Parking hard on the fly?
Will Rogers World Airport will have an additional 1,200 parking spots when its new five-story garage is completed.
But the $20 million project won’t be finished until fall 2008 — meaning some travelers have to wait another 18 months for a coveted garage spot.
“There will be some inconveniences,” Airport Director Mark Kranenburg said. “But my goodness, once it (the new garage) is done, it’s going to be wonderful.”
In the meantime, Kranenburg is encouraging the public to use some of the airport’s other parking options such as the short-term parking area, two shuttle lots and the cell phone waiting area. Kranenburg said though many travelers prefer covered parking, especially if they are leaving their car at the airport, there is still a good number of people who find the alternatives to the garage accommodating.
“It’s all about personal preference,” he said.
So, what’s your preference? Do you have trouble finding a parking spot at the Will Rogers? Has construction or lack of a second garage inconvenienced you? Or do you think parking is simple?
Let me know at jlunsford@oklahoman.com
Ja’Rena Lunsford
Business Writer
‘Idol’ chitchat
I don’t understand it, but the majority of people seem to love American Idol. I’ve never seen an episode but I know more about the show and Carrie Underwood than I ever thought I would. It’s not because I want to, it’s because it can’t be avoided.
I’ve seen the occasional clip on various night time talk shows when a host takes a minute to make fun of someone for trying out. I’ll admit it, I enjoy them.
That’s how I know about William Hung, an Idol hopeful who was the recipient of a verbal beat down from Simon Cowell a few seasons ago. At first I felt bad about laughing at the guy, but he had to know that he had no chance of making it on the show.
I know I can’t sing, that’s why I don’t. The only place I’ll ever be a rock star is in my driver’s seat with the windows up.
That’s where Hung and I are different. The thing he thought of that I didn’t is that if your sub-par performance is that memorable, everyone is going to see it and you’ll get your 15 minutes of fame. All of a sudden, the guy had a recording contract and was making all sorts of appearances, including throwing out the first pitch at a Dodgers game.
To me, that was genius.
His seemingly never-ending 15 minutes continue June 28 when he will be performing at Remington Park’s Karaoke Contest Night. I’ll be there.
Paul Riedl, Copy Editor
Sit! Stay! Don’t eat that!
My sweet husky mix Heidi got a taste of something unpleasant Sunday, sending my husband and me into a bit of a panic.
She was not acting like herself, so to cheer her up, we tried playing with her and giving her a treat. She acted interested in the treat, but shivered and cried in pain when she swallowed.
I opened her mouth and found the culprit: a bee stinger firmly implanted in the roof of her mouth.
My poor, sweet, dumb dog.
Earlier in the day I’d seen her nipping at bees in our back yard. Heidi spends most of the summer nipping at insects flying around a flowering bush there. It’s just one of those weird, gross things dogs do, and I certainly haven’t had any luck breaking her of it.
I scratched out the stinger with my fingernail and called the vet. She said to give her some Benadryl and keep an eye on Heidi, so we did. We felt fortunate she didn’t have any swelling or breathing problems.
But what about next time?
Let’s hope she sticks to Milk Bones.
Beth Gollob
Staff Writer
What is love?
British-American rock band Foreigner in 1984 released the power ballad “I Want to Know What Love Is.” Journeyman rocker Mick Jones and the six men who made up the band may have found out in the 23 years since. On Saturday, I’m darn sure I discovered what love is.
For me,
— Love is walking for two hours through Toys “R” Us with a 3-year-old boy trying to help him find a gift that he’ll play with for more than 10 minutes.
— Love is awakening at the crack of dawn immediately following a late-night work shift so you can begin your duties as birthday party host.
— Love is cleaning a house for five hours and putting up birthday Clifford the Big Red Dog decorations.
— Love is trying to put a leash on two beast dogs nicknamed “frick” and “frack” who think an open backyard gate is their ticket to freedom.
— Love is inflating a plastic pool, giraffe slide and giraffe’s head using only a pair of human lungs.
— Love is almost passing out from a shortness of breath and having numb lips after blowing up an inflatable pool before your son’s birthday party.
— Love is great, especially when you do all the above for your first-born child that you care for and love so much.
Brian Sargent
Staff Writer
This is Mission Critical to our Center of Excellence
There is a language to business that sometimes drives me crazy when I’m listening to a presentation or interviewing a young entrepreneur. It’s a language filled with code words and clichés that would sound silly in any other context.
So I had to laugh when an e-mail landed in my mailbox last week that lists — and defines! — scores of business clichés. The e-mail came from the folks who are promoting high definition radio, and the clichés and definitions were taken from JohnSmurf.com’s MBA Jargon Watch.
Here are some of my personal favorites:
actionable (adj.)
Capable of being acted on or completed in the near future. “Which items on our list are actionable in the next quarter?” I recommend showering after using this one. Note: “actionable” has a long-standing legal meaning different from the above.centers of excellence
Certainly beats centers of failure. Most companies have a nice set of both.core competencies (n.)
Simply put, it means “what the company does best.” When a company focuses on its core competencies, it gets back to basics. I recommend leveraging these.deliverables (n.)
Denoting project output or assignments, “deliverables” are often “tasked,” but seldom completed.dialogue (v.)
It’s true that Shakespeare used “dialogue” as a verb (“Dost Dialogue with thy shadow?”). But I’ve got news for ya, buddy: You ain’t no Shakespeare. Resist the temptation to use this utterly superfluous verb as a substitute for “talk” or “speak.” Usage example: “Let’s dialogue telephonically via land line,” meaning “call me at the office.” Sigh.facetime (n.)
A foreign concept to many of us in the Internet world, “facetime”refers to time spent speaking face to face, especially to senior management. For example, “I need to arrange some facetime with you next week.”functionality (n.)
Simply meaning “functions” or “features,” this one has gained widespread currency.granular (adj.); granularity (n.)
Getting down to the fine details, the nitty-gritty. Busy people might stop you mid-sentence if you get too granular. Like sand through an hourglass, these are the days of our livesleverage (v. tr)
The grandpappy of nouns turned verbs, “leverage” is used indiscriminately to describe how a resource can be applied to a particular environment or situation. “We intend to leverage our investment in IT infrastructure across our business units to drive profits.”low-hanging fruit (n.)
The easy pickings, the obvious steps that an organization should take to improve its performance or take advantage of new opportunities.monetize (v.)
The noble mission of Web slingers everywhere: figuring out how to make money off each page view, visitor (eyeballs), or anything else. If you work at an Internet company, you’ve used this term… don’t lie.operationalize (v.)
A horribly polysyllabic way of saying “carry out” or (gasp) “do.” Oh, the humanity!performance management (n.)
A euphemistic way of saying to micro-manage, berate, motivate, psychologically manipulate, threaten, and then fire someone.repurpose (v.)
To take a process or system designed for one task and use it for another — in way usually unforeseen by its creators. In the fast-moving Internet economy, repurposing has become a viable substitute for true innovation.special sauce (n.)
We can thank McDonald’s for this one. It’s used to refer to anything proprietary.synergy (n.); synergize (v.)
The (often illusory) value gained by combining two or more companies or divisions. Also known as “economies of scope.”TPS reports: Never, ever forget to put the cover sheet on your TPS report
Jim Stafford
Business News reporter
News quiz
This is your chance to see how much attention you’ve been paying to the news in the past week or so. From The Oklahoman’s news copy editors and designers, here’s a quiz:
1. For the first time, experts have offered a symptoms list for which disease?
a) Broken heart
b) Ovarian cancer
c) Tuberculosis
d) Obesity
2. NASCAR driver Dale Earnhardt Jr. shook up the racing world when he signed with a new team that includes which noted rival?
a) Richard Petty
b) Tony Stewart
c) Jeff Gordon
d) Kevin Harvick
3. Which program was saved when the Oklahoma City Council approved a $758 million budget?
a) Drug Abuse Resistance Education
b) Planned Parenthood
c) Head Start
d) Parks department
4. The new Miss Oklahoma, Makenna Smith, is a graduate student in what program and university?
a) Journalism at the University of Missouri
b) International business at Simon Fraser University
c) Nursing at Oklahoma City University
d) Basketball business management at the University of Kansas
5. A power outage stranded riders on a roller coaster at what amusement park?
a) Itchy & Scratchy Land
b) Kings Island
c) Six Flags Over Tikrit
d) Springs & Crystal Falls
6. President Bush finally found a country on his European excursion that welcomed him with cheers instead of protests. Which country was it?
a) Albania
b) France
c) Fredonia
d) Italy
7. Among changes at Myriad Gardens’ Water Stage as the new venue for Shakespeare in the Park are:
a) 200 cup and cell phone holders
b) 210 chair-back seats
c) a jail for the dungeon scenes
d) roving minstrels during shows
8. Convicted killer and prison escapee Randolph Franklin Dial, who died last week, was found living where in April 2005?
a) An island off the coast of Texas
b) A homeless shelter in Austin, Texas
c) A chicken farm in east Texas
d) An artists colony near Salado, Texas
9. What is seen as a likely advantage to global warming, should that be real?
a) More codfish off Greenland.
b) The opening of the fabulous Northwest Passage between the Atlantic and Pacific
c) Fewer “snowbirds” on Southern highways in the winter
d) All of the above
10. Sen. Tom Coburn planned to return to Oklahoma after what?
a) A fact-finding trip to the Mideast
b) Surgery at the Mayo Clinic
c) A family vacation to Canada
d) A fact-finding trip to Louisiana
11. Interns at companies in Oklahoma City are learning what besides how to do what they are studying in college?
a) How to become members of the Million Dollar Round Table
b) How to win a place on Leadership Oklahoma
c) How to navigate the underground marketplace downtown
d) Why they should stay in Oklahoma City after graduation
12. Many Oklahoma farmers said this was not a great harvest year for this crop, although the price recently hit $5.50 per bushel.
a) Wheat
b) Rice
c) Sorghum
d) Mung beans
13. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration warned one of these could fail any day now, and a replacement could not be in place until 2016.
a) Weather balloon
b) Weather satellite
c) Wind gauge
d) Depth gauge
14. Television personality Don Herbert died at age 89 at his home in California. Whom did he portray?
a) Captain Kangaroo
b) Buck Rogers
c) Mr. Wizard
d) Bozo the Clown
15. Workers at the state Capitol are unable to satisfy that midafternoon craving for a snack. Why?
a) They’re taking part in a food bank promotion allowing them to spend only $21 a week on food.
b) They’re all dieting, as state insurance pays for weight loss programs.
c) Who can afford junk food with taxes and fuel prices?
d) Both snack bars are closed.
16. An Oklahoma City police officer was hospitalized with injuries suffered in a car wreck when:
a) He had a fender-bender while talking on the radio.
b) A suspect commandeered his car and drove it into a tree.
c) His car was pushed into an intersection by another vehicle. The driver wasn’t under arrest before, but he was after that.
d) He was struck from behind by a pizza delivery van.
17. An Oklahoma man is teaching injured U.S. troops how to:
a) Walk with prosthetic limbs.
b) Scuba dive
c) Defend themselves from ungrateful thieves.
d) Enjoy hot air ballooning.
18. Boyd Coddington, host of television show “American Hot Rod,” was in Tulsa last week for what?
a) To shoot an episode of the show
b) To start a 1957 Plymouth Belvedere
c) To visit his family
d) To buy a new car
19. On Wednesday, Starbucks settled a discrimination lawsuit and agreed to pay $85,000 to a fired employee. What did the ex-employee say she was discriminated against for?
a) Sexual orientation
b) Age
c) Race
d) Personality disorder
20. What country music star from Oklahoma released an album entitled “Big Dog Daddy”?
a) Blake Shelton
b) Garth Brooks
c) Toby Keith
d) Carrie Underwood
Answers: 1-b; 2-c; 3-a; 4-c, 5-d; 6-a; 7-b; 8-c; 9-d; 10-b; 11-d; 12-a; 13-b; 14-c; 15-d; 16-c; 17-b; 18-b; 19-d; 20-c
Week in review
Though rain and flooding have dominated much of the news in the state lately, there have been plenty of other stories of interest. Here’s a quick look at top stories from the past week or so:
Wind, rain and hail cut short the Star Spangled Salute air show at Tinker Air Force Base, canceling a planned performance by the Navy’s Blue Angels.
U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, a Connecticut independent., said the U.S. must consider military action against Iran.
New research suggests the most common forms of melanoma are linked to overall childhood sun exposure — not just sunburns. The Food and Drug Administration wants to rate sunscreens for how well they block Ultraviolet A rays as well as UVB.
Storms dumped more than 6 inches of rain in southern Kansas and northeastern Oklahoma. The heavy rains caused already swollen rivers to flood, prompting the evacuation of 28 people from their homes in Dewey.
Attorneys for St. Anthony Hospital asked a judge to declare Russian teenage patient David Kurbanov brain dead and issue a do-not-resuscitate order. Kurbanov, 16, slipped into a coma several days after undergoing complex surgery to remove a tumor from his brain stem, and was declared brain dead Nov. 27.
Suspected al-Qaida terrorists stepped up attacks on transportation, striking a bridge north of Baghdad. A day earlier, a huge blast collapsed an overpass, killed three U.S. troops, and shut down a superhighway south of the capital.
Justin Verlander pitched the first no-hitter in Comerica Park history, mixing 100 mph heat with crazy curveballs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 4-0 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
University of Oklahoma cornerback Reggie Smith has been named to the watch list for the 2007 Bronco Nagurski Trophy, awarded annually to the best defensive player in college football by the Football Writers Association of America.
The price of wheat hit $5.50 per bushel on the Kansas City Board of Trade, but many Oklahoma farmers are expecting small crops after harvest this year because of freeze damage, disease and late-season storms.
An initiative petition requiring 65 percent of public-school money to go to classroom instruction was struck down by the Oklahoma Supreme Court, which said the written proposal on each page of the petition was legally insufficient and failed to provide enough information for someone trying to decide whether to sign it.
Oklahoma County Commissioner Brent Rinehart said he doesn’t know anything about a slide show posted on the Internet that included party pictures or a billboard along Interstate 40 in downtown Oklahoma City touting “Brent Rinehart for Governor.”
Oklahoma City Council members approved a budget of $758 million for the 2007-08 fiscal year, which includes money for a police-run anti-drug program, a homeless program, a new water pump at Lake Hefner Golf Course and added security at recreation centers.
Former city Councilman Jerry Foshee, accompanied by a woman whose husband and son died in a crossover collision last month, called on the state to install median safety barriers on Interstate 44 in south Oklahoma City.
With her medical condition stabilized, Paris Hilton was transferred back to an all-women’s jail after nearly a week in a medical ward, a sheriff’s official said.
Relatives of the student gunman who killed 32 people on the Virginia Tech campus allowed the university to turn over his mental health records to a gubernatorial panel investigating the shootings.
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas declared a state of emergency and disbanded the Hamas-led unity government after the Islamic militant group Hamas vanquished Fatah and effectively took control of the Gaza Strip.
Gov. Brad Henry and first lady Kim Henry are part of a 10-day mission trip to Ghana with 11 other volunteers to give away treated mosquito nets to families.
Heavy rains flooded parts of Kiowa County, Thursday including portions of the town of Hobart. As the storms moved into the Oklahoma City area, there were spotty power outages in locations including Edmond, Oklahoma City, Moore, Norman and Midwest City.
The Supreme Court agreed to review whether judges are required to impose dramatically longer sentences for crack cocaine than for cocaine powder, stepping into a long-running dispute with racial overtones. Most crack cocaine offenders in federal courts are black.
Ruth Graham, the wife of evangelist Billy Graham, died Thursday at age 87. She passed away at her home in Little Piney Cove, N.C. She had been confined to bed for months with degenerative osteoarthritis of the back and neck. The injury came as the result of falling from a tree in 1974 while fixing a swing for her grandchildren.
Miss Belvedere on life support
Miss Belvedere will probably never start, Boyd Coddington has told me. About 30 minutes after the car was unveiled, Coddington said the key could not be found.
The aluminum key probably disintegrated, he said. The ignition? Well, there is no ignition left.
-Chad Previch, Staff Writer
Belvedere unveiled
At 8:10pm they removed the sheet that was covering the car. The reaction of the audience was gasp,wows and applause. Some of the protective covering was stuck to the roof of the car. Most of the car is covered in dirt and rust. The doors are a little bit better but still not that good. The hood was completely covered in rust and dirt. Someone in the crowd yelled she looks beautiful! Right now they are working on getting into the car to try and start it. They are also removing things from the trunk that was put in there years ago including some rusted over cans of Schlitze beer. To read the story go the newsok.com.
Chad Previch
Staff Writer
Crowd files into arena for unveiling of 1957 Belvedere
Tulsarama update.
The 1957 Belvedere is on stage at the Tulsa Convention Center still wrapped and hidden behind curtains.
The two hosts of tonight’s show are currently reviewing their scripts and the crowd is starting to file into the arena.
Media from around the world entered the arena about 5:30 p.m. I am standing on a podium about 20 feet from the stage on the left side.
The unveiling ceremony begins at 6:30 p.m. from the Tulsa Convention Center. KOTV.com will have live streaming video of the public unveiling about 7 p.m. It will also air on KOTV Channel 6 in Tulsa.
Chad Previch
Staff Writer
