Millennials, a Carpenter’s Union, and the Homeless. Explained by an Old Crusty Gas Guy!

These Millennials flooding the workplace are something else. They know how to work in groups, they are technologically adept, work hard and are eager to learn. They have also had their butts kissed since birth and like it. And we Baby Boomers love them. They are our kids. Generation X’ers apparently hate them, but I’m not going to get into that!

Millennials don’t know everything, I have proof! Some things have to be explained to them. For example here in Tulsa the local Carpenter’s Union (Local 943) in conjunction with their parent organization (Arkansas Regional Council of Carpenters) is in a two year campaign to force a local contractor, Green Country Interiors (“GCI”), to convert to a union shop. They are doing this by picketing jobs that Green Country Interiors are working on now and businesses that have used GCI previously. The Union is even picketing the entrance to the neighborhood of the president of Green Country. I give this as a little bit of background.

The Union has outsourced the actual picketing to homeless people who get $10/hour and no benefits. Brilliant! I think the problem may be that actual carpenters are actually working and may not be too excited about taking off work to picket. So outsource the labor. Way to go local 943. Turn the tables! Out of box thinking.

My employer has hired a bunch of new college grads each of the last several years. One of our selling points is our extensive training program. My part of the training program is to sit them in a conference room and bore them past tears to total despair as I drone on … and on. However, I do wake them so we can go to lunch, (because I’m nice guy). As we were walking to the restaurant we passed the picketers who were marching and chanting. The Millenials asked what was going on? I summarized the above. They asked “So these homeless people want to go to work on the building?” Oh, no, I don’t think that is the plan at all, I told them. The Union wants GCI to be a union shop. That way GCI’s workers will become union employees. “What about the homeless people?” they ask. I say, “What about them?” I tell them maybe the homeless folks can take their newfound picketing and chanting skills and go to work for the iron workers or something. Or more likely they stay homeless.

These Millennials who are supposed to be so smart couldn’t figure any of this out. They don’t think it makes any sense, further they don’t think it is very fair. That is why companies will need old crusty guys like me to keep stuff like this all sorted out. Or at least that is what I tell myself.

Summer Soiree

Sweetie and I went partying Saturday night. Left SuperPizzaBoy with Nana and headed to Southern Hills Country Club for a fund raiser for SPB’s school. Town and Country. It is our annual get dressed and go have fun event.

Town and Country School is very dear to us. SPB has really thrived there. They go to extremes to help kids learn. It is for kids with learning difficulties including Asperger’s Syndrome, a form of autism.
The past two years we have been a sponsor.

As you can tell from the picture below, I was out of control. Sweetie had to rein me in. I need to get a handle on partying one of these days. I just go berserk. Are we not cute? Purple and purple, Sweetie’s favorite color!

We had martinis, a fine meal with wine, desert. A short talk was given by a graduate of Town and Country School. A young man,Brian C. Britt, diagnosed with Tourette’s Syndrome, who could not function in public school. He enrolled in Town and Country and thrived. He graduated from there as a National Merit Scholar, obtained his B.S. in Communication from the University of Tulsa, and is now studying for his Master’s Degree in Organizational Communication at Purdue University. He teaches two classes in public speaking , an astounding accomplishment for a person afflicted with Tourette’s Syndrome.

Then we had the live auction. I love live auctions. Jay Litchfield did this one. He is good at it. He does lots and lots of charity auctions in the Tulsa area, free, gratis, many times more than one a night. He is a great guy.
They had a band, we danced the night away, sorry, no party pics. Believe me, you appreciate that.

Our Children

And they were bringing children to him that he might touch them, and the disciples rebuked them. But when Jesus saw it, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms and blessed them, laying his hands on them.

Mark 10:13-16 (ESV)

Amtrak Mooning – 2009 Update

YouTube post on the 2009 Mooning Amtrak Festival which apparently is proceeding today despite the best efforts of Laguna Niguel Mayor Robert Ming and the City Council. Read all about it here.

I see this as an extension of the “Tea Party” movement. Obviously Amtrak symbolizes the coddled and cuddled excesses of big government as exemplified by Barack Obama and his communistic, Godless, cohorts who are now in charge of running the country under the constitutionally flimsy and Biblically wrong excuse that Obama won the last presidential election. The mere 10,000 or so brave, conservative, god fearing, Republican “crack troops” out of the millions of Californians are trying to show their contempt for Obama and the like despite the crackdown by the Peoples Republic of California to eliminate this protest. I stand with the brave martyrs who are exercising the rights to bare their butts despite the pressure of oppression.

Any Okies want to Moon Amtrak?

It is the little surprises in life that make it interesting. The things you don’t expect. I was going through the Wall Street Journal reading all about how ole Obama is ruining the country and the AIG execs are wanting their retention bonuses (Retention!? Darn let’em go I say. I could go to the plasma center and find people who could lose as much money as AIG has just on the execs regular salaries.) Oh, yeah sorry. Anyway I found out that in California there is a sport called “Amtrak Mooning.”
No lie!! It is absolutely true. It even has its own web site. (Note family safe link – there are lots of non family safe links if you want to Google or Bing “Amtrack mooning.”) They have been doing it for 30 years. It is done once a year in Laguna Niguel, California. You show up and when an Amtrak train comes by you moon it. The local tracks have 38 passenger trains a day starting at 7:35 in the morning and ending at 11:22 pm. So there is lots of opportunities. Thousands of people show up. They moon trains, they drink, moon some more.

You better hurry though. This year’s is tomorrow. So better get your tickets and head to the airport. Also, the town is hard to get to. The authorities suggest that you “Take the train.” Wow, moon and get mooned. Same day. A nice rhythmn, “moon in, moon, moon out.” Kind of like “Don’t worry, be happy.”
Be aware though, the local powers to be are threatening to be out in force and try to stop this event. It is a threat to public safety they say! I think Obama is behind the ban. Another attack on our way of life! Our traditional values and sacred rights! Are we Americans going to put up with this?

Note: Photo courtesy of Amtrak.

Skywatch Friday – Oklahoma Edition

The storms have been rolling through northeast Oklahoma yesterday and today. Scary skies followed by cool, clean, dry air. The bonus is no tornadoes out of these storms, yet.

Below is yesterday afternoon, from my office window about an hour before I left work to go for a run on the Arkansas River. Pretty scary uh? If you click on the picture you can spot the sun’s disk.

This is a little more than an hour later about 20 minutes into my run. All nice and sunny. ( I love crepe myrtles.)
Below is about a half hour later. Perfect weather for running.

This is on the drive home. I pulled off into a parking lot.


This morning, it started all over again. Storms and then rapid clearing. I had to run out of the building at 10:30 this morning to get this picture. The storm is moving roughly right to left. Dark skies, heavy rain, followed by nice cool air following.

It is supposed to be way over 100 degrees on Saturday. Coming to Oklahoma for a visit?
For great views of our skies from everywhere check out Skywatch Friday.

Classen Grill – Oklahoma City

During our recent road trip we had breakfast at one of our favorite places in Oklahoma City, the Classen Grill at 5124 Classen Circle.

We used to live in Oklahoma City and Classen Grill was a favorite breakfast place. It was one of those places where you might see an actress from a play you saw the night before. She might even be one of the staff. It is a little disheveled from the outside. You may not want to eat there if you are on a tight schedule or if you are one those that wants their coffee cup filled instantly. This isn’t Denny’s folks.

But they serve some great food. I had forgotten about how good the food is. I had the Chinook Eggs: poached eggs with hollandaise sauce (I know, I know ultra bad for you) on top of home made salmon patties. They throw in a big slice of cheese grits. Just what you need for a road trip!


Try their fresh squeezed orange juice. Their small size is larger than most places large sizes and it is fresh squeezed. It is not ice cold and has the seeds still in it. Tastes great!

I rate this a four stars out of four.

My World – Oklahoma Road Trip

I had a four day weekend so we decided to take a little road trip from Tulsa.

First we headed off to Oklahoma City

On the way we took a small detour on old Route 66 so I could find a few geocaches. One place we looked was at this old gas station right on the road. The landowner left a little informative sign. Apparently their was a counterfeiting operation here during the depression. Also, not long ago somebody dumped a body. We didn’t see a body but somebody had dumped a kitten there. Very sad.
A little further on we stopped at “Pops.” A diner/gas station on route 66 near Arcadia. Built by an Oklahoma Oilman this place boasts over 400 kinds of soda pop. I believe it! We only had one each.

SuperPizzaBoy had a “Mexican” Coke, Sweetie a Grape Nehi.
I had some sort of Black Cherry Cream Soda. They were all great.

A little blast from the past, we went by the first house that Sweetie and I lived in when got married. Nearly 20 years ago.
Next, the Oklahoma City Museum of Art. It was great. They had a exhibition on “Turner to Cezanne” from the National Museum of Wales. Plus the museum is know of their Dale Chihuly glass exhibit. Breathakingly beautiful works of glass. Check out his web site here.

We spent the night in downtown Oklahoma City. We ate dinner and saw a movie in Bricktown. Lots of canals, restaurants, bars, and a movie theater.

Next day, we ate breakfast and headed down to Duncan, Oklahoma to see the Chisholm Trail Heritage Center.

This is a small museum but well worth seeing. They have an interactive, hands on area, great for kids, and a regular museum with some great works. The star of the show is a multimedia presentation about a cattle drive. It is multi D. So when it rains you get sprinkled, you also smell the bacon and coffee on the campfire. When the longhorn’s stampede you feel it in your seat.

Next, it was back north to Norman to the University of Oklahoma. They are working hard in Norman to make a university for which the football team can be proud. The University is home to the Fred Jones Museum of Art. The basis of the art collection is the Weitzenhoffer collection the university received several years back. Works by Degas, Gauguin, Monet, Pissarro, Renoir, Toulouse-Lautrec, Van Gogh, among others are in the collection. They also had an exhibition of the Rennard Strickland Collection of Native American Art.

We really liked it but our eyes were getting a little glassy from what SuperPizzaBoy called our “Museumathon.” So we loaded up, drove to Oklahoma City to Johnnies for hamburgers and great ice tea and then booked it home.

Check out That’s My World for great photos of our world.

Fountains

John 4:14 But whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.

For other photos paired with scripture check out That’s Baloney.

Independence Day


Lets have fun today. Cookouts and ice cream, swimming, family and fireworks!

Keep in mind all the Men and Women in the Armed Forces, now and in the past and their families who sacrificed in order that we can have the freedom that we take for granted.

Remember that they sacrificed not only so that we can have our opinions and beliefs but so that other citizens can have their opinions and beliefs, even if they are different from mine.

This country doesn’t belong to one party or the other or one religion or the other. It belongs to all who love her.

So, lets celebrate America and Americans. We all love this country. Its not just yours, its not just mine, its ours.