Thanks...

Thank you to Andrew and Madison for the card and to Austyn for the call to Grandma and I for Grandparents Day. Awesome you all thought of us! Thank you very much.

'If', by Rudyard Kipling

IF.....

IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster And treat those two impostors just the same; If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools, Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken, And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools: If you can make one heap of all your winnings And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss, And lose, and start again at your beginnings And never breathe a word about your loss; If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew To serve your turn long after they are gone, And so hold on when there is nothing in you Except the Will which says to them: 'Hold on!' If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue, ' Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch, if neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you, If all men count with you, but none too much; If you can fill the unforgiving minute With sixty seconds' worth of distance run, Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it, And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!

Tulsa-OKC rail link in plan
A hearing is set for Tuesday in Tulsa on Oklahoma's proposal for high-speed rail.

By GAVIN OFF World Data Editor
Published: 9/13/2009 2:28 AM
Last Modified: 9/13/2009 3:49 AM

Oklahoma's proposed plan for high-speed rail would link Tulsa to Oklahoma City via a new line north of the Turner Turnpike and could one day link the state with San Antonio and Chicago, according to Oklahoma's pre-application for federal high-speed rail funds.

The Oklahoma Department of Transportation's final application for high-speed rail stimulus money is due Oct. 2.

But before next month's deadline, the department is seeking resident input and will hold two public meetings in which state officials will present the plan and answer questions.

The first meeting will take place Monday in Oklahoma City. The second is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Tulsa's Central Library, 400 Civic Center.

"It really helps us in terms of showing that as part of the application process, the public was involved, the public was behind us," said Kenna Mitchell, ODOT spokeswoman.

Mitchell said officials with ODOT's rail division and environmental evaluation division will join an environmental consultant to help lead Tuesday's meeting.

According to Oklahoma's pre-application, the proposed plan would improve the current Heartland Flyer line between Oklahoma City and Texas and develop the new 150 mph link to Tulsa.

"This is our vision for high-speed rail," Mitchell said. "This is what we could do if we were to receive part of this funding."

In all, the federal government has made $8 billion in high-speed rail funds available through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.

The

estimated cost of Oklahoma's project is $2 billion and includes the cost of buying rail cars even though a third party, such as Amtrak, would likely operate the trains.

Mitchell said ODOT's case is unique in that it could provide a link between the country's South Central rail corridor and the Chicago Hub Network via St. Louis.

"We could be a very viable link between regions," Mitchell said.

Residents have until Sept. 25 to submit comments on the plan. The department will include the comments with the plan's final application.

Those interested in commenting on the project should e-mail Johnson Bridgwater with ODOT's Rail Program Division at jbridgwater@odot.org.

Or people can send letters to: ODOT Rail Division; 200 N.E. 21st St., Room 3-D6; Oklahoma City, OK 73105.

Tens of thousands of people were protesting what they say is an ever-expanding intrusion of government in their lives.

http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/09/12/us/20090912-PROTEST_index.html

A sign portrayed President Barack Obama at a podium with the words "Parasite in Chief" on Saturday in Washington during a march and demonstration. Tens of thousands of people were protesting what they say is an ever-expanding intrusion of government in their lives.

Photo: Michael Reynolds/European Pressphoto Agency