Insist On Charging An Extra $15 A Day Each For Parking And Internet Service?
I'M HOME FROM HOUSTON, TEXAS!!!
I'm also not that really interested in going back again any time soon if I didn't have to...
...but I'll probably HAVE TO since a number of our Customers and our Corporate Offices are in Houston.
Regardless, I'm home tonight to my girls and I rapidly running out of steam after about 30 hours of classroom time and travel since Tuesday morning, so I guess I'll go now and reserve the rest of my pontifications and travel horror stories for later.
Regards Y'all...
Friday, November 11, 2011
Thursday, November 10, 2011
You Couldn't PAY Me...
...To Live In Houston, Texas
For those of you who have been living somewhere under a rock or otherwise not paying attention, Houston holds the position of FOURTH largest city in the United States.
That statistic in and of itself was probably intriguing to me when I was stumbling around our lovely planet at the age of 21, but today at the age of 52 it just doesn't do a dang thing for me except make me want to run away screaming.
I didn't have to rent a car on this trip because I'm staying at a hotel ($150 per night) across the interstate from the Galleria Marriott ($300 per night) where my training class is being held, but on the shuttle ride from Bush International Airport Tuesday night and the subsequent Taxi rides since I'm determined that the impossible has happened since I was last in this City about ten years ago.
THESE FREAKING PEOPLE HAVE BECOME EVEN MORE ARROGANT AND RUDE IN THEIR DRIVING STYLE!
Walking on the sidewalk--even those adjacent to side streets and the Interstate Access Roads--is something akin to strolling along on the grass by the entrance to "Pit Road" at a NASCAR track.
That said, it's time to get ready to head over to the conference room for day two of the RISA training class, then drag my luggage on back to the airport in time to catch a flight back to Tulsa.
Feel free to meet me at the new house for a night cap about 10 PM if you're in the area.
Regards Y'all...
For those of you who have been living somewhere under a rock or otherwise not paying attention, Houston holds the position of FOURTH largest city in the United States.
That statistic in and of itself was probably intriguing to me when I was stumbling around our lovely planet at the age of 21, but today at the age of 52 it just doesn't do a dang thing for me except make me want to run away screaming.
I didn't have to rent a car on this trip because I'm staying at a hotel ($150 per night) across the interstate from the Galleria Marriott ($300 per night) where my training class is being held, but on the shuttle ride from Bush International Airport Tuesday night and the subsequent Taxi rides since I'm determined that the impossible has happened since I was last in this City about ten years ago.
THESE FREAKING PEOPLE HAVE BECOME EVEN MORE ARROGANT AND RUDE IN THEIR DRIVING STYLE!
Walking on the sidewalk--even those adjacent to side streets and the Interstate Access Roads--is something akin to strolling along on the grass by the entrance to "Pit Road" at a NASCAR track.
That said, it's time to get ready to head over to the conference room for day two of the RISA training class, then drag my luggage on back to the airport in time to catch a flight back to Tulsa.
Feel free to meet me at the new house for a night cap about 10 PM if you're in the area.
Regards Y'all...
Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Houston
Back In School...
I just flew to the Texas Gulf Coast last night (boy are my arms tired) to attend a two day class on some Finite Element software I'm using these days in the new job.
The result was a seventeen hour day yesterday, so you'll have to excuse the light blogging for the moment.
Class starts this morning at 7:30, so I guess I'll go now and get ready for class.
Regards Y'all...
I just flew to the Texas Gulf Coast last night (boy are my arms tired) to attend a two day class on some Finite Element software I'm using these days in the new job.
The result was a seventeen hour day yesterday, so you'll have to excuse the light blogging for the moment.
Class starts this morning at 7:30, so I guess I'll go now and get ready for class.
Regards Y'all...
Monday, November 07, 2011
More Shakin'...Rattlin'...and Rolling...
Whaaaaaaattttttt??????
Well, we slept through another 4.0 earthquake between 3 and 4 AM this morning, then about 8:45 tonight we were sitting here digesting our Pizza Dinner and we had another one preliminarily reading 4.7 on the Richter Scale.
The 4.7 was noticeably less powerful than the earlier 5.6 because each increment on the Richter Scale is logarithmic and thus an increase of 1.0 offers an amplitude ten times larger and releases 31.6 (the square root of 1000) times as much energy in the process.
That said, we've had a 4.6 on Saturday morning, a 5.6 on Saturday night, a 4.0 on Monday morning, and now for good measure a 4.7 tonight...
ADDING IT ALL UP, THAT'S A GRAND TOTAL OF 28.9!
OK, maybe it really doesn't work like that, but the executive summary is that we've apparently had 4 of the top five earthquakes in modern recorded Oklahoma history since I've been here over the past FOUR DAYS.
And now I have to go batten down the hatches because we have a line of severe thunderstorms moving this way out of the southwest from Oklahoma City.
Oh, and I have to pack to fly after work tomorrow to Houston, TX for a two day class returning Thursday night.
I hope my girls and house is still here when I get back.
Looks like it's going to be an interesting time here in the Midwest.
Regards Y'all...
Well, we slept through another 4.0 earthquake between 3 and 4 AM this morning, then about 8:45 tonight we were sitting here digesting our Pizza Dinner and we had another one preliminarily reading 4.7 on the Richter Scale.
The 4.7 was noticeably less powerful than the earlier 5.6 because each increment on the Richter Scale is logarithmic and thus an increase of 1.0 offers an amplitude ten times larger and releases 31.6 (the square root of 1000) times as much energy in the process.
That said, we've had a 4.6 on Saturday morning, a 5.6 on Saturday night, a 4.0 on Monday morning, and now for good measure a 4.7 tonight...
ADDING IT ALL UP, THAT'S A GRAND TOTAL OF 28.9!
OK, maybe it really doesn't work like that, but the executive summary is that we've apparently had 4 of the top five earthquakes in modern recorded Oklahoma history since I've been here over the past FOUR DAYS.
And now I have to go batten down the hatches because we have a line of severe thunderstorms moving this way out of the southwest from Oklahoma City.
Oh, and I have to pack to fly after work tomorrow to Houston, TX for a two day class returning Thursday night.
I hope my girls and house is still here when I get back.
Looks like it's going to be an interesting time here in the Midwest.
Regards Y'all...
Living In Internet Hell...
Either Cox Communications' Internet Sucks Else There I Something Wrong On My End Of This Equation...
So I let the lovely "sales representative" talk me into a cable system upgrade (which I can't use right now because I can't find most of my cables and TV associated crap) and also some silly version of their "super dooper pooper ultra freaking high speed" Internet services which is "totally free between now and January 1, 2012.
After that I'll have to either cut back on the services or stop eating because I'll have to stop buying toilet paper because I can't afford either, but I digress.
So this morning my "super dooper pooper ultra freaking high speed" Internet Service is running at...
You ready?
If not get ready...
T H E SPEED OF ....
S M E L L.
The speed of SMELL
Got it?
I've unplugged and rebooted the Cable modem and the wireless router has been completely out of the equation pretty much the whole time because as I said before I either can't find my computer equipment else I'm too busy and distracted to set any of the system up...
but DAMMIT...
this "sooper dooper ultra high speed" Internet stuff pretty much SUCKS right now because I have things to do and people to meet and talk to and I'm not sitting here at 4 AM screwing around and improving my health.
Is it just ME?
So I let the lovely "sales representative" talk me into a cable system upgrade (which I can't use right now because I can't find most of my cables and TV associated crap) and also some silly version of their "super dooper pooper ultra freaking high speed" Internet services which is "totally free between now and January 1, 2012.
After that I'll have to either cut back on the services or stop eating because I'll have to stop buying toilet paper because I can't afford either, but I digress.
So this morning my "super dooper pooper ultra freaking high speed" Internet Service is running at...
You ready?
If not get ready...
T H E SPEED OF ....
S M E L L.
The speed of SMELL
Got it?
I've unplugged and rebooted the Cable modem and the wireless router has been completely out of the equation pretty much the whole time because as I said before I either can't find my computer equipment else I'm too busy and distracted to set any of the system up...
but DAMMIT...
this "sooper dooper ultra high speed" Internet stuff pretty much SUCKS right now because I have things to do and people to meet and talk to and I'm not sitting here at 4 AM screwing around and improving my health.
Is it just ME?
Hanging Out With My "Old Ladies"
I'm Swimming In A Sea Of Estrogen...
OK...now I've REALLY gone and done it out here, Ladies and Gentlemen.
As if it wasn't enough that I live on a daily basis as the single male in my household with a very strong minded woman about a decade my senior and my little miniature female long haired Dachshund--Missy the Turbo Pup--who truth be known really runs things everywhere I am...
Nooooo Sir Eeeeeee....
Before we even loaded the truck in Knoxtown I went out and bought a ticket on an airplane thereby paying to FLY YET ANOTHER EVEN OLDER (YET BEAUTIFUL) WOMAN INTO THE STATE from the Georgia Coast last week to come help Pat unpack and decorate our new house...
and she finally arrived from her Daughter's house in Oklahoma City where she'd been visiting since last Wednesday to our place here in Tulsa yesterday morning.
Since then I've pretty much just been in charge of things like "shucking and jiving" and "toteing and fetching" and handling breaking down boxes and putting giant wads of packing paper and bubble wrap and peanuts into giant black trash bags and hauling them out into the garage.
Right now there is no room for the new Audi Q7 in my garage...A THREE CAR GARAGE for goodness sake!!!
Meanwhile, and continuing thinking and speaking of things not fitting into my garage right now...I have not ONE but TWO GPS systems...one built into the dash of the 2007 Q7 and another Garmon C330 vintage about that same time period and they both refuse to acknowledge that my house and street in my neighborhood exist on the planet.
Can't get there from here...no matter where "here" is on any given journey and where "there" is...AKA HOME.
With that issue at hand, and since the old Chevy Suburban is still sitting in Knoxtown waiting for the auto transport company to come by and pick it up...
I'm afraid after Pat and Ski and Missy the Turbo Pup deliver me back to the real world at work later this morning that there is a good chance that I'll never see any of my girls again because that will be somewhere in Texas or Kansas or Arkansas looking for "Home" because my FREAKING GPS'S CAN'T FIND MY HOUSE.
Then again I could go online and update the portable Garmon unit with a new map by paying for a download...
I guess that you will have to excuse me while I get out my wallet and credit cards and do just that so I can get a ride back home this afternoon.
Regards Y'all...
OK...now I've REALLY gone and done it out here, Ladies and Gentlemen.
As if it wasn't enough that I live on a daily basis as the single male in my household with a very strong minded woman about a decade my senior and my little miniature female long haired Dachshund--Missy the Turbo Pup--who truth be known really runs things everywhere I am...
Nooooo Sir Eeeeeee....
Before we even loaded the truck in Knoxtown I went out and bought a ticket on an airplane thereby paying to FLY YET ANOTHER EVEN OLDER (YET BEAUTIFUL) WOMAN INTO THE STATE from the Georgia Coast last week to come help Pat unpack and decorate our new house...
and she finally arrived from her Daughter's house in Oklahoma City where she'd been visiting since last Wednesday to our place here in Tulsa yesterday morning.
Since then I've pretty much just been in charge of things like "shucking and jiving" and "toteing and fetching" and handling breaking down boxes and putting giant wads of packing paper and bubble wrap and peanuts into giant black trash bags and hauling them out into the garage.
Right now there is no room for the new Audi Q7 in my garage...A THREE CAR GARAGE for goodness sake!!!
Meanwhile, and continuing thinking and speaking of things not fitting into my garage right now...I have not ONE but TWO GPS systems...one built into the dash of the 2007 Q7 and another Garmon C330 vintage about that same time period and they both refuse to acknowledge that my house and street in my neighborhood exist on the planet.
Can't get there from here...no matter where "here" is on any given journey and where "there" is...AKA HOME.
With that issue at hand, and since the old Chevy Suburban is still sitting in Knoxtown waiting for the auto transport company to come by and pick it up...
I'm afraid after Pat and Ski and Missy the Turbo Pup deliver me back to the real world at work later this morning that there is a good chance that I'll never see any of my girls again because that will be somewhere in Texas or Kansas or Arkansas looking for "Home" because my FREAKING GPS'S CAN'T FIND MY HOUSE.
Then again I could go online and update the portable Garmon unit with a new map by paying for a download...
I guess that you will have to excuse me while I get out my wallet and credit cards and do just that so I can get a ride back home this afternoon.
Regards Y'all...
Sunday, November 06, 2011
Spring Forward...Fall Off Back
There's A Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On...
As most of the people that know me in real life know, as a rule I generally try to stay off of the TV News and out of mention in the Newspapers--local and national--because I'm not good enough at anything in particular to warrant glowing, positive mention on video or in writing.
This means if you see a photo or video of me on the 6 PM TV news or I am written about by the press, generally something bad has happened.
That said, although I personally didn't make the news or the news papers in the past couple of days, since we relocated cross country this week the area here in and around TULSA, OKLAHOMA certainly did get the Headlines by having a 4.7 earthquake (third strongest on record) at around 2 AM Saturday morning...
...followed more than 70 aftershocks afterwards...
and then...
as a grand finale...
at a little after 11 PM last night while I was soaking in my new giant bathtub after a day spent opening boxes and looking for my computer stuff...
WE HAD A RECORD, NUMBER ONE OF RECORDED HISTORY, 5.6 EARTHQUAKE WHICH ALMOST SLOSHED THE WATER OUT OF MY BATH TUB.
The good news is that the way the quake moved there was little or no damage except at the epicenter about 70 miles to our southwest (and possibly some new cracks in the corners of our sheetrock walls), but the bad news is that little Missy the Turbo Pup and Pat are looking at me wondering what the heckI have gotten them into.
I did a little digging around in the online scientific literature on quakes and found that the state of Oklahoma is actually very seismically active--averaging about 500 minor quakes a year--but the geological structure is very different from places like California and the New Madrid fault line in Illinois.
The quakes we have here are compression/extension and slip fault line quakes which happen more frequently but possess much less energy that the ones which occur in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
So I guess that in the end we'll go back to worrying about getting blown away and having our roof torn off by tornadoes rather than having our roof fall in on us from a quake.
Time to get back to unloading boxes I guess.
Regards Y'all...
As most of the people that know me in real life know, as a rule I generally try to stay off of the TV News and out of mention in the Newspapers--local and national--because I'm not good enough at anything in particular to warrant glowing, positive mention on video or in writing.
This means if you see a photo or video of me on the 6 PM TV news or I am written about by the press, generally something bad has happened.
That said, although I personally didn't make the news or the news papers in the past couple of days, since we relocated cross country this week the area here in and around TULSA, OKLAHOMA certainly did get the Headlines by having a 4.7 earthquake (third strongest on record) at around 2 AM Saturday morning...
...followed more than 70 aftershocks afterwards...
and then...
as a grand finale...
at a little after 11 PM last night while I was soaking in my new giant bathtub after a day spent opening boxes and looking for my computer stuff...
WE HAD A RECORD, NUMBER ONE OF RECORDED HISTORY, 5.6 EARTHQUAKE WHICH ALMOST SLOSHED THE WATER OUT OF MY BATH TUB.
The good news is that the way the quake moved there was little or no damage except at the epicenter about 70 miles to our southwest (and possibly some new cracks in the corners of our sheetrock walls), but the bad news is that little Missy the Turbo Pup and Pat are looking at me wondering what the heckI have gotten them into.
I did a little digging around in the online scientific literature on quakes and found that the state of Oklahoma is actually very seismically active--averaging about 500 minor quakes a year--but the geological structure is very different from places like California and the New Madrid fault line in Illinois.
The quakes we have here are compression/extension and slip fault line quakes which happen more frequently but possess much less energy that the ones which occur in San Francisco and Los Angeles.
So I guess that in the end we'll go back to worrying about getting blown away and having our roof torn off by tornadoes rather than having our roof fall in on us from a quake.
Time to get back to unloading boxes I guess.
Regards Y'all...
