okiesurveyor

Last weekend I dropped the transmission out of my F-150, rebuilt it and re-installed using ONLY the Gerber Shard and some red Loctite. Truth? You be the judge. One thing that is not in question is the coolness of this little tool. Any key chain will be honored to hold this multi-faceted, multi-specialty, multi-purpose keychain tool. I wrapped it with paracord to give a little extra purchase when cranking down on that pesky Phillips head screw. You can find numerous videos on how to do that or just man up and try it yourself. Gerber Shard I have used it mostly for opening Amazon boxes containing other cool EDC stuff. All joking aside, it is very well built and has a little “heft” but not heavy.   I chose the silver Titanium Nitride Coating version (vs. black) because how often do you get to say “Titanium Nitride”? Full disclosure, I think both of them are Titanium Nitride, so maybe I just thought then silver would hold up better in my pocket. I did drive a nail in a board j...

This September, I am taking part in the Great Cycle Challenge to fight kids' cancer! My goal is to pedal 300 miles miles throughout the month.  Why am I doing this? Because cancer is the largest killer of children from disease in the United States - 38 children die of cancer every week. It's awful to think so many young lives are lost to this terrible disease. Kids should be living life, NOT fighting for it. To show my support, I am taking on this 30-day challenge to support cancer research and give these kids the brighter futures they deserve. It will be tough, but it's nothing compared to what these brave kids face every day as they battle this disease and fight for their lives. So today, I'm asking for your support. Please make a donation through my fundraising page to support my challenge and join me in the fight to save little lives. https://greatcyclechallenge.com/Riders/BurkCornelius/ All funds raised will support Children's Cancer Research Fund to continue t...

What is a saddle bag? Also called a seat bag. It fits under the saddle and typically connects via some kind of strap to the rails of the saddle. Some better than others. My biggest pet peeve is a saddle bag that bounces around while you are riding. Velcro straps work but can get clogged up with mud and fail at the worst time. Plastic buckles, some good, most not.  The seat bag is used for a variety of items but most people use them for the stuff they don't need to access very often. Tubes, multi-tool, tire levers, Co2 cartridges, extra small parts. The stuff  you need when you are having a bad day on the bike.  I am a gravel rider. Nothing I have on my bike is minimalist or lightweight. Like the saddle bag on my adventure bike. A Jandd Mini Mountain Wedge seat bag. Not small. Not aero. But very rugged, and indestructible. So when I started looking for a seat bag for my other gravel bike ( Salsa Vaya ), I was just going to get another Jandd. Of course I had to browse arou...

Sound kind of harsh? Well it isn't.   Let me begin by saying I HATE POLITICS AND MOST POLITICIANS!  Some of the best advice I ever got was from a person whom I have the utmost respect for. Truthfully, I don't even remember what question I asked him or what advice I sought from him. But his answer still resounds to this day, "Don't be a Dumb Ass" The other day my wife was talking to someone about politics (a frequent topic around our house) and she asked the person if they voted. Their response blew me away. The person said “I didn't know who to vote for so I didn't vote. I didn't want to anyone to blame me”. I am continually amazed at the number of people who don’t vote. My personal political beliefs aside, I believe that one of the most powerful rights we have in this country is the right to vote. Look at Colorado in 2013. When the public got fed up with the way things were going they voted to remove two State Senators from office. Y...

I was in the market for a new high volume multi-use tire for my adventure singlespeed bike. After much research and scouring through countless reviews, I arrived at the Wilderness Trail Bikes (WTB) Venture series (700x50) pictured below. They have the tread pattern I was looking for, which is kind of smoother rolling down the center with a relatively small "chevron" tread pattern and larger, wider spaced knobs along the edge for cornering on loose gravel. The tires mounted tubeless very easily. and held air quite well (at first).  For the maiden ride I  inflated them to 26 psi and they felt amazing. Like riding on firm pillows. Very supple with a lot  of grip. I didn't get into any mud but I really don't ride much in mud so I wasn't concerned about wet conditions. Big loose gravel was not a problem and they were smooth rolling on hard packed surfaces. I REALLY liked the ride from these tires. I couldn't wait to see how they held up to harsh Oklahoma "B...

Have you ever wondered what all of those letters and numbers on your deed description mean? Or why most of the roads in Oklahoma are one mile apart? This is the first in a series of articles to familiarize you with the system by which we convey your most valuable commodity, your land. In the late 1800’s government surveyors were commissioned to lay out the public lands (Oklahoma Territory) into a grid in preparation for sale or grant to the public. These grids were to be 6 miles square and were known as townships. They would be later divided into 36 smaller units, which are our modern day sections of 640 acres each. In most areas they were then divided into even smaller squares or Quarter Sections (160 acres). Iron posts were set at the corners of the townships and stones were placed at all of the section and quarter corners. Some of these stones can still be found today if the area is wooded or otherwise has not been disturbed. The point of origin of these sections is known as the...

When the original government surveyors began the task of laying out (surveying) the public lands of Oklahoma, one of their instructions was to make each section as close to 640 acres as possible. excerpt from the BLM manual of Survey Instructions Chapter 1-21. The basic provisions require that the public lands "shall be divided by north and south lines run according to the true meridian, and by others crossing them at right angles, so as to form townships six miles square;" that "the townships shall be subdivided into sections, containing as nearly as may be, six hundred and forty acres each;" and that "the excess or deficiency shall be specially noted, and added to or deducted from the western and northern ranges of sections or half-sections in such townships, according as the error may be in running the lines from east to west, or from south to north." The system of rectangular surveys fits the basic requirements to the curved surface of the globe....