Information, Please

   I'm going to teach C# at OSU-Tulsa this Fall semester.  If you, dear reader, know a C# developer, or a company with a C# shop, who would be willing to give me some "real world" info, I'd really appreciate it.
   I'm not looking for proprietary code or anything like that.  Just some basic information like:

• "We develop X number of apps for Y number of clients", or 
• "We have X number of C# developers, but we also focus on this other language as well", or 
• "We usually take on Z number of college students as interns during the summer"

   It would be nice to introduce things that are currently happening, because my goal is to make this class a dynamic process and, hopefully, more meaningful to my students.

   This idea may go up like a lead balloon.  But, as "Mythbusters" showed, when done right, a lead balloon can indeed fly.

You Know What's Cool? Not This Summer!

   The heat won today.  All during this heat wave it's been chipping away at me and I finally reached a point where all I wanted to do was lie down in front of a fan and do nothing.  And so I did.  And I fell asleep.
   It felt so good.

   The mountain of chores waited for me, as I knew it would.  But I needed the time to at least partially recharge myself. 
   I do the best I can, but once in awhile I have to take care of me.  You can call me selfish if you wish.

Victim of the Summer Heat

   The heat wave took another victim today.  I guess it's been so hot that the glue finally gave out on my car's passenger side mirror.  The whole assembly will cost about $80 (which I doubt includes installation), or for about $42 I can get a new piece of glass installed (the whole assembly is in good shape - just the glass mirror fell out). 
   The only option I can afford at this point is to go old school and actually look over my shoulder before changing lanes.  Probably a good skill to brush up on anyway.  By example, I'll be showing my kids a safe way to drive.  Not sure if it's still taught in driver's ed any more.  But I'm old enough to remember when most cars didn't have side mirrors, and we were taught to use the one mounted inside the car, then look over our shoulders to check the blind spots.
   I'm looking forward to this new challenge, although I'll also be saving up to get the thing fixed.

A Refreshing Salad

   The other night it was too hot to cook, so I made a nice fresh salad.  I bought lettuce at the store, but the tomatoes, peppers (I used Anaheim peppers), onion, and garlic were all locally-grown and came from the Farmers Market.  I love tomatoes that don't taste like cardboard!  Same for the other produce!
   The peppers had a little kick to them, but when combined with the Italian dressing (I was too lazy to mix olive oil, vinegar, and spices that night), were even more awesome.
   I might do the same thing tonight.  If I do, though, I might mix my own dressing.  On the other hand, I may chop up everything but the lettuce and have a nice fresh salsa.  Mmmmmm....!

August Usually Gets Hotter...

...and I'm not looking forward to that trend.
   Maybe, instead of this being the month where Mother Nature turns up the heat, she'll decide to cool things down a bit.  From the temperature right now though (it's 110 as I write this), I think we're in for another hot and dry month.
   Soon enough, however, Autumn will arrive and things will cool down a bit.  As with most things, we just have to be patient.

Cushing Aquatic Center

   Who ever thought that you could go to a water park for $1.75 a person?
    In Cushing, Oklahoma there is the Cushing Aquatic Center, which has two large water slides, a smaller slide, a diving area, some swim lanes, a thing that squirts water out of several openings (kinda looks like a tall, skinny fire hydrant), an area that slopes from the sidewalk area down to about four feet, a floating alligator to climb on, two round "lily pad" floats to climb on, and a toddler pool with a giant frog slide.  There is also a sand volleyball court and a sandbox area for younger kids.  As hot as it's been, though, I tend to stay away from the hot sand and in the water areas.  The cost is very reasonable during the day ($3.25 per person age 7 and up).  But in the evening, during the Twilight Swim, the price drops to just $1.75 per person 7 and older.  Under 7 is even less expensive.
    I took my kids there last night.  Cushing is about half an hour away from Stillwater, and the Aquatic Center is well worth the drive.

We were among the first to arrive last night

In the background are the two big slides and a smaller yellow slide.

I Wanna Rock!

We went to Glencoe, OK early this morning to get some rocks a lady was giving away.  Some were pretty interesting.  I managed to get three rose rocks (Oklahoma's state rock) that were a bit eroded, but for free, I couldn't complain.  Pictures are below of the rose rocks and others I got.  I might go jasper hunting sometime soon.  We got directions to some public land where anyone can go pick up pieces of jasper.

Rose Rocks

Different background, but same rocks

Could somebody identify this, please?

Variety of rocks and shapes

Different crystals in this rock

I'd never really paid attention to the inside of this type of rock, which I always considered to be river rock.