Yesterday was an interesting day, weather-wise. At work, I kept a close eye on the radar and watched two different thunderstorms develop in south west Oklahoma and watched them turn severe. It all started at around 2 pm in western Oklahoma and the storms moved very slowly eastward. I was kind of glad they moved slowly because I had my CFAAA meeting to preside over and, since I missed last month’s meeting, I needed to make the one last night. On the way to my meeting, one of my REACT team members contacted me and advised he was on his way to OCCC to watch the storm come in. I knew it would be at least an hour or so before the storms moved in, so I headed to my meeting.
We had a great meeting and, as usual, the food was outstanding. We all ate, I conducted the meeting and then about 7:15 pm, I headed south to OCCC to spot the storms that were moving in. I actually stopped by my house first and let the dogs in. I knew if I didn’t, I would have some wet, smelly, dogs when I got home. As I entered the college parking lot, I drove around, trying to find a carport, awning, or something I could park my truck under in case of a bad hail storm. I found nothing. When I arrived at the place where we were storm spotting, I asked about a place to park our vehicles in case we had a bad hail storm. Fortunately, we were by a maintenance area of the campus that had a garage. They allowed me to park my truck inside. When the storm moved in, I sat in the truck of one of my REACT partners. I did get some pretty neat pictures, but as most of us know, my camera takes lousy pictures after dark.
It never did get that bad……heavy rains, lots of bright lightning and some pea sized hail. Most of the bigger hail cores were west and north of us, so they missed us. There was quite a bit of flash flooding and we did see a couple of vehicles on I-44 hydroplane and go off the road. We thought about driving over and seeing if we could assist, but then decided it was raining too hard and figured if the motorists were stupid enough to drive fast on the interstate during a rain storm, then they deserved to be sitting in a ditch. So, we sat and continued to watch the radar on Mike’s laptop and watched as one storm left our area and another storm was moving in. Since the second storm wasn’t as strong, we decided to call it a night and go home. When I got home, I looked in my backyard and it looked like a lake. My yard sits low anyway, so even a little amount of rain puddles my yard up.
This morning, I woke up to the sound of thunder (and my alarm). Just listening to the rain fall and the thunder made me want to stay in bed. I knew, though, I needed to get up, shower, feed the dogs and take the trash out. So, I got up and started my morning routine. I left the house to go to work and got on the interstate. As I started going east bound on I-40 (approaching May Ave), traffic started stopping. I was in the middle lane and it seems as those in the right hand lane were moving over. Then, I spotted a stranded vehicle in the right hand lane. I turned on my emergency light, pulled in behind the care and approached the driver to see what the problem was.
It was a lady in her 50’s and she said her car had died on her and she could not get it started. She had her son on the way to help, but I knew the car needed to be moved off the interstate. As I got back in my truck, I started to call OHP, when a trooper pulled up behind me. I got out of my truck, explained to him the situation and then got back in my truck. I was no longer needed, so I pulled back into traffic and went to work.
In other news…
My co-worker and I were having a discussion this morning about people that make poor choices or poor decisions. I read in the news all the time where people are getting shot or stabbed at their house, or especially at bars. Many of these shootings/stabbings at homes are either domestic or gang-related. I have no sympathy for these people because they are where they are because of bad judgment and bad decisions. It’s the same way at a bar. Since alcohol is served at a bar, it is more probable that someone will drink too much, get drunk and try to start an argument or a fight with an unsuspecting patron. Most people go to bars to relax and have a drink…they don’t expect to get shot and killed….but….when you go to establishments like bars, you are taking your life in your own hands.
We live and die by the choices and decisions we make. You can choose to go celebrate at a bar, but you never know when someone is going to come into that same bar and cause problems. It’s a place to drink and play games, but some people do not play fair. Tempers flare up and the next thing you know, a knife or gun comes out and chaos breaks lose. I am not saying all bars are this way, but many of them are. The fact is, if you go to a bar, expect the worst. It may never happen, but the atmosphere is primed for violence.
If you choose to take a walk at 3 am in the morning, be prepared for trouble. Most criminals and thugs are working at this hour. It doesn’t matter what part of the city you live in, there is always the possibility of being mugged, jumped, or robbed, while walking down a street early in the morning. For ladies…you especially need to be careful because you are a perfect target for someone who wants to commit the crime of rape. Ladies should never walk alone after dark…..I would even suggest ladies not walk by themselves during the daylight. There are too many things that can happen. Unfortunately, common sense is not something people depend on anymore. It’s common sense not to walk somewhere by yourself after dark and it is common sense not to go to a bar when you know bad things happen at those places. Be safe and use common sense.
www.okcentralreact.org
http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association
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