Tis Gar Plen

Posted by Ron at 11:44 AM
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Talk about a major surprise as I open today's The Daily O'Collegian and find out a buddy of mine believes in ghosts.  It was in the paper, so it has to be true ... right?

 

I don't know how long the story will stay on their website, so let me give you the highlights here:

One of their staff writers did an article titled: Ghostly sightings keep staff, students on the lookout.  The article points our various oddities on campus, late at night in different buildings.

 

Then I get to this point in the article:

Training Lt. Leon Jones, a bicycle police officer on campus, said he was patrolling campus winter break in the late ’90s.

 

Jones said his partner noticed a single track of footsteps in the snow leading to a front door of the Bartlett Center, slightly ajar around 3 a.m. The Bartlett Center, like the other buildings on campus, should have been locked up for the holidays.

Jones said he and his partner checked every room.

 

“We did a thorough search of the place,” he said. “We were probably in there for a good two hours.”

When they got to the third floor, Jones said they heard a “loud scream and a giggle coming from the fourth floor.”

 

Jones said they hurried up the stairs, but the floor was empty.

 

He said he believes it was a ghost.

 

“I didn’t see anything, but that’s what I believe it was,” he said.

 

See, there you have it ... Lt. Leon Jones believes it was a ghost.

 

After reading this, I remember that I had a picture that I took of Leon from one of the stadium security cameras during this past football season.  I seemed to remember something odd about the picture when I took it, but didn't have time to really think about it at the time.

 

How did I ever manage to miss the fact that he was standing next to a sedan version of ECTO-1?:

Posted by Ron at 11:25 AM
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Actually, the blog itself isn't new.  When I first started blogging, I decided to register "ronking" with Blogger to have as a placeholder if I ever decided to start another blog besides this one.  Today was the day to start using it.

 

I recently acquired a new camera and wanted to go out and play around with it yesterday.  After just a little while of walking around, my leg started hurting and I got back into the car.  Instead of stopping the photo time, I decided to see what I could find while in the car.  I think I came out with a few really good shots.

 

The 'adventure' got me thinking (as scary as that may sound).  I decided to start a personal project that involves photography only from within a motor vehicle - primarily my car.  I hope to use this project as a future motivational tool when working with other amputees or future amputees ... especially ones that will have less mobility than I am lucky enough to enjoy.

 

The blog is named "Auto" Focus and can be found at http://ronking.blogspot.com. I hope the wordplay of the title is recognized and understood by all visiting.

 

I have already posted images from yesterday's activities.

 

Enjoy

Posted by Ron at 8:23 PM
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I finally got around to getting my own domain and website:  http://ErtlGuy.net

 

Feel free to drop by and check out what I have uploaded so far .....

Posted by Ron at 3:32 PM
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This is actually from a Facebook type of meme, but I thought I would share it here as well:

 

 

Instructions:
1 - BAND NAME Go to "wikipedia." Hit “random article”
or click http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random

The first random wikipedia article you get is the name of your band.
 

2 - ALBUM TITLE Go to "Random quotations"
or click http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3
The last four or five words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album.
 

3 - COVER ART Go to flickr and click on “explore the last seven days”
or click http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days
Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover.
 

4 - Use Photoshop or similar to put it all together.

         (http://www.picnik.com is free online)

 

5 - Post it to FB with this text in the "caption" and TAG the friends you want to join in. (be sure to tag me, so I can see your creation)

 

I guess I could change step 5 to be:

5 - If you are a blogger and take the time to do this and post it to your blog, please leave me a comment with a link to your post.  I would really like to see the combination you stumbled across 

Posted by Ron at 12:21 PM
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Dr. Roy King, M.D. died Tuesday, Feb. 13, 2001 in Norman Regional Hospital at the age of 63.

Funeral services were held at Hudson-Phillips Chapel in Holdenville with Rev. Wade
Burleson officiating. Committal services were held Fort Gibson national Cemetery with Rev. Gary Bowden officiating.  Services were under the direction of Hudson-Phillips Funeral Home of Holdenville.

He was born on Nov. 13, 1937 in Muskogee to Alton D. King and Edna Mable (White) King. King grew up in the oil patch of Barnsdall and attended school there. On June 1, 1958, he married Beverly Cabe in Pawhuska.  King graduated from the University of Oklahoma Medical School in 1965.  He later became a member of the military serving
in the U.S. Navy for two years.  From 1968 through 1974, he served in the U.S. Air Force and from 1974 through 1990, he was a member of the Oklahoma Army National Guard serving as State Surgeon.

King retired from his Holdenville medical office in 1994, but continued to practice medicine in Konawa on a part-time basis.

He was preceded in death by his brother, Jerry E. King. King is survived by his wife of
the home; two sons, Roy Daryl King of Shawnee, and Ronald David King of Stillwater; and four grandchildren.

(copied from http://www.seminoleproducer.com/2001%20obit.htm)

Posted by Ron at 8:49 AM
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... not that I really had any to begin with, once I stopped to think about it.

 

If you couldn't tell, I haven't been posting much lately.  The reason is most likely related to the Facebook-addiction, work, life and more work.

 

My muse has left the building!

Posted by Ron at 10:31 PM
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Cancer is all over the news, and it seems like everyone knows someone who has (or had) some type of cancer.  It might be something small like a type of skin cancer that is quickly removed in a clinic setting, or unmanageable bone cancer that results in the amputation of a limb.

 

But within 2009, which is only 8 days old, I have one friend who is literally on his deathbed with terminal cancer (both lungs, brain, shoulder and throat) and another friend whose father is in almost the same condition.  Two very close friends involved in, what can only be described as, a death watch.

 

I lived through something very close to this with my dad in the February 2001 (long before this blog started).  He didn't have cancer, but was quickly taken from us within 13 days of an ICU stay.  So I kinda know what the families are going through.

 

I have posted before of a 'season of death' when I experienced several friends dying of various causes within a short number of weeks.  But somehow this cancer attack is bringing me down like nothing before.  I know that Luke 21:11 references pestilences -a usually fatal epidemic disease- as one of the "end time" signs ... and that has made me really start to wonder what is going on with this world.

Posted by Ron at 4:18 PM
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Actor Buys Guns for Phoenix Police

Newsday (New York)

The Phoenix Police Department has gotten some high-powered goodies courtesy of actor David Spade. The one-time Phoenix resident donated $100,000 so that the department can buy approximately 50 AR-15 rifles, The Associated Press reports.

Spade said he wanted to make the donation after seeing a TV news report about Phoenix officers having to buy their own rifles. Spade grew up in the Phoenix area and graduated from Arizona State University.

Phoenix Police Sgt. Alan Hill says the rifles will be given to patrol officers and that the agency was grateful for the gifts.

"These guys need to be able to do their jobs and I am just happy I could help," Spade said in a statement released by his publicist.

Posted by Ron at 4:49 PM
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NEW YORK -- Crude-oil futures fell for a third session Wednesday, tumbling 9.3% to close at their lowest level since April 2004, as government data showed inventories at a key delivery point hit a record. Crude for February delivery dropped $3.63 to end at $35.35 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Crude inventories at Cushing, Okla., the delivery point for Nymex crude futures contracts, reached 28.7 million barrels in the week ended Dec. 19, the Energy Information Administration reported. It was the highest since at least April 2004, when the government started collecting Cushing data.

Posted by Ron at 4:04 PM
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Posted by Ron at 9:28 AM
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Every now and again, I get on a big 'ringtone kick'.  And, I figured I would use the latest kick as blog fodder, so here goes:

 

If you are around me when I get a call on my cell phone, what you hear will let you know who is calling me:

 

Current default ringtone (Hawaii 50):

 

My wife (Hot Legs):

 

My daughter (Mary Tyler Moore show):

 

     had been Target Commercial:

    

 

My mom (OU fight song):

 

Anyone associated with OSUPD (Cops theme):

 

Anyone associated with ID Services (Pink Panther):

 

Anyone from the apartments I manage (just have to listen to it):

 

One buddy who drives fast - AH (race car):

 

Another buddy with a fast car - JF (Speed Racer):

 

And the current sound for incoming text messages (and voice mail notification):

  (CTU telephone sound - 24)

 

While putting this post together, I realized I have a lot more contacts I need to figure out personalized ringtones assignments!!!!!

Posted by Ron at 5:55 PM
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Give it a chance to load once you click on the play button

Yep, Sarah has a twin in this one

Posted by Ron at 6:21 PM
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Without going into a huge discussion of the 'symptoms' that forced the need for the replacement of our 15 year old water heater, a buddy came over Sunday afternoon to help me with the task.

 

15 years ago, the 40 gallon water heater cost about $125-$150.  That price included the water heater, installation parts and labor (my father-in-law & I).  The 50 gallon replacement tank, with installation parts, cost almost $530. No, that is not a typo!  (I won't get into why they are so expensive now. Hint - government and new safety issues)

 

After the installation was completed, and leaks fixed, I set the new thermostat at approximately the same location on the dial as the previous heater had been, realizing that I may have to adjust it slightly up-or-down on Monday.

 

Fast forward to that night and time for my shower:  I set the shower knob at the normal location for the temperature I like (normally a very hot shower) and got in.  The water started off warm (as usual) and began warming up.  I was sitting in my shower chair and reaching for the soap as the water continued to get hotter, very quickly.  Next thing I know, scalding hot water is hitting me ... I screamed like a little girl as I thought I was inflicting my internal organs to third-degree burns!  I have never felt water that hot come from a shower before.  I could have easily cooked pasta in that water.

 

Needless to say, I lowered the thermostat level on the new water heater shortly after I recovered!

Posted by Ron at 11:49 AM
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I did something yesterday I really thought I would never get to do: meet Oliver North!

 

I got an email from mardel.com earlier in the week advising that Oliver North would be in Oklahoma City for a book signing.  Needless to say, I instantly called Renee and let her know about the event.  Once we confirmed we didn't already have plans for Saturday (this would have pre-empted pretty much anything!), I put the event on my calendar.  Without getting into all the details, we arraigned for my nephew Matt to go with us.

 

The signing was scheduled to start at 8:00pm.  Those of you who know me will understand when I share that we got to Mardels at 6:45.  Yes, over an hour early!  Even being that early, we were still back in the line around 20-25 people from the start.

 

Since we had 75 minutes to waste, while standing in one spot, Matt and were chatting about various topics, and checking out the books around us.  I have placed a picture of Matt attempting to look interested in one of the books to the right.  I have another picture of "Matt being Matt" in a Facebook album with several other pictures from the event here.

 

 

 

 

After the long wait, we got out books signed by Oliver North.  While he was signing my book, I said "happy birthday in two days, sir".  When I said this, he stopped signing my book, looked up at me and asked if I was a Marine.  I told him no, but that I have several friends who are and that 10Nov is an important date to me for that reason (10 Nov 1775 is considered the birthday of the US Marines).  Just as he was closing my book, I followed up with "also, happy birthday last month", as his birthday is 07 October.

 

After we were through, Renee Matt and I went to go get a late dinner, but stayed near the Mardel store.  I had hopes of getting a 'real picture' with Oliver North after the crowd had left the area.  When we came back, Oliver North was no where to be found.  Being that the crowd had dispersed, the store management had closed up the signing event.  Oliver North was in the back signing books for the employees.  I shared with one of the managers that my nephew and I had waited until now to get better pictures with Mr North.  The manager said it was too late and where I might be able to see Mr North the next day.  As we prepared to leave, another manager came up to me and asked if I was the one who wish Oliver North the birthday wishes and I said I was.  He then told me that I was the only one that had mentioned the upcoming Marine Corp birthday and told me not to leave, as Oliver North would be out in just a few minutes. 

 

When he came out, Matt and I were able to get pictures with him:

 

(click on the images to see larger copies)

 

Here is what I received from Mardel to let me know about the event

Posted by Ron at 7:14 PM
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How can the many members of the media claim not to be bias when they are reporting information such as this?

 

 

This screen capture was on MSNBC political race widget at 9:00pm (Oklahoma time).  Now I realize that only 4% of the precincts had reported in, but the percentage of votes at the time are Obama at 37% and McCain at 62%.  But they have already turned the state blue in their chart and placed a check mark next to Obama.

 

What is up with that?

Posted by Ron at 9:06 PM
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Due to the wonderful social networking abilities of Facebook, I bring you a "blast from the past" .... a picture of me the evening of my first date!

 

Yep, that is me when I was 15, if I remember right.  My dad drove me to pick up <name withheld to protect her identity> and take us to a "sweetheart" banquet at our church.

 

It is hard to tell, but that is a blue denim three-piece suite, with an open neck wide collar shirt.  Oh, yeah ... I was a "styling dude" back then.

 

Now that you have had a good laugh, enjoy the rest of your day!

Posted by Ron at 8:53 AM
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.... but not completely hate it when it doesn't

I ordered a new ID card printer for the ID Card Production office about a month ago. It finally arrived today. With the whole purchase order process at the university, I'm surprised I got it this quickly. Since this type of printer is completely different than what we currently have in the office, I only ordered one. This will allow me some time to make system and procedural modifications prior to replacing all of our printers.

Let's just say today didn't go smoothly. So much so that I don't even have the printer in my officethis evening. Due to various "ribbon identification" issues, the vendor boxed it back up and took it to their repair site. All in all, the printer model is an absolute workhorse, and I figure mine got a little bit out of whack in the shipping (...hum, if it had worked, would it have been considered "in whack"?).

Due to the technology advancements since we last ordered printers, I will be able to lower the number of printers in the office from seven(7) to three(3) - with the third being a spare printer. I will also be able to reduce the number of card template blanks from five(5) to one(1). The new printer has the ability for duplex printing, so it can print the different back images as needed. Pre-printing card template backs costs me $0.10 per card, but the duplex printing ribbon averages $0.06 per card. This will allow an overall initial savings of $0.04 per card, which will add up considering the thousands of cards we print per semester!

Posted by Ron at 7:51 PM
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Yesterday, while enjoying the OSU lead over Missouri, I got a call from an old friend. Joe M. is a guy I know from a previous life (job responsibility) that I have met in person only a few times, but it seems like we have known each other forever. We talk on the phone several times a year, especially to call each other for birthdays and the like. Renee knows him as the guy who sent the huge basket of brownies when I was in the hospital after my accident (when I say huge, I mean it fed three shifts of nurse, besides all the friends and family that came to see me - yeah - HUGE).

I met Joe when he was trying to sell me some training solutions for our CIS personnel (CIS= Computing & Information Services - Pre IT). While I won't mention the name of the company here, the initials are ML. Joe was in the 'College and University' side of the sales team at time. Since then, he has been moved over to the 'Government' side of the sales department. Joe has the type of personality that never meets a stranger, and gets along great with everyone .... everyone except the new VP of the company it seems.

I guess to be accurate here, the VP seems to be the type that only meets strangers, someone that doesn't communicate well with others and builds his decisions based upon those non-communication moments.

Joe was at the top of his game in regards to sales. In fact, he was at the top of everyone's game, as he has been the leading sales guy within his side of the sales area for a while. But that didn't keep the VP from giving Joe the boot last week, the day after his 12 year anniversary with the company.

Joe has a strong faith in the Lord, and knows that this will all work out for good, but it is still a shock to me.

I doubt any other employees with the company (let's call it, um, BrainGuide) read this blog, but if you do I make the following recommendations:
1. Fire up the word processor of your choice
2. Open your resume (or start one if you don't have a copy)
3. Get it updated
4. Start covertly looking for another job

If Joe wasn't safe there, none of the others are either ... unless you have the word 'president' somewhere within your official title.

Side note: #17 OSU went on to beat #3 ranked Missouri with a final score of 28-23.
GO POKES!

Posted by Ron at 8:42 AM
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I would like to introduce you to Clarisza. She is a beautiful eight year old living in the Philippines.

 

Some history: When Sarah was nine or ten years old and asked what she wanted for Christmas, she said she wanted to sponsor a child through Compassion International. We started the monthly sponsorship in her name and was provided the information for a young girl about Sarah's age named Mary Grace. Over the years Sarah received several letters from Mary Grace keeping her informed of what was going on in her life and village, and Sarah wrote to her as well.

 

Shortly after Sarah left for college, we received our last letter from Mary Grace. She advised she was moving to be with her aunt, as she had an opportunity to attend college near her aunt's house. The move would mean that Mary Grace would no longer be within the Compassion International program. In short, both Sarah and Mary Grace were leaving home to go to college.

 

Enter Clarisza: Renee and I didn't want to end the sponsorship opportunity, and Hope had been expressing an interest helping others, so we started working with Compassion International to change the account over from Sarah's name to Hope's. Renee and Hope went online and found Clarisza. She is about six weeks younger than Hope. Her hobbies of dolls, art/drawing, singing and listening to music match perfectly with many of Hope's hobbies. Renee and I anticipate that we will have another great period of ten years or so of hearing from another sponsored child, as well as helping/encouraging our daughter to communicate with her sponsored child.

 

If you aren't currently involved in a sponsorship program, such as Compassion International, World Vision, or any of the other programs, please take the time to think/pray about it as well as research the opportunity. For the price of one evening out a month at a really nice restaurant and movie, you can help change the life of a child and their family. In Clarisza's area, most adults work as day laborers and earn the equivalent of $95 per month.

 

Also, if you would add Clarisza (health, education, family, etc) and Hope to your prayer list (their future pen-pal relationship), I would be eternally grateful.

Posted by Ron at 5:00 PM
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