However, when I was employed there from May 2004 through April 2006 it was still Sunbelt Sports Sales.

While employed at Sunbelt Sports Sales I was assigned to transition the website from a static HTML site to a dynamic database driven site.

The static Sunbelt Sports site

I made a copy of the website and with that copy I determined which HTML tags contained the product information needed for a database.

Using find and replace in Notepad and then later Dreamweaver I transitioned the website copy into a large table with rows, columns, and table headings.

By running the website copy on a local machince I was able to copy and paste the values into an Excel spreadsheet.

Some minor corrections were made to the spreadsheet and then it was imported into an Access Database.

Once in a database the ASP code was written to retrieve and display the product information.

The dynamic Sunbelt Sports site

I designed and developed a Sunbelt BackOffice System that was used for inventory control.

As products were sold online the quanity of that product would be decremented from inventory.

As products arrived in the warehouse the staff could add the new amount into the system.

Anytime a product reached a quantity of zero it automatically stopped displaying on the website.

I also worked with the warehouse personnel to organize and mark shelf locations for staff to easily locate products still in the warehouse.

This system helped the company identify which products sold often and which did not, so that the purchasing department could adjust orders.

White Buffalo Environmental, Inc.

When I learned that the President of White Buffalo Environmental, Inc. wanted to have a prescence on the Internet I submitted an application and a resume.

I was hired and began work in April of 2006.

Until the domain WhiteBuffalo.com became available the company used WbeWeb.com.

The first website was designed and developed with Dreamweaver.

The Green color scheme has remained the same throughout the various versions.

The new logo was designed by by a third party and incorporated into the website design.

Rainwater Chapter 5 Index Card Summary

This post is continued from Rainwater story concept: Chapter 4 The Last Frontier.

In this chapter, like many action and spy movies, the hero is chauffeured by a driver that is really an assasain hired to kill the hero.

This version shows the hero wearing glasses that has a GPS system. Rainwater can monitor where the driver is headed. This concept would have seemed far fetched a couple of decades ago.

Today, eyeglasses with GPS is not only plausible it’s already been invented. Japan informed that a prototpe was developed in 2010.

Rainwater Chapter 4 Description

In chapter three Rainwater received his investigation orders.

In chapter four Rainwater returns to his hotel room to gather his belongings and to checkout.

Bailee who appeared in chapter two is waiting for Rainwater to return. Bailee is a major character who will also appear in later chapters in the story.

Chapter four demonstrates that there is a romantic relationship between Rainwater and Bailee.

She has stripped down and wrapped a bear rug around her naked body.

When Rainwater enters the room she asks, “You’re not thinking of leaving before exploring the last frontier, are ya?”

Rainwater Chapter 4 Index Card 1

The Last Frontier is the state nickname of Alaska.

Rainwater responds, “No, I wouldn’t dream of leaving without first exploring.”

Rainwater Chapter 4 Index Card 2

Rainwater Chapter 4 Index Card 3

After the miserable failure of the re-imagined Planet of the Apes in 2001 there was a lot at stake with attempting to reboot the beloved and classic Planet of the Apes franchise.

The movie Rise of the Planet of the Apes is not perfect, but in the Hollywood-infected world of reboots and remakes this movie is decent.

The proposed Return to the Planet of Apes would have been my preference. I prefer sequels over prequels, reboots, remakes, and reimaginings but one takes what one can get from the new Hollywood.

However, Rise is a smart and comprehensive story that covers a lot a ground. In two hours the story goes from being about a baby chimp being raised in a human home to an all out ape rebellion against human masters.

There are subtle and not so subtle tributes to the original 1968 film and a cameo by the late Charlton Heston.

In the original movie the character George Taylor, played by Charlton Heston, was caught in a world ruled by apes. Rise presents Caesar, an intelligent ape, that is betrayed and mistreated by human masters.

The best thing about this movie is the apes. They actually look like apes.

In chapter three Rainwater receives his investigation orders.

Rainwater Chapter 3 Index Card Summary

Rainwater received a text message telling him to go outside and get in a communications car.

Rainwater walks outside. A man yells to him, “Get in.”

Rainwater gets in the backseat and sits next to the man that yelled for him.

The man hands him an iPad.

Rainwater’s boss appears on the screen.

“You’re packed for a trip to Uganda,” the boss informs.

Rainwater Chapter 3 Index Card 1

The boss also explains that the assignment is to investigate a potential hate crime. Images of the crime scene and Hogan’s dead mutilated body began to appear on the iPad screen.

The boss explains that the first openly gay Senator from Oklahoma has been murdered.

“Investigating the death of a queer Senator. Are you serious?” Rainwater responds.

This statement by Rainwater is provided to show that he is not a bleeding heart liberal. Later the story will demonstrate that Rainwater is not a bloodless heart conservative either. Rainwater’s views are middle of the road. He neither approves nor disapproves of homosexuality nor gay marriage.

Rainwater Chapter 3 Index Card 2

The boss says, “The Cold War is over and Osama Bin Laden is dead. So investigate what we have to investigate.”

This line reflects the line that has been used in some TV and movies. “The cold war is over,” is often stated as a reason we Americans are doing something different in a TV or movie. I’ve added the phrase, “and Osama Bin Laden is dead” to reflect the newest change in American foreign events.

Rainwater Chapter 3 Index Card 3

Rainwater Chapter 3 Index Card 4

Rainwater Chapter 3 Index Card 5

This is chapter two of the story idea titled Rainwater. Chapter two introduces the protagonist, whose name is Lamar Rainwater. Rainwater is an agent at the CIA. He is also from the state of Oklahoma.

I wanted to find a way to introduce the Rainwater character that was different from the way most characters are introduced in an action movie. Although I intend to write Rainwater as a novel, I visualize the events in mind like it is a movie.

Therefore, I think about how movies have introduced characters in action films. The most popular action movies being James Bond and Indiana Jones. Most of those movies start out with the main character already in action.

I wanted to introduce Rainwater in a relaxed environment.

Here is my description card for chapter two:

Rainwater Chapter 2 Description

The first drawing is of Bailee, an attractive brunette, taking a phone message for Rainwater.

Bailee owns and operates the Borealis Beach Club in Wasilla, Alaska.

Why Alaska? I was born there but I was three-years-old by the time my parents moved back to Oklahoma.

I have no memories of Alaska, other than a train ride out of Fairbanks on the day my parents were moving out of Alaska back to Oklahoma.

Back to the Rainwater story. Bailee hollers at the waiter named Calvin to take a message to Rainwater who is in The Pit.

Rainwater Chapter 2 Index Card 1

Calvin gets the message from Bailee and heads to the staircase that leads to The Pit.

The way I imagine this event is that as Calvin leaves the front area where Bailee is managing the bar, there is loud music, a live band, lots of people (some drinking and some dancing), and dim lights but with a rainbow of colored lights moving and twisting around in the club.

As Calvin enters The Pit and walks down the stairs, the noise from above fades away.

Rainwater Chapter 2 Index Card 2

The next card I drew shows Rainwater sitting at a table playing a game of dominoes.

If this was a movie I would frame a shot that shows the dominoes on the table, hands placing dominoes on the table as the game is played, and the players talking.

Why dominoes?

A card game is too cliche. I once worked with a guy who was obsessed with dominoes. He taught me to play–although I have now forgotten how to play–so he would have someone to play dominoes with during break times at work.

In this scene the players are actually placing bets on this game of dominoes. I don’t know if people really do that or not, but since people like to gamble on almost every other sport I decided to make that part of this scene.

“Your move, Rainwater,” one player says.

Rainwater’s hand is seen placing a domino on the table. If this was a movie I would have a shot of only Rainwater’s hand. No one would see the face of the character yet.

Why?

The first and only James Bond movie to not start out with an action sequence was Dr. No. When the character played by Sean Connery is first introduced only his hands are seen as he passes out cards on the table.

A voice of a lady talking to Bond is heard but the face of Bond is not revealed until Connery makes the now famous introduction, “The name is Bond, James Bond.”

That was one of the best introductions of a main character in a film. This scene is inspired by that introduction of James Bond in Dr. No.

Now, back to Rainwater.

There’s laughter from the other players.

Rainwater Index Card 3

“Do you even have a strategy?” one player asks. In movie a shot of this player’s face would be revealed.

“Have you ever played dominoes before?” another player asks. Player’s face is revealed.

A third player’s face is revealed as he chuckles about the comments from the other two players.

Still no revelation of Rainwater’s face but he is heard talking.

“Yes,” Rainwater answers.

“How did you get an American Indian name like Rainwater and an American redneckish first name like Lamar?” one player asks.

Rainwater Chapter 2 Index Card 4

This question does two things for the story, it provides the name of the main character and it sets the theme of the story, which deals with prejudices.

Although I intend the story to be an action story, I also intend to have a subtle but present theme that addresses human prejudices.

In a movie the face of Rainwater would be revealed.

The character Rainwater is half Native American and half White American. His father was white, and his mother was an American Indian.

The back drop of this story deals with human prejudices so the main character is intentionally given a surname that would most likely sound like a Native American surname, but is in fact a British surname.

Rainwater Chapter 2 Index Card 5

“Rainwater is not an Indian name,” Rainwater responds. “It’s English.”

“But Lamar is a redneck name, right?”

Again the name Lamar, which sounds like a name for a country boy is purposely given to Rainwater as a first name.

“Just call me Lar.”

Lar is the nickname that Rainwater uses. It is short for Lamar and pronounced like “Dare” but with an L instead of a D.

Calvin interrupts the game to give Rainwater the message.

Rainwater reads the message which says, “Turn your damn phone on and read the text message.”

Rainwater thanks Calvin for the message and hands him a few dollars for his trouble.

“Thank you, sir,” Calvin says and exits The Pit.

Rainwater pulls his phone from his pocket and powers it on. “Looks like I’m going to have to go,” he comments.

“Not until this game is done,” a player says. “And it’s your turn.”

Rainwater places a domino tile on the table and pushes his remaining few dominoes over, which reveals what he has left in his set.

“Hey, why did you do that?” A player asks.

“Because you are blocked.”

“No, I’m–. Shit, how’d you do that?”

“I’m blocked too,” another player says.

“And I’m blocked,” the final player says.

“Please pay my tab with my winnings fellas,” Rainwater says as he puts his jacket on.

And yes this chapter ends with the protagonist winning a game, which is cliche but I’m writing it that way anyway.

Rainwater Chapter Card

Rainwater is the working title of a story idea that I have started to develop. The title will change once I have the story completed. Rainwater is the last name of the main character in the story.

Lamar Rainwater is the protagonist in a spy action adventure story that I have been working on outlining and writing. Lamar Rainwater is a CIA agent that grew up in Oklahoma.

The premise of the story is that Rainwater is sent by the CIA to Uganda to investigate the murder of Oklahoma’s first openly gay United States Senator.

I have worked on this story by using index cards to brainstorm ideas. Then I generated a chapter list and on index cards I wrote a summary of each chapter. Left-click on the image for the Rainwater Chapter Card above to see a larger image of the card.

Although I’m not an artist, I drew a sketch of the events in each chapter.

This post explains what I have done with the first chapter of the Rainwater story with the use of index cards. The main character does not appear in the first chapter so I will explain more about the main character when I discuss chapter 2.

Rainwater Index Card 1

This first sketch on an index card shows a female servant taking a cup of hot tea to the openly gay United States Senator from Oklahoma–Mr. Bradley Hogan. [Characters' names may change as story develops.] Hogan is in Uganda, Africa.

Why does this story have a gay Senator from Oklahoma in Uganda?

Great question.

Inspirations for story ideas come from various sources that merge together as I brainstorm ideas. This idea comes from news events like the anti-homosexuality bill in Uganda, Africa. This bill included the death penalty in some cases for homosexuals.

Even if one disagrees with homosexuality, this was a horribly cruel bill, but the kicker is that bill was allegedly associated with support from American evangelical groups including a group that the Oklahoma United Senator James Inhofe often visited and supported.

Rainwater Index Card 2

Although Oklahoma has had an openly Atheist U.S. Senator, Mr. Thomas Gore who served from 1907 to 1921, as far as I know Oklahoma has never had an openly gay U.S. Senator.

Oklahoma has two U.S. Senator seats. So the question that tickled my creative mind is–what if Oklahoma had an openly gay U.S. Senator who visited Uganda to support gay activists and an openly anti-gay U.S. Senator who visited Uganda to support anti-gay legislation?

Rainwater Index Card 3

The Rainwater story opened with chapter 1 where the gay Senator from Oklahoma drank some hot tea and experienced a hallucination of spiders crawling all over him. He desperately tried to pull them off, but in doing so ripped his own face off. This resulted in him bleeding to death.

The police arrived to investigate after the female servant found the gruesome body of Senator Hogan.

The dialogue between the cops at the crime scene contains some dark humor inspired by the television show CSI that usually opens with a teaser that has one of the CSIs making a joke about the crime scene. The intention here is to show that some Uganda officers have a disregard for a dead person who was gay.

Rainwater Index Card 4

The chapter ended where a cop entered the scene and commented, “Wow, he got ripped off!”

The U.S. Senator Hogan from Oklahoma is now dead.

But was he murdered? If so, was he murdered for being gay? Was this a hate crime?

The next chapter begins with an introduction to the main character who will be assigned to investigate the death of Senator Hogan and to determine if the murder was a hate crime.

Rainwater Index Card 5

Location map for Karla's bridge

Jeff Todd of Mysterious Oklahoma did the research on Karla’s bridge in February of 2010.

I’ve followed behind and created this reference map based on the information that comes from Jeff Todd’s YouTube video.

There are three bridges near the Redbud Valley Nature Preserve. I’ve marked those locations as Location 1, Location 2, and Location 3 based on which bridge is most likely Karla’s bridge. Each location is marked with a red dot.

Please use with caution. Location 1, which is probably the actual Karla’s bridge, is near a neighborhood. Being a curious guy, myself, I like to visit these supposedly haunted locations but since this location is near some residential homes, I advise being respectful of the people that live in this area and not disturbing them.

I also encourage visiting the Redbud Valley Nature Preserve. I walked through part of the nature trail after visiting the potential locations for Karla’s bridge, and it is a beautiful area.

Although, there have been reports of people hearing the giggle of a young girl near Karla’s bridge, I didn’t see or hear anything unusual when I visited the locations. However, this may have been a good thing, because if I had seen or heard something I may have screamed like a girl.

One possible location for Karla's Bridge

In 1976 the body of a schoolgirl named Karla was found in Catoosa, Oklahoma on Redbud Drive near a bridge.

The bridge is in a secluded but scenic area with hills, trees, and a plush plant life near the Redbud Valley Nature Preserve.

Karla’s bridge is considered to be a haunted place because people have reported hearing the laughter of a young girl (Hauntings: Paranormal Social Network).

People have also claimed to have seen a fire on the top of the largest hill in this area that vanishes momentarily (StrangeUSA).

These are the elements of the urban legend about Karla’s bridge that are listed on several websites.

I being a curious and creative guy have some questions and speculations about Karla’s bridge.

Questions About Karla’s Bridge

First the questions:

• What was the last name of Karla?
• How old was Karla?
• How did Karla die?
• Does a police report exist from 1976 regarding a body found in this area of Catoosa?
• There are three bridges on Redbud Drive near the Redbud Valley Nature Preserve so which bridge is actually Karla’s bridge?

The above questions, if I had time to investigate, would be the primary question I would like answered.

Speculations About Karla’s Bridge

Before I present my speculations, I want to make it clear that I’m not a psychic, I don’t claim to be a psychic, and I have no other knowledge of Karla’s bridge beyond what I have read online and from visiting the location.

I honestly believe that the legend of Karla’s bridge is just a fictional urban legend.

My speculations are pure fiction. They are bogus. Any actual resemblance to a real incident is purely coincidentally.

The only reason I’m posting my speculations here is because I love a good ghost story and I have an active imagination.

My speculations are:

• Karla was between the ages of 10 and 18. Since she was identified as a schoolgirl she was at least 18 years of age or younger. Age 10 is an arbitrary number. Karla could have been younger, but since most parents allow children some freedom to walk further from home around the age of ten, I’m guessing 10.
• Karla was accidentally killed by one or more of her female friends or family who were around her age. My reasons are that some people see a campfire or what appears to be a campfire on top of the largest hill when they heard the laughter of a girl. So from this I speculate that Karla and her family along with friends or family where camping on the hill. Karla and her friends wandered away from camp to explore the woods. Karla tripped, fell, or was pushed and sustained an injury from which she later died.
• The laughter is from Karla having fun before her tragic death.

For more information on Karla’s bridge please read Haunts in Catoosa Oklahoma at Karla’s bridge.