27 Hats

Refiner’s Fire

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Mind if I smoke? I know what you’re thinking. Keep your shirt on; I’m not about light off a Camel, or even produce a vape from a hidden pocket. Keep your shirt on, and your steel toed boots, and your hard hat. Definitely keep your hard hat on.

Allow me to explain. Once upon a time, I was an auditor. I know, it sounds like a career that is exciting, alluring, even seductive. But, trust me, there is nothing seductive about sitting in front of an old style 10-key calculator for hours on end “footing” a big computer printout to see if it really adds up to what it says it adds up to. If you think that makes no sense, you are not alone, but it was 1990, computers were not to be trusted in the realm of automated accounting, and they paid young guys like me to try and validate what was true and what was not.

Getting out of the office was always a welcomed distraction. Accordingly, I looked with excitement at the opportunity to go “inventory” an oil refinery on the Texas Gulf Coast. A team of several twenty somethings like myself flew into Corpus Christi and went straight to the old Champlain refinery. Before we could enter the refinery and get to work, management at the facility required us to go thru a four hour safety training course. After the course was completed, we had our boots, our heavy tape measures, our clipboards, and our hard hats, complete with fancy little stickers saying we had been “safety training certified”. Oh, and we also knew where all the marked blue safety zones were inside the refinery, just in case there was a fire.

I was assigned to work with two veteran refinery employees, and out to the old truck we went for the start of a 36 hour marathon. This was when the fun began, at least for said veteran employees. Continue reading Refiner’s Fire →

Every Point on the Map, Man Cave

EPOTM: Carney, Oklahoma

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The learning curve was steep.  Our final cut isn’t where I’d like it to be.  But, our first documentation piece for Every Point on the Map has reached the “good enough” standard.  Now, we’re ready to share it with you.

We’re grateful to Assistant Volunteer Fire Chief Robbie Clark, and self-described “rookie” Micheal “June Bug” McCorkle for their time and thoughts.  And, we hope you enjoy this glimpse into the lives of two citizens of Carney, Oklahoma.

[kelly]

If you’d like to read more about Carney, check out THIS LINK written on Carney history from OSU.  To read demographics about the town, and other general information, here is the Wikipedia link.  And, here is a KOCO video of the tornado from last year.

For other Every Point on the Map posts, click here.

Every Point on the Map, Red Dirt Dives

Every Point OK Food: Ya-Ya’s in Carney, Oklahoma

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_DSC0015Julie Kennedy was wearing an orange and white Chevron print apron her grandmother had made her when she took our order for breakfast.  She welcomed us warmly, accommodated all our special requests, chatted about the restaurant and quickly went about her business.  It was Saturday morning, and Ya-Ya’s Place in Carney, Oklahoma was filling up fast.

It wasn’t long before our order came, and I must say, the food rivaled any breakfast cafe around the area.  The décor was managed with a sense of humor  The kitchen was clean, as was the bathroom.  And, we were checked on during our meal not too many times, and not too few.

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Julie’s husband and child were in one of the booths enjoying their own breakfast.  Her mother-in-law owns the business, and her sister-in-law was cooking that morning.  I think it’s safe to say the entire family is invested in making Ya-Ya’s succeed.  The locals appeared comfortable and were all cleaning their plates as the morning progressed. Continue reading Every Point OK Food: Ya-Ya’s in Carney, Oklahoma →

Every Point on the Map

EPOTM: Pilot Day

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The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly were all part of our pilot run to Carney, Oklahoma this past Saturday.

Rachel has some beautiful photos, we have some very special video footage, and we’re working diligently to honor the essence of our first “point” on the Oklahoma map.  While those pieces are being polished, however, we thought we’d share this little “behind the scenes” video about Pilot Day.  Enjoy!

[kelly] & Rachel Apple

27 Hats, Uncategorized

It was indeed

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2013-01-10 22.36.31It was 1986. It was a good year. Life was college, and college was life. Some time that year, college life seemed to become a bit too heavy to handle. Classes were hard, my body was tired, and homesickness began to settle in for the first time in a couple of years. It seemed as if Spring Break could not arrive quickly enough. I had endured the flu in the midst of a snowstorm and a torrent of exams just a few days earlier, and it felt like so much more.

As I drove the final leg of a four hundred mile journey home for the break, my trusty 73 Chevy developed a growing and increasingly troublesome vibration in the front end. Then, it happened. It seemed as if the entire front of the car exploded. Upon exiting the vehicle, I found out it threw a tread from the left front tire, denting both my fender and my spirit. And, to add insult to injury, the multi-piece product of American engineering intended to jack the car up did not have all the working pieces in place. I was stranded, indeed.

After briefly considering hitchhiking the final 60 miles home in that era before cell phones, I begrudgingly decided to drive on the flat tire rim until I found a country home surrounded by a fenced yard full of pit bulls and a house full of an even scarier man. But, he let me use his phone (a land line) to call my dad. Continue reading It was indeed →

Every Point on the Map

EPOTM: Doorbells Ringing; Mailboxes Bursting

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photo(1)As a family scientists, I’ve written for – and received, over 1.5 million dollars in federal funding to run theoretical or applied research.  Some scientists reach the hundreds of millions by the time they retire.  There are also, however, new scientists who are just starting their careers and dreaming of their first grant award…and that’s where I come in.

Standing in front of classrooms full of graduate students, I have painstakingly answered questions on what it takes to write a successful grant proposal.  And, during the budgeting information, I ALWAYS tell them this:  “Please…please for the love of all that you cherish, build in some breathing room.  No matter how detailed and accurately you think your budget has been prepared, you will run into surprises.  And, sometimes those surprises are costly.”

I had flashbacks to those classroom sessions when I opened our camera case this morning.  In the case was everything I had ordered and paid for.  One camera; some wires to connect to a computer; one battery.  Wait.  ONE battery?  Oh, this can’t be good…

A few minutes go by while I order a package of back-up batteries and a car charger.  We’re going to be miles from people and plug-ins.  We need a car charger.  I completed my order and went back to the camera case.

A tripod.  I need a tripod.  I KNEW I needed a tripod, but for some reason when I made my list of inventory and sat down to research prices and place all the orders, tripods just didn’t come up.  Cripes. Continue reading EPOTM: Doorbells Ringing; Mailboxes Bursting →

27 Hats

Metal, under tension.

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Revvin’ up your engine
Listen to her howlin’ roar
Metal under tension
Beggin’ you to touch and go

Highway to the Danger Zone
Ride into the Danger Zone*

“Maverick, call the ball…”.

Who remembers the mid 80’s era flick Top Gun? Who doesn’t remember Top Gun, at least those of us old enough to look that far into history? We had Maverick, the authority-resistant, trouble-making Navy pilot who took too many risks, rubbed too many leaders the wrong way, and ultimately saved the day. We had the tightly wound figureheads who gave Maverick way too much grace and leeway, and way too much responsibility. Just enough, however, to allow him to ultimately save the day.

I’ve never been much to push against the establishment, especially when I was just a wee lad, a teenager, back in the days of Top Gun popularity.

But, I have a confession to make. Featured hat number four of twenty-seven, save one, is not mine. Although currently in my possession, it belongs to my father. Hats one and two were inherited from my grandfathers. But hat four, I should not claim as my own. I’m not the Top Gun in our patriarchal clan. Not yet.

Proverbs 27:17 tells me “As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend.” I count my father as a friend.

Growing up, we never clashed, not really. All teenagers and their parents likely have moments of disagreement about how far “on the edge” the young ones should live, but I was more kindred spirit than wayward soul back in the day. It wasn’t until years of independence and living away that I would say I truly looked at some things differently that he. And yet, he sharpens me to this day. I hope I do the same for him.

Headin’ into twilight
Spreadin’ out her wings tonight
She got you jumpin’ off the deck
And shovin’ into overdrive

Highway to the Danger Zone
I’ll take you
Right into the Danger Zone

This is the part where it gets harder. My dad is dying. Those words are hard to say, but at the same time there is relief in the utterance. A host to cancer for almost two years now, he has struggled and endured treatments too harsh to wish for anyone. And he does it for someone other than himself. Early in his illness, we had a private bedside conversation where he talked of having lived a good life, some things important to him that he would like me to watch out for, and that he was ready to go whenever it was time.

In that vein, there are other parts of Proverbs 27 that are worth sharing here:

Verse 1: Don’t brag about tomorrow, since you don’t know what the day will bring.

Verse 3: A stone is heavy and sand is weighty, but the resentment caused by a fool is even heavier.

Verse 10: Never abandon a friend—either yours or your father’s.

Verse 12: A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.

Highway to the Danger Zone
I’m gonna take you
Right into the Danger Zone

Dad’s not headed into the danger zone. Quite the opposite. After this season of hardship is over, his peace and his place will be glorious, indeed. It will be my job to ensure that I lead my squadron to the same place going forward.

As iron sharpens iron,
so a friend sharpens a friend.

Thanks, Dad, for keeping the metal under tension. I promise to keep it sharp, and that of others as well.

And, thanks for the hat.

Roger. Maverick has the ball…

*Danger Zone lyrics by Kenny Loggins

Every Point on the Map

EPTOM: Varuca Salt We’re Not, But Maybe We Are…

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veruca-salt-2The cyclothymic process of rolling out our “Every Point on the Map” project is wearing me down.

To begin, we followed the Kickstarter suggestions to the letter.  They suggested we run our campaign for no longer than 30 days so as not to wear down those who might support the project.

Okay, well…we probably DID wear our friends down, but we got it done.

But then, there was the matter of the fine print.  The fine print which eluded me.  The fine print which was evidently on one of the several pages…of the several agreements…wherein I clicked the “Yes, I agree!” box.

Oh, the limits of what a person will click know NO bounds when they want something good to happen.

So, somewhere embedded in that fine print was this message:  You don’t get your money until 16 business days after you’ve completed your Kickstarter campaign.

Meh.  I have begun to identify with Varuca Salt in the 1970s Willy Wonka movie:  “I want it NOW!” 

I want to order our equipment.  I want to roll out our pilot run.  I want to see what it’s going to be like for the next ten years.  I want to see how hard it is to approach a stranger and ask them to open up to someone they’ve never met.  I want to see Rachel’s photographs.  I want to hear the stories. And…

I want it NOW!

But, we’ll have to wait three more business days.  And THEN, we’ll begin making progress.

Love, kisses, and cyclothymic tendencies…

[kelly] & Rachel J. Apple

P.S.  We thought our pilot run would be this upcoming Saturday, March 1.  Evidently, it won’t.  It will most likely take place 1-2 weeks after that date that we wanted NOW.  However, we DO know that Carney, OK is our first stop.  We know that won’t change…right?

27 Hats, Sports

Keep your seat; seriously.

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Welcome to the games of the 22nd Winter Olympiad, or is it the 19th? You know, XIX, or something like that. I’ve lost track along the way. But it’s OK. Trust me. I’ve been here before, and not. And so, I would surmise, have you, dear reader.

As I penned these words, the youngest of my progeny looked up from the television and told my Little Frau and I that “we should take up ice dancing.”  We told her no, of course, and therein lies a slippery slope of another variety altogether. The era of life that would have allowed such an undertaking has come and gone, but we are OK with it.

It seems that I can measure life and its seasons by the games of the Olympiad, winter style. When was that major life event? My eldest daughter was born slightly before Lillehammer, Norway, 1994, I seem to recall. I can close my eyes today and see Elvis Stojko’s powerful routine skating to the soundtrack of “Dragon,” the Bruce Lee story, and suddenly I’m lying in the floor of our little house in Texas with an 18 month old crawling all over me.

Today, Elvis has left the building, and that building is currently located in Sochi, Russia, at least for today. The kids who are currently skating for the gold were not yet even a gleam in their parent’s eye back in that day gone by. And that little 18 month old? Well, she is suddenly 18 years older…and then some, and is soon to be speeding (down the aisle) for the gold herself. “Gold” being the shining interlocking rings of holy matrimony. I wonder if she would let me play the soundtrack to “Dragon” as I accompany her for the processional? I digress.

Along the way from the memory of Lillehammer, there was Nagano Japan, and Salt Lake City, and Torino Italy, and finally Vancouver British Columbia. I remember bits and pieces of each: personalities, performances, and perilous falls. Continue reading Keep your seat; seriously. →

Every Point on the Map

EPTOM: What is a Sonic ID? Why do we care?

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rachel selfie sonic id storyFive minutes into our meeting with Rachel Hubbard of KOSU, I had almost finished my oatmeal.  I glanced at Rachel Apple sitting next to me, and she had barely started her flaxseed banana bar.  She was listening.

(see photo at left: Rachel Apple)

Rachel Apple, my daughter and partner in the “Every Point on the Map” (EPOTM) project, excels at listening.  Her large brown eyes fixate on the source of information, and there is no breaking that “listening-beam.”  At this moment, her listening beam was directed toward Hubbard talking about the art of sound gathering.  And, about “Sonic IDs.“

Sonic IDs are a format developed by Atlantic Public Media.  They are a derivative of the wildly popular Moth Radio Hour, only very very brief.  Generally, 60 seconds or less.

Public radio stations have begun to use them for small fillers between regular spots.  They’re stories told at “sonic” speed.  And, they were the initial thought Hubbard had when she considered how we might partner with KOSU once we begin our journeys.

We learned about particular microphones we might order and attach to our iPhones.  We learned that video files can be used for audio files if necessary.  We learned that the new KOSU studio on Historic Film Row in Oklahoma City has a cool vibe.  And, we learned that there might be something of value we could share on the radio from our project.

That’s what Sonic IDs are.  That’s why we care.  And here’s how you can help us raise our last $450 dollars in the next 62 hours to fund our project…so we can begin sound gathering.  And listening.

[kelly] and Rachel “Listening Beam” Apple