I figured out the secret handshake, so I know how to get the files I want. The single largest county in Oklahoma is Osage, county. It is mostly owned by the Osage Indians as their reservation. That one image is 2GB.

I saw a recent graphic of the distribution of oil wells across Oklahoma. There was a conspicuous hole in the graphic where Osage county is. I would bet that is because the Osage tribe wants majority control of the mineral rights. It is impossible, or pointless to sue the tribe as they are sovereign and the suit would be heard in their court. Somehow the courts always rule in their favor. I guess the oil companies just decided not to play ball and left them alone.

Looks like on Monday I get to drive to E WA for a few days.

Golly that sounds like fun. Take the 911, make it a better trip!

The last few files are downloading. I have most of them renamed to the actual county names, and the zip files deleted.

At the old job we used to have a lot of calls from all over the country from people looking to research a property in various counties. We had images dating back to 1947. I always loved letting the callers struggle with trying to pronounce Pottawatomie county and Pushmataha county.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1645216199.jpg

I was curious how the free government imagery looked. So I pulled up Oklahoma County and looked around. This is the full resolution of the area. This is the interchange they have been working on for almost 10 years. They are getting close to finished, just another year to go.

Look at the fun jumps and whoop de doos and they added in, and even for the train!

Actually it is just typical "good enough for government work" quality. The Feds hire one of the largest aerial companies on the planet. They have all the data processed in India so our tax dollars get to provide jobs of other countries. The bent roads and are all the fault of the processing the data.

If you look, the bent roads are all over the creek. The actual elevation of the ground is lower than what the surrounding terrain is. And the program is trying to force the pixels into place where the terrain data says it is, but it is wrong. Bridges are a pain to map properly. They got a little sloppy. But dang, it was cheap!

Possible snow and icy roads no thanks

We had wonderful weather for the weekend, and a forecast of 77 degrees today. Then the ****ing Canadian air arrives. Cold rain tomorrow, possible freezing rain, sleet and snow for Wednesday and Thursday. Dang Canadians need to just keep their air this time of year.

Morning all. I'll be gone for a few days. Long days in the client conf room and no desire to stare at a small screen in the hotel room after work.

Dang, yer no fun! Just use your cell phone, and log on and get a Pelican fix.

Stay safe on the crappy roads, and the good roads as well.

thats the plan I have a bout a 15-20 mile section that is chains required except AWD

Yuck!

I have a doctor for the yearly checkup and mostly the annuity for the doctor's office for Thursday. There is a possibility of slick stuff and I will likely call and reschedule. I see no reason to risk driving in that crap. BTDT, if I was truly ill or needed to see the doc I would go, but this is just routine chat, and have him poke and prod me a bit. It can wait a week or two no problem.

My docs office called me, and we are doing a virtual exam on the phone. Works for me.

I got a nice letter from the county clerk. They are inviting me down to the courthouse to spend at least a day and maybe all week for jury duty. Golly that sounds like fun.

The sleet has arrived. Lots better than freezing rain is all I can say if I have to say something positive. Sleet does not destroy trees and take down power poles.

We are supposed to get this crap for another 30 hours or more. Then back to 70s in a few days. Just in case anyone wonders, I prefer the 70s.

We went to dinner with friends that have been married almost 40 years. We have know them for 30 years or so. They have a ranch that they keep cattle and horses mostly for fun. He said they can't breed horses anymore because when they are born, his wife instantly names them, bonds with them and they can't ever be sold. They have 6 horses and that is enough. They have enough cattle that she has given up naming them. He had longhorns for years but he said he was tired of going out to remove dead coyotes from the horns of the longhorns. Actually that only happened once.

They have 6 dogs, all af them were dumped in the area, and they adopted them. Recently a small mix breed dog that weighed just 8 pounds showed up in the area. It was skinny and she put out food for it. It would not let her get close to it. One evening when it got really cold, she saw it at the back door and opened the door and it ran to the front door and bumped against the door. It went back and forth from front to back a few more times and finally when she opened a door it came in, and jumped in her arms and shivered. She warmed it up, fed it and gave it an blanket next to the fireplace to sleep on. Then next morning she took it to the vet, got it examined, got the shots, and checked out. She did not want another dog. One of the vet techs that worked there fell in love with it, and she took it home.

Moring all. I made it over the pass and back home last night before the snow hit. This morning the grass is white but the roads are fine. South of here in Portland a friend says they have 5" on the ground. It was 17 degrees yesterday on Yakima. BRRRRRR

It was 15 degrees this morning, and it is up to 20. We got more sleet overnight. It is all just a layer of ice, and impossible to shovel. We are supposed to have sun this afternoon, and sun all day tomorrow. Next week it is back to shorts weather with mid to upper 70s.

We had some sleet, freezing rain and wind Tuesday. Repeat today, but the wind has died down to 30 mph.

So David, you have chains for the 911 then?

Our roads are still just packed sleet. Today the sun is up, and it is supposed to get up to 30 so lots of melting I hope. On Wednesday I am getting out the shorts. mid to upper 70s sounds wonderful.

As a kid in school I hated history. It was boring to me, or the way it was presented was. If you had asked me to describe WW2 from what I was taught was the Hitler attacked France, the surrendered with little fighting, and Great Brittan was just getting bombed into submission until the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor and we got into the war and whipped Hitler and then the Japs by ourselves.

I have been watching a British series called World War 2, a call to arms. It is a 25 episode, one hour per episodes and very detailed on the why and what happened told from a British viewpoint. Hitler was indeed a fool for many bad decisions, and attacking Russia was his biggest blunder. Hitler had signed the tripartite agreement with Italy and Japan that they would declare war on anyone at war with the others. So days after Pearl Harbor Germany and Italy declared war on the USA.

It will be interesting to see how it all comes out and who wins.

Morning all. Nope no chains for the 911. The CRV did great in the slush on the way over. The trip back was bare pavement and easy driving.

I have only had to put chains on one time. It was on my in-laws Mercedes. Few things are more fun that squirming into overalls, and laying on the slush and ice to put on chains on the side of the road at the spot where trucks and other vehicles have been putting on chains. And then taking off the wet nasty dirty overalls and sitting in the car with damp clothes. Golly I wish I could have done it again. And following the snow plow up the mountain and looking out a tiny area on the windshield right above the defrost vent blowing at max volume and heat with snow falling like crazy.

I will take 100 degree heat at 90% humidity over that experience any day. The AC in the car does a great job of keeping me comfortable, and traction is not an issue.

I have chains but I have never put them on.

One one visit to Oklahoma City, my brother asked me to take him to a store that would have chains in stock. He lives in Montgomery, AL and snow chains are about as rare as snow blowers or snowmobiles. He uses chains on his VW van to go hunting back where it is muddy. With chains on it he has gone back into areas folks with a jacked up 4 wheel drive Jeep have a tough time getting to.

Anyway it was July, 100+ degrees out and he asked at the counter if they have any snow chains. They all look at us like we asked if they sold ladies underwear or something. Finally the guy behind the counter asked if we knew some big secret, and with a straight face he just asked for the size of chains he needed. Thy guy said they put them in the back in summer time to use the space on the shelves for summer items. He asked us to follow him back to the back and my brother found the size he wanted. He bought them with cash, and we walked out. I have always wondered what stories were told there about the two guys that came in on a hot summer day and bought chains with cash and left.

My brother has been married 43 years. For their wedding present from me, I gave him his first set of chains. He had worn them out and wanted more, but there was no place to get them in Alabama. My SIL loves to tell the story of all the wedding presents of dishes and appliances and stuff on her registry. And then her BIL gave them snow chains as a wedding present. And my brother loved the present. I also photographed the wedding. I had to set the camera up and have my dad snap the photos with me in them.