Happy December Friday everyone! Hope you’re all well. Guess there’s some rain coming this weekend, possibly mixed with a little snow. Don’t forget to head to Walmart for toilet paper, milk, eggs, bread, and beer.
Actually, I don’t think it’s supposed to be that bad, but the way Mike “Happy Hands” Morgan was gleefully waving last night in front of a map showing snowfall possibilities…who knows? I’m glad to see a little precip fall. My allergies began kicking in yesterday after a few days of relatively nice weather. Or, maybe I’ve just managed to catch the cold the Wife has been dealing with for the past week. She’s been trudging around the house in pajamas with swollen eyes and two tissues stuck up her nostrils. Not a pretty sight. She has a horrible cough and a gravelly voice that screams Drill Instructor. “Do YOU know what YOU are? You’re a bug. YOU know what I do to bugs? I SMASH ‘em!”…(if you’ve ever been in the military, you know of what I speak). I envy Cousin Fred living in Hellkat One’s trailer. At least he’s quarantined there. I do my best to wash my hands constantly and avoid being breathed on. Eh well, hopefully it’s allergies…I’ll keep telling myself that. In case you’ve not made the connection, besides managing this blog full-time (it’s tough keeping you people entertained). I have a job with a local daily periodical that won’t allow me to mention that I work there. Guess they’re concerned that I’ll damage their standing in the community (rolling eyes skyward). My point in mentioning that is that this was a tough week at the local daily periodical that won’t allow me to mention I work there. I’ve managed to piss off two state agencies. And while that isn’t necessarily a bad thing, it does kind of bother me that they’re beginning to stack up against me. First, there was a column I printed about ODOT and the mess that they’ve made of state route 15 between the airport turnoff and Fargo. I know, I know, I’ve said a lot worse about ODOT and their ruthless gang of contractors in this blog, but they haven’t found the blog yet. I’m betting Her Royal Highness Mary of Fallin has had the state IT people block the blog as an enemy of the state. Good…friggin’ state employees should be doing some work anyway. So, after the column ran, I got a call one day on my phone at the place where I work, but can’t mention the name. The read-out on the caller ID said STATE OF OKLAHOMA. Egad! Gazooks! I just knew it was HRH informing me that she was sending a phalanx of pet state troopers to come haul my sorry ass off to a floating barge in the middle of the Red River where I would live a life of solitude without broadband or mobile phonage or Jack Daniels. O’ the horror! Turns out it was a couple of ODOTers from OKC informing me that they read my column and that there must be a misunderstanding? Huh? No, there wasn’t a misunderstanding at all. ODOT has screwed up SR15 to the point that no one understands what the hell they’re doing AND IT’S GETTING WORSE. They’ve extended their work zone (in which no actual work occurs) another two miles closer to Cosmic City. They’ve duct taped (I'm not kidding) over speed limit signs and have new, much reduced, speed limit signs lying on the ground. Idiots! It’s become a no-man’s land. But, I digress… Since that time, I get nearly weekly calls from ODOT asking if I have any questions. Oh, I have questions! Yesterday, ODOT calls…they’re blocking their caller ID now…clever since I stopped answering calls from STATE OF OKLAHOMA…to inform me that the new director for our ODOT district wanted to send a rebuttal to my column (of three weeks ago) to the local daily periodical that won’t allow me to mention that I work there. Rebuttal? Really? I would suggest alleged new director for this district get up from his chair there in Buffalo and drive down this way to see what his ruthless gang of contractors have done here. It’s a mess. And, here's the thing...the rebuttal indicated that they're going to SUSPEND work on the road over the winter months...I'm assuming they'll be leaving us with duct-taped road signs or signs lying on the ground! I wonder if the editor of the local daily periodical that won’t allow me to mention that I work there will let me publish a re-rebuttal of the rebuttal? I’ll work on that today. The point here is that they’re now apparently monitoring my every move. The ODOT caller also informed me that they read another article I wrote about driving in Oklahoma. She indicated that article was responsible journalism. Really? Maybe it’s time to start writing articles that are irresponsible journalism…the thought that I’m doing something that the state government likes kind of makes my skin crawl. But, wait there’s more. So, yesterday, after fielding the anonymous call from ODOT, I went in search of a spokesperson for Department of Corrections. Why would I do that, you ask? Guess what? They’re actually putting up a fence around the William S. Key Country Club…probably to keep us unwashed heathens away from their prisoners…er, membership. I’m thinking this is good news! I called to see if someone at DoC could arrange a meeting for me with country club management and maybe I can get a picture of the fence. I had been warned that the DoC media people can be a challenge to deal with. And, they were. Of course, if I was a DoC media people, I’d be in a perpetually bad mood too, I reckon. After growling at me over the phone about my humble request (Do YOU know what I do to reporters? I eat them for breakfast. YOU’RE a reporter! YOU’RE my breakfast!), the DoC media people said they’ll get back to me. They won’t, but now I have reason to keep calling them back (I just love the abuse). So there you have it…a typical day at the local daily periodical that won’t allow me to mention that I work there. Maybe next week I’ll go after the Oklahoma Department of Consumer Credit. Aren’t you glad you’re not me? Comments are closed.
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