The cooler weather is finally here. I am so glad the triple-digit temperatures are gone. It is so nice to drive my truck with the window rolled down and not have to sweat every time I stop at a stop light.
I noticed I had not blogged in over a week. There is a good reason for that…..it’s called, being very, very, very, busy. Thursday evening, I had a REACT Board meeting, which lasted a couple of hours. Friday evening, I had to work late and Saturday (all day), Sunday (after morning church until 10:30 pm) and Monday (10 am – 4 pm), I worked with REACT at the OCCC Arts Festival. One of our members rented three golf carts for all three days and we made good use of them. Our primary responsibility at the Festival was shuttling patrons from their vehicles to the Festival and then back to their vehicles. I have to admit that I had a blast, especially getting to drive a golf cart all day.
It was really hot on Saturday, plus, both OU and OSU were playing football, so the crowd wasn’t very big. We shuttled some people, but not that many. My main goal was to keep driving around as much as possible to keep a breeze flowing through the golf cart. It may have been a warm breeze, but at that time, a warm breeze was better than no breeze. I drank lots of water and Gatorade to stay hydrated. Plus, with the hot sun beating down and the temperatures so hot, it made me really tired. I think I left at around 8 pm that evening. There was not much going on and the crowd was sparse.
The next morning was church and the quartet I am a part of, was scheduled to sing two songs in the morning worship service. We all met at 8 am to practice and everything seemed to come together….but……even the best practiced songs can get messed up. We sang at the beginning of the service, the song went great and we performed it well. We also sang right before the Pastor brought the message and we really botched it up. It was so embarrassing. I could not hit the right note and neither could my fellow quartet members. We totally blew it! I had to leave after we sang because I had to be back at the Arts festival by around 11:30. I was so glad to leave because I was so embarrassed.
Sunday was a big day at the Arts festival. A big fireworks show was scheduled for that night, so we had a huge area that we had to block off so the fireworks people could get their show set up. We made many people mad because the perimeter was set up and we could not allow access to people or vehicles in these areas. People did not understand why, especially since the fireworks show was not until the evening. We tried to explain that, even though the fireworks show was that night, the people setting them off still had to have the area shut down while they were preparing for the show because of the possibility of fireworks going off prematurely. Some understood, but most didn’t. They felt we were inconveniencing them. I was watching one area, while another REACT team member watched another area.
One thing I learned was if I had a good attitude and was friendly towards those that walked around the barriers, they understood and were receptive to me. If you tell them with lots of force in your voice and a demanding attitude, it really ticked them off. I had to let my customer service skills take over when dealing with certain people. I did have one lady that wanted to walk through the perimeter. When she refused to listen to my orders, I wound up having to call security on my radio. She turned it into a racial issue….she was black. She felt I was being racial because I was white and she was black. I explained to her I had no concern what color she was, I was just doing my job and trying to keep people out of the secured perimeter. She cussed at me and the security guards and continued to turn it into a racial issue. Security finally asked her to leave the property and not to come back.
Most of the afternoon and evening was spent on perimeter and crowd control. We had to stop shuttling people because our main responsibility had turned into perimeter control. At one point, I noticed a boy pushing a car down one of the aisles in the parking lot. I checked with him and learned the car’s battery was dead. A friend of mine was nearby with his truck, so we decided to assist the lady and try to get her car started. As I was trying to get the jumper cables in place, a strong gust of wind came and knocked the hood down….on my head. The hood latch caught my head and blood started pouring out. Several people came to my aid and applied pressure to my wound. EMSA arrived on the scene and assisted me with medical aid. Just for precautionary reasons, one of my team members took me to the Southwest Medical Center ER, where they stitched me up (with 4 stitches) and released me. We spent around 1-1/2 hours in the ER, which wasn’t bad. We were back at the Arts Festival by 9:20 pm, in time to watch the fireworks. Afterwards, they would not allow me to direct traffic or drive a golf cart (because of my head injury), so I rode with a team member and assisted him.
I was up at 9:30 am on Monday morning. Since it was Labor Day, I was off work. My head felt fine and I felt I got plenty of rest, so I headed back to the Arts Festival to assist. Once there, I spent the entire day shuttling people back and forth to their vehicles. It was extremely busy with thousands of people attending…. and the parking lots filled up quickly. Unfortunately, there were only two of us from REACT working, so we stayed busy all day long. The festival was over at 5 pm, so around 4 pm, people started leaving and going back to their vehicles. Since there wasn’t much more for me to do, I decided to call it a day and go home.
That evening, all I did was eat dinner, buy groceries and rest.
I was up early Tuesday morning and a little nervous. I had a job interview at 8 am downtown at personnel. I had applied for my supervisor’s job because he is retiring at the end of this month after 25 years with the City. I was excited, yet nervous. It had been over 16 years since I have had a job interview, so I did not know what to expect. Fortunately, the three people that interviewed me were supervisors I knew at Line Maintenance, including my supervisor. The interview went well, but I will not know anything until later this week, or the first part of next week. If I make it through this round, then I will advance to a final interview. It’s all in God’s hands, so we will see what happens.
Yesterday was one of Karla’s doctors’ appointments, so after her appointment, I mowed a lawn, ate dinner and then assisted one of our elderly ladies in changing out a battery on her home alarm system. Since I still have the stitches for another 7 days, I had to shave my head around the stitches….it was a little challenging, but I did do it without cutting myself.
This evening is our youth worship night at church and then to Johnnie’s for dinner. This coming weekend is Septemberfest at the Governor’s Mansion and our REACT team is suppose to work it. In about a week, the State Fair starts up again….fun, fun, fun……..
www.centralokreact.org
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