Another Night on the Town ....

Sheila and I celebrated our 44th wedding anniversary tonight.  Our daughter and son-in-law bought us dinner at Maxwell's, the in-house restaurant located in the Campbell Hotel on 11th Street.  The Campbell is part of the mid-town Route 66 renaissance project. It is an old car dealership which has been turned into boutique hotel serving the midtown Route 66/University of Tulsa area.

Maxwell's is moderately upscale.  I was surprised that they had a very
nice crowd on a weeknight.  I recognized a couple of people including an ex-pat Brit musician/producer/lawyer I met through a professional organization.  Both in house bars were doing a good business as well.  It would appear that this is becoming a fashionable watering hole for the over 40 set in mid town.


Sheila started the evening with a Route Beer Float, a sneaky concoction of coca-cola, Galliano, light cream, whipped cream and vanilla vodka. By the time the drink arrived, so had Michelle and Robert. We split appetizers of roast red pepper hummus and pitas and wasabi deviled eggs. Michelle also had a glass of the very good house red.

Sheila had the prime rib. It was very good, cooked just right. The ample portion of mashed potatoes was quite good as well. Michelle had the pork chop. It was overcooked and dry. I had the fish and chips. I've had better fish at Arthur Treacher's. It was served without any type of sauce on the side. When I asked for malt vinegar, I was given a bottle of Heinz straight off the grocery store shelf. The coleslaw was very good. However, the chips/fries were soggy and uninviting. Robert had the bacon, egg, lettuce and tomato sandwich. It was huge and good. We finished the meal by sharing an order of bread pudding and a piece of their home made apple pie. The serving of the bread pudding is huge, large enough to serve the table by itself. It was well done with an appropriate sauce. The apple pie was good as well but Michelle declared that hers was better and I would tend to believe her.

We passed Little Ben around the table throughout the meal. He actually behaved quite well. However, he did try to eat from his Mommy's plate a time or two with a look on his face that said "Why am I getting boiled veggies while you guys are eating all of the good stuff?" At one point, we noticed him waving away at the Brit lawyer / musician /producer who was having a great time making faces and waving back at him. He makes friends wherever he goes.

When the check came and I reached for it, I saw that there was already a card there and it had been paid. Michelle and Robert had picked up the check. Sheila and I both felt bad that point because we had been ordering like we were spending our own money. It was a really nice and totally unnecessary thing to do. At any rate, we had a great time. Thanks Kids.

Bill and Sheila Puttin on the Ritz .....

Everybody has a special friend or two I guess.  And, I guess families are the same way.  Dr. Francis Manning of the University of Tulsa has always been a family friend to us.  For the many years that Sheila and I were associated with TU in one way or another, we often felt the gentle presence of Frank in the background when a little help was needed.  A true friendship developed.

Last night was a special night for Frank.  A major force in the oil patch endowed a multi-million dollar chair at TU and insisted that Frank be named the first holder of that chair.  It was a tremendous honor for Frank and a well deserved recognition of the decades of hard work he has devoted to turning out some of the best chemical engineers in the oil industry.  Sheila and I were greatly honored and a little shocked when we were invited (engraved invitation no less) to share this moment with Frank and his family.

The soiree was held at the Skelly Mansion.  The Skelly Mansion was built by Bill Skelly the founding president of Skelly Oil.  Over the decades, world leaders such as Winston Churchill, multiple presidents and more political figures and captains of industry than you can count have stayed there.  The Skelly Mansion is now the official residence of the President of the University of Tulsa.

Uniformed parking attendants were waiting for us as we drove up to the main entrance.  TU President Stedham Upton and his wife Peggy were stationed at the front door, greeting each guest as they arrived. The room was filled with the usual TU academic affair mixture of Tulsa society, oil patch money and academics. Sheila and I know most of the faculty and their spouses and a few folks from the oil patch from Sheila's years working as the outreach coordinator for IPEC.  We had a good time catching up with old friends.  I even ran across an acquaintance or two from law school.  As we visited, uniformed wait staff oh so politely and professionally circulated taking bar orders and passing hors d'oeuvres.  As cocktail parties go, it was a darned good one.

After about an hour, speeches were made.  Not the interminable, long winded, self serving windstorms that often occur at these things but rather a simple, straightforward and heart felt expression of the sentiment of the evening.  It warmed my heart to see Frank finally get the recognition he deserves after all of these years of academic toil and struggle.  Frank is one of the good guys and he deserved his moment in the spotlight.  When the speeches were over we waited a few moments, gave Frank a big hug and worked our way out the door.  Within moments, our car was whisked to the end of the long entryway and we drove off into the Tulsa evening.

Politely nibbled canape's and daintily sipped cocktails, no matter how good they are, do not a dinner make.  Sheila and I were hungry and dressed to the nines.  (Well at least to the fives.  I don't know that we are capable of nines anymore.)  But, we couldn't really go out on the town since Sheila had to be up and out of the house early Saturday morning to administer the Professional Engineering certification exam at TU.  We decided to stop at Te Kai's and have something light.  Sheila's boss owns Te Kai's and we know the executive chef. It was too late for a full dinner so we ordered three substantial appetizers, Korean tacos, Satay chicken skewers and potstickers.  It was the perfect end to an evening we will remember for the rest of our lives.  

Friday Night Dinner - Big Anthony's BBQ

Our daughter Michelle asked us to come over and babysit Little Ben Friday evening while she and her hubby went out.  Sheila went looking for a place for us to have dinner in that neighborhood and stumbled across a Groupon for Big Anthony's BBQ just east of 21st and Memorial.

The decor is crisp but comfortable, almost homey.  Very informal.  The term "Big Anthony" is quite descriptive.  We were greeted by none other than former TU basketball star Big Anthony Fobbs, all six foot ten of him.  As soon as he seated us, he brought out some corn muffins for us to munch on while we studied the menu.  I was hooked after the first bite.  It was GOOD cornbread.

I had the smoked chicken with garlic mashed potatoes and baked beans.  The chicken was perfectly done with a pronounced smoky flavor that still allowed the delicate flavor of the meat to come through.  It is served with your choice of three sauces, a hot sauce, a medium house sauce and honey/Jack Daniels combination that is also delicious when poured over the corn muffins.  While the Jack Daniels sauce was good, intriguing actually, I still preferred the house sauce.  It is hard to describe.  I wanted to call it a Memphis sauce but it is not.  It is their own concoction and is a fine addition to the flavor of the meat without overpowering it.

Sheila had rib ends with macaroni and cheese and bacon fried cabbage.  The rib ends were smoky and tender.  The mac and cheese could have been made by your mother.  It was creamy and rich and the perfect foil for the smoky ribs.  The bacon fried cabbage took me back to my childhood.  My mom used to fix almost the same dish, chopped cabbage fried with side meat.  It used to be a poor man's supper on black and white dinner tables in the south.  Now it is a delicacy.

We Okies tend to classify our barbecue joints into categories like Memphis, or KC or even the dreaded Carolina.  Big Anthony's is none of these.  They are apparently doing their own sauces and rubs and they are unique.  There is an almost Oriental influence to the spice mixture.  It is a little unusual but good, very good actually.  Barbecue and barbecue places have personalities.  If they don't, they aren't authentic.  Big Anthony and Kim are expressing another personality in the barbecue family here and it is a pleasant one.

Anthony and Kim are gracious hosts.  They also seem to be very nice people.  We will be back and we will bring friends.    

Friday Night - Dinner and a Movie

Friday night dinner and movie is something of an institution for many couples.  Or at least it used to be. Sheila and I did it regularly for years.  But, times change.  For one thing, Hollywood hasn't produced much that I want to see for years and the good things they do produce now are often released in limited runs in big cities with "art house" venues.  Here in the heartland we get the big budget bovine excrement aimed at room temp IQ's while the big cities get the smaller, better, more intelligent movies.

Last Friday night, Sheila was tired.  A lot of her spare time is being spent at TU working on her consulting job there.  And, I was still stove up from last weekends adventure at the gun range.  So, we stayed in. Sheila stopped by the Reasors at 15th and Lewis and picked up catfish and fixins from their deli.  BTW, their catfish is the best and the cheapest in town.  When she got home, we settled in for an evening in front of the tube.

Lately, I have been browsing through the movie collection on Hulu Plus.  It is actually a pretty good selection of movies that you probably haven't seen anywhere else.  Foreign flicks, art movies, small distribution projects, etc.  It even includes the Janus collection of art films.  While we munched our catfish, I stumbled across this little gem:

Imagine this scene.  Your husband calls and says he has to work late.  You stop by his favorite restaurant to get him a piece of his favorite pie to eat when he gets home and you see him eating a piece of the pie there with a sexy younger woman.  A nasty scene follows.  The younger woman is devastated.  You follow the young woman.  She stops at a bodega and buys a fifth of scotch and a length of clothesline.  You then follow her home and keep her from drinking the scotch and hanging herself.  I know it doesn't sound funny but it is. It is not laugh out loud funny but instead very witty and thought provoking.  So far as I know, this little movie never made it into distribution here in the heartland.  Maybe they though we wouldn't understand the Shakespeare.  And yes, there is Shakespeare all through it.

So, if you were ever curious about what an aging lawyer and his b-school grad wife do on a Friday night in Tulsa, Oklahoma now you know.  We eat carry out catfish and watch movies online.

Sand Springs Espresso - A Little Gem In Prattville

Our good friends Bill and Mary Jo Rowe have opened a new business in Prattville called Sand Springs Espresso.  They opened their doors to the public today.  I dropped in after lunch.  I was pleasantly surprised.

The decor is clean, fresh and tasteful.  Mary Jo has worked hard to make it warm and inviting and she has succeeded. There is an area with cafe tables and chairs where you can watch Fox News. There is an area with overstuffed leather sofas and recliners where you can settle in with a book or your Kindle.  And, there is a raised area with booths where sippers can get a little privacy.  Overall, the layout is darn near perfect.

Bill and Mary Jo managed to hire an experienced barrista for their startup.  I ordered a decaf latte with Irish Cream.  It was perfect.  The quality of the coffee itself was excellent, rich and aromatic with good undertones.  And, the drink was prepared perfectly, with just right foam that didn't overpower the coffee but instead added a creamy richness.

Right now, aside from coffee and frozen drinks, Mary Jo only serves pastries and bagels.  When things settle in, she plans to offer a light lunch like soup and sandwiches daily. 

You don't expect to find a big city style coffee shop in places like Prattville, USA. But, Bill and Mary Jo have created one with a unique twist.  SSE has the drinks, the books, the seating, the decor and the atmosphere that any big city coffee shop lover would look for.  But, it does not have the big city rush, coldness and snarkieness that many of these places wind up acquiring.  In short, they are offering big city products with small town service.  That's a pretty good deal for the folks in Prattville if you ask me.  

Sand Springs Espresso is located at 1 West 41st Street in Prattville one block west of Highway 97 on 41st Street West.  If you are anywhere near, stop in for a really good cup of coffee.   

I Passed By The Skin Of My Teeth -- A Postmortem

Today after lunch, I took out my airsoft pistol, went to the deck and started to trying to figure out why I could shoot pretty well with it and do so lousy on a real world law enforcement range. I think I have found some answers that may be useful to other people who are using airsoft practice to save money on ammo. This is the pattern I shot today. (And I promise I won't post any more Mr./Ms CLEET target pics for a long time.) It is obvious that Mr. CLEET had a bad day.

These are the shots/maneuvers I practiced and they were all done rapid fire.  This is my normal short range practice routine.  At the one yard line, using the non-gun hand to either deflect the weapon or strike the attacker with the heel of your palm at the bridge of the nose, do an an un-aimed one hand grip double tap to the chest/heart kill zone.  At the three to five yard line, do a two hand grip double tap to the chest/heart kill zone.  At the five to seven yard line, do a two hand grip double tap to the chest/heart kill zone or a single shot to the head.  In the past, I had aimed this shot at the center of the forehead.  After this weekend's instruction I am now aiming at the nose because that disconnects the brain from the brain stem and kills without the possibility of the attacker getting a shot off in his death throes.

So, what was I doing wrong when I played with the big boys.  First, the airsoft does not require nearly as

The upper is Airsoft Glock copy.  The bottom is a real Glock.
The feel is pretty close to the same.  If you saw the orange
barrel tip off of the Airsoft, it will draw pretty well like a Glock.
After that, the similarities cease.

much safety management.  I was very self conscious about being range safe with my weapon this weekend and playing by the range rules.  I did not have the smooth confidence with my weapon that I should have. That may have slowed me down some but it was time well spent because it will make me a better, safer shooter.

Second, the airsoft does not have recoil or slide movement.  Once on target, it stays on target unless you move it.  The recoil of a .40 caliber, while not intense, does induce movement of the hand.  Also, with an airsoft you can get bad grip habits.  In the close in shots with an airsoft, you don't have to worry about the slide hitting you in the belly.  With the two hand shots on an airsoft, you don't have to worry about hitting your thumb with the slide.

So, what is an airsoft good for? Learning basic marksmanship kills and gun handling.  What is it not good for?  Putting the fine touches on shooting in the real world.  The airsoft does not require  you to deal with recoil, trigger staging or slide movement.  It also does not require you to deal with muzzle blast and the big boom.  Bottom line, in my opinion, airsoft practice is worth the time but at some point you have to put in the time with the real deal.

So, what did I do wrong? I should have practiced more with a real weapon.  And, I should have practiced more at the fifteen and twenty five yard lines at the range.  I should have handled that particular weapon more around an instructor until I was comfortable with it.  And, I should have hired an instructor early on to break me of my bad shooting habits.

I Passed By the Skin of My Teeth

I have just completed the final phase of CLEET Phase IV Firearms Training for Private Investigators.  So far I had aced everything in the program.  But, not this time.  Phase IV humbled me.  I am accustomed to being near the top of my classes.  I struggled for the middle of the class and the middle was barely passing.

Our instructor was Major Mike Reed, Chief of Detectives for the Sapulpa Police Department.  Mike is a veteran police officer and a gifted firearms instructor.  He is a certified Glock and Colt armorer. The ease with which he can pull his Glock and punch the center out of the kill zone is simply amazing .... and again humbling. He also has great patience with those less skilled.

In this course, the name of the game above all is to handle your weapon safely. A few folks had a problem with that and were almost ordered to leave the range which is an automatic fail for the whole course.  It has to be that way.  You can't have a person mishandling a loaded firearm. People could get killed.

The next goal of the course is to master the mechanics of smoothly and quickly drawing and re-holstering your weapon, quickly reloading it under combat conditions and even quickly clearing jams under combat conditions.  We practiced all of these operations again and again.

The final goal is to quickly draw your weapon, using all of the other skills above and put two or three rounds into the kill zone of your target within a few seconds.  The times range from three seconds to six seconds. For example, a the three yard line, you have three seconds to draw and put three rounds into the kill zone, two the heart and one to the center of the face.  It's not nearly as easy as it sounds and it all gets much harder as you back out to twenty five yards.  The video below shows why shooting fast from all of those positions is necessary:

We drilled and then fired again and again.  As the practice continued, the enormity of what we were practicing finally sunk in. This was not about plinking tin cans for sport.  It was not even about  killing a squirrel or a buck for dinner.  The kind, gentle man who was our instructor was teaching us how to quickly and reliably kill another person who had become a threat. That skill is truly awesome burden to bear that should require much sober thought before taking it on.

There is a final written test to be taken next week and after that some administrative paperwork.  When that is done, barring any complications, I will be a licensed, armed private investigator.  So, how do I feel now that it is over?  First, I'm glad that it is over. The two days of shooting was physically challenging for me and I was in pain much of the time.  I'm glad the pain is over. Aside from just hurting, the pain was also maddeningly distracting.  But, my shooting days are not over.  If this class taught me anything, it taught me that carrying a weapon is a terrible responsibility that requires constant training and improvement. I was humbled by the course and the skills of our instructor and that in turn showed me what I need to do.  I guess that is a good place to start.