To refresh my memory, here is a test photo and post.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Is This Thing On?
To refresh my memory, here is a test photo and post.
Monday, December 14, 2009
Working on an Update
Well, it has been a while since I have been able to post... Some of the same issues I mentioned earlier are still around... Anyway, I hope to get something informative (and hopefully entertaining) sometime this week. -T
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone
Friday, August 14, 2009
The Story of the Film So Far,,,
My deepest apologies for the lack of updates/posts over the past several months. Here's what you need to know to get caught up:
1) The Vegas trip in early March went well... learned a lot about my job, and how people try to cheat the system. (and how to better catch them! HAHA)
2) Shortly upon my return from Las Vegas, my boss was asked "not to come back anymore" and without even raising my hand, was promoted to his position on April 6th. There was quite a mess to clean up, and I have been working hard to get my department back on the right track. The promotion (and accompanying pay raise!) was made Official and permanent on July 7th. Things have settled down at work, but now...
3) My Dad's health is taking a downturn, Back in May, the chronic back pain from 80 years of hard work, Military service, and just wear-and-tear finally forced dad to having Surgery. They rebuilt the lower 3rd of his back, installing Rods, Plates, Screws, etc... I have to admit, I never dreamed Dad would do as well as he did with the recovery! He was in the hospital for 3 days, in Rehab for 13 days, and is now totally PAIN-FREE.
While recovering, his older brother died from a stroke last month, and 2 weeks ago, Dad found out a spot in his right lung had suddenly gotten a lot larger. The could not get to it to do a biopsy, so Surgery was in order. It was a good thing they did go in... he had an almost Golf-Ball-sized tumor, which they removed, along with a third of his lung. The surgery went well, but he is having some mental issues that are going to force us to move him to a skilled care facility when he is released from the hospital. Don't know what the coming weeks/months have in store for him, but we're all praying.
I have just rolled over 145k miles on the car, 2k of which has been from driving back and forth from home to Dad's. I missed the "Cash for Clunker" mileage by ONE mpg! (grr)
Let me think.. what else is there? Oh, I had a kitten "adopt" me back in June. Her name is Layla, and she is now 8 months old. She has me wrapped around her little finger, um, paw...
So, she's settled in as "Head of the Household," and now that Dad is incapacitated, she's gotten a new roommate: 8 year old Cat "Rocky." The two are working on being friends, but so far, it's been lots of hissing and growling... (and a few noises reminiscent of "The Exorcist.")
Anyway, I am back in Paris, TX with Dad right now... Just got him into a Long-Term, Acute Care facility. Physically, he's doing a little better, but his mind is somewhere else much of the time. I'm hoping and praying he improves. I hate seeing him like this... Stay Tuned...
1) The Vegas trip in early March went well... learned a lot about my job, and how people try to cheat the system. (and how to better catch them! HAHA)
2) Shortly upon my return from Las Vegas, my boss was asked "not to come back anymore" and without even raising my hand, was promoted to his position on April 6th. There was quite a mess to clean up, and I have been working hard to get my department back on the right track. The promotion (and accompanying pay raise!) was made Official and permanent on July 7th. Things have settled down at work, but now...
3) My Dad's health is taking a downturn, Back in May, the chronic back pain from 80 years of hard work, Military service, and just wear-and-tear finally forced dad to having Surgery. They rebuilt the lower 3rd of his back, installing Rods, Plates, Screws, etc... I have to admit, I never dreamed Dad would do as well as he did with the recovery! He was in the hospital for 3 days, in Rehab for 13 days, and is now totally PAIN-FREE.
While recovering, his older brother died from a stroke last month, and 2 weeks ago, Dad found out a spot in his right lung had suddenly gotten a lot larger. The could not get to it to do a biopsy, so Surgery was in order. It was a good thing they did go in... he had an almost Golf-Ball-sized tumor, which they removed, along with a third of his lung. The surgery went well, but he is having some mental issues that are going to force us to move him to a skilled care facility when he is released from the hospital. Don't know what the coming weeks/months have in store for him, but we're all praying.
I have just rolled over 145k miles on the car, 2k of which has been from driving back and forth from home to Dad's. I missed the "Cash for Clunker" mileage by ONE mpg! (grr)
Let me think.. what else is there? Oh, I had a kitten "adopt" me back in June. Her name is Layla, and she is now 8 months old. She has me wrapped around her little finger, um, paw...
So, she's settled in as "Head of the Household," and now that Dad is incapacitated, she's gotten a new roommate: 8 year old Cat "Rocky." The two are working on being friends, but so far, it's been lots of hissing and growling... (and a few noises reminiscent of "The Exorcist.")
Anyway, I am back in Paris, TX with Dad right now... Just got him into a Long-Term, Acute Care facility. Physically, he's doing a little better, but his mind is somewhere else much of the time. I'm hoping and praying he improves. I hate seeing him like this... Stay Tuned...
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Viva Las Vegas!
Well, its been a while since I've had time to post here, so let me start by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
I am finally getting out of the office... Going on a business trip to Las Vegas! (Plus, I get to celebrate my "non-Birthday" tomorrow)
We are flying out of Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport, and managed to snag a direct flight to Vegas.
*Funny note about the airports in OKC: both airports (the other is Wiley Post Airport) are named for Oklahomans who died in PLANE CRASHES! And I kidd you not, you drive past "Amelia Earhart Way" before you reach the main terminal. (Looking for the "James Dean" car rental kiosk... Gotta be around here somewhere)
So we get to the airport and go thru security. I forgot to put my sunglasses in the tray, and the metal detector went off, and I was asked to step into the side area for "extra scrutiny." The LAST thing you want to hear early in the morning is for a 6'6" 290 lb TSA worker to tell you "anywhere the wand beeps, I'm gonna touch you."
(Buy me dinner first?)
So, as he is running the wand over me, its beeping at every rivet on my Wranglers, and I feel I am in danger of being molested... Having just seen "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," I couldn't stop grinning and laughing while I was being patted down by Mongo... Eventually, after taking enough time to accurately guess my weight, they grew bored and let me pass. My coworkers got a good laugh... What a way to start the Birthday weekend!
More to come...
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
I am finally getting out of the office... Going on a business trip to Las Vegas! (Plus, I get to celebrate my "non-Birthday" tomorrow)
We are flying out of Oklahoma City's Will Rogers World Airport, and managed to snag a direct flight to Vegas.
*Funny note about the airports in OKC: both airports (the other is Wiley Post Airport) are named for Oklahomans who died in PLANE CRASHES! And I kidd you not, you drive past "Amelia Earhart Way" before you reach the main terminal. (Looking for the "James Dean" car rental kiosk... Gotta be around here somewhere)
So we get to the airport and go thru security. I forgot to put my sunglasses in the tray, and the metal detector went off, and I was asked to step into the side area for "extra scrutiny." The LAST thing you want to hear early in the morning is for a 6'6" 290 lb TSA worker to tell you "anywhere the wand beeps, I'm gonna touch you."
(Buy me dinner first?)
So, as he is running the wand over me, its beeping at every rivet on my Wranglers, and I feel I am in danger of being molested... Having just seen "Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay," I couldn't stop grinning and laughing while I was being patted down by Mongo... Eventually, after taking enough time to accurately guess my weight, they grew bored and let me pass. My coworkers got a good laugh... What a way to start the Birthday weekend!
More to come...
Sent from my BlackBerry Smartphone provided by Alltel
Friday, September 05, 2008
East Bound and Down...
I am on the road today, making my first trip back to Arkansas State University in nearly 9 years. Its my Fraternity's 40th anniversary at ASU, and we are hoping for a good turnout of Alumni. Its also ASU's first home football game, and coming off an 18-14 VICTORY over Texas A&M last weekend in front of 78,000+ stunned Aggie fans, I think the crowd wll be pumped.
I am stopping in Fayetteville, AR to pick up college/fraternity buddy Vic, then off to Jonesboro.
I plan to update regularly over the next couple of days, and post some pics too.
I am stopping in Fayetteville, AR to pick up college/fraternity buddy Vic, then off to Jonesboro.
I plan to update regularly over the next couple of days, and post some pics too.
Stay tuned!
Saturday, August 09, 2008
Olympics and other Random Musings
Well, I have to admit... I have been watching a lot of Olympic coverage this weekend. Maybe it's because I have an HD television now, and things look frickin' SWEET in high definition!! Or, maybe I'm just tired of watching the same reruns over and over...
Anyway, I was very impressed with the opening ceremony... pretty cool. I spent a lot of Saturday watching Women's Volleyball... (again, HD rocks!) late, I found myself watching and cheering for the Americans in the swimming competitions. There is a 41 year old woman who helped her relay team bring home a Silver medal... (it got me wondering if I started now, could I get ready for London in 2012?)
I think the Chinese Olympic organizers were using a "remix" of OUR National Anthem when they played it tonight for Michael Phelps... they cut off the opening notes, it seemed like the first portion of the anthem was repeated one or two times too much, and it cut off abruptly when it got to the "Land of the Free" portion... probably all unintentional, but to an old Radio guy like me, hearing audio screwed up like that made me want to find the number for their control room hotline and set 'em straight!
So far, it appears we're kicking tail in Medals... as of 11:30 CDT Saturday, we lead all nations with 8 medals.
Watching the Olympics reminded me of the Atlanta games, watched from the relative comfort of my apartment in scenic Ridgeland, Mississippi. I was sharing the apartment with another radio co-worker, and my parents were in town for a visit.
I have to pause for a moment and tell you about the roommate (to protect the innocent, Let's call him "Tim Knox.") Tim's tastes in music were pretty good, but somewhat simplistic when it came to movies and TV. He used to stay up late watching what (by his own admission) was the "Funniest Movie of all time: SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT... part TWO. (yes.. the one with the Elephant) He would laugh out loud at every gag and pun as if he were seeing it for the very first time... When it came to TV, his viewing habits were not very deep.
"Tim" had never watched the Olympics on TV before... my folks and I sat in the living room with him watching coverage one evening, to which "Tim" reacted with total amazement. He thought it was pretty cool too.
So, the USA wins some medal (I think in a men's gymnastics event) and the National Anthem plays. "Tim" is REALLY wowed by this, and poses the question "Do they play the winner's National Anthem after evey medal?" to the room. My DAD, (who's sense of humor would not make the "Top 25 List" of his known attributes) calmly looks at "Tim" and replies "They'll play this anthem again when they give out the next medal, and keep adding National Anthems to each medal ceremony... so by the last evernt of the games, they music at the last Medal ceremony is a 90 minute concert!" Needless to say, he believed every word my dad said, and a few days later asked why he was only hearing one anthem... (Dad told him they had to "Edit for Television.")
Ahh.. MEMORIES.
Some Random stuff now:
For several weeks now, by the time I get to work every day, I seem to have a random song stuck in my head. There's no pattern to this either... for example: This past week, the songs have ranged from "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla, to "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" by the Partridge Family to "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender to Friday's "Rush" by Big Audio Dynamite II. Don't ask me WHY this is happening, but the IPod in my head appears to be stuck on "shuffle." (Damn You Steve Jobs!)
I do have a solution for this problem though... years ago, I was in Nashville at a Country Radio Seminar, sitting at a table chatting with Country singers Doug Stone and Skip Ewing. I was discussing buying Doug's ultralight aircraft when a song got stuck in my head. I mentioned this to the guys at the table, and Skip Ewing told me he had the perfect remedy. Skip said in order to get ANY song out of your head, all you have to do is SING the gospel hymn "Amazing Grace" to the tune of the "theme from Gilligan's Island." (I'm NOT KIDDING.)
It WORKS. You DO have to sing out loud, but NOT loudly. (and so far, "Amazing Grace" has never gotten stuck in my head as a side effect) Try it sometime. It usually takes me 2 verses...
I have finally started getting out and sampling local restaurants here in Ponca City. Friday night, I went to our local airport for a taste of "Enrique's Mexican Restaurant." It's located in the terminal building, but not in a secure area, so the public can come in and eat. The cool thing is that private planes are constantly landing and pulling up right next to the door, and people pile out of the aircraft for a taste of Enrique's cooking. in the 90 minutes we were there, 4 planeloads came in to eat, and the farthest ones came from Dallas, TX. The food was decent, but not as good as I had been lead to believe.
I am still working on plans for Dad's 80th Birthday... it's August 30th.
The following Saturday, September 6th is my Fraternity's 40th Anniversary at Arkansas State University, and I am planning on making the trek over to Jonesboro for the first time in nearly 8 years. I'll meet another Alumnus in Fayetteville, AR and we'll share the ride across northern Arkansas (probably stuck behind 300 RV's headed to Branson with their left blinkers on for 78 miles straight!) It will be good to see all the guys from college again...
I had a lot more random thoughts, but since I didn't jot them down quick enough, they've now gone... probably soon to be replaced by another random song...
Til' next time, I'll leave you with this thought:
"Frankly, I'm suspicious of anyone who has a strong opinion
on a complicated issue." - Scott Adams (1957- )
Anyway, I was very impressed with the opening ceremony... pretty cool. I spent a lot of Saturday watching Women's Volleyball... (again, HD rocks!) late, I found myself watching and cheering for the Americans in the swimming competitions. There is a 41 year old woman who helped her relay team bring home a Silver medal... (it got me wondering if I started now, could I get ready for London in 2012?)
I think the Chinese Olympic organizers were using a "remix" of OUR National Anthem when they played it tonight for Michael Phelps... they cut off the opening notes, it seemed like the first portion of the anthem was repeated one or two times too much, and it cut off abruptly when it got to the "Land of the Free" portion... probably all unintentional, but to an old Radio guy like me, hearing audio screwed up like that made me want to find the number for their control room hotline and set 'em straight!
So far, it appears we're kicking tail in Medals... as of 11:30 CDT Saturday, we lead all nations with 8 medals.
Watching the Olympics reminded me of the Atlanta games, watched from the relative comfort of my apartment in scenic Ridgeland, Mississippi. I was sharing the apartment with another radio co-worker, and my parents were in town for a visit.
I have to pause for a moment and tell you about the roommate (to protect the innocent, Let's call him "Tim Knox.") Tim's tastes in music were pretty good, but somewhat simplistic when it came to movies and TV. He used to stay up late watching what (by his own admission) was the "Funniest Movie of all time: SMOKEY AND THE BANDIT... part TWO. (yes.. the one with the Elephant) He would laugh out loud at every gag and pun as if he were seeing it for the very first time... When it came to TV, his viewing habits were not very deep.
"Tim" had never watched the Olympics on TV before... my folks and I sat in the living room with him watching coverage one evening, to which "Tim" reacted with total amazement. He thought it was pretty cool too.
So, the USA wins some medal (I think in a men's gymnastics event) and the National Anthem plays. "Tim" is REALLY wowed by this, and poses the question "Do they play the winner's National Anthem after evey medal?" to the room. My DAD, (who's sense of humor would not make the "Top 25 List" of his known attributes) calmly looks at "Tim" and replies "They'll play this anthem again when they give out the next medal, and keep adding National Anthems to each medal ceremony... so by the last evernt of the games, they music at the last Medal ceremony is a 90 minute concert!" Needless to say, he believed every word my dad said, and a few days later asked why he was only hearing one anthem... (Dad told him they had to "Edit for Television.")
Ahh.. MEMORIES.
Some Random stuff now:
For several weeks now, by the time I get to work every day, I seem to have a random song stuck in my head. There's no pattern to this either... for example: This past week, the songs have ranged from "Counting Blue Cars" by Dishwalla, to "I Woke Up in Love This Morning" by the Partridge Family to "Before the Next Teardrop Falls" by Freddy Fender to Friday's "Rush" by Big Audio Dynamite II. Don't ask me WHY this is happening, but the IPod in my head appears to be stuck on "shuffle." (Damn You Steve Jobs!)
I do have a solution for this problem though... years ago, I was in Nashville at a Country Radio Seminar, sitting at a table chatting with Country singers Doug Stone and Skip Ewing. I was discussing buying Doug's ultralight aircraft when a song got stuck in my head. I mentioned this to the guys at the table, and Skip Ewing told me he had the perfect remedy. Skip said in order to get ANY song out of your head, all you have to do is SING the gospel hymn "Amazing Grace" to the tune of the "theme from Gilligan's Island." (I'm NOT KIDDING.)
It WORKS. You DO have to sing out loud, but NOT loudly. (and so far, "Amazing Grace" has never gotten stuck in my head as a side effect) Try it sometime. It usually takes me 2 verses...
I have finally started getting out and sampling local restaurants here in Ponca City. Friday night, I went to our local airport for a taste of "Enrique's Mexican Restaurant." It's located in the terminal building, but not in a secure area, so the public can come in and eat. The cool thing is that private planes are constantly landing and pulling up right next to the door, and people pile out of the aircraft for a taste of Enrique's cooking. in the 90 minutes we were there, 4 planeloads came in to eat, and the farthest ones came from Dallas, TX. The food was decent, but not as good as I had been lead to believe.
I am still working on plans for Dad's 80th Birthday... it's August 30th.
The following Saturday, September 6th is my Fraternity's 40th Anniversary at Arkansas State University, and I am planning on making the trek over to Jonesboro for the first time in nearly 8 years. I'll meet another Alumnus in Fayetteville, AR and we'll share the ride across northern Arkansas (probably stuck behind 300 RV's headed to Branson with their left blinkers on for 78 miles straight!) It will be good to see all the guys from college again...
I had a lot more random thoughts, but since I didn't jot them down quick enough, they've now gone... probably soon to be replaced by another random song...
Til' next time, I'll leave you with this thought:
"Frankly, I'm suspicious of anyone who has a strong opinion
on a complicated issue." - Scott Adams (1957- )
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Its Been A While...
Work has been going well. Between the move and work, I have not had time to do anything. (including dropping you all a note!)
So, here's a brief update on what's going on:
1. Work.
2. Planning Dad's 80th Birthday. It is August 30th... A Saturday, so I expect everyone who can make it to Paris, TX to join us for this special occasion. ( I am still soliciting ideas too)
Really... That's all I have on my plate at the moment.. Sure I'd love a little social life too... But so far, I pretty much only know women from work, and I am not allowed to "fraternize" with co-workers.
Anyway, I will try and write something more witty and profound soon... Keep those cards and letters coming!
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