A silent majority | Tulsa World
12 Sunday Sep 2010
Posted musings
in12 Sunday Sep 2010
Posted musings
in12 Sunday Sep 2010
Posted my life
inbut evidently thats what we are. well the beau mostly.
it all began yesterday when he and the lady who is doing our sale were getting things separated and ready to be priced. around 3pm i think, he decided to go get a sandwich. so off he went to quiznos, and then to quik trip for lottery tickets and smoe m&ms for me. on the way back he saw an elderly man walking up the road 2 to 4 feet out into traffic, rather than on the grassy shoulder. tulsa isnt pedestrian friendly, and there are few sidewalks. the streets are full of potholes and inattentive drivers as well. this, plus the mans large sunglasses and blue umbrella quite caught his attention. he came back to the house to get me, and my camera, to prove that what he saw was real. well, i would have believed him, but im glad he came and got me. we followed him as he walked north, and was heading for a busy intersection right by the fairgrounds.
i started insisting the beau call the police, because there was obviously something not right, and the mans gait was – distracted – as he frequently stopped to look around. beau was hesitant at first, as our police – and dispatchers – are often very lacking in commitment. but i insisted more, so he did. fortunately the old man stopped at the intersection and pressed the button for the walk signal. and waited. he had already nearly been clipped by the heavy traffic once. or twice. like many people, he didnt wait for the walk light. he started to cross when the lights turned, putting him in the way of left turn traffic. nearly clipped again.
we circled around, and stopped where the old guy was now. he was now on a sidewalk, built along side the water park on the east side of the fairgrounds. i started a conversation with him, as the beau called the police a second time to make sure the officer dispatched could find us. both times he got a dispatcher who was caring and concerned, and the officer was on the way.
as i talked with the man, he seemed lucid, but all his conversation centered around his old home, and the business he used to own. he was going up to see his old house, he said. it had a chimney with a big S on it, but it wasnt an S, it was a windbreaker. hmmm. he lived with his son, and oh yes his son knew he was out. i bet not. i told him the street was dangerous, and he sai yes, he would be careful, and not cross it. then he tottered off, stopping to pick something up out in the street. yup – nearly hit again. then he crossed the southbound lanes, and made it to the center median. still trying to pick up stuff in the road he thought was a danger to traffic. just as he walked away from me, a young kid, about 18, pulled up, and said he was going to try to walk with the guy till the police arrived. we went to pull a u-turn and just then the officer arrived. i didnt see it, but just as he pulled up to the old man, the old man stepped out in front of a car and then fell. he wasnt hurt, or hit, but he did break his giant sunglasses, and scraped his leg. the officer, officer urban, got him off the road and up into the parking lot of the businesses across from the water park. he also called an ambulance to check out the old guy. we parked, and came up to listen to the conversation, in which the poor old man was now clearly upset, and more confused. he asked officer urban if the piece of old cardboard out in the road had been squished out of him when he fell. he thought he was under arrest. he didnt know where he lived. officer urban asked him if he had a wallet, which he did. the officer said it was a wise man who had put this in the wallet – im guessing information on where the old guy lived and contact numbers. officer urban called the son, who was going to come pick him up, and i think the ambulance techs took him to a hospital. we thanked the officer for being truly kind and very helpful, and seeing this through. he could have just told the guy to be careful and sent him on his way. many would have. he went the extra mile.
probably saved the old guys life.
i was going to get pictures of him, and everything else, but chose not to. turns out he was once a prominent business owner here, and now he is 90 yrs old and obviously suffering from alzheimer’s. a lot of people probably know him and his family. i didnt want to give up his identity for that reason. maybe im being silly, but …
officer urban
11 Saturday Sep 2010
Posted musings
ini wonder what kind of policies, laws, and programs would be implemented if our politicians were to live like constituents after their terms were over. if they werent set for the rest of their lives with health care, retirement, and all the other perks they get that insulate them from normal life in america after even one term in office, i think their decisions, their actions, and their agendas would be very different. i dont think that many senators or representatives, governors, mayors, judges, or other titles, care much for the people who have to live with their decisions. those that do are likely so out of touch with reality that it doesnt matter if they care.
but thats just something i was thinking about recently.
we’re currently gearing up for an estate sale to get things out of the house, making the coming move much easier. we have a couple helping us, actually doing it for us mostly, because thats what they do.
my car is in the shop getting fixed, and will be ready thursday. the rental car benefit from our car insurance will pay us $50 a day whether we rent a car or not. nine days. thats almost the whole deductable. thats a blessing! and it will be a boon to my credit when i pay the credit card bill before i even get a statement.
i think its deliberate spit in the face that there is in the works to build a mosque so close to ground zero, and so close to the anniversary of the worst attack on this country since pearl harbor. there is nothing subtle about it.
but i am also dismayed that a pastor made a public display about burning the quran. its not that i believe in all that tolerance poppycock. i do not. it isnt possible to live in tolerance with people who want you dead. back in the sixties and seventies, when people were so world peace minded, i always said ‘get the russians to go first’. now i say the same thing about religious tolerance. see if muhammad will tolerate the western christian first. but thats not my point here. that pastor, by making his public display of planning to burn the quran, only incited those that see us as stupid dogs and want us destroyed. many of whom may have nothing to do with the building of the mosque in question. all he did was make a spectacle of himself and his little flock. all he did was exhibit his opinion. and in so doing kicked the hornets nest.
my bible says we wrestle not against flesh and blood (ephesians 6:12). and we do not war after the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty through God (ll corinthians 10:3-4). muhammad is not the enemy. the devil and his lot are.
i am so glad this week is over! our four day work week felt like seven days. im still not caught up. im not sure i will be again, as long as the pace keeps up the way its been.
i need a long walk on the beach!
06 Monday Sep 2010
Posted musings
inhttp://www.newson6.com/global/story.asp?s=13098236
sad to see something like this go down. but nothing lasts forever …
another wood construct went up in flames in portland when i was a child. that was a horrendous fire, as i remember. it was the portland forestry building, which was destroyed in 1964.
then there is this fire house in tulsa, built in 1905, and remodeled in 1967. i housed firefighters until 1993, and then housed the public works environmental operations division. they moved out in december. looks like its going to be sold as surplus.
04 Saturday Sep 2010
Posted my life
inlast tuesday rocked my world a bit. i was sitting at a red light, with one car ahead of me. its a long light, as there are several directions of cars going through. but im patient. im on schedule on my way to work. im not playing with my phone, or reaching for anything.
then the totally undesirable happens. my foot slips off the break pedal, and of course hits the gas with force. not a great deal of force, but enough to send me into the car in front of me. BAM!
it was an ‘oh shit!’ moment. it got worse when i got out of my car to see if the other driver was ok. she was, but she was 9 months pregnant. *wanting to sink into the pavement*. thats the kind of stress that unhooks my brain, and the thoughts – with no tracks to follow – get log jammed in the middle of my head and just swirl around aimlessly. so there i am, an otherwise bright woman capable of multitasking under pressure at work all day long, capable of seeing the best path through after only a moment of consideration, just standing there like an idiot. i did know i had to exchange information, but i had trouble finding it, finding a pen, finding paper, writing. i managed, and then as i gave her my info, she said she called 911 because she was so far along and had hit the steering wheel. i understood that, and she didnt seem nearly as rattled as i was. perhaps if i had been the one hit i would have been calmer too. after all the emergency personnel arrived, and she seemed ok, they left and she did not. i was relieved for that.
i got a citation for inattentive driving, which i plan to contest. i also filed my insurance claim, which is going to take care of the car. hers only had a small dent in the rear bumper. mine? the plastic bumper cam off, and had to be put in back seat. i can pick it up with three fingers, its so light. jeez. we get half the $500 deductable with the rental car allowance, since we have two cars. we will have it back by next weekend.
so its not looking so bad at this point …