More Snow Photos

This is what the back yard looked like at 8 a.m.

This is what is looks like at 6 p.m.  The snow is above the bottom of the gas meter.

Funny how the snow drifts off of the roof and cars.  The snow is hanging about the same off of both the car and the roof.

The cars at 8 a.m.  Glazing of ice and dusting of snow.

Cars at 6 p.m. after the day long snowfall

The snow blew around and lightly dusted some things on the back patio.  Made some interesting patterns.

These landscaping blocks were completely visible early this morning.  All of the snow on and around them fell today.

Don't want to jinx anything, but it appears that the snow has stopped for today.  Might need to go sledding tomorrow.  hee hee.

If you are interested

I posted several times during the day yesterday about the weather and one or two other things.  Debbie checked the blog earlier today and did not realize there were more than a couple of recent blog entries.  If you did not see all of yesterday's stuff, you will need to click on the "older posts" near the bottom of the screen.  Not all of the posts were about weather.  You should be able to look along the left side of the posts and see a list of blog entry titles.

Annual Winter Storm?

I was looking through the winter storm photos and noticed that one year ago, I was taking photos of a snowstorm. 

Jan. 27, 2009 photo.

Jan. 29, 2010 photo

That's kinda freaky.

Maybe I need to find a hobby?

Good Friday Morning

Got up this morning around 6: 30 and did not see lots of ice and snow.  By 8 a.m, we started getting some light snow.  Large flakes though.  Debbie and I are staying home again today.  DHS closed their offices except for essential personnel, which means Debbie can stay home.  We got alot of sleet yesterday afternoon and throughout the night, so I'm sure the roads are slick.  Not worth travelling.  I have most of what I need to work at the house, so I'm doing that again today. 

These photos look like the ones that I posted on Christmas Eve.  Most of the white stuff is sleet instead of snow, though.

Have a good day.

6 pm Weather

Well, appears to me that the gloom and doom, end of the world, hell freezing over kind of ice-up forecast by the weather geeks did not happen.  Yeah, there is some icing on the roofs and trees, but not alot.  The rain finally appears to have stopped.  Snowed briefly.  But now we are getting just sleet.  They forecast around a half-inch of ice around Stillwater.  Just a glazing of ice around our house.  Unless something really odd happens overnight, we won't get anywhere near that much ice from freezing rain.  Thank goodness.  Hope the folks elsewhere fare as well.

Getting dark.  Wonder if we will get the 4 to 8 inches of snow by morning?  Might need to go sledding tomorrow if that happens...

Later.

5 pm Weather Update

The weather has changed alot in the last hour.  Heavier rain. Then sleeting and raining.  Now snowing and some rain.  Strange.  But, looks like we will not get the heavy coating of ice they forecast.  Thanks for that.

4 pm Weather Update

Alot has changed in the last 90 minutes.  Rain coming down harder and freezing on surfaces of just about everything.  Sleet mixed in with the rain.  The snow is not too far north of here.  Hope this rain turns to snow before the ice forms to much thicker on everything. 

2:30 pm Weather Update

Yeah, this update thing is kinda silly, huh?  The rain has picked up a little but still not much more than a drizzle.  It is starting to freeze on the sides of the cars and other things around the house.  Funny that the north sides of the cars are iced up but the windshields and tops of the cars are just wet, not icy.  Wierd weather so far. 

Debbie, Megan and I went to Rib Crib for lunch.  Kelsey is working.  Megan's friend, Bree, met us there.  She and Megan are going to Bree's house to hang out for the nite. 

Later.

1 pm Weather Update

Um, not much to update about.  Same as noon.  Slight sprinkles.  No ice.  Going to pick up Megan at OSU and go have lunch at Rib Crib.

Later!

Noon Weather Update

A little bit of rain is falling.  Not much yet.  Radar shows snow not too far west.  We might get "lucky" and miss the heavy icing they predicted.  Good news there.  Rather have snow than sleet or ice if we have to get anything.  Feels colder now than when I got up at 6 am but the thermometer (on the internet) has not changed.

11 am Weather Update

Radar shows we should be getting all sorts of icy precipitation.  Looking out of the window I see... nuthin'.  What's all that pink stuff on the radar map?  Cotton candy?  gads.

Stay tuned. 

10 am Weather Update

Um, still no precipitation.  Radar shows it should be here, but don't see anything. 

Stay tuned.

Tea

Debbie bought some tea at Penn Square a few weeks ago. She was making some a few minutes ago.  It smells kinda like apple cider.

I saw the tea in a cup on the cabinet a few days ago and wondered why Kelsey put catnip in a cup. Showing my Okie sophistication there. LOL. This is what it looks like after she makes the tea.  Doesn't that look kinda like catnip? 



The tea looks like grass. Some of it smells good in the can. One smells like the clippings I clean out from under the lawn mower. hmmm. Maybe I can dry that stuff and sell it as tea?

This is what it looks like in the canister.

She has another type that looks like flower petals. Well, at least after she pours water on it. Before that, it looks like a dried up wad of chewing tobacco. hee hee. More evidence of my Okie sophistication that my frame of reference is a wad of chaw. LOL.

This is what the blossom looks like after Debbie makes tea. 

Debbie is the tea sipper around here. LOL
I believe I will keep drinking regular iced tea and coffee.  Generally, I drink Folgers but I bought a bag of Starbucks Morning Joe coffee last week.  Pretty good stuff.

9 am Weather Report

Well, sorta 9 a.m.

Debbie and I stayed in Stillwater this morning because of the expected ice and snow forecast for today. So far in Stillwater, we got nuthin'. No rain. No ice. No snow. We do have cold weather and strong winds. Temperature near freezing. Winds around 20 mph. Looking at the weather radar it looks like the icy stuff is creeping north. An engineering friend in OKC said there is freezing rain down there now.

Hope this isn't as bad as the weather nerds say it will be.

Stay tuned. hee hee

Blog comments

Is anyone able to post comments on this blog? Something has changed recently to the format for me to create a blog and I wonder if that has something to do with Tara being unable to post comments. Karen and Eleanor posted recently, but just wondering if they can still post comments.

Another thing that is odd, the screen appears to be different to me on Tara's blog comment box than on this one. Is that just me or do others see the difference between the two blogs?

Cyanide in apple seeds?

We were watching a television show last nite. One of those ghost hunter things. A psychic was "communicating" with a spirit and got some sort of "message" about cyanide and apple seeds. One of the team members did an internet search and discovered that apple seeds contain cyanide. I didn't believe it so I checked it out, too. Sure enough, apple seeds contain small amounts of cyanide. Not enough to be harmful to people, thankfully. Dang, I've accidentally crunched a few in my lifetime. Glad the body can deal with small amounts of cyanide. See, you can learn something watching those kinds of tv shows. hee hee.


Snopes: Cyanide and apple seeds

Winter Storm Warning

Weather nerds are forecasting ice and snow for Thursday and Friday. Depending on which nerd you watch, there will be anywhere from 1/4" to 1/2" of ice and anywhere from 1" to 12" of snow. Nerds are forecasting power outages due to heavy icing on the power lines.

Planning on staying home on Thursday in case the roads are too slick to travel in the evening.

Debbie was talking about making some chili. I told her to put beans in the chili because I like chili with beans. She changed her mind about making chili after realizing we might be stuck at home together if the roads are too bad to travel. What could be wrong with that?

Listening to the radio on the way to work this morning. Weather is still really nice. Temps in the 40's. No rain or snow yet. But some people are calling the radio and television stations asking if there are any school closings yet. oookaaay...

Baby and the Boxer

Cute video.

Baby and the boxer

Antique Stores

Debbie and I spent the day milling around looking at antique stores in Perry, Tonkawa, and Blackwell. We left Stillwater around noon. The best one was in Blackwell. We didn't get there until almost 4 pm and the store closed at 5 pm. We will be going back again. There is alot of stuff to look at. We ate lunch, if you call eating at around 3 pm "lunch", at a small diner in Ponca City. The diner was JW's Family Diner or something like that. Not fancy at all but the food was good. We tried to find a steakhouse in Ponca City where we ate with Melissa (Lewis) several years ago, but we can't remember what it was called or where it was located.

Saw this building in Blackwell. Thought it was interesting. The building for the public pool.



On the way back to Stillwater, Debbie took several cool photos of the sunset.









Anyway, today was a fun day hanging out with Debbie.

Cool Astronomy Photos

Mt. Rushmore, Big Dipper and Little Dipper

Saturn viewed from explorer spacecraft, Cassini. We looked at Saturn and saw some rings last summer through the telescope Debbie and the kids bought me. What we saw was cool, but not as cool as this photo.

Orion Nebula. Whenever the clouds stop showing up, the Orion Nebula is one of my next stargazing targets through the telescope.

There are alot of very cool photos at the NASA website.

Free Gas

Saw an advertisement about 50 year old men getting free gas if they participate in some sort of marketing activity. Pretty sure some folks will say most 50 year old men already have free gas. Just sayin'...

Pete's Place and Choc Beer

I confused Eleanor, and maybe others, with my blog about seeing Pete's Place and Choc beer. Choc beer is not chocolate beer. Choc stands for "Choctaw". Choc beer is based on a beer recipe made by Choctaw Indians back in the Indian Territory days. Here is the link to the restaurant, Pete's Place. The guy that started the restaurant, Pete Prichard, made Choc beer for the coal miners in the McAlester area in the early 1900's. Eventually, Prichard started serving food with the beer. During prohibition, Prichard was convicted of bootlegging beer. Prichard's son started selling Choc beer (legally) in the mid-90s. Good beer in my opinion.

Sorry for the confusion, Eleanor.

Feather Dusters

There is a joke, not sure how long it's been around, about a guy that went to work for a manufacturing facility and was put to work operating a machine. The guy had to pull a lever all day to make some sort of widget. After several months, he became very proficient at pulling that lever and making the widgets. His boss noticed and asked the guy if he could multitask. The guy said he could multitask. The boss asked if he could install another machine with a lever similar to the one the man already operated. The guy said he'd try. The second machine was installed and the guy spent his days pulling a lever with each hand making lots of widgets and doohickies. After several months, he was very proficient at pulling both levers. The boss noticed and asked the guy if he could multitask a little more. Could the guy press a pedal with one foot while pulling the two levers? The guy thought he could and the third machine was installed. The guy spent several months pulling two levers and stepping on the pedal with one foot making widgets, doohickies and thingamabobs. As before, he became very proficient. The boss showed up one day and asked if the guy thought he could push another pedal. The guy said he thought he could do so and a fourth machine was installed. The guy spent months pulling two levers and pushing on two pedals making widgets, doohickies, thingamabobs and whatchacallits. One day, the guy was busy pulling levers and pushing pedals and making alot of parts. The boss stopped by and asked the guy how things were going. The guy, thinking the boss wanted him to do one more task, said, "Hey, you stick a feather duster in my ass and I'll dust off your desk."

Well, I'm trying to figure out where to put another feather duster. Not literally, ya understand. It's getting busy around here!!!

Road trip Tuesday

I went to Hartshorne, Oklahoma today to look at a building for a client. Not a bad trip, but not an exciting one to be sure. It was about 70 degrees while I was there. By the time I got back to OKC around 3:30, the temp was 58 degrees. Amazing difference during a two hour trip.

I saw the restaurant, Pete's Place in Krebs where Choc beer is made. Didn't see it in time to take a photo. Hear the Italian food is very good there. I know the beer is good. Maybe a Saturday road trip is in the future...

Have a good day.

The Technology Challenge

We tried to play Wii on Saturday. Two remotes worked fine. Two did not. So, we thought the batteries were dead and tossed the batteries. We did not have any new, regular AA batteries but we had some new, rechargeable AA's that I put into the charger. Yesterday, I put the charged batteries into the Wii remotes so Deb, Megan and I could play some of our new games. The remotes still did not work. Megan realized the remotes needed to be synched with the Wii game. I synched four perfectly good AA batteries into the trash can on Saturday. dangit.

Based on a few recent comics in the Tulsa World, perhaps the technology challenge is not confined to the Dean household. hee hee.

OK. Now What?

Getting what you want is only half the problem. Whattaya do with it after you get it?

Moving

Gotta wonder what's going on in the bottom of that truck bed.

Toe Socks

Saw these on the internet and they reminded me of the socks Kelsey likes to wear. LOL

Snowman almost gone

Evie and Maggie's snowman is almost totally melted after two days of temperatures in the 50's.



There is a large warehouse next door to my office. Several canopies collapsed along the south side of the warehouse. There was about 4 feet of snow on each of these canopies. The canopies could not support the weight. I took these photos almost 2 weeks after the snowstorm and you can still see about 2 feet of snow on the remaining canopies. We saw several collapsed canopies around town. One of the local furniture stores had a roof collapse due to the deep snow.

Soluble and Insoluble Fiber

Physicians tell you to include fiber in your diet. Apparently there are good reasons for eating fiber. Lowering cholesterol and controlling blood sugar, for instance. Apparently there are two types of fiber. Soluble and insoluble fiber. Eating soluble fiber can sometimes result in massive gaseous expulsions, so be careful about ingesting too much of that before an important meeting. Insoluble fiber readily absorbs water in the intestines and makes it easier to... well, you know. As a lady in the checkout aisle at the grocery store told me a few years ago about a particular cereal I was purchasing at the time, "It helps with the pooping." A totally unsolicited comment, to be sure, but words of wisdom from a nice, elderly person who apparently does not get out of the house much and really, really, really needed to speak to another human being.

I am trying to eat fruits and veggies more often than in the past. The cholesterol is a bit too high. Too many Sonic burgers and Taco Mayo tacos over the years. Just need to eat better anyway. I like grapefruit and eat some several times per week. There are a couple of trail mixes that I like that contain dried fruits, nuts and whole grains. There are a couple of Post cereals that I like to eat, not one of which is the cereal that caused the old woman to comment about "the pooping." But both cereals are pretty good and contain alot of whole grains. I have no idea how much soluble and insoluble fiber there is in the fruit, cereals and trail mixes I've been eating. One thing for certain, apparently I have eaten alot of insoluble fiber recently. Not sure how long it takes to get through the digestive tract. A few days? A few hours? A few minutes? Does it gather in the intestine until a specific quantity is achieved before the body decides to get rid of it? I don't know. Whatever the time frame, I believe there is a quantity of insoluble fiber that results in a potentially disastrous, no-warning side effect.

Take it from a guy that has observed his spouse and children rushing to the crapper on many occasions and carries hocky-tickets in the car because there are occasional emergency stops along side the highway. They all must eat way more insoluble fiber than I do. Anyway, do not get caught far from a restroom when the body decides there is too much insoluble fiber in the intestine and says, "Hey! Enough of this crap! Get outta here!" Literally.

I decided I can deal with the soluble fiber side effects. Gaseous buildup? No problem. Crop dusting. Elevator rides.

Just sayin'.

hee hee.

Snowman update

The south side of the snowman is melting alot. Creating some sort of abstract snow art.

Kelsey and Henry

Snow is grudgingly melting

Two weeks ago we had one of the strangest snowstorms we'll ever see in Oklahoma. Alot of the snow is still on the ground. Mostly, where the snow drifts were deep and along the north sides of buildings and other areas shaded from the sun. It has been cold most of the last two weeks. Evie and Maggie's snowman is slowly melting. Snow is still in the front yard and between the houses. Strange to see snow linger so long in Oklahoma.

Saturday

Went to the office today. Trying to stay ahead of the rush of clients trying to catch up on projects after they procrastinated between Thanksgiving and New Year's Day. Couldn't get them to do anything during that time but now they realized the deadline is coming soon and want things in a hurry. Sigh.

Megan had an eye doctor appointment this morning. She and Debbie came with me this morning to OKC. Kelsey had a chiropractor appointment. Kelsey called around 9 or so and said Megan's car was parked behind her car. Since Kelsey does not know how to drive a stick shift, she didn't know what to do. I told her to let the Neon roll back in the driveway until just before it goes into the street. That should give her enough room to maneuver the Bonneville out of the driveway and through the front yard. A while later I called and she said she was stuck in the snowdrift next to the driveway and was digging out. Megan called her sometime before or after I called. Kelsey was crying at that point. Apparently she got out eventually. I gotta teach her how to drive a stick shift. I wonder if Kelsey made tracks in the yard anything akin to Megan's offroad adventure a few summers ago?



That happened the same year Eleanor's house flooded.

Megan, Debbie and I ate lunch at Hideaway in OKC. Pretty good. Thinking about having the shrimp and crab boil at Crab Town tonite for dinner.

I bought Debbie a pampering package at a local spa. Part of that gift package is a hair styling. Debbie is doing that this afternoon. Hope she likes it afterwards.

It's cold today, but a bit warmer than it has been lately. Be glad when winter is over.

See ya.

Humpback Whales

Really cool photos of humpbacks taken by a guy in a kayak.

Humpback whales feeding

Tips for a FLATTER stomach

Well, I realized today I totally misunderstood a diet regimen that I found several years ago. I saw a deal for men on the internet advertising 10 easy steps for a flatter stomach. I thought it said "fatter" stomach. I didn't think I needed to pay someone to tell me how to accomplish that so I set off on my own diet regimen. Dammit. That's what I get for trying to save a dollar. Well, I got some work to do to get back the other way.

If I'm lucky, the cold will freeze some of it off...

hee hee.

Gonna get cold

Someone left the door open between here and the Artic. Gonna be very cold for a couple of days.

A friend posted this on Facebook. LOL



Stay warm!

Motivation

Sometimes it is hard to get motivated. Sometimes, all ya gotta do is look behind you to become motivated. You don't have to be faster than the shark. You have to be faster than the guy in the other kayak.

Weekend photos

A few photos from our weekend at Tara's.



Oliver helping Nana with the dishes.




Evie and Maggie in their new car.



Who said swings are just for the kids?



Finishing the last of Nana's chex mix.



Evie and Maggie playing their new game.




Playing peek-a-boo behind the pillow.



Where's Oliver? Here I am!



Evie, Zada and Maggie playing on the swings and with the car.