Saturday, October 31, 2009
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Madison Ann's Schedule for her soccer games
All games are played at YMCA @ 204 South Duck, inside on either Court 1 or Court 2.
Saturday, November 7th West Court #2 9:00 am
Saturday, November 14 East Court #1 8:00 am
Saturday, November 21 West Court #2 8:00 am
Tuesday, December 1 East Court #1 5:30 pm
Saturday, December 5 East Court #1 9:00 am
Saturday, December 12 East Court #1 9:00 am
They will be the black team and they will get to choose their team name. We are still waiting to hear about when her practices will be..
Wonder if
I wonder if the passing storm in all it's grander and noise, is Mother Nature refreshing the earth, or it's God's way of celebrating Missy's Birthday, or the idiots in Washington getting ready to jam the health care we don't want or need and can not pay for down our throats... just wondering which... it might be... heck, it might even be our children and their children and children's future leaving them before they are born!
I prayed this just now ...
Morning Lord,
You know, You and I have had many trials and many adjustments in our lifetime together. Amazingly, it seems you have blessed me way beyond what I have deserved, let alone wanted. I do believe every request was met with an answer as fast as I dialed it in. I know I have not been faithful, nor have I ever come close to living up to your expectations and the way you love me back sometimes just blows me away. Thank you for all the many gifts and those yet to come our way.
And as you might imagine, when we get together I am either asking or thanking You for all you do. So in that vein...
Father, you seem to always be there when things are going great or need fixin' so I was just thinkin' God, if you don't mind, I sure would love to see each member of congress who keeps voting to spend OUR money needlessly on unwanted healthcare, bail outs, etc while not supporting our troops with money and men, and one of the dumbest President's I have ever seen in my 62 years, get beat in the next election. Just thinkin' Lord... If you need my help, please show me how. The United States cannot afford this idiot, and his band of crazys, and the way things are going, he and they probably will make it against the law for us to pray to You as well, shucks, it might not be legal to believe in You either, (seems he wants to be you) so sneakin' in the one last request... thanks Lord for the many blessing you give us daily, just don't know how many more we need from Washington, if you get my drift.. You are still my King of Kings and Lord of Lords, no matter what Obama and the nuts say...
Amen... amen.
I prayed this just now ...
Morning Lord,
You know, You and I have had many trials and many adjustments in our lifetime together. Amazingly, it seems you have blessed me way beyond what I have deserved, let alone wanted. I do believe every request was met with an answer as fast as I dialed it in. I know I have not been faithful, nor have I ever come close to living up to your expectations and the way you love me back sometimes just blows me away. Thank you for all the many gifts and those yet to come our way.
And as you might imagine, when we get together I am either asking or thanking You for all you do. So in that vein...
Father, you seem to always be there when things are going great or need fixin' so I was just thinkin' God, if you don't mind, I sure would love to see each member of congress who keeps voting to spend OUR money needlessly on unwanted healthcare, bail outs, etc while not supporting our troops with money and men, and one of the dumbest President's I have ever seen in my 62 years, get beat in the next election. Just thinkin' Lord... If you need my help, please show me how. The United States cannot afford this idiot, and his band of crazys, and the way things are going, he and they probably will make it against the law for us to pray to You as well, shucks, it might not be legal to believe in You either, (seems he wants to be you) so sneakin' in the one last request... thanks Lord for the many blessing you give us daily, just don't know how many more we need from Washington, if you get my drift.. You are still my King of Kings and Lord of Lords, no matter what Obama and the nuts say...
Amen... amen.
Monday, October 26, 2009
While the big O or mr. zero plays golf..... What a disgrace Obama is for all of us!
14 Americans killed in 2 Afghan helicopter crashes
Sunday, October 25, 2009
Friday, October 23, 2009
Happy Birthday Kaitlyn
Happy Birthday KaitlynHappy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday Kaitlyn
Happy birthday to you
and many many more......
We love you!
Grandpa and Grandma Moffat
From Allen Jesson... Poetry online friend from UK... comes this wonderful poem.
Hi,
I had an unusual request from a client the other week and I thought
I'd share it with you. Basically, the client had had a very tough
life and wanted me to write a poem, as if from God, to the client.
For obvious reasons, the client's identity will remain anonymous,
but the message that the gift contains is a strong one.
So, if you're having a bad day, or are feeling a little sorry for
yourself, or looking for a little inspiration, then please read on..
Within
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, I'm sorry, of course you can.
So, I'd like to begin with an apology,
it appears yours has been one tough plan.
I'm sorry, but it really had to be that way,
because everyone has my greatness within,
and I needed to bring out the best in you and
to all explain that, where on Earth can I begin?
I suppose I should start with your father,
he was a tragic case, for me, truly, a lost cause,
you see, some never rise to the challenges I set,
some never get to see my final round of applause.
So, don't take to heart his inconsiderate actions,
he had his demons who in the end, won his day,
and there is NOTHING you could have done to change it,
I repeat; nothing you could do, nothing you could say.
To be honest, your mother was really no better, so,
I gave you the very toughest start on planet Earth,
you see, I wanted to explore your character, yes,
I wanted to see your true and honest worth.
Right now, it may seem like a cruel and callous trick,
but trust me, you will see the logic at the very end,
because you learned early to find the power within, yes,
at the end of the day, "within" is your only trusted friend.
But your 'within' has attracted the worst of thoughts,
I understand and yes, you do really have every excuse,
because from an early age, even in my trusted church,
you have suffered, the very worse kind of tragic abuse.
So, those suicidal thoughts are really quite natural,
but please hear me, let them in and then let them go,
because you have so much to look forward to, yes,
your future will one day be golden and yes, I know.
At the moment, I have had to de-clutter your life,
so, no job, the wheelchair, the battle for what's right,
and you're losing all those around you, your loved ones,
so, all you're left with is your 'within', your Almighty might.
Look, if you don't believe me, please read your Bible,
and look at the struggles I have placed in front of many,
Acts 14:22 tells you how to enter the kingdom of God, so,
if you're looking for sympathy, I'm sorry, I don't have any.
Because just as the butterfly has to break the cocoon,
you humans have to break the shackles of your mind,
go on, start exploring, it's a big Universe out there, look!
Look at the stars, contemplate, go and see what you find.
Of course, you will have companions on your journey,
but to be honest, they have been with you, all along,
and if you listen very carefully to your within, well,
you will hear angels and more in every blackbird's song.
My friend, there is hope. You have me. You have Within,
and I can't think of a river that has a mightier course,
I love you. You are not alone. I am within. I am your within.
Go on, see the light and joy in every day. Go on, feel the force.
Copyright Allen Jesson :) 2009
www.agiftofpoetry.com
May the force be with you. Please feel free to forward to friends
and family.
All the very best,
Allen Jesson
www.agiftofpoetry.com
A Gift From The Heart (and sometimes, God)
I had an unusual request from a client the other week and I thought
I'd share it with you. Basically, the client had had a very tough
life and wanted me to write a poem, as if from God, to the client.
For obvious reasons, the client's identity will remain anonymous,
but the message that the gift contains is a strong one.
So, if you're having a bad day, or are feeling a little sorry for
yourself, or looking for a little inspiration, then please read on..
Within
Hello, can you hear me?
Yes, I'm sorry, of course you can.
So, I'd like to begin with an apology,
it appears yours has been one tough plan.
I'm sorry, but it really had to be that way,
because everyone has my greatness within,
and I needed to bring out the best in you and
to all explain that, where on Earth can I begin?
I suppose I should start with your father,
he was a tragic case, for me, truly, a lost cause,
you see, some never rise to the challenges I set,
some never get to see my final round of applause.
So, don't take to heart his inconsiderate actions,
he had his demons who in the end, won his day,
and there is NOTHING you could have done to change it,
I repeat; nothing you could do, nothing you could say.
To be honest, your mother was really no better, so,
I gave you the very toughest start on planet Earth,
you see, I wanted to explore your character, yes,
I wanted to see your true and honest worth.
Right now, it may seem like a cruel and callous trick,
but trust me, you will see the logic at the very end,
because you learned early to find the power within, yes,
at the end of the day, "within" is your only trusted friend.
But your 'within' has attracted the worst of thoughts,
I understand and yes, you do really have every excuse,
because from an early age, even in my trusted church,
you have suffered, the very worse kind of tragic abuse.
So, those suicidal thoughts are really quite natural,
but please hear me, let them in and then let them go,
because you have so much to look forward to, yes,
your future will one day be golden and yes, I know.
At the moment, I have had to de-clutter your life,
so, no job, the wheelchair, the battle for what's right,
and you're losing all those around you, your loved ones,
so, all you're left with is your 'within', your Almighty might.
Look, if you don't believe me, please read your Bible,
and look at the struggles I have placed in front of many,
Acts 14:22 tells you how to enter the kingdom of God, so,
if you're looking for sympathy, I'm sorry, I don't have any.
Because just as the butterfly has to break the cocoon,
you humans have to break the shackles of your mind,
go on, start exploring, it's a big Universe out there, look!
Look at the stars, contemplate, go and see what you find.
Of course, you will have companions on your journey,
but to be honest, they have been with you, all along,
and if you listen very carefully to your within, well,
you will hear angels and more in every blackbird's song.
My friend, there is hope. You have me. You have Within,
and I can't think of a river that has a mightier course,
I love you. You are not alone. I am within. I am your within.
Go on, see the light and joy in every day. Go on, feel the force.
Copyright Allen Jesson :) 2009
www.agiftofpoetry.com
May the force be with you. Please feel free to forward to friends
and family.
All the very best,
Allen Jesson
www.agiftofpoetry.com
A Gift From The Heart (and sometimes, God)
Thursday, October 22, 2009
Crossroads Mall, OKC... now owned by you and I, so let's move in??
OKLAHOMA CITY (Reuters) - A $29 billion trail from the Federal Reserve's bailout of Wall Street investment bank Bear Stearns ends in a partially deserted shopping center on a bleak spot on the south side of Oklahoma City.
The Fed now owns the Crossroads Mall, a sprawling shopping complex at the junction of Interstate highways 244 and 35, complete with an oil well pumping crude in the parking lot -- except the Fed does not own the mineral rights.
The Fed finds itself in the unusual situation of being an Oklahoma City landlord after it lent JPMorgan Chase $29 billion to buy Bear Stearns last year.
That money was secured by a portfolio of Bear assets. Crossroads Mall is the only bricks and mortar acquired through bailout. The remaining billions are tied up in invisible securities spread across hundreds, if not thousands, of properties.
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
The Grating Communicator
by Ann Coulter
10/21/2009
The Obama administration has attacked Fox News in order to prevent government corruption stories broken on Fox from bleeding into the other media, which are all-consumed with daily updates on Levi Johnston's Playgirl spread and Carrie Prejean's breast implants.
That's understandable. But I think the administration should have picked someone other than David Axelrod to deliver the claim that Fox News is "not really news," inasmuch as Axelrod was behind the leak of scurrilous allegations in Jack Ryan's sealed divorce papers when he was running for a Senate seat against Obama. Talk about vicious personal gossip.
Now that Fox has been branded an untouchable, the teacher's-pet media are jubilant.
In Newsweek, Jacob Weisberg wrote a column saying liberals should refuse to appear on Fox News, pointedly concluding, "And no, I don't want to come on 'The O'Reilly Factor' to discuss it." Considering that Weisberg is a 107-pound weasel with a speech impediment, this is on the order of Weisberg's announcing that he's not interested in appearing in the next "Ocean's Eleven" movie with George Clooney.
The strangest thing about all the invective against Fox is that it is happening in a world that contains MSNBC. At least Fox News primetime hosts, and many of their guests, know something about politics. MSNBC's primetime lineup presents an array of people who sound like earnest college kids who just walked up to a Common Cause table, and the sum-total of what they know about politics is what they read in the brochures.
In the past week, both Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have rolled out the Willie Horton ad, claiming that it marked the beginning of vicious personal attacks in politics, as opposed to what it was: The most devastatingly relevant campaign commercial in all of American history.
You can always astonish college kids by telling them the true story of Willie Horton. Among the jaw-dropping facts are:
-- In the '80s, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a prison furlough policy had to be extended to convicted murderers, who were ineligible for parole.
-- Even the Massachusetts Legislature, which contained about three Republicans, realized this was insane, and quickly passed a bill excluding first-degree murderers from the weekend furlough program. But in a desperate bid for the ACLU's Brain-Dead Liberal of the Year Award, Gov. Michael Dukakis vetoed the bill.
-- Horton, who was later released under this program, was in prison for carving up a teenager at a gas station and then stuffing his body into a garbage can. (He had already been convicted of attempted murder in South Carolina -- through no fault of his own, the victim survived.)
-- Even after Horton used his Dukakis-granted furlough to rape and torture a Maryland couple in their home for 12 straight hours, the Greek homunculus issued a statement reaffirming his strong support for furloughing murderers.
-- The Bush campaign commercial about Dukakis' furlough program never showed a picture of Horton. In fact, the actors playing "criminals" passing through a revolving door in the ad were all white.
-- Voters considered it relevant that a candidate for president was so beholden to the ACLU that he backed an idiotic furlough program that released first-degree murderers.
Every informed student of the 1988 campaign knows that the Bush ad didn't show Horton's picture. And yet in Keith's discussion of Bush's allegedly vile, racist use of Willie Horton, he used a phony version of the ad, doctored to include a photo of Horton.
I don't blame Keith personally for this blatant distortion: He gets all his research material from Markos Moulitsas and other left-wing bloggers, so he can't be held responsible for the content of his show. Keith's principal contribution to the program is his nightly display of self-congratulation and pomposity.
Remember, Keith, like his MSNBC colleague Contessa Brewer, majored in "communications" in college, not a research-related field, such as political science. In his coursework, he learned such skills as: Dramatically Turning to Camera, Hysterical Self-Righteousness, Pausing Portentously and Gravely Demanding Apologies/Resignations From Various Public Figures.
Given this background, it's understandable that Keith will make errors. As viewers witnessed recently, he can't even pronounce the name of prominent American economist and philosopher, Thomas Sowell. (Although he did spend three weeks at a Berlitz course in Arabic honing his pronunciation of "Abu Ghraib" to razor-sharp prissiness.)
The bloggers and Keith bring different skill sets to the game. They provide the tendentious half-truths, phony opinion polls and spurious social science, while Keith provides his booming baritone, gigantic "Guys and Dolls" suits and gift for ridiculous, fustian grandiloquence. Keith is far better equipped than, say, the pint-sized, girly-voiced, Frito Bandito-accented Markos Moulitsas to deliver the party line.
But here's the fly in the ointment: Keith has once again been victimized by left-wing blogs into thinking that the 1988 Bush ad showed Willie Horton's picture, when in fact, Horton's race was deliberately scrubbed from the ad.
by Ann Coulter
10/21/2009
The Obama administration has attacked Fox News in order to prevent government corruption stories broken on Fox from bleeding into the other media, which are all-consumed with daily updates on Levi Johnston's Playgirl spread and Carrie Prejean's breast implants.
That's understandable. But I think the administration should have picked someone other than David Axelrod to deliver the claim that Fox News is "not really news," inasmuch as Axelrod was behind the leak of scurrilous allegations in Jack Ryan's sealed divorce papers when he was running for a Senate seat against Obama. Talk about vicious personal gossip.
Now that Fox has been branded an untouchable, the teacher's-pet media are jubilant.
In Newsweek, Jacob Weisberg wrote a column saying liberals should refuse to appear on Fox News, pointedly concluding, "And no, I don't want to come on 'The O'Reilly Factor' to discuss it." Considering that Weisberg is a 107-pound weasel with a speech impediment, this is on the order of Weisberg's announcing that he's not interested in appearing in the next "Ocean's Eleven" movie with George Clooney.
The strangest thing about all the invective against Fox is that it is happening in a world that contains MSNBC. At least Fox News primetime hosts, and many of their guests, know something about politics. MSNBC's primetime lineup presents an array of people who sound like earnest college kids who just walked up to a Common Cause table, and the sum-total of what they know about politics is what they read in the brochures.
In the past week, both Chris Matthews and Keith Olbermann have rolled out the Willie Horton ad, claiming that it marked the beginning of vicious personal attacks in politics, as opposed to what it was: The most devastatingly relevant campaign commercial in all of American history.
You can always astonish college kids by telling them the true story of Willie Horton. Among the jaw-dropping facts are:
-- In the '80s, the Massachusetts Supreme Court ruled that a prison furlough policy had to be extended to convicted murderers, who were ineligible for parole.
-- Even the Massachusetts Legislature, which contained about three Republicans, realized this was insane, and quickly passed a bill excluding first-degree murderers from the weekend furlough program. But in a desperate bid for the ACLU's Brain-Dead Liberal of the Year Award, Gov. Michael Dukakis vetoed the bill.
-- Horton, who was later released under this program, was in prison for carving up a teenager at a gas station and then stuffing his body into a garbage can. (He had already been convicted of attempted murder in South Carolina -- through no fault of his own, the victim survived.)
-- Even after Horton used his Dukakis-granted furlough to rape and torture a Maryland couple in their home for 12 straight hours, the Greek homunculus issued a statement reaffirming his strong support for furloughing murderers.
-- The Bush campaign commercial about Dukakis' furlough program never showed a picture of Horton. In fact, the actors playing "criminals" passing through a revolving door in the ad were all white.
-- Voters considered it relevant that a candidate for president was so beholden to the ACLU that he backed an idiotic furlough program that released first-degree murderers.
Every informed student of the 1988 campaign knows that the Bush ad didn't show Horton's picture. And yet in Keith's discussion of Bush's allegedly vile, racist use of Willie Horton, he used a phony version of the ad, doctored to include a photo of Horton.
I don't blame Keith personally for this blatant distortion: He gets all his research material from Markos Moulitsas and other left-wing bloggers, so he can't be held responsible for the content of his show. Keith's principal contribution to the program is his nightly display of self-congratulation and pomposity.
Remember, Keith, like his MSNBC colleague Contessa Brewer, majored in "communications" in college, not a research-related field, such as political science. In his coursework, he learned such skills as: Dramatically Turning to Camera, Hysterical Self-Righteousness, Pausing Portentously and Gravely Demanding Apologies/Resignations From Various Public Figures.
Given this background, it's understandable that Keith will make errors. As viewers witnessed recently, he can't even pronounce the name of prominent American economist and philosopher, Thomas Sowell. (Although he did spend three weeks at a Berlitz course in Arabic honing his pronunciation of "Abu Ghraib" to razor-sharp prissiness.)
The bloggers and Keith bring different skill sets to the game. They provide the tendentious half-truths, phony opinion polls and spurious social science, while Keith provides his booming baritone, gigantic "Guys and Dolls" suits and gift for ridiculous, fustian grandiloquence. Keith is far better equipped than, say, the pint-sized, girly-voiced, Frito Bandito-accented Markos Moulitsas to deliver the party line.
But here's the fly in the ointment: Keith has once again been victimized by left-wing blogs into thinking that the 1988 Bush ad showed Willie Horton's picture, when in fact, Horton's race was deliberately scrubbed from the ad.
Brodie Myers
For those of you following Brodie Myers, a 3rd grade student at Westwood Elementary who was a semi-finalist for the Today's Show Kid Reporter, I wanted to let you know that he won!!!! He will now go back to New York for the finals! Thank you to all of you for your support and encouraging words for Brodie and his family!!!!! Jill Metzger, Principal Westwood Elementary 502 S Kings Stillwater, OK 74074 405-533-6370
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Madison Ann.... first Moffat flu victim... hopefully the last...
From Ann to me just now....
Maddie is home with the flu, they put her on the tramaflu or whatever and sent her home to get better. So they may not be able to make this weekend for Kaitlyn's birthday, she was really upset about that. She just started running a fever last night, will have to see how she does in the next couple of days.
To our family... Maybe won't be too sick, anyway, just remember to wash your hands and don't let people cough all over you.
remember... 5 days after fever goes to normal is the time to stay away from others...
Maddie is home with the flu, they put her on the tramaflu or whatever and sent her home to get better. So they may not be able to make this weekend for Kaitlyn's birthday, she was really upset about that. She just started running a fever last night, will have to see how she does in the next couple of days.
To our family... Maybe won't be too sick, anyway, just remember to wash your hands and don't let people cough all over you.
remember... 5 days after fever goes to normal is the time to stay away from others...
This is regarding our old neighbors to the east... used to buy feed from us...
This is what I know relayed from Pam Cartmell
Hello all....
I just spoke with Rocky (Malinda's mother). Malinda is in the end stages of her battle. Greg has taken her back to Tulsa because she did not want to pass away at home. They have said she only has a matter of days now. They have increased her pain medication and she is not responsive. Rocky said that the kids were supposed to come and visit tonight.
I'm writing this with a heavy heart and I know you have one as you are reading this. However, Malinda's faith is what has allowed her to fight as long as she has and has earned her a place in God's beautiful kingdom. It will be our faith that will take us forward in our lives and to heal. I ask that you pray now for all of Malinda's family as they prepare for this transition.
I will let you know of any more news that I hear.
Love in Christ,
Pam
I just spoke with Rocky (Malinda's mother). Malinda is in the end stages of her battle. Greg has taken her back to Tulsa because she did not want to pass away at home. They have said she only has a matter of days now. They have increased her pain medication and she is not responsive. Rocky said that the kids were supposed to come and visit tonight.
I'm writing this with a heavy heart and I know you have one as you are reading this. However, Malinda's faith is what has allowed her to fight as long as she has and has earned her a place in God's beautiful kingdom. It will be our faith that will take us forward in our lives and to heal. I ask that you pray now for all of Malinda's family as they prepare for this transition.
I will let you know of any more news that I hear.
Love in Christ,
Pam
Monday, October 19, 2009
hehe from Heather...
HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!
Two brooms were hanging in the closet and after a while they got to know each other so well, they decided to get married.
One broom was, of course, the bride broom, the other the groom broom.
The bride broom looked very beautiful in her white dress. The groom broom was handsome and suave in his tuxedo. The wedding was lovely.
After the wedding, at the wedding dinner, the bride-broom leaned over and said to the groom-broom, 'I think I am going to have a little whisk broom!'
'IMPOSSIBLE !' said the groom broom.
Are you ready for this?
'WE HAVEN'T EVEN SWEPT TOGETHER!'
........................
..............
Oh for goodness sake...Laugh, or at least groan.
Life's too short.
Vote Brodie....
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
To vote again, text your choice of #2, to 622639. Standard text messaging rates apply and voting ends on Tuesday, October 20 at 5pm EST.
you can log in here on computer to see the main page and find out more...
If you download music and like Lyle Lovett... here is a link to buy the new album
Lyle Lovett - 'Natural Forces" new record comes out today.
You can purchase the entire CD for 3.99 today at
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Forces/dp/B002SDSDEW/ref=dm_tw_lyle_lovett#productPromotions
enjoy!
This record rocks.. you can preview it before buying but it's only at this price for 24 hours, not sure how much longer.. shhhhh don't tell Ann I bought it.. she will kill me.. haha....
You can purchase the entire CD for 3.99 today at
http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Forces/dp/B002SDSDEW/ref=dm_tw_lyle_lovett#productPromotions
enjoy!
This record rocks.. you can preview it before buying but it's only at this price for 24 hours, not sure how much longer.. shhhhh don't tell Ann I bought it.. she will kill me.. haha....
From my friend Ragan comes this review of the movie "Where the Wild Things Are"
Best little blurb to describe the best movie of the year (for me) "Where the Wild Things Are":
"It’s not a kid’s movie. It’s not a movie for kids. It’s a movie made from the mindset of a child. We’re not ever going to truly know the impact of this film, because it’s near impossible to understand the child’s mind. They think every is OK, awesome, or boring, and most can’t articulate beyond that. And if you’re sitting there thinking my kid is different it probably means you’ve fed them some answer to the question. The lessons learned are subtle and almost not worth stating … Don’t bite your mom, you can’t make everyone happy, be sorry for being mean. We know these things. Maybe kids need to hear them. A book that didn’t have much to say (it’s nine sentences long) might just be a movie that could speak volumes."
"It’s not a kid’s movie. It’s not a movie for kids. It’s a movie made from the mindset of a child. We’re not ever going to truly know the impact of this film, because it’s near impossible to understand the child’s mind. They think every is OK, awesome, or boring, and most can’t articulate beyond that. And if you’re sitting there thinking my kid is different it probably means you’ve fed them some answer to the question. The lessons learned are subtle and almost not worth stating … Don’t bite your mom, you can’t make everyone happy, be sorry for being mean. We know these things. Maybe kids need to hear them. A book that didn’t have much to say (it’s nine sentences long) might just be a movie that could speak volumes."
Richard and I went to school together.. a year or two ago.. haha
Time-tested tradition continues for Perkins family
Watchmakers have been in business 61 years, still love work
Comments 
0
BY AMANDA O'TOOLEPublished: October 19, 2009
PERKINS — Richard Coate works behind magnified lenses at his worn wooden desk, wielding a tiny magnetic tool inside the guts of a dainty watch face. Pieces of other watches scatter the desk’s surface, sacrificed for their spare parts.
MULTIMEDIA
PHOTOview all photos
The vanishing trade of watchmaking is a Coate family tradition.
Richard Coate shares his workspace with his father, Burt Coate, and some of the tools he uses belonged to his late grandfather, Omer Coate.
He works in the shop his father opened on Perkins’ Main Street in 1958, where the younger Coate started helping out when he was in high school. The family business started 10 years earlier in the house next door, where Richard and his four sisters grew up.
Of all of his siblings and all their children, Richard Coate, 55, is the only one who has picked up the trade.
"It’s a sense of pride that we can do a service that not everyone can do,” he said.
Watching history
Their shared passion for fixing watches is evident in how the men talk about their work."When you open a watch, it’s like you’re opening a door to a room you’ve never been in,” Burt Coate, 85, said. "You know it’s going to have furniture, but every room looks different.”
Sometimes he ponders the journey each watch has taken, especially pocket watches, he said.
Burt Coate comes to the shop less and less as the years go on, but father and son still have coffee each day, and Richard Coate still seeks advice when a hard fix has him stumped.
The best lesson he’s learned from his father is to know when to walk away, Richard Coate said.
"When his father comes here and works on a watch, it’s like extra training for Richard,” Janice Coate, Richard’s wife, said. "(Burt) has had a little bit more experience than him.”
Richard and Janice Coate bought the business in 1998. They service watches from all over the state, a practice Burt Coate started in the 1970s.
A vanishing trade
Richard Coate trained at Oklahoma State University-Okmulgee, which continues to be one of a handful of schools in the country to teach watchmaking.The school, which teaches the prestigious Swiss American Watchmakers Training Alliance curriculum, enrolls a maximum of 12 students each year, said Jason Champion, one of the two faculty members who teach watchmaking at the institute.
Although the cell phone has reduced watches’ importance, he said heirloom timepieces are still being passed among families, and high quality watches still need regular service.
"It’s kind of interesting to be able to take a watch that may not be running and bringing it back to life,” he said. "We have to be in some instances a psychiatrist, in other in-stances a mechanic and at other times, an artist. It’s a very illustrious craft where you can combine different arts into one skill.”
He estimated the demand for professional watchmakers is 400 percent above the number of people learning the trade at a time when many people are preparing to exit the workforce.
"There’s not very many people in (the watchmaking profession) right now, and most of them who are doing it are in their 60s,” Champion said. "There’s a lot of information that people have got in terms of vintage timepieces and vintage brands, and a lot of skill sets that are not being passed down from generation to generation.”
Richard Coate is hoping that although watchmaking skipped a generation in his family, his 7- and 8-year-old granddaughters will take a deeper interest in the field.
They come to the shop from time to time and rubber stamp the company envelopes with the store’s mailing address.
"They’re amazed what their Papa works on,” Janice Coate said.
She said Richard Coate plans to run the family business for several years before passing Burt’s Jewelry to one of his daughters.
Although she’s unsure whether the store will always offer watch repair, the important thing is that the store stays in the family.
"I really don’t know how long the watch repair trade will last,” she said.
Read more: http://newsok.com/perkins-family-continues-tradition/article/3410261?custom_click=lead_story_title#ixzz0UOdFd7Ay
Oklahoma Bears
Oklahoma Dept of Wildlife says 16 bears have been harvested this year to date in Oklahoma's Bear Season and it is still open...
www.wildlifedepartment.com/bearquota.htm
www.wildlifedepartment.com/bearquota.htm
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Joe knows... go get'em Joe... shame more don't have steel ones as well...
Ariz. sheriff launches immigration sweep
SURPRISE, Ariz. — An Arizona sheriff known for cracking down on people who are in the country illegally launched a crime and immigration sweep in northwestern metro Phoenix on Friday, a half day after officials in Washington limited his powers to make federal immigration arrests.
Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio, whose sweeps have led to allegations of racial profiling, said the rebuff from Washington won't stop him. He said he can still arrest immigrants under a state smuggling law and a federal law that gives all local police agencies more limited power to detain suspected illegal immigrants.
"It doesn't bother me, because we are going to do the same thing," said Arpaio, whose deputies had arrested 16 people by Friday evening on unspecified charges. "I am the elected sheriff. I don't take orders from the federal government."
The officers were participating in a federal program that grants a limited number of local police departments special powers to make immigration arrests and speed up deportation. U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement stripped Arpaio of his power to let 100 deputies make federal immigration arrests, but renewed another agreement that allows 60 jails officers to determine the immigration status of people in jail.
The sheriff's sweeps in some heavily Latino areas of metro Phoenix have drawn criticism that Arpaio's deputies racially profile people. Arpaio said people pulled over in the sweeps were approached because deputies had probable cause to believe they had committed crimes and that it was only afterward that deputies found many of them were illegal immigrants.
The U.S. Department of Justice is investigating Arpaio's office over allegations of discrimination and unconstitutional searches and seizures.
"He is doing this to thumb his nose at the Obama administration," said Lydia Guzman, president of the Hispanic civil rights group Somos America.
The sweeps have discouraged some Hispanics who have witnessed or been victims of crime to refuse to call Arpaio's deputies, for fear of mistreatment, Guzman said.
Observers who are part of Guzman's group fanned out across the area of the sweeps with video cameras to record exchanges between deputies and motorists.
Arpaio said volunteers will use cameras owned by his agency to video-record deputies so viewers can see for themselves that they weren't doing anything wrong. Arpaio responded angrily to a question during a news conference about the costs of the cameras, saying they were paid through seizures in drug cases. "Dope peddlers bought the cameras," Arpaio said.
A dozen anti-Arpaio protesters yelled throughout the news conference. At one point, they chanted: "Order equals K-K-K — here's what Arpaio has to say."
Kris Kobach, a law professor at the University of Missouri at Kansas City and an advocate of expanding local immigration efforts, said Arpaio's office — like every other local police agency — can detain people suspected of immigration violations for a day or two until federal authorities come to pick them up.
In the past, Arpaio could have held such immigrants for longer than two days and conducted investigations of smuggling rings, Kobach said.
"It's really a slight narrowing, but it's not much," said Kobach, who worked as an immigration law adviser to then-U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft from 2001-2003.
Dan Pochoda, legal director for the American Civil Liberties Union, which is representing people who filed a lawsuit over the sweeps, said Arpaio still can't pull over motorists solely because they are suspected of being illegal immigrants.
"He can't do it under the terms he is claiming. He has indicated that he can stop people without the suspicion, based on what they look like, what they sound like," Pochoda said.
Arpaio said the Bush administration had no complaints about his use of the special federal powers, but all that has changed with the Obama administration.
"What's changed?" Arpaio asked. "Politics has changed, because they don't like us going on the streets to catch illegals."
This round of sweep, Arpaio's 12th, is set to end late Saturday.
On the Net:
- Maricopa County Sheriff's Office: http://www.mcso.org/
Saturday, October 17, 2009
Some things just make us sooooo proud...
Brawl damages Cowboy Travel Plaza
A group of about 30 people caused damage to the Cowboy Travel Plaza at the intersection of Interstate 35 and State Highway 51 after a fight broke out early Friday morning, Payne County Sheriff R.B. Hauf said.
Here comes homecoming
Thrills, chills at Walkaround
Darla SlipkeEveryone and everything — from strollers and wagons, to dogs and kids, to trees and buildings — were decked out in black and orange Friday night during Walkaround at Oklahoma State.
Thousands flooded the streets, sidewalks and lawns surrounding Greek houses and residence halls starting at 6 p.m. to view giant lawn displays set up in front of sororities and fraternities. As darkness set in and the night wore on, the crowd grew larger until there was room to do little more than shuffle from one display to the next. Music pumped through the air and vendors lined the streets selling giant drumsticks, caramel apples, hot cocoa and more.
Walkaround is one of the university’s biggest and most beloved homecoming traditions. Sorority and fraternity members and dorm residents spend hundreds of hours each year designing and welding display decks and then stuffing colored tissue through wire, or pomping, to create giant interactive displays. This year’s theme was “Branded for Life.”
Displays featured images like Bullet riding into the sunset, a scrolling scoreboard where Missouri was constantly playing catch-up with points, and Pistol Pete holding a branding iron to a tiger cub. Many of them had moving features, and one had a carnival set up behind the display.
Inside the carnival, children enjoyed a variety of attractions, like a mechanical bull, inflatable slides and more.
Reed Stallsmith, 10, and his brother argued about who won an inflatable obstacle course competition called The Rat Race. Each one insisted that he had defeated the other.
“I think it was a tie,” their dad, Jay Stallsmith, said.
He and his wife attended Oklahoma State. They live in Bixby now, but they enjoy bringing their kids back to Stillwater for homecoming festivities.
Bailey Thompson and her mom, Ann, toured the displays together with a friend. Bailey is a sophomore at OSU. She was a member of a sorority last year and helped with a Walkaround display.
Thompson said it was fun to be on the other side of Walkaround this year as a visitor.
“You don’t have circles under your eyes,” her mom teased.
OSU freshman Avesta Ehsan, a pledge for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, sat in a white wicker chair outside the fraternity house just before sunset and watched people walk by.
He hadn’t slept in more than 24 hours because the fraternity spent all night pomping. Ehsan said it felt like a waste of time while they were working, but once they finished he was proud at what they had accomplished.
Stillwater residents Dale and Malinda Shipley grew up in Stillwater and remember coming to Walkaround when they were kids.
Dale Shipley said it was fun to run into old friends. Malinda Shipley said the displays and the art keep getting better.
“It just seems like it changes every year,” she said. “I love it. I want my kids to grow up enjoying it, too.”
On Friday, she and her husband walked around with one of their sons while their other kids enjoyed the festivities on their own.
Walkaround is also a family affair for Judy and Roy Lindsey of Cordell.
They attended OSU, and so did their three sons and two daughters-in-law. Judy Lindsey said they come for Walkaround almost every year.
“It’s a tradition that seems to get better every year,” she said.
Thousands flooded the streets, sidewalks and lawns surrounding Greek houses and residence halls starting at 6 p.m. to view giant lawn displays set up in front of sororities and fraternities. As darkness set in and the night wore on, the crowd grew larger until there was room to do little more than shuffle from one display to the next. Music pumped through the air and vendors lined the streets selling giant drumsticks, caramel apples, hot cocoa and more.
Walkaround is one of the university’s biggest and most beloved homecoming traditions. Sorority and fraternity members and dorm residents spend hundreds of hours each year designing and welding display decks and then stuffing colored tissue through wire, or pomping, to create giant interactive displays. This year’s theme was “Branded for Life.”
Displays featured images like Bullet riding into the sunset, a scrolling scoreboard where Missouri was constantly playing catch-up with points, and Pistol Pete holding a branding iron to a tiger cub. Many of them had moving features, and one had a carnival set up behind the display.
Inside the carnival, children enjoyed a variety of attractions, like a mechanical bull, inflatable slides and more.
Reed Stallsmith, 10, and his brother argued about who won an inflatable obstacle course competition called The Rat Race. Each one insisted that he had defeated the other.
“I think it was a tie,” their dad, Jay Stallsmith, said.
He and his wife attended Oklahoma State. They live in Bixby now, but they enjoy bringing their kids back to Stillwater for homecoming festivities.
Bailey Thompson and her mom, Ann, toured the displays together with a friend. Bailey is a sophomore at OSU. She was a member of a sorority last year and helped with a Walkaround display.
Thompson said it was fun to be on the other side of Walkaround this year as a visitor.
“You don’t have circles under your eyes,” her mom teased.
OSU freshman Avesta Ehsan, a pledge for Sigma Alpha Epsilon, sat in a white wicker chair outside the fraternity house just before sunset and watched people walk by.
He hadn’t slept in more than 24 hours because the fraternity spent all night pomping. Ehsan said it felt like a waste of time while they were working, but once they finished he was proud at what they had accomplished.
Stillwater residents Dale and Malinda Shipley grew up in Stillwater and remember coming to Walkaround when they were kids.
Dale Shipley said it was fun to run into old friends. Malinda Shipley said the displays and the art keep getting better.
“It just seems like it changes every year,” she said. “I love it. I want my kids to grow up enjoying it, too.”
On Friday, she and her husband walked around with one of their sons while their other kids enjoyed the festivities on their own.
Walkaround is also a family affair for Judy and Roy Lindsey of Cordell.
They attended OSU, and so did their three sons and two daughters-in-law. Judy Lindsey said they come for Walkaround almost every year.
“It’s a tradition that seems to get better every year,” she said.
Friday, October 16, 2009
Ok... now here ya go... we don't want you to spend it all in one place... haha...
President Barack Obama called on Congress Wednesday to approve a $250.00 payment to more than 50 million seniors to make up for no increase in Social Security next year.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Gosh Mr. President - can the country afford it? I mean think what a senior with all that cash in his or her pocket might do with it.. I mean wow.. 250 wow.. now that's alot with you spending trillions everyday... to give so much to the old folks you are wanting to kill off anyway...
Let's see...
If you tried hard, you could spend this on dinner with your life's partner at the Eagles Nest in OKC... or you could buy two tires for your car, or get it serviced, or by 8 bags of grub, or buy 5 100 dollar savings bonds to take with you when you die, or (in my case) pay 1/2 of your pill bill for one month so you can just live.... and if you rent this might pay a half or less months rent... or your electric for one month or might even buy you a winter coat, or put 4 tanks of gasoline in your car to stay warm this winter when you lose your home due to no job??? Now that 250 is a real stimulus!
We sure don't want to help too much. Got to much Important Stuff to do with all this printed money fresh off the press... no need to waste it on things that are of substance, right.
so in this country now, the cool belief has become...
Pro Life - keep babies - Pro Choice - kill seniors!
(cost effective, saves billions, less strain on system, society speeds up, more gets done, less old influence on youth, goodness, lots of pluses!)
some say it has a wonderful ring to it...
One thing missed... all those young voting for this healthcare bill, etc.. will someday and before long - be those seniors... !
but wait... where did they all go??? It is getting harder and harder to find someone who did... hummmmm
FOXNEWSPOLL: 43 Percent Would Vote To Re-Elect President Obama... http://tinyurl.com/yf7luo6
Sounds like my old highschool... haha...
At One High School, 115 Girls Are Pregnant... http://tinyurl.com/yjxldqo
Thank God there are folks in America who stand up for their beliefs!
Thousands protest Obama in San Francisco... http://tinyurl.com/yjoz5x5
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