Occasion's Of Osborn

UPDATE - Murfreesboro 4th Blunder

I have decided to update my stance and opinion of the City of Murfreesboro's 4th of July Fireworks Blunder. 

So here's the thing. I was not wrong. My wife and I have complained to Mayor Bragg by email. The Mayor sent a "form" response and forwarded the complaint to Marlane Sewell (email). 

Her Response: 

I know I appreciate that someone here in the city actually want the public input and at least don't seem to have a wall up. I also am smart enough to know Marlane has a boss, many probably and she's the lucky one that got delegated this task.

We'll give the benefit for now. Join me if you think the location for the Mboro 4th Celebration was a blunder in emailing Mayor Bragg, Council Members, & Marlane Sewell.

What Murfreesboro Must to Get Right Before Next Year's 4th Celebration:

• Traffic Study
• Location, Location, Location 
• Traffic Plan  
• Public Safety Plan  
• Etc, (There is Always Etc.) 

Trooper Backlash

Ok, so I posted about this all a few days back. Here is the condensed version. (click HERE for the original post)

A disaster of location, traffic, traffic flow, crowd control, TN State Troopers with thumbs up there a$$, and the list goes on. 

So here's the deal. I do not take back my previous statement because it wasn't false. I have had some people close to me take exception to that for personal reasons. I feel badly for that, that is however where it ends. I will never apologize for the truth. 

The Way I See It:

1. Murfreesboro PD did nothing to lessen the traffic flow problems in there own town FIRST! 
2. I understand that the TROOPERS are a necessary back-up, but could you be alittle helpful. The hours and pay are the same either way. Might even make you feel good about yourself. 
3. The troopers were being compensated, I have a good idea more than straight pay considering it was a holiday.   
4. They weren't too over worked, it was a group of 6 standing or leaning on car hoods chatting.   
5.  No crowd control - they were in front of the Post Office on Memorial Blvd, where there were hardly zero people parked or watching.
6. They were watching the bumper to bumper traffic as the traffic light down 300 yards was stopping all at a un-necessary intersection.   

I will end with this, 

“Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”

Aristotle quotes

  You must know, being silent or dormant isn't an option. 

Friends R Friends Forever

 

Proudly Presents

 

New Toy = Stress Relief

Good morning. A few months back my wife and I purchased a "heavy bag" or Everlast punching bag as a toy for me. The bigger goal was to get me back into exercising regularly and even relieving some pent up stress.

Well last week I finally got the bag "installed" just the way I wanted it. I took a 2x4 that was 8ft long and screwed directly into the ceiling joists. Then the steel door track from Lowes screwed through that. Very Solid. Rated for 400lbs. Bag is 80lbs. so I figure this will be solid enough when you add the force of the punches and whatnot.

So this morning I ventured out and spent 30 minutes with my new favorite toy.

I must say I feel better and less stressed. Now to get to conquering my day. 

Reflections of a Family Weekend

Good Morning, a quick check-in on a plethora of varying topics.. Have a good one!

Family Time
Lisa, the kids, and I enjoyed some great time together over the last 3 days. Lisa had Friday off from her job which made this time that much better. 

I spent a good amount of the week with the kids doing things from taking them and getting them new shoes at Nike one day, to taking them to lunch at Five Guys Burgers another. Spending quality time is important bottom line. Quality really is key over quantity, and when you have quality of quantity as my family does that is a real blessings!

4th of July Weekend Fun (Even When Everyone has an opinion)
The plan for the day was undecided right up until mid-morning Saturday. In fact I lost count as to just how many plans and changes we had between Thursday night around midnight and mid Saturday morning. Everything from a day trip on Friday to Holiday World, to a weekend trip to Holiday World. A weekend trip to Gatlinburg to see the "Nation's First 4th July Celebration -Parade" at 12:01am july 4th.

We decided on a simple relaxing Friday just bumming around Murfreesboro. Then Friday Evening we took the kid's to Friday Night Live on the Historic Murfreesboro Square. It was a great time. The music was really good by the "Crusty Veterans."

Saturday morning was a bit more of the same. Bumming around the house as a family. After I prepared breakfast for the kids, Lisa and I had the opportunity to sit on our porch for a couple hours and have some great conversation. This was our view:

Then mid afternoon we headed out to lunch on our way to spend the 4th evening @NashvilleSounds baseball to watch some good ball and then better firewoks. Too bad mother nature had other wet plans for us. Game started an out late, then about an hour later was canceled in the 4th inning. We'll try again before the season ends.

Murfreesboro's 4th Blunder
This year The City of Murfreesboro Tennessee in association with MTSU moved the annual "FIREWORKS' show from it's home on the campus of MTSU to McKnight Park at the corner of DeJarnett and Memorial blvd.

On Our way home from the canceled Sounds game I decided to swing by the location of the fireworks display on our way home in Murfreesboro considering it's only about 2 miles from our house. This was the single largest disaster of a decision I have made in months if not YEARS!

Thanks to Murfreesboro City officials this years Fireworks display was a disaster. A disaster of location, traffic, traffic flow, crowd control, TN State Troopers with thumbs up there a$$, and the list goes on. I will be contacting Mayor Bragg (email by clicking here), and all council members along with Parks and Rec. officals to convey my disapproval.

Thanks to All Who Serve

I want to take this opportunity to thank all those currently serving for what you are doing right now for this country, my family, and ME. Yes that's right ME! I am grateful to you for your patriotic service to me. We all should be, yet many Americans are not and this is saddening. 

Also, Thank’s to all who have served. Whether that means you were able to return home or lost on a battle field you are just a valuable if not more. If not for all men, whether we know their names or not this country would not be FREE as we are today. Without the freedom gained through the Revolutionary War then anti-war voices would have no voice at all. You too owe a debt and thanks to a soldier today.

Maybe most important is Thanks to the families of the soldiers who have come, gone, and who will continue to serve this great nation proudly. If not for the strong women and men who support the soldiers in our armed services we would most definitely be a weaker force.

God Bless the Troops, whether the mission is clear the soldier’s beliefs are solid and honorable.

From My Travels - Gatlinburg Fireworks

4th of July Fireworks shot with the video function on my Kodak EasyShare Z740 camera. 

Happy Birthday America!

Gatlinburg Fireworks 2008 (2) from Jason Osborn on Vimeo.

Also See:

Gatlinburg Fireworks (3) from Jason Osborn on Vimeo.

What's Happening?

Today is the day of this great nations Independence! I am a very proud AMERICAN. I wanted to take a minute and share some things happening in and around the Middle Tennessee area today to celebrate our Independence.

Check out these great events:

Murfreesboro - McKnight Park

“Celebration Under the Stars” has a new location this year, but the fun, food, and fireworks are still the same.

New location this at McKnight Park and SportsCom at the corner of DeJarnette Lane and Memorial Boulevard from its former home at MTSU.

Many events will await you this year:

·        Rock the Pool @ Sportscomm starting at 10am for $2 for youth and seniors and $3 for adults.

·        Festivities begin in McKnight Park, adjacent to SportsCom, at 5 p.m. Continuing until 8 p.m., will be games and activities for the kids, including 10 inflatables, face painting, disc throwing and more. The evening activities in McKnight Park will be free of charge.

Nashville-Downtown 
Riverfront Park
The Downtown Riverfront fireworks show is one of the biggest & explosive around...

Nashville-Nashville Sounds
Greer Stadium
The Sounds offer A FANtastic Fireworks show that will follow the Independence Day game against the Albuquerque Isotopes.
(THIS IS WHERE I WILL BE - Follow me on Twitter for Updates on the Game)

Mt Juliet-Providence Marketplace
Annual 4th Celebration with fireworks and other festivities begins at 4:30 with the fireworks display kicking off around 9:00pm.

·        Riverfront's July 4 fireworks display biggest in Southeast

·        Celebrate July 4th in North Georgia: big holiday in the Blue Ridge ...

·        Fourth of July fun planned throughout Southeast Georgia

I hope everyone has a GREAT 4th and finds just the place to do it!

Place 2 Be - Historic Square in Murfreesboro

Friday Night Live - Central High Class Reunion

When: July 3rd, 2009
Where: Historic Square, Downtown Murfreesboro, TN
Time: 6:30 pm

Free concert presented by 

Main Street on the Murfreesboro Public Square.

Download the 2009 Friday Night Live Schedule.

Thursday Musings & Headlines

I have had a lot on my mind lately. Varying concerns in personal areas of life for myself and those in my immediate family. Today I thought I would share a few musings, rants, and a couple related headlines w/ corresponding opinions. 

• Another great trip overall. Day One and Two were good. Took two days off from the park, then the last three days in the park left something to be desired and noticeable things that could be corrected w/in the operations and facility. (more on this later) Holiday World / Splashin Safari
• 1. Check is a joke! If Will Koch ran the camp ground maybe it would be a better process, because I think Phil (Will’s Bro) could take a lesson or two on procedure from him and Mom (Pat) 2. Family Cabin: FILTHY, like it had never been swept, dusted, vacuumed; Spider infested- bought spray. Lake Rudolph Campground & RV Resort
• In life I watch everything w/ an “eye” for detail. I approach life with the {who, what, where, when, why, & how} questions all the time. Ex. - How could this be better? Or what is it that makes this just not right? Even, who is responsible for correcting this problem? That is how you go from bad to good and good to GREAT!
• To my last point, very few companies do this, of the ones that try most are doing it poorly, but some get it right and it shows.
• The legal system never seems to work for the ones that try and live their lives without bothering anyone. My experience is the bully is the one that wins. As the expression goes, “ the SQWEAKY wheel gets the grease.” That’s damn true in all court systems I’ve been involved in.
• Government run healthcare will be a DISASTER. Let’s be honest certain forms of it already are and that’s a damn shame.

o    Homeless veteran found dead on York VA grounds - Not poor care, just lack of caring to be there for this Vet. when he may have needed it. Perhaps he wanted no help, but I doubt that.

o    VA silent on compensating for endoscopic mistakes

o    Congress blasts VA for hospital problems - This is some Bulls hit here! Just a dog and pony show if I ever saw one. Please don’t piss in my cup and call it sweet tea. The VA screwed up, put THOUSANDS of Veterans lives at risk, now wants empathy. Not only that, they won’t take RESPONSIBILTY for the problem and STILL can’t seem to fix simple ass problems after new directives have come from HQ in DC.

o    VA hospitals get $26 million for new equipment, training after contamination problems - Just like the Gov. to throw money at a problem that they can’t really even identify, didn’t know existed, and if they had known existed 5 years ago wouldn’t have cost a few hundred dollars to rectify!

·         A troubling week of loss in this country: Ed McMahon, Farah Faucett, Michael Jackson, and Billy Mays. God Bless to all & RIP.