New Year's Eve, 2009

Last day of 2009 and the first decade of the second millenium. Or is this the third millenium? Not sure how that works exactly. Anyway, looking forward to 2010. This year was rough from a business point of view. 2009 was our worse since we started the company in 2000. In spite of that, we finished much better than we expected. In April, Russell and I were anticipating laying off both interns and possibly closing the business because we really had nothing to do. By the end of May, we had several projects and we felt like there was a chance to keep things going. Glad it was a euphoric kind of feeling. At the beginning of 2009, we had few projects to work on and almost none to look forward to. At the end of 2009, we have several projects to work on and several on the horizon. The way things are going, it is proof to me that capitalism works in spite of the nincompoops in government that keep trying to mess things up. But, that's a rant for another day.

Later today, Debbie and I are heading to Greenville for the weekend. Megan is already at Tara's. Kelsey will not be able to go with us. Bums me out that she has to be in Stillwater alone this weekend because she could not get off work, but we need to go get Megan.

OSU plays in a bowl game on Saturday. Hopefully that ends well for the Pokes.

Happy New Year to everyone. Hope 2010 is a good year for all.

Cool Winter Photos

Found some cool (pardon the pun) winter photos from around the world.

Across the street from our office is a large warehouse. There are several loading docks with a canopy over each doorway. There is about 2 feet of snow drifted on each canopy. A few of the canopies collapsed due to the weight of the snow. The local building code does not require that we design canopies, or roofs, for snow load because the typical snowfall is so small compared to the regular roof live load requirement. I know that is mumbo jumbo for most folks, but the point of my comment is that sometimes the snowfall is out of the ordinary and can be a problem. The recent blizzard is very out of the ordinary for Oklahoma. My structural engineering world is kinda boring, huh? Enjoy the photos instead.

See yuns.

Things that make ya go "huh?"

A couple of weeks ago, Debbie, Megan and Kelsey made a trip to the eye doctor. Megan got contacts. Debbie got a new pair of glasses. Kelsey tried contacts but decided to get new glasses instead. The night that Kelsey got her glasses, we went to Ted's Escondido for dinner. That's a Mexican restaurant for those that don't know about Ted's Escondido. I don't know what "escondido" means, or why the Mexican guy is called "Ted". I do know they serve really good food. Anyway, Debbie and I drove separately. Kelsey was going to ride with me. As we walked toward the car, Kelsey said, "These glasses make everything look 3D!" hee hee.

I gave Debbie a pair of Bose earbuds for Christmas. She needed a good pair for her iPod. She was using them last nite listening to some music. Suddenly she exclaimed, "These make the music feel like it's in the middle of my head!" LOL.

This morning, I sent a text message to Megan. I wrote, "Guess you all made it to Greenville ok?" She responded, "Greenville, tx! LOL." Smarty pants.

Pretty funny.

Snowman

Sledding

Christmas Day

Tara, John, Evie, Maggie and Oliver made it to the house around mid-morning. Their Suburban got stuck in John's parents' driveway. They slipped and slid the five blocks to our house. There is alot of ice on the roads under the snow.

Debbie bought a turkey breast on Thursday in case we couldn't make it to Miami. Turned out to be a good idea. She made a great dinner. Plus, we had a huge pot of gumbo, too.

We opened gifts. Tara, Megan and Kelsey each got a Wii. So we had fun playing Wii games during the day. We went a couple of blocks down the street to a huge detention pond with good hills for sledding. Had alot of fun with that. Great fun going down the hill. Not so much fun climbing back up. hee hee.

Pretty cold all day. Not much snow melting going on as the temperature didn't get much above freezing all day. Hopefully today is a bit warmer and at least melts the snow and ice off the roads.

Have a good Saturday.

Merry White Christmas

Merry Christmas. Hope Santa made to everyone's house in spite of the crazy weather.

Reading stories on the internet about the storm. The Turner Turnpike is closed between OKC and Tulsa. The HE Bailey turnpike is closed between OKC and Wichita Falls, TX. The I-40 west of OKC and I-35 south of OKC near Norman are closed. There was a 50 car pileup on I-40 just west of OKC. Oklahoma City has 14 inches of snow! Most of the city streets and highways through the city are closed.

Looking through the kitchen window, we can see a 3 ft snow drift between the houses. Have to try some sledding with the grandkids later today. I can't find my boots. darn.

Hope everyone has a safe day and a good family day if you all can get together.

Rain, sleet and snow.

This is the looking out of the front door. I've cleaned the snow off of the sidewalk three times this afternoon. The snow is blowing onto this section of sidewalk. First time since we've been here that has happened. Usually when it snows, the sidewalk in front of the door stays clean. There was about an inch of snow there when I took this photo.







Definitely got some snow today. Lots of wind. 30 mph gusting over 40 mph often throughout the day. The snow drifted on the downwind side of the cars.

Last nite, Kelsey left her car at a friend's house and I took her to get it this morning. It was sleeting at that time. The wind was blowing the sleet so hard that the sleet hurt when it hit you in the face. I was scraping Kelsey's windshield while she checked on her boyfriend's dog. After Kelsey got her car, I went to Hobby Lobby. I put my hand in my coat pocket and it has sleet in it. Later, I took Kelsey back to her boyfriend's house to let the dog out. It was hard to see. Lots of windblown snow. Roads are really slick from the freezing rain, sleet and snow. After we got back to the house, I checked the mailbox. When I opened the door on the mailbox, the box had so much snow in it I couldn't tell if we had any mail. As I was cleaning out the snow I almost tossed some mail out of the box.

A friend of mine in OKC said the roads are really bad. It took him 4 hours to go 5 miles along Broadway Extension, which is a multi-lane highway between Edmond and OKC. He said there are hundreds of stranded and wrecked vehicles along that section of highway.

Merry Christmas.

Holy Snowstorm, Batman!

Wow. It's really blowing snow out there. Looks like about a two inches so far. The snow is drifting in front of the front door. Kelsey tried to go outside and had to shove the door open. She swept some away and I used the shovel to move the rest. That was less than 30 minutes ago and there is already a dusting on the sidewalk again. Guess I'll have to keep an eye on it so it doesn't get too deep. Some of the drifts around the house are knee deep. We might get the 4 inches of snow they predicted.

I know compared to what they got on the east coast a few days ago, in Colorado and other northern parts of the country, this snowstorm is piddly. But we don't get this kind of stuff very often in Oklahoma!

Don't Shoot Yer Eye Out

It's that time of year when everyone watches the Christmas movie about the little kid who wants a BB gun for Christmas, gets it, his mom tells him not to shoot his eye out and he goes right out and shoots himself in the glasses. Now, I watch the movie to ogle the leg lamp, but that's the perverted old man in me I guess. hee hee. Anyway, the little dork didn't know better than to shoot a BB at a piece of metal. We never shot at metal with our BB guns as kids. We knew the BB could bounce off and hit us in the face, possibly putting out an eye. Heck, we shot each other. No ricochets, ya know. If you watched closely enough you could see the other guy's BB coming at you in time to blink. If not, then you could always blame your friend for being a dumbass and shooting you in the eye. We never worried about it cuz we thought an eye patch would be cool. Well, maybe it was just me that thought that at the time. Anyway, gotta think ahead when causing trouble and making sure there is a fall guy. Just never thought it through enough to realize I wouldn't get hit with that BB if I WASN'T THERE! Ah well. It was fun for a while until Billy Jack's mom got mad at us for shooting him. We would never have gotten in any trouble if he'd worn a darn t-shirt like the rest of us. Anyway, in today's world the little sissies shoot paint balls at each other while wearing goggles. Bet they don't even drink water from the garden hose.

If you want to be "safe" like those paint ball shooting pansies and avoid shooting out your eye with a "real" BB gun, play this game and see how ya do. If you want to shoot real BB's at each other, I can't do that anymore. My BB gun is broke. The BB's fall out when I point the muzzle toward the ground. I can only shoot up. dangit.

Don't Shoot Yer Eye Out

Merry Christmas!

Great Sunday

Debbie, Kelsey, her boyfriend Jeremy, and I went to OKC yesterday afternoon and saw Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Pretty good show. They played some songs from their new CD. Glad they played some of the oldies but goodies. Can tell they are playing alot more shows around the country. The first time we saw them in 2005, the group was more interactive with the audience. This time, they cut out alot of that because they had to do another show later that day. Still, it's a great show. There were more lasers and pyrotechnics this time than the last couple of years. They had fireworks at the end that caused the arena's emergency warning system to go off and warn people to calmly find the exits.

We went to Hideaway after the show. Yesterday was a good day.

Have a good Monday.

Evie, Maggie and Oliver Christmas dance

Cute little production by the grandchilluns.

Bill Dance Outdoors

Twenty years or so ago, there used to be a fishing show with a guy from Tennessee, Bill Dance. Dunno if he still has a show on tv or not. This is a video of outtakes from the Bill Dance Outdoors. Don't drink anything before you watch this. Well, maybe it's just really hilarious to me. hee hee.

Big Rolls

Every Christmas season, one of the local engineering firms goes around town and delivers boxes of cinammon rolls to their friends with whom they've worked on projects throughout the previous year. I went to OSU with the guy that delivers to our office. The last few years, he's delivered one box with some fairly good sized rolls. Usually a dozen. Today, he delivered two boxes because the rolls are so large a dozen cannot fit in one box. These rolls are the size of hubcaps. Pretty good hubcaps, I must say. The swelling hasn't gone down from last years rolls yet...

Toosdee

Cold morning.

Met Neil for lunch at Panera Bread in Midwest City. Tried to get Debbie to go but couldn't contact her by phone. Turns out she was at Carinos with some coworkers. mmmhmmm.

Deb and I called Evie and sang Happy Birthday to her. Maggie said she wanted to talk to Opie, but couldn't hear me yelling over the speaker phone in Deb's car. Funny kid.

Deb and I went to Irma's for dinner. Had some sauteed jalapenos with my burger. Some really hot jalapenos. Not often I get something so hot it makes my eyebrows sweat. hee hee.

See yuns.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, EVIE!!

Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR EVIE, happy birthday to you!!! Five years old today.

Love you sweetie!

Opie and Nana.

Monday, Monday

Got up this morning and went outside to look for some meteors. Saw a few. Standing out there wearing shorts and a t-shirt. In December. Weather was pretty mild in the mid-50's and almost no wind. Ninety minutes later, Deb and I head out the door to go to work. The temperature must have been 15 degrees colder and the wind was howling out of the north. A perfect example of "if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes."

Debbie made Evie and Maggie some Christmas dresses. I boxed them up and on the way to the UPS store, a condor crapped on the windshield right in my field of vision. I assume it was a condor by the size of the mess. Didn't even know we had condors in Oklahoma. Must have been a migratory condor.

Debbie and Megan got a bunch of Christmas cards ready to be mailed out. I told Debbie I'd stop for stamps and mail them. Nice of them to put the cards in the envelopes but NOT SEAL THE ENVELOPES. Man, that glue leaves a nasty taste in your mouth after licking almost 40 envelopes. I gotta find a bull's butt to lick to get the taste out of my mouth. dang.

See ya.

Boxing Day?

Just saw on the calendar that Canada has "Boxing Day" on Dec. 26. Interesting. "Wrasslin' Day" must be earlier in the year...

Geminids Meteor Shower

The Geminids meteor shower will be putting on a show Sunday nite. Hope the weather is clear! If you miss it on Sunday, you should be able to see meteors until around Dec. 18, but not at the expected quantity of meteors on Sunday. 120 to 160 meteors per hour. Should be able to see a bunch at that rate. Go outside around 11 pm Central Time. Look anywhere in the sky. The constellation Gemini should be almost straight overhead. The meteors appear to come from that constellation. If you know where the constellation Orion is located, look for Gemini slightly north and east of the Orion.

Geminids meteor shower Dec. 13

Geminids viewing guide

Should be fun!

Toys R Us ripped off

On Wednesday evening, I went to pick up Debbie at her office, which is next door to Toys R Us. I was double parked next to the door. A car drove up and parked in a slot behind me. Shortly after it parked, the car pulled out of the parking spot and then the driver backed into the spot. Two women got out of the car and went into the Toys R Us. As the women were backing into the parking spot, Debbie came out and got into the car. We left as the women were approaching the store.

When Debbie went to work on Thursday, she learned that those women took off with a trunkload of toys they stole from the store. Apparently a Toys R Us worker got the tag number. Whooda thunk we saw those women just before they robbed the store? wow.

Cool Stuff in Night Sky

On the way to work this morning before sunrise, I saw a huge meteor burnout as it entered the earth's atmosphere. It went west to east across the southern sky and lasted several seconds. It was really cool to see and I was sad that Debbie did not go to work today so she could see it, too.

Did anyone see the video of the swirling UFO observed the other day in Norway? The Russians are saying it was one of their missile tests gone bad. Whatever it was, it was cool too. Swirling UFO

Hello, Winter!

Dang it's cold outside today!! 18 degrees when we got up this morning. The high isn't supposed to be much more than that. Wind chill around zero. Tonite's low expected to be around 10 degrees. And we are WARM compared to Denver and points north. -36 degree wind chill in Denver!!! How the heck did I wait for a schoolbus in that crap when we lived there??? Man, central heat and air sure has turned me into a sissy.

Christmas Tree

Debbie and I put up the Christmas tree. She has all of her stuff out to decorate it later.

Irma's

Dinner with Debbie, Megan and Kelsey at Irma's Burger Shack. Megan ordered grilled jalapenos with her burger. Yeah, that's what I thought. Megan? Ordered something spicy? She said she's "training her tongue" to eat spicy food because alot of stuff is spicy in Midland. Debbie gets cottage cheese when we go there. They serve a hard boiled egg with the cottage cheese. The egg is sitting in the middle of the bowl on top of the cottage cheese. Cracks me up because it looks like a golf ball in her cottage cheese. hee hee. Well, guess you have to be there.

Tried a new beer. Bridgeport Ebenezer. Pretty good winter ale. If you like beer like Sam Adams Oktoberfest, you'll like the Ebenezer.

Have a good evening.

Hideaway

Just had lunch with Debbie and her friend from work, Susan, at Hideaway Pizza in OKC. Yummy.

That is all.

NASCAR funnies

Who says racecar drivers only know how to turn left? A few funny videos of commercials involving a few NASCAR drivers.

Wrasslin'

Ice sculpture, singin' and caber tossing. Funny to see Ryan Newman in a kilt. LOL

NEWMAN!!

For Kelsey. Kasey Kahne!!

Bloopers

Are things getting smaller?

Is is just me, or are things getting smaller in this world?

Toilet paper, for instance. When I was a little kid, a piece of toilet paper seemed as large as a piece of paper towel. One toilet paper square was huge. One square covered my entire hand and backside. I could clean up without using an entire roll of toilet paper. Now, one square barely covers my hand much less my derriere. No stinkin' way one stinkin' square takes care of my stinkin' business now. Speaking paper towels, do they even make a roll with a full square? Maybe it's just the brand Debbie buys, but the roll is made so each section is a HALF square. Dangit. When I make a mess, I need a full square to clean up. Not two halves with a partial tear down the middle.

A half-gallon of ice cream isn't even a half-gallon anymore. It's slightly less than a half-gallon. Someone got wise and decided to use the metric system of measurement so we don't notice that we are getting less than a half-gallon. But we are.

A 12 ounce can of beverage isn't even a 12 ounce can anymore. It's 355 milliliters. Oh wait. I just did the math. 355 milliliters is pretty much 12 ounces. There is some rounding up going on to get to 12 ounces, but not much. Never mind. Butt I'm still plenty pissed off about the smaller toilet paper squares, though...

hee hee. Have a nice day.

Blue Christmas

One of my favorite holiday songs. Be sure and have the sound turned up on your computer. The song automatically plays when you get to the website.

Blue Christmas