Sicky McSickster

Well, no good turn ever goes unpunished....

I was out-of-town helping with a project for my company and as we like to do, we exceeded our goals and delivered results early. That didn't come without a price. Between Monday and Friday I clocked 74 hours and an additional 4 hours today (Saturday). Of those 74 hours, I spent 10 hours traveling between Houston and OKC.

By the time I woke up Thursday morning (after clocking 51 hours), I woke up with the beginnings of a soar throat and cough. So, I did what I normally do when this happens. I start drinking water like it's going out of style. Well, for the first time, this didn't help. My throat just kept getting more sore by the hour. By the time we went out to dinner that night, my voice was starting to get hoarse.

Well, despite being exhausted, I didn't get much sleep. After being out cold for about 2 hours, I awoke in pain. First I threw up and threw up. This must've been from the drainage. Then the pain in my throat hit me. I couldn't have been in more pain if I swallowed a pine cone whole. I tried to suffer through it, but by 2AM I needed to say something to someone because I was just miserable.

So I called Nancy. She was the good nurse that she is and told me the proper things. I needed to drink more water. Well, anyone who has been on a high water diet knows that drinking lots of water and sleep don't go hand-in-hand. You either sleep in wet shorts or you are running back and forth to the restroom. I think the only way one could afford to do this and sleep is if they are capable of putting in their own Foley catheter. Then you can pee and sleep at the same time.

Well, I whined to her on the phone for a bit but I could barely speak so I cut the conversation short. It was at this time that I remembered that when I have a problem with coughing due to drainage, I would prop myself up with pillows. So, I scrounged up all the pillows I could find and build a wedge out of them. This seemed to help alot. At least enough that I got a few more hours of sleep.

Morning came and we swung buy CVS pharmacy to pick up some throat remedies. So I picked up some CVS-branded Chloraseptic® and some cough drops. Both of these seemed to help, but the Muscinex I took earlier seemed to start to make me foggy headed and I had to struggle to continue to be productive at work. Plus, I needed to catch a 5:45PM flight back to OKC.

I caught my shuttle to the airport after it being almost 45 minutes late and made it through security without issue. I was worried because on this trip, I was bringing back all the stuff I was leaving in Houston while i was traveling back and forth since late November. Well, I didn't want to check my back for one 4 fl. oz. bottle of contact lens solution. I know the regulations are 3 fl. oz. or smaller, but I looked and couldn't find a 3 fl. oz. bottle of contact solution in my brand. Well, security didn't say anything.

Then, as luck would have it, my flight was late. Then it was overbooked. Then it was hot, hot, hot. I was sweating the whole way home. I tried to sleep, but it was just too hot.

It wasn't until I stepped out of the OKC airport into the 48 degree air that I realized that the plane wasn't hot, I was. I was still burning up in the cold air.

Well, Nancy had asked me to go get some milk on my way back from the airport. At this time, it was around 8PM and I felt like death warmed over. So, I decide to go to Wal-Mart. I prefer Albertsons for groceries, but I wanted to see if I could get some more knock-off Chloraseptic® and I didn't know what Albertson's selection would be. Wal-Mart is also a tad out of the way, but I didn't want to stop twice.

I get to wal-mart and pick out some drugs to try and help me sleep grabbed the milk and came home.

Naturally, Belle and Coco were ecstatics to see me. I let them out of the confines of their entrapment (the kitchen) and they emptied their little bladders in the appropriate location. Then I fed them. I hit the couch to watch a little TV and maybe play a little XBox 360, but I never really made it far. I was out cold on the couch. I woke up at 10 and dragged myself to the bed where I remained until 15 hours later.

I hate being sick, but soar throats, to me, are a torture worse than death.

Sage Advice.....

Just because it's in your size, doesn't mean you need to wear it

Model of my Entertainment Center

Well, it's been a desire of mine to get into woodworking. I was looking around the internet for free CAD programs and ran into Google SketchUp. Granted, it's not a CAD program but it was FREE and looked cool.

So, I needed a project to get my feet wet with. So, I decided that I would attempt to me a 3D model of the entertainment stand my wife and I built a couple years ago when we got our DLP HDTV.

Here is what I came up with.



Model of Entertainment Center by ~grumpwurst on deviantART

Happiness Is.....

Finding that sweet spot on your wadded up jacket being used as a pillow and falling fast asleep on the plane.

Ladies and gentlemen... Donny Osmond!

And that is how Weird Al introduce a new video on his MySpace page.

I have to admit that the most entertaining part of the White and Nerdy video that I highlighted here.

I was just tickled pink when a co-worker pointed out to me that Weird Al posted a video of the entire song being performed with Donny Osmond doing his dancing. So, if you like the self-deprecating humor of Donny Osmond in things like the White and Nerdy video, I present to you Donny Osmond...definitely white and nerdy:

Pork - The Other White Meat

We have decided to give the grill another go for 2007. On Friday, we cooked some chicken. I've pretty much got that down now. I just have to grill 8 minutes on each side and perfection. Well, I haven't done pork yet and we has some pretty thick chops sitting in the freezer.



Nancy threw them in the fridge to thaw out on Friday night. Well it didn't quite work for us to grill them up on Saturday since we had plans during the day and Nancy had to be at work at 3PM. So, we decided to grill them up today.



Unfortunately, I'm not skilled in cooking pork. So, I called my brother, Impwerx, up and asked for some advice. He simply told me to treat the pork like a steak except that I need to tenderize the chops. He told me to give it an extra kick, to switch the Worcestershire with apple sauce and to add a smidge of cinnamon.



Well, I don't own one of the meat tenderizing mallets. Nancy came up with the idea of using the rolling pin. Since the meat was still vacuum packed we could pound the porkchops as much as we wanted without worrying about making a mess.



We didn't have any canned or bottled applesauce, but we did have those little snack pack applesauces that are meant to go in lunch boxes. Those applesauces also had cinnamon already in them.



So we got out or handy vacuum marinader that we use with our Foodsaver. Nancy opened up one of the snack packs of applesauce and laid it down on the bottom of the container. I rubbed in the Montreal Steak Seasoning an both sides of the chops and laid the meat down on the bed of applesauce. Then we put the rest of the applesauce on top of the chops. We vacuum packed the container and let it sit in the fridge for an hour.



With the exception of my running out of propane half-way through the cooking process, it was pretty painless. Those suckers were juicy and the applesauce combined with the seasoning came out rather nice.



We will be definitely adding this to our list of grilling recipes.

Eviction

Who are you to ask me to leave?

I made you who you are today.

I gave you all the riches you hold so dear.

You can’t get rid of me that easy.

I am not a tumor that can just be excised.

I am your excuse, your alibi.

I’m who you fall back on when things go wrong, when life is unsure or you don’t know which way is up.

I’m not going to go quietly

I will raise hell

You begged me to be here

You begged me to never leave.

I make you feel right, I make you feel strong,

I make you feel loved when you were alone in this world.

I’m that family member that came to a visit and never left

I am the stray dog that you decided to feed.

Your fear feeds me

Your anxiety justifies me

Your lack of hope ensures my tenure

So you say that you are done with me

That I’m unhealthy for you

I’m not that easy to get rid of

Cause I’m that monster under your bed

Get rid of me if you can

I’m your second skin

Get rid of me if you want

But you’ll end up asking me back

So you say that won’t be happen

I hope you are right

Cause if you don’t your life will be naught

White and Nerdy

I actually stumbled across this awhile back, but a coworker has brought it to my attention in a whole new manner.

This is an awesome parody by "Weird Al" Yankovic, but I think Donny Osmond in the role of Krayzie Bone from the Chamillionaire video. He is hilarious.

The Mighty Battler of Accumulated Sleet

The mighty battler of accumulated sleet

Well, as some of you may know, I live in Oklahoma City now and if you've been watching the news you'd know that we just got hit by some severe winter weather.

Nancy and I have been pretty much cooped up since Friday because we've had a constant barrage of sleet falling on our fair land.

Nancy wanted me to dig out the front stairs as it fell, but I felt we should wait until most of it had fallen. Well, that day happened to be today (Sunday).

So, I dug out my thermal shirt and my old snowboarding gloves and face gator and went outside to tackle the sleet.

Nancy had the intelligence and foresight to purchase a snow shovel before the frozen stuff started to fall. Unfortunately, after sitting on the stairs for a couple days, the weight of the sleet must've melted the stuff on the bottom because we had a good half inch of ice on the stairs with about 4-6 inches of sleet on top of it.

So, the snow shovel was kinda useless. Fortunately, I still had my landscaping shovel that we purchases when we built our flowerbeds at the Houston house. It has a flat blade instead of a curved one. It proved to be quite useful.

Nancy came out and took a few pictures because she needed some winter weather pictures to go with some scrapbooking embellishments that she had in her collection.

After getting the stairs scrapped, I had to salt them. So I went to the garage and grabbed one of the 2 fifty pound bags or salt Nancy had purchased with the snow shovel.

Well, it became heavy quickly. I had to walk around the entire complex to get from my garage to the front stoop. So when I got to the stairs, I couldn't hold onto the bag anymore and it fell out of my hands and hit the ground. Well, the bag blew it's sides out and there was salt everywhere.

Fortunately, Nancy brought me a large Ziploc plastic container that I used to scoop up the salt and get it onto the stairs.

Well, now the stairs are clear and I have a sore back, but it was a good outlet to blow off some steam.

Happiness Is...

Waking up in the middle of the night, expecting it to be almost time to get up and finding you still have 4 hours of sleep left.

The Overprotective Mama

On my way home from work, I decided to stop by Subway to pick up a foot-long Italian BMT on Parmesan Oregano. This was about 7PM and I was in a tad of a hurry because my shows were starting to come out of the Christmas/New Year hibernation the networks put them into.



Unfortunately, there was a line. The line was moving quickly but there was this lady in front of me that kept getting out of line, poking her head out the door and giving the hand signal that one gives to say "stay there". On one of these trips she looked at me and said, "I have to check on my kid".



I can understand a couple checks while in line, but she was doing this every couple minutes. She even did it a couple times while the people were making her sandwich. I was just htinking to myself, "Wow, either this lady has an unruly kid who cannot be trusted to stay in the car, or she's very overprotective".



Well, I finally got my sandwich and paid for it and this lady was walking out the door right in front of my. She took a hard right out of the door and I saw her child. It was a golden retriever tied to the handrail on a set of stairs near the store. Now, everything made sense. Dogs think that a few seconds out of your sight in an eternity, so a couple minutes must've been unbearable. So she had to go keep reassuring her loved one that she was still there.



I just chuckled as I walked to the car.

Power Tools......Not just for the Y Chromosome Anymore

As has been the trend lately, I have been been out of town on business, but I had the benefit of being home between Christmas and the New Year. The whole time I was home, Nancy was attempting to get me to hang curtains in the guest bedroom.



All I could remember was the frustration of hanging the curtains in the bedroom. Since they were some meaty curtains that we were hanging in the master bedroom, the curtain rod had to be hung such that the screws were hitting wall studs. For some reason the stud finder wasn't properly detecting the studs because whenever I would attempt to pre-drill a hole I just hit blank space. I took forever to hang those curtains and a lot of choice words were loudly blurted out.



Now, the room Nancy wanted the new curtains hung in are the same as the master bedroom, so I didn't really expect it to be much better. Plus, the curtains once again required a well hung curtain rod. To add to the frustration is that we were missing some screws for the curtain rod. So, I just kept telling her I wasn't going to do it.



I'm a perfectionist when it comes to fixing things and building things. I don't want to start a project unless I know, without a doubt, it will be completed with some semblance of perfection. This of course has led to many projects not ever getting started. It's probably the main reason why I haven't ever proceeded with my desire to delve into the fine craft of woodworking. I don't want to begin a project unless I know I can do it with success.



Well, I digressed.



So I came home from my latest adventure abroad for work and found that Nancy hang just got tired of waiting for me to do it. The Dewalt cordless drill was out and the curtains were up. And the problem of there not being enough screws. She took that complex problem and gave it a simple solution.....just don't put two screws on each bracket.

Firefly

Here in OKC we have a HD channel from Universal. They play, in excellent HD quality the movies and TV shows produced by Universal.

One of those shows is Joss Whedon's Firefly. I happened to attempt to keep up with this program when it originally aired. But as has happened with many a good show that the networks don't have faith in it got canceled.

Well, I have recently started watching it again. I must say that it was a very good show. I wish it hadn't died.

I must say. George Lucas said that Star Wars was supposed to be a Western in space. What Joss Whedon created with Firefly really is a Western in space. You have people using 20th Century ballistic weapons, riding horses and wearing western-style clothing. But they fly spaceships.

I know that Joss Whedon put out a movie a while back called Serenity in order to tie up loose ends, but I cannot figure out why people didn't want to watch this show.

This show was definitely nothing like Angel and Buffy the Vampire Slayer, but I didn't find some entertainment merit out of it.

Oh well, maybe the day will come soon when a show can still be successful but not rely solely on the network airtime to be successful. That way a good show, with a solid fanbase can still be made

Happy New Year

I'm sitting here on the couch trying to get my receipts into Quicken, when midnight hits and at that exact moment my cell phone rings. It was Nancy calling from the ER.



For those who have followed this blog, they know she isn't calling from the ER because she's a patient, but because she is working there. She managed to be away from a patient room at the stoke of midnight to fire off a quick "Happy New Year".



That sure made the night a lot more tolerable. I didn't think it would bother me too much to be spending New Year's Eve all alone, but it did. Nothing like ringing in the new year with the "ka-ching" sound of the Quicken application as I key in entries.



Nancy was only able to give me a quick call because as of midnight they were crazy busy in the ER and all predictions were that it was only going to get worse. I sure hope that she gets to come home on time at 3AM, but knowing how idiotic people are during those holidays that seem to revolve around the bottle, it's probably going to be a nightmare for her.

Merry Christmas

I just wanted to wish the 1 or 2 people who read my blog a Merry Christmas. Here's hoping that this year was everything you hoped and that next year brings that much more.

Enough Ramblings to Fit in a One Quart Bag

I have been an active air traveller since I was in single digits. My mileage really racked up in my teen years when I was logging time between the US East Coast and the Republic of Singapore (where my family had been relocated).



All that time in airports starts to teach you a thing or two about travelling efficiently. I guess that is where I learned to travel with as little luggage as possible...preferably carry-ons only.



Travel has changed a lot since my teen years thanks to the ever changing political environment and the increased desire to use our transportation systems as tools of destruction.



The first thing that happened was that the metal detectors became more sensitive. Then you had to remove your video cameras and laptop computers and run them through separately. Then it became mandatory to remove one's shoes. Finally, you can only take toiletries that are 3 oz or smaller and only enough that fits within a 1 quart bag.



I cannot speak for the other road warriors who spend more time in airport security that they do in rush hour traffic, but I am constantly flabbergasted by how many people seem to totally surprise when they get to the metal detector and are suddenly stopped for violating all these "new" security measures.



Over the years I have developed quite an efficient way to get through the security process.



Before entering the security line, I find a nice place to to the side. I take off my belt and put it in my carry-on bag. I pull my driver's license out of my wallet and put the license in my pocket. Then I put my wallet and my cellphone in my carry-on. Then I check my pockets and make sure everything except my driver's license and boarding pass are properly stored in my carry-on bag.



I then pull my laptop(s) out of my backpack. I loosen up the shoestring on my shoes. Then I enter the security queue. After getting checked by the initial screeners to make sure my ID matches my boarding pass, I get herded to the metal detector and X-Ray machine.



Since I have already prepared, I just have to drop my laptops in bins, slide my shoes off and put them into another bin. If I have a coat, it gets put in with the shoes. I load the bins along with my carry-on bag onto the conveyor and walk through the metal detector.



Now, on the other side is my other annoyance.



Nothing irritates me more than the people who feel they need to get "dressed" right at the mouth of the X-Ray machine. As soon as their stuff gets spit out the other side they start putting things on.



Please people, gather your stuff and move to another location away from the flow of traffic and deal with your re-dressing. This is about as annoying as those skiers who feel they need to drop to the ground right after they get off the ski lift. Some of these people have the gaul to get irritated with me when I try to reach around them to get my stuff as it comes off the belt. I just gather my laptop(s), my shoes and coat and walk to the chairs that are typically located right after you leave the security area. Then I can take my time putting everything back in it's place.



I for one would be all for a measure that would allow for separate lines for more seasoned travelers. Heck, I'd even allow myself to be subjected to extra background screenings so that I can get special clearance so that one doesn't have to go through this kind of ordeal with the casual traveler

Ramblings from the Road

Well, I'm still traveling for the job. I'm still doing laps back and forth to Houston. I moved away from the city but it's tractor beam is locked onto my ship and won't let me escape it's pull.



I was sitting in the airport at OKC and doing my usual thing while waiting for boarding to begin: Listening to my podcasts and people watching.



I must say that my observations are giving some credence to my theory that air travel and being a female business traveler don't mix. Or at least, they don't mix painlessly.



I don't know how many females I saw doing the 100 meter dash down the concourse trying to get to their gate before they stopped taking passengers. Now, the male business travel has an advantage.



The advantage is what is often the advantage to when it comes to running.....footwear. The man has his shoes. Even though there are many colors, shapes and sizes a man's dress shoe can come in they all have one thing in common. That is they have a very low heel and flex very nicely.



This cannot be said for many of the choices of footwear the typical female executive has chosen to accentuate their business ensemble with. I must preface this commentary by saying that I'm referring to those females who still try to stay trendy and hip in their style of dress. You will find the female executive that must be a "road warrior". I say this because they are wearing sensible shoes. But this is a hard assessment to make. I don't know how many female flight attendants I have seen that are wearing 6 inch stilleto heels.



I have heard women say that they must suffer for their shoes, but the suffering that would ensue from a serious sprain or, even worse, a broken ankle doesn't seem worth it to me

Good Sportsmanship

I had the pleasure of watching my nephew play basketball this past Saturday. His team won and won big, but we will never know what the actual score was because the league has a rule that the score can never be more than 10 points apart.



After the game the kids go to the back and get their stickers for "best defense", "best offense", "Christlike behavior". In actuality every kid walks away with some kind of "award".



I don't know how I feel about this. I played recreation league sports when I was my nephew's age and I don't remember such rules being in place.



I pretty much was always on a losing team. Fortunately, we didn't lose every game, but we lost alot. I personally think there is a lot to be learned from losing and even more from losing big. How can you know that you suck if you cannot look up at the scoreboard and see a 100-20 loss?



Also, I don't think every kid should get an award for just participating. I think it really dilutes the specialness of the other, real awards for real accomplishments. I struggled to get awards for being most improved. I felt better about the accomplishment because I knew the number of awards were limited.



What's the point of sports if everyone walks away a winner?



Maybe this is why the United States is losing it's edge in the international community. Could it be the fact that we coddle our children and make them feel all special and warm and they are all winners be taking away their drive to be better than everyone else?

Dashing through the Snow....

One of the components of my job is that there is travel involved. This past week I had to take a jaunt down to H-Town to spend some "Face Time" with my company. Being that I now live in Oklahoma, they are starting to forget what I look like and only know me as my avatar on my IM.

The trip itself was uneventful. I went down there and did what I'm paid to do. It was the trip back that I was dreading the whole time.

Unlike my previous trips back to Texas after moving to Oklahoma, this one didn't involve a 7-9 hour car ride. I got to enjoy the luxury and comfort of an airplane. I left the driving to the capable hands of the Continental Airline pilots.

It was my first night down there that my wife called me and informed me that the weather guys on the news were saying that we were going to get some winter precipitation on the day I was coming back. She further dampened the news by informing me that her coworkers at the hospital told her the Will Rogers World Airport isn't shy about shutting down. So, I knew then that it was going to be fun coming home.

Each day, I got a new report on what the weather prediction was going to be. It just kept getting worse. Then Wednesday came. The day before my "supposed" departure home. The storm rolled in early. The temperature dropped colder and sooner than predicted. This can be a blessing in disguise. If it's really cold you can avoid the peril of freezing rain. Also, if the ground is cold enough for long enough, any snow or sleet you get can accumulate instead of turning to water and then freezing.

I checked the airport's website and Continental's website and there were no notifications about the cancellation of my flight.

Departure day came. I was only working a half day and wanted to get to the airport soon because I didn't know how this whole airport shuttle thing I was using worked on the trip back. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise. I checked the airport and continental again and no closings and my flight was listed as still "On Time".

A co-worker had to loan me a coat and gloves because it was 20 degrees in OKC and with the windchill it was in single digits. This wasn't the forecast I had when I packed so all I had was a sweatshirt to keep warm. I didn't want to freeze solid trying to get back to my car.

I got to the airport and the line through security was short. I was standing on the other side of the security putting my shoes and belt back on when I looked up at the board listing departures and noticed a flashing red notation "CANCELED". I knew what I was going to see..... sure enough, it was my flight.

So I called Nancy up quickly to tell her that my flight was cancelled and at this point I didn't know what the game plan was going to be but I'd call as soon as I knew.

I quickly found a Continental desk and talked to someone. Sure enough, my flight was cancelled. I was given a guaranteed seat on the 9:58PM flight out, but there were several before and if I was willing I could try to get on one of them standby. I was like, "Hell Yeah!". I knew if I had to take the 9:58PM flight, it would get me in around midnight which would only mean the situation would be worse.

Then the guy at the desk gave me the bad news. I was on the standby list for the next available flight, but it was on the far side of Concourse C. I was on the farthest away point in Concourse B and I had to take a tram to get between concourses.

So I did the only thing I could do. I utilized that training I got during the Singapore days when my Dad's company's travel person liked to give us 30 minutes between connecting flights. I strapped down my backpack and took off like OJ Simpson in the old Hertz rent-a-car commercials. As Forest Gump said, "And I was runnin'". I made a few wrong turns because the signage at George H.W. Bush International Airport (otherwise known as IAH) are atrocious, but I got there with a few moments to spare. I went to the desk, showed them my standby boarding pass and was told to step to the side with the "others" and they'll be calling names shortly.

The "others" was a group of 20 or more people. Apparently, my flight was one of two flights cancelled to OKC. So, I sat patiently talking to the "others". Mainly, we talked about the weather where we were going. By now, we've heard that the snow was accumulating fast and they were expecting 6 inches or more.

As soon as we saw that the plane was holding the Lamar University Basketball Team, I knew I wasn't getting on board. By this time, I still hadn't told Nancy what was going on because I didn't want to get her hopes up. Plus, my cell phone battery was on one bar and all the plugs were occupied.

Eventually, they made the announcement that anyone who had a confirmed seat better get on the plane because they are about to start giving seats away. I was still not hopeful. I was right, I didn't get on the plane, but I did see that one lady, who had a confirmed seat, got screwed. She ran up as they were closing the doors to find out that they gave her seat away. All she was told, was that she "should've been there on time".

At this point, we were told to head back to the same place I was on Concourse B to try and get on the next flight at 6:18PM. The current time was 3:00PM. Fortunately, this time I could walk back.

I got back to Concourse B and checked in for Standby on the 6:18PM flight. Now where they had us waiting for this flight was on the very end of Concourse B. It was basically a bus terminal. There were 5 gates lettered A - E with buses parked outside to transport passengers to the planes waiting on the tarmac. It was freezing in here despite the hundreds of people crammed in the large holding tank. Those 5 gates all had giant sliding doors that were constantly opening and closing. Now, you see, by this time Houston had a big temperature drop themselves. It was 40-something outside.

At this point, I called Nancy and gave her an update. I told her my cell phone battery situation and how I was worried I wouldn't have a phone for my drive home through the snow. She was very adamant that I find a plug.

So I started looking for a plug. There was only one plug in this entire holding tank and it was being blocked by people sitting in seats and they were not using it. So I decided to start wandering. I kept finding plugs, but I kept finding people tethered to them. It's not until you need a plug that you start noticing how many people work at the airport. Everywhere you look, there are laptops tethered to the plugs.

By this point, it was about 4PM and I hadn't eaten all day, so I decided to grab a #1 Value Meal at McDonald's in order to recharge before trying to find a plug. I must say, I love me a Big Mac. Nancy developed a taste aversion to McDonald's after getting really sick back in college. Her sickness didn't have anything to do with McDonald's, but since it was the last thing she ate, her brain has made the association. Well, I was alone and I could eat it so I did.

I wandered back to the tank and grabbed a seat where I could keep an eye on that lone plug. I should state a correction, I did find another plug, but it was near the bathroom. I didn't feel like having people stepping over me to get to the bathroom.

Eventually the person who was occupying the space near the plug got up and left and I took the seat. I hooked up my cellphone and called Nancy.

I got the latest weather report and found out that they were calling for it to get worse before it gets better. The highways were ice rinks covered in snow and wrecks were the news for the day.....great....

While I waited for 6:00 to show up, I was able to get a bit of work done.

Finally the time came for them to start calling standby passengers. I quickly logged off my computer and ran to the desk. As I said, this was a large holding tank so all the overhead announcements were stepping on each other. I didn't want to miss my name and I didn't want to wait until 9:58PM to fly out of here.

My name was called! But we were told that there was a strong possibility the plane wasn't going to leave because it was near whiteout conditions in OKC.

I called Nancy as I was on the bus to let her know that a) I was on my way to the plane b) it might not take off

After sitting on the plane for 30 minutes, everyone was starting to wonder what the holdup was. Typically, one the standby people get on the plane, they shut the door and leave. That wasn't happening this time. Well, it turned out that they originally planned on only allowing half the passengers on the plane and to put on extra gas in case the plane needed to land at a different airport or circle a lot before landing. For some reason they changed their mind. So, they had to remove all the extra gas they put on.

So now, we are at the point where we are on our descent into Oklahoma. The pilot came over the loudspeaker and told us to look out the window to see what we were up against. I pulled up the shade and looked out. Everytime the lights on the wings lit up, all you could see was driving snow. Plus, you couldn't see the ground. All you could see was clouds.

Eventually we broke through the clouds and we were very close to the ground. The runway was covered in snow. I'm not a nervous flier by this time I was a bit concerned. Snow isn't exactly the idea landing surface for an object that is attempting to go from several hundred miles per hour to a complete stop.

We came down with a thump and kept thumping. I looked out the window and we were going over small snow bumps that looked almost like speed bumps, but they were created by the blowing winds. I'm sure it helped us slow down.

Once I was in the airport, I could see the people sleeping everywhere who got trapped there. I thought to myself, "At least they are trapped here instead of their cars"

Now I had to try and remember where I parked my car. I knew it was near the elevator, but I forgot which floor. Now is the time I was glad for the coat that my coworker loaned me

I found my truck, but some idiot decided he was going to park mere inches from my driver's side door. So, I had to climb in on the passenger side.

My truck almost didn't start. I guess the cold did a number on the battery. I let it idle for a long time to build up some heat before heading out.

Just to illustrate how strong the winds were. My truck was parked in the innermost part of the garage and there weren't any openings to the outside visible. There was snow accumulated on all the vehicles

I made my way out of the garage and as I pulled out, I was greeted with a blanket of snow. So much snow, you didn't know where the road was. I just pointed my truck toward the pay station and hoped I didn't run over and curbs. This was very sketchy driving. I have a lot of experience driving in different snow conditions form my days living in Colorado. But, this was the first time I've driven in these conditions with a truck. I do know that trucks are rear-wheel drive vehicles and without added weight in the back, they can fishtail on snow and ice.

I was experiencing the difference of driving a truck as I made my way to the pay station. If I hit the gas too much too quick, the back end would start to slide out. I made it alright and paid. Then it was the trek to find the road to the highway and the various exits

I knew as long as I took my time and other drivers didn't get in my way, I'd get there. I took my time, but the other drivers didn't stay out of my way. People in lesser vehicles than mine were just blowing by at 40+ mph. There was no exposed asphalt and the snow was packed and about 3-4 inches thick. I was just waiting for one of these idiots to hit me.

To top it off most of them were flashing their lights at me to tell me to get out of their way. Trust me, there was plenty of room on either side of me to go around

I finally made it to highway 44 to get back home. The highway started out pretty clear. At least, one lane was. Everyone kind of fell into a line and spaced themselves out. We drove about 30 MPH. Then the idiots were back. They were the ones who had SUVs or trucks and felt they could drive close to the speed limit.

Now you have to imagine the environment. This is a 4 lane highway with only one lane being used. So you have this massive amount of space to the left and right. These people would come rushing up on your rear, flash their lights then blow by on the left or right. A few people decided to roll down their windows to yell at me, laugh at me, or tell me I'm #1 with hand signals.

I finally made it to my exit, I pull off the highway and slowly make it up the large steep off-ramp and then I get what I dreaded.....a red light and I'm having to stop in deep snow. The light eventually turns green and I slowly press the gas. Nothing. Just spinning tires. I give it more gas and I slowly creep forward and then traction. I make the turn and make my way toward home.

Then I see what I thought I'd never see..... kids doing doughnuts with their jacked-up 4-wheel drive trucks on the road. The road to my house is a minor highway and these kids were playing like it was a parking lot. I just hoped they didn't hit me.

Needless to say, I got home without an issue. A normally 15 minute trip from the airport took over an hour and I'm left with one heck of a memory

The Motorcycle Diaries

Many people who know me wouldn't think that I had a motorcycle, but I do. It is a 1996 Yamaha Virago 535 Special Edition.

It was a somewhat impulsive purchase I made on my 30th birthday. It probably was the single event the brought on my getting married because shortly after purchasing the steel horse, I met my soon-to-be wife.

Well, I needed to take the bike over to the Tag Center to get the VIN inspected so I can get my Oklahoma Title. It was a very frustrating day. The bike started without issue, but as soon as I tried to throttle up, it just conked off.

Well a friend of mine gave me a few things to look for and I decided to try and deal with those things today. I took the seat off the bike so I could get to where the fuel filter and other important hoses are and noticed that the battery was severly bulging.

It turns out that the vent tubing for the liquid battery had somehow gotten kinked and was preventing the gasses from escaping. I probably caught a major explosing before it actually happened. As soon as I unkinked the tube, I heard this loud whoosh of air like you'd heard out of an air compressor and the battery went back to it's original shape.

Well, I needed to get the battery out to check the fluid level because I couldn't get a good angle from within it's housing. I normally would just remove the two fuel lines than ran overtop and pull it out. But, I guess I have neve3r done that before with a full tank of gas, because when I pulled the tubing off this time, gas starts shooting out everywhere.

It was a geyser of gas coming out of the where I pulled the tube out and from the tub itself. I was frantically trying to get the tub back in place. I was successful in replacing the tubing, but I was soaked in gas from the waist down and it was all over the floor of the garage.

I took an entire roll of paper towels to soak up the gas on the floor and I think I started seeing pink elephants from the fumes eminating from my pants.

I guess it's time I break open the wallet and purchase a repair manual