Sea Monster

OK.  I ain't much of a splashin' in the water kind of feller.  I like to fish.  Playing in the water at the waterpark is growing on me.  Taking a daily shower is a must, in my humble opinion.  At least every other day.  The idea of taking a bath on Saturdays only because it's Saturday and time for the weekly scrubbin' o' dirt off the body is way too old fashioned thinking for me.  If everyone else is stinking, too, then maybe once a week is ok.  Anway, just getting into the water just to get into the water is not appealing in and of itself.  After seeing this story, I'm definitely rethinking the concept of going for a dip in the ocean.  I mean, besides whale poo, fish pee and sharks (yeah, those other critters with big, gnarly teeth), this thing might be swimming around looking for hors d'oeurves.  Maybe you gotta be swimming a mile deep, but if it washed up on the beach, I'm thinking it must have been in the shallows looking for a fat dude to sink those fangs into. 

sea monster

Well, OK.  Maybe it is a fraud, but why take a chance?  Ya know?

How good are your driving skills?

Take the test, post yer score.  I got a 95.  :)

Driving skills quiz

Doe not mess with the fawn

Doe protects fawn from cat and dog

Kinda crazy to see a fawn laying next to a car like that.  But after seeing Karen's photo of the fawn in the middle of her yard, mabye not too crazy.

Things could be worse...

Our office is still being cleaned up after last week's flooding. Stuff is scattered and piled up everywhere as the workers move things around sanitizing, drying out the walls, getting ready to paint and replace carpet. It is a challenge to find things as we need them. We are in a temporary office space, where today, there are guys removing and replacing the roof that was damaged by the crazy hail storm from about a month ago. Difficult to work efficiently while you are displaced and giant woodpeckers are hammering around. Just gotta shrug and laugh it off cuz things could be worse.

Russ is hanging in there with all this plus his mom being in the hospital with a serious illness.  She has battled emphysema for years.  At least as long as I've known Russell, which is almost 15 years.  About 2 weeks ago, she started having more trouble breathing than usual.  It got bad enough they put her in the hospital and eventually in ICU.  Now, she is unable to breathe on her own and is on a ventilator in a long term care facility.  His mother-in-law is in the hospital, also.  She has been ill for a few months.  Russell's personal world is in chaos and now he's dealing with the office related crud.

Stillwater to Midland

On Friday, Megan and I packed and loaded the U-Haul with all of her stuff.  By mid-afternoon, we were ready to roll.  I drove the Neon onto the trailer and when I tried to open the door, I could not because the trailer fender was in the way.  So, I crawled catlike out of the driver side window.  Well, maybe not so catlike.  NASCAR driver-like, maybe.  The fat guy through a small car window kind of crawling.  Later, I discovered that there was a way to move the fender so I could open the car door.  That came in handy later.

Debbie, Megan and I got up early Saturday morning and ate breakfast at IHOP.  By 7 a.m. we were on the road to Midland, TX.  Nine and one-half hours later, we were in Midland.  Unloaded the truck first.  Got everything ready to unload the Neon off of the trailer, but the battery was dead.  Tried three times to start the car.  Nuthin'.  So, Shawn talked to his neighbor across the street and that guy allowed us to pull the truck and trailer into an empty field.  The plan was to jump start the car after it was off of the trailer.  Shawn gave the car a shove and it rolled off of the trailer.  Well, more than one shove actually, but he was He-Man enough to get the car rolling with me sitting in it.  Anyway, after the car was off the trailer, Shawn observed that the radio was playing.  "How could the radio work if the battery is dead?"  Dunno.  So I tried to start the car again.  And... it started.  dang.  Shawn drove the car into the driveway.  Megan is at home in Midland.

Yeah, I know the car isn't in the driveway.  I took the photo on Sunday morning after Shawn and I went to Starbucks for coffee.

We ate dinner with Shawn, Zada, and Shawn's parents, Mike and Denise.  Good food and company at a Mexican restaurant.  Sunday morning, we ate with them again for father's day brunch at a pretty cool restaurant in downtown Midland.  Very good and various versions of eggs benedict.  My first time trying eggs benedict and certainly not the last.  Hopefully, not the last time to eat at either of those restaurants.  Mike and Denise seem like good people and look forward to getting to know them better.  As usual, Zada is fun to pester and gives it back, which is fun.  hee hee.

Shawn found a horned toad in his backyard on Sunday morning.  Funny since we were talking about them at Tara's last weekend.  Zada put him in their garden after she gave him a good looking over.

On the way to Midland, near Anson, TX, we saw a very high fence along the highway.  Near one corner of the fenced-in area, we saw several large antelope and a couple of smaller ones.  On the way home this morning, Debbie took photos of the two smaller antelope.  We did not see the larger ones.  The two smaller ones certainly noticed us parked on the side of the highway.

Debbie made it to somewhere between Lawton and Chickasha before I heard her say, "I can't be strong anymore!" and the tears started flowing.  Glad Megan moved to the edge of the 8 hour distance from where we are living.  I might have been fussing a bit, too.  hee hee.

Wet Office

Got to the office this morning.  It's a pit.  Damp.  Smelly.  Spent the first two hours creating half a pickup load of soggy and damp documents to toss into the dumpster. 

Pastel (chalk) and ink rendering of a home for a family of bird watchers.  Did this in my 2nd year of architecture school.  One of the few projects that my professors did not keep for the school's archives because I asked to keep it.

Sketch project from my 2nd year of studio. 

My "Munchkin Manor" playhouse.  I think this was a 2nd year project, too.  I remember the studio professors telling me and everyone that it was obvious that I had kids.  Fun project.

Dunno if you can see the red and yellow dots on the projects.  Red dots were given to the best projects.  Yellow was rarely given as that meant exceptional.  I was really surprised and very proud that the house got a yellow dot. 

Worse part for me is the loss of the really, really nice leather briefcase that Debbie, Tara, Megan and Kelsey gave me when I graduated from OSU.  I had it on the floor next to my desk where I tried to hide it and protect it.  Can't protect it from a wet floor.  Really upsetting.  I had three project boards at the office and all three of those got wet.  Ticked me off. 

Lost alot of drawings that I had on the floor.  All of the water came from the sewer backing up through the toilets in the building.  The city sewer and storm water system was totally inadequate on Monday.  Our building owner is planning to sue the city.  Doubt that will work, but worth a try.  Turns out, our building is the only one of the four in our complex that was flooded.  He is bringing people into the office building today to start removing carpet, so it will be hectic for sure.

Anyway, my eye is doing better today.  Later.

Pencil Art

Cool stuff by Jennifer Maestre.  Amazing what you can do with some pencil stubs and string.

Impressive pencil art by Jennifer Maestre

Don't sass the missus

Looks bad.  Feels worse.  Can barely keep my eye open for a few seconds.  Watering like crazy.  The doctor made an incision on the inside of my eyelid to remove the... whatever it was... that was on my eyelid.  The doctor said that incision would sort of scab over as it heals and would go away in a few days.  Hoping by the end of the day I will be able to keep my eye open a little more.  Doc gave me some eyedrops to help lube things up.  Might need another bottle soon...

Eyelid surgery

Had the lump removed from my eyelid this afternoon.  Sporting an eyepatch at the moment.  Depth perception is majorly discombobulated.  Amazing how much two eyes help a person get around.  Is this how a cyclops feels?  On the way home, Debbie kept asking me if I saw this or that.  Um, not alot of it.  Half maybe.  hee hee.  Get it? 

Doc said I'd probably have a black eye tomorrow.  Don't doubt it as he grabbed my eyelid with these funky tweezers and turned my eyelid inside out.  I could tell he was pushing around and whatnot.  The tweezers were not the worse part of it.  The hissing and smell of bacon while he was cauterizing something was kinda freaky.  Just kidding about the bacon part.  It didn't smell like bacon.  hee hee.  Anway, the black eye should be a good look and worse than what I had with the sty.  Yucky.  Debbie said I should tell people this is what happens when I give her shit.  Yeah.  Right.  Maybe 32 years ago.  My ducking reflexes have improved alot over the years. 

But, in a few days, should be a better appearance.  At least I hope so.  When we got home, the eye felt scratchy.  Not so much now, so either it's already better feeling or I'm just accustomed to it.  Megan said I was freaking her out with the patch.  Dunno if it's the patch or just me saying, "AAARRRGGGHHH!" every time she looks at me.  hee hee.  Doc gave me an ointment to put in my eye.  But, I can't touch the tip of the tube to my eye.  Now, how the heck do you get an ointment to "fall" into your eye?  Should be interesting over the next 10 days to see how often the ointment is on my cheek or eyelid instead of in the eye.  

By the way, it's raining again.   Dang. 

UPS and Fed-Ex

Around lunch time, a UPS truck backed into a spot on the other side of the parking lot from my office window.  He was there for about 20 minutes and then left.  Just now, a Fed-Ex truck backed into the same spot.  The UPS guy is not there now.  A few years ago, I learned that I was very naive when I did not know that backing into a parking spot was sometimes an advertisement that the driver was looking for gay sex.  Um, I'm hoping those two delivery drivers are taping meth to the pine tree for a drug exchange and are not doing something else.  Kinda wierd they pick exactly the same spot to test the reverse gear on their trucks.  During the 10 years I've been in this office staring out the window, this is the first time I've seen that going on.  If it happens again, I ain't going out there to knock on the window to see what they are doing.  Speculating is way more fun than knowing.

UPDATE.  Since the Fed Ex truck arrived, there have been three other Fed-Ex trucks drive through the parking lot.  One of them backed up next to the first one, stayed for a few minutes, then left.  Another one just showed up and the guys are transferring boxes between the trucks.  I ain't getting alot of work done...

UPDATE #2:  There's another truck backing in next to the first one.  Break down?  Terrorist plot?  Dunno, but the guy in the last truck got into the first truck and they left together.  Abandoned Fed-Ex truck in the front yard... ruh roh.

Heading South

Debbie and I are heading south to the land of milk and honey.  We are stopping in Greenville, which is way better anyway.  We might not finish the pilgrimage to the land of milk and honey.  OK, talked me into it.  The heck with the land of milk and honey.  We're going to Greenville where there are puddles to splash around in, books to read, midgets to chase and cuddle with, daughters to see again.  Come to think of it, that IS the land of milk and honey. 

Check yer meds

Major fubar on my synthroid that I should have caught and did not catch until today.  I got a refill on my synthroid at the end of April, and noticed the pill color was different.  Normally, the pill is pink and these are purple.  Had a fasting blood test last week and the nurse called me yesterday with the test results.  The test showed my TSH was around 26 and it should be as close to 1 as possible, but less than 5.  Typically, my TSH is around 3 and has been for the last 25 years.  The doc ordered an increase in the dosage.  I called this morning and asked to take another blood test to recheck everything.  Meantime, Kelsey had an appointment with the same doctor this afternoon.  Debbie went with her.  The doc was telling Deb how worried and confused he was about my TSH levels.  Apparently, they spent more time talking about that than talking about Kelsey.  Sorry, Kelsey...  Anyway, Deb called me afterward and we were talking about it again.  While we were talking, I pulled up the pill ID website and noticed that the purple pill was less than half the dosage of the pink pill.  Don't know why I did not notice that the last two times I looked up the pill.  Just a dumbass move on my part for not recognizing that 0.075mg is not equal to 0.175mg.  Anyway, be sure and check your meds.  If they look different, double and triple check to make sure you have the proper stuff.  Don't just assume, as I did, that what you have is correct.  After 25 years of taking this stuff and arguing with doctors about it all, you'd think I'd know better.  Really embarrassed and pissed at myself.  And, at the pharmacist for the mistake he made.  Gotta all be diligent about it.  sheesh.

Baby Boomer Test

How many can you answer?  Good luck, youngsters .


1. What builds strong bodies 12 ways?
A. Flintstones vitamins
B. The Buttmaster
C. Spaghetti
D. Wonder Bread
E. Orange Juice
F. Milk
G. Cod Liver Oil

2. Before he was Muhammad Ali, he was...
A. Sugar Ray Robinson.
B. Roy Orbison..
C. Gene Autry.
D. Rudolph Valentino.
E. Fabian.
F. Mickey Mantle.
G. Cassius Clay.

3. Pogo, the comic strip character said, 'We have met the enemy and....
A. It's you.
B. He is us.
C. It's the Grinch.
D. He wasn't home.
E. He's really me and you.
F. We quit.
G. He surrendered.

4. Good night, David.
A. Good night, Chet.
B. Sleep well.
C. Good night, Irene.
D.. Good night, Gracie.
E. See you later, alligator.
F. Until tomorrow.
G. Good night, Steve.

5. You'll wonder where the yellow went...
A. When you use Tide.
B. When you lose your crayons.
C. When you clean your tub.
D. If you paint the room blue.
E. If you buy a soft water tank.
F. When you use Lady Clairol.
G. When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent.

6. Before he was the Skipper's Little Buddy, Bob Denver was Dobie's friend...
A. Stuart Whitman.
B Randolph Scott.
C. Steve Reeves..
D. Maynard G. Krebs.
E. Corky B. Dork.
F. Dave the Whale.
G. Zippy Zoo.

7. Liar, liar...
A. You're a liar.
B. Your nose is growing.
C. Pants on fire.
D. Join the choir
E. Jump up higher.
F. On the wire.
G. I'm telling Mom.

8. Meanwhile, back in Metropolis, Superman fights a never ending battle for truth, justice and....
A. Wheaties.
B. Lois Lane .
C. TV ratings.
D. World peace.
E. Red tights.
F. The American way.
G. News headlines.

9. Hey kids! What time is it?
A. It's time for Yogi Bear.
B It's time to do your homework.
C. It's Howdy Doody Time.
D. It's time for Romper Room.
E. It's bedtime.
F. The Mighty Mouse Hour.
G. Scoopy Doo Time.

10. Lions and tigers and bears...
A. Yikes.
B. Oh, no.
C. Gee whiz.
D. I'm scared.
E. Oh my.
F. Help! Help!
G. Let's run.

11. Bob Dylan advised us never to trust anyone...
A. Over 40.
B. Wearing a uniform.
C. Carrying a briefcase.
D. Over 30.
E. You don't know.
F. Who says, 'Trust me'..
G. Who eats tofu.

12. NFL quarterback who appeared in a television commercial wearing women's stockings...
A. Troy Aikman
B. Kenny Stabler
C. Joe Namath
D. Roger Staubach
E. Joe Montana
F. Steve Young
G. John Elway

13. Brylcream...
A. Smear it on.
B. You'll smell great.
C. Tame that cowlick.
D. Grease ball heaven.
E. It's a dream.
F. We're your team.
G. A little dab'll do ya.

14. I found my thrill...
A. In Blueberry muffins.
B. With my man, Bill.
C. Down at the mill.
D. Over the windowsill.
E. With thyme and dill.
F. Too late to enjoy.
G. On Blueberry Hill.

15. Before Robin Williams, Peter Pan was played by...
A. Clark Gable.
B. Mary Martin.
C. Doris Day.
D. Errol Flynn.
E. Sally Fields.
F. Jim Carrey.
G. Jay Leno.

16. Name the Beatles...
A. John, Steve, George, Ringo
B. John, Paul, George, Roscoe
C. John, Paul, Stacey, Ringo
D. Jay, Paul, George, Ringo
E. Lewis, Peter, George, Ringo
F. Jason, Betty, Skipper, Hazel
G. John, Paul, George, Ringo

17. I wonder, wonder, who.
A. Who ate the leftovers?
B. Who did the laundry?
C. Was it you?
D. Who wrote the book of love?
E. Who I am?
F. Passed the test?
G. Knocked on the door?

18. I'm strong to the finish...
A. Cause I eats my broccoli.
B. Cause I eats me spinach.
C. Cause I lift weights.
D. Cause I'm the hero.
E. And don't you for get it.
F. Cause Olive Oyl loves me.
G. To outlast Bruto.

19. When it's least expected, you're elected, you're the star today.
A. Smile, you're on Candid Camera.
B. Smile, you're on Star Search.
C. Smile, you won the lottery.
D. Smile, we're watching you.
E. Smile, the world sees you.
F. Smile, you're a hit.
G. Smile, you're on TV.

20. What do M & M's do?
A. Make your tummy happy.
B. Melt in your mouth, not in your pocket.
C. Make you fat.
D. Melt your heart.
E. Make you popular.
F. Melt in your mouth, not in your hand.
G. Come in colors.



Below are the right answers:

1. D - Wonder Bread
2. G - Cassius Clay
3. B - He Is us
4. A - Good night, Chet
5. G - When you brush your teeth with Pepsodent
6. D - Maynard G. Krebs
7. C - Pants on fire
8. F - The American Way
9. C - It's Howdy Doody Time
10. E - Oh my
11. D - Over 30
12. C - Joe Namath
13. G - A little dab'll do ya
14. G - On Blueberry Hill
15. B - Mary Martin
16. G - John, Paul, George, Ringo
17. D - Who wrote the book of Love
18. B - Cause I eats me spinach
19. A - Smile, you're on Candid Camera
20. F - Melt in your mouth not in your hand

Portland, Oregon Police Officer Kicked Out of Cafe

Apparently, some folks in Portland, Oregon do not like police officers. 
Portland, Oregon cop kicked out of coffee shop

The lady who was talking to the officer when he was asked to leave wrote about it on her blog.

Cornelia Seigneur blog

Always had the impression that folks in the northwest USA were alot more tolerant of each other than that.  Guess there are kooks everywhere.

Apparently there are several people who share the coffee shop owner's sentiments about the police.  Business increased for a couple of days after the incident. 

Strange goings on...

15 Seconds of Fame

A few days ago, I was contacted by a local publication and asked to provide information about designing buildings to resist a tornado.  The question was mostly about buildings in downtown Oklahoma City.  I provided some info and a couple of days after that, the publication asked if they could take my photo for the article.  I told them that I am not a GQ kind of guy, but they insisted.  I met the photographer near the Skirvin Hotel and he took several photos.  The article came out today.  Oklahoma Gazette: How twister-ready is downtown OKC?  Low and behold, there's my mug.  Fleeting 15 seconds of fame!  I'm so cool, I gotta wear shades.  hee hee.

East Central University Fine Arts Center

One of my projects was featured on the Discover Oklahoma program recently.  Here is a link to the architect's website and the video of the Discover Oklahoma segment.

East Central University Fine Arts Center

The building turned out pretty cool!!!

Trailer Hitch Decor

I don't know if these are showing up everywhere in the United States, but we see them hanging off of trailer hitches in Oklahoma and Texas.  If you live around here, you've seen them.  Giant, fake bull balls swinging around under trailer hitches on pickup trucks.  Six or seven inches tall.  Bulls Balls.  Truck Nutz.  Biker Nutz.  Big Boy Nutz.  Bull Scrote.  Ox Balls.  Various names for them.  Chrome.  Red.  White.  Black.  Green.  Yellow.  Lots of colors.  Even yer patriotic nutz.

Well, last nite on the way home, a large, one-ton Dodge pickup passed us with a very small scrote dangling off of the trailer hitch.  Sometimes we see an old dude driving a Corvette or other fancy sports car and Debbie will say, "Sorry about yer penis!"  Which implies that the guy bought the sports car to make up for his shortcomings, if'n you get my drift.  Anyway, after seeing the small bull sack, or dog sack, whatever it was, I had to say, "Sorry about yer little scrote!".  LOL.  Um.  Well, maybe you hadda be there. 

Mad Drummer

I bet you already saw this, but just in case you missed it or want to watch it again, here's the link to the article about a crazy drummer at a wedding.  The video is about halfway down the article.  Pretty hilarious and cool.

The Mad Drummer

Here is the link to the guy's website and several more videos.  Sure fun to watch.

The Mad Drummer website

Be sure and watch the 2010 Florida Strawberry Festival video.

Holy pompadour, Batman!

Gotta wonder about the criteria for joining this gang.  Tallest hair is the boss?