On the Road Again with Merle

Nature Boy said:
Merle has gotten me out and about a bit more than the usual work and rush home for the second job running around with the kids...
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This was my sense as well, it's just like having a friend visit from out of town. You make time to show them the sights and share a bit of where you call home, but in this case the friends are catching glimpses through the Porch window :) It was so nice to wander the boroughs with you and Merle. I used to visit NYC with some regularity but it's been many years since my last (marriage/kids/etc). It's been great to have the locals tour!

paulhilborn said:
I've carried a pocket knife since I was very young and now reflecting back they do more than just cut, they mark time in a way, I can look at a certain knife and recall a specific day or occasion. Merle's travels will create these memories as well....
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Very sorry to hear of the loss of your sister-in-law, but I'm glad that your wife was able to have this time with her at the end. And I appreciate your thoughts and perspective on this communal experience. The way that a pocket knife can "mark time" is some of what I was chewing on when I was ruminating earlier on the "life" of objects. Passing through your hands at exactly this time for your family has become part of Merle's story, something that we are all sharing in.
 
Well folks, Merle has arrived here in broken arrow oklahoma. This weekend we had a blackjack enduro race in boxley arkansas but my mail comes late in the day so merle didn’t quite make it on the trip. It was a beautiful place, reminded me of colorado.

The campsite was in the valley.

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7 month old puppy, happy as can be.

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The 6th and final test was very gnarly, brand new trail with slick mossy rocks. By then everyone was tired. I’m number 14D.

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And so begins Merle’s next chapter. :)

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TheChunk91 said:
Well folks, Merle has arrived here in broken arrow oklahoma. This weekend we had a blackjack enduro race in boxley arkansas but my mail comes late in the day so merle didn’t quite make it on the trip. It was a beautiful place, reminded me of colorado.

The campsite was in the valley.

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7 month old puppy, happy as can be.

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The 6th and final test was very gnarly, brand new trail with slick mossy rocks. By then everyone was tired. I’m number 14D.

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And so begins Merle’s next chapter. :)

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Paul, I’m glad Merle has made it to OK! :thumbsup: I guess my brain isn’t all the way awake just yet, because while I did read your post, when I got to the photos, I thought, “That sure looks more like Arkansas than Oklahoma.” 🤣

Seriously, though, those pictures are making me homesick. That’s the part of Arkansas I grew up in, and those woods look identical to the woods in which I spent a lot of time when I was younger. :thumbsup:

Can’t wait to see what you and Merle get up to!
 
TheChunk91 said:
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He looks like he enjoys working. 🤠:thumbsup:
 
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Merle made it to muskogee. It’s about a 40 minute drive east and then south from where I live in broken arrow. I took Freyr with me and we explored a park there I had never been to, and it turned out to be an excellent park. Well worth the drive. There were also a good amount of trails around it that we explored.

Merle stopped to take a gander at the fountain.

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We encountered a strangely quiet duck in the pond.

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To a puppy those large slabs of bone might look enticing.

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TheChunk91 said:
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Merle made it to muskogee. It’s about a 40 minute drive east and then south from where I live in broken arrow. I took Freyr with me and we explored a park there I had never been to, and it turned out to be an excellent park. Well worth the drive. There were also a good amount of trails around it that we explored.

Merle stopped to take a gander at the fountain.

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We encountered a strangely quiet duck in the pond.

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To a puppy those large slabs of bone might look enticing.

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That’s awesome, Paul! 😁 Thanks for giving Merle a chance to be an honorary Okie from Muskogee! 😎
 
Merle, dad I are back working at the metal finishing facility today. The equipment set up for this operation is massive, no idea how it all works. The process is highly corrosive to all metal around it, and they have made their newer buildings with galvanized steel framing instead of the typical red iron to combat the rust. Suffice to say it’s a good thing we won’t be around for that.

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TheChunk91 said:
Merle, dad I are back working at the metal finishing facility today. The equipment set up for this operation is massive, no idea how it all works. The process is highly corrosive to all metal around it, and they have made their newer buildings with galvanized steel framing instead of the typical red iron to combat the rust. Suffice to say it’s a good thing we won’t be around for that.

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It's interesting to see the plating line..... The company I retired from had their own silver plating line.... They also made large buss bar for plating and chemical facilities..... Good ventilation was a necessity to keep corrosion minimized....
 
HEMI 49 said:
It's interesting to see the plating line..... The company I retired from had their own silver plating line.... They also made large buss bar for plating and chemical facilities..... Good ventilation was a necessity to keep corrosion minimized....
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I’m not sure what kind of anodizing they will do with these machines. The rest of their buildings seem to specialize in zinc playing only.
 
We do some work for the tulsa international bus plant. During WW2 they built bombers here, and the building is a foot shy of a mile long. I hear they grew crops on the roof to disguise it from spying enemy aircraft. After the war I believe they made commercial planes for a while but now it’s all school buses. The facility is close in proximity to the tulsa air port, with smaller runways behind the plant to the west.

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