It's My Friday!!!

I finally made it to Thursday (which is my Friday). I am so HAPPY! It has been an extremely busy week for me at work. Every day, we have had to work through our lunches and breaks because we have been so short-handed. The money will be nice, but it sure is tiring. Since today is New Year’s Eve..eve….many of the people who work here have taken the day off. The radios are all very calm this morning, which is nice for a change of pace. Hopefully, this will be a very slow day…..we need a break.

Since I have been working so much at work this week, I have not had much energy to do much after work, except to go home and rest. Monday, I worked a 13-hour shift, which really wiped me out. I got home Monday night and almost went straight to bed. Tuesday I was off work at 4 pm, but I had to give a light bar back to one of our REACT members. I had been using the light bar because we had not seen this particular member in about 6 months, so I figured she would not miss it. Monday, however, she wanted her light bar back, so I met with her Tuesday after work and gave it back to her, making me light bar less. My truck looks a little funny without a light bar on top. I do have a blue strobe light bar that is suppose to go to another member, so I am keeping it in the truck with me. It is magnetic, but I can’t have it on my roof when I am on the highway because the magnets are not strong enough to hold it on. If I drive the city streets, I can put it on my roof. Unfortunately, though, most of my driving is on the highway.

Yesterday evening was uneventful. I had dinner and then went to our music minister’s house to watch the OSU/Arizona football game. I had a good time of fellowship and watching the game, but the game did not start until 8:30 pm and half-time wasn’t until around 10:15 pm. Since I had to be at work early this morning, I left at halftime and went home to bed. I found out this morning that OSU did win the game.

I ordered a part for my new light bar, which I purchased with my Christmas money. The part is a bracket I needed to install the full light bar permanently on the roof of my truck. The part should be in today, so if it does come in…..tomorrow, myself and another REACT member will be installing it on my truck. If the part does not come in today, I will just have to wait until next week to have the light bar installed. Either way, I am real happy I am off tomorrow. This evening, we are suppose to have a REACT Board meeting at 7 pm. During this time, the new 2011 Board of Directors will assume their new positions (I am the new treasurer).

Even though this day will be slow, I hope it goes by fast!

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

Christmas was Good.....

Another Christmas has come and gone. It was a very enjoyable Christmas, despite the fact that it seemed like I drove all over town Christmas Day. Wait a minute….I did drive all over town. In all actuality, I drove and I rode…..let me explain. Christmas morning is when members of the CFAAA deliver the fixings for breakfast to all the fire stations in Oklahoma City. We deliver the groceries to the stations and let the firefighters decide when they want to cook. I adopted fire station #21 this year to deliver to, but as president of the CFAAA, it is my responsibility to make sure breakfast is taken to the 911 center and to fire station #1 (The CFAAA Board always takes care of 911 and station #1, since there are more people to buy for).

This year, myself and Gayla both went to make the deliveries…along with one other member of the CFAAA…and her husband. We rode with the member and her husband and made deliveries to 911, fire station #1, station #21, station #13 and station #28. Station #13 invited us to stay and eat with them, so we delivered to station #28 and then came back to station #13 and had breakfast with them. Afterwards, Gayla and I headed to my sister-in-law’s house to have Christmas with them. Normally, my immediate family has Christmas on Christmas morning, but since Gayla and I were delivering to the fire stations, we did not have time. We had Christmas at my SIL’s house, ate lunch and then headed home to have Christmas at home. Then, it was off to mom and dad’s house for Christmas. Needless to say, it made out to be a very long day.

One of my favorite parts of this Christmas season was Christmas Eve. Even though I had to work all day, when I did finally get off work, I went to a low-income neighborhood where firefighters from two different stations were delivering toys to children. It was great! Words can’t express how I felt when I saw these poor children receiving so many unexpected gifts from the firefighters. Their eyes lit up and their parents were in tears, standing in disbelief that someone would care enough to give toys to their children. The fire engines drove up and down the streets, sounding their siren and getting on their PA’s, announcing the free toys. I was in the very back of the convoy and I was running all my emergency lights as well. This lasted for a good two hours. There were so many toys to give away, that once the firefighters had finished giving toys to one neighborhood, they went to another low-income neighborhood and started giving out toys there as well.

Once they finished, I headed on home. Karla and I went to Midwest City to have Christmas Eve with my dad’s side of the family. Since it was Stephen’s birthday (yes, Christmas eve), Gayla had taken him to a movie, so neither she or Stephen made it to Midwest City. After spending some time with my dad’s side of the family, we headed back to the south side of town and spent the rest of Christmas Eve with Karla’s family.

Yesterday was a rest and relaxing kind of day. We had church services at 10:15 am and then went home. There were no services planned for the evening, so I had lunch, watched some football and napped. That was all I did all afternoon. Yesterday evening, I met up with some of my REACT team members at Pearls and they ate seafood, while I ate a burger. I am not much for seafood, but I wanted to spend time with my buddies.


http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

It is beginning to look a lot….and feel a lot like Christmas. The closer it gets to Christmas, the less personnel we have in our office. Most of the management in our division are off this week and aren’t due back until next week, or after the first of the year. Tomorrow will be a skeleton crew day. We will be short one clerk and three dispatchers. Our mid-shift dispatcher is working the day shift, which leaves no one to assist the night shift person. I have already decided to go ahead and plan on staying until 8 pm to assist our night dispatcher. I am off work Thursday, but work Friday (Christmas Eve). It doesn’t bother me because it is all overtime and the money will come in handy. The kids will have a couple of gifts to open for Christmas, but Karla and I aren’t buying anything for each other. There is nothing I really need, just a few things I would like to have.

This week, I have no meetings of any kind, or any obligations. All the Christmas parties are over with…even though I only attended one (which was our youth Christmas party). I missed our adult party because I worked last Saturday evening. No big deal.

Last evening, Karla, Stephen and I , worked on the garage door opener. Last week, Karla had disconnected it because it would not stay down…the sensors kept making it come back up. Unfortunately, we have been unable to use it, so last night all three of us worked on it, but we still could not get it to work right. It will go up by itself when you push down the remote, but you have to hold down the remote button until the door closes. Hopefully, I can get one of my friends to come over and repair it for us.

Since I have had nothing planned this week, I have been staying in touch with the other REACT members that monitor the police and fire calls during the day. I am prepared to respond and assist in traffic control on any accidents or fires. Yesterday was suppose to be an extreme fire danger day because of the wind, but we had very little wind, so there was not much of any fire danger to speak of. I kept myself available to respond after work, but nothing ever happened.

This evening, I have no plans, so I will be on stand-by once again for any emergencies that come up.

A Great Day!

Well, I finally made it to Friday….

Last evening, our new CFAAA Board of Directors met at Chili’s to plan our monthly meeting schedule for next year. We had a good meal, a good meeting and got lots accomplished. I emailed our new schedule next year to the fire chief and his secretary. They have to approve it before we can officially post it. Once it is approved, I will post it to our website and send it out in an email to our membership. After our meeting, I headed home and hopped on my computer to do some work. My laptop is still on the kitchen table with a broken lid, but it works. I am still waiting on word from a friend who said I might be able to take the mother board out of my laptop and use it in Gayla’s laptop (the mother board in her laptop is no good, so her laptop is no good). That way, I can still have a laptop without having to go buy another one.

This will be an interesting weekend, to say the least. This evening, I am working until 8 pm (I can use the overtime) and tomorrow, I am covering the 4 pm – midnight shift. I actually have no plans for Sunday afternoon, except to rest. Tomorrow morning, our office is giving away 300 turkeys to families that are less fortunate than we are. Many employees pitched in financially and we were able to buy 300 turkeys to give away. Yesterday, some of our crew workers went door-to-door in the neighborhood around our office and gave away coupons for free turkeys. All the residents have to do is bring the coupons to our office tomorrow, between 11 am and noon and we will give them a free turkey. Whatever turkeys are left over after noon will be given away on a first-come, first-serve basis. I will be here just to see the happy expressions on the faces of those that get the free turkeys. This is the first time our office has ever done anything like this, so we will see how it goes.

It’s only a week and one day away from Christmas. It’s hard to believe it’s almost here. Due to our finances this year, we are just buying for Stephen and Gayla…..Karla and I aren’t buying for each other. To us, this is our year to really focus on celebrating the birth of Christ and spending time together as a family. Gifts aren’t important to us anyway. We have been short-handed at work, which has made it somewhat easy to get some overtime in. Myself and another co-worker, are usually the ones that volunteer to work, but since her mom passed away last week, she is off work until after the first of the year. That means I can get all the overtime I want. The extra money will come in handy.

HUMP Day!

I made it to hump day and so far, this week has been extremely busy for me.

Last Sunday, we had a training exercise for REACT at the OZ Safe Rooms office. We learned more about how to read radars during severe storms. It was rather interesting, even though many of the ones that attended were pretty knowledgeable about radars anyway. I had my laptop with me, trying to keep up with what they were teaching, but I ran into a little problem. One of the other REACT members was walking behind me and got tangled up in my laptop power cord. I grabbed my laptop before he could jerk it off onto the floor, but in the process, I broke the hinge that holds the lid up when the laptop is open. For the rest of the class time, I had to prop something up behind my laptop to keep the lid from falling backwards. I was so upset. I talked to a few of the guys that were in the class and they informed me I would probably need a new laptop.

When they told me that, an idea popped in my head. Gayla’s computer is a Dell and so is mine. Her motherboard went bad on her laptop, so I could possibly see if I could install the mother board off my laptop onto hers and then just use her laptop. I don’t know if that will work or not, so I have sent an email to a friend of mine to see if the two mother boards are compatible. Needless to say, my laptop is sitting at home on the kitchen table. I can’t carry it with me anymore since the lid is broken, so I have just left it plugged in at the kitchen table and use it when I get home from work.

Speaking of the house…..we had a little problem with the garage door sensor last weekend, so Karla disconnected it temporarily. The problem is, she doesn’t remember how to reconnect it back. Because of that, we can’t use our remotes to get the garage door open, so we are having to go through our front door now to get into the house. To top it all off, somehow or another, a stray cat has made its way into our garage. I have no idea how it got there because we have not had our garage door open for several days. I could hear it last night, but when I opened the back door, it took off and hid. I finally decided to open the back door of the garage (that leads to the backyard) in hopes it would leave the garage during the night last night. When I got up this morning, I noticed somebody had shut the back door, so I bet the cat is still in the garage.

Yesterday, I had to change shifts with my co-worker and work 11 am – 8 pm. I did this because our City Hall Carolers were going to sing Christmas carols before the City Council meeting Tuesday morning and we were so shorthanded at work, the only way I could go was to find someone to cover my shift. So, we sang at City Council (which was televised live on Cox Channel 20) and then sang at the 420 W. Main building, the 100 building and then the credit union. We were done by 9:30 am, so I had an hour and a half to kill before I had to be at work. I drove home, changed shoes and shirts and then headed back to work. I worked until 12:45 pm and then myself, my supervisor and another co-worker, headed to a church on the south side of OKC to attend the funeral of a lady that worked here at Line Maintenance. Her daughter works in dispatch with us, so we attended to give her moral support.

City Hall Carolers

Afterwards, I came back to the office, went to lunch and then worked the rest of my shift until 8 pm. It was not an easy shift because we were rather busy.

This evening is our youth Christmas party at church. We are suppose to play dirty Santa and eat pizza. I will be very busy after work, buying some extra gifts and picking up the pizza.

TGIF......again!!

It’s hard to believe, but I finally made it to Friday.

I was sick all day Sunday and Monday with some type of stomach bug. I went back to work on Tuesday with no appetite and with little energy. Since then, my appetite has really come back and my strength is much better. Gayla was sick Monday and Tuesday and Stephen was sick yesterday. The only person who has not gotten sick is Karla…….so, maybe she will be the lucky one and miss out on all of it.

Last evening was my first evening all week that I had nothing planned. It felt weird not having to be somewhere, but it was ok because I had plenty of housework to catch up on. The dining room table that belonged to Karla’s mom is finally gone. Monica came by and picked it up last week. The table from our old house was still in the garage, buried under a bunch of stuff. None of us have felt the energy to pull it out, so we just haven’t had a table in our house all week.

Last evening, I got real energetic and decided to go ahead and pull some of the stuff out of the garage and find the kitchen table. When I finally found it and started pulling it out, I found out that part of the wood on the table was split….so, I had to be real careful with it. I moved it in the house, swept the kitchen and the living room and picked things up in the living room. It’s amazing how much you can get done in an hour when you continuously work. It looked great.

I decided I needed a reward, so I went to Long John Silver’s and bought some fish. Karla was at a meeting and Gayla was at work. Stephen was at our house, suffering from the illness I had earlier in the week….stomach problems. Anyway, the house looked good, so I spent some time on the internet (as usual) and goofed off. I also listened to the fire calls on my laptop to see if anything exciting was going on……but nothing exciting happened.

I sure do enjoy being a part of Central Oklahoma REACT. So many of our team members keep me up to date during the day on what kinds of calls are being dispatched through the police and fire dispatch. That’s how we find out if the police or fire needs assistance from REACT. Plus, since I am on the interstate a lot, I come upon lots of accidents and motorist assists. As a matter of fact, I am the one REACT member that probably stops the most because I am on the road more than the others. Because of all the assistance I have provided for the police, fire and OHP, I received the “Public Safety Award,” at our REACT Christmas Party/business meeting last Saturday. It was the first time that type of award was given out, so I was ecstatic about it.

When I come up on an accident or motorist assist, safety is the first thing that comes to my mind. If I can safely assist, I will. If me helping puts me in danger, I will not stop.

This evening, the family and I are going to put up a few outside lights. The inside is already decorated, so we have to do the outside this evening. Tomorrow, we have choir rehearsal from 9-noon, for the musical the choir is presenting Saturday evening and Sunday morning at the church. At the same time, I will be on call for REACT because of the possibility of grass fires. Tomorrow is a high fire danger day, so I have to be prepared to respond with the other REACT members in case we are needed to assist police or fire with traffic control.

http://www.okcentralreact.org/.

Winter Safety Tips...

Half of my weekend went great and the other half was terrible!

We had a great time at the REACT Christmas party last Saturday. We had quite a few people there…..several of our members brought their spouses with them. They gave away door prizes, but, once again, I didn’t win anything. Each of the team members received a Letter of Appreciation from our President and I received an extra award…..the first of its kind….the Public Safety Award. This was presented to me because of all the times I assisted police, fire and OHP on traffic control, due to accidents, etc. I was excited to receive it. After our Christmas Party, I went home for a while and then headed up to one of our members’ apartments to watch OU play Nebraska.

It was after the game that things went downhill…….fast. I was up most of the night Saturday night because of my stomach. I spent all day in bed Sunday, running a fever, being weak and having no appetite. I never did throw-up, but I sure felt like it. Everything came out the other end. I was like that Sunday and most of yesterday. Today, I still don’t feel real well. Still a little nauseated and still weak, but I am drinking lots of liquids.

In other news….

Winter Safety Tips

With precipitation approaching Oklahoma, the Oklahoma City Fire Department would like to offer the following winter weather safety tips to help keep Oklahomans safe.

Walking in Ice and Snow

• Use a melting solution or rock salt to clear all walkways of any ice and snow.

• If you shovel your walkways or driveways, pace your work and take frequent breaks.

• Wear rubber-soled shoes or boots to get better traction.

• Take slower, shorter steps when walking on ice and snow.

• Use a handrail when walking on stairways or inclines.



Winter Driving

• If possible, avoid driving while streets are covered in ice and snow.

• Have your vehicle winterized by a qualified mechanic.

• Make sure your tires have adequate tread for the conditions.

• Assemble and carry a "survival kit" for your automobile with items such as:

o Blankets

o Bottled water

o Flashlight and extra batteries

o First aid kit

o Jumper cables

o Snow chains

• Allow extra time to reach your destination.


Carbon Monoxide Poisoning

• Carbon monoxide (CO) alarm popularity has been growing in recent years. It is very important that we recognize the hazards of carbon monoxide poisoning in the home. Often called the silent killer, carbon monoxide is an invisible, odorless, colorless gas created when fuels (such as kerosene, wood, coal, natural gas, propane, oil, and methane) burn incompletely. In the home, heating and cooking equipment that burn fuel are potential sources of carbon monoxide. Vehicles or generators running in an attached garage can also produce dangerous levels of carbon monoxide.

• According to the National Safety Council, 200-300 unintentional injury and/or deaths a year are due to carbon monoxide poisoning.

• The dangers of CO exposure depend on a number of variables, including the victim's health and activity level. Infants, pregnant women, and people with physical conditions that limit their body's ability to use oxygen (i.e. emphysema, asthma, heart disease) can be more severely affected by lower concentrations of CO than healthy adults.

• A person can be poisoned by a small amount of CO over a longer period of time or by a large amount of CO over a shorter amount of time.

• CO enters the body through breathing. CO poisoning can be confused with flu symptoms, food poisoning, and other illnesses. High levels of CO can be fatal, causing death within minutes.

• Some symptoms of CO poisoning include:

o Shortness of breath

o Nausea

o Dizziness

o Light headedness

o Headaches

• Install CO alarms (listed by an independent testing laboratory) inside your home to provide early warning of accumulating CO. CO alarms should be installed in a central location outside each separate sleeping area. If bedrooms are spaced apart, each area will need a CO alarm.

• Test CO alarms at least once a month and replace CO alarms according to the manufacturer's instructions. CO alarms are not substitutes for smoke alarms. Know the difference between the sound of smoke alarms and CO alarms.

• If your CO alarm sounds, immediately move to a fresh air location and call for help. Remain at the fresh air location until emergency personnel say it is safe to re-enter.

• If the audible trouble signal sounds, check for low batteries or other trouble indicators.


Fueling Automobiles

• Maintain at least half a tank of fuel in your vehicle during colder weather.

• Static electricity can ignite gasoline fumes; therefore, when fueling during cold, dry weather, touch your vehicle with your hand before touching the fuel pump to dissipate any possible static electricity you may have in your body.

• Do not re-enter your vehicle during fueling since sliding across the seat and floorboard can generate static electricity.

• Do not use a cell phone while fueling your automobile.

• Turn off the engine while fueling.

• Extinguish all smoking materials before fueling.



Safety Tips in the Home

• Make sure you have working smoke alarms properly installed in your home. Smoke alarms should be installed in a central location outside each separate sleeping area. If bedrooms are spaced apart, each area will need a CO alarm. Test your smoke alarms monthly and install fresh batteries annually.

• Have fuel-burning heating equipment (fireplaces, furnaces, water heaters, wood and coal stoves, space or portable heaters) and chimneys inspected by a professional every year before cold weather sets in.

o Give space heaters their space; keep combustible material at least three feet away from the heater.

o Keep all combustible materials off of floor furnaces.

o Remove any combustibles from central heater closets.

o Be sure to inspect and clean your fireplace chimney annually.

o Use a metal grate to hold the logs inside the fireplace.

o Use an approved metal or glass screen in front of the fireplace to prevent embers from flying out of the firebox.

o Remember to open the damper before lighting the fireplace.

• When purchasing new heating and cooking equipment, select products tested and labeled by an independent testing laboratory.

• Never use your oven to heat your home.

• When buying an existing home, have a qualified technician evaluate the integrity of the heating and cooking systems, as well as the sealed spaces between the garage and house.


Safety tips outside the home
• If you need to warm a vehicle, remove it from the garage immediately after starting it. Do not run a vehicle, generator, or other fueled engine or motor indoors, even if garage doors are open. Make sure the exhaust pipe of a running vehicle is not covered with snow.

• During and after a snowstorm, make sure vents for the dryer, furnace, stove, and fireplace are clear of snow build-up.

• Only use barbecue grills – which can produce CO – outside. Never use them in the home, garage, or near building openings as a heat source.


General Safety Tips

• Dress warm and in layers if venturing outside during cold weather.

• Assemble a "survival kit" for your home with items such as:

o Battery operated radio and extra batteries

o Flashlights and extra batteries

o Bottled Water

o Canned food and a manual can opener

o Blankets

o First aid kit

• Check on your family, friends, and neighbors during winter storms to make sure they are managing well.

TGIF!!! Getting Ready for a Busy Weekend!

It’s Friday again! This has almost become my favorite day of the week (Saturday is still the front-runner).

Yesterday, I decided to take off at 2 pm, mainly because I was not busy and could think of other things I could be doing away from work. One of my co-workers approached me Wednesday and informed me she needed someone to rake the leaves in her mom’s yard. You see, her mom is suffering from cancer and has not been well for many months. Just recently, she fell in her house and broke her hip……so now, she is going through rehabilitation. My back and legs aren’t what they used to be, so I told my co-worker I would try to find someone to do it for her.

I know what my co-worker is going through….having a mom that is suffering from cancer. My mother-in-law passed away August, 2009, of cancer. It’s hard to watch a loved one suffer from this horrendous disease. Plus, my co-worker is the one that is basically taking care of her mom and making sure everything is in order. The more I thought about my MIL and her battle with cancer, the more I knew I needed to help out my co-worker’s mom.

Even though I have not felt real well, or been energetic this week, yesterday was a beautiful day to get any kind of outside work done. When I left the office at 2 pm., I went by my co-worker’s mom’ house to check it out and then headed home to get the tools I needed for the job. Then the work began. I raked and raked for 2 solid hours without taking a break. There were lots and lots of leaves. I had bought 18 trash bags and used all of them in no time. When my co-worker got off work at 4 pm, she came by to help me. After all was said and done, we had over 23 bags of leaves (after she went and bought some more bags). It was a tough and physically demanding job, but we got it done. NO CHARGE! I did not do this to make any money…..that would not have been right. I did it in honor of my co-worker’s mom and did it in memory of my MIL.

After doing my good deed for the day, I received a text message from my wife, informing me my daughter had run out of gas. She ran out of gas on her way to work, so one of her friends came by, picked her up and took her to work. I went by the house, got my 5-gallon gas can and went to 7-11 to fill it up. In process of filling up my can, I sprayed gas all over my jeans, my jacket and my shoes. The next challenge was finding her car. She had told my wife she had pulled into a parking lot across from Cambridge…which told me absolutely nothing. So, for 1 hour, I drove down SW 89, SW.104…down S. Western and S. May, trying to find a neighborhood called Cambridge. No luck. When my wife finally got the right directions, I went to where her car was at and put gas in it. Then, I drove it back to 7-11 to put more gas in it.

Since we were so close to the house, I decided to take her car back to the house and then pick her up from work at 8 pm (when she was suppose to get off work). I went home long enough to start a load of laundry and check my email on my computer. At 7:30 I left the house, went by Sonic for a half-priced burger and then headed to my daughter’s workplace. Well, when 8 pm rolled around and she did not come out, I figured she was running a little late. Then, when 8:30 came around, I finally determined that she was getting off at 9 pm instead of 8 pm. So, I waited over an hour for her in the parking lot. She finally got off at 9 pm and then explained to me she was scheduled to be off at 8 pm, but they needed her for another hour. I made it home by 9:15 and worked on my laundry as well as checking things on my computer. My right shoulder and arm was already very tired and sore from raking so long. I took some ibuprofen and went to bed, but still did not sleep well because my arm ached so bad.

Today, my co-worker is off, so I am working her radio. It hasn’t been too bad. Karla is feeling well, so I am sure we will stay in this evening. Tomorrow morning is prayer breakfast at church, followed by a work day (we will be decorating the auditorium for Christmas). At noon is my REACT Christmas party and then that evening, we are meeting at a friend’s apartment to watch football and have some snacks.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

http://www.okcentralreact.org/

Back to Work...after 6 Days Off.

It has been a week since I have blogged, so I really don’t know where to start. I guess since I have been off work for the past 6 days, I decided not to take time to blog.

Actually, last week is really just a blur. I took off Wednesday to get some things ready for Thanksgiving and to go see the doctor. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the doctor’s office, they were closing early for Thanksgiving….they told me to come back Friday morning. The rest of the afternoon was spent at home, getting things ready for Thanksgiving. Since we had no services on Wednesday night, I spent it at home with my family.

Thanksgiving lunch was spent at my sister-in-law’s house, eating ham, turkey and all the fixings. It was the normal routine…eat…nap…watch some football…eat some more…nap…watch football. At around 2 pm, I decided to head home and watch football on my TV. In all actuality, I laid down on my bed to watch TV and fell asleep. I woke up at around 4 pm and started getting the family ready to head up to Edmond to visit with mom and dad and my sister and her family. We pigged out once again, watched some football, had dessert and just enjoyed each other’s company.

I was up early on Friday morning, so I could be in line at the doctor’s office early. You see, this doctor takes walk-ins in the morning, along with those that have appointments. So, if you don’t have an appointment, you just have to wait. I have no patience when it comes to waiting. I got in line outside the doctor’s office at 7:45 am (and it was cold!) and stood in line, in the cold wind, for 45 minutes. When they finally opened the doors, it was nice to feel the warmth in the office. I sat there from 8:30 am until 10:30 am…..2 hours. Then, when I finally got in to an examination room, I had another 45 minute wait. All total, I was at my doctor’s office for 4 hours. That shot my entire morning.

I went and got some lunch and then headed over to Hibdon’s to have a couple of new tires put on my truck and a front-end alignment. I waited for 3 hours at Hibdon’s to get my truck out. So, if we add this up, I spent a total of 7 hours on Friday, waiting. Yes, I got many things accomplished, but my Friday evaporated. After I left Hibdon’s and headed home, I came upon a non-injury accident at I-240 and Western, so I stopped to assist them.

Saturday was an errand running day……lots of places to go and lots of things to take care of. Saturday afternoon, I was sitting at my house, checking some things on my computer, when I heard the fire department get a call about a grass fire. The grass fire was just south of me, so I grabbed my camera and headed out the door. I was able to get in and get some really good, close-up pictures, so I was happy about that. At one point, I was helping the OCPD with traffic control along S. May Ave. After the fire was put out, I headed home to rest. At around 5:30 pm and left my house and headed to the north side of town to a friend’s apartment to watch the OU/OSU game with him and some other friends. We enjoyed a great game, great snacks and a great time of fellowship.

It was hard getting up Sunday because I was so tired. I did finally make it to church, but there was a very small crowd there. After church, I headed home, at roast, took a nap and then headed back to church for choir rehearsal. Sunday evening was spent on the computer…and watching more football on TV.

I decided I wanted an extra day off to get some things done, so I contacted my supervisor and got approval to take Monday off work. I went by the tag agency first thing and got my business there taken care of. Then, I went to the north side of town, to the apartment of one of my REACT team members. He was going to install my new PA speaker in my truck. Plus, I had a light bar that wasn’t working properly, so I was going to leave it with him and see if he could repair it. We finished with my truck at around noon, so I headed back to the south side of town, went by KFC for lunch and then headed to the church to do some computer work. While I was at work, another of my REACT team members sent me a text message, informing me of a huge grass fire at Reno & Martin Luther King…and OCFD were requesting traffic control.

I rushed out of the church and headed to the scene. I got to SE.15 & Eastern and could not see the interstate because of the thick smoke. When I arrived on the scene, one of the fire department district chiefs had his vehicle blocking Reno going west. I knew he had other places he needed to be and since OCPD had not shown up yet, I pulled over, approached his vehicle, identified myself as a Central Oklahoma REACT unit and offered to assist in traffic control. By the time he gave me an assignment, OCPD finally had a few units show up. They blocked the west bound traffic on Reno, while myself and another REACT member blocked the northbound, left-hand lane on MLK. We spent two hours assisting OCFD and OCPD with traffic control. I was so happy I was off work and able to do this. I wanted to take some good pictures, but since we were there for traffic control, I could not very well leave the intersection to go take pictures.

After a while, the traffic department arrived and put up barricades to block the road off. When they did this, two OCFD units left, leaving us with just one unit. Once the other unit left, it was up to our REACT team to continue to divert traffic away from the fire. I was able to eventually drive west on Reno and get a few pictures, even though the fire was already out. By around 16:10 pm, we were finished and we all went our separate ways.

Last evening, I went and got my hair cut. Yes, I know that today is the last day of the month for no-shave November, but I had to get my hair cut…it was really bothering me. After my hair cut, I met Karla and Stephen at McAlister’s (where Gayla works now) and we had dinner. After I finally got home, I had to answer a bunch of emails and send a summary to the REACT Board members on what our team had done to assist OCPD and OCFD during the fire. While I was typing the summary, I received a text from another REACT member, advising me of another large grass fire at SW.59 & Harvey…..this was around 9 pm. I had thrown both of my reflective vests and my jacket in the washing machine earlier because they still smelled like smoke from the grass fire at Reno & MLK. So, I grabbed my wet vest and headed out the door. When I arrived on the scene, the fire was out, so I went back home.

This morning, it was back to work. I got up early, showered and shaved my head. It feels sooooooo good.

REACT News:

(This report submitted to the REACT Board of Directors, 11-29-10)


Traffic control assistance- grass fire, Reno & MLK...

I received a text message this afternoon @ 13:25 pm from Central Oklahoma REACT member Mike Weiss, informing me there was a huge grass fire just west of E. Reno and Martin Luther King Ave. He advised me they were needing traffic control, due to the large amount of traffic the fire was attracting.


I was at SE. 29th and Lindsay when he called, so I immediately headed that way. As I approached SE. 15 & Eastern, I could not see I-40 because of all the smoke. I arrived on the scene at around 13:35 pm and saw a district chief's vehicle parked at Reno & MLK, blocking west bound traffic. There were not any OCPD units anywhere, so I approached the district chief's vehicle and identified myself as a member of Central Oklahoma REACT. I informed him that Mike and I were there to assist with traffic control, if needed.


He asked me to move my truck and block the left-hand turn lane on MLK, where it turns west onto Reno Ave. So, I turned on my emergency strobes and blocked the left-hand lane. About that time, a couple of officers arrived on the scene and OCFD turned the traffic control over to them. They went ahead and block west bound Reno,and asked Mike and I to continue to block the left-hand turn lane.


Many emergency vehicles were entering the area, so several times, Mike and I had to stop traffic to allow the emergency vehicles through. One of Mike's National Weather Service friends from Texas was there and he had strobes on his vehicle as well, so he assisted us with the traffic control.Many times, motorists tried to run the barricades and each time we stopped them.


Finally, the Traffic Division from the City of Okla. City arrived on the scene with barricades. Since there were still fire hoses stretching across Reno, they decided to go ahead and block all west and east bound traffic. Once the barricades were set up, all OCPD units, except for one, left the scene. We stayed and assisted this police unit because we still had people trying to go through the barricades. During this time, the OCPD and OCFD units continually thanked us for assisting them with the traffic control.


After the last police unit left, it was just the REACT team providing traffic control. Central Oklahoma REACT member David Spaulding arrived on the scene and started assisting us with traffic control. At around 16:00 hours, the fire department removed the barricades on the west side of the fire and left the scene. Since they had opened all east bound traffic, we went ahead and moved the other barricades so all lanes were opened.


After a short briefing, we all left the scene at around 16:10 pm.

Keith Sossamon,
Central Oklahoma REACT Unit 706


http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

http://www.okcentralreact.org/

The Three R's....responsibilities...reputations....representations

In our daily lives, there are many things we have responsibilities for. If we don't fulfill these responsibilities, it can ruin our reputation. We are representatives of what we believe in.

In my daily walk with Jesus, I have a responsibility to spread His Word, be a good witness and live a life pleasing to Him. I am a representative for Christ. I am to be a 24/7 Christian, not just on Sundays. Even though we are all sinners, I must do my best to live a life without cussing, lying, or anything else that would destroy my witness. I stay away from places that can destroy my witness. I have never been in a bar, nor have I ever had the desire to. When I am at church, I feel comfort, warmth and love....I feel I belong. As long as I am a responsible Christian and I represent Christ in the most positive way, there is no question about my reputation.

.......As a member of Central Oklahoma REACT, I am responsible for keeping a professional attitude at all times when dealing with emergencies, or dealing with the public. Our responsibilities are to assist in providing volunteer support to organizations using radio communications and to respond to disasters. Our team also does weather spotting in the Central Oklahoma area. Anytime I have my REACT signs on my truck, it is my responsibility to drive in a courteous and professional manner. That means no tailgating, no speeding and obeying all traffic laws. REACT has a reputation of being professionals and helping others, so that's how I must represent them....in a professional manner. As long as I am being responsible and representing REACT in a professional manner, then our reputation as an organization is never tarnished.

......As a member of the Citizen's Fire Academy Alumni Association (CFAAA) and as the president, I have many responsibilities. I am responsible for making sure our organization sheds a positive light on the Oklahoma City Fire Department. There is no room for negativity. For the last 15 years or so, the CFAAA has had a great reputation of being available anytime the OCFD needs assistance at an event or function. We dress as professionals, so we can represent the OCFD in a positive manner. It is my responsibility to make sure all of our members are great representatives of our organization. Otherwise, our reputation is tarnished and we lose everything we have worked so hard for.

......Many years ago, my dad gave me a plaque that basically told me to never tarnish the family name. In other words, it was my responsibility to stay away from trouble (not get thrown into jail), stay away from drugs and alcohol....and stay away from the group of bad kids that could get me in trouble. If I were ever on the news for anything, it would be for something positive. I had to be a great representative of my family and wear my family name proudly. As long as I did this, I would never had to worry about a bad reputation. I can safely say I did exactly what my dad told me to do and have always kept a positive light on the Sossamon family name. Now, I am passing it on to my son and he is making me proud.

Not bragging.....but one thing I can proudly say is I have many good friends, I have a great reputation, I believe being honest is the best policy (even if it gets you in trouble), I believe in keeping myself well-groomed and to do what I can do to stay in shape and stay healthy. I am also a trustworthy person because I have never, ever, given anybody any reason to think otherwise. I am proud to be a Christian and happy to know that many of my friends come to me personally and ask for prayer. I have great organizational skills and some leadership skills. I have much to be proud of, but not to be proud. All of the above is a gift from God. They are the talents He gave me....talents I want to use for Him.

God has been so good to me this year. There have been some very rough roads in the past 6 months, but God has brought me and my family through all them. As Christians, we were never promised things would be easy and that life would be a bed of roses. On the contrary, Jesus expects us to depend on Him and He finds ways to make that happen. He puts opportunities right before our eyes every day. He also puts us in situations with other people that sometimes will test our faith. No, being a Christian is not always a bed of roses.....it's sometimes challenging, but it's all worth it.

Be responsible about who or what you are representing and your reputation will never be questioned.

It's Monday...and I feel Poopy!

I don’t feel good today. I am very sleepy, I can’t concentrate, my sinuses are bothering me and my back aches. I am simply exhausted from this busy weekend and my body is trying to get sick.

It was a good weekend and things went very smoothly for both free concerts. Friday night was the rock concert and we had around 75-100 people there. I was in charge of security and parking, but I had that covered with no problem. We did have 2 people accept Christ at the concert Friday night, so that makes me happy. After we cleaned up and everything, we were able to get out around 11:30 pm. I finally made it to bed just a little after midnight.

I did not get up until 9 am on Saturday because I was still tired from the night before. Even when I did finally get up and around, I just wanted to lie around. According to what people had told me, we were expecting a huge crowd at the Saturday night concert….maybe around 500-700 people. I did my best to get chores done around the house…rest for a while….and then I headed over to the church around 3 pm. My REACT team was suppose to be meeting me there at 4 pm, so I wanted everything ready by the time they got there.

I arrived at the church around 3:30 pm and ran into our sound man. He hopped in my truck and we talked for a few minutes until my REACT team got there. I got out of my truck, grabbed my blue jeans (I had shorts on) and went into the church to change clothes. What I didn’t realize was my keys were still in my truck, in the ignition. I changed clothes and called Karla (she usually carries a set of my truck keys with her) at work and found out she no longer carries my keys. Gayla was at work, so she couldn’t bring me my spare set from home. When I called Stephen, he was in way north west OKC, but agreed to go by the house and get my keys if I would give him gas money….I agreed. A few minutes later, I remembered that AAA unlocks cars for its members…..so, since we are members of AAA, I called them and they were out within thirty minutes and unlocked my truck. Stephen still came by the church because he needed gas money.

Well, 6 pm came (that’s when the concert started) and there were very few cars in the parking lot. The 500-700 people they expected, turned into around 160 people…that’s it. We were expecting to be swamped with traffic and parking, but once again, it went smoothly and I had an abundance of volunteers I did not need. If we had the 500 + people come to the concert that was predicted, I would have needed a bunch of volunteers. I will admit that I was highly disappointed that few people showed up for the concert. My REACT team enjoyed working out in the parking lot, but felt bad that there was very little for them to do. The good part is we did have 7 more people accept Christ that evening.

The concert was over around 10:30 pm, so many volunteers from the church started doing some massive cleaning up to get the auditorium and fellowship hall ready for Sunday morning services. I did what I could, but my feet were hurting so bad, I just wanted to go home and go to bed. I finally did get to leave at 11:30 pm.
Yesterday is just a blur. I woke up very sleepy and tired, but pushed myself to get up. We had possible baptisms at church and I was suppose to help the deacons with the Lord’s Supper. When I arrived at the church, the doors were still locked and members were sitting out in the parking lot, impatiently waiting. I went ahead and unlocked all the doors and then found out the person who normally does the unlocking, overslept.

Then, as church was getting close to starting, I found out we had no sound man…..they were no-shows. So, I had to run the sound and operated the powerpoint. When it came time for the Lord’s Supper, I left the sound board and headed downstairs to help the deacons. Everything went real smooth. It was the first time I had ever helped the deacons with the Lord’s supper, so I paid close attention to every detail.

After church, Karla and I went home…she cooked chili…I ate it and then turned on football. Needless to say…within 10 minutes or so, I was asleep on the couch. I lay there for 3 hours. I only slept for a couple of hours, but I stayed on the couch until it was time to go to church.

TGIF....Finally!

It is very evident that I have had an extremely busy week…..mainly because the last time I posted anything was Monday.

I am really trying to remember what I did this week, even though I know I spent Monday and Tuesday evening at home, cleaning up and re-arranging my office and helping with house chores. I took my truck down to a mechanic in Tuttle to have my power steering gear box replaced, so I was out of a truck for Monday evening, and all day Tuesday and Wednesday. It seems as if nothing is cheap anymore when it comes to car repairs. Lately, anything I have had done to my truck has cost me a bundle, but it is an older truck, so I guess that’s the price you pay for driving an older vehicle. I actually got out pretty cheap this time. It could have cost a lot more, but my mechanic gave me a break. I finally picked up my truck Wednesday afternoon and it runs really well…….they did a good job on it.

Even though my truck is running properly again, I am having a few issues with my light bar on the roof of my truck. There have been a few lose wires and a few problems with my bulbs, so it is halfway working. We ordered the parts for it and I took it by one of our REACT members' house last night to have the new lights installed, but it looks as if the light assembly we ordered is bad....so, we have to send it back and have them send us another one. It's an old light bar, so I should not expect a whole lot, but I am sure ready for it to work for me. It seems like these things ALWAYS happen to me.....so, I get to wait a little bit longer now.

Last night was our annual CFAAA elections. We usually meet at a fire station when we have our monthly meetings, but when we have our election, we always meet somewhere else. For the last couple of years, we have met in the fellowship hall of my church….this year was no exception. I really expected a big crowd, especially since class #15 just graduated and 17 of the graduates became members of the CFAAA. To my surprise, none of the graduates from class 15 showed up. We had our meal, our business meeting and our elections. We did have a decent crowd, but I had expected a lot more. Once again, I had no opponent, so I will serve another year as president.

This weekend is going to be a very busy weekend for me. This evening, we have a Christian rock concert at our church with 5 new and up-coming bands performing. Myself and another guy from church, are in charge of everything. We should have a good turnout because we have had heavy advertising. Tomorrow evening is our big concert, with Kj52. We expect a huge crowd tomorrow evening. I have armed and unarmed security set up and my REACT team will be providing traffic control and parking assistance for both nights. We are hoping to see many people at the concerts and hoping many of these people will make decisions for the Lord.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home
 
http://www.okcentralreact.org/

It's Monday!!!

I had a good weekend and got quite a bit accomplished.

On Friday evening, Karla and I went to a catfish place in Moore called Catfish Cove. It was the first time we had ever been there, but we had heard some good things about it from people at church, so we decided to give it a try. It was a buffet and there was plenty of food……plus, it was reasonably priced. If you left there hungry, it was your own fault.

I had a damage assessment class at EOC Saturday morning from 9 am – 1 pm, so I got up a little early to get some computer work done before I had to leave. It’s a good thing I got up early because when I opened the garage door to get something out of my truck…there it was…..yet ANOTHER flat tire on my truck. To my surprise, it was one of my new tires (that I got about a month ago). I figured if anything was going to go flat, it would be one of my front tires since they are so old and worn out. I did have a spare, but it had no air in it. No worries…

Since my driveway is on so much of an incline, I had to back my truck into the street in order to get my tire off. I took the tire off (after fighting with my jack) and put the flat tire and my spare tire in the back seat of Gayla’s car and drove her car to Hibdon’s to get the tire repaired. I just left my truck in the street, jacked up. The plan was to have them put air in my spare and leave the other one to get repaired. Guess what? My spare had a nail in it, so they had to make a quick repair on it so I could get on my way.

I drove back home, put the spare on my truck, headed to 7-11 for a drink and donut…..and then drove north side to my class. I was two minutes late, but fortunately, some of my REACT team members saved me a seat. They suggested we have laptops with us so we could follow along with the class. My laptop is two years old and only has 512 mg of memory. Most laptops today have 2 gb or more. Because I had such low memory on my laptop, I could not download the site that I needed to for the class…so, I just looked off the laptop of one of my fellow REACT members. It was a good class and I learned quite a bit. We finished at around 12:45 pm, so several of us headed to Braums to eat lunch.

After lunch, I drove to Wayne’s house so we could work on my truck. My driver’s side door was not closing properly, so we had to replace the top hinge on it. That was pretty easy. Then, I had to change the low-beam bulb out of my driver’s side headlight. Then, we had the task of trying to find out where my power steering fluid was leaking. We pinpointed the area and Wayne told me it would probably be expensive to repair. One thing I have learned about my 2000 Chevy S-10. Anything that goes wrong with it now IS usually expensive. I can’t remember the last time I got out of a garage without paying over $200.00 for a repair. This was one problem that Wayne could not fix, so I knew my truck was going to have to go in the shop.

Since there was nothing left for us to do to my truck, we went into Wayne’s house and watched the OU football game. Some of his relatives were there also, so we all watched the game together. Close to halftime, I headed back over to Hibdons to pick up my tire. When I got there, it took about 30 minutes for them to put it back on my truck. Then, I headed home to unload my truck. The third quarter of the game was just starting, so I headed back to Wayne’s house to finish watching the game. Afterwards, I went by KFC for some chicken and spent the rest of the evening on the computer, watching COPS and then watching the OSU football game.

I was up early Sunday morning, but had decided to work on the rest of the powerpoint at church. So, I loaded up my laptop and headed towards the church. It was a good day at church and we had a good group of students in Sunday School. I will have to admit that I have no idea what the preacher was preaching because my mind was pre-occupied. We have the two free concerts coming up at church this Friday and Saturday, so I had lots of things rushing through my mind. I was making plans in my head, while I should have been writing them down.

I enjoyed our Sunday lunch and then proceeded to take a very short nap in my chair in the living room. I left the house at 2:30 pm and headed back to the church. Myself and a group of students were going to pass out flyers to the houses in the neighborhood……..advertising the concerts that were coming up. We had 10 students show up, so we spent 45 minutes passing out flyers…until we ran out of them. I told the students we would be back at church by 4:30 pm because we were having our church-wide Thanksgiving meal at 5:00 pm and we were going to need the help of the students to serve and clean up. We had a record crowd at the dinner and there was plenty of food. Afterwards, it was back home to relax and watch some more football.

Today has kind of been boring. Everyone is back at work, so I had no radios to cover. I worked on locates and sending out emails. After work, I am meeting Karla at the mechanic’s garage in Tuttle to drop my truck off and have it repaired. I hate being without my truck, but I have no choice. It has to be done. I have to get the power steering problem repaired. Since I am leaving my truck at the garage, I will be taking Karla to work in the morning and driving her car to work. I am hoping my truck will be repaired by the time I get off work tomorrow.

I am in day 15 of no-shave November and my hair is really starting to bother me. Just 15 more days and I can shave it off again…….I can’t wait!

http://www.okcentralreact.org/

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

TGIF!!!

Not much has happened in the last couple of days, which is good.

It was so nice to have yesterday off work. It was Veteran’s Day….a day to remember those who died fighting for our freedom and a day to remember those that still serve our country. As an American, I am thankful for all of the men and women that are fighting for my freedom. I still think about Sgt. Derek Calhoun, who gave his life on June 23, 2007, so that I might have freedom. He died at such a young age, but he died a hero. Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him. I just think of the sacrifice that he made and the sacrifices all the other soldiers have made so we could have our freedoms.

I did enjoy the day off yesterday and I did something for the first time that I had never done before…..I spent the day with friends. After doing some household chores, I met three of my REACT team members at OZ Safe rooms, at SE.29 & Bryant. OZ is a company that builds tornado safe rooms for residences and businesses. Oz is partnering up with our team, Central Oklahoma REACT Team 6023 and providing us with a sponsorship. Since we chase tornadoes and they build tornado safe rooms…and also chase tornadoes, we all decided to put our resources together and work side by side. They are providing us with some monetary funds as well as some other things that will help our team save some money and help us continue to operate efficiently.

Several of us decided to meet at OZ so we could get some more emergency lights installed on our vehicles. OZ has a huge garage that allows us to drive a couple of vehicles in and work on them. Since we are working together now, they were gracious to allow us to share their garage with their employees. We were there all day, working on the lights for two different vehicles. I didn’t do much of anything, except stand around and talk. That’s the first time I have been with a group of friends and just enjoyed being with them and talking with them.

We had decided to have our REACT Board meeting at OZ headquarters at 7 pm. Instead of me wasting gas to go home and come right back, I decided to stay at OZ with one of my fellow REACT members. We went to 7-11 to get something to eat and then went back to OZ to eat. At around 6:20 pm, someone arrived to let us in the building, so I logged onto one of their computers and logged onto the internet. I hadn’t checked my email all day, so I figured I better see if anything had been sent to me.

We had a great meeting and got lots accomplished. The only thing that frustrated me was the fact that my plan for the afternoon was to get my new light bar permanently installed on my truck, but as always, things went wrong. I came with a light bar that worked great, but had to switch it out for another light bar that did not work properly. The “good” light bar actually belonged to another member. We were going to switch some things around on it, but decided not to. Because of that, I got the light bar that had a bulb burned out. I hate using faulty equipment, but I had no choice. Since the bulb was not working properly, a decision was made to not permanently install the light bar on my truck at this time. The only reason I wanted it permanently installed is because I did not want it to blow off the top of my truck during strong winds. Right now, it has 4 heavy magnets holding it to my roof….but I am not sure how well the magnets are going to hold. I am hoping that I can get the part I need ordered, have it installed in my light bar and then go ahead and have it permanently mounted. I drove home on the interstate last night against a strong wind and had no problems. I did the same thing this morning. I drove against gusty winds on the interstate and had no problems with the light bar.

Today is a rainy day. It is suppose to rain all day long. Because of it being a rainy day, I drove Karla to work. I did not want her to take a chance on wrecking her car in the rain. Plus, I don’t think she actually wanted to drive today anyway. It is kind of slow at work, which I am glad about. I have no plans for tonight. Tomorrow, I have a REACT training session all morning and then Wayne is going to work on my truck. Afterwards, we are going to watch the OU football game. I am looking forward to a relaxed weekend.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home


http://www.okcentralreact.org/

Profanity....is NOT necessary in any situation.

2 Timothy 2:16 – ‘But shun profane and vain babblings: for they will increase unto more ungodliness.’


One sure sign of a Carnal Christian is when a Christian uses foul language! Many of us have become so much like the world that we now practice using profanity on a daily basis. When we are upset, or when we are calm, there should never be a need for a Christian to use foul language. You see, when a Christian uses profanity, it shows there relationship with God, because the bible says that if you use profanity, it will lead to more "ungodliness"! Should there ever be a time when a Christian practices growing in ungodliness? Many preachers and teachers of the Word are starting to incorporate profanity into their sermons for that "shock" effect or just because they are carnal. Many also do it to make their stories more "appealing" to the world. They even write books, movies, and plays now with bad language in them so that they will be more appealing to the people that practice using foul language. But whatever the reason, it should not be done. If the world will change the rating of a movie for 1 misuse of the word "Hell" or "Damn", then should we change the ratings of our Sunday worship services because our pastors and ministers are beginning to misuse these words? It's a sad day when you have to go home and explain to your children the reason why your Pastor used words that are not allowed in your own home. It's not cute and it's not right, so if you are a minister, pastor, preacher, teacher, or any type of Christian, you still have a standard of "rightness" to uphold and you must get your language under control. Stop speaking in tongues all the time and get your native tongue under control first!

The world uses bad language because they are world! But God said don't do it, so we as Christians that are trying to please God should not communicate that way. We always look at the natural and say, "well, I was mad, or well, it just needed to be said" but we don't look at the spiritual ramifications of profanity. There are demonic spirits that attach themselves to us when we operate in darkness and when we speak profane things. The bible says that it's not just a flesh thing, but it's about "spiritual wickedness". So when you allow the enemy to speak through you, you are allowing him access to you! The devil loves to get us using foul language because the bible says that your tongue can defile your whole body. And Jesus says that what comes out of you is what defiles you. Whether it be your pastor, your momma, or your entertainment that's cussing you out, profanity is not of God and you need to get your tongue delivered and set free from it. Stop talking like that. You know, as becoming saints, God is not pleased!

Suggested Reading: Psa. 34:13, Prov. 15:4, James 3:6, 1Pet. 3:10

National Weather Service Festival in Norman

I had an outstanding weekend!

It all started Saturday morning at the National Weather Service Festival in Norman. At the festival, we got to enjoy a car show which featured all kinds, types and sizes of storm chasing vehicles. There were some vehicles that were decked out with all kinds of weather equipment inside, while others, like mine, were just plain. I had not initially entered because I really felt I had no chance of winning. When I found out that three of my REACT buddies had entered their vehicles, I decided I might as well. The night before, I went ahead and washed my truck, vacuumed it and then polished up the inside. I even got a free t-shirt for entering.

There were four different categories of chasers….the professionals, the spotters, the researchers and the student division. I was in the spotters division. I had a great time and enjoyed talking to some of the other storm chasers that were there. I even got my picture taken with Rick Mitchell, Steve Carano and Sarah Libby (all channel 5 meterologists)…and I got my picture taken with channel 4’s meteorologist Emily Sutton. Meteorologist Troy Christenson was there as well, but I didn’t get a picture with him…we just talked. There was only one storm chaser from channel 9 and no meteorologists. It really surprise me that none of their meteorologists showed up. I didn’t expect Gary England, but I did expect to see one or two of them.

I did not win anything, but one of our REACT members won 1st place in his category, another won runner-up in his category and another member won a $400.00 spotlight in the door prize drawing. We all had a great time meeting new people and showing off our chase vehicles. On Saturday, I purchased a light bar from one of our REACT members. It is magnetic, so I put it on my roof. I did not realize it sucked so much juice, so after a while of leaving it on and not having my car on, my battery went down. We used portable jumper cables to get my truck started. Even though it seems the magnets are holding the light bar on my roof pretty well, I have decided to have them permanently mounted on my roof. I am hoping to have it done Thursday. They are very nice and bright strobes. I have blue/amber on my front and red/blue on the back (see picture). They are sweet.

After our car show, we went to Oz Safe rooms office and had our monthly REACT meeting. It was a good meeting and most of our members were there. It looks like our team is really starting to grow because we have around 6-7 new people that are planning on joining. When the meeting ended, I didn’t really have any plans. Gayla was going to Harrah for a lock-in at some friends’ house. These friends were teenagers and adults that went to Falls Creek with us this year. Since I had not seen any of them in a couple of months, I decided to drive out there and spend a couple of hours with them. I figured since time was going to change and I would get an extra hour of sleep, I might as well go out there and enjoy some fellowship. When I arrived, to my surprise, Karla was there too. She had ridden with Gayla to the lock-in, knowing she would catch a ride with me on the way back. We spent a couple of hours in Harrah and then headed home.

I was up early Sunday morning, working on the powerpoint for Sunday morning’s service. Karla got up early with me and rode with me to church. We had a great Sunday School and a super worship service. I got the privilege of baptizing a young man at the beginning of the service. That’s three weeks in a row that we have baptized somebody. God is good! After church, Karla and I ate at Nino’s and then rested the rest of the afternoon. It was back to church for the evening services and then a Sunday School meeting after that.

Today has been a relatively quiet day for me and I am happy with that. Tomorrow and Wednesday will be busier because all the crews that were off last Friday and today, will be back. Also on Wednesday is my Uncle John’s funeral. He passed away Sunday morning at around 5 am. He had been battling Parkinson’s disease for a long time and his body finally gave up on him. He spent several days in Hospice before he passed away. He was in his middle 80’s I believe. The oldest brother passed away many years ago from cancer. Uncle John was the next oldest. I hate to see him pass away, but he is in heaven with Jesus now. He should be a very proud man because he raised his kids in a Christian household….and he was loved by many.

http://www.okcentralreact.org/

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

It's Finally Friday!!

I have a secret……..I hate telephones!

I don’t mind my cell phone because most of my important and necessary calls are either made, or received on my cell phone….even though I do more texting than talking. I never, ever, ever, answer my home phone. It rings very seldom, but when it does ring, it is normally a solicitor or telemarketer trying to sell me something. At work, I really hate answering the phone. Even though I don’t have to answer it that much, I am just not a phone person. If I am required to, I will answer it without hesitation, but if it is not required, forget it. Most of the time when I am working a radio and doing other business-related stuff at my desk, the ringing phone is a distraction to me….and I hate distractions. If answering the phones was the ONLY thing I did, it might be different, but at work I always have to multi-task and answering the phone is low priority for me.

Well, I finally made it to Friday and the afternoon is going by quickly. I am so ready to get out of here. I am in for a busy weekend. This evening, Karla and I are going out to eat (which we usually do on my payday) and then I am going to work on my truck, getting it ready for the National Weather Service festival tomorrow. I now have front (very bright) clear LED lights, a blue wig-wag strobe light on my dash, a set of bright blue flashing LED lights on the back cab of my truck, red flashing lights in my tail lights and this evening, I am getting a miniature light bar for the top of my truck. I have my REACT two-way radio, my spotlight, my flashlight, my first-aid kit, my CB radio, my reflective vest and badge and my handcuffs. This evening, I am going to wash my truck and clean it out so it will be nice for the car show tomorrow.

I have had several people ask me, “Keith, what kind of stuff do you carry in your truck for REACT?” Are you ready for this? In the cab of my truck, I have my REACT two-way walkie-talkie, my CB Radio, a cordless spotlight, a high-powered hand-held flashlight, a pair of handcuffs (?), my REACT whistle and my reflective vest W/ my REACT ID badge on it. Behind my seat I have several old rags, a reflective vest, a reflective back belt, 3 pairs of work gloves, two hard hats (one for REACT and one for the City), a tool box with tools in it, a first-aid kit, my regular license plate (I have an Emergency Management specialized tag on my vehicle, along with a badge on the tag), a four-way lug wrench, two jacks, my REACT handbook and my book on storm chasing. All of this stuff stays in my truck 24/7. I also have two magnetic REACT signs for the doors on my truck, a magnetic sign on the back of my truck that says, ”this vehicle responds to emergencies,” two reflective magnets on my tailgate and a magnetic sign that says “Certified Skywarn Spotter.” Plus, I have REACT decals on my back window, a National Weather Service storm spotter sticker on my back window and a “I support the OKC Police Department” sticker on the back window. Yep, that’s my truck, also known as the Sossmobile.

Tomorrow is the big festival at the National Weather service in Norman and then we are having our REACT team meeting afterwards at the OZ Safe room business office/warehouse. I am really looking forward to it.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

http://www.okcentralreact.org/

Almost FRIDAY!

I am participating in no-shave November. I have not had any hair on my head for the past year and a half and have not had an actual beard in a long time. This will be interesting, but I am going to try to make it the whole month without shaving. I still have my razor so I can shape my beard up some and not look too tacky, but other than that, I won’t shave my head or my beard until December 1st….then, it will all come off again. Right now it is not too bad, except my head is really starting to itch. My family does not think I can make it the whole month, but I think I can.

Well, Karla drove for the first time yesterday since her accident a couple of weeks ago. She was off work, but she stayed home all day. She went to a meeting last evening, so she had no choice but to drive. I just hope she is twice as careful now when she drives. We don’t need any more accidents on our insurance. I have been accident free and ticket free for the last 15 years. I am not lucky, I am just careful. Here is my philosophy on driving……if you are careful and aware of your surroundings, you will be just fine. I don’t take chances. When I am on the highway, I stay at least 3-4 car lengths behind the car in front of me (in case he stops all of a sudden). I normally drive the speed limit, or go about 5 mph over. Very seldom do I drive over 70 mph. If I have to talk on my cell phone over a minute, I will either pull over to talk, or I will call the person back later. I only text when my vehicle is stopped. Safety first. Plus, my truck is identified as a REACT emergency vehicle (with stickers and magnetic signs), so I have to set an example when I am driving. I can’t be weaving in and out of traffic, speeding, or driving recklessly. I have a reputation to maintain as a REACT volunteer, so I have to be a safe driver.

One other thing…..I can’t be intimidated on the highway. If someone rides my bumper on the highway and I can’t safely move to another lane, I don’t speed up for their convenience and move over for them. I maintain my speed and let them wait. Sometimes, I will tap on my brakes to get them to back off. I will not allow someone to force me to move over just because they are driving like jerks. Last week I was on the highway and a guy started riding my bumper. Then, he flashed his headlights at me, hinting for me to move over. I did not budge….as a matter of fact, I slowed down a little and tapped on my brakes. He was not too happy about that. I will not participate in road rage, but I also will not allow someone to intimidate me on the highway.

Lastly, have a great day and thank God for blessing you with another day to be alive.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

The Best Election in Years!!

Twas the day after election and all through the house……the republicans were celebrating while the democrats were in shock.

It was a great day for the republicans and the Christians. The looks on the faces of the democrats that lost their race…..were priceless. The last couple of elections were dominated by democrats that promised change and promised good things to the American people. Well, guess what? They did not make good on your promises and the American people voted and showed the democrats that we are tired of all their broken promises……and voted them out.

We will now have a good Christian lady as the Governor, a good, Christian man as Lt. Governor….and our own James Lankford as our congressman. A man who was the leader for many years at Falls Creek and never held a political office, beat out those that had experience. One thing that impressed me last night was when Mary Fallin made her acceptance speech. She started out, thanking her father, her Heavenly Father, for all He had done for her. She was a class act. Unlike the other governor, who ONLY got elected because he promised to bring us the “education lottery,” which has done nothing for our schools. He was no class act. He proclaimed to be a southern Baptist, but his beliefs were contrary to the Baptist beliefs. He was an embarrassment to all Baptists in Oklahoma. I respected his office, but not him.

Before I went to the polls yesterday, I researched every candidate that was on the ballot to see what he/she stood for. Were they pro-life? Were they active members of a Bible-believing church? Where did they stand on the issues? I Googled every candidate’s name and learned more about them. That was how I based my decision on who I would vote for. Amazingly enough, every candidate that had the same beliefs that I had….were republicans. That doesn’t surprise me. I am a conservative, Christian, Republican. Most all democrats are liberals. They are pro-choice (pro-abortion), they have no real Christian values and their voting record speaks for themselves. I have always wondered how a person could be a Christian and democrat, seeing that most democrats believe the opposite of what the Bible teaches. I am not their judge, but I would question them and ask how they could vote on certain things that are un-Christ-like and still proclaim to be a Christian. Is a political party more important to support than God’s Word?

The right people won yesterday and the state questions that needed to be struck down, were done so by the voters. It was rather humorous to listen to the national news media on TV last night. The national media is so biased and so pro-democrat. Unfortunately for them, the republicans now have control over the congressional seats and really messed up the plans for all democrats. The republicans were unable to secure the majority of the Senate seats, but hey, at least they now control Congress. I remember Katie Couric saying, “what are the democrats going to do now? What’s the president going to do now?” My answer is……they are gonna have to listen to the republicans and work with the republicans if they want anything done. These republicans aren’t going to blow away and die….they are here for the long haul…they are here to fight.

Today, on my lunch hour, I started watching a news conference with the President. He is such an idiot. Members of the media would ask him a question and he would dance around the answer. He never gave an actual answer. He is to blame for the economy…He is to blame for the bankrupt companies…He is to blame for bailing out these corporations…but, he accepts no blame and throws it on others. He is the weakest president we have ever had and he has made us the laughing stock of the world. If he doesn’t have his teleprompter in front of him, he is lost. He stumbled on every question he was asked and then never really gave an answer. I was getting so bored with his stupid “answers,” I dozed off a few times at my desk while watching. Thanks Mr. President for being so stupid and boring that I got a little nap out of watching you make a fool of yourself.

President Obama as I see him.......



I look forward to the day when our new elected officials are sworn in and we can take the trashy democrats to the curb for big junk day.

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association/home

State Questions on November 2.....in simple english form.

11 State Questions on the November 2nd ballot...


There are 11 state questions on the Nov. ballot, in the following order:

SQ 744 A yes vote would mandate the state spend up to $1 billion more per year on common education to meet a regional average. This would be done by either raising taxes at least 32% statewide, OR cutting all other state agencies and services by at least 20% each.
SQ 746 A yes vote makes voters show proof of identity – voter ID.


SQ 747 A yes vote would make all statewide elected officials have a term limit of 8 yrs, except Corp. Comm., which would be 12 years.


SQ 748 Every 10 years redistricting is done by the legislature; if they fail to act a commission does the job. A yes vote changes, the number of people on the commission from 3 to 7, and makes it by-partisan, with the Lt. Governor as the non-voting chairman.


SQ 750 A yes vote would require fewer signatures on initiative and referendum petitions. The last election with the Governor on the ballot, instead of the last election with the President on the ballot would be used to determine the signatures needed.

SQ 751 A yes vote makes English the common language of Oklahoma.


SQ 752 A yes vote modifies the Judicial Nominating Commission, which recommends candidates to the Governor to appoint. Currently, it is made up of 12 (6 non-lawyers appointed by the Governor and 6 lawyers appointed by the OBA). This measure adds 2 non-lawyer members appointed by the Speaker of the House and the President Pro Temp of the Senate.


SQ 754 A yes vote would ensure that the appropriations and budgeting process set up by the Oklahoma constitution stays the way it currently is. It would stop any unions or government agencies from demanding that they be funded in a different or higher way. If passed this measure could not be effectively amended or repealed.

SQ 755 A yes vote forbids Oklahoma courts from using Sharia (Islamic) or international law to decide cases in our state courts.


SQ 756 A yes vote allows OK residents to opt-out of Federal Health Care.


SQ 757 A yes vote increases rainy day fund from 10% to 15% of certified funds from the previous year’s state budget.