Tag Archives: Mid Century Modern

Skywatch Friday – Oklahoma City Walk

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My last post was about a wedding we went to, this is about the day after.

I wake up earlier than everybody else and sure I drink coffee and read the paper but I like to get outside and I didn’t feel like running so I went geocaching.

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A simple type geocache is a skirtlifter. Located on the skirt on a parking lot light. There were two close to our hotel so off I went to find them.

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The caches have little paper logs that you sign to prove that you were there and also a separate web page that you “log” to show the world that you found it. Check out geocaching.com for more info.

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Some of the containers are pretty small. Plus under one of the caches I spotted a black widow spider.

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Who would of thought that high rise apartments in Oklahoma City would be around enough to need renovation.

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You are saying, “Hey this a Skywatch post, where is the sky?” Right here, behind this architectual gem. I don’t know whether this is mid century modern or Googie or what but I think it is beautiful. It is also empty, but seems well cared for. I love those arches with the cables. I am thinking this used to be a bank.

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This is the back side of what I think is a bank. I don’t know about you, but I really think they should install more lighting. Eleven lights is just not enough.

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And this building is a special place. This is Founders Tower and there is a restaurant at the top that rotates and that is where Heather and I had our first date back in the 80’s. It was called the Eagles Nest then and now it is called 3sixty restaurant and bar. We had a great time. Or at least I did.

It is also and office building. The oil and gas industry at a certain level is almost a barter economy. You have geologists, landmen, and reservoir engineers who will work for an interest in a well rather than cash. Lots of those guys used to have offices here.  That was back in the day when you could drill a vertical Redfork well in the Anadarko basin for “only” $1.5 million. Nobody does that any more. Now to drill and frack a horizontal Woodford Shale, or STACK, or SCOOP or other shale well is going to cost you $10 million. I have had customers with a straight face tell me about “pilot projects”  with seventy such wells.

The technology invoved used to be almost generic but now the players keep their secrets very closely held. I am out of the game a little bit now but I wonder how the barter economy has survived. As Alan Jackson says, “the big money has come to town” or something like that.

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And then back to the hotel. Notice the pedestrian friendly streets in Oklahoma City. I’ve always loved Oklahoma City for its pioneering boom and bust attitude.

I’m linking with Skywatch Friday

Our World – Tulsa’s Renovated Central Library Opens

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On Saturday the Tulsa Central Library reopened after a three year renovation. They had speeches and presentations and all that. I missed them, but you and I know what they said probably.

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I was happy with what they did. They opened the structure up, added lighting, and all sorts of whiz bank technology. They still have lots of books but the emphasis is more on computers and education now. The days of patrons wandering through the stacks looking for books is over. Most of the books I get from the library are digital downloads to my Kindle or Ipad. If I need a physical book I order it and they deliver to the library of my choice. Plus libraries are storing more of their books offsite in non-public buildings. Lots cheaper than using expensive downtown real estate.

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They knocked out the center parts of the second and third floors to give the building a more airy open feel. It works.

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Plus they have all sorts of new furniture to facilitate what patrons do these days. The old library had tables with chairs and rows of chairs. Many people bring their laptops and so now they can sit in semi privacy with a laptop table and plugs and a place to stow their backpack.

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Or they have these cool chairs. I don’t like semi-privacy cuz I like people watching and listening in their conversations. You better watch what you say when you are around me because I have big ears. I like that the furniture has a midcentury modern “feel” to it in tune with the building it is in.

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One of the coolest things are these study spaces that they have extended off the second floor onto the balcony. They are climate controlled and have windows on all four sides, three of them to the outside. They are of various sizes and configurations. I think they are wonderful.

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And here is a view of one such study space looking to another. I think these are fabulous.

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And speaking of the balcony they have opened it up again and there are more seating out there. What a way to spend a lunchtime in nice weather.

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They have computers for the regular clientele plus they have computer education rooms of different types. They have literacy education spaces. It is all pretty exciting.

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As for the books they have new undershelf lighting. I don’t know about you but sometimes the lighting is dark in libraries the few times that I have tried to find a book rather than order it.

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I got all excited, a card catalog!! Alas, it appears to be a catalog of obituaries from way back when. Remember the good old days of searching through card catalogs and making notes with little stubby pencils on little pieces of paper and then going off to find the book. Yeah, I remember those days and they sucked. Give me a digital search any time!!

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See that glass and granite building over there? That is where I work, one block away. I’ll be resuming weekly visits to the library to sit and read, people watch, and listen in on your conversations.

I’m linking with Our World Tuesday

Shadow Shot Sunday – at the Vault

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Heather drove downtown on Friday and we had lunch at The Vault which is a restaurant in a converted Mid-Century Modern bank building. The building features not just a spiral staircase (for staff only) but an exterior with the old  patterned concrete blocks which makes for interesting shadows. The restaurant follows through with mid century modern decor and you can order craft cocktails from the 50’s and 60’s. We of course didn’t have a cocktail but we had a great lunch.

Shadow Shot Sunday