom Show. I’ve been to lots of car shows but I had never been to this. It is a show of custom and hot rod cars. They are labors of love and I don’t see how the owners will ever recover the value of the time and money they have put in their cars.

1965 Cobra Mustang. I love the fake snakes on the body of the car and in the trunk. I least I think they are fakes. I told you that I am not much of a car guy. I’m attracted to fancy paint jobs and the lines and appearance of the car.

1940 Ford. I love the color and white wall tires and the chrome on the wheels, bumper, grill and headlights, and again the swoopy lines. (Swoopy is a word. I wouldn’t try it in WWF though.)

1948 Chevrolet, gorgeous color, and the wide whitewalls on the tires and I love the chrome bumper and simple lines.

1950 Packard painted up to look like an Army staff car. Apparently Packards were popular with the generals back then for staff cars. I can see why. I love the hood over the windshield and the way the engine hood opens up.

Now, my tagging says 1950 Ford but I am uncertain about that. I just love the two toned color scheme and all the chrome and that huge grill.

1938 Chevrolet Business Coupe. Look at that tall grill and that paint job. Wonderful. I loved how they displayed this car with the cool lighting that really made it shine.

This is a 1940 Plymouth Road King. The owner is the son of the original buyer and it has been the family since it was brand new, 75 years. It has been a labor of love for him. He did all the work himself and he dedicates the car to his late wife who died of cancer.

I am not sure but I think this car is a total custom car. A one of a kind. Look at the headlights. The car has a clear acrylic roof that has air conditioning vents in it. And I love the paint job. Notice the shrouds around the rear wheels. This car is wonderful.

A 1953 Buick Convertible. Oh my, the red leather seats, the black and white paint job. How long and sleek it is. This is a wonderful car.

So that was just a sampling of what was there. In addition to all the super deluxe show cars there were many cars on display by other people who have nice cars and keep them in good shape and polished and detailed them for the show.

Plus they had some people there demonstrating how custom cars are built. There was non-stop music and I think they had some small races later in the day. I left because I was overwhelmed plus I had to go pick up the kid.

I’ll be back next year!!

Check out Darryl Starbird National Rod & Custom Show

Linking with Our World Tuesday

I like cars but I am not a car guy and I don’t take very good notes. In fact I take no notes and the way I try to keep things straight is by taking photographs of the accompanying posters. Often I don’t do a very good job of it so if I misidentify something please leave a comment and set me straight.

Pondering the Future of Libraries

During my lunch hour it is my habit to take a walk for a little bit regardless of the weather. If I have the time sometimes I’ll make the several block walk to the temporary library downtown that has been set up in an old Safeway store.

I like walking by Holy Family Cathedral. A huge Catholic facility that has an ancient feel to it. It has all sorts of side entrances and mysterious stairs. I’m into stuff like that.

I make my way over to Denver Avenue, home of the widest sidewalk in Tulsa.

Denver is home to some newish apartments. I say newish because they are new to me but have actually been there for over a decade I think. Long enough to need updating apparently. At work, a lot of our younger employees live downtown. The pattern is that they do it for a little while and then realize that they can get bigger apartments for less money away from downtown.

I wonder about this entrance. Why does the small structure take twelve columns to support it? It looks a bit unbalanced to me.

I pass by Plaza of the Americas. Today there were no spice addicts passed out here. This used to be a gathering place for them late in the day where they would wait for their connection to show up. Enough people have complained I guess that they have been dispersed. I know they found another spot.

And here I am!

The old Safeway store. I stop in and use the wifi for my Ipod and check Words With Friends and Instagram.

I really miss the big open grocery stores that Safeway used to have.

I’m a big fan of libraries. The new thing seems to be not oriented around books but focused on computers and internet access. Since most people have that at home now what you end up with for clients is pretty rough sometimes. Rough enough to have two security guards on duty who sometimes intercept people who appear to have been banned from the facility. The main library is undergoing a leisurely mostly unfunded renovation that will cost about fifty million dollars that will not be done until next year, if ever, and appears to continue the trend away from books toward computer terminals. I know that libraries are moving away from stacks of books toward other services but I’m wondering about the wisdom of making huge internet cafe’s where people do not feel totally safe.

Of course, not everybody is as cynical as me. Here is an interesting, if a little dated (2013) Infographic from Open-Site.Org on the future of libraries.

What do you think about libraries?

Just a Few Loose Strands

This is Logan riding Cisco at All-star Therapy Group attended to by Russ. The fence they are wall walking along is just a few strands of barbed wire but it gets the job done.

I’m linking with Good Fences today

Skywatch Friday – Zoi Trail

Processed with Topaz Labs Impressions

I cheated a little bit today. I went back to last Fall to find my photograph for SWF. This is a scene on Turkey Mountain’s new Zoi trail. I am not cool enough to know what “Zoi” means but it is a nice trail that doesn’t get a whole lot of traffic mainly because you have to hunt a little bit to find it. It is one of the few places on Turkey Mountain where I have seen deer in the last year or so.

Linking with Skywatch Friday

The Outlet Mall on Turkey Mountain Moves a Step Further

Simon Properties made their first official move to make their planned outlet mall on Turkey Mountain a reality. They submitted plans to the Tulsa Metropolitan Planning Commission including a plot plan. (Thank you to the Tulsa Urban Wilderness Coalition for posting the drawing.)

The drawing is oriented so that north is to the right. If you study on it you see that the eastern edge of the proposed development butts up right next to a creek. If you read the elevations you can see that that they are planning on building a reataining wall that will be up to 75 feet tall, right at the edge of the creek.

Above is a nearby shopping center, Tulsa Hills. It probably has about the same amount of elevation over the ground but is staged by two retaining walls and two sloped areas. Simon, to save space and shoehorn as big a parking lot as possible is just going with one wall.

I also don’t see any storm water retention ponds or anything so in my inexpert opinion whenever there is a strong rainstorm, instead of 48 acres of earth to help absorb and slow down runoff, it is all going to run off of the paved parking lot and then dumped into the creek, along with whatever trash it gathers along the way, and flushed right into Lake Logan at the West Side YMCA. I don’t think this plan is a good start.

This mall is going to be a disaster for Turkey Mountain. Simon Properties is just putting their heads down and is bulling right on ahead.

We are going to see lots of asphalt and lots of cars and lots of stores selling crap. Also, this huge mall is only going to have one entrance, off a two lane road from a freeway instersection with no lights. I’m expecting that they will want the road and the intersection upgraded at no cost to them as an “incentive.” I’m also sure that will want some fancy tax treatment to pay for infrastructure as more incentives. They are building on private land so they can do what they want but I don’t want to incentivize them. I’d like them to go somewhere else in town. Perhaps to a failed existing shopping center and redevelop it.