Getting Ready for Another Work Week

I can safely say I have had an enjoyable and relaxing weekend.

One of the highlights of my weekend was the National Weather Service Festival, which I attended on Saturday. It was held at the National Weather Service in Norman. Around five of our Central Oklahoma REACT members attended the festival and we all entered our vehicles in the car show, including me. The car show is usually one of the highlights of the festival because there are so many storm spotters and chasers that come and show off their vehicles.

I did get the opportunity to meet one of my favorite News9 StormTrackers, Hank Brown...

Not only do they show off their vehicles, they show off what they have in their vehicles. Many of them have mounted video cameras, assorted two-way radios, assorted scanners and laptops. Lots of them have some very expensive weather equipment that I just dream about. I took quite a few pictures of these vehicles and equipment, which I posted on my Facebook page.

Every year, they hand out small trophies to the winners of the chase vehicles. They have four different categories: storm spotters, storm chasers, media storm trackers and student/researchers. In each category, there is a second place winner and a first place winner. There is also a winner who has the most hail damage to their vehicle. The winners are determined by fellow storm chasers and spotters. I was one of the judges for the student/researchers.

Close to the end of the show, all the storm chasers, etc...meet together in the NWS auditorium. That's where they award the trophies and give away door prizes. With all the neat storm spotter vehicles (the category I was in), I knew I did not have a chance to win. I tried my best, but it wasn't good enough. I did win a door prize.....some kind of amplified cell phone booster for my truck. I am not sure how it works yet.

After the festival, I headed home and that's where I stayed. I did nothing for the entire afternoon and evening but watch football.

This morning came and I decided I needed a break. I knew if I went to my church, I would be running the sound and not really get a chance to worship. We are still looking for someone to assist in running the sound during worship services, but not having much success. I contacted one of my buddies at church and he agreed to cover the worship services for me. Plus, I am having a few issues with our youth minister and I really did not want to see him today....long story.

So, this morning, I went back to the church in Moore where I grew up....Regency Park Baptist Church. I went to the 8:15 am early service, since I am an early riser and then stayed for Sunday School. The service was outstanding and the SS was just as good. I had a great time of listening and participating in the worship service. After church, I bought groceries and then went home. I have stayed home all afternoon, just watching football and doing chores.

Tomorrow is the big day. Our new supervisor starts in her new position. She comes to us from N. Carolina, so we are not sure what to expect. She came by our office last Wednesday and many of us in dispatch met her briefly. She has orientation until noon tomorrow and then she comes to our office to assume her new position. This is exciting in a way because we finally get a permanent supervisor. It will be strange, though, to have a female supervisor, especially since I have had a male supervisor for the last 16 years. All in all, I am excited and hope that she will bring some welcome change to our office.

www.centralokreact.org

The Weekend is Finally Here!!!

Well, I finally made it to Friday. This week seemed to go on forever. Last evening, myself, another member of REACT and a guest, all attended an appreciation dinner at the F & M Bank, in Piedmont. This appreciation dinner was for all the volunteers that helped with the benefit concert, "Concert in the Cornfield," a couple of weeks ago in Piedmont. The benefit concert was put on because of the tornado that ripped through Piedmont on May 24th. Many families lost everything, so many residents from Piedmont got together and organized this concert in order to raise money for those who still needed assistance rebuilding.

Since our REACT team was one of the volunteer groups that participated, we were invited to attend. It was so good to see all the volunteers that made it to the dinner. There were presentations made, food to eat and music to listen to....but most importantly, it was a time to celebrate and a time to present a check to the Piedmont Service Center for $31,000.00. The money came from donations and proceeds from the concert. It was indeed a great time of celebration and I was glad our team was a part of it.

I am not sure what this weekend holds for me. This evening, our youth are going to the Judgment House at Wilmont Place Baptist Church. This is an annual event that is held every Halloween. This is drama that follows the lives of several people and the different scenarios of their lives. It shows everyday people and the conflicts they have in life and the way they deal with them. Some of the actors portray non-believers and they give the non-believers point of view on how they would handle a tragedy in their life. There is also the believer's perspective. As a believer, they show how they would handle a tragedy by relying on God. There is a realistic heaven scene and a very realistic hell scene that makes you think which road you want to take.

The Judgment House isn't there to scare the students. It is not a haunted house. It is a tool used to help students make a decision as to whether they want to spend eternity in hell, or make the decision to accept Christ and go to heaven. Every year, the story changes and every year, it has touched and changed the lives of our students. As a youth leader, my main goal is to see the students come to know Christ as their Lord and Savior and to help them in their Christian walk. I also want to get to know them better personally, so I know how to pray for them.

I have been working with the youth in my church for the last 10 years. I have seen so many of them come and go and I have seen many of them grow up in our youth group and be a part of our youth group from 7th - 12th grade. I have history with many of them and know them and their parents. I know what is going on in their lives and what is troubling them. After 10 years of being in the youth ministry, I have developed this trust between me and the students. They know they can talk to me anytime and share their problems with me. I will pray for them and support them all the way. I would never, ever, do anything that would break that trust. With teenagers, trust is a big thing. Many of them don't have much trust in their parents, so they don't share as much with them. I always encourage the students to love and honor their parents, unless their parents are abusive......then, they need to tell me.

One thing I have learned as a youth leader is when a student is being abused, it is my responsibility to step in, intervene and get the local authorities involved. I have told the students time and time again that abuse is not normal, whether it is physical, mental, or verbal abuse. Nobody, especially students, kids, or small children, should ever have to endure any type of abuse. If they do, they need to come see a youth leader who they trust. My goal is to get to know these students and not only be their youth leader, but be their friend. I guess I could possibly be a youth minister if God was ever going to call me into the ministry, but, at age 50, I am probably too old to make that big of a difference. I want to be more of a youth leader to these student and not like a father.

Tomorrow morning is the National Weather Festival in Norman at the National Weather Service. This is where the general public, including storm spotters, storm chasers, storm researchers and other weather enthusiasts show up and enjoy a time of fellowship and showing off all their cool equipment. Last year, I attended the Festival and entered my truck in the storm spotter category contest. Since I was not that big into storm spotting yet, I didn't have much equipment. This year, though, I have entered my truck in the storm spotting category again. Now, I have a mounted light bar, lots of LED lights, a two-way radio, CB Radio, my laptop and several other things that I use for storm spotting. I would love to win in my category, but I doubt that will happen because many of the storm spotters will have nicer equipment than I have. Either way, it is going to be a fun day for me.

www.centralokreact.org

So Far, So Good!

I had a wonderful, very relaxing, weekend. It all started Friday evening after Karla and I ate dinner. I took my bike up to Lake Hefner and rode around the lake. I had gotten new tires and new tubes for my front and back tires, so I wanted to try them out. The bike rode great, but I did not get finished riding until after dark. I had to use my flashlight as a headlight.

Hello Saturday!! Several weeks ago, our REACT team assisted in the Chicken Run in Chickasha, Okla. This run was to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation (CFF). We were there for crowd control and traffic control. Last Saturday, the coordinators of the Chicken Run had a check to present to the CFF. Since our team was an important part of the event, we were invited to Chickasha to witness the handing over of the check. Only two of us from REACT were able to attend, so I invited my wife to ride with me to Chickasha, so we could be at the presentation and take some pictures. The presentation took place at a Mexican restaurant, so after the presentation, my wife and I ate. Then, we headed home.

The rest of the day was very relaxing….just laying around the house, doing a few chores and watching TV. At around 4 pm, I decided to head up to Lake Hefner and ride my bike. On my way to the lake, I was informed we might be in for a round of severe weather and to keep my eyes on the sky. It had turned cloudy north of the city, so I figured it was a matter of time before storms started building. As I rode around the lake, I had my REACT radio with me, just in case the storms popped up before I got back to my truck. Fortunately, my timing was perfect. Just as soon as I got to my truck, the weather started turning bad. Unfortunately, there were some people still out jogging and riding their bikes. Why do they get out and do this stuff when they know a storm is coming? Some people just aren’t smart.

I knew I could get some great pictures of the storm coming through if I would just drive to the north side of the dam….so that’s what I did. I pulled around to the north side of the dam, parked my truck and started taking some pictures. It was so neat to watch the clouds and their formations. You could see where the gust front was and you could see the rain band moving in. Then, the lightning and thunder started. At that point, I realized that anyone that was still jogging or bicycling would be in some danger. The rain started coming down heavier, so I decided to move to another spot, just in case it started hailing. As I drove east on the road, I came upon a father and son who were riding their bikes. I got on my PA and asked if they wanted a ride. They signaled to be that they did want a ride, so I stopped to pick them up.

Now remember, I have a small Chevy S-10 pick-up that is not an extended cab. We threw both of their bikes in the back of my truck (on top of my bike) and then the man and his son literally squeezed into my front seat. Since I had my crate with all my stuff in it and my first aid kit in the floor, there was not much room. The man had to hold my crate in order to sit down. His son sat in his lap. Luckily, we weren’t going that far. Once I dropped them off at their destination, I headed back to the highway to continue tracking the storm.

There was a report of some rotation in the El-Reno area, around I-40, so I was sent west on I-40 to check it out. I called our weather specialist on the radio to make sure I was not driving into danger. At about I-40 and Cimarron Rd I ran into ping-pong sized hail. Fortunately, it only lasted about half a mile, so I did not receive any damage. Plus, I was going real slow. The storm was a quick mover. By the time I got to Yukon, the rotation was not as bad and the storm had moved south of me. So, the weather specialist sent me to SW Oklahoma City. By the time I got there, everything was south of me and out of our area, so I called it a night.

There was not really much happening on Sunday. I went to Sunday School and church and then ate lunch afterwards. I spent all afternoon at work, catching up on some paperwork. When I did leave work, I was heading southbound on I-44, just passing SW 74, when I saw two females on the side of the road with their emergency flashers on. I took the next exit and doubled back. When I finally stopped to check on them, I found out they were on their way to Bridge Creek and had just purchased some furniture from Mathis Brothers. The problem, though, was the load did not get tied properly, so it came undone, causing a problem. So, I stood by with the lady and her daughter until Mathis Brothers arrived on the scene to properly tie the load down. Once I got finished with that motorist assist, I went home, made a grocery list and bought groceries.

Yesterday, I worked 12 hours, so I did not get home until after 8 pm. Other than working, there was not much going on worth talking about.

Today is Karla’s 50th birthday. I have sent FB messages and text messages to all her friends, asking them to send her Happy Birthday text messages, or just calling her on her cell phone. Due to finances, a gift was not in the picture, but several of us are going to Boomerangs tonight after work, to celebrate her birthday. Oh yeah, she is coming too.

www.centralokreact.org

The Weekend is Almost Here!!

I finally made it to Friday!

This has been a week full of surprises and a few disappointments . Yesterday, we had a meeting in our office. Without going into detail and releasing too much information, I had a co-worker who said they would have my back at the meeting and back me up on what I had to say at the meeting. We had agreed earlier on the points I was going to bring up. Instead, my co-worker did just the opposite and practically threw me under the bus. Their idea of backing me up was actually stabbing me in the back….with me being there. I am sure I had a very surprised look on my face when my co-worker said the opposite of what we had discussed earlier. I told this person after the meeting I was very disappointed in them and their actions…..but they did not seem to care. Needless to say, I have nothing more to say to them. They have already alienated a few people in our office, so they can just add my name to the list.

I hate back-stabbers and two-faced people. They are nothing but scum in my book. They have no real friends because they have alienated any friendships they had. I really never considered this co-worker a true friend anyway because of their know-it-all attitude and their arrogance. They feel they can do nothing wrong and they make no mistakes. I normally don’t associate with these type of people because of their attitude and arrogance, but I am always willing to give everyone a chance. This incident changed everything. I know who my true friends are….they are the ones who I can confide in and they stick by your side. They are intelligent, trustworthy, honest and keep things confidential. From now on, I am staying away from the know-it-alls and the arrogant ones. They aren’t worth my time. There are only a few people I can trust in my office to keep things confidential. They are friends I have trusted for a long time. That trust will continue unless someone betrays it.

Yesterday was a rather busy day at work and after work. I had to stay until after 6 pm last night so our night dispatchers could go to the same meeting I went to earlier that morning. Then, I had to head to south OKC for the October CFAAA meeting at fire station #9. I was late, but we had a good meeting. Even though I am president, I let the vice-president preside over the meeting because I could not talk very well (sinuses were acting up). We didn’t have very many members at the meeting, but we still had a good meeting.

The weekend is almost upon us. There is no REACT event this weekend, so my weekend is free and clear. There is going to be a presentation made to Cystic Fibrosis tomorrow in Chickasha (from an event our team worked three weeks ago), so several of us are going down there in the morning for the presentation. I should be back home by noon and have the rest of the day to do whatever I want to do.

www.centralokreact.org

Still Trying to Rest.

I really am trying to rest, but I am not very good at it.

Last evening, I actually got off work on time and ran a few errands. I had to pick up some medicine, go pick up my bike and go by the credit union. I made it home by 4:45 pm. When I got home, I was really tired, so I laid down on the couch and watched TV. Normally when I get home, I log on to my laptop and check my email, but I was even too tired to do that. My back was tired and tight and my head was stopped up. Since the weather has turned cooler, it is playing havoc with my sinuses. I think that’s why I feel so run down. Of course, working so many hours last weekend and not getting much rest didn’t help either.

I tried not to plan anything last night, but one of our REACT team members, who is the fundraising chairperson for our team, wanted to have a fundraising committee meeting in Midwest City and I wanted to show my support. I went ahead and attended the 6:30 pm meeting and was glad I did. We got quite a bit accomplished. I made it home at around 9 pm, got on my laptop for 30 minutes and went to bed.

Back to REACT. Our event last Saturday in Piedmont, was the last event we had scheduled this year. Normally, during the holidays, we do not schedule events because of everyone’s busy schedule. Plus, for the time being, we are not responding to emergencies until we can write up our Mutual Aid Agreements and present them to other municipalities. Mutual Aid Agreements are necessary to have in order for us to work side-by-side with other communities and their emergency managers. Without them, we can’t aid other communities. This is actually the first year we have actively acted as emergency responders, but we failed to write up any mutual aid agreements with other communities, so we have to hold off on emergency responses until we get the agreements written up and signed. It’s no big deal…just a formality that has to be done.

For the meantime, we will just be assisting with certain events, do more traffic control at accidents and do more motorist assists. We are prepared to deploy on emergencies if we are called out, but our focus at this time is to do a little re-organizing and to get our SOP’s (Standard Operating Procedures) up to date, get our by-laws tweaked and do some more training. At the end of this month, we have the weather event at the National Weather Service in Norman where we show off our vehicles and attend a few workshops.

Yep, that's me in the gator at the Piedmont event last Saturday.

www.centralokreact.org

Still Veryyyyyyyy Tired!

What a BUSY and TIRING weekend.

I worked Friday from 7 am – 7 pm and then had a couple of errands to run afterwards. I got home, ate dinner and then headed out to wash my truck. I am not really the type to go to a car wash after dark, but I did not have much of a choice. I went to a car wash by my house, so I felt pretty safe. While I washed my truck, I kept looking around to make sure nobody was lurking around. Some call me paranoid, but I call it being safety conscious. While I washed my truck, a van pulled up and backed in to one the slots where the vacuum cleaners are. He just sat there, so I watched him like a hawk. Once I was finished, I headed home.

I actually slept well on Friday night, which was a good thing….especially since Saturday was going to be a long day. I was up at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. I took my shower, shaved my head and got all my REACT equipment loaded into my truck. I headed up to Piedmont, Okla. And arrived at 7:45 am. Our REACT team met at 8 am that morning at the Piedmont Bank to get ready for the big benefit concert. The concert, named “Concert in the Cornfield,” was a benefit concert that was organized in order to raise money for those families that had been affected by the May 24, 2011 tornado that ripped through Piedmont, destroying neighborhoods. The event featured many fun things for the kids, lots of food and beverages and continuous bands from 1 pm – 9 pm, with the headliner performing at 9 pm.

One of the organizers of the event is a wonderful lady I work with. She is in a management position and asked me a couple of months ago if our REACT team could assist them with traffic control, crowd control and pedestrian safety. We gladly accepted the invitation. They had actually planned for over 1,000 people to attend, but about half of that attended. We were ready to assist with parking and pedestrian safety at 9:30 am. We had the parking lots marked, safety cones and barricades in place and REACT members were at their assigned posts. Since this was an event that I scheduled and since I personally knew one of the coordinators, I was the Incident Commander for the event. One of our members brought his gator for me to drive, making it easier to keep a check on everything.

Our team made an excellent showing and were prepared for the worst, but were relieved when it wasn’t going to be as difficult as we thought it would be. It was easy to maintain the parking lots and easy to make sure pedestrians got across Piedmont Rd without getting hit by a vehicle. We are a professional emergency response team and we proved it at this event. We worked very closely with the Piedmont Police and the Canadian County Sheriff’s Office. We all worked very well together and our team made a great impression. It was a 16 hour day for me, but it was well worth it. The lady I work with was very happy with the way we handled things and some of the event attendees thanked us as well. We were all very tired and sleepy as the event came to an end. We all left at 23:30.

I slept in on Sunday morning and did not make it to Sunday School. I did get up in enough time to make it to the worship service. Afterwards, it was lunch time, football time and nap time. I took advantage of all three. Since our pastor had lost his voice and our music minister was in revival Sunday night, I was filling in for him and leading the music during the evening worship service. I made it back to the evening service and led music. Everything seemed to go just fine. After church, I picked up a couple of burgers for me and Karla and went home to watch football. My body was still so tired and sore, I could not stay awake. I was in bed by 9 pm.

Next thing I know, my alarm is going off….and it’s Monday!!

www.centralokreact.org

Yet Another trip to the ER...

Today has been an extremely tiring day.

Last evening, myself and two other REACT team members drove up to Piedmont to meet with the organizers of an event that REACT is going to assist with this Saturday. The event is “Concert in the Cornfield,” and it is a concert to benefit those that were affected by the tornadoes that hit Piedmont last May. One of the managers at my office is actually one of the coordinators and she asked REACT to assist with parking and crowd control. We had a great meeting and had the opportunity to check out the site where the concert is going to be so we would have an idea of what to expect.

While we were up there checking things out, I receive a call from my son. Here is his story. Several weeks ago, he got a tattoo on his arm. He doesn’t take very good care of himself sometimes. Anyway, while at work, he managed to cut his arm and he did not clean the wound properly. Because of that, it got infected. So, we went to an after-hours emergency clinic, received some medication for a staph infection and went on his way. So, last evening, he called me (when I was still in Piedmont) and told me his arm had swelled and he was in a lot of pain. He wanted to know what to do. I told him to call his mom and get some advice from her.

Well, that backfired. She sent me a text back, asking me what we should do. I suggested he go to the emergency room and have it checked out before it got worse. I also suggested she pick him up at his apartment, take him to St. Anthony Hospital ER and I would meet them there. She did not like the suggestion because she had not driven after dark in three months and was afraid to get out….so…..since I rode with the other two REACT members, they took me back to my truck, I drove to my son’s apartment, picked him up and took him to the ER. The place was packed. It was noisy, with the sounds of screaming kids and loud adults.

Once again, the people that were in the waiting room looked very scary (kind of like Wal-Mart customers). At one point, I thought they were having a family reunion because there were at least 8 people that came with a girl. I am not sure what her problem was, but she mentioned she was in a lot of pain. I am not sure what the pain was because she laughed the whole time we were sitting there. So many people use the ER for minor stuff….stomach aches, head-aches, little pains here and there, constipation, etc…….when it should be used for emergencies, such as bad cuts, broken bones, heart problems, etc……

There were also kids running around in the waiting room making all kinds of racket. Stephen and I didn’t say a word to each other, but we did text one another. He was as frustrated with the noise as I was. We arrived at the hospital at 8:30 pm and was finally put in a room at 10:45 pm. They drained the bump on his arm, gave him a tetanus shot, gave him some pain medication and sent him home with some ointment. The procedure was painful for him, but he took it like a man. We finally left the hospital at 11:30 pm. I got home at midnight and got a whopping 5 hours sleep.

www.centralokreact.org.

Communication IS the Word.

I am a communicator. That’s why I have a cell phone, text messaging, two email addresses and a Facebook Page. I use each of these forms of communication all the time. So, what’s the problem? It’s other people. Communication is a two-way street. You can talk, email, or text all you want to, but if you get no replies, there is no communication. In my job, my position is a Communications Dispatcher. I dispatch calls to crews in the field and I communicate with other City departments via phone and email. Unfortunately, in my office, communication is not very important. Much of the time, we have no idea what is going on because our supervisor doesn’t tell us, or it is “confidential.” We aren’t trying to pry into personal lives, we just want to know what’s going on in our office. Without communication, our office is useless and the morale goes way down. I have tried to be the communicator in our office, but many times I feel like I am wasting my time.

This is also the case with the volunteer emergency response team I am a part of. The name of the team is REACT (Radio Emergency Associated Communications Team). Did you notice that communications is actually used in our team name? Unfortunately, our communication is lacking terribly. Again, the entire team has text messaging, email and two FB pages, but nobody wants to communicate. We usually get at least 7 or 8 emails a week, informing us on what’s going on with the team. In the last two weeks, I have received nothing. Our Board of Directors is also suppose to be communicating to the membership, but again, there have been no emails, text messages, or FB messages sent. A communications team that does not communicate, will eventually cease to exist. I have already addresses our communication problem to the Board and our team members, so we will see what happens.

Tonight is day two of our revival at church. We had a good crowd last night, which is very unusual for a Monday night. It was so good to see so many people there…..and many visitors. Last night was pack a pew night for the ladies and tonight is pack a pew night for the men. I have been assigned a pew to pack, but, since I am running the sound all week for the revival, I haven’t been real active in inviting others. I am hoping to get some of my adult friends and students to help pack my pew. Since it is men’s night at the revival, they will be drawing for a football autographed by Heisman Trophy winner, Jason White. No worries here….I never win anything anyway. Tomorrow night is youth night with pizza, so I expect we will have a bunch of students there.

http://www.centralokreact.org/

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association

I'm Back in the Saddle Again.....Back to Work!

It’s official……at 7:00 am this morning, my vacation ended. I did have a good week and it was real nice to be away from the office. My only fear today was having to play catch-up. It seems to happen every time I am on vacation for a week. My email inbox seems to be overflowing (even though I was able to keep it under control last week because I checked it every day), the legal claims are still on my desk waiting to be researched and locates are in my secondary email inbox, waiting to be distributed. Plus, a few things changed last week while I was gone. We are now short a clerk because one of our clerks retired last week and last Friday was her last day. It seems as if we are always going to be short-handed no matter what we do.

Since it rained over the weekend, I did not get very much accomplished. I was able to watch the OU/Texas game on Saturday with my brother-in-law, It really did not start raining until after 5 pm on Saturday. When it came, though, it came hard. Karla and I were scheduled to go to the church at 5:30 that evening and pray for our upcoming revival. It was really neat because it was so quiet in the auditorium, with the exception of hearing the rain outside and an occasional clap of thunder. We left the church at 6:30, got something to eat and went home. I watched more football and watched our dogs and cat continuously take naps. They hate the rain and since we have no dog house, or any kind of shelter for them during in-climate weather, they get to stay inside. We let them out as often as we can so they won’t have any accidents in the house.

It rained all night Saturday, which made it real hard to get up Sunday. It was going to be a big day because revival was starting. I had never met the evangelist, nor had I met the man that was going to lead our music. Since my main job is running the sound, I stayed busy all morning getting things set up and working right. It’s been a long time since I had been that busy on a Sunday morning. Everything went well and I was happy it did. After church, Karla and I bought groceries, went home, ate lunch, watched football….and napped. Might as well nap, especially since it was going to rain all afternoon. We finally got up and around at 4 pm and headed back to church for choir rehearsal. I decided I would get on the internet upstairs on the sound board while the choir rehearsed. Unfortunately, the church is still having some issues with AT & T, so I was unable to access the wireless at the church. So, I worked on the power point for the evening service.

After church, it was still raining…..and raining very hard. I carefully drove home and the rest of the evening, I Karla and I watched TV (she watched her show and I watched football). I did not have much of an appetite, so I did not eat dinner. I just had a few cookies and some Dr. Pepper. As it got later, I started getting my stuff together for Monday morning. Even though I did enjoy my week off, I started running out of things to do. So, just the prospect of getting back to work and having something to do, gave me something to look forward to.

http://www.centralokreact.org/

http://www.neighborhoodlink.com/OCFD_Citizens_Fire_Academy_Alumni_Association

So Far, So Good.....

So far, I have had a good week off work. This was something I needed very badly. I really had no plans to do anything, or go anywhere. There were only two things I had planned to get accomplished this week. One was getting Karla to the doctor to see if her heart doctor would release her to go back to work and to allow her to start driving again........which we did and the second thing was getting in to see the dentist....which I did.

Yesterday, we had a 9:30 doctor's appointment with Karla's doctor to see if he would allow her to start driving again and to go back to work. Even though her appointment was at 9:30, she did not actually see her doctor until around 11 am. He was so far behind schedule and we could hear many patients complaining. Since I was on vacation and had nowhere else to go, I just sat patiently waiting. The good news is, all her tests came out good and her heart is in great shape. Of course, she still has to wear an internal heart monitor, but she was cleared to drive and to go back to work.

Tuesday was a fun day for me. After working on the house most of the morning to get it ready for our prayer meeting that night, I decided I needed some "me" time. So, I loaded my bike up and drove up to Hefner Lake and rode around the lake. It was a beautiful day for a ride, but the lake was way down. It did not even look like a lake because the water level was so low. I took my time and took some pictures of the lake as I rode around it.

Afterwards, I decided to drive by Overholser Lake to check on the lake levels there. They were low as well, so I decided to take a few pictures. I then got on NW 39th street and headed east, towards I-44. As I sat at the stoplight at NW 39 & N Council Rd, I noticed traffic had stopped just past NW 39 on Council. That's when I noticed there had been an accident. It was a four-car non-injury accident, so I stopped to see if I could assist. Since both northbound lanes were blocked, I had to direct traffic until Bethany PD arrived. Once they arrived, they relieved me and I left the scene.

Once I finally got on I-44, I headed south to go home. As I past SW 44th street exit, I noticed two females on the side of the interstate, standing next to a broken down car. I got off at the next exit, doubled back and then pulled in behind the car. They were two Hispanic ladies that could not speak English, but I did understand that a fan belt had broken and they had help on the way. I stayed on the scene until their help arrived and then left the scene. I finally made it home. We did have a prayer meeting that night, but only a few people showed up. Either way, we had a great time.

Yesterday afternoon was a lazy afternoon. I had nothing to do, so I took a nap in the middle of the afternoon. It was nice. Since Andrew was in revival this week, it was my responsibility to take care of the Wednesday evening youth service, which I did. Everything went well.

This morning was my dreaded trip to the dentist. I actually went on Monday afternoon for a consultation and then was scheduled to return this morning to have work done. I had one tooth filled, but the other tooth is so messed up, that major surgery would be required.......or, I could just have the tooth extracted and never have to worry about that tooth again. I chose to have the tooth extracted, so I have to go to an oral surgeon to have that done.

This afternoon, I had some free time, so I went ahead and mowed a couple of lawns. This evening, my best friend is going to install a new starter on my truck (it needs it bad). So, I will be spending most of my evening there. Now.....I think I am just going to chill and maybe play with my dogs.

www.centralokreact.org

I Have been Slacking.....

I am a slacker......when it comes to posting on my blog. I did not realize it had been a week since my last entry. I plan to do better.

It's been weeks now and we still have no clue as to who our new supervisor will be in our office. I am hoping we find something out this week, however, since I am on vacation this week, I may be the last to know. I am not going anywhere, or doing anything special this week...I am just taking a week off from Line Maintenance.

Last Saturday, our REACT Team worked the Chicken Run in Chickasha, Oklahoma. The run benefited Cystic Fibrosis. It was the first year for the run, so they only had 60 runners, but the entire event was a total success. After the run, we all went to Jakes in Chickasha for ribs. After we ate, I headed back to OKC to run the sound for a 4 pm wedding at my church.

I made it to church Sunday morning and we had a good Sunday School and worship service. That afternoon, I had a REACT team meeting at the church. My church has been allowing us to have our meetings in the fellowship hall. I was very tired Sunday and my sinusis is were really hurting. I made it through the REACT meeting and then went home. I did not feel good at all, so at around 4 pm, I laid down on the bed. I woke up at around 7 pm. I guess I was more tired than I thought.

This morning, I was up at 6 am and started cleaning the kitchen. I did some laundry and then left the house to run some errands. I also met a very good friend of mine at IHOP for breakfast. Over 6 years ago, Lee was youth minister at our church. He is now a pastor of a church in eastern Oklahoma County, but he is still a great friend of mine and a man I go to for advice. I don't stay in touch with him like I should, but we always have a good conversation when we get together. Anytime I have questions, or need spiritual advice, I contact Lee. Man, it was good to see and talk to him today.

Afterwards, I ran a few more errands, mowed two lawns and went to the dentist. Yes, I went to the dentist. Not my way of spending my vacation, but I had no choice. Two weeks ago, I had a tooth come out (that shouldn't have) and another tooth that was bothering me. Since we have been short-handed at work, my only time to go was this week. Fortunately, the words, "root canal" did not come out of the mouth of my dentist. I go back on Thursday to have some decay removed and a few fillings installed.

I am so glad I got so many things done today. Tomorrow, I will continue to work on cleaning the house, especially since we are having a cottage prayer meeting at our house tomorrow night. We have a revival starting this Sunday and several members are having prayer meetings at their homes this week. Ours is tomorrow night at 6:30 pm. I have no idea how many people will be coming to our house, but I want the house to look and smell good.

www.centralokreact.org