Monday, January 28, 2013

2013 Oklahoma Legislative Primer

If you ever wondered how state laws are made, the primer below can answer your questions.

http://okpolicy.org/resources/2013-legislative-primer

Monday, January 21, 2013

The last few days...

It has been a few days since I last posted here.  So to catch up here is what has been happening.

Last week the Mrs. and I saw the film Lincoln at the Promenade Mall.  The movie runs for two hours, but I did not get antsy.  Usually I will want to know how much time the movie will take.

On Thursday night, we attended the Oklahoma Observer Discussion Group at the Brookside Library.

Saturday morning, we took part in a volkswalk at Woodland Hills Mall.  We walked 3.1 miles inside the mall.  It was walk number 260 for me.  That afternoon, we went to the HAT meeting at the Genealogy Center.

Sunday, I went to church.  Attendance was low: just eight people were there.  (We had nine at the HAT meeting.)  The program at church was organized by the Religious Education team.

Today, Gail came over and we played piano duets for two hours.  We also watched a couple playing a duet on YouTube that we are playing.  We also watched a video of the Swingle Singers singing a Bach piece that we are working on.

Saturday, January 19, 2013

An old poem rediscovered

This evening, J was looking for something and came across an old, yellowed piece of paper folded up.  I suspect at first she thought it might be an old love letter.  She unfolded the paper and found a poem I had written many years ago.  Here is the poem.

                               The Merry-Go-Round


Horse and rider spin about
There's many a ride and many a mount,
And I would say beyond a doubt
This merry-go-round whirls fast.

You riders close to the center pole
Whose slow-paced steeds are not so bold,
Dismount, move out, and leave the fold.
Take a horse on the outer ring.

The horses out here are not the same.
The ones out here you'll never tame.
You may even be thrown for occasional pain,
As you travel a wider orbit.

From here there's no encumbered view.
As riders discover the world anew.
Move out here where the riders are few.
Take a horse on the outer ring.

Monday, January 14, 2013

Freezing rain

It has turned cold in Oklahoma.  Yesterday, as I was about to leave for church, I discovered that we had received some freezing rain overnight.  I was unable to open the door of my car.  There was a sheet of ice covering most of the car.  I was able to gain entry into my car through the passenger side.  I crawled over into the driver’s seat and started the car.  From the inside of the car I was able to get the driver’s door open.  I went back into the house and filled up a glass with warm water and poured it over the car windshield, melting the ice.  I had to do that three times with two glasses of water before I was able to gain enough visibility to drive the car to church.
I was ten minutes late getting to church.  Mary was already into her lesson.  The lesson for the day was based upon a Bill Moyers program which we watched.  He was interviewing Jonathan Haidt, author of The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Religion and Politics.  (It’s available on the Kindle for $15.)  Rev. Gerald Davis gave the sermon.  He is now blind and has to be led around, but he is quite cheerful and upbeat.
I bought a few bargain books yesterday for the Kindle: Brain Rules: 12 Principles for Surviving and  Thriving At Work, Home, and School by John Medina, Merriam-Webster’s Book of Word Histories, and Word Myths: Debunking Linguistic Urban Legends by David Wilton.
This morning I picked up Nick at Midas where he had taken his car to get the brakes worked on.  Later, Gail came over and we played duets for about an hour.  I think our next performance piece will be “Cleopha,” a march written by Scott Joplin.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

An amusing website

While surfing the web tonight a came across a group based in Oklahoma City which looks into spooky things.  It seems they operate mostly at night, the best time for spooky things.  They can be found at www.okpri.com.  Once you click on the site, looks for "videos" in the left column.  You might want to watch a few.  The Stone Lion Inn is among the spooky sites.  It is located in Guthrie.  We stayed there once, but we did not see anything strange.

Sunday, January 06, 2013

Playing solo

Last night was Movie Night at the Bradleys.  Gail and I had planned to play a duet on the piano before the movie started.  We had been there about 20 minutes when Gail called on the phone.  Her 90 year-old mother-in-law had fallen.  She managed to reach her phone and called the Storeys.  The Storeys went to her house and took her to the hospital.  She was x-rayed but no broken bones were found.
This morning Gail called again to say that she and Glenn would be spending the day with Ruby.  I took my binder of musical selections that I love to play with me to church.  I played a solo this morning instead of a duet.  I played “Seagull in the Sky” by the French composer Chabon.  I received several complements afterwards.
We had a guest speaker today, Dr. Davis Joyce, a retired history professor who had taught at Tulsa University and East Central University in Ada.  Joyce spoke about historian Howard Zinn.  We are presently studying Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States at Restoration.

Friday, January 04, 2013

A trip to Okmulgee

We had received a recall notice from Saturn in December saying that we should arrange to take our car to South Point Chevrolet in January 2013.  The recall purpose was to replace a cable of some kind.  Our appointment was for 10 am on Thursday.  I pulled in at 10 am and went to the waiting area.  I told the manager to check the battery also since the manager at Same Day Auto had told me that the battery was weak.  He did so and said the battery was fine.  It took about an hour to have the work done.
We get on the Creek Turnpike at Sapulpa to go to Tulsa.  As we got off the turnpike, I headed in toward Sapulpa and went to the post office.  There I bought a sheet of commemorative stamps which were issued on the 150th anniversary of the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation by Abraham Lincoln. 
J had been looking for a new pair of boots.  The pair she was wearing had worn down quite a bit and needed replacing.  She had bought them at a Payless Shoe Source store.  The store in Sand Springs did not have any in stock.  Since we were in Sapulpa, we decided to check the Sapulpa store.  It is almost directly across from the post office.  They did not have any in stock either.  However, they checked their computer which indicated that the store in Okmulgee had one pair.  We called the store to confirm the computer inventory check.  We were told they had one pair and would hold that pair for us.  Sapulpa is about 10 miles south of Prattville, and about a third of the way to Okmulgee.
On the way out of Sapulpa we stopped at a Long John Silver’s for lunch.  I had the two-piece cod on rice with green beans and corn on the cob.  Delish.  We got back on the road (Hwy 117) and headed for Hwy 75, which goes into Okmulgee.  Going south on 75 there was an eighteen wheeler ahead of us also going south but in the other lane.  All of a sudden, “Ka-boom!”  The truck ahead blew a tire.  It threw “alligators” about the roadway.  Fortunately, none hit the car.
We found the Payless Store on the south end of Okmulgee and bought the shoes.  We got back on Hwy 75 and returned home.  Back in Sand Springs, I drove to the Case Community Center and walked three miles.

Wednesday, January 02, 2013

Recent happenings

Last week we made a trip to Springfield.  We were gone three days.  I thought I lost my Kindle twice.  On the first occasion, I brought the Kindle into my parents' apartment.  However, I was unsure about that.  I was even unsure I had brought the Kindle with me.  Anyway, I was thinking I had set the Kindle down somewhere in the apartment.  I was going to read a bit before going to sleep and noticed it was missing.  I went back out to my car twice looking for it.  In the morning my mother told me she thought the Kindle was hers and had put it into a drawer.  So it was within three feet of me all the night long, and I didn't know it.

The next instance was when we were heading back to Sand Springs on Sunday.  As we were on the James River Expressway, I asked about my Kindle.  We pulled off at Chesterfield Village and looked for it in the trunk.  We couldn't find it so I phoned my Dad.  He did not see it in the apartment.  I found it as I was talking to my Dad.  It was on the dashboard of my car.  My parents probably think I'm a dork.

I did not go to church last Sunday.  We were on the road at that time.  Next Sunday is Humanist Sunday.  On Monday Gail and I rehearsed for our part in the Humanist Sunday service.  We will be playing a bluesy piece titled "I'll Wait For You."