Pretty fancy insane asylum they have there: http://bit.ly/uGiXGN .
I do have a mild allergy to burt orange, I suppose. http://bit.ly/tEunku .
Wow. Take a look a this, though. Where's I-35 and which way is south? http://bit.ly/td7ArP .
Umm, maybe back northwest a little into Hill Country? http://bit.ly/u0QGtg .
Wonder how much of it is left? http://bit.ly/sTvAYq
Zilker Park's Botanical Gardens aren't bad, though: http://bit.ly/vi6fiI .
...
[in reply to Keith's "loved Austin" comment ...]
Chuck Oates
Wow. Take a look a this, though. Where's I-35 and which way is south? http://bit.ly/td7ArP .
Umm, maybe back northwest a little into Hill Country? http://bit.ly/u0QGtg .
Wonder how much of it is left? http://bit.ly/sTvAYq
Zilker Park's Botanical Gardens aren't bad, though: http://bit.ly/vi6fiI .
...
[in reply to Keith's "loved Austin" comment ...]
Chuck Oates
That's pretty much what I hear from the Totco Drilling Instrumentation people, too. (Having been headquartered in Norman for quite a while in the '80s, they're now M-D Totco in Cedar Park, TX after several corporate buy-outs and a stint in Hell-on-the-Bayou, a.k.a.: Houston.) Carri was pretty impressed with the availability of vegetarian/vegan fare in Austin's groceries and restaurants, as well as the fact that she drove by three Montessori schools every time she drove anywhere in town. Sedimentation of UT grads for decades in Austin must have done the same thing for Austin that OU grads did for Norman, only much more-so.
I actively looked for work down there when it became obvious that the oil field was going to crash (again!) in 1985, but never could come up with anything, despite the drug and medical equipment manufacturers there. The medical equipment manufacturers finally came to me, in the form of Organon Teknika Corp. in OKC a few years later. That job kept me here for 15 years more, and left me here when I didn't wanna go to St. Louis with 'em when bioMérieux (bee-oh-marry-YOUR) bought out OTC in 2002 and consolidated it with their Missouri facility in 2003.
I don't know how serious any of us are about moving. The sticking point is that spouse Sue has lived in central Oklahoma all her life and has a taproot here that goes clear through to the Indian Ocean on the other side. If you have to live in Oklahoma, Norman's decidedly the place, unless you wanna live among the monied, elite, highly open-minded ("don't you dare put a mosque in *our* town") folks in Edmond or maybe Jenks up by Tulsa. It would probably take what Carri calls a Post-It note from God (having the house blown away by a tornado, etc.) to actually open up the possibility.
Stranger things have happened. I'd have never imagined I could get back into the teaching business after an almost-30 year hiatus (I spent '76-'77 as a TA in the EE and Computer Science School at OU), but the bioMérieux move to St. Louis opened up that opportunity--at what turned out to be tremendous financial and health care security costs, but so far, still very much worth it. Another big medical problem before Medicare or some other comprehensive health care option becomes available might change that, though. ("Don't get sick; if you do, die quickly" isn't a very helpful option!)
I guess for the moment, it's gonna continue to be "We make our plans, and God chuckles." :^)
I actively looked for work down there when it became obvious that the oil field was going to crash (again!) in 1985, but never could come up with anything, despite the drug and medical equipment manufacturers there. The medical equipment manufacturers finally came to me, in the form of Organon Teknika Corp. in OKC a few years later. That job kept me here for 15 years more, and left me here when I didn't wanna go to St. Louis with 'em when bioMérieux (bee-oh-marry-YOUR) bought out OTC in 2002 and consolidated it with their Missouri facility in 2003.
I don't know how serious any of us are about moving. The sticking point is that spouse Sue has lived in central Oklahoma all her life and has a taproot here that goes clear through to the Indian Ocean on the other side. If you have to live in Oklahoma, Norman's decidedly the place, unless you wanna live among the monied, elite, highly open-minded ("don't you dare put a mosque in *our* town") folks in Edmond or maybe Jenks up by Tulsa. It would probably take what Carri calls a Post-It note from God (having the house blown away by a tornado, etc.) to actually open up the possibility.
Stranger things have happened. I'd have never imagined I could get back into the teaching business after an almost-30 year hiatus (I spent '76-'77 as a TA in the EE and Computer Science School at OU), but the bioMérieux move to St. Louis opened up that opportunity--at what turned out to be tremendous financial and health care security costs, but so far, still very much worth it. Another big medical problem before Medicare or some other comprehensive health care option becomes available might change that, though. ("Don't get sick; if you do, die quickly" isn't a very helpful option!)
I guess for the moment, it's gonna continue to be "We make our plans, and God chuckles." :^)
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