2011... a wild weather year to say the least!

(Image Courtesy of the Norman NWS website)

It seems that a lot of bloggers that I read are doing a year in review and well... I am lucky if I can remember last week let alone last month or the last year. Thank goodness that our friends and fine public servants over at the National Weather Service office in Norman have done a fantastic job of recapping the wild weather year that we have had here in Oklahoma (click to enlarge image).

This has truly been one of the craziest years for weather related phenomena that I have ever seen. From the blizzard in Late January to the insane number of tornadoes that we had. This was one of the deadliest years in the nation for deaths caused by tornadoes.

The big temperature extremes have been very damaging to crops and livelihoods. The weather has tested communities and the nation with 12 disasters that caused a Billion dollars or more in damage. Organizations such as the Red Cross and FEMA have been tested almost to their limits... It truly has been a wild year.

Here is, as Harry Morgan would say on MASH, hoping that this year is a far sight better than the last!

Please resolve this New Year to be more prepared at work and at home for disasters. Also be good to your family and friends and last and most importantly yourself.

God Bless!
Be Safe!

Bryan

Reflections on a journey of Faith and Love

The angel of the Lord appeared to them and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were struck with great fear. The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I proclaim to you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For today in the city of David a savior has been born for you who is Messiah and Lord. And this will be a sign for you: you will find an infant wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in a manger." And suddenly there was a multitude of the heavenly host with the angel, praising God and saying: "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests."  - Luke Ch 2; 9-14

On this day before Christmas, the holiday celebrating the birth of the Christ child, I look back and reflect on the journey of faith and love that has brought me to the point that I am at in my life.

I met my wonderful wife 8 ½ years ago. I was sitting on a bar stool drinking my life away with more than a few 7&7’s on board. She walked up to me and told me “you know my friends and I think that you look like Norm from Cheers”. I acknowledged her with a laugh and a wave and went on to finish my drink. Then a voice inside my head said… “Why don’t you buy them a shot and take it over to them and talk to her”. For once in my life I listened to my inner voice and…well, the rest as they say is history. We went out, dated for a year, and then I asked her to marry me on the top of a parking garage in Bricktown. I will go into that story at another time.

During the time that we dated she got me to attend her church, the Catholic Church, and after we were engaged I decided to join the church. I remember feeling the same awe and nervousness that I would imagine those Sheppard’s felt when the Angel of the Lord came to them. Until then I had been staunchly against church and religion in general. I remember one of the things that I said to my wife when we were dating was “I would either like to be a Buddhist or a Catholic”.  Again that voice in my head told me that I ought to give this church thing a chance. It would allow me to be around my soon to be wife and In Laws and it would allow me to check the church out. Take it for a spin so to speak. One of the reasons that I was going through RCIA, Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults, was so I could go through the full Rite of Christian Marriage. I, most importantly, was doing this for myself but this was another reason.

That year was a magical and stressful year. The classes started in August, I believe, and ended with my Baptism at Easter Vigil. Stephanie and I got married in May of that same year and I was able to do so with the full religious ceremony of the Catholic Church. I felt so honored to be part of a universal church, millions of brothers and sisters who were there to spread the word of God through their lives and deeds. It was as if the Angel of the Lord came down and spoke to me on that night. Maybe that was that inner voice that I finally decided to listen to.

Anyway, I say that to say this. I wish you all the peace and love that God bestows on us. Listen to your inner voice; it just might lead you to great things.  

Peace to you and your family in this holiday season.

God Bless

Be Safe       

Izzy photos

I love my new iPhone 4s. The camera is so much better compared to my old iPhone 3G.

Taken with a iPhone 3G - Edited with Camera + App

Taken with iPhone 4s and edited with the Camera + App

Why I don’t Blog that often….

As I am sitting here trying to decide what to write about on my blog…. I … well I hear crickets… 

I got nothing… nada… zilch….zero.

I could tell you that it is cold and dry and is probably going to stay that way for awhile. We have a few isolated chances for snow flurries throughout the week but nothing that is going to cause major travel problems. This is a far cry from what the weather models (didn’t want you to think that I was talking about Victoria Secret models for crying out loud!) were saying as late as Friday of last week. Just goes to show you that weather forecasting is not as easy as it looks although I still believe that there is a set of dice involved somewhere in the equation.

I could talk about the OSU BCS debacle and how I feel about the country getting to see a rematch of two outstanding SEC teams. Do I think that OSU deserved to be in the BCS championship game? Yes. Do I think that the two best teams in the country are playing each other in said game? Yes. OSU is getting rewarded for their hiccup in Ames, Iowa. Unfortunately they, OSU, needed to run the table to get into the BCS game. They simply don’t have the respect that a SEC powerhouse has. They need to continue this season into another 10 + win season and another and another. Then they will get the attention of the folks that vote. It would have made a great end to a Cinderella season but they are still getting to go to the Fiesta Bowl and play the #4 team in the Nation! Stanford has a Heisman hopeful in Andrew Luck and is a really good team altogether. I look forward to watching them play with the vim and vigor that they did against the instate rivals OU. It should be a great game.

I could talk about politics but I don’t want to bore you, all … well I really don’t know how many of you are out there.

I could post a really cute pic of one of my cats but I will save that for when I really don’t have anything to talk about.

So for not having anything to talk about…. Well I was able to get almost 400 words out of it.

Hopefully I will have a better post tomorrow.

Until then… Be Safe!

Bryan.  

Things that I am thankful for.

Hello out there Blogosphere!

I want to try and post this list every year that I am around and able too. This is a top ten list of sorts although the order of these does not represent the order of importance!

10. Job. -  I am thankful that I have a job of course! In this economy if you don't have a job then times are very tough for you. I pray for those of my friends that don't have a job. I simply can't imagine the apprehension that you all must be going through. Hopefully you know where your next meal is coming from and that you have a roof over your head or a place to sleep. I can't offer much in the way of assistance but I can put you in touch with people who can here in the Oklahoma City area. Reach out to me if you need some contact information.

9. Transportation. - This goes along with having a job... without transportation... well to put it simply I wouldn't be able to maintain a job. In a city whose public transportation system is abysmal to say the least! If you don't have a car or bike or some way to get around then you have to walk and that is really not an option in a city as large as Oklahoma City.

8. Great In-laws. - In a world that is lived out on TV shows like Dr. Phil and Jerry Springer. I am truly blessed to have great in-laws! I always tell my wife that I used up all of my luck when I met her. This includes my wife's parents. Vince and Marilyn are two of the most wonderful people ever put on this earth! Vince is like a second father to me and Marilyn a second mom.

7. Faith. - My faith is what I hope is developing me into a good husband and, hopefully soon, a father. I would not have found my faith had it not been for my wife and her parents. I will owe them for eternity the gift that they have shined my eyes upon.

6. REACT & 5. The American Red Cross. - I include these two together because they have allowed me
to do something I love. I get to help people. Both programs have introduced me to some really great people in this community. People that would literally give you the shirt off their back if you needed it. My work with REACT led me to my work with the Red Cross.

4. Friends. - Where would I be without my friends. My work friends keep me sane on a tough day at work. My volunteer friends have my back during intense pressure and sometimes overwhelming suffering. My friend friends have had my back since high school. One of them has been my best man others have been confidants. One of them is my lover and my wife… one in the same I assure you! All of these friends are people that I laugh with, cry with and share the good and bad with! I wouldn’t be the person I am today without each and every one of them. God bless them all!

3. My Idaho Family. - My Dad and Marian… where do I start. Dad, we have had some issues in our relationship that we are both trying to rebuild and put the bad aside. For that I will be eternally grateful! Our renewed relationship is something that I cherish and look forward to nurturing. Marian, I haven’t gotten to know you as well as I should have. You are an amazing lady. I think about all of the times that you have kept the home fires burning while dad went off to another state and earned his part of the money. You also worked a full time job and raised a daughter that has turned into a stellar young woman. Sara, I just want you to know how proud I am of you and can’t wait to make up for lost time.

2. Mom. - Mom, I don't know how to put into words the important role that you have played in my life. I would not be the person I am today had I not been raised by you. You have been a great friend, mentor and Mom. You have always been fair and exceedingly generous

1. Stephanie. - 7 years ago you came into my life in of all places... Russell’s! It was a whirlwind 2 year romance and has been a wonderful and challenging 5 1/2 years of marriage. You are my best friend, my lover, my confidante, an amazing cook and incredibly talented person. God has blessed me with a true gem and to him I will be forever thankful. I love you so much!

I hope that all of you have had a great Thanksgiving day and that you know your things that you are thankful for. Life is finite. Be sure and tell your family and friends that you love and cherish them each and every day!

Please be safe!

God Bless.

Bryan
　
　

FLASH.... PRESIDENT DEAD

It was 48 years ago yesterday, November 22, 1963, that this news flash came across the UPI news wires. It would be the start of a day filled with sorrow, anger and denial. President John F. Kennedy had been shot by a lone gunman from the sixth floor of the Texas School book depository in Dallas, Texas. To borrow a phrase from President Franklin Roosevelt, “It would be a day that lived in infamy”.

News wires at the time were the way that the burgeoning Television News and its older, more mature big brother, Radio News got their information. This was back in the day before satellite up links and 24 hour News cycles. They didn’t have Computers, Social Media, or CNN to get their news stories from. 

It would be the job of a person to take stories and type them onto punch cards. They didn’t have laptops or IPads back in the day. These stories would then be ready to be transmitted over the “wire”. Then it would be the job of the Wire Editor to decide which stories would go out to the nation. I can’t imagine seeing that story and having to remain professional and transmit that out to the nation. I think that I would have reacted the way the venerable Walter Cronkite did on that fateful day when he teared up on National Television.

The Kennedy assassination and subsequent events were the first truly nationwide story that was broadcast on the national news almost as it happened. I often wonder today what that story would have been like had it happened now.

My first question is… would there have been cameras or press out on the motorcade route with the President? Right now most of the media coverage on the kind of event that President Kennedy was on is handled by a pool of print, TV and radio press.  You might have a set of White House reporters that would be in the press room set up for the event but you would have few if any actual Media traveling in the Motorcade. With the security that is around the President and their motorcade.  It is not real effective to have a whole host of cameras and reporters travel this way. Most news agencies will send cameras and personnel to an event location to report from there.  

Second, how would the news agencies have even handled this? I think that once they got wind of the story through their reporters either on the scene or in the White House. They would have gone “Wall to Wall”, as they call it, with their coverage. It would not be as tough to get a hold of their reporters in Dallas because of cell phones. Back in the day a reporter had to find a land line to report on a story. Then there would also be the satellite trucks and other current technology that would have made getting the story out that much easier.

Then there would be the new media… Facebook, Twitter and other social media outlets. You would be hard pressed to not notice the delay in the eyewitness reports of people with smart phones or people sitting at their desks in downtown Dallas. The delay that I speak of would be a delay from the time people start reporting it on these sites to the time that news agencies would realize it and start working their sources to verify what they were hearing on Social Media. You would also have the local and national news agencies putting tweets and Facebook posts out to “crowd source” the rumors.

I pray that something like this never happens but this kind of a story will be covered very differently today then the way it was covered in 1963.

Rest in Peace President Kennedy. God bless you and may God continue to bless America

Be safe folks.

Bryan

Rocky

This is Mother & Father In Law's new Cat!

Our kids... Our kitties

A collage of our kitties Izzy & Zoey

Severe Weather chances for today.

Good Morning!

As we wake up this morning I wanted to remind everyone of the possibility of a significant severe weather threat in NW Texas and SW Oklahoma today and tonight. All of the chatter that I am hearing from my friends in the weather business point to the real possibility of seeing a strong tornado or two. The main area of concern is down in the Childress, Abilene, Lawton, Altus area today! There is also a slight possibility of seeing severe weather from Midland, TX to Dallas to Tulsa in the east and Lubbock to Pampa to Wichita Kansas on the west.

(Image Courtesy:NWS Storm Prediction Center Website)

As with all severe weather there are elements of the puzzle that may not fit together thus limiting our chances. As you get up this morning and talk with your family, friends and co-workers. Now is the time to review your severe weather safety plan and know what to do and when to do it. If you don't have a severe weather plan then you can go to the links below and they have lists to help you with that plan.

The American Red Cross - www.redcross.org
Federal Emergency Management Agency - www.ready.gov

Here is also some guidance from the NWS Norman office on how they think the storms are going to play out in Central and Western Oklahoma.

(Image Courtesy: NWS Norman website)

As I mentioned earlier, be weather aware today! Keep abreast of what local media is saying. You can also monitor warnings on your all hazards weather radio too. Now is a good time to make sure that your radio has batteries!

Some severe weather safety tips: National Weather Service severe weather safety tips

Have a great morning and stay safe!

Bryan!

Earthquakes, Tornadoes, Severe Weather Oh My!!!

Well hello!

I know that you probably thought that I was off the grid for a little while... well I was! Been dealing with some personal issues for the last month or so and have finally come up for air.

As I mention in the title of my post today... Oklahoma is truly an amazing place. We have everything that you can desire here. Low cost of living, Good food and entertainment and even one of them there pro basketball teams! We have great weather if you like tornadoes, flooding, extreme cold and heat! We also really know how to shake the ground around here! I mean really shake it! Last night, about 11pm local time, we recorded the greatest earthquake ever in the history of the state. The 5.6 magnitude quake was centered near Sparks, Oklahoma which is approximately 45 miles east of Oklahoma City.  My wife and I felt it along with a bunch of other folks. One tweet that I saw last night said that this quake was felt in 1000 zip codes and affected 6 or 7 states. Our house shook side to side for approximately 15 to 30 seconds. As we were sitting there riding the quake out, I realized just how poorly our apartment is constructed. I truly believe that if the apartment had shook for very much longer, we would have been down in our neighbors living room and not by choice! It was very scary! Our cats, Zoey and Izzy, didn't like it at all!!! Izzy totally freaked out and hid in the bedroom. Zoey, on the other hand, was unnerved but held her ground! She held her ears back and looked around a lot.

One of the things that I notice about last night that was a bit unnerving was the lack of phone service. I am not sure if there was an overload on the system or what but we were with out cell service and phone service for approximately 5 minutes. My data service on my IPhone was also down too, but for a much shorter period of time. This was definitely something that I will remember for the rest of my life. It really reinforced my desire to get our family ready and prepared for disasters.

Good links for disaster preparedness are:

The American Red Cross : www.redcross.org

Federal Emergency Management Agency : http://www.ready.gov/

There are great links on these sites for putting together a disaster preparedness kit. It will give you recommended contents. Of course you can personalize it for your families needs but this just gives you a good foundation to start with. If you have any questions or concerns regarding a personal or family disaster kit you can also call your local emergency manager or Red Cross office. They will be happy to point you in the proper direction to assist you.

Before I go... I want to make all of my readers (I don't know if that includes anyone besides myself) in Oklahoma about the possibility of Severe Weather in the state tonight and tomorrow.

(Image Courtesy: NWS Norman Website)



Today, Sunday, It looks like the primary threat will be frequent lightening and hail. Probably also will be some locally heavy down pours if a storm gets right on top of you.

Monday might be a different story!

(Image Courtesy: NWS Norman website)

The Severe weather will likely be in an area south of I-40 and west of I-35. This guidance could change as more models come in to agreement on the timing and direction of the storm. Storms could produce the whole gambit of Severe Weather tomorrow! Tornadoes, Strong winds, Frequent lightening, Large hail and Locally heavy rain!

Please keep weather aware tomorrow and review your severe weather plan with your family or at your place of work. Follow social and local media tomorrow and also make sure that your all hazards weather radio is working and has batteries in it. Please heed all warnings tomorrow as your life could depend on it.

Have a good rest of your day!

Peace!

Bryan

Impressive storm gives some nice rain to oklahoma.

An impressive storm dumps a nice amount of rain over the central part of Oklahoma. From Waurika all the way up to Medford central parts of Oklahoma saw 3 day rain amounts that, as of 11pm tonight, totaled anywhere from 2 to 4.25 inches. The bad thing is that it came in about a 24 hour period. There have been some areas of the state that have been under a Flash Flood watch or warning all weekend.

(Image courtesy The Oklahoma Mesonet website)

With our lack of rain during the spring and summer months the ground is so dry and the rain has been so heavy that it can't absorb it quickly enough and causes a great amount of storm run off. Give the ground some time to catch up and this will help fill up those farm ponds and Lakes Hefner and Overholser.

A quick browse around Facebook and Twitter shows that everyone is really excited for the rain! We should all be thankful. Hopefully the southwest part of the state, which desperately needs rain, got enough rain to help out the wheat farmers. If they didn't it could add to an already costly 2011 if the 2012 crop is bad.

Folks, no matter what your beliefs, keep praying for rain! Especially in the southwest and down in Texas! They are going to have a very rough winter if they don't get some measurable precip soon!

That's all for tonight.

Peace to you all!

Bryan

Remembering Steve Jobs

I can remember as a little boy going to the mall with my mom and seeing this amazing new computer. It looked like an elongated square with a square screen and an opening for a 3.5 inch diskette. I remember that it also had a little box attached by a cable to the computer with a button on it. I remember asking the sales person what it was and he said that it was a mouse.  This little “mouse” would end up revolutionizing the computer world. The computer was one of the first Mac’s on the market. 

Fast forward to 2008 and Steve Jobs and his team of imagineers at Apple introduce a new phone. This phone was more than just a phone. It was a computer, Internet browser, personal assistant and everything else all in one. It has also continued the revolution of innovative products that Apple, with Steve Jobs at the helm, has introduced to society. Apple and Mr. Jobs have changed how the world looks at technology. This is an amazing statement considering Mr. Jobs was a college dropout and his company, Apple, was on the way to bankruptcy a few years before Mr. Jobs came back to run the company. Mr. Jobs lead the company, thru the innovations mentioned above as well as others, to its best year ever in 2011. They are the leading tech company in the world and with Mr. Jobs passing that will hopefully not change. 

Mr. Jobs innovative products and ability to think outside the box have garnered him and his company much success in this world. The products Apple has produced have had an amazing positive impact on society by improving the lives of millions through technology. I know that I am more productive with my iPhone because I don’t have to wait for anything. If I need to check on an email that I am waiting on I can do it from my iPhone. If I need to check weather radar… there is an App for that! If my wife and I need to make a reservation for dinner… well there is also an App for that too. I can get my news, sports and of course my weather all from my iPhone! How cool is that! 

Mr. Jobs, I pray that you rest in peace and that you find the comfort in the open arms of God. To your family, I pray that they feel God’s comfort wrap around them and that they celebrate the life and power of the changes that Mr. Jobs made in the world. 

Peace be with you Sir. 

From a proud Apple Lover!

Bryan