Okie Sister

I Ate The Cactus

Guadalajara Taqueria is a fairly new Mexican Restaurant here in Lawton. There food is unique and authentic. It's not like any other place in town. If you crave something familiar, their tacos and enchiladas are excellent. If you want something different, try a Torta. That's a sandwich with your choice of meat.

One of my favorites dishes is the Carne Guisada. I can't even describe how delicious it is. Let's just say that it's a good thing it comes with flour tortillas to sop up all the gravy. Otherwise, I would probably have to lick the plate.

I've barely begun to sample all the items on the menu. Heck, they even serve breakfast. I do feel like I'm cheating on Julio's when I eat at the Guadalajara.

Yesterday, I went out on a limb and tried the Carne Azada Plate.

It consists of: beef skirt steak topped with grilled cactus and green onions, lettuce, tomato, and sliced fresh avocado, rice, a bacon wrapped cheese filled jalapeno pepper, Charro beans, and tortillas. The pepper was too hot for me, so it got passed off to Hubby. Their salsa that comes with chips is pretty hot for my tastes too. The Charro beans are fantastic and I will be special ordering them in place of refried from now on. The grilled green onions were as sweet as a Vidalia. I'll be making these at home. Never thought of grilling them before. I was most anxious to experience the cactus, as I had never tried it. And guess what? I ate the cactus and I like it!

The Original Lawton High School

Toured the new City Hall building on Friday. That’s the renovated Central Junior High School. The original Lawton High School. How wonderful that our city kept this landmark, instead of bulldozing it down and building a mall, like they did  to our downtown main street. Anyway, I digress because it still upsets me that we lost so much history in the name of progress.

The City Hall building is now modern and spacious, with elevators and a new glass façade. At the same time, the integrity of the former facility has been preserved. That’s awesome! They even kept one classroom to act as a museum to the building’s past with photos of former Lawton High students.

The event I attended was a farewell reception for our current mayor, John Purcell. This project was built under his leadership, but he will not serve from the new mayor’s office. A desk was brought in for a final photo op and to fulfill a promise that he would sit in the new office.

The mayor was presented with a plaque that had a photo of the building, a special key to the city and encouraging mayor’s coins that he was so famous for. The photo of the building was taken by Hubby. It's stunning!

Outside, a bronze buffalo has been placed on the grounds and dedicated to this fine and likeable mayor. What a beautiful piece of art to add to the downtown landscape.

Snow Scenes

   

Out of the Darkness

After 117 hours, the electric trucks showed up in front of my house. What a glorious sight!

I called them the Texas Cavalry. Just like an old western movie, when things look their bleakest, the cavalry ride in and save the day. I big thank you to these guys for restoring my power.

I was starting to stress a bit. I cleaned my desk yesterday and found the following cartoon that my oldest brother sent me last year. I can relate.

After all the Budweiser shoot-out is this weekend.

Lawton High School Class of 1980

I finally broke down and joined Facebook.
I had resisted before, because I honestly felt that I could not spare another minute for anything else.
I had already gone from blogging everyday to random postings because of my genealogy research.
See, I have a tendency to obsess over anything new.
However, if I had known that so many of my family were members, I would have joined a long time ago.
 
I was encouraged to sign up by my friend and partner in crime schoolmate, Ranae.
Seems this year is our 30th high school reunion and the group doing the planning communicate via Facebook.
So I'll do my part here by giving a shout out to all the graduates of Lawton High School class of 1980 that might stop by Okie Sister.
Come join me and our classmates on Facebook. It would be great to reconnect with you.

 

What's In A Name?

After my last rant blog post, I thought I should lighten up a bit.
Speaking of karma (as I did yesterday), reminded me of this post about the bank with the annoying barricade and the new video store that went in next door to it.
That would the Family Video Store that has an adult video section. You know, for your family member who enjoy their porn.
Well, a new business going in that strip mall caught my attention the other day. Here's their sign.

Evidently it's some sort of learning center. I guess spelling is optional.

Customer Service...NOT

I just returned from Rude World, aka Country Mart Grocery Store. Boy do I have a headache. What is wrong with people that makes them think they are the most important thing on the planet?

The rudeness began just inside the front doors, at the deli counter. There was one store employee there and a mother and daughter as customers. These two women were trying samples of food items. I stood and watched, waiting for the young employee so she could slice me a pound of ham. I waited and waited, she never even looked at me or said, "I'll be with you in a minute." Had I been the other customers, I would have told her to go wait on me while I decided what I wanted. Not these two, they kept asking for stuff and talking to her while I stood there like an idiot. Then they walked off without purchasing a damn thing from her. I guess they were just there for a snack.

Next, I'm at the meat department. The female employee back there was stocking the shelves with packages of hamburger. I'm standing there, back out of her way, looking to see what I might want. She rolls her cart off and turns and looks at me. I say that I'm actually wanting one of the larger packages there on her cart. So, does she hand me one? Hell no! She rudely replies, "Well if you will let me put them out then you can get one." I calmly reply that I didn't stop her, I was standing there waiting for for her do do just that. "Oh," she says. I wonder who yelled at her today, because she was clearly in a crap mood.

Finally, I'm in my car leaving when I pull up behind a woman who was blocking the exit for me and the five cars behind me. She was waiting for a parking spot closest to the front of the store. I waited and waited. Then I pulled around her on the right, driving up on the walk space in front of the store to get the heck out of there.

I'm really getting tired of rude people. I guess I'm lucky to have had parents who taught me better than that. In my world, if I have a cart full of groceries and you get in line behind me with a loaf of bread and a gallon of milk, I offer to let you go ahead of me. Karma people, Karma.

White Christmas

I picked a good day to take off work. However, I had things I wanted to do today that involved leaving my home. That's not going to happen. Too bad I didn't get to the grocery store when I was out yesterday afternoon.

 

I'm sitting here watching the worst winter storm I've experience in a very long time... maybe ever! I don't recall being in a Blizzard Warning before. The wind is absolutely howling, 47mph gusting to 62. First it rained, then there was sleet, and now it's a blowing snow storm. It's 26 degrees and dropping fast. Wind chill 7.

If I still have electricity at the end of the day, this Christmas Eve, it will be a "Christmas miracle." Good thing there's Nog!

November what?

Several years ago I planted a climbing rose bush outside my bedroom window. First I cut back the two honeysuckle vines on either side of it. I thought eventually these would intermingle and form a lovely spring landscape. Who knew the temperature would be in the seventies in November?  My rose bush has never been lovelier even without the honeysuckle.

 

Yesterday was the perfect day for an outdoor concert and chili cook-off in Medicine Park, OK. The weather was perfection. The chili was not bad either. 

Blueprint

 

Mr Coholic, first name AL

This local tavern changed it's name and caught my attention today. I think I'll call and see how they answer their phone. Then maybe I'll ask for one of their patrons like Bart does on The Simpsons.

With A Rebel L

That wacky city road sign crew are at it again.
Look at this beauty.

 

Yes, it does say the road is CLOLSED.

 

But wait... what's that across the street?

 

Do you spot the error?
I guess spelling is optional on this side of town.

Enough Already

Did I ever tell you about the time that Ty Pennington and the Extreme Home Makeover team came to town. Not only to town, but to my street. They closed off all the entries to the neighborhood and you had to have a special pass just to get home. They set up a whole campground in our small little playground park. An empty grocery store parking lot around the corner served as the construction staging area. There were trucks and people everywhere. Generators and lights ran all night. It was all very exciting.

We were there when they tore down the house. Since this is a military town and the deserving family were military, they used a tank to break down the walls.

I was fortunate enough to get to tour the new home before the family moved back in. It was gorgeous and had all the equipment the family would need to make their daily life a little easier.

You see the father was a drill sergeant who volunteered to train Iraqi soldiers. One day while eating in the mess tent, he was struck by incoming mortar fire and was paralyzed from the waist down. After going through the long recovery back here in the states, he was driving a handicapped van with his family when a wheel malfunctioned. The van rolled, throwing him through the windshield. His daughter had to have an organ removed, his young son was paralyzed.

Two people in wheelchairs is a lot for a small house, so this new home with its wide hallways and high tech bathroom would really help them out. The beautiful Frank Lloyd Wright inspired home is completely handicapped accessible. There is even a woodworking shop for the dad's hobby and exercise equipment for continued therapy. All the children got their own customized bedroom with games and TV's. The kids received college scholarships too.

But none of that matters I'm sure to the three children now. What they need most in life was taken from them. That would be their mother's love and support. She took her own life last week.

Hold The Mayo

First the Spice Girl Robbery, and now this. What is going on in this town?

APARTMENT COVERED IN SAUCE

By Malinda Rust, Staff Writer

Lawton Constitution, April 2, 2009

Common condiments, like ranch dressing and taco sauce, can be damaging, as one local woman learned Tuesday night. 

According to a Lawton police report, a woman called police at 10:30 p.m., when she came home to find most of her house covered in the red and white goo courtesy of her exboyfriend. 

The report said the woman left her house, located in on Southwest Douglas Avenue, around 9 a.m. and returned about 4 p.m. to find the man standing outside. He got in the car and “demanded a ride home,” the report said. When she refused, he slammed his fist into her dashboard, so she took him home to avoid further confrontation. 

When she dropped him off, the report said he told her, “Wait ’til you see what I did to your apartment.” She didn’t wait and went straight home to find her couch, living room and bedroom had all been covered with condiments, totaling almost $400 in damage.

Spot Cleaning

Here's a colorful new business on Lee Boulevard.
It's a combination laundry mat and car wash.

 

This section in the middle is what really caught my eye.

 

City Council Overturns Judge On Teenage Alcohol

I’m absolutely appalled by the Lawton City Council member’s who voted this week to rescind a ruling by a municipal court judge.

Donovan Woodburn Jr., owner of the Cache Road Hop & Sack, had three employees convicted of selling beer to minors on three separate occasions this past year. Per city code, Judge Mike (barroom fighter) Corrales ordered Woodburn’s license suspended for 90 days, the minimum punishment.

Woodburn’s lawyer then appealed to the Lawton City Council, stating there was no proof that Woodburn knew what his employees were doing.

So what? It’s Woodburn’s business. He is responsible for what happens on the premises. And from what I see when I drive past this store, there is a heck of a lot going on. Individuals are always loitering in front of the store near the pay phone and the police are often dispatched near this location and the apartments behind it. There have even been drive-by shootings in the neighborhood. Do we really need to add intoxicated minors to the mix?

Woodburn could have appealed to the district court if the council would not have voted four to three to overrule the judge’s decision on their own city ordinance. Now what? What about others who have been effected by this city code? This is total BS.

For the record, the four city council members are Bob (what are we voting on?) Shanklin, Stanley (votes with Shanklin) Haywood, Jim (also votes with Shanklin) Hanna, and Doug (tried to pass) Wells.

Shanklin admitted during the meeting that he has been in the same circumstances as Woodburn; accused of selling alcohol to minors. Also noteworthy is the fact that Stanley Haywood and Jim Hanna are employed by the Lawton Public School System. Councilman Bill Shumate abstained, which usually indicates some conflict of interest.

Perhaps You Should Become An Artist

Awhile back Hubby and I shared a good laugh while we were out to eat at a local Mexican restaurant. The conversation centered around décor for the wall.

"We were eating lunch at one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, Julio’s. He commented that if he owned the place, he would paint a giant mural on the wall. A mural of the inside of a cantina.
Cantina? Who says cantina? The only cantina my geeky mind could think of was the one from Star Wars where Luke Skywalker and Obi Wan Kenobi go to hire Han Solo and Chewbacca to transport them off the planet Tatooine."

"So Hubby and I are discussing how funny it would be to have the Star Wars Cantina Band painted on the wall morphed into a Mariachi Band wearing big sombreros."

Well, imagine our delight yesterday when we returned to this eatery and saw new artwork had been installed. It was not the mural we had envisioned painted there, but a huge painting showing the actual employees who worked at Julio’s.

 

But wait, what is this down in the corner.
Do you see the signature?

 

Guido Sarduchi, are you kidding me?

The only Guido I am familiar with is Father Guido Sarducci from Saturday Night Live fame.

Redneck Escalator

You might be a Redneck town...
if one of the local casino’s “claim to fame” is having the only escalator in Lawton.

You might be a Redneck town...
if the only casino in Lawton with an escalator also has a broken link to their website.

I wanted a picture.

“It’s not every day we Lawtonians get to see one of them there fancy, new-fangled moving staircases. Shucks, we usually have to high tail it on up there to the big ol’ city of OKC to get to see such modern machinery in action.”

But seriously...
the only escalator in Lawton. Really? That’s what I heard on the radio commercial today.
We do have a mall, but it’s only one story; and the hotels in town all have elevators.

I do remember a building in Lawton that used to have an escalator. It’s at the corner of Gore Boulevard and 11th Street / Ft. Sill Boulevard. It used to be Sears. Then it was a bank and office space; minus the escalators. Recently the building was remodeled and modernized. Now it's home to Northrop Grumman, the aerospace and defense company.

Kansas native Jesse Wilford Reno produced the first working escalator and installed it at Coney Island in 1896. Nathan Ames and Leamon Souder had made designs and held patents prior to this, but those were never built. The first manufacturer was The Otis Elevator Company in Yonkers, NY.

You Can't Swing A Dead Cat

You can’t swing a dead cat in Comanche County without hitting an animal abuser. I don’t know what is going on in the world, but the animal abuse is getting way out of hand. And sorry for my weird sense of humor with the insensitive title here, I just think that is an awful saying. Does anyone know where “swing a dead cat” comes from?

I’m guessing most of you heard about the boys who made the YouTube video of themselves abusing their cat Dusty. This turned into an international story as animal lovers all over the world tracked these boys down to my neck of the woods. Our local sheriff, Kenny Stradley, intervened and had the cat removed from the premises and the boys brought in for questioning. The 14 and 16 year old brothers will face two counts each of animal cruelty, according to local district attorney Robert Schulte.

After PETA informed the sheriff of other videos, he had another cat removed from the residence. Had this occurred in Lawton city limits, I can assure you that the local animal shelter would have removed all the animals from the home on the first visit. These folks don’t mess around.

Dusty and Patches were treated at a local veterinary clinic and have been adopted out to a good home.

The boy’s father said he has received hundreds of calls and emails, with death threats towards the boys, after his contact information was made public on the internet. I guess people feel he should have been more aware of what was going on in his own home. Go figure?

Before all this, Sherriff Kenny Stradley was in the news for a case involving a man who cleans septic tanks and a dog. It was of a sexual nature. It was extremely uncomfortable listening to the Sherriff tell about it on the evening news. Yuck!

Sister Sightings (14)

Soap News: Big catastrophe on General Hospital this week. Big enough that the show will be unveiling a new hospital set in April, complete with a new nurse’s station. I still miss seeing nurse Jessie Brewer (Emily McLaughlin) behind the round 7th floor nurse’s station desk on GH?
I guess you could say GH is getting a facelift. Not unlike characters Bobbie Spencer (Jackie Zeman) and Monica Quartermaine (Leslie Charleson). Or is that botox? (Who besides me remembers that actress Jackie Zeman once posed in a men’s magazine?) On the show, the wealthy Quartermaine family pay for the Extreme Hospital Makeover.

 

Reality TV: Watch for Okie Christie Volkmer and her sister Jodi Wincheski on the next Amazing Race when it premieres Feb. 15. These ladies are Southwest Airlines flight attendants. I wonder if that will give them an advantage. Jodi is from Houston, Texas and Christie is from Choctaw, Oklahoma.
Also on the show will be the first ever deaf contestant, Luke Adams. He will be accompanied by his mom, Margie. Gay rights activist Mel White will be racing with his son Mike, screenwriter of the most excellent movie, “School of Rock.” One leg of the race has the contestants traveling on the Trans-Siberian Railroad through a snowstorm in sub-zero temperatures.

America’s Next Top Model starts again on Feb. 25. One of Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s ex-girlfriends, Kortnie Coles, is a contestant. She is listed as a 24 year old non-profit organizer from Houston, TX. Answer This... hosts a shot of her wearing the famous “Not Everything Is Flat In Kansas” t-shirt. She should be a lot of fun.

Speaking of NASCAR women... I wonder what ever happened to TLC’s reality show NASCAR Wives. It was supposed to premiere after the Miss America pageant last month.

In The News: Speaking of Pageants... It’s that time of year again here in Lawton, Oklahoma for Cameron University to crown a new queen. Each year the headline in the newspaper catches my eye.

 

Every year I think the same thing when I read it too, When is the Miss White CU Pageant?

Several earthquakes have occurred in Oklahoma recently. Centrahoma reported a 3.2 on Feb. 3, a 2.4 was recorded between Carney and Chandler on Jan. 29, and a 3.4 the day before that near Amber.
Amber, Oklahoma...home of some Steak(?) restaurant Hubby wants to take me to. Have any of you been there? Let me know if it’s good, okay?

Speaking of wacky... weather, that is. Have you seen the 5-ton ice sculpture of a “shivering” Al Gore. It was revealed by Craig Compeau in Fairbanks, Alaska. Compeau, a self described moderate skeptic of the whole global warming theory, is using the sculpture to raise money for Presbyterian Hospitality House. Participants guess whether this winter will be warmer or colder than it was the winter of 1947-48. Gore was born March 1948. More info at www.frozengore.com.

Lawton Architecture

 

A Lawton Church

That's Entertainment

Some people complain that there is nothing to do in Lawton, Oklahoma. I say that they are just not looking hard enough.

For all you intellectuals and highly competitive gamers, stop by the public library for their new Saturday afternoon Scrabble Competition. They have prizes and cookies.

 

If you are wanting to get your "groove on", head out Tuesday nights to the HC King Center for free family square dance lessons. Yee Haw, the kids will love you for it. Trust me.

 

If both of those sound too much like work, then get out your wallet and head to the mountains for the Buffalo Bistro’s 7 Days of Chocolate. For a mere $75 you and a friend can be served a five course chocolate meal complete with wine. Yummy? Chocolate chicken, chocolate tamales, and white chocolate polenta, oh my!

 

 

Power To The People

My electric bill was higher than usual this month. Not sure what happened. Maybe it was all those Christmas lights I put up on the lawn.

 

Just kidding...my electric bill was only $152. Inside the envelope with my bill was the bill for the Comanche County Courthouse. Ouch!

...and I was just wondering what I should do with that extra $13,000 I had laying around.

Red Light Special

 

I didn’t get the memo... the one that declared this the official run the Red Light Week. Lawton is pretty bad about this all the time. If you are sitting at an intersection and the light turns green, don’t just go, look both ways first before you proceed. But this week has been absolutely insane. I’ve seen at least a dozen people run red lights in the past three days alone. Not the light turns yellow and cars speed on through the intersection, but the light is red before they even enter the intersection. What in the world is going on? When I see this, I always wonder what is so dang important that it’s worth risking your life? Why are people so impatient? If only we had traffic cops here to put an end to this mess. Lawton Drivers Beware!

Local Church Goes Up In Flames

 

Early Tuesday morning, fire broke out at Trinity Baptist Church, Lawton, OK. The building sustained heavy damage, rough estimate is $3 to $4 million. The church secretary smelled smoke upon arriving at work. No one was inside. Firefighters worked for hours in 20° temperature to put out the blaze. Gotta love 'em!

Photos property of Randy Warren. Click to enlarge.

   

 

   

 

 

This is not the Baptist church that I recently blogged about after they weaseled out of getting the fire safety upgrades that the city fire marshal recommended for their new school. Instead the church leaders chose to incite their congregation by implying that the city was trying to tell them what they could and couldn’t do at their new learning academy. In other words, they played the “religious persecution” card when there was none. They might want to rethink their actions after today’s inferno. What’s the saying? “There but for the grace of God, go I.”

Brrrr

Baby, it's cold outside...

 

 

Catchin' some rays...

 

Lights, Camera, Action

Today’s Election Day again at our house. If you live in Ward 6 or Ward 8 of Lawton, you need to get out and Rock The Vote. I suspect about 300 people might turn out in each ward. That will be about 10% of those who voted last month. Unless it snows today as predicted, then it will be considerably lower. Somehow city elections are not very important to people. Don’t understand this because the city representatives and the actions they take effect the citizens more closely than anything else.

Hey, you know the old saying, "If you don’t vote, then you can’t complain." If only that were true. I’ll leave the politics to other members of the family, because it involves public speaking. Okie Sister doesn’t speak in front of groups. It’s called stage fright and involves nausea. This is why I attempt to write; it’s my outlet of expression.

I’ve told you before that I’m also self diagnosed borderline agoraphobic. It’s not that I don’t enjoy getting out of my house; it just takes too much effort to get ready and out the door. And I’m low maintenance! I don’t spend hours in front of the mirror primping. It’s a mental preparedness that takes so long for me. I think I’m part bear too, because it’s turning colder and I’m wanting to go into hibernation mode until Spring. I hate being cold.

Sunday, I did venture out and attend a photography exhibit at the Museum of the Great Plains, "Santa Fe, Through the Lens of Friends." Three local women are displaying photos they shot while traveling together. It was very nice work; they really captured the colors of the region. Hubby disappeared after I stood and admired one picture a little too long. I had commented that it was my favorite. He had slipped off to buy it for me. Later while speaking with the photographer, she mentioned that it was her favorite shot. Can’t show it to you yet, as it will be on display through January. But it looks something like the first one on the Museum’s website. The one with the dark clouds.

After the opening, we drove out to Medicine Park and ate at the Winery of the Wichitas, or WOW for short. Hubby’s upset that someone is using this acronym because he’s dreamed of using it one day for his hotdog restaurant, World of Wieners. Wow!

Anyway, A Broad Abroad just wrote about this restaurant on her blog and I was anxious to check it out. No pictures from there either because it was evening and the lights were very dim. I’ll go back in the daytime and report again. The food was worth the drive.

Our evening ended with a drive through Elmer Thomas Park to look at the Christmas lights. They have horse drawn carriage rides through there. And no, I don’t have picture of the lights either because it was dark and we were in motion which made them look like this.

Dogs as far as the eye can see

Endangered? Protection sought for black-tailed prairie dog

That was yesterday’s headline in the morning newspaper. It seems a wildlife protection group wants a review of the Cynomys ludovicainus to see if their status has changed in the past four years.

The only change here in Lawton is that there are more and more of the little critters running around Elmer Thomas Park. They have no natural predators like wolves and fox in the city, so they are multiplying like crazy. If measures hadn't been taken in the past to control them, they would have taken over the city by now.

So please, if they are scarce were you live, come collect some of ours. And no, don’t ask the citizens to pay for capturing and shipping them to you. They’ve already checked into that and found out it costs a fortune. So if you want them, I’m sure the city would be happy for you to have them. But only if you are going to take good care of them, because look how cute these rodents are.

 

Oh Dear!

So Hubby has been coveting a $1000 zoom lens for his camera for some time now. That’s a lot of bucks. Or should I say doe?

Why the deer analogies? Because this occurred while driving in the country this week.

 

Click photos to enlarge.

The sight of that deer flying through the air was just magnificent. Now even I want the zoom lens.

Any ideas on how to turn his love of photography into a paying gig?

Click here for samples of his work.

More shameless bragging: A photo he shot made the cover of the city's Art Council magazine. Here's the before and after.

   

 

Sister Sightings (11)

Girl Power: Lt. Gen. Ann E. Dunwoody was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as head of the Army’s supply arm, making her the first female four star general in the U.S. Army.
"I am very honored but also very humbled today with this announcement," said Dunwoody. "I grew up in a family that didn't know what glass ceilings were. This nomination only reaffirms what I have known to be true about the military throughout my career...that the doors continue to open for men and women in uniform."
"There is no one more surprised than I - except, of course, my husband. You know what they say, 'Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man.'"
What you might not know is that Dunwoody began her career right here at Fort Sill, Oklahoma. We Okies salute you ma’am.

Local News: Central Baptist Church (where Okie Sister met Hubby back in the 70’s) recently made plans to open a new learning academy at their church. Does this private school, Trinity Christian Academy, constitute a new use of said facility? That was the question that was put before building inspectors, the fire marshal, a slew of lawyers, and finally the city council this week. When an agreement could not be reached, the church was left to proceed with said plans for their school. Meaning, they do not have to install all the upgraded FIRE SAFETY measures suggested.
Fire Marshal Mark Mitchell said he had several concerns when he did a walk-through inspection over the summer, including corridors that pull air - and, potentially, smoke - through the building and an interior construction of combustible timber.
A church representative previously stated they didn’t have the money to make any upgrades. They have reportedly purchased several new smoke detectors and fire extinguishers for the education wing.
What was bizarre about all this, is pastor Keith Miles’s statement that he doesn’t think the city is correct in “inserting” itself into the church’s ministry. Max Sasseen, church board member, said church members were “amazed” the city would put itself in a position to judge what subjects would be taught in the classroom. Subjects? Huh?
What’s that got to do with the price of VBS Kool-aid in China?
I’m pretty sure the city’s only concern is that the students don’t end up trapped inside a burning building. But way to deflect guys, because accidents never happen...

I had just mentioned that Lawton is expanding with new housing additions. Yesterday at one of those construction sites, a 29 year-old man was trapped when a trench he was laying new sewer lines in, began to collapse around him. Local emergency personnel, (fire, police, public works) along with specialist from OKC, worked for 12 hours to free him from the 13 foot deep hole.
Reminded me of little Baby Jessica caught in that Midland, Texas well so many years ago. My own Texas baby daughter was only a few months older at the time.
This story has a good outcome as well. The worker, Alex Cabrera, is in stable condition with no broken bones at an OKC hospital.* The newspaper made note that Cabrera did not speak much English.
I’m sure there will be a full investigation to determine the cause of the collapse.
Okie Sister asks, is this the same housing addition that Toby Keith and Barry Switzer are investors in?

Tech News: The FCC recently okayed use of unlicensed portions of the television airwaves known as “white spaces” to deliver wireless broadband service. This would be another way besides telephone and cable to received Internet service. This was over objections from TV broadcasters who argued that this could disrupt their signals. I guess we will find out in February after the big switcheroo from analog to digital broadcasting.
I personally won’t be able to tell, since I already have DISRUPTION OF MY SIGNAL. The local ABC channel coming through my Dish Network breaks up into colorful pixilation blobs on a regular basis and often times the sound does not sync up, making me feel like I’m watching an old Kung Fu movie.
If not for Eli Stone and Dancing With The Stars, I wouldn’t even watch this dang channel. Dish Network informs me they are aware of the problem. Being aware is good...

Monkisms: An Australian woman says she will have nightmares for the rest of her life after abdominal surgery to remove her gall bladder. Rebecca Jones awoke just as the operation started. She felt every cut of the surgeon’s knife but she could not move or speak because she was paralyzed by the anesthesia.
"I was freaking out. Then I managed to move my hand and someone in the room noticed it. He said, 'she's just moved her hand'. But they kept going. I was trying to scream, to do anything"
In a written statement, the hospital conceded that Jones was “awake” but denied being AWARE she was suffering any pain.
“A study in March of this year found that as many as 30,000 American wake during surgery each year.” Holy Crap!

Elsewhere, Okie Sister recently had a traumatic nightmare about mold, after seeing a tiny spot of it near drain in sink.

ROTGLMAO: I happened to spy the Big Lots circular in today's newspaper. They have a new Online Deal of the Day which they are promoting with a colorful new cartoon character, “Anita Deal.” Hmmm...she looks really familiar.

*Update 12-19-18: Alex Cabrera suffered from crush syndrome and has since had both legs amputated below the knee. Another part of the story is that there was another worker in the trench when it collapsed. Cabrera help him escape and he immediately started digging Cabrera out.

This Is My Town

From the Business Week magazine article, The Best Places to Raise Your Kids 2009:

“We selected towns with at least 50,000 residents and a median family income between $40,000 and $100,000. We then narrowed the list of towns using the following weighted criteria: school performance; number of schools; household expenditures; crime rates; air quality; job growth; family income; museums, parks, theaters, and other amenities; and diversity. We weighted school performance and safety most heavily, but also gave strong weight to amenities and affordability”

The Oklahoma city selected this year is none other than Lawton. Runners up are Midwest City and Broken Arrow.

Reactions from Lawton as seen on KSWO TV:

Lawton Public School Superintendent Barry Beauchamp says the "Business Week" review is tremendous for the community, especially for the schools. "Certainly it's a real reflection of the fine teachers that we have," he said. "Schools are people, they're not buildings. They're students and teachers in the classroom, accomplishing the things that they need to be successful."

The rankings weighed school performance and safety heavily in the rankings. Researchers looked at the total crime risk. Lawton Police Chief Ronnie Smith says it matches his stats. "Crime is not that high in Lawton," he said. "We are taking care of what we do have, and we have statistics that prove crime is going down."

The rankings also considered the cost of living and job growth. Lawton's population continues to grow, bringing more companies and better jobs. "We've seen the average income of our households increase significantly over the past five or six years, and all of those things play a role in this being an affordable place to raise kids," said Lawton-Fort Sill Chamber of Commerce President Dana Davis.

"It's high time that everybody knew what we knew," said Ward 8 Lawton City Councilmember Randy Warren. "We've known for a long time that this is a good place to live and raise your kids, and it's time that that message gets out to the rest of the world."

Okie Sister’s reaction is one of great pride. I feel that it’s the citizens that make this town so great. We have enormous civic pride and we support our military base and our veterans. That is one of the reasons so many retire to this area.

Lawton is a clean city. It is growing and prospering with new businesses locating here and new housing additions being built. To be recognized on a national level is a great bragging point to prospective companies looking to located in SW OK.

The kids would probably say that there is nothing to do here. However, if they are safe on the streets and getting a quality education, that means more in the long run than being entertained at amusement parks and such. To be able to breath clean air, and have outdoor recreation areas, are things you don’t fully appreciate unless you are without them.