Sunday, May 17, 2009

Wichita Mountain Hike


I hiked the Charons Garden Trail on Friday and it was wonderful. I got to the refuge at daybreak and saw tons of wildlife. It began with a wild pig running across the road, but that was the first of many types of animals. Overall I saw about 300 buffalo, about 100 Longhorn Steer, dozens of Roosevelt Elk and Deer, and one perplexed Coyote. I say perplexed because he was amongst a heard of Buffalo that could not have cared less about him. Obviously, he posed no treat to them. All had calves along, but seemed very relaxed none the less.

Another treat were the hundreds of prairie dogs. I had never been there when the prairie dog offspring was there, and it was quite a treat.

Then I headed out for a 2 hour hike. I took Abby. It was her first hike, and she did great. She walked about 8-10 feet in front of me the whole time and was able to follow the trail
even when I had trouble seeing where a turn went. She also bounded over fallen trees and bounded through creeks....not bad for a dog who does not like water. We did not see a single person on the hike, so we truly felt alone.

As you can see, some wildflowers were in bloom and was surprised to find many cactus. I will post more on my facebook page where there is more room.


Thursday, May 14, 2009

Tidbits


Sorry I have been lax in posting. Life has been getting the best of me. But I had a Couple small things to share. Hope to get to a couple more soon.

The Blast Radius of a Snapple:
As many of you know, I love Diet Peach Snapple. Recently I accidentally dropped on in the kitchen, and the glass and drink went everywhere. And When I say everywhere, I mean it. The kitchen floor was covered with glass, but some of it went 15 feet into the living room. The wall in the hall stopped it in that direction, but the wall was splattered with Snapple. It looked like blood spatter on CSI. Best of all, the cap flew down the main hallway and came to rest almost 20 feet away. Quite and accomplishment since it had to kind of make a curve to get there. So from the glass in the dining room and the cap, it was 35 feet. I cleaned up all but the wall splatter since we hope to get the house painted soon. What a mess.

Buying Paper:
I buy better paper for the artwork I print out for customers. It is heavier and brighter. Paper brightness is rated on a scale. I buy 96 on a scale that goes to 100. This was the highest I have seen until yesterday when I saw and bout some that rated "113". I am not sure how that happens....must be like an athlete giving "110%". Anyway, I look forward to tonight because I fully expect it to glow in the dark!

Sunday, May 3, 2009

Eleven Rules Of Life For Graduating Students


I almost never read viral emails (the ones you gets from friends with funny or touching information, and then sends it on to everyone you know), so this might be something you have seen. I ran across it on the Internet while looking for something about graduation to put in one of my monthly newsletters for a customer. I was reluctant to use it so that I would not offend anyone. As you know, people today are easily offended, and the last thing I want to do is put my customer in the position of receiving phone calls from lots of tenants upset about something in one of my stupid little fun newsletters.

Since I know most of the people who read my blog, I doubt anyone would get offended by it. I know every generation thinks the generations that follow have it to easy and that "things aren't like they used to be. For those of you who sometimes feel that way, this is for you. I like them all, but my personal favorites are numbers 1,5,7 and 8.

Eleven Rules Of Life For Graduating Students

Rule 1: Life is not fair; get used to it.

Rule 2: The world won't care about your self-esteem. The world will expect you to accomplish something BEFORE you feel good about yourself.

Rule 3: You will NOT make 40 thousand dollars a year right out of high school. You won't be a vice president until you earn it.

Rule 4: If you think your teacher is tough, wait till you get a boss. He doesn't have tenure.

Rule 5: Flipping burgers is not beneath your dignity. Your grandparents had a different word for burger flipping; they called it opportunity.

Rule 6: If you mess up, it's not your parents' fault, so don't whine about your mistakes, learn from them.

Rule 7: Before you were born, your parents weren't as boring as they are now. They got that way from paying your bills, cleaning your clothes and listening to you talk about how cool you are.

Rule 8: Your school may have done away with winners and losers, but life has not. In some schools they have abolished failing grades; they'll give you as many times as you want to get the right answer. This doesn't bear the slightest resemblance to ANYTHING in real life.

Rule 9: Life is not divided into semesters. You don't get summers off and very few employers are interested in helping you find yourself. Do that on your own time.

Rule 10: Television is NOT real life. In real life people actually have to leave the coffee shop and go to jobs.

Rule 11: Be nice to nerds. Chances are you'll end up working for one.

(Source "Dumbing Down our Kids" by educator Charles Sykes)

Friday, May 1, 2009

The Treasure Hunters

Twice a year, our Trash service does a special pickup where they will haul away about anything you can put at your curb. Certain items are not allowed (chemicals, oil, etc.), but for the most part, if you put it out, they will haul it away. Norman is big enough that it is broken up over several weekends. This is our weekend.

Their job is made much easier by people who drive through the neighborhoods the week of their "Spring" or "Fall" pickup and looking for treasure. I use the word treasure loosely. But for these Treasure Hunters, it is heaven. Think about it....it is a garage sale where everything is free!!!!!! About 8 times a year, the Treasure Hunters circle the neighborhood streets like vultures waiting for roadkill. I watch these trucks and trailers go by and look at the crap they have picked up and just shake my head. Where does it all go? Then I watched "My Big Redneck Wedding". These people typically live outside the areas where city codes are enforced. LOL

Some people use the occasion to get rid of unwanted furniture, and for many of these Treasure Seekers this is an upgrade from what they are currently using in their doublewide. This I get. But in past years, I have had almost every single thing I have put out has been picked up by Treasure Hunters before the city trucks arrive. Keep in mind, if I thought the item in question had any worth, I would give Goodwill a call. The stuff I am getting rid of is merely trash that won't fit in my green trash can. My neighbors and I actually have an unofficial contest of "what was the oddest thing a treasure hunter ever took". Here is my entry:

A couple years ago I had to get a new cover for the hot tub. The old one had become water logged and weighed about 800 pounds. I put it on the side of the house for 3 months waiting for spring pickup because I don't have any way to get it to the dump, and am too cheap to pay a dumping fee. Over those 3 months that spa cover became a lab experiment any bacterial scientist would have been proud of. It was covered in mold and was even heavier after sitting out in the rain. It was so bad, it made me nauseous as me and a friend moved it to the curb. No way anyone has a use for this, right?

It was gone in 10 minutes.