Great 3 Mile Walk

Today we enjoyed a great 3 mile walk around Southlakes. I'm glad to have a good job and great people to work with.

Back To Work

Today was my first day back to work after spending a week doing my job from Arkansas. It's almost a relief. Working from Arkansas with dial-up internet access was difficult.

Return to Kansas City

 Last night we enjoyed a very nice fireworks display over the Arkansas River at Riverfront Park. I spent most of today traveling back to Kansas City. 

Cookout At Scott & Laura's

 
 This afternoon we enjoyed a great cookout at Scott and Laura's. They had their pool set up and a nice horse shoe pit. 

Making Gumbo

  We spent the day making this big pot completely full of Lee's Gumbo recipe. I think Scott ate 10-12 bowls full of it during the course of the evening. I must have eaten at least 6 bowls full. It was good stuff. Now we'll all being eating on it for many days to come.

Everything but the the kitchen sink.

Lee's Gumbo
4 Tbl Salt
8 Tbl. Cavenders
4 Tbl. Sams Cajun Seasonings
6 Tbl. Chili powder
3 ½ Tbl. Paparika
8 Tbl. Garlic Powder
3 Cups White Flower with water to thicken
4 sticks Real Butter
8 lbs.+/- Roast cut up to stew size
4 to 6 lbs. Shrimp (ready to eat)
5 to 6 lbs. Chicken boiled and de-boned
Large pkg. Immatation Crab
8-6 inch Sausages thin sliced
4 lbs. Catfish cut up into chunks
6 lb can Green beans
6 lb can Whole kernel Corn
2 XLrg. Bag Okra frozen
1 Xlrg. Bag Yellow squash
1 Xlrg. Container Fresh Mushrooms
2 Xlrg. Fresh Red peppers
4 Lrg. Green peppers
2 Lrg. Fresh Onions
8 Lrg. Fresh tomatoes
2 Lrg. Cans Tomatoe Sauce
8-14 oz. cans Chicken Broth
6 cups Uncooked Rice
1 sm. Bag Kidney beans

 

A Rear View Of Our Dairy Barn

 This view of our Dairy Barn is looking from the southwest. 

No More Work From Home in Arkansas

My boss ask his boss if I could continue to work from home in Arkansas. The answer was "No". I guess Mary will Live in Arkansas for a while and I'll live in Kansas City.

Our Home in Arkansas

 We enjoyed a beautiful day at our home in Arkansas. 

A View Of Our Barn

  

First Day to Work Remotely in Arkansas

Today I did my best to work from our home in Arkansas over a dial-up internet connection. Dial-up is so slow that it was hard to keep up with the needs of the business.

I researched every company that might provide broadband internet access and they all told me that they did not provide service in our area. We're just too far from town.

GPS Problems

This afternoon we were trying to go to Benton High School in Benton, Arkansas. I did a search for Benton High School and said "GoTo" on the GPS. After much difficulty I found out that we were trying to go to Benton High School in St. Joe, Missouri.

When we finally got to Benton High School we enjoyed a great Tumbling Recital including our granddaughter Ashley.

When we got home we had a great cook out with the family. Brats, hamburgers, and hot dogs.

Travel to Arkansas

Today was a travel to Arkansas Day. The boss said I could work from Arkansas next week so I'm going back to Little Rock with Mary today. We made it in 6 hours and 15 minutes.

Mary Came to See Me

Today Mary traveled to Kansas City from Little Rock to spent a couple days.

We went over to Brian and Carlin's house this evening. They treated us to steak and the fixings. It was a fantastic meal and fellowship with them and Jimmy and Terri. Lots of geocache talk.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches
2368 Steps today - 1.23 Miles
0 Aerobic Steps
117 Calories Burned

My New EMBARQ Uniform

 EMBARQ gave us all a t-shirt, sweat shirt, and cap as a first day welcome to the new company. 

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
2438 Steps Today - 1.26 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
101 Calories Burned.

My First Day With EMBARQ

Today is my first day to work for EMBARQ. This website is what I saw when brought up my computer this morning. I have been on the same job doing the same thing for 13 years and worked for 4 different companies and had 18 different bosses. I'd say that I'm a survivor.

My Last Day With Sprint

Today is my last day as a Sprint Employee. Tonight at 11:59 p.m. the company splits. My half of the company will become Embarq.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
7971 Steps Today - 4.15 miles.
5969 Aerobic Steps.
405 Calories Burned.

Caching in St. Joe

This evening when I got off work I traveled to St. Joe for the only cache in our 100 mile circle. It was a niffty micro. I enjoyed a great tenderloin sandwich while in town.

Today's Stats:
1 Geocaches.
4474 Steps Today - 2.33 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
221 Calories Burned.

Geocaching in Emporia Kansas

This evening I grabbed the last cache in our 100 mile circle in Emporia, Kansas. I was also the First to Find this cache in Peter Pan Park. It turned out that Mary and I had cached in this park before.

Today's Stats:
1 Geocaches.
9408 Steps Today - 4.90 miles.
5845 Aerobic Steps.
554 Calories Burned.

Robby's First Day at Sprint

Today is Robby's first day on his new job with Sprint. His new title is "Technical Support Engineer II". Here is his first email to me and my reply.

From: Brown, Steve L [LTD]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 1:20 PM
To: Brown, Robert M [NTK]
Cc: 'Mary Brown (maryruthbrown@earthlink.net)'; 'Lee Brown (leeabb@direcway.com)'; 'Laura Brown (lbrown@stephens.com)'; 'Angela Beth Brown (angela.brown@regions.com)'
Subject: RE: New Job

This is great. Welcome to Sprint.

Your title is "Tech Supt Engineer II". What does the "Supt" stand for? (Maybe it's Technical Support Engineer II). I'd say that you are an engineer for Sprint now.

I just never dreamed that a son of mine would be working for Sprint. Congratulations. I'm proud of you.

Love you,
Dad

_____________________________________________
From: Brown, Robert M [NTK]
Sent: Monday, May 15, 2006 12:19 PM
To: Brown, Steve L [LTD]
Subject:

I’m all setup… guess I’m a corporate man now!

Our Hundred Mile Circle Is Clean Again

 This afternoon I found the last cache in our 100 mile circle again. Our circle has remained clean all evening. I'm sure that won't last long.

I snapped this picture of a pair of mallards with a baby a few days ago at southlakes during our 3 mile noon walk.

Today's Stats:
5 Geocaches.
4317 Steps Today - 2.24 miles.
1202 Aerobic Steps.
238 Calories Burned. 

Kansas Massacre

 This morning we got up early and drove Mary to Arkansas. We met Scott and Laura in Fayetteville and they drove her the rest of the way to Little Rock.

On my way back to Kansas City I went after the "Kansas Massacre" cache. The story on the plaque above pretty much tells the story. I really enjoyed reading the history at this location.

Today's Stats:
1 Geocaches.
3650 Steps Today - 1.90 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
179 Calories Burned. 

The Great Blue Heron at Southlake

 I grabbed a few picture of the great blue heron at southlake as we did our noon hour 3 mile walk a couple days ago.
 This afternoon we did a little more work on the gravehop event. We picked up Brian and did a little caching over at Leavenworth, Kansas and enjoyed a great meal while we were there.

Today's Stats:
4 Geocaches.
3737 Steps Today - 1.94 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
190 Calories Burned. 

Rose Bush At Home In Arkansas

 I forgot to post this picture that my brother sent me last month. This beautiful rose bush was planted by my mother before she died by the back pourch at our home in Arkansas that we inherited.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
8519 Steps Today - 4.43 miles.
6097 Aerobic Steps.
485 Calories Burned. 

Cold Day In May

Today when we went for our three mile noon walk we had jackets with hoods on. It was cold and the wind was gusting over 20 MPH.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
8122 Steps Today - 4.23 miles.
6028 Aerobic Steps.
457 Calories Burned.

After Our Three Mile Walk

 Here's the crew I work with just after we completed our noon 3 mile walk. Left to right. Stan, Chris, Andy, and Myself.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
8305 Steps Today - 4.32 miles.
4968 Aerobic Steps.
473 Calories Burned. 

An Easy Day

 This evening we went by Price Chopper and got a salad for supper. It was just what I needed. I spent some time plotting the caches along our route for our trip in July. We enjoyed the evening watching TV.

Robby called. They are working on their wedding plans. He wanted to know what we could do to help with the wedding. I hope we can afford his wedding.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
9080 Steps Today - 4.72 miles.
6073 Aerobic Steps.
531 Calories Burned. 

Dinner at the Jerusalem Cafe

 
We did not do much again today. We did grab the one new cache in town this afternoon. We enjoyed a nice dinner with Rob and Rachael at the Jerusalem Cafe at Westport.

Today's Stats:
1 Geocaches.
2025 Steps Today - 1.05 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
96 Calories Burned. 

Chill Out

Today was Chill Out day. We did not hardly move all day long. This don't happen very often.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
603 Steps Today - .31 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
14 Calories Burned.

Wedding Bells Are Ringing

 
 
 
This evening our youngest son, Robby, came by with a new engagement ring. Later in the evening he ask Rachel to marry him. She accepted. They are planning to get married next summer.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
1264 Steps Today - .65 miles.
0 Aerobic Steps.
55 Calories Burned. 

I Think My Friend Andy Was Bored

Today my friend Andy had to spend a lot of time on conference calls. He got bored and started playing with his new Sprint PCS phone. He took this self portrait as a result.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
7952 Steps Today - 4.14 miles.
6098 Aerobic Steps.
435 Calories Burned. 

Grave Hop Planning Session

 
 
 
This evening we met at the "Cheeseburger in Paradise" to talk about the geocaching Grave Hop event that we're planning for this fall.

Today's Stats:
0 Geocaches.
8155 Steps Today - 4.24 miles.
5810 Aerobic Steps.
462 Calories Burned. 

Stewy and Stewy Jr.

 
 
This evening we grabbed a cache and then met Stewy, Stewy Jr., Brian and Carlin for dinner. The occasion was to celebrate Stewy and Stewy Jr. completing the Missouri Delorme challenge in 64 hours, 55 minutes and 20 seconds. That's the quickest it has ever been done.

Today's Stats:
1 Geocaches.
8869 Steps Today - 4.61 miles.
6036 Aerobic Steps.
467 Calories Burned. 

Caching with Brian and Carlin

This evening we met Brian and Carlin and did a little caching together and of course we ended up eating dinner together at the Smoke Box BBQ.

Today's Stats:
3 Geocaches.
8024 Steps Today - 4.17 miles.
6146 Aerobic Steps.
436 Calories Burned.