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.
No comments:
Post a Comment