Why my water bill is over 200 bucks...

...or how I learned to make sure the toilet is NOT running before I go on vacation.

When we went on a 10 day vacation last month, I performed the standard checks just before we left:
Doors locked - check
Strategic lights left on - check
Water heater on vacation mode - check
AC set to 80 - check

What I've since learned to add to that check list just before I walk out the door is: No water or toilets are running. Had I done that, the result would have been - FALSE!!

When we came back home the first thing I noticed was that the toilet was running... and my first horrified thought was "Oh my gosh!, the toilet has been running for 10 days!"

Our water bill said that we used 68000 gallons of water and that I owed $165 in water charges. With the other fees for trash and sewer and the bill tops out at $206.53

To check the validity of the bill I determined that my tank held 3.17 gallons of water, and that it took 45 seconds to fill it up. 3.17 gallons in 45 seconds equates to 253.6 gal/hr .

253.6 gal/hr for 10 days equals 60864 gallons of water, quite literally flushed straight down the toilet. OUCH!

Fallin for Governor

Please to note the shinny new page element to the top and right of this page..

I grabbed a the header photo off a Fallin for Governor email and shrank it a bit. I'm particularly satisfied as to how well the colors match my blog. It is almost as if Mary put on that red jacket and told her web guy to use colors that matched my blog on purpose. That is what I'm going to assume happened.

Anyway, click on the pic in this post, or on the new side badge to get to the Fallin for Governor website. Check it out.

Tulsa's Fiscal Year 2010-2011 Capital Project Funding

I received this document at a recent STOC meeting and thought I'd pass it along.

(click the above link to download the document, or see the embedded document after the break)

Read more »

Why I’m thinking about buying a Jari Askins t-shirt

Do you know what the following campaigns have in common: Largent for Governor, Medlock for Mayor(1), Medlock for Mayor(2), Brogdon for Governor?

Well, yeah, they all lost, but not just that.

Republicans? Yeah...but no.

What...no, seriously? No I have no idea who wears boxers or briefs...eww gross. Now your just being silly seriously on purpose. I can tell I'll have to cut this game of 20 questions short.

No, these are all campaigns where I bought a t-shirt. In fact, these are the only campaigns where I’ve purchased a t-shirt. I’m starting to wonder if the act of me getting a campaign t-shirt causes the candidate to lose. If so, perhaps I should procure the t-shirt of the opposition…right? I think I just might give this a try, well see if it works. If it does work, perhaps I could find a XXL Obama shirt...hrm...

VOTE TODAY!!!

Don't forget to vote today!


Here is a printer friendly version of my picks.


For Governor: Randy Brogdon
For Lieutenant Governor: John A. Wright
For State Auditor and Inspector: Gary Jones
For Attorney General: Scott Pruitt
For State Treasurer: Owen Laughlin
For Superintendent of Public Instruction: Janet Barresi
For Commissioner of Labor: Mark Costello
For Insurance Commissioner: John Doak
For Corporation Commissioner: Dana Murphy
For U. S. Senator: Tom Coburn
For U. S. Representative, District No. 1: John Sullivan
For County Assessor: Ken Yazel
For County Treasurer: Dennis Semler
For District Judge, District No. 14 - Office No. 3: James M. Caputo
For District Judge, District No. 14 - Office No. 13: Bill Musseman
For County Commissioner District No 3: Fred Perry

My July 27th Voting guide

While I don't presume to think that there are flocks of folks waiting with bated breath to find out who I'm voting for tomorrow, I know there are at least two or three who are. So to keep them happy here are the folks I'm voting for tomorrow.

I arrived at this list based on, my knowledge of the candidates, my research into their campaign literature, and I looked at who my fellow bloggers/people I trust were endorsing. If I was in a genuine toss up situation, where I couldn't decided, I'd either side with the incumbent (if applicable) or I'd see if the Tulsa World had made an endorsement in that race and do the opposite. I didn't plan on this happening, but my list is pretty much an exact match of Michael Bates' list.

For Governor: Randy Brogdon
I whole-heartily endorse Brogdon for Governor. He is a constitutional conservative and a godly man whom I trust. Of all the candidates this election cycle he is the only one with whom I have no reservations.

For Lieutenant Governor: John A. Wright

For State Auditor and Inspector: Gary Jones

For Attorney General: Scott Pruitt
I like Pruitt alot, and the Tulsa World wants Ryan Leonard...

For State Treasurer: Owen Laughlin

For Superintendent of Public Instruction: Janet Barresi
Her campaign literature really speaks to me and made it easy for me to pick Barresi

For Commissioner of Labor: Mark Costello
♫ Vote for Mark Costello ♫ Wow that song got stuck in my head. Good thing I like what he stands for, and am impressed with his qualifications.

For Insurance Commissioner: John Doak
I had a hard time with this one, Bates tipped the scale for me.

For Corporation Commissioner: Dana Murphy
I've always liked Dana Murphy

For U. S. Senator: Tom Coburn
Dr Tom!!!

For U. S. Representative, District No. 1: John Sullivan
This one was very hard for me. I've been critical of John Sullivan, and given the opportunity in a primary, I have in the past not voted for him.

Aside from the areas where he has made me angry or I've disagreed with him, there has always been something about him that has just rubbed me the wrong way. It's hard to explain, but if you've ever just had a feeling about someone for no good reason other then you just have it, you know what I'm talking about. However after his return from rehab, and this is hard to explain rationally, but he seems like a different man to me. I don't know if he seems more humble, or if I have a new found respect for him or what, but I just see him differently and it makes me want to support him. I know he has screwed up with some of his votes, but I really believe that he will, from this point on, be the unquestionable conservative that I want for a congressman.

With that said, my new found, hard to put a finger on, view of Sullivan might not be enough to keep me from voting for Dahm, but I've got to give the edge to Sullivan for his experience. My incumbent rule tips him over to the vote for column...despite the Tulsa World endorsement!

[update] Ohh yeah, I forgot, my wife is voting for Sullivan tomorrow, and I find it difficult to not agree with my wife in politics..

For County Assessor: Ken Yazel
I love Ken Yazel!!!

For County Treasurer: Dennis Semler
I could go either way on this one, my incumbent rule gives him the edge here.

For District Judge, District No. 14 - Office No. 3: James M. Caputo
I liked his radio ads. I also leaned on Michel Bates for this one

For District Judge, District No. 14 - Office No. 13: Bill Musseman
The endorsement by DA Tim Harris and by Joy Mohorovicic carry a lot of weight with me, but the clincher for me was seeing the Tulsa Police in my neighborhood with Musseman signs in their yard.

Last but not least, my most difficult pick...

For County Commissioner District No 3: Fred Perry
Wow, so Fred Perry DID NOT score points with me with his handling of a recent open records request by Ruth Hartje. (Google it)

Also I really ,really do not like how Perry has attacked Tulsa Council's attorney Drew Rees (his opponent), for his council to the council regarding the recent open meeting act controversy. (again...Google it) I may not be voting for Drew Rees, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for him. I've always been extremely impressed with Drew's professionalism and dedication to the law. I've been watching him give good advice to the council for many years now; Rees would never give advice to the council that he thought was illegal. I believe that these attacks are unfair and unfounded. On this basis alone I just almost want to vote for Drew Rees.

However, Drew Rees is using Jim Burdge to run his campaign, and if that wasn't enough he is being endorsed by Randy, "You're Toast" Sullivan.This is not good! And then if that weren't enough, I was not impressed with how he answered some of the questions from the OK Safe Voter's guide questions. I felt that he was parsing on some of his answers. And really, I like him where he is. Is is doing great work for the City!

And then there is Michael Masters. He wisely took the following off his web site. But I'm a huge nerd, and am not thwarted by such tactics. You can find the following text by looking at Google cache.

Masters initially filed to run for State House District 80. Upon discussing this effort with a number of elected officials as well as Representative Ritze, the current State Representative for District 80, Masters was encouraged in refocusing the campaign efforts to Tulsa County District 3. "I felt that I would have a larger, more positive impact within the county. Speaking with Dr. Ritze, encouraged me that his efforts are solid and as a constituent of district 80, I support him in his re-election bid."

OK, seriously, if you really want to run for State House, then by all means, but if your passion is not County Government, and this race is your second choice then you will remain my third choice!

My toss up incumbent rule strikes again, and I'll vote for Perry.

So there are my picks, for what they are worth. All the info you need to find your polling place, or to look at a sample ballot is here. GO VOTE TOMORROW!

Iron Werx Tulsa

Need some custom, high-quality, iron/welding work done for your home or business?  Iron Werx is a independently owned Tulsa business that can get the job done.  Check out some of their awesome work.

Iron Werx does some amazing things with metal; if you need their services you can find their contact information on their main page under "contact us."

Tulsa County Commissioner Dist 3 Campaign Lit

On Friday I received one flier from Drew Rees and one from Fred Perry.  Drew Rees' has two endorsements on it, one from Clay Bird, and the other from Randy Sullivan....Really?  Randy, "You're Toast" Sullivan?


I've never had a piece of campaign lit so thoroughly convince me not to vote for someone before, while at the same time making me hungry for the sweet sweet combination of chocolate and peanut-butter (Which is brilliant by the way.  One of my friends the other day said she was going to vote for that peanut-butter cup guy....although I doubt she will actually take the effort to go to the polls on July 27th...so maybe it would be more brilliant during a general election)




Fred Perry has an endorsement from Steve Largent.  

Michael Masters has sent me no campaign lit, and apparently no one is endorsing him, except for maybe State Representative Ritze who convinced him not to run against him in a bid for State House District 80.


Hrm...who to vote for....who indeed.

Anniversary

Today I have been married to Stacey Powell Roemerman for 4383 days (aka 12 years).

They have been the best 4383 days of my life. Stacey is an amazing woman and I love her very much.