I'm A Victim Of A Coronal Mass Ejection

They Took My Long Nose Pliers...


So I'm back in Tulsa Town this evening after having to wander through the "Hartsfield/Jackson International Airport" outside Atlanta not once but TWICE in the past four days.

The experience makes me remember why I moved away from the "Atlanta Metropolitan Area" in 2001 and again in 2004 after living there for most of 27 years.

I've flown on the Airlines more in the past four months than I have in the past eight years, and I've found dealing with the TSA in Knoxtown and Tulsa to be a pretty simple process.

On the other hand...

ATLANTA?

Not so much.

You see, the past few years when I was designing and building custom PLC control panels I'd taken to traveling with a nice new high tech computer case with wheels and a handle and a special area suitable for arranging and storing tools to support my field start up work.

Things like a multi meter and screwdrivers and pliers and wire cutters/strippers easily were transported and while the lovely TSA rocket scientists at the security areas in various airports always wanted to look at my tool collection I always came home with the contents intact.

The rule was nothing--in the category of tools--over 7" long in carry on baggage. (Here's the "Tool List" from the TSA website)

Axes and Hatchets No
Cattle Prods No
Crowbars No
Hammers No
Drills and drill bits (including cordless portable power drills) No
Saws (including cordless portable power saws) No
Tools (greater than seven inches in length) No
Tools (seven inches or less in length) Yes
Screwdrivers (seven inches or less in length) Yes

But yesterday afternoon at Hartsfield?

The silly black bitch with the TSA uniform pawing through my stuff pulled out my pair of 7" long nosed pliers and claimed they were longer than 6" and proceeded to confiscate them.

I was more sad than angry.

You see, this nice pair of Craftsman long nosed pliers had been traveling around with me across the country for a couple of years now, and they almost had enough frequent flyer miles to get themselves a free ticket on Delta Airlines.

But this morning they are probably laying there in a bin at the airport with all of the stolen bottles of lotion and shampoo and open bottles of mineral water collected by the idiots at the TSA in the name of "Homeland Security" waiting to be melted down or probably tossed into a dumpster.

Gee whiz...I sure feel safer when I fly with people like the silly black bitch working for the TSA protecting our traveling pubic public.

That will be all...for now...

Why Do Two Hunded Fifty Dollar A Night Hotels...

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...

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... 

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...

We Made It!!!

I Just Hope All Of Our Stuff Does...


Yesterday at about 2:30 PM we arrived at our new home here in the eastern suburbs of Tulsa. 

It's considered Broken Arrow as far as the school system is concerned (which is a good thing), but technically it's outside the Broken Arrow city limits as well as the Tulsa city limits but for some reason the US Postmaster assigned our neighborhood "Tulsa" when the dust settled.

So any way, Pat and little Missy the Turbo Pup got to see where they were going to be living for the first time and I got to finally spend a couple of extra hours in the building and I have to tell you we REALLY have a nice home in a nice neighborhood.

The best part of the deal for me is that we will live only 15 minutes from my office and about 20 minutes from the Tulsa airport so my life will be low stress and continue on the path of maximizing my pleasure and limiting the crap like traffic I put up with in Atlanta for 27 years.

Of course Pat will continue to telecommute from her new home office using the Internet so she will be working in her pajamas every day if she wants to, and the Turbo Pup will be in charge of giving everyone a good barking when needed to get things under control in the new neighborhood.

(As an interesting side note, our lot backs up onto a giant undeveloped piece of property and while looking over the fence yesterday I noticed what appeared to be giant hoof prints in the mud and several artifacts which appeared to be "Cow Pies" laying around on the ground.  If in fact we have livestock living on the other side of our rear fence it's going to be interesting to see how our little 12 pound Turbo Pup reacts when she sees an animal weighing 1000 pounds.)

The "moving crew" is supposed to show up about 9:00 AM, so I guess I better finish doing my news reading and get some more shut eye.

Y'all have a LOVELY Friday, and wish us luck dragging everything off of the Tractor Trailer...

On Beal Street In Memphis

Good Ribs For Dinner...


So we tossed most everything left over in the form of possessions into the Q7 by late morning yesterday and made it across the state of Tennessee by dark.

Then we called a taxi and wandered downtown to Beal street and had a Bar-B-Q dinner at Charles Vergos' The Rendezvous restaurant, followed by listening to a few a short sessions of live music in a couple of night clubs in the area.

Time now to gather up the luggage and the Turbo Puppy and heading onward west toward Tulsa.

Regards Y'all...

Moving... Day Two

Most Of My "Stuff" Is On The Truck

Well, we had another long day yesterday with my "moving crew" forcing all of the stuff sitting around on the main level of the house out the door and into the tractor/trailer we had shoe-horned into the driveway.

Then about 3 PM they realized how much crap I had laying around in the basement and everyone shifted gears into "OVERDRIVE" and they managed to get it all into boxes and out the door so as of about 6 PM the truck was headed to the local transport yard and we were headed to dinner and back to the hotel.

For some insane reason I'm going back over there this morning and slapping some paint on the wall behind the bar and cleaning up a few other details before putting the last stuff in our new/used Audi Q7 Quattro (I forgot to mention we replaced the old Chrysler 300 with a newer used SUV on Sunday) and heading west on Interstate 40 toward Memphis.

My head is SPINNING...ladies and gentlemen, but all for good reasons as Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup and I head west toward Tulsa, Oklahoma...ending a wonderful four and one half year existence here on the banks of the mighty Tennessee River.

Life is full of surprises until you stop living I guess...We're completely amazed at the curve balls being thrown at us every day.

Wish us luck...if you will...and have at least half as much fun as we're having...Y'all...

Finally Back In Knoxtown

Up To My Eyeballs In Things Needing Done...

Well, I finally made it back to the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River about 10:30 last night...and hour and one half later than scheduled.

I have to confess that if I hadn't REALLY needed to get my butt home in order to maximize today's efforts I would possibly have asked to step off of that particular airliner when the pilot told all of us sitting in the back what was going on.

It seems that APU (auxiliary power unit...basically a little jet engine hooked to a generator located in the tail of the fuselage which they use on the ground for basic electrical power) was not working after they landed LATE and as a result they had to keep one of the main engines running to supply electricity on the ground.

So then when they refueled the planes tanks for our flight they failed to consider the jet fuel quantity needed to idle the one main engine on the ground for thirty or forty five minutes while we boarded and fumbled around getting into our seats.

(The airlines have stopped flying around with full fuel tanks in order to save money in fuel economy hauling around unnecessary weight...they calculate the actual fuel required and a reasonable reserve quantity and that's all they load on board.)

So THEN guess what?

They had to call the fuel truck back (apparently from the other side of the Tulsa metropolitan area) to "top off the tanks" after we had boarded the hot airplane (because the Air Conditioner also didn't work without the APU.)

Then the comedy continued.

You see, in the refueling process they had to shut down the one running main engine as a safety precaution, and then because of the dead APU they also had to call over a "compressor cart" which is basically a truck with a giant air compressor and a tank which they use to spin up the gas turbine engines to starting speed in absence of electricity on board...again the aforementioned APU being the culprit.

That exercise caused another ten or fifteen minute delay in our departure.

After an hour and fifteen minute delay, you can understand my trepidation over continuing my journey on a multi-million dollar device designed to fly through the air at 400 miles per hour, 25,000 feet above the surface of our planet, when it was having so much trouble just doing it's job SITTING AT ZERO MILES PER HOUR ON THE GROUND.

But I stayed on board, managed to avoid the wrath of the TSA officials and getting my picture on TV and published on the Drudge Report, and here I sit this morning in the disarray of my partially packed office in my home of which the contents are supposed to be residing in Tulsa, Oklahoma next week.

Time to update my "to do" list and get busy back in the Wee Pub.

Y'all have a LOVELY day...if you will.

(I just want to get through the next seven days without losing my mind...)

Tulsa

Good Time So Far...


Well, it's time to get ready to go to work after a weekend of wandering around downtown.

More on the details later.

Y'all have a LOVELY day...I assume I will.

New Home City

I'M LOSING MY MIND.............


It's almost 2 AM and I should be asleep...

I'm panicked because I have to get up at 4:30 AM in order to finish some details in anticipation for heading by FedEX, over to the bank, and on to the airport to catch a 9:10 AM flight to Memphis and then another one on to Tulsa, Oklahoma.

OK...I'm going to go back and lay down for a while and see if I can get a little more sleep.  I have a long day ahead of me, not to mention beginning the rest of my life with a new job in a new city.

Wish me luck...If you will...

It's Thursday

Three Days And Counting...


I could use about another week of time to really be ready to get on an airplane headed to Oklahoma, but I only have the time between now and 9:15 AM on Saturday to do everything I'm going to get done I guess.

The Wee Pub is still coming slowly along...it's really a pain in the posterior I don't want to have to deal with in the middle of a move but it is what it is and I have to mostly finish it if we're going to lease out the house.

The good news is that a guy stopped by last Monday afternoon and likes the place and will be able to tell us by Monday if he wants it, but the bad news is that he wants us out by November 1st and that will be a HUGE PAIN having to travel back here so soon to beat the movers into shape and make sure they pack things correctly.

So any way, I have to go now and put some more paint and stain on trim in the Wee Pub and box some more of my personal office crap up so I can FedEX it out to meet me there in Tulsa.

Y'all have a LOVELY day, and wish me luck pulling this move off successfully.

End Of Vacation Blues

The Party's Almost Over...


If there is anything we haven't done that we needed to do this week here on the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, I guess that we have to do it today.

That said, I think we've pretty much covered the whole spectrum of things on our list this week and anything we didn't do didn't actually need being done in light of the upcoming month I'm facing professionally.

After the usual morning trip over the the Puppy Beach yesterday morning, a line of thundershowers came through the area so everyone bedded down and took a mid-day nap and then we lounged around watching the rain and recovering from five days of intense sunlight exposure.

In the process I've spent the entire past week just on the edge of being sunburned lightly on my face and the top of my ever greying, ever balding head, so the respite from the incident solar radiation was really appreciated.

Wait a minute...

This just in...

I took a break from writing and wandered out front on the condo balcony facing the parking lot and to my amusement there was some sort of bru-ha-ha happening over across the street at the Waffle House.

It started out with women yelling and some guys talking loud, and then within about 30 seconds first one and then a total of three Police cars showed up.

This coming weekend is "Thunder Beach"--an annual motorcycle event for the past ten years or so--and we have the privilege of having the main headquarters and all of the vendor booths set up in the shopping center parking lot across the street from us each year.

The bikers have been slowly filtering into town all week and today and tomorrow I expect things to reach a crescendo...

...and as is usual with any given group there is 5% of the crowd which has to show their butts at 3 AM in the morning under the influence of fermented and/or distilled hydrocarbons.

OK, I just checked and apparently there were no arrests and the crowd has dispersed and the Cops are heading on down the beach.

So any way...a busy day today trying to enjoy the last vestiges of the time on the beach and getting laundry done and starting to haul stuff back down the elevator to the car in anticipation of an early Friday morning departure back toward the Turbo Pup Compound on the Banks of the Mighty Tennessee River.

Y'all have a LOVELY day...I insist on one myself...

Beach Induced Catatonia

I'm NEVER Going Back Home...


I'm pleased to report that day five of the current ongoing Beach saga dawns this morning with us enjoying continued exceptional weather and me suffering from an ongoing inability to think seriously about much of anything except eating, mixing cocktails, and hanging out in and around the water.

I spent over two hours on the beach and five hours at the pool yesterday. For the first time since we moved to Knoxtown I actually have a nice, even, really dark suntan.

And the good news?

We plan on doing EXACTLY the same thing again today.

The Turbo Pup has been spending each morning practicing her digging and fetching skills on the beach with great success. Yesterday she found a shady spot beside our giant beach bag and dug a "dog deep" pit in the sand and then proceeded to lounge and wallow around in the moist soil making us laugh at the sand on her nose and face.

There will definitely be another bath in her future before we put her in the car to head home on Friday.

That said, it's time to do a little reading and possibly some more writing--and some paper work if I can force myself to sit still and concentrate--and in the mean time feel free to entertain yourselves.

Regards Y'all...

You Just Can't Have Any More Fun ...

Than The Turbo Pup Is Having...


Needless to say our little Missy The Turbo Pup is worn out every day by dark.

I'm real tired way before then but then again I'm OLD and getting started on the beach before 7:30 AM takes a real effort on my part.

Amazingly, the new beach front pet friendly park the City has constructed is totally under-utilized. I guess that it could be because the tourists don't know about it and few locals are able to come out on week days because of their jobs.

Yesterday we were the only party sitting on the two hundred yard long stretch of beach and the Turbo Pup was the only dog running around chasing her toys.

Regardless, with the change of rules at our condo allowing pets and the new pet beach we've had a prefect beach trip with everyone getting to do what they want to do in good measure.

The surf and pier fishing has been real slow according to the locals and we walked the docks over where the charter boats are docked and all of the boats were in with few opportunities to sign up for a split trip--so I guess I probably won't go fishing this year.

The price of Diesel fuel has trips running $450 per half day (4 hours) where I'm used to paying more like $360 but it has been 10 years since I did a trip out of Panama City so I guess it's not unreasonable for inflation to raise prices.

So now an hour from now we'll load everybody up in the car and head back over to the puppy beach for a couple of hours, then home for brunch and then out to the pool and beach this afternoon.

I'll drink a drink with a little umbrella in it for you again if you want me to...and y'all have a LOVELY day...

...if you will.

Headin' Back To The Puppy Beach This Morning

Somebody's Got To Do It I Guess...


We've learned that the new pet friendly beach down the road about five minutes from here at the new development called the Pier Park is pretty cool.

It's not just a giant long fishing pier on the Gulf of Mexico with a football field sized section of beach reserved as "Pet Friendly", but there's also an extensive outdoor "shopping mall" type complex with practically every bar and restaurant and store on the planet across the street from the beach.

The Turbo Pup has been there for a couple of hours the past two mornings and if you go at 7 AM there's only a half dozen people and one or two other dogs wandering around so we sort of ignore the "leash laws" and just let her hang around with us.

Pat's been taking her ten or twenty yards offshore in the flat water and turning her loose and letting her swim back to shore by herself.  She then comes up on the beach towels and wallows all around and then runs back to the edge of the surf and they do it all over again.

I have the best beach dog in the whole world in my opinion...all 13 pounds worth loves the salt air and water and sand.

Y'all have a LOVELY week while our vacation antics continue...

I've Got My "Pirate" Groove Back On

"Argggggghhh Me Maties..."


I was really beginning to be afraid that like Samson cutting his hair because of Delilah in the Biblical story, that somehow I had severed my connection with the Ocean and the Beach in the past half dozen weeks.

Remember that the long hair/pony tail disappeared last month for professional reasons, and then when I returned to my home port/childhood beach a couple of days ago the karma was just weird and I was too busy being tired and distracted to actually leave the condo and go outside.

Fortunately yesterday everything changed, and time warped and the planets re-aligned and at about 7 AM I found myself sitting on the "pet friendly" section of the locale beach with Pat and the Turbo Pup just being completely useless.

The Turbo Pup ran and ran and ran and swam until she was exhausted. I sat on a beach towel and basically did nothing...something which I have a Phd in the advancement of the art.

Then we came back to the Condo and Pat went to the Pool while I watched the Georgia Tech Football team go 4-0 for the season...beating North Carolina at home in a tightly contested game 35 to 28.

Starting out this Football Season un-ranked, and last week only being Number 25, Tech has in only four games amassed over 2100 total offensive yards and scored 210 points.

Our opponents have only scored 94 points in this process...

This means that my beloved Georgia Institute of Technology Football program is leading the nation in offense and scoring.

I don't want to jinx things or otherwise gloat, but being a GT Football fan since 1977 I have to crow a little when things go this good. This season is starting out like the 1990 season when GT split the NCAA Div I national championship with Colorado.

They still have seven more games to play including rivals Miami, Clemson, Virginia Tech, and of course the cross state rivals Georgia...but I'M FIRED UP FOR MY YELLOW JACKETS.

And meanwhile, back here on the beach...I have a date with my puppy at the puppy beach in a couple of hours, and then I'm planning on taking a nap poolside in the shade before lunch.

Regards Y'all...

Random Travel Ramblings...

Insights From Lower Alabama...


So after a sort of lazy semi-rainy day spent nursing a headache and lack of motivation here on the Farm, I find myself this morning less than 12 hours from being able to stand in the sand on Panama City Beach Florida.

It's been a while since I've been to the Gulf coast to stay...about two years after going at least once if not two or three times each and every year for most of my life.

I'm just liable to strip off my clothes and just lay down in wallow like a dog in the sugar white sand.

OK...Maybe not...

But Still...

Everybody including Missy the Turbo Pup is pretty excited about the prospects.

The weather is blowing on through to the east this morning and it looks like we will have at least three or four days of excellent fall Florida weather with little chance of rain in the process.

And the Atlantic and tropical Caribbean has managed to piss Owl Gore and all of the sniveling, tie dyed, booger eating, tree hugging, patchouli stinking, eco-friendly hurricane alarmists off.

The reason being that there has only been one land falling Hurricane/Tropical Storm so far this season in the US (knock on wood) and there is nothing on the satellite right now which could possibly ruffle our feathers and run us off the beach in the foreseeable future

Now back to the Beach discussion after that lovely piece of political commentary...

For the uninitiated, the Gulf waters this time of the year are still at a temperature of a warm bath, and I brought my surf rods and surf fishing tackle and hope to feed the local fish some pieces of Squid and Shrimp and maybe even catch something worth cleaning and eating in the process.

If not, there is plenty of fresh seafood available to cook in our kitchen or we can go out and let someone else cook it. I may even take an offshore fishing trip depending on the opportunities available and if I can get up off a lounge chair long enough to get to the Pier.

All of that said, I guess I will go now and try to get a few hours sleep before packing the Turbo Pup's lockers and sea chests in the car and heading south later this morning.

Regard's Y'all...I'll drink a Frozen Drink with a little Umbrella in it for you if you want me to...let me know...

100 Miles From The Gulf Of Mexico

85 Degrees F At 6 AM...

As usual this morning, when we come down here in the spring and fall we invariably get rained on at least a little bit.

That axiom is true yet again this morning.

The good news is that it looks like the front will be passing on through here at least in the next day and we can enjoy some more good weather like we had on Monday.

Little Missy the Turbo Pup went fishing TWICE yesterday and managed to give two big fish a good barking.  We had to wash her face and front paws off after letting her nip at their slimy fins and tails before I pushed them off of the dock with my foot.

We also managed to keep her from falling or jumping off the dock in the process. 

Today will be sort of a transition day trying to get further organized to do a little home improvement work around the place before heading to the beach on Friday if the weather holds up.

Hope everyone has at least half as good a week as I plan on having.  I'm trying to make the most of this week because the opportunity to sit around here for a week five or six times a year is probably ending shortly for professional reasons.

Regards Y'all...

Goin' To Mexico (Beach)

Two Weeks In Paradise

Unless something really weird or stupid happens, this week I'll spend half my time making a long list and packing up stuff for me and Pat and Missy the Turbo Pup in anticipation of a two week saga down through Alabama and into and onto the Florida Panhandle.

Week Number 1, beginning next Sunday, will involve attending the celebration of my Dear Aunt Mary's 90th birthday in middle Alabama, before proceeding south to the Farm for a week.

I'm sure that if the weather holds out I'll get to stand on the roof for a while cleaning gutters and probably have some other maintenance issues like fallen trees on the fences and stuff to take care of, but hopefully the Turbo Pup can go fishing with me and attack some Bream and Catfish over the next five days.

Then the following Friday we're heading down to our Timeshare Condo in Panama City Beach for a week...this being something like the 25th year or so we've visited the place...just to sit on my fat butt and do virtually nothing but a little cooking and drinking and possibly some deep sea fishing over that next seven day period.

Of course we have high speed Internet everywhere we'll be staying and  Pat can work when she needs to and I can work if anyone wants me to also---those opportunities being sort of few and far between right now, but any way...

I was fooling around the Internet tonight and found a couple of more of my favorite James Taylor songs posted on YouTUBE from the same session of recordings made at his home in Martha's Vinyard that I posted previously.

Here's "Mexico"...and we'll be having dinner in Mexico Beach Florida one night...and "Smiling Face"...which is what my face hopefully is going to be doing over the next two or three weeks

(OH...as an inside joke I just have to ask..."what's WRONG with your FACE"...Rusty???)





And you're WELCOME...

Doin' The Texas Tulsa Two Step

Busy Day Again Today...


Well Ladies and Gentlemen...I made it. 

It was a LooOOOOnnnNNNNGGGG day beginning about 4 AM and just now finally ending at 11:30 CST.

I traveled in the air all morning and ran around the East side of town all afternoon and then had a really good dinner meeting. 

All in all a successful day I think.

Now after a little sleep everything starts over at 9 AM, followed by a late afternoon return flight on Monday.

Regards Y'all...