What's Kobe doing at the Costa Mesa Hooters?

My team in Oklahoma and Santa Ana, consists almost exclusively of men. Most of which are married. So, we traditionally go to Hooters, a tradition started by my boss, for one dinner. Well tonight I took the crew to the Costa Mesa Hooters which is roughly 10-20 minutes from our hotel. It keeps everyone happy.

Well, tonight there were weird things going on at the Costa Mesa Hooters. First, as we were sitting down, one of the TVs caught fire. So the manager had to run out and use the fire extinguisher. Of course, this covered half of the restuarant with a fine white powder. My crew briefky debated if the air in the restuarant was not worse than the air outside and thus contemplated the usefullness of opening a window.

Dinner came and things went back to normal when a low murmur worked it's way through the crowd. In the back of the restuarant, someone who looked a lot like Kobe Bryant was seated and eating. I had a clear look at him, and he did look exactly like Kobe. But what the hell is Kobe doing at the Costa Mesa Hooters? It simply made no sense.

But by shear luck, we left at the same time as he did. And when he got into his prestine white Bentley, we all agreed that it actually was Kobe. And while that was cool and all, it doe not answer the question. What's Kobe doing at the Costa Mesa Hooters? The world may never know.

Of Christ and outdoorsmen

This last weekend, as a way to get myself into the congregation, I attended the men's retreat for Christ the Redeemer Lutheran. We stayed at Camp Lutherhoma, in Telaquah, OK which is about an hour and a half southeast of Tulsa. We had the camp to ourselves, but we still had meals from the staff.

The team building portion was interesting as it got 10 men, of which I was the youngest, to get up and move around to do activities. I think we all enjoyed it but by the last one we we're ready to call it a day. The study we picked, however, was not all that good. We went through Max Lucado's book Next which can be sumerized in 4 sentences and is not very deep nor very instructional. But that was the text and we went through it. By the fourth chapter we were just going on autopilot.

But I learned that I was in Oklahoma and not in Berwyn. First, after dinner on Friday (Cowfalo= 50% Buffalo and 50% Beef burgers) and Saturday, we all retired outside to drink beer and smoke cigars. In fact, beer and cigars was listed on the items to bring sheet. Second, I was asked if I was planning to go fishing in the Illinois River during our free time on Saturday. When I responded that I had never been fishing, one of the leaders brought out one of two spare rods that he brought and said I should come. And I caught the biggest small mouth bass for the group. Third, on the last night as we were drinking, and the others were smoking, I was asked what did I like to hunt. They did not ask if I liked hunting. When I said that I had never been hunting, they looked at me as if I had said I had never had a bowel movement. The possiblity had just never entered their minds. And now I've been invited to go duck hunting this season.

I've taken up smoking

Well, not really. This week I've been in Orange County for my job. All around us, but not close enough to physically be dangerous, are wildfires. When we leave our hotel, it smells like a raging campfire. Ash falls like snow. I haven't needed my sunglasses as the smoke makes the sun shine an eerie orange.

Even flying in, the normal smoggy haze was replaced by a thick opaque dirty brown. I've probably "smoked" a packs worth of cigarettes without getting the nicotene rush. I feel cheated.

Computer back up

It's kind of hard to do a lot of things on your computer without a keyboard. And losing the mouse doesn't help either. But that's been our situation ever since we came to Tulsa. Somehow our keyboard and mouse have not been in any of the boxes we've unpacked. "It's gotta be here somewhere" we would tell ourselves.

No, it doesn't. After a month of unpacking and using the very old laptop, which I borrowed from Phil in 2001 to do some work on a vacation, I finally broke down and went out and bought a new keyboard and mouse.

Now I can get the rest of the desk set up. The apartment saga continues.

Nick: Smart and Outdoorsy?

Well, Nick has had quite a few weeks here in Sapulpa. He's done really well at school and has made several new friends. He's been to a birthday party for a classmate and has begun playing football during recess.

As for his grades he's doing well. During his last reading test, he posted a score showing him to be at a third grade second semester level. So he's more than a year up in reading. His math score is also good, being just below third grade level.

But he has also joined a paramilitary organization, the Cub Scouts. And he really likes the meetings and good to do stuff. So it should be a lot of fun over the next few months.

Tulsa State Fair

Tulsa, by pretty much every possible measure, is not a state. This does not prevent the organizers of the Tulsa State Fair, which has taken place this past week.

Despite the inherant issues with the name the fair was quite enjoyable. My work gave us some free passes and so we headed out to the fair with my boss and our engineer. Everyone had a good time. Nick got to ride some rides, Scooter got to look at many animals including Zebu and horses. Sarah go a chance to meet some of my coworkers and their families. And I got a free gun lock.

Yes the Tulsa police were giving away gun locks to whomever wanted one. And no, I don't own a gun, and it was all I could do to not laugh when I saw the big basket of gun locks with a sign saying "Take One, Courtesy of the Tulsa Police". And my natural instict to take whatever is given to me for free and not wanting to disobey a police order, I took one. Can you imagine getting a free gun lock in Illinois. I don't think so.