Category → Thunder
I-40 Downtown
Anyone that has driven I-40 downtown has probably noticed the increase in their automobile suspension repair bills. This bridge that spans close to three miles has been falling apart piece by piece. This stretch of freeway is being rebuilt six blocks to the south and will mostly be underground. This photos was just meant as a joke to illustrate how bad I-40 is. This stretch of six lane road was designed to carry less than half of the current daily traffic more than three decades ago. There is hope as this relocated I-40 will be ten lanes and will be wisely at ground level or below. When the current stretch was designed it was clearly done while the engineering staff was under the influence of drugs. There is no shoulder to pull over and it is all above groud making it susceptable to icing during the winter. It seems like at least once a month we are hearing how some poor soul was driving under it and found a large chunk of concrete landing on their car.
The new I-40 will be built along the Oklahoma River (Canadian River renamed) andwill be better suited for limiting noise and will be more scenic as it goes through a new tourist area being formed. This area is being called Core to Shore, in reverence to the city’s core (downtown) to the shore of the river. This area is currently rundown abandoned homes and businesses. The city is currently acquiring all this land and rezoning it so that it will be a more tourist friendly area along the river. From what I hear it will be very nice when it is finished. The current I-40 will be taken down and a new main street will be built in its place. The new I-40 will begin at the Dallas Junction (I-40, I-35, and I-235 Interchange) and will rejoin at the Villa street bridge. I can already see the bridges going in over the new locations. The city has already cleared the area where all the old abandoned homes were and the new freeway is being built. Those that have driven on the current I-40 can actually sympathize with the comparison of the egg carton photo above though it is clearly an exageration.
Despite all the negative you hear on the national news things are going well hear in Oklahoma City. The 54 storey, 925 foot Devon tower is still being planned and construction should start this year. The arrival of our new NBA team, the Oklahoma City Thunder has made Bricktown all the more desirable. With high end homes being built downtown like these in Maywood Park things are looking very good.
In addition to some of the things mentioned above there are new homes being built all over town so things are not necessarily as bad as the news would have you believe. The old General Motors assembly plant in Southeast OKC has been taken over by Tinker AFB and will be used to repair jet engines. It will now be called Tinker Aearospace Complex (TAC) and was purchased by the city by a $55 million bond issue. The city then leased it out to Tinker AFB for 100 years. There are many other projects going on around the metro so things look very promising. The current state of Interstate 40 will soon be increased by four lanes and be a much smoother drive. Things are sure to improve as time goes on and I can hardly wait to keep you up to date on the new developments.
Sunrise in OKC
It is hard to find anything more pleasing than a nice morning sunrise when you do not have to go to work. The beauty of my situation this morning is that it is the end of the year and I have some use or lose vacation time that I have to burn so I took this beautiful Friday off. Although it is a crisp 32 degrees at this early hour it still is a pretty morning. This time last year we were sitting in the dark for a week. You may remember the horrible ice storm that knocked out the electricity to more than 250,000 in Oklahoma City while more than a million state wide. You can look at the photos I took here. The weather forecast is showing another ice storm coming in next week though most believe it will not compare to the monster we had last year. Most people sleep in on their day off but not me. I love mornings and I always have. I went out to breakfast at the Waffle House at 5:30 this morning as she was going to work. She could not take the day off because in her Wing they were having a General come to their office. She had to be involved in the protocol activities so I had to do without my beautiful wife this morning. As a second choice I thought I would spend my morning watching the sun rise over Oklahoma City. I took this photo among others around 7:00 AM.
Below is another photo of downtown. As you can see the Sandridge Energy and the Chase Bank both have crosses on the buildings representing the incredible sacrifice Jesus made for us as we celebrate his birth on Christmas. Now I sit here listening to 40 meters on ham radio while typing a blog post. I wanted to get some pictures of the full moon but there were some clouds in the western sky. I only have two more classes before I can graduate the University of Oklahoma. I will start those on January 20, 2009 and I am very happy to have this journey almost complete.
This morning I found San Francisco 49′ers football star Jerry Rice and the Phoenix Suns star Shaquille O’Neal on Twitter. That was pretty cool as well. Now that we have the Oklahoma City Thunder I will have to temper my love for the Phoenix Suns. As many of you know we use to live in Phoenix, Arizona while I was stationed at Luke AFB. I also lived in Tucson, Arizona while stationed at Davis-Monthan AFB. Those were some wonderful times of my life that I will never forget. I lived in Phoenix during the great run of the Suns in 1993. That is when I really became a fan of the NBA.
I had a very nice visit with my dad last night. Many of you ham radio people may know him as W5QO, the trustee for the Del City Amateur Radio Club (DCARC). It is hard to believe that experiment has lasted for six years. It is hard to believe that in 2002 I was trying to kill time while my wife was spending time in the hospital visiting her mother has turned out to be a full blown ham radio club with an FCC license (W5DEL). Though I had an amateur radio license since 1983 I was not very active because I could not afford the gear until my dad gave me a dual band mobile radio. Now it is a whole different world where I have my own ham shack, President of the DCARC and a 70 foot tower in the back yard and all this since 2002.
This year just does not feel much like Christmas with my 16 year old son gone. He ran away on 26 Sep 08. He is safe and staying with friends. I spoke to him briefly on Yahoo Instant Messenger the other day. We have decided to let him go and put faith in God that he will overcome and have a successful future. Many have told me to file charges against the people that he is staying with but I think that would just make things worse. My goal is to retain a relationship with him for the future and hope that he remains well. Thank you for those that have offered their prayers of support. We have decided to keep faith in God and enjoy life. My other son got his driver’s license a couple days ago and we added him to our insurance. Once I came too and realized that we really could afford the extra $100 per month premiums I was fine. 
I am happy for him as he just got a job at a local restaurant a couple weeks ago. Despite everything I am very proud of both of my kids. Once I graduate, I will have more time to do some hobbies that I have neglected for the last couple years. I love taking pictures and talking on the radio. Of course let’s not forget my big hobby of playing on the computer. Thankfully today with amateur radio and photography joining with computers I can do all of them at the same time.
Again, it is a beautiful morning and I am off work too. With no homework this weekend I am sure to have a nice weekend. I only wish my wife could have taken off work. That would have made it perfect.
Blessed Family
Sunday loves cooking and I must say that my huge belly is a reflection of that. She has this large dinner planned this evening and the eggs above were just the first thing she prepared. She is such a blessing as she does so much for our family. Yesterday my sister inlaw and her daughter came over for a nice visit. I took a few pictures and below is a picture of my niece Kaylie. She is so cute and fun to be around.
Also last night I watched the University of Oklahoma (OU) Sooners play the number two rated Texas Tech University. Although OU has a long standing winning streak when playing in their stadium, I do not think anyone expected the decisive win the Sooners performed with a 65 to 21 final score. I was amazed myself with the margin of victory. I decided to take this weekend off from doing school work so I could relieve some stress.
The night before last, we watched our Oklahoma City Thunder lose to the New Orleans Hornets with a score of 125 – 80. It was announced yesterday that coach P.J. Carlesimo had been released after our team had lost 10 straight games and 12 out of 13 games. I wish him well and hate to see someone lose their job over the performance of the players but I realize that is how the game works.
This past week at work, I spent nearly three full days watching some of our maintenance people and a contractor do a new maintenance task on one of our airplanes. The upcoming week we have a three day work week and then going to see my father in-law for Thanksgiving. This should be an enjoyable time though I sure wish both of my sons could be with us. This upcoming week should be a nice break. Sorry for not posting very often lately but life has been so busy. I will try to keep this up to date more in the future. Thanks for stopping by.
September Days
If you are familiar with Oklahoma summers you may have heard the peculiar loud clicking sounds coming from the trees. This cicada is the culprit and when you hear them you know that it is not just summer but the hottest part of the summer. For some reason, the locals call them locust but they are really cicadas. These bugs are so loud you can hear them more than the length of a football field and when you get hundreds of them going at once, it is pretty loud. I snapped this picture this cool day on the side of the power pole in my backyard. Since the arrival of the remnants hurricane Gustav last week we had an amazing cool down drooping temperatures to the 60’s for highs. This is virtually unheard of for this early in the year.
As I said before, the arrival of these cicadas is indicative of the hottest part of the summer. I think this cool spell has really taken this guy for a shock. I literally got the lens three inches from it and it did not even move. I say it but who knows whether it is male or female. The point being is that not only was it not making his noise but he seemed paralyzed from the cool temperatures. It is currently about 80 degrees but that is very cool for these bugs. We find these empty shells around on trees but it is not that common to catch one that will let you get this close. I just love the cooler weather as it is so pleasant to just sit in a lawn chair on the porch. These cicadas do not know how to take this summer. In the hottest time of the year we usually get very little rain during July and August but we had more than nine and a half inches of rain in August making it the wettest August in recorded history for Oklahoma City.
Speaking of Oklahoma City, this has been a huge week for us with the unveiling of the Oklahoma City Thunder NBA name, colors and logo. I have been waiting for this day for more than two years since we were able to experience the displaced New Orleans Hornets after hurricane Katrina did so much damaged. Locals really grew to love that team and the NBA as a whole. I lived in Phoenix where the rabid Suns fans were so exciting you could hardly help yourself getting into the atmosphere. After a long fight between the NBA team and the city of Seattle to get a new arena they were released from their lease on July 3, 2008. It was September 3, 2008 when the unnamed team became the Oklahoma City Thunder. I read many local message boards in the area and I was so embarrassed by the behavior of many of our Oklahoma City citizens and their complaining about the new logo while failing to be thankful for having an NBA team. Many cities are waiting in line for the chance to have a major league (Big four) sports team because of the impact they have on the local economies. I read somewhere that our city made more than $56 million in the two years the Hornets were here. I had to work and then went to visit my dad on September 3rd so I did not get to go and take pictures at the announcement.
This afternoon we had a Wing function, or Sports day where the Wing personnel get together and have hamburgers, steaks, and other foods. We get to know each other in a non work related environment. I got out early so that is why I am home early. I have been associated with the Air Force in some capacity for 21 years and have been very proud of the environment we have. The Air Force has always promoted a family environment they like to refer to it as esprit de corps. Do not get me wrong…I have had some bad times in the Air Force but they do promote an environment to look out for each other. The Air Force core values are Integrity First, Service before self, and Excellence in all we do. You will see these signs all over any Air Force base posted all over the place. It seems that active duty takes this more to heart than the civilians but it is still a part of life. To this day it gives me a good feeling when walking across the base at the end of the day and the national anthem begins to play. Everyone stops, even cars, and faces the flag while the military salutes the flag. When you go to the movie theater on base, they always stand at the beginning while the national anthem is played. It is hard to describe if you have never been around the environment but it sure does give you a sense of pride for our country.
Well I suppose I have rambled long enough but this was a rare opportunity to catch a cicada coming out of its shell. I hope you have as nice a day as I am having. The temperature is absolutely perfect.
Update August 3, 2008
This is a rare opportunity to enjoy a weekend without having to do school work since I finished the summer semester last week. The fall semester does not begin until August 25th. I just wish it was not so hot but I guess this is typical of August to be 100+ degrees. We have been spoiled last year where it only reached 100 degrees once and we had 52 inches of rain. Now our lawn is dead with yellow grass. Unfortunately the yellow grass is normal for Oklahoma this time of year. July and August are typically dry and hot for us. Yesterday was 104 and today is supposed to be 106 so we are not done yet. This past week was a pretty bad week since a relative came to our house, and his dog chased my cat away and she never came back. Not only would he not apologize but he blamed my cat for running from his dog. I have been mad about this all week but nevertheless I must make peace because it is a close relative. I miss my cat but I cannot leave the situation where our family does not speak to each other.
Can you believe that tree stump next door is still trying to grow next door? I have poisoned it countless times, chopped the roots, and chopped into the stump and it continues to grow. How does one kill adult tree roots? The tree is not even in my yard but in the vacant rent house. My very fears with this tree is happening with another rent house behind us. They have 8 trees growing off roots in their back yard and just mowed their yard. They mowed around those 8 trees instead of over them. Each of these trees are 18 to 24 inches tall and they were too lazy to mow over them. Now it is likely to have all sorts of tree roots into our sewer and power lines back there. This is what I am trying to prevent on the vacant house next door. When someone moves in, I will not be able to go over there and cut them down. If they are lazy like the other neighbors and just mow around them, then we will have the trees back in the power lines like we did before.
We are still anxiously awaiting the announcement of the name for our new NBA team. The team owners are playing with us by allowing these rumors to circulate and not confirm or deny any of them. Back on July 10th the NBA registrar had registered okcthunderbasketball.com and was reported by KOCO TV on July 18th. Soon after it was reported and everyone had excepted this name Oklahoma City Thunder, the NBA registrar registered another five names Bison, Barons, Wind, Energy, Marshalls on July 21st. I really believe the name will be Thunder for this reason. I heard the team manager say the owners were enjoying all the discussion about this. I think that they wanted to have a big announcement with all the fanfare but KOCO went public with information that was leaked. This ruined the owners plans to have this big announcement so they wanted to throw the confusion back into the mix by registering all the other names. Thunder is the only name that was registered on July 10th while the others were registered three days after KOCO released the information. I may be wrong but that is my opinion.
Respect The Wind
I was browsing through this evening and stumbled on this video montage that someone had put together with Van Halen’s Respect the Wind playing in the background. This video struck a nerve with me because not only was Van Halen my greatest hero band of my teen age years but I have always been fascinated with severe weather. When I was a teenager in the 1980’s I thought Van Halen was the greatest band of all time especially with Edward (Eddie) Van Halen’s incredible guitar playing. This song just happened to be in the closing credits of the movie Twister. If you are familiar with that movie, it is a story line about storm chasers going after tornadoes here in Oklahoma.
As long as I can remember, probably around five years old, I have been so excited when a severe thunderstorm would come through. I remember at a very young age waking up to the tornado sirens in the middle of the night around 3:00 AM when a tornado hit Tinker AFB. I just remember the power of the lightning and thunder and seeing all my neighbor’s standing out on their porch at 3:00 AM. I could not have been more than five years old but it made a huge impact on me. I remember a number of times chasing thunderstorms and really having a good time. I have heard people say it is crazy to chase a storm because it is so dangerous. I say it is not dangerous if you do it right. There are proper ways to approach a storm where the storm is going from your left to right and there is a clear rain free area to photograph. If you ever see a tornado in real life and it is not approaching your home, it is incredibly exciting. Even if there is not tornado, just watching an approaching storm with the low roll cloud and the powerful wind, it is amazing. Now with gas prices so expensive, it is not feasible to travel at $4.00 per gallon of gas.
As with the title of the song, these storms can be dangerous if you are not prepared. I have many friends that lost their homes in the famous F-5 tornado that missed our home by one mile May 3, 1999. That tornado was above and beyond as it totally destroyed thousands of homes here in the Oklahoma City area. It missed our home but we had a lot of pink and yellow insulation, and wood sticks all over our home and lawn that fell out of the sky. Most of the people that I know that did suffer a direct hit, are no longer fascinated with good reason. I am sure if I had been a victim myself, my attitude would likely be different as well.
Despite the media’s depiction of this being the tornado capital of the world, which it technically is per capita, there are not as many as they make them out to be. People look for tornadoes and have a hard time finding them. Oklahoma City may have been hit several times over the past ten years but it is deceiving. Oklahoma City is the third largest city in the United States in land area with 699 square miles so you can be out in the country and still be considered in Oklahoma City. The F-5 tornado in 1999 was so rare that I can only remember one other one within 150 miles in all my 42 years and that was in Wichita Falls, Texas in 1979. You can not live here and be caught off guard by them unless you are under the influence of crack cocaine. Every television station in the city goes total coverage if there is a storm with 70 miles of here. I am not exaggerating! Every television station has their helicopters stationed all around the state at the first forecast of unstable air. You may as well not get too attached to your television programs during the spring because you will miss them for hours at a time.
Well I have rambled long enough and it is time for me to get to bed but I this brought back some memories and thought I would share them. I hope I did not bore you too much.
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