Archive → May 17th, 2008
Morning update May 17, 2008
Good morning everyone,
I know it has been over a week since I updated this page but it has been an incredibly busy two weeks. Last weekend was filled before it arrived. Friday night was the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life for the Mid-Del area. My wife is on the committee so that was a big event. This lasted all night from 7:00 pm, to 7:00 am on Saturday. They explain the reason for doing it this way as being symbolic. The sunset represents the sad time of being diagnosed with cancer. The dark night represents the battle being waged to fight the cancer. The morning represents the cure. This may have only started at 7:00 pm but my wife has worked tirelessly before it started by setting up tents, booths, and collecting money. The whole year before this event she works so hard fund raising. Once again she managed to raise more than $3,000. I am very proud of her for how much passion she has for this.
Last Saturday, a friend of mine from work graduated at OU so I went and video taped that event and I was proud for him. He is the first person in his family to get a college degree so his family was very proud. That was a good time as well. And of course we cannot forget that Sunday was Mother’s Day so it was a busy weekend. Also last weekend I formatted the hard drive for my desktop and took a considerable amount of time to re-install the software applications. I also went to buy a new laptop last weekend.
This week at work I was blindsided by my second level supervisor by being assigned a task of heading the AFSO 21 initiative for our group. While this is flattering, I am behind the curve on this. AFSO 21 means Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st Century and is a quality initiative intended to eliminate waste through lean, six sigma, among other tools. Although I am six sigma certified, I have not done a project for four years and because I came from the maintenance side of the world, I am a little behind on the AFSO approach. Looks like a worthy challenge. I was announced at yesterday’s commander’s call without warning so that was a wakeup call. I will succeed in this challenge.
This weekend by design we have no deadlines to meet, or events to attend. We have no responsibilities to accomplish. Last night I sat on the couch and watched the NBA playoff semifinals with the Boston Celtics against the Cleveland Cavaliers. As soon as that game was over I watched the Los Angeles Lakers play the Utah Jazz. That game was not over until 12:30 am and I woke up at 6:00 am. I woke up with a sore throat, and a stopped up nose, while thinking about AFSO 21. I am a little excited about the NBA since the announcement that Oklahoma City will be getting a team soon. I became an NBA fan while living in Phoenix, Arizona. What the heck… I will not lay around all weekend. I may get off the couch and put a load of laundry in the washer.
It is hard to believe that my kids will be out of school next week. My oldest only has one more year before he is out of school. Yesterday my wife and I went out to the car around 5:00 am to go to work and I noticed some trash on the ground next to the driver side door. As I approached the car, I found that it was the contents of the glove compartment. It appears because we did not lock the door, someone got in the car and tried to find something of value in the glove compartment. Unfortunately for them we do not keep anything of value in the car. Even the stereo is a pretty cheap model hardly worthy of the work.
Unlike many people, I like living in the city because it has life. It does have its negative points such as noisy neighbors and the city telling you how to live. As with most people that live in a city, we deal with traffic noise, stereos thumping as they drive by, and kids screaming. Recently we have had another noise added to the mix. In the last month some oil company has installed a new oil well at the end of the street. This thing has an engine running, and people banging against metal 24 hours a day. I can hear this inside my house. The last oil well that was installed near my home, has been there for more than 2 years and is still there. I guess this means that I will be hearing this for a number of years. Living in Oklahoma City means that oil is a huge part of the economy so people are usually willing to put up with the oil wells to some degree. I just wish all these new oil wells would equate to an affordable price and I have zero confidence that it will.
There is just something about the month of May that makes me happy. Maybe it is the birds singing and the cool/warm temperatures. Maybe it is the stormy weather, or maybe even the trees and grass blooming. The air is so fresh when you go outside. The month of May is usually very windy here where the wind blows 20+ miles per hour every day of the month. If you add it all up, it makes for a unique experience for me. It is not too cold, or too hot and it just gives an atmosphere of life. I think the month of May in Oklahoma reminds us what a great God we have. I have lived in several states and several countries during my years in the Air Force. I would not want to live anywhere else. I am sure I missed something but since this post is getting rather long, I will end it here. Thanks for listening to my endless rambling but I thought I should update once in two weeks.
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Tags: AirForce, Oklahoma City, oil well, gas prices, city living, Relay for Life, NBA, Mother’s Day, AFSO21, AFSO, 21, Six Sigma