Our World – Geocaching at Lake Keystone

Saturday afternoon my wife went to visit her friends and I drove out to Lake Keystone, northwest of Tulsa to find five geocaches that I had noticed earlier

The place I was going to was an almost island on the lake called Appalachia Bay. Little did I know that it was a designated area for dirt bikes and All Terrain Vehicles.

The guy at the gate good naturedly said you better be careful these guys will run you over. So I said okay then. Cost me $5 to get access.

It was like a Mad Max movie. The vehicles going this way and that way and making a heck of a racket. I just stayed out of their way. You have to look real close at the photo above. There is some deer hidden in there. Just steps away from one of the trails. I don’t know how they stand it. I saw two other groups of deer during my outing. I guess they get used to the racket.

After I got used to the racket, I had a pretty good time. The woods were clear so I was able to bushwhack without too much difficulty. Many of the trails were deeply rutted and so I avoided those in case someone came over a hill or around a corner too fast. People were pretty good natured and courteous toward me.

There were five caches. The smileys are ones I found, the frownie is one I didn’t find, the green one I saw but it was up in a tree and I was not in a climbing mood.

Above is a video of one my finds.

And above in another one of my finds.

And my relive app video showing the route from the first cache to the others and then back to the parking lot.

I had a good time. I didn’t know that dirt bikes and ATVs had designated areas. My attitude was that I was in their territory so I watched out for myself. Not a place I would recommend for a peaceful hike. I’m told that it is actually quite nice during the week. If you like geocaches that you can hike to I strongly recommend this but don’t go on the weekend.

I am linking to Our World Tuesday.

Shadow Shot Sunday – At the Gym

Taking a break after yoga class at the Y.

Shadow Shot Sunday 2

Weekend Reflections – Downtown Tulsa

Downtown Tulsa as I was headed to my car after getting released from Jury Duty. We had lots of breaks and so I got to wander around downtown. I worked there for twenty eight years and walked almost every working day at lunch. I was always looking for something I never saw before and almost succeeded. I knew people that worked there there whole careers and didn’t know where the post office was and had the impression that downtown was dangerous.

How can people be so uncurious?

I’m linking with Weekend Reflections. Those people are curious!! Almost all photobloggers are I think.

Skywatch Friday – Courthouse Skies

It was beautiful weather this week and I got to spend much of the first part of it at the courthouse. Nope I wasn’t in jail, I got called to jury duty. So I got to wait a lot in the jury room in the basement and then I got to wait a lot outside the courtroom and then wait some more while they questioned us one by one. It was a first degree murder trial so it was all pretty serious.

I was impressed with the whole thing. Lots of waiting I know but the important thing is to get things right. Execution was off the table but life without parole was a possibility. I was impressed with the other 39 potential jurors. They all took it seriously, none tried to get off the jury, and they gave thoughtful answers to questions. I didn’t get picked and so I am “on call” the remainder of the week. So I’m free at last!! I went home, after being dismissed, and researched the case. I’ll say more after the trial is completed which should be Friday or Monday.

Meanwhile, here is my beloved Turkey Mountain from across the Arkansas River as it flows through Tulsa.

And another shot across the river with some funky looking clouds.

I’m thankful this week for our justice system. For all its faults I think the people in it try and do their best. I am thankful for my freedoms that I have in this country and the opportunity to be on a jury.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come join me!!

Our World – Perpetual Motion Machine

A little bit more from my trip to the Oklahoma History Center last week.

I graduated from Engineering school back in the 1970’s and took a job with Mobil Oil Corporation at a big oilfield they operated called the West Ranch Field right near the Gulf Coast of Texas. First thing new engineers find out is that when they start work, they don’t know the first thing about how engineering is actually done. You don’t spend time solving equations, you spend your time solving problems or building stuff. There is a lot of technology these days and you don’t learn anything about the technology in school. You can click here to learn about the recent developments in this field when you start work.

The piece of equipment above is a Kimray Pump by a company called Kimray. And what it does is pumps a liquid from low pressure to high pressure for processes where you need a recirculating liquid, which there are lots such processes in industry. It does not require any additional energy such as electricity or an electric motor or anything else.

So how does that work I wondered. Such a thing is impossible and yes it is. What happens is it used for dehydrating natural gas with a chemical. The chemical gets pumped up to the pressure of the natural gas, mixes with the gas and then is run back through the machine to low pressure, where the liquid is heated up releasing the water vapor, and then cooled off then pumped to high pressure again. The secret is that a small amount of gas is absorbed in the liquid and is also released at low pressure. That small amount of gas going from high pressure to low pressure is what keeps thing going. It took me forever to make sense of it!!

So this is Garman Kimmaell, the guy who invented it. I think he is a genius. How in the world did he figure it out? The Kimray pump is still in use today. There are modifications. For one the gas released is no longer just vented to atmosphere. It contains methane which is a lot worse actor in global warming than carbon dioxide by a factor of 40 to 50 and the process also emits lots of Benzene, Toluene, and Xylene (known as BTX) which are really bad cancer causing agents. So the emitted gases are burned in fuel system for the remainder of the process.

So, I am sure that this is more than what you cared to know. I’m linking with Our World Tuesday, came check it out.

Shadow Shot Sunday – The Winnie Mae

Last week I stopped in at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. Their big centerpiece display is the Winnie Mae, a replica of the Lockheed 5C Vega aircraft that Oklahoma aviation pioneer, Wiley Post, flew solo around the world in 1933. He subsequently flew the plywood framed Winnie Mae to 50,000 feet using a homemade pressurization suit. In 1935 Post and another Oklahoma legend, Will Rogers died in an airplane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska.

Now back down to earth, I had a symmetrical shadow in my back yard.

I’ve started running again. Didn’t realize how much I missed it. Here is a mesh shadow of some temporary fencing.

And of a pedestrian bridge.

And speaking of pedestrian. Heather and I went to a local brewery and had a couple of their beers. As a bonus, the glass had some interesting shadows. I guess it was time to head home.

I’m linking with Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Come check it out!

Skywatch Friday – Vintage Oil and Gas Skies

I took the kid back to college on Wednesday. He got a sprained ankle last week so Heather and I did an evacuation to back home and got him in to see a doctor, fed him, did his laundry and got him rested up to go back. It’s just a sprain says the doc so we got him a brace and some ibuprofen and so back to school he goes. On the way back from dropping him off I stopped at the Oklahoma History Center in Oklahoma City. I had not been there in ages. Turns out that they have a lot of new stuff to show and I’ll post about that later. Today I am showing what they had outside, underneath a big blue Oklahoma Sky with some wind. (If it is Oklahoma, the wind is always blowing.)

I looked at a bunch of oil and gas stuff. This is known as a “Christmas Tree” with valves installed on a oil or gas well to control and regulate the flow. I have never actually seen a stack this high. Usually they are about only two or three valves. I’m guessing what happened is that somebody wanted to donate the tree and so they got all the junk valves they could round up, bolted them together, slapped a coat of paint on it and said “Here you are!” Makes for an impressive sight but I wouldn’t stand near it in a lightning storm.

This is a pump jack used for pumping oil out of the ground. They are also used on natural gas wells to pump the water out that impedes from natural gas well. There is a technical name for those kind of gas wells. They are called “sorry ass gas wells.”

An old school wagon using for hauling oil.

A portable drilling rig. Needs a coat of paint. Also something to stay from in a lightning storm.

And a red truck. I’ve loved red trucks ever since I was about two years old.

That’s enough for now!!

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday. Come check it out.

Our World – Back on the Trails

So Sunday afternoon was great, temp in the low 50’s, sunny, a little breezy, no football. So I decided to go running on the Tulsa’s Riverparks trails on the Arkansas River. I prefer trail running but with all the snow they are going to be a bloody mess for a week or so.

Almost all the snow is gone. Better hurry if you want to see some.

Turkey Mountain across the river. I’ll be there Sunday morning for a hike with some people I know.

My run went pretty well. It has been a while since I ran-ran, if you know what I mean. So this was a walk run. I’d trot a little bit and then walk a little. Did that for about three miles. I had forgotten how nice it was and I was thankful that the other aerobic stuff I had been doing on the stationary bikes and elliptical machines left me with some aerobic fitness.

I had a bike wreck back in the early Fall which made it hard to do anything but hike and the machines. Things seem all better now. I did about three miles the slow way but that is okay.

Son Logan is doing better also from his ankle sprain. We have been doing the “RICE” thing (Rest, Ice, Compression, Elevation) with him. So he is king for a day or few. Heather is taking him to orthopedic doctor today. He has classes but they are online. So until about Wednesday or so we are waiting on him. Bringing him food, doing his laundry, all that stuff.

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday. Come join the fun!!

“The Pot Thief Who Studied the Woman at Otowi Crossing” by J. Michael Orenduff

This is a fun mystery novel, the ninth in a series, by J. Michael Orenduff. The books feature Hubie Schuze who lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico and makes his living by illegally digging up ancient Native American pots on public lands and selling them. He also supplements that income by copying such pots and selling them to unsuspecting tourists. Despite all that he seems like a nice guy. A nice guy who seems to know a lot of people who get murdered. Not that he does any of that though but he is under suspicion a lot and so has to try and solve murders himself to clear himself.

This latest murder is a puzzler. An unidentified man is killed on his way to Schuze’s shop. Thing is he shares DNA with Schuze and although the man’s death was captured on video, the police have no idea how he was killed or who did it.

So yes, solving the murder and figuring out who victim was is fun but even more fun is following Schuze’s moves as he goes to the solution. We learn about academic politics at the University of New Mexico, how a woman seduced him by teaching him how to iron clothes. He’s on a first name basis with the lead homicide detective. He consults his family, he drinks margaritas at happy hour. It takes him a while but he finally gets it.

There is lots of New Mexican culture and background in these books. I’ve read all of them and am looking forward to another.

Shadowy Snowy Shot Sunday

We went to the see the kid to day at college. While we were still on the way he tripped and sprained his ankle. So the “go visit and resupply the kid” trip became the “evaluate and evacuate the kid” trip. We brought him home with us so he can heal up. It would have been a lot harder to do that without so many classes being online. I did get this shadowy photo of the trees and snow outside his dorm.

I’m linking up with Shadow Shot Sunday 2

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