COMMONWEALTH OF VIRGINIA
Office of the Governor
Timothy M. Kaine
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 30, 2007
GOVERNOR KAINE ENCOURAGES VOLUNTARY WATER CONSERVATION AND CALLS ON LOCALITIES TO UPDATE DROUGHT CONTINGENCY PLANS
~Warns that drought conditions could become acute in the spring of 2008 if lack of rain continues ~
RICHMOND – Governor Timothy M. Kaine today urged localities to update water conservation and drought contingency ordinances and plans and begin preparations to implement those plans. The Governor also encouraged citizens and businesses to strictly follow all calls for water conservation issued by public waterworks or local governments.
In areas where local water conservation requirements have not been initiated, citizens and businesses should voluntarily conserve water to the greatest extent possible. This includes minimizing non-essential outdoor water uses such as irrigation and vehicle washing as well as reductions in indoor water uses.
“Assure that there are no water leaks in your home; limit showers to periods of less than 5 minutes; turn off the water when you brush your teeth; and only operate dishwashers and clothes washers with full loads,” Governor Kaine said. “These simple actions when performed by millions of citizens throughout the Commonwealth can result in a significant reduction in the stresses placed on our water resources.”
The entire Commonwealth is currently experiencing significant drought, which intensified in the six weeks preceding last week’s welcomed wide-spread rainfall. While last week’s rain addressed many short term drought impacts, the underlying long term precipitation deficit remains.
Fortunately, the Commonwealth is approaching the time of year when water demands will diminish greatly. With the end of the active growing season, the water needs of actively growing plants will be virtually eliminated and human demands for most non-essential outdoor water uses will cease. If, however, weather predictions of a dry winter materialize, Virginia is poised to experience significant drought with the onset of the growing season in the spring of 2008. The long range weather outlook calls for the potential for above normal temperatures and below normal rainfall through January 2008. While it is unlikely that serious water shortages will occur prior to the spring of 2008, it is essential to prepare for the potential for serious water supply impacts in the coming months.
All local governments should review existing local ordinances requiring mandatory non-essential water use restrictions at this time. Any locality that has not adopted such ordinances should consider doing so now. All local ordinances should be consistent with the mandatory non-essential water use restrictions contained in the Virginia Drought Assessment and Response Plan. It is likely that these ordinances will be required in the spring of 2008.
“The best drought responses are those that take into account the individual nature of water supplies and the users of those resources, and these must be developed at the local water system level,” said Governor Kaine. “We must use the window of opportunity that we have between now and the spring of 2008 to develop the best local response plans that we can. I applaud the efforts of the 55 water suppliers in the Commonwealth who have implemented existing water conservation plans to address the impact of the current drought on their systems.”
The Governor is also directing all executive branch agencies and institutions to review existing drought water conservation and contingency plans or develop new plans and eliminate all non-essential water uses at this time. The elimination of non-essential water uses must be consistent with the requirements contained in the Virginia Drought Assessment and Response Plan.
Today’s actions are in addition to those the Governor has already taken to address specific drought impacts on farmers and forest lands. As the result of Governor Kaine’s request that the US Secretary of Agriculture declare the entire Commonwealth an agricultural drought disaster area, all Virginia localities are now eligible for federal disaster assistance to address agricultural drought impacts. On October 18, the Governor issued an executive order declaring a state of emergency in the Commonwealth that includes a ban on all outdoor burning. The most immediate danger related to the drought is the potential for a significant fall wildfire season.
“I ask that all citizens be vigilant in controlling potential sources of wildfires,” said Governor Kaine. “This includes being mindful of parking vehicles in proximity to fuel sources such as dried grass as well as avoiding all outdoor burning. While the recent widespread rainfall has provided some temporary reduction in wildfire potential, this relief will rapidly dissipate without additional periodic rainfall. The current ban on all outdoor burning will remain in place until further notice.”
For water conservation tips, visit: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/waterresources/waterconservation.html
The October Drought Monitoring Task Force report is available at: http://www.deq.state.va.us/waterresources/drought.php#DroughtStatusReports.
The Virginia Drought Assessment and Response Plan can be found at: http://www.deq.virginia.gov/waterresources/pdf/droughtresponseplan.pdf.
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Quarreling with the News
Today in The Roanoke Times (some links are to other news outlets because I have such a difficult time finding things on the Roanoke paper's website):
Item 1.
On page 1.
"Young adults use more medicines"
How in the world can this be "good news" - that more people are taking drugs? Maybe for him, the prescriber, it's good news, but these drugs are, in my opinion, relatively unproven. They haven't been around 100 years. Who knows what they actually do to people. Not to mention side effects.
No. This is NOT good news. Good news would be "more young adults are eating proper portions of healthy fruits and vegetables and eschewing candy, soda, and other processed foods."
What a nation. We think popping pills solves everything. Egads.
Item 2.
Virginia Section, Page 1.
Living in Limbo
Salem is one of the 10 sites NS picked for its intermodal facility. Two of the sites are in Botetourt County, but no one seems to think they're sites that would be chosen because they are miles from the interstate.
Salem residents are concerned because they don't know where the site is going. The Virginia Rail office was to have made a decision first in February, then in April, but nothing has been forthcoming.
The area of Salem chosen is near where my grandmother lived. I spent many days on East Riverside Drive, which is across the Roanoke river from the proposed site.
The Roanoke River has a tendency to flood in this area; my grandmother was wiped out three times before she moved to Front Street (which is also close to this train facility).
There are old people, and young people, who live near this facility, and it will not be a place that facilitates good health. Smoke and noise, etc., not to mention the stuff that they cart through there, will cause health problems.
Item 3.
Virginia Section, Page 3
Drought in Southeast is expected to cut nation's beef supply.
We are in this space, my husband and I. We haven't the feed to get through the winter, and the price of hay has doubled, which we cannot afford. We're trying to hang out as long as we can... though I am not quite sure why.
I don't expect the weather to suddenly become more predictable in future years; I think it will be less so. The small farmer is going to have a devil of a time trying to exist, much less make ends meet.
With the housing boom busted, I don't see so many farms being sold to subdivisions; instead, I see farms being foreclosed on and folks ending up living with their children (because most of the farmers are older people).
Item 4.
Virginia Section page 5
Man recorded life in 5-minute segments
This fellow, now dead, wrote 37.5 million words in a journal. Which is a somewhat like a blog except without hyperlinks.
My initial reaction was that he needed to get a life and look outside of himself. I'm not sure what that says in terms of my own blogging and journal writing. I believe strongly in journaling and writing about your feelings, etc., etc.
Just not to the point of actually not living.
Item 1.
On page 1.
"Young adults use more medicines"
... "This is good news, that more people in this age range are taking these medicines," said Dr. Daniel W. Jones, president of the American Heart Association.
Still, he said many more people should be on the drugs that lower cholesterol or blood pressure and which have been shown to reduce risks for heart attack and stroke....
How in the world can this be "good news" - that more people are taking drugs? Maybe for him, the prescriber, it's good news, but these drugs are, in my opinion, relatively unproven. They haven't been around 100 years. Who knows what they actually do to people. Not to mention side effects.
No. This is NOT good news. Good news would be "more young adults are eating proper portions of healthy fruits and vegetables and eschewing candy, soda, and other processed foods."
What a nation. We think popping pills solves everything. Egads.
Item 2.
Virginia Section, Page 1.
Living in Limbo
Salem is one of the 10 sites NS picked for its intermodal facility. Two of the sites are in Botetourt County, but no one seems to think they're sites that would be chosen because they are miles from the interstate.
Salem residents are concerned because they don't know where the site is going. The Virginia Rail office was to have made a decision first in February, then in April, but nothing has been forthcoming.
The area of Salem chosen is near where my grandmother lived. I spent many days on East Riverside Drive, which is across the Roanoke river from the proposed site.
The Roanoke River has a tendency to flood in this area; my grandmother was wiped out three times before she moved to Front Street (which is also close to this train facility).
There are old people, and young people, who live near this facility, and it will not be a place that facilitates good health. Smoke and noise, etc., not to mention the stuff that they cart through there, will cause health problems.
Item 3.
Virginia Section, Page 3
Drought in Southeast is expected to cut nation's beef supply.
National Cattlemen's Beef Association spokesman Joe Schule says the sell-off of
breeding stock will ripple through the industry until breeding animals are
replaced.
"You piece all those small producers together, you've got, normally, a very vibrant cattle industry in the southeast region and really a big part of the cattle economy," Schule says. "It's definitely going to continue the stagnation of the cattle herd."
That will hurt consumers, Schule says, because supply is a big factor in the price of beef.
We are in this space, my husband and I. We haven't the feed to get through the winter, and the price of hay has doubled, which we cannot afford. We're trying to hang out as long as we can... though I am not quite sure why.
I don't expect the weather to suddenly become more predictable in future years; I think it will be less so. The small farmer is going to have a devil of a time trying to exist, much less make ends meet.
With the housing boom busted, I don't see so many farms being sold to subdivisions; instead, I see farms being foreclosed on and folks ending up living with their children (because most of the farmers are older people).
Item 4.
Virginia Section page 5
Man recorded life in 5-minute segments
This fellow, now dead, wrote 37.5 million words in a journal. Which is a somewhat like a blog except without hyperlinks.
My initial reaction was that he needed to get a life and look outside of himself. I'm not sure what that says in terms of my own blogging and journal writing. I believe strongly in journaling and writing about your feelings, etc., etc.
Just not to the point of actually not living.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Nickel and Dimed
I was sure my plans for Saturday evening had been busted as soon as I woke from an unexpected nap. I had been reading and I fell asleep with a book in my lap. The clock said 6:15 p.m. and I was to pick up a friend in a half hour.
I wasn't dressed.
Suddenly I realized that I never called the box office at Hollins University to reserve seats for the play we were to see. What if it was sold out?
Panicked, I called to check. An answering machine picked up. I left a breathless message about wanting to reserve two seats for the evening.
Then I hurried to dress.
When I picked up my friend, I confessed I wasn't sure we'd have seats. "That's okay, we'll just go get something to drink (as in a soda, since neither of us drink alcohol)," she said.
Fortunately, there were plenty of seats available and my worries were for naught.
We went to see Nickel and Dimed, by Joan Holden.
The play is based on the book Nickel and Dimed, on (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich.
I have not read the book.
The play emphasized how difficult it is to get by on minimum wage or near minimum wage. Heck, let's face it, unless you're making at least $40,000 a year, it's hard to get by in this country, and not everybody can make $40,000 a year because we don't pay people what they're worth. There are firefighters and policemen on food stamps, for pities sake.
And the costs are skyrocketing, what with increases in gas, electricity, and food. Basic living items. When did a gallon of milk climb to $4.80? I don't buy it often and that's what the last gallon cost.
The play was about Ehrenreich's undercover work for the book. She went to Florida, where she found a job as a waitress. She could not make ends meet there without taking on a second job as a maid in a hotel, and even then she could barely pay the bills. Not to mention do anything else, because she was worn to a frazzle from working 12 hour days, every day.
Her coworkers had hard lives, too, and they are all portrayed through the play. We see how difficult it is to bring up children or be pregnant without health care because you can't afford it.
In Maine, Ehrenreich worked as a house cleaner for a national franchise firm, and as a dietary aid in a nursing home. She discovered that non-corporations are better to work for than corporations.
In Minnesota, she worked for "Mall Mart." The sleaze factor of this retail corporation simply oozed from the stage.
The actress who portrayed Ehrenreich, Susie Young, did an outstanding job. I was very impressed with her performance.
The play must have made some in the audience quite uncomfortable - it was family weekend at the university and many of the girls at Hollins are, let's face it, from the upper class. Heck, it made me a little uncomfortable and I am nowhere near the upper class.
But I am not in that working class living paycheck to paycheck, and for that I am grateful.
The play offered no alternatives, no solutions. I am not sure what those solutions are. Fair wages, for sure, but that becomes a catch 22. If the price of eating out becomes cost prohibitive, then the waitresses are out of jobs completely, after all. Most of the solutions that I can think of fall under the "socialism" scream, and we know how terrible many people think that is.
I will read this book now. I should have read it sooner.
I wasn't dressed.
Suddenly I realized that I never called the box office at Hollins University to reserve seats for the play we were to see. What if it was sold out?
Panicked, I called to check. An answering machine picked up. I left a breathless message about wanting to reserve two seats for the evening.
Then I hurried to dress.
When I picked up my friend, I confessed I wasn't sure we'd have seats. "That's okay, we'll just go get something to drink (as in a soda, since neither of us drink alcohol)," she said.
Fortunately, there were plenty of seats available and my worries were for naught.
We went to see Nickel and Dimed, by Joan Holden.
The play is based on the book Nickel and Dimed, on (Not) Getting by in America, by Barbara Ehrenreich.
I have not read the book.
The play emphasized how difficult it is to get by on minimum wage or near minimum wage. Heck, let's face it, unless you're making at least $40,000 a year, it's hard to get by in this country, and not everybody can make $40,000 a year because we don't pay people what they're worth. There are firefighters and policemen on food stamps, for pities sake.
And the costs are skyrocketing, what with increases in gas, electricity, and food. Basic living items. When did a gallon of milk climb to $4.80? I don't buy it often and that's what the last gallon cost.
The play was about Ehrenreich's undercover work for the book. She went to Florida, where she found a job as a waitress. She could not make ends meet there without taking on a second job as a maid in a hotel, and even then she could barely pay the bills. Not to mention do anything else, because she was worn to a frazzle from working 12 hour days, every day.
Her coworkers had hard lives, too, and they are all portrayed through the play. We see how difficult it is to bring up children or be pregnant without health care because you can't afford it.
In Maine, Ehrenreich worked as a house cleaner for a national franchise firm, and as a dietary aid in a nursing home. She discovered that non-corporations are better to work for than corporations.
In Minnesota, she worked for "Mall Mart." The sleaze factor of this retail corporation simply oozed from the stage.
The actress who portrayed Ehrenreich, Susie Young, did an outstanding job. I was very impressed with her performance.
The play must have made some in the audience quite uncomfortable - it was family weekend at the university and many of the girls at Hollins are, let's face it, from the upper class. Heck, it made me a little uncomfortable and I am nowhere near the upper class.
But I am not in that working class living paycheck to paycheck, and for that I am grateful.
The play offered no alternatives, no solutions. I am not sure what those solutions are. Fair wages, for sure, but that becomes a catch 22. If the price of eating out becomes cost prohibitive, then the waitresses are out of jobs completely, after all. Most of the solutions that I can think of fall under the "socialism" scream, and we know how terrible many people think that is.
I will read this book now. I should have read it sooner.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Books: Destiny
Destiny
By Elizabeth Haydon
835 pages
Copyright 2001
This was the finale of the Rhapsody trilogy (Rhapsody and Prophecy were the other two). I've read these three books over the last six weeks. All three were quite long.
Destiny suffered a bit from a strange subplot that mostly made no sense to me. Rhapsody had part of her memory taken from her by her lover/husband, and this played a big part in much of the non-main-plot action. I found it mostly annoying because it really served no purpose other than to make the book go on and on.
Another oddity about this series of books is that a "time editing" character" named Meridian shows up at the very beginning and end of each book. The reader is clueless as to who this person is and what it is he is attempting to do, aside from alter time to keep the world from burning in fire. We finally find out his purpose in the Epilogue of Destiny. It was clever but I didn't much care for it. I won't go into detail in case someone out there is a rabid fantasy reader.
Frankly, the story would have been just fine, and maybe a little stronger, without the time editor, if it had just been told as the good v. evil epic that it was. I suppose the author couldn't bear to lose the cleverness of it. I also think the final book would have been stronger without the subplot of the memory loss thing.
The writer does a nice job at world-building, and her characters are (mostly) strong. Some of the scenes drone on a bit, and the characters, mostly all of them, seemed determined to inflict much emotional trauma on each other before declarations of absolute love and fidelity. I found that a bit annoying, too.
The main plot works out very well with good resolution.
It may sound like I disliked the book, but I didn't. I think I am a little disappointed that I didn't find it as enthralling as the first two, though.
3 stars
By Elizabeth Haydon
835 pages
Copyright 2001
This was the finale of the Rhapsody trilogy (Rhapsody and Prophecy were the other two). I've read these three books over the last six weeks. All three were quite long.
Destiny suffered a bit from a strange subplot that mostly made no sense to me. Rhapsody had part of her memory taken from her by her lover/husband, and this played a big part in much of the non-main-plot action. I found it mostly annoying because it really served no purpose other than to make the book go on and on.
Another oddity about this series of books is that a "time editing" character" named Meridian shows up at the very beginning and end of each book. The reader is clueless as to who this person is and what it is he is attempting to do, aside from alter time to keep the world from burning in fire. We finally find out his purpose in the Epilogue of Destiny. It was clever but I didn't much care for it. I won't go into detail in case someone out there is a rabid fantasy reader.
Frankly, the story would have been just fine, and maybe a little stronger, without the time editor, if it had just been told as the good v. evil epic that it was. I suppose the author couldn't bear to lose the cleverness of it. I also think the final book would have been stronger without the subplot of the memory loss thing.
The writer does a nice job at world-building, and her characters are (mostly) strong. Some of the scenes drone on a bit, and the characters, mostly all of them, seemed determined to inflict much emotional trauma on each other before declarations of absolute love and fidelity. I found that a bit annoying, too.
The main plot works out very well with good resolution.
It may sound like I disliked the book, but I didn't. I think I am a little disappointed that I didn't find it as enthralling as the first two, though.
3 stars
Friday, October 26, 2007
A Tale
A post at Blue Ridge Blue Collar Girl about moths reminded me of a tale I read a very long time ago.
I have not been able to recall the name of this story, or where I saw it. I did a search on the 'net but came up empty handed. Perhaps someone will recognize the story from my paraphrasing and elaborations here and point me towards the original version so I may give proper credit. I am taking many liberties with the basic plot and writing this story:
**Update 10/28/2007: Beth found a link of a very similar story for me. I am not sure if this is the same one I read; I tend not to think so because I don't recall the queen being involved and I thought it was a ghost story, not an angel story. However, it is close enough that it could very well be.**
Now on with my "version" -
****
The Ghost That Saved The Train
The night sky showed stars glittering like diamonds as Ben blew the whistle on the steam engine. The train gathered speed as it carried its passengers through the October night along the grade toward London.
He'd traveled the route many times now, and always felt his pulse race as he headed into Finnigan's Straight Away. The slight incline helped the train move quickly down the tracks toward the trestle bridge.
Suddenly a ghostly figure appeared in the lights before the train. The man waved his arms up and down, frantically signalling the train to stop.
Alarmed, Ben applied the brake for all he was worth. The train screeched and finally slid to a stop, scaring passengers and crew alike.
Ben jumped from the engine and walked down the track, seeking the man who had stopped him.
He found no one.
Puzzled, he sat down for a moment. In the distance he could hear the river and knew he was not far from the trestle bridge. On impulse he walked the track while his crew waited anxiously, trying to calm the passengers. What he found nearly made his heart leap from his chest.
The bridge was out.
The ghostly man had saved the train from pitching over the ravine and into the darkness. He had saved many lives, whoever he was.
Ben hurried back to the engine. It took a long time to find safe passage for the passengers, and even longer to back the train down to the nearest station.
The unknown man preyed on Ben's mind. He wanted to thank this savior. As he headed for bed, he walked around the engine's front and noticed a large moth, now dead, attached one of the lanterns the train used for light.
He picked up the lantern and went into a dark room in the station.
When he lit the lantern, there before him on the wall was the outline of the man he had seen, only this time the arms were not waving.
The moth had saved the train.
I have not been able to recall the name of this story, or where I saw it. I did a search on the 'net but came up empty handed. Perhaps someone will recognize the story from my paraphrasing and elaborations here and point me towards the original version so I may give proper credit. I am taking many liberties with the basic plot and writing this story:
**Update 10/28/2007: Beth found a link of a very similar story for me. I am not sure if this is the same one I read; I tend not to think so because I don't recall the queen being involved and I thought it was a ghost story, not an angel story. However, it is close enough that it could very well be.**
Now on with my "version" -
****
The Ghost That Saved The Train
The night sky showed stars glittering like diamonds as Ben blew the whistle on the steam engine. The train gathered speed as it carried its passengers through the October night along the grade toward London.
He'd traveled the route many times now, and always felt his pulse race as he headed into Finnigan's Straight Away. The slight incline helped the train move quickly down the tracks toward the trestle bridge.
Suddenly a ghostly figure appeared in the lights before the train. The man waved his arms up and down, frantically signalling the train to stop.
Alarmed, Ben applied the brake for all he was worth. The train screeched and finally slid to a stop, scaring passengers and crew alike.
Ben jumped from the engine and walked down the track, seeking the man who had stopped him.
He found no one.
Puzzled, he sat down for a moment. In the distance he could hear the river and knew he was not far from the trestle bridge. On impulse he walked the track while his crew waited anxiously, trying to calm the passengers. What he found nearly made his heart leap from his chest.
The bridge was out.
The ghostly man had saved the train from pitching over the ravine and into the darkness. He had saved many lives, whoever he was.
Ben hurried back to the engine. It took a long time to find safe passage for the passengers, and even longer to back the train down to the nearest station.
The unknown man preyed on Ben's mind. He wanted to thank this savior. As he headed for bed, he walked around the engine's front and noticed a large moth, now dead, attached one of the lanterns the train used for light.
He picked up the lantern and went into a dark room in the station.
When he lit the lantern, there before him on the wall was the outline of the man he had seen, only this time the arms were not waving.
The moth had saved the train.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
13 Minor Annoyances
1. Books on tape that haven't been rewound. I know it is so difficult to hit that rewind button. It's a courtesy thing, though.
2. That stiff plastic from hell that is used for packaging, like on batteries and scissors. I need scissors to open the packages. What if it is your first pair of scissors, how do you get into it, I wonder?
3. Paper cuts. They hurt worse than a big bold bleeding cut.
4. Loose buttons. I wore a brand new pair of pants on Tuesday and the buttons fell off. I ended up using a paperclip to hold my pants together until I could get home. What's up with that?
5. Cell phones. They are handy but do we have to have them on during supervisors' meetings? Or dinner? I leave mine in the car all the time. I don't particularly want to be reachable when I'm in the grocery store or visiting a friend. I don't use it when I'm driving, either. I'm not really sure why I have it. Emergencies, I guess.
6. Pop ups on websites. Yeah, it's all about capitalism and getting my money away from me, I know. But too many pop ups and I don't visit at all.
7. Authors who don't know when to shut up. I really don't care if J. K. Rowling thinks Dumbledore is gay (Harry Potter books). What she wrote is what she wrote, and I don't have access to the mini-camera in her mind, just what she puts on paper.
8. Multiple charity requests. Every day, in the mail, people send me things wanting me to write them a check. What is it with you people? Yes, I know, you do good things. I support your good things. But I send you a check on my schedule, not yours. In the meantime you've wasted good dollars sending me multiple mailings over the course of the year. I ponied up all I could afford at the time. Give it a rest. You'll get yours when I have it to give.
9. Reality TV. Fortunately I don't watch too much TV anyway, but I wouldn't mind watching if something came on that was creative, had possibilities, seemed inventive, etc. Like Seinfeld. Or Designing Women. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Anything that has a plot.
10. Meetings that take all day. I attended a meeting this week that was NINE hours long. Do you know how sore your bottom gets after you've sat almost all of that time?
11. People who think that driving in the rain means ... driving like it isn't raining. I know we've not had rain in a while, and maybe people have forgotten that it's slippery, but slowing down is better than dying. Over the course of the last two days I've seen several wrecks. I watched one tractor trailer jack-knife in front of me. He was going too fast and then suddenly this stop light popped up out of nowhere. Bad stop light.
12. People who complain about the rain. We've had a drought. Get over it. Rejoice because you'll have drinking water. A little water on your head won't hurt you.
13. What's your minor annoyance? Maybe it's people who acknowledge minor annoyances...
2. That stiff plastic from hell that is used for packaging, like on batteries and scissors. I need scissors to open the packages. What if it is your first pair of scissors, how do you get into it, I wonder?
3. Paper cuts. They hurt worse than a big bold bleeding cut.
4. Loose buttons. I wore a brand new pair of pants on Tuesday and the buttons fell off. I ended up using a paperclip to hold my pants together until I could get home. What's up with that?
5. Cell phones. They are handy but do we have to have them on during supervisors' meetings? Or dinner? I leave mine in the car all the time. I don't particularly want to be reachable when I'm in the grocery store or visiting a friend. I don't use it when I'm driving, either. I'm not really sure why I have it. Emergencies, I guess.
6. Pop ups on websites. Yeah, it's all about capitalism and getting my money away from me, I know. But too many pop ups and I don't visit at all.
7. Authors who don't know when to shut up. I really don't care if J. K. Rowling thinks Dumbledore is gay (Harry Potter books). What she wrote is what she wrote, and I don't have access to the mini-camera in her mind, just what she puts on paper.
8. Multiple charity requests. Every day, in the mail, people send me things wanting me to write them a check. What is it with you people? Yes, I know, you do good things. I support your good things. But I send you a check on my schedule, not yours. In the meantime you've wasted good dollars sending me multiple mailings over the course of the year. I ponied up all I could afford at the time. Give it a rest. You'll get yours when I have it to give.
9. Reality TV. Fortunately I don't watch too much TV anyway, but I wouldn't mind watching if something came on that was creative, had possibilities, seemed inventive, etc. Like Seinfeld. Or Designing Women. Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman. Anything that has a plot.
10. Meetings that take all day. I attended a meeting this week that was NINE hours long. Do you know how sore your bottom gets after you've sat almost all of that time?
11. People who think that driving in the rain means ... driving like it isn't raining. I know we've not had rain in a while, and maybe people have forgotten that it's slippery, but slowing down is better than dying. Over the course of the last two days I've seen several wrecks. I watched one tractor trailer jack-knife in front of me. He was going too fast and then suddenly this stop light popped up out of nowhere. Bad stop light.
12. People who complain about the rain. We've had a drought. Get over it. Rejoice because you'll have drinking water. A little water on your head won't hurt you.
13. What's your minor annoyance? Maybe it's people who acknowledge minor annoyances...
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Get Out the Vote
Half of the American people have never read a newspaper. Half never voted for President. One hopes it is the same half. - Gore Vidal
The hallowed halls of the Virginia General Assembly never heard such a speech as the one Mary Johnston gave before the learned politicos on January 19, 1912.
An advocate for a woman’s right to vote, Johnston, an area native and by then a much-accomplished and well-respected author, told the legislatures that she paid $1,000 annually in taxes to the state, yet had no voice in how the revenue was spent.
Her family settled western Virginia and had fought in all of the country’s wars up to that time. Yet recent legal immigrants, who knew nothing of democracy, she said, were treated as if they knew better than she what the interests of the state might be.
“We are asking that those who live under the laws of a state … may have something to do with the making of those laws,” Johnston said in another speech, this time before a meeting of governors. “We are asking that we who pay a very considerable portion of the taxes of the State and of the country may have a voice in the apportionment of those taxes. We are asking that we who work may have a say as to the conditions under which we work.”
For six years, Johnston gave up much of her life so that women could obtain the right to vote. She suffered from vicious personal attacks from anti-suffrage groups. She did not give up.
How sad then that today, the local voter registrar expects less than half the entire population of the county to turn out when the polls open on November.
Less than 100 years after Mary Johnston took a stand and fought for the right to vote, have we thrown it away? If just half the population votes, and half of those are female, then only 25 percent of the women in this area will bother to exercise a right for which some women were imprisoned.
Not long ago, I heard someone on a late night radio talk advocate a change in the voting laws so that only landowners could vote.
I have heard other people advocate taking the vote from women and from minorities. No doubt about it, at this very moment, there are folks working to undermine a linchpin of democracy that 50 percent of you, male and female, black or white, apparently take for granted.
If you don’t vote, they could very well be successful, because you can be sure they will vote for candidates who think similarly.
Voting is your right. It is also your duty as a citizen to take this single action every year to ensure that the county or the country is overseen by the best person.
So make plans now to go vote. Tell your boss you may be a little late the morning of November 6.
It’s that important.
The hallowed halls of the Virginia General Assembly never heard such a speech as the one Mary Johnston gave before the learned politicos on January 19, 1912.
An advocate for a woman’s right to vote, Johnston, an area native and by then a much-accomplished and well-respected author, told the legislatures that she paid $1,000 annually in taxes to the state, yet had no voice in how the revenue was spent.
Her family settled western Virginia and had fought in all of the country’s wars up to that time. Yet recent legal immigrants, who knew nothing of democracy, she said, were treated as if they knew better than she what the interests of the state might be.
“We are asking that those who live under the laws of a state … may have something to do with the making of those laws,” Johnston said in another speech, this time before a meeting of governors. “We are asking that we who pay a very considerable portion of the taxes of the State and of the country may have a voice in the apportionment of those taxes. We are asking that we who work may have a say as to the conditions under which we work.”
For six years, Johnston gave up much of her life so that women could obtain the right to vote. She suffered from vicious personal attacks from anti-suffrage groups. She did not give up.
How sad then that today, the local voter registrar expects less than half the entire population of the county to turn out when the polls open on November.
Less than 100 years after Mary Johnston took a stand and fought for the right to vote, have we thrown it away? If just half the population votes, and half of those are female, then only 25 percent of the women in this area will bother to exercise a right for which some women were imprisoned.
Not long ago, I heard someone on a late night radio talk advocate a change in the voting laws so that only landowners could vote.
I have heard other people advocate taking the vote from women and from minorities. No doubt about it, at this very moment, there are folks working to undermine a linchpin of democracy that 50 percent of you, male and female, black or white, apparently take for granted.
If you don’t vote, they could very well be successful, because you can be sure they will vote for candidates who think similarly.
Voting is your right. It is also your duty as a citizen to take this single action every year to ensure that the county or the country is overseen by the best person.
So make plans now to go vote. Tell your boss you may be a little late the morning of November 6.
It’s that important.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
The Lesser Of ...
In my quest for conservation, I wonder sometimes about the choices I make. Or don't make.
With water, which I am greatly concerned about, I wonder if I am better off washing an oversized load. The rule of thumb is to not wash until you have a full load so I suppose so.
Then there is bathing. Do I shower, or take a bath? I had always heard you use less water in the shower, but I wondered how that could be so. So two nights ago I took a bath. The tub filled in under 3 minutes (which is the short little time I am trying to stay in the shower).
Today I took a shower, but plugged the tub.
Apparently you do use less water in the shower, because in 3 minutes the tub was nowhere near as full as it had been when running water through the spigot. It looks like it would take a 6-minute shower to fill the tub through the showerhead.
The difference is the length of time you get to stay in the hot water. If you take a tub bath, you can soak your sore aching muscles. You can't do that in a 3 minute shower. You barely get clean in a 3 minute shower.
Then there is electricity. I try to cut stuff off but all kinds of things are "instant on," apparently still using wattage. My computer, for example. And my printer.
So I began cutting off the battery backup completely, which hopefully cuts the computer off entirely. I also began cutting off the printer.
Then I noticed that every time I turned the printer back on, the ink jets primed themselves. I think that means the printer is using a little ink every time I hit the on switch. I wondered if the printer uses more ink than it saves in electricity when I cut the printer off. It takes fuel to make the ink, after all. Plus there is my expense - am I saving money or losing money?
Then there is the electric heater. If I use the electric heater and just heat one room, leaving the rest of the house cold, but end up having to cut the furnace on to heat the rest of the house anyway, which has become much cooler, am I really saving anything? We haven't cut the furnace on yet this year, but we'll have to soon.
And then there is the fireplace. My fireplace only works with an electric blower, because it's really a stove insert. If we use that, and have to run the electric blowers all the time, what are we saving?
It's a conundrum, is what it is.
With water, which I am greatly concerned about, I wonder if I am better off washing an oversized load. The rule of thumb is to not wash until you have a full load so I suppose so.
Then there is bathing. Do I shower, or take a bath? I had always heard you use less water in the shower, but I wondered how that could be so. So two nights ago I took a bath. The tub filled in under 3 minutes (which is the short little time I am trying to stay in the shower).
Today I took a shower, but plugged the tub.
Apparently you do use less water in the shower, because in 3 minutes the tub was nowhere near as full as it had been when running water through the spigot. It looks like it would take a 6-minute shower to fill the tub through the showerhead.
The difference is the length of time you get to stay in the hot water. If you take a tub bath, you can soak your sore aching muscles. You can't do that in a 3 minute shower. You barely get clean in a 3 minute shower.
Then there is electricity. I try to cut stuff off but all kinds of things are "instant on," apparently still using wattage. My computer, for example. And my printer.
So I began cutting off the battery backup completely, which hopefully cuts the computer off entirely. I also began cutting off the printer.
Then I noticed that every time I turned the printer back on, the ink jets primed themselves. I think that means the printer is using a little ink every time I hit the on switch. I wondered if the printer uses more ink than it saves in electricity when I cut the printer off. It takes fuel to make the ink, after all. Plus there is my expense - am I saving money or losing money?
Then there is the electric heater. If I use the electric heater and just heat one room, leaving the rest of the house cold, but end up having to cut the furnace on to heat the rest of the house anyway, which has become much cooler, am I really saving anything? We haven't cut the furnace on yet this year, but we'll have to soon.
And then there is the fireplace. My fireplace only works with an electric blower, because it's really a stove insert. If we use that, and have to run the electric blowers all the time, what are we saving?
It's a conundrum, is what it is.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Autumn in the Valley
A collage of muted colors
Note the brown, dry field.
The trees, if they are turning, are taking their time.
Books Recently Read
Drop Dead Beautiful
By Jackie Collins
Copyright 2007
500 pages
4 stars
Mad Dash
By Patricia Gaffney
Copyright 2007
355 pages
3.75 stars
By Jackie Collins
Copyright 2007
500 pages
4 stars
Mad Dash
By Patricia Gaffney
Copyright 2007
355 pages
3.75 stars
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Books: Prophecy
Prophecy
By Elizabeth Haydon
Copyright 2000
697 pages
This is the second in a three part trilogy, the first being Rhapsody.
Rhapsody, a Namer, travels with Ashe, a mystery man, to see a dragon. The dragon likes her a lot.
Ashe turns out to be someone else in several reincarnations of his very long life. Rhapsody eventually figures out who he is, except for the fact that he is her long-lost soul mate, though she does get to that. The reader has known this all along (or at least I did) so I don't think I'm revealing a major plot point.
Ashe also has a doppelganger who is bad; his counterpart is under control of the F'dor, the most evil thing in this world. Rhapsody goes out to kill the doppelganger. In the process she also kills her sister, who has been taken over by the F'dor.
The book ends with a very odd sequence where Rhapsody agrees to give up a night of her memories to Ashe. This includes the realization that Ashe is her soul mate. I am not sure why this information was necessary to delete but I suppose it will be apparent in the third book.
There are many other subplots - a vine that is eating up the world, another king who wants Rhapsody for his own and wishes to declare war on Achmed (Rhapsody's friendly assassin), a piece of living earth called The Sleeping Child, Rhapsody's learning that she is the champion of leaders whether she wants to be or not, etc. Far too much to discuss in a paragraph or two.
I will be reading the last of the trilogy, Destiny, beginning this evening, probably.
Recommended for folks who like long fantasy books with good characterization and depth.
4 stars
By Elizabeth Haydon
Copyright 2000
697 pages
This is the second in a three part trilogy, the first being Rhapsody.
Rhapsody, a Namer, travels with Ashe, a mystery man, to see a dragon. The dragon likes her a lot.
Ashe turns out to be someone else in several reincarnations of his very long life. Rhapsody eventually figures out who he is, except for the fact that he is her long-lost soul mate, though she does get to that. The reader has known this all along (or at least I did) so I don't think I'm revealing a major plot point.
Ashe also has a doppelganger who is bad; his counterpart is under control of the F'dor, the most evil thing in this world. Rhapsody goes out to kill the doppelganger. In the process she also kills her sister, who has been taken over by the F'dor.
The book ends with a very odd sequence where Rhapsody agrees to give up a night of her memories to Ashe. This includes the realization that Ashe is her soul mate. I am not sure why this information was necessary to delete but I suppose it will be apparent in the third book.
There are many other subplots - a vine that is eating up the world, another king who wants Rhapsody for his own and wishes to declare war on Achmed (Rhapsody's friendly assassin), a piece of living earth called The Sleeping Child, Rhapsody's learning that she is the champion of leaders whether she wants to be or not, etc. Far too much to discuss in a paragraph or two.
I will be reading the last of the trilogy, Destiny, beginning this evening, probably.
Recommended for folks who like long fantasy books with good characterization and depth.
4 stars
Saturday, October 20, 2007
Rain!
We received a half-inch of rain yesterday. It seemed to all fall in a few minutes. A downpour.
Much of it ran off because the ground is simply too parched to take it all in. We need a good soaker.
This was not enough rain to enable me to stop taking 3 minute showers. We need inches before that can happen. But I am sure the grass and trees enjoyed it.
Much of it ran off because the ground is simply too parched to take it all in. We need a good soaker.
This was not enough rain to enable me to stop taking 3 minute showers. We need inches before that can happen. But I am sure the grass and trees enjoyed it.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Rain?
The skies are gray and overcast. There is a threat of rain.
But only a threat. No large, life-giving drops are falling to take the sting from the parched earth. Mother Nature's tongue is hanging out and the sky offers no succor.
Hello, Autumn.
The leaves have finally - finally - begun their annual parade of color. The reds outside my window are muted; the oaks still sport green leaves. The poplars have yellow and brown coloring. Fall is not at its peak yet, but I don't expect to see anything striking.
Beneath those green oaks, a turkey hen delicately picks up her feet. Her head bobs as she grasps insects. She stops and stands erect, looking ... looking. She fluffs her feathers and moves on, down the hill to vanish into the gully.
The air is moving with a breeze; the limbs of the blue spruce dance a slow waltz. The sun might break through the haze - yes, there it is, casting its rays across the dry, brown land.
No rain today, no salvation for the thirsty.
But only a threat. No large, life-giving drops are falling to take the sting from the parched earth. Mother Nature's tongue is hanging out and the sky offers no succor.
Hello, Autumn.
The leaves have finally - finally - begun their annual parade of color. The reds outside my window are muted; the oaks still sport green leaves. The poplars have yellow and brown coloring. Fall is not at its peak yet, but I don't expect to see anything striking.
Beneath those green oaks, a turkey hen delicately picks up her feet. Her head bobs as she grasps insects. She stops and stands erect, looking ... looking. She fluffs her feathers and moves on, down the hill to vanish into the gully.
The air is moving with a breeze; the limbs of the blue spruce dance a slow waltz. The sun might break through the haze - yes, there it is, casting its rays across the dry, brown land.
No rain today, no salvation for the thirsty.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
13 Resources for Writers
Creative Marketing Solutions. Marcia Yudkin is a marketing guru. She has a free newsletter that comes out on Wednesday. Highly recommended.
LibrarySpot. Encyclopedias, research resources, etc.
ThinkExist. Quotations finder.
Encyclopedia Mythica. A resource for myths, legends, religions, lore of all kinds.
Character Building Workshop. Great list of character archetypes.
Biblomania. More than 2000 works of literature along with study guides, also research references.
Book of Days. A listing of calendar events and word definitions. Very interesting site; useful for history writers especially.
Guide to Grammar and Writing. It is what it says it is.
Freelancer's Copyright Guide. By the National Writer's Union. Information about copyright.
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. An interesting place to browse; some of the free reading is helpful.
Craft of Writing. An article about using MS Word's editing features; especially helpful for the "track changes" feature.
Funds for Writers. A listing of grants, contests, etc., for writers. Two free newsletters, one for small paying contests and another for higher paying contests. Highly Recommended.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The good stuff is available if you can become a member, but some of the free reading online is interesting. Of particular interest to freelancers is the "Writer Beware" section, which lists organizations and persons to avoid in the writing business.
LibrarySpot. Encyclopedias, research resources, etc.
ThinkExist. Quotations finder.
Encyclopedia Mythica. A resource for myths, legends, religions, lore of all kinds.
Character Building Workshop. Great list of character archetypes.
Biblomania. More than 2000 works of literature along with study guides, also research references.
Book of Days. A listing of calendar events and word definitions. Very interesting site; useful for history writers especially.
Guide to Grammar and Writing. It is what it says it is.
Freelancer's Copyright Guide. By the National Writer's Union. Information about copyright.
The Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators. An interesting place to browse; some of the free reading is helpful.
Craft of Writing. An article about using MS Word's editing features; especially helpful for the "track changes" feature.
Funds for Writers. A listing of grants, contests, etc., for writers. Two free newsletters, one for small paying contests and another for higher paying contests. Highly Recommended.
Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. The good stuff is available if you can become a member, but some of the free reading online is interesting. Of particular interest to freelancers is the "Writer Beware" section, which lists organizations and persons to avoid in the writing business.
Wednesday, October 17, 2007
Tuesday, October 16, 2007
Dealing with Drought
For us, this year has been far worse than any other for the lack of rain.
In previous drought years, it seemed we'd get just enough of a passing shower to make the fields grow.
This year, we have not made enough hay and our cattle's future is quite uncertain. We're looking for hay to buy, but if it can't be found, they'll have to go to market.
I am worrying about our well. I have placed an oven timer in the bathroom to ensure 3 minute showers.
I am sorry to say that, growing up on a well and always living on a well, water has been a commodity I've taken for granted. I have taken my share of 15 minute showers. It is hard to beat a long hot shower when your muscles are sore and you're aching from a day of hard gardening or whatever.
I also keep pails in the bathroom to catch the cold water from the spigot. It takes a long time for the hot water to find its way to the tub. I use the cold water on my flowers.
In the Times today, the story was the drought isn't as bad as it was in 2002. We beg to differ.
We think it is worse.
In previous drought years, it seemed we'd get just enough of a passing shower to make the fields grow.
This year, we have not made enough hay and our cattle's future is quite uncertain. We're looking for hay to buy, but if it can't be found, they'll have to go to market.
I am worrying about our well. I have placed an oven timer in the bathroom to ensure 3 minute showers.
I am sorry to say that, growing up on a well and always living on a well, water has been a commodity I've taken for granted. I have taken my share of 15 minute showers. It is hard to beat a long hot shower when your muscles are sore and you're aching from a day of hard gardening or whatever.
I also keep pails in the bathroom to catch the cold water from the spigot. It takes a long time for the hot water to find its way to the tub. I use the cold water on my flowers.
In the Times today, the story was the drought isn't as bad as it was in 2002. We beg to differ.
We think it is worse.
Monday, October 15, 2007
Defining Success
Try not to become a man of success but rather try to become a man of value.
- Albert Einstein
A conversation this morning led me to wonder how people define success.
Apparently in today's society, it is all about the money. If you have it, you're successful, if you don't, you're not.
Ostensibly that also includes the things that people can see to indicate success. If you have millions of dollars but drive an old clunker and live in a little house, most people will not consider you a success. Or so it seems.
In the Roanoke Times today, there is a story about a man who lived unpretentiously but left $50 million. No one knew him when he lived, but now that his finances are known, he is a success. (I can't find the story online but it was in the Virginia section.)
Success is not the key to happiness. Happiness is the key to success.
If you love what you are doing, you will be successful. - Albert Schweitzer
All of my life, I have judged success not on material things but on happiness. If someone is happy, I think she is successful.
Most artists are successful people, but they aren't necessarily wealthy. Art is not valued in this country so it is a hard field in which to earn money.
But the value of creating - to do it is to be successful, whether you sell it or not. To create is to succeed, don't you think?
How far you go in life depends on your being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these. - George Washington
Carver
You can be successful in many ways. I experienced a time in my life that left me beaten and downtrodden. I did not stay down. I consider that a success, even though my hard work to feel better gave me no material possessions.
It did bring me peace of mind. Isn't that success?
I long to accomplish a great and noble tasks, but it is my chief duty to accomplish humble tasks as though they were great and noble. The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the
aggregate of the tiny pushes of each honest worker. - Helen Keller
I have always worked. I began working when I was 15 and haven't stopped. I have not always worked full time but I have always had income of my own. I have never depended entirely on my husband for anything.Even when I was very ill and had six surgeries in as many years, I worked.
I also put myself through Hollins University. It took me eight years but I am the only one in my family with a B.A.
Is that not a success?
Those who try to do something and fail are infinitely better than those
who try nothing and succeed. - Lloyd Jones
The person I was speaking with today called someone "white trash" - and they didn't mean it in a way that indicated success. It reminded me of a conversation I have several years ago with my brother.
He called me "white trash."
When I asked him why he would lay such a title upon me, he said it was because I lived in a small house and could not have children.
My house is 1,560 square feet. My husband and I built it with our own two hands. We paid about a third for this place than it otherwise would have cost. We hauled the wood and nailed the nails. We (and I really mean my husband, he did most of it) put in the plumbing, the wiring ... everything.
It is our house through sweat and through dollars.
It is dwarfed by my brother's large 3,500 square feet house (which my father actually paid for). Compared to the monster homes in Ashley Plantation, I do indeed live in a little bungalow.
But it's a clean bungalow, filled with nice furniture. It's spacious enough for the two of us.
And as for the children, yes, my inability to conceive is a failure. My ability - and my husband's ability - to move forward in spite of this terrible blow, when we both wanted a baby so very desperately, is a success.
The secret of joy in work is contained in one word - excellence. To know how to do something well is to enjoy it. - Pearl S. Buck
My work does not earn me very much money. Writing is difficult and let's face it, it just isn't the greatest paying job.
But I do it well. I have a wall lined with awards. My name is known to about 30,000 people.
I serve as chairman of a government board, thanks to an appointment by a supervisor; I water-witched the well for the local circuit court judge. I hob-nob with county officials, know several sheriffs on a first-name basis; if you want to play Kevin Bacon, I'm just three degrees from some very high-ranking people.
But I don't drive a Lexus or live in a mansion. I don't have money to burn and frugality is part of my daily practice. And for those reasons, I suppose, I am not a success.
But only if you use the world's definition.
By my own, I'm not doing a bad job.
Sunday, October 14, 2007
An Anniversary
Yesterday evening at dusk my husband and I stopped by the cemetery. I wanted to replace the flowers at my mother's grave.
I had been angry with her for the last year; ridiculous, I know, since she's been dead for seven years. But in my anger I had not visited the cemetery.
I replaced the flowers on one side of the tombstone with bright plastic fall mums. The old flowers looked faded and worn; apparently no one has been there for some time. My father probably hasn't been up there since the funeral, based on comments I've heard from my sister-in-law. She used to take my nephew by regularly because he missed his Nana, but perhaps he's out grown that.
Today would have been my parents 45th wedding anniversary, if my mother had lived - and my parents had stayed married. Most likely they would have been divorced. Their divorce was four days away from being finalized when my mother passed away.
Their marriage was stormy. They married because my mother was pregnant with me, and neither ever forgave me for (a) being born and (b) not being a boy if I had to be born. My brother was born three years later.
They fought verbally and physically. Most of my memories involve tears. There must have been good, pleasant times but they have always been overshadowed by the bad. When I do remember good times, they stand out starkly in comparison to the rest, like snapshots that belong to some other family.
I did not consider theirs a happy marriage and as soon as I was old enough to understand what "divorce" meant, I wished they would get one.
It wasn't until 1995 - and I'd been (very happily) married for 12 years myself by that time - that my father left my mother for another woman. My mother had been telling me he slept around on her for many years.
Despite everything, she loved him, and each time she'd file papers he'd come back and sweet talk her, and she'd forgive him. Then he'd leave again. He never filed for divorce; I think he didn't want to make a property division. It wasn't until my mother knew she was dying that she attempted a divorce in earnest, and I honestly think that was for my benefit. She knew my father would never give me anything.
So Happy Anniversary, Mom. Dad's remarried and I still don't speak to him. You haven't sent a message to me from beyond in several years. I hope that means you're happy. I know you were never happy when you were alive.
I am sorry about that.
(The photo was taken in 2006.)
I had been angry with her for the last year; ridiculous, I know, since she's been dead for seven years. But in my anger I had not visited the cemetery.
I replaced the flowers on one side of the tombstone with bright plastic fall mums. The old flowers looked faded and worn; apparently no one has been there for some time. My father probably hasn't been up there since the funeral, based on comments I've heard from my sister-in-law. She used to take my nephew by regularly because he missed his Nana, but perhaps he's out grown that.
Today would have been my parents 45th wedding anniversary, if my mother had lived - and my parents had stayed married. Most likely they would have been divorced. Their divorce was four days away from being finalized when my mother passed away.
Their marriage was stormy. They married because my mother was pregnant with me, and neither ever forgave me for (a) being born and (b) not being a boy if I had to be born. My brother was born three years later.
They fought verbally and physically. Most of my memories involve tears. There must have been good, pleasant times but they have always been overshadowed by the bad. When I do remember good times, they stand out starkly in comparison to the rest, like snapshots that belong to some other family.
I did not consider theirs a happy marriage and as soon as I was old enough to understand what "divorce" meant, I wished they would get one.
It wasn't until 1995 - and I'd been (very happily) married for 12 years myself by that time - that my father left my mother for another woman. My mother had been telling me he slept around on her for many years.
Despite everything, she loved him, and each time she'd file papers he'd come back and sweet talk her, and she'd forgive him. Then he'd leave again. He never filed for divorce; I think he didn't want to make a property division. It wasn't until my mother knew she was dying that she attempted a divorce in earnest, and I honestly think that was for my benefit. She knew my father would never give me anything.
So Happy Anniversary, Mom. Dad's remarried and I still don't speak to him. You haven't sent a message to me from beyond in several years. I hope that means you're happy. I know you were never happy when you were alive.
I am sorry about that.
(The photo was taken in 2006.)
Saturday, October 13, 2007
On Your Feet
During the months I have been dealing with pain in my feet (plantar fasciitis and a heel spur) I have had many people tell me what I do for a living.
"You must be a nurse" seems to be the predominant guess from shoe clerks and snake oil salesmen who profess to be able to help.
The second-most frequent guess is "You must be a teacher."
They usually look crestfallen when I tell them I am neither. This happened to me Friday when I stopped by The Healthy Foot to pick up a pair of inserts for my sneakers.
It made me think about these poor people on their feet all day. All they have are mass market shoes to put on their worn tootsies. Not shoes made to fit them but shoes made to fit anybody.
The list of people who are on their feet a lot must be pretty long. Store clerks, mail carriers, policemen (who walk the streets), assembly line persons, and of course nurses and teachers are just a few of the careers that require healthy feet.
My husband is on his feet a lot for two of his three jobs - farming and septic tank installation (firefighting being the third job; he's on his feet there, also, when he's actually on a call). He wears a size 13 shoe and has toes that are longer than my fingers. His feet used to cramp up on him; once so badly I had to take him to the emergency room. He also had a bout with a heel spur several years ago. But he hasn't complained of his feet in a long time.
My nephew on my husband's side of the family has feet that are now in size 16 shoes and he's still growing. I can use his sandals for snow shoes. I imagine when his big feet hurt, everything about him hurts.
My feet are size 7 and my toes are short and stubby. I have always thought my feet very ugly and consequently I generally ignored them. I was always told I had flat feet and would one day have trouble out of them, and I suppose that day has come. I will not take my feet for granted again, I think, regardless of what I think they look like.
To all the people who have to stand up all day, my shoes are off to you.
"You must be a nurse" seems to be the predominant guess from shoe clerks and snake oil salesmen who profess to be able to help.
The second-most frequent guess is "You must be a teacher."
They usually look crestfallen when I tell them I am neither. This happened to me Friday when I stopped by The Healthy Foot to pick up a pair of inserts for my sneakers.
It made me think about these poor people on their feet all day. All they have are mass market shoes to put on their worn tootsies. Not shoes made to fit them but shoes made to fit anybody.
The list of people who are on their feet a lot must be pretty long. Store clerks, mail carriers, policemen (who walk the streets), assembly line persons, and of course nurses and teachers are just a few of the careers that require healthy feet.
My husband is on his feet a lot for two of his three jobs - farming and septic tank installation (firefighting being the third job; he's on his feet there, also, when he's actually on a call). He wears a size 13 shoe and has toes that are longer than my fingers. His feet used to cramp up on him; once so badly I had to take him to the emergency room. He also had a bout with a heel spur several years ago. But he hasn't complained of his feet in a long time.
My nephew on my husband's side of the family has feet that are now in size 16 shoes and he's still growing. I can use his sandals for snow shoes. I imagine when his big feet hurt, everything about him hurts.
My feet are size 7 and my toes are short and stubby. I have always thought my feet very ugly and consequently I generally ignored them. I was always told I had flat feet and would one day have trouble out of them, and I suppose that day has come. I will not take my feet for granted again, I think, regardless of what I think they look like.
To all the people who have to stand up all day, my shoes are off to you.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Peace Globes
Mimi over at Mimi Writes has declared November 7 as another "peace globe" event.
Instructions about how to get your globe can be found here.
Go get one and decorate it and show everyone how much you want peace. It will never happen but it is a pleasant idea.
I have participated in this event several times, and it is fun to see how other people decorate their globe. Plus it's nice to feel like you're part of something for a while.
November 7, by the way, is the day after election day in the United States. Everyone please vote on November 6, even if you think it is a waste of time. While I suspect most elections these days are fixed, the effort shows you care. And if enough people actually do vote, it might skew the messed up machines enough to make somebody notice.
Post Op Report
The stitches on my lip came out today. That was a rather painful, even with a topical numbing agent, but fortunately all over and done.
I have what looks like a little crater missing from my lip, but the doctor assures me it will fill in and in a few months I'll never even know what happened.
He treated this as a mucocele, which is a damaged salivia gland, because that is what he thought it was. But the biopsy came back as a fibroma, which he described as a collection of scar tissue.
This makes me suspect that the digging into my lip to remove the salivia gland was unnecessary and that really all that needed to be removed was the lumpy thing.
In any event, it's over with, and I suspect aside from a little discomfort today from the pulling of the stitches all is well.
Now I just have to wait for the bills to come in and see what the insurance did and didn't pay.
I have what looks like a little crater missing from my lip, but the doctor assures me it will fill in and in a few months I'll never even know what happened.
He treated this as a mucocele, which is a damaged salivia gland, because that is what he thought it was. But the biopsy came back as a fibroma, which he described as a collection of scar tissue.
This makes me suspect that the digging into my lip to remove the salivia gland was unnecessary and that really all that needed to be removed was the lumpy thing.
In any event, it's over with, and I suspect aside from a little discomfort today from the pulling of the stitches all is well.
Now I just have to wait for the bills to come in and see what the insurance did and didn't pay.
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Thursday Thirteen
Thirteen ways to improve your day:
1. Smile. Even if you don't feel like it and would rather pout, make your face smile. If you're talking on the phone, smile so that you sound like you're enjoying the conversation.
2. Laugh. Laugh at yourself. Laugh with your friends. Buy a joke book if you have to. Recall the funniest thing that ever happened to you and grin and grin about it.
3. Daydream. Spend a few minutes outside of yourself. Think about your dream vacation in Hawaii or Belgium or wherever. Imagine you're there, hear the sounds, feel the breeze. Think about the shoes you'd buy to wear; whatever turns you on.
4. Buy yourself a present. It could just be a pack of chewing gum, but note when you make that purchase that it is for yourself and don't just buy it out of habit. Tell yourself you deserve this, by golly. You're worth a pack of gum.
5. Stay in the present. Forget your worries and stop thinking of the past. For just a minute, feel the air around you. Hear the sounds of your workplace or home, see the colors of the room, feel the air you're breathing as it passes through your nose. If you're eating something, focus on how it tastes, its texture, how much you like having it in your mouth.
6. Brush your hair and/or reapply makeup. Straighten your clothes. If you look your best, you feel your best. Heck, you might want to go all-out and take a shower and start all over again if you're having a really bad day.
7. Read a book or magazine. Reading can take you out of yourself for a while. When you stop, you often have a new perspective.
8. Find a friend and have lunch. You can turn it into a b*tch session if you need to, but you might just find the companionship is the balm you seek.
9. Praise someone else. Telling other people that they've done a good job, or look nice, or have a nice smile or a pleasing voice or whatever can make you feel special, too.
10. Do something nice for someone else. I am constantly amazed at the reaction I get from people if I let them get in front of me when I am in line at the grocery store. I do this all the time if someone has fewer items than I and I've never had someone be ungrateful. This is a relatively simply act of kindness - actually it's just good manners - so think how the world might be if we all went out of way to be mannerly to one another.
11. Relive a good memory. Maybe it's the day your husband proposed. Maybe the birth of your child. Maybe the day you were promoted. Whatever it is, recall it with great satisfaction. Remember that you have this memory because people care about you and because you deserve things.
12. Finish the task. Sometimes it is the things hanging over my head that loom like dark clouds. I put them off and shove them away because something about them bothers me or is unpleasant. But if I buckle down and get to it, then when it's over with the sun shines and all is well. This is hard for me to do but it does work.
13. Have a hug. I don't care what kind of mood I am in, if I can get a hug from my husband or a friend or even a stranger, everything is better. We go through life with our shells surrounding us, afraid to touch each other, and it is so sad. I think we need a great hug-out day so that we can all get the Touch Vitamin we so desperately need. So here's a cyber-hug to you! {{{{{{YOU}}}}}}
1. Smile. Even if you don't feel like it and would rather pout, make your face smile. If you're talking on the phone, smile so that you sound like you're enjoying the conversation.
2. Laugh. Laugh at yourself. Laugh with your friends. Buy a joke book if you have to. Recall the funniest thing that ever happened to you and grin and grin about it.
3. Daydream. Spend a few minutes outside of yourself. Think about your dream vacation in Hawaii or Belgium or wherever. Imagine you're there, hear the sounds, feel the breeze. Think about the shoes you'd buy to wear; whatever turns you on.
4. Buy yourself a present. It could just be a pack of chewing gum, but note when you make that purchase that it is for yourself and don't just buy it out of habit. Tell yourself you deserve this, by golly. You're worth a pack of gum.
5. Stay in the present. Forget your worries and stop thinking of the past. For just a minute, feel the air around you. Hear the sounds of your workplace or home, see the colors of the room, feel the air you're breathing as it passes through your nose. If you're eating something, focus on how it tastes, its texture, how much you like having it in your mouth.
6. Brush your hair and/or reapply makeup. Straighten your clothes. If you look your best, you feel your best. Heck, you might want to go all-out and take a shower and start all over again if you're having a really bad day.
7. Read a book or magazine. Reading can take you out of yourself for a while. When you stop, you often have a new perspective.
8. Find a friend and have lunch. You can turn it into a b*tch session if you need to, but you might just find the companionship is the balm you seek.
9. Praise someone else. Telling other people that they've done a good job, or look nice, or have a nice smile or a pleasing voice or whatever can make you feel special, too.
10. Do something nice for someone else. I am constantly amazed at the reaction I get from people if I let them get in front of me when I am in line at the grocery store. I do this all the time if someone has fewer items than I and I've never had someone be ungrateful. This is a relatively simply act of kindness - actually it's just good manners - so think how the world might be if we all went out of way to be mannerly to one another.
11. Relive a good memory. Maybe it's the day your husband proposed. Maybe the birth of your child. Maybe the day you were promoted. Whatever it is, recall it with great satisfaction. Remember that you have this memory because people care about you and because you deserve things.
12. Finish the task. Sometimes it is the things hanging over my head that loom like dark clouds. I put them off and shove them away because something about them bothers me or is unpleasant. But if I buckle down and get to it, then when it's over with the sun shines and all is well. This is hard for me to do but it does work.
13. Have a hug. I don't care what kind of mood I am in, if I can get a hug from my husband or a friend or even a stranger, everything is better. We go through life with our shells surrounding us, afraid to touch each other, and it is so sad. I think we need a great hug-out day so that we can all get the Touch Vitamin we so desperately need. So here's a cyber-hug to you! {{{{{{YOU}}}}}}
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A Day in the Life
5:42 a.m.
Wake up and listen to husband banging around in the bathroom as he prepares for work. Remove night splint from left foot. Stretch toes on both feet in hopes of keeping plantar fasciitis pain at bay.
6:00 a.m.
Put feet into Crocs as advised by podiatrist who said "never let your bare feet touch the floor." Shuffle into kitchen to discover husband making his breakfast and utilizing microwave. Forgo cup of hot tea in favor of hot water from the spigot. Sip with straw because of mouth pain from last week's oral surgery.
6:15 a.m.
Check e-mail. Discover in newsletter from Microsoft that an upgrade is required to MS Outlook because of time change. Attempt to make upgrade, but discover I have to know exactly what version of XP I use. Realize that to find that out I need to change my display because the DPI is set large so I can actually read what is on the screen.
Kiss husband goodbye. Make cup of green tea. Finally figure out how to change DPI back to normal sized. Download the MS stuff and cross fingers. Seems to have worked. Put screen back to large DPI thing. Check e-mails, read blogs.
Look at clock and realize it's nearly 8 a.m. Go get dressed.
9:00 a.m.
Settle in with bowl of soggy Rice Crispies, eaten with soy milk and a baby spoon (because of mouth surgery). Read the Roanoke Times like every morning.
9:10 a.m.
Oral surgeon's office calls, says bump in mouth was a fibroma. Is this different than a mucocele? Who knows. Make a mental note to ask the surgeon on Friday.
9:30 a.m.
Leave to interview a daycare provider for story in newspaper. Go down dirt driveway (1/4 mile) and remember that I forgot to take Tylenol. Actually, I forgot to take any of my morning medication. Drive back up driveway in cloud of dust. Take meds, check on curling iron while I'm at it. Return to car.
10:00 a.m.
Arrive on time for interview. Acknowledge that I do indeed have a fat lip and stitches in my mouth. Do interview, grateful one person likes to talk and I don't have to ask too many questions. Take pictures. Little boys are enthralled by fat lip and black space where stitches are visible. They follow me around like puppy dogs and offer me dump trucks if I will smile.
11:10 a.m.
Complete interview. Drive to newspaper office, visit editor. Allow him to download photos so I don't have to upload them. Discuss other articles.
12:00 p.m.
Arrive home, eat lunch consisting of chicken w/ rice soup (using little spoon, sigh). Read newspaper. Note that VDGIF may cancel hunting season because of drought and fear of forest fires. Talk to husband on phone; he has meetings all afternoon. Check e-mail, download photos to my own computer so I can write cut-lines.
1:00 p.m.
Decide I better go to grocery store while I have the energy. Take a different route to vary routine. At entrance to supermarket, realize I forgot to stop by bank and by the recycling center to dump off old newspapers. Also should not have turned into supermarket because I need to go get gas before I get groceries and must go through dreaded Exit 150 to reach Citgo station. Leave supermarket.
1:30 p.m.
Get gas and go to CVS for medication to clean out mouth. Even though I am brushing my teeth three times a day, I fear the stitches and ensuing healing scab might create an offensive odor and I want to prevent that.
1:40 p.m.
Wonder how I ever thought I would get back home by 2 p.m. Decide to stop and rinse off dust from car. Go to bank. Drive to supermarket and realize in parking lot that I forgot to stop by recycling bin again and tell myself to do that on the way home. Bebop into supermarket with canvas totes in hand because I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, and not bring home those aggravating plastic bags. Note I am the only one in the store carrying canvas totes and feel superior.
2:30 p.m.
Check out and pay $71 for enough groceries to fill two totes. Note in head that this is about six hours worth of work for me. Remember good ol' days when I paid $0.85 for a loaf of bread and a $1 for a quart of milk. Wonder if I am imagining those prices.
2:55 p.m.
Nearly home. At mailbox, realize I forgot to stop at recycling bin again. Decide to do that tomorrow.
3:00 p.m.
Note that car is dirty already from dusty driveway. Unload groceries. Realize I am out of freezer bags and add that to the list for next trip. Put stuff away. Stare at chicken. Review "buy one get one free" and price tag. Check receipt and try to figure out how much I paid per pound for four pounds of chicken. Discover I cannot figure out what I actually paid for the chicken in totality, much less per pound. Get calculator, add, subtract, multiply and divide to no avail. Look at watch. Give up. Freeze half the chicken, prepare other half for baking.
Consider calling friend who cooks to ask if there is a way to keep top of skinless chicken breasts from browning too much in oven. Decide she would laugh at me and do not make call. Determine to set oven timer to turn chicken over and to not overcook like last time.
3:15 p.m.
Note that left foot with heel spur, which hasn't hurt for several days (probably because I've been off it and on pain medication because of my mouth surgery), is aching a lot. Note also that little ball in sock of right foot is grinding into little toe. Remove socks and shoes and put on Crocs. Take another Tylenol. Wonder if I should rethink my policy of eschewing western medicine as much as possible. Wonder if I have rethought it and don't realize it.
3:30 p.m.
Decide I deserve something and fix a bowl of chocolate "dairy free" soy dessert. Only have one spoon of chocolate dessert left so add french vanilla "soy dream" dessert to bowl. Stir to make it all look like chocolate. Eat with baby spoon.
3:40 p.m.
Stare at computer screen. Think of article from very long meeting last night that I need to write. Read e-mail, respond. Read article about Republicans picking on 12 year old boy with health problems and scratch head with WTF attitude. Read article about NBC purchasing Oxygen. Read article about newspapers declining and think, that's what I said.
4:00 p.m.
Check chicken. It isn't too brown on top and I am happy. Decide to write blog entry and then get to work on articles. Know I will write into the night and work late to make up for day's dawdling. I am back in the zone.
Wake up and listen to husband banging around in the bathroom as he prepares for work. Remove night splint from left foot. Stretch toes on both feet in hopes of keeping plantar fasciitis pain at bay.
6:00 a.m.
Put feet into Crocs as advised by podiatrist who said "never let your bare feet touch the floor." Shuffle into kitchen to discover husband making his breakfast and utilizing microwave. Forgo cup of hot tea in favor of hot water from the spigot. Sip with straw because of mouth pain from last week's oral surgery.
6:15 a.m.
Check e-mail. Discover in newsletter from Microsoft that an upgrade is required to MS Outlook because of time change. Attempt to make upgrade, but discover I have to know exactly what version of XP I use. Realize that to find that out I need to change my display because the DPI is set large so I can actually read what is on the screen.
Kiss husband goodbye. Make cup of green tea. Finally figure out how to change DPI back to normal sized. Download the MS stuff and cross fingers. Seems to have worked. Put screen back to large DPI thing. Check e-mails, read blogs.
Look at clock and realize it's nearly 8 a.m. Go get dressed.
9:00 a.m.
Settle in with bowl of soggy Rice Crispies, eaten with soy milk and a baby spoon (because of mouth surgery). Read the Roanoke Times like every morning.
9:10 a.m.
Oral surgeon's office calls, says bump in mouth was a fibroma. Is this different than a mucocele? Who knows. Make a mental note to ask the surgeon on Friday.
9:30 a.m.
Leave to interview a daycare provider for story in newspaper. Go down dirt driveway (1/4 mile) and remember that I forgot to take Tylenol. Actually, I forgot to take any of my morning medication. Drive back up driveway in cloud of dust. Take meds, check on curling iron while I'm at it. Return to car.
10:00 a.m.
Arrive on time for interview. Acknowledge that I do indeed have a fat lip and stitches in my mouth. Do interview, grateful one person likes to talk and I don't have to ask too many questions. Take pictures. Little boys are enthralled by fat lip and black space where stitches are visible. They follow me around like puppy dogs and offer me dump trucks if I will smile.
11:10 a.m.
Complete interview. Drive to newspaper office, visit editor. Allow him to download photos so I don't have to upload them. Discuss other articles.
12:00 p.m.
Arrive home, eat lunch consisting of chicken w/ rice soup (using little spoon, sigh). Read newspaper. Note that VDGIF may cancel hunting season because of drought and fear of forest fires. Talk to husband on phone; he has meetings all afternoon. Check e-mail, download photos to my own computer so I can write cut-lines.
1:00 p.m.
Decide I better go to grocery store while I have the energy. Take a different route to vary routine. At entrance to supermarket, realize I forgot to stop by bank and by the recycling center to dump off old newspapers. Also should not have turned into supermarket because I need to go get gas before I get groceries and must go through dreaded Exit 150 to reach Citgo station. Leave supermarket.
1:30 p.m.
Get gas and go to CVS for medication to clean out mouth. Even though I am brushing my teeth three times a day, I fear the stitches and ensuing healing scab might create an offensive odor and I want to prevent that.
1:40 p.m.
Wonder how I ever thought I would get back home by 2 p.m. Decide to stop and rinse off dust from car. Go to bank. Drive to supermarket and realize in parking lot that I forgot to stop by recycling bin again and tell myself to do that on the way home. Bebop into supermarket with canvas totes in hand because I want to be part of the solution, not part of the problem, and not bring home those aggravating plastic bags. Note I am the only one in the store carrying canvas totes and feel superior.
2:30 p.m.
Check out and pay $71 for enough groceries to fill two totes. Note in head that this is about six hours worth of work for me. Remember good ol' days when I paid $0.85 for a loaf of bread and a $1 for a quart of milk. Wonder if I am imagining those prices.
2:55 p.m.
Nearly home. At mailbox, realize I forgot to stop at recycling bin again. Decide to do that tomorrow.
3:00 p.m.
Note that car is dirty already from dusty driveway. Unload groceries. Realize I am out of freezer bags and add that to the list for next trip. Put stuff away. Stare at chicken. Review "buy one get one free" and price tag. Check receipt and try to figure out how much I paid per pound for four pounds of chicken. Discover I cannot figure out what I actually paid for the chicken in totality, much less per pound. Get calculator, add, subtract, multiply and divide to no avail. Look at watch. Give up. Freeze half the chicken, prepare other half for baking.
Consider calling friend who cooks to ask if there is a way to keep top of skinless chicken breasts from browning too much in oven. Decide she would laugh at me and do not make call. Determine to set oven timer to turn chicken over and to not overcook like last time.
3:15 p.m.
Note that left foot with heel spur, which hasn't hurt for several days (probably because I've been off it and on pain medication because of my mouth surgery), is aching a lot. Note also that little ball in sock of right foot is grinding into little toe. Remove socks and shoes and put on Crocs. Take another Tylenol. Wonder if I should rethink my policy of eschewing western medicine as much as possible. Wonder if I have rethought it and don't realize it.
3:30 p.m.
Decide I deserve something and fix a bowl of chocolate "dairy free" soy dessert. Only have one spoon of chocolate dessert left so add french vanilla "soy dream" dessert to bowl. Stir to make it all look like chocolate. Eat with baby spoon.
3:40 p.m.
Stare at computer screen. Think of article from very long meeting last night that I need to write. Read e-mail, respond. Read article about Republicans picking on 12 year old boy with health problems and scratch head with WTF attitude. Read article about NBC purchasing Oxygen. Read article about newspapers declining and think, that's what I said.
4:00 p.m.
Check chicken. It isn't too brown on top and I am happy. Decide to write blog entry and then get to work on articles. Know I will write into the night and work late to make up for day's dawdling. I am back in the zone.
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
Administrative
Made a few updates to my bloggers link list. If you're on the "blogs I read" and should be on the "local bloggers link" let me know. By local I mean anywhere in SW VA.
About Your Electric Rates
Power firm agrees to record pollution cleanup
American Electric Power to invest $4.6 billion to clear Northeast air
****
A reminder for those of us on Appalachian Power, a subsidiary of AEP: they are seeking another rate increase. Care to guess why? See above for at least one reason....
Not that I am unhappy that American Electric has been forced to admit its acid rain is endangering the environment; that's a good thing. But I would like to see the fines paid and the problem fixed at the expense of the CEO's and shareholder's profits, not at the expense of what little money I have in my wallet. They are making a profit; that's the money they should delve into first. When the profits are gone, then they can come knock at my door.
You can submit your comments about the rate increases to the SCC at:
http://www.scc.virginia.gov/caseinfo.htm
The deadline for one of the three rate increase proposals is October 31, so don't delay too long.
American Electric Power to invest $4.6 billion to clear Northeast air
One of the nation’s largest power generators on Tuesday said it had agreed
to end a years-long federal lawsuit by investing $4.6 billion to reduce
pollution that has eaten away at Northeast mountain ranges and national
landmarks. ...
****
A reminder for those of us on Appalachian Power, a subsidiary of AEP: they are seeking another rate increase. Care to guess why? See above for at least one reason....
Not that I am unhappy that American Electric has been forced to admit its acid rain is endangering the environment; that's a good thing. But I would like to see the fines paid and the problem fixed at the expense of the CEO's and shareholder's profits, not at the expense of what little money I have in my wallet. They are making a profit; that's the money they should delve into first. When the profits are gone, then they can come knock at my door.
You can submit your comments about the rate increases to the SCC at:
http://www.scc.virginia.gov/caseinfo.htm
The deadline for one of the three rate increase proposals is October 31, so don't delay too long.
Monday, October 08, 2007
Newspapers Decline
Today in The Roanoke Times, a writer in the Letter to the Editors section chastised the paper for recycling "old news."
The person wrote:
I agree with this person. Over the years I have watched the daily paper decline further and further into an abyss that seems to be of its own making. The talented writers have left and the few remaining writers with ability are apparently noosed to the point of being unable to write the stories that need to be written.
Anyone with access to the Internet who reads the headlines knows that some stories take days to make it into the Roanoke Times. Maybe they figure no one reads online and print editions? I read both, and increasingly the stuff in the print edition is moot.
Which might be okay if the paper's online edition was doing great things, but it isn't. I don't like the paper's online edition at all. I have always found it difficult to navigate, for one thing. For another, the news isn't any better there.
By better I don't mean "sappy" or "cheerful." I mean, news. Roanoke has crime (every city does) but to read the daily paper you wouldn't know about it. They don't run a list of warrants or arrests or anything so that people have some idea of the many times guns go off.
Because I am married to a public servant, I know that guns go off much more than reported. And they aren't target shooting. Who knows how many DUIs there are on a weekend. Even just a total would be interesting.
The city has about 100,000 people, but from the dullness of the paper you'd think no one does anything worth writing about. Features are minimal. On the front page today there is a huge article about e-cycling. Okay, this is news, sort of, but front page? Maybe front page of the Virginia section.
I don't believe reporters beat the streets anymore. They work the phones. They attend meetings. But they don't get out and meet people. Here is an example: I was at a meeting recently with another reporter from a rival paper and during a break, I worked the room. Everybody in that place knew someone from the local weekly was there.
Nobody knew the other reporter was there, as that person never moved from his chair.
I'm not even a staff reporter, I'm a stringer writing on assignment. But I take it seriously when I'm representing a paper or magazine.
Newspapers whine about their decline, but I believe they've brought it on themselves. They've forgotten what the Fourth Estate is all about, and care only about profit in the shareholder's pocket. Newspaper reporters are supposed to hound the city council, uncover the muck, sift through the lies and untruths until the bare facts remain.
This doesn't happen anymore, and not only in Roanoke. This is going on in most large papers, and I think it will be to their detriment.
In the future, I think the newspapers that survive will be local papers with targeted local markets offering news about your community that you're not going to get elsewhere.
That's the trouble with the print edition of the Times these days; a lot of what you see is information you can find elsewhere.
Bring back the reporters, folks, and the originality. Show some courage, and report real news.
The person wrote:
The seemingly silent gutting of talent at The Roanoke Times is starting to show the effects of what happens when you throw years and years of experience out the window just to put a few more coins in your pocket.
I agree with this person. Over the years I have watched the daily paper decline further and further into an abyss that seems to be of its own making. The talented writers have left and the few remaining writers with ability are apparently noosed to the point of being unable to write the stories that need to be written.
Anyone with access to the Internet who reads the headlines knows that some stories take days to make it into the Roanoke Times. Maybe they figure no one reads online and print editions? I read both, and increasingly the stuff in the print edition is moot.
Which might be okay if the paper's online edition was doing great things, but it isn't. I don't like the paper's online edition at all. I have always found it difficult to navigate, for one thing. For another, the news isn't any better there.
By better I don't mean "sappy" or "cheerful." I mean, news. Roanoke has crime (every city does) but to read the daily paper you wouldn't know about it. They don't run a list of warrants or arrests or anything so that people have some idea of the many times guns go off.
Because I am married to a public servant, I know that guns go off much more than reported. And they aren't target shooting. Who knows how many DUIs there are on a weekend. Even just a total would be interesting.
The city has about 100,000 people, but from the dullness of the paper you'd think no one does anything worth writing about. Features are minimal. On the front page today there is a huge article about e-cycling. Okay, this is news, sort of, but front page? Maybe front page of the Virginia section.
I don't believe reporters beat the streets anymore. They work the phones. They attend meetings. But they don't get out and meet people. Here is an example: I was at a meeting recently with another reporter from a rival paper and during a break, I worked the room. Everybody in that place knew someone from the local weekly was there.
Nobody knew the other reporter was there, as that person never moved from his chair.
I'm not even a staff reporter, I'm a stringer writing on assignment. But I take it seriously when I'm representing a paper or magazine.
Newspapers whine about their decline, but I believe they've brought it on themselves. They've forgotten what the Fourth Estate is all about, and care only about profit in the shareholder's pocket. Newspaper reporters are supposed to hound the city council, uncover the muck, sift through the lies and untruths until the bare facts remain.
This doesn't happen anymore, and not only in Roanoke. This is going on in most large papers, and I think it will be to their detriment.
In the future, I think the newspapers that survive will be local papers with targeted local markets offering news about your community that you're not going to get elsewhere.
That's the trouble with the print edition of the Times these days; a lot of what you see is information you can find elsewhere.
Bring back the reporters, folks, and the originality. Show some courage, and report real news.
Sunday, October 07, 2007
Books: Sam's Letters to Jennifer
Sam's Letters to Jennifer
By James Patterson
Copyright 2004
Audiobook
Read by Anne Heche and Jane Alexander
This is a love story in all respects. The love of Jennifer for two men, and the love of Sam (Samantha, her grandmother) for Jennifer and for a man not Jennifer's grandfather.
Jennifer, a newspaper columnist, has lost her husband. Then her grandmother falls into a coma and she goes to her. She finds a bunch of letters her grandmother had been writing to her. Over the course of the summer, Jennifer reads the letters and meets Brenden, another man whom she falls in love with. Brenden has a secret, though.
3 stars
By James Patterson
Copyright 2004
Audiobook
Read by Anne Heche and Jane Alexander
This is a love story in all respects. The love of Jennifer for two men, and the love of Sam (Samantha, her grandmother) for Jennifer and for a man not Jennifer's grandfather.
Jennifer, a newspaper columnist, has lost her husband. Then her grandmother falls into a coma and she goes to her. She finds a bunch of letters her grandmother had been writing to her. Over the course of the summer, Jennifer reads the letters and meets Brenden, another man whom she falls in love with. Brenden has a secret, though.
3 stars
Saturday, October 06, 2007
Surgery
Yesterday I had my oral surgery to remove the mucocele from my lower lip. I first learned what this was on September 11, when I made a trip to the dentist.
I saw the oral surgeon a week later, and he said he thought it should be removed because I would chew on it and it would become infected. And indeed I have bitten it several times in the ensuing two weeks.
However, the oral surgeon also assured me when I first saw him that the surgery would not cause any disfigurement of my lip. At the most, he said, I might have a slight "pucker" that he said no one would notice.
Looking in the mirror, I am not at all convinced he knew what he was talking about, because it looks like half of my lower lip is gone.
I took the picture in the mirror; my husband can't handle the camera to do any better (he tried). I am dismayed at what I see and I am also in a good bit of pain. There are a number of stitches there; I don't know how many. He initially said it would take only one stitch but I know there are at least three.
Had I had any inclination I could be disfigured, I most certainly would not have allowed this.
I saw the oral surgeon a week later, and he said he thought it should be removed because I would chew on it and it would become infected. And indeed I have bitten it several times in the ensuing two weeks.
However, the oral surgeon also assured me when I first saw him that the surgery would not cause any disfigurement of my lip. At the most, he said, I might have a slight "pucker" that he said no one would notice.
Looking in the mirror, I am not at all convinced he knew what he was talking about, because it looks like half of my lower lip is gone.
I took the picture in the mirror; my husband can't handle the camera to do any better (he tried). I am dismayed at what I see and I am also in a good bit of pain. There are a number of stitches there; I don't know how many. He initially said it would take only one stitch but I know there are at least three.
Had I had any inclination I could be disfigured, I most certainly would not have allowed this.
Friday, October 05, 2007
You Can't Go Home Again
Hollins UniversityIt took me eight years to obtain my four-year degree from Hollins College, now Hollins University. I started in 1985 and received my diploma in 1993. It was still called Hollins College then.
I was ill for much of the time I was at school. I had three major surgeries in six years, each requiring me to drop out of a semester. I was also working full time and going to school part time. It was not easy.
During that period I was unhappy with my work (I was a legal secretary), with my inability to have children, with life in general. I found great refuge in my classes at Hollins.
When I attended my classes, mostly held in Pleasant's Hall (above), I was most content. Hollins and its professors helped me find courage, self esteem, grit and determination, and a new lease on life.
When I went to the Hollins campus, I felt welcomed. The place was a magical balm. I could walk anywhere and feel inspired. The old buildings reverberated with history; the grass seemed to call out to me, the professors knew me and, if they didn't like me, at least had the courtesy not to let me know it.
I continued to feel this even after I graduated. I would go back for poetry readings, or just to visit an old professor. Sometimes I went just to walk around.
I always left feeling calm and sure and grateful for my time at the college.
That changed with the new millennium, and for a long time now I have not felt welcome on campus. I have not felt inspired or happy or glad to be visiting.
I attempted to return to work on my Master's in 2004 - I'm only about four classes short of finishing - but there was no joy. It felt wrong. I loved the creative writing class I took, thought highly of my professor, but the rest of the campus felt plain and ugly.
Where has the magic gone?
I don't know, but I honestly trace my feelings of unease to the construction of the new library in 1999. The library is a magnificent structure (it is visible behind the chapel in the photo above) and I enjoy the library when I visit. But it doesn't feel like Hollins. It feels new and institutional.
The campus has undergone many other renovations since then, including a new arts studio where the old library used to be.
I visited Hollins Tuesday and took photos. I also visited the new hall for the English Department, now called something I can't even remember. The faculty used to be in Bradley and I was pretty sure the creative remnants of past students, like Lee Smith, Jill McCorkle and Annie Dillard, were floundering about the hallway, waiting for some fool like me to pick up a thread and run with it.
As I left campus earlier this week, I knew with certainty that Hollins is no longer the magical place it once was for me. I hope that for those younger that it still may be, but I suspect that the cynicism of this new age, this time of fear-mongering and class warfare, has sent the magic scurrying far away.
I also know that if I ever do return to finish up my Master's, which seems doubtful at this time, it will be only for degree and not for the magical experience that learning there once was.
I doubt I ever again feel like the fairies dance at Hollins, their wings feeling the wind currents, their hearts happy while they twirl to make it all right.
A New Food Allergy?
Yesterday, immediately after drinking a smoothie consisting of protein powder, blueberries, kiwi and flax seed, my throat and tongue felt like I had eaten a cactus.
I have eaten all of the foods separately all my life and never experienced such a reaction. The protein powder, which is soy based, is relatively new for me; however, I'm at the bottom of my first can of the stuff. Also, I have been drinking soy milk for years.
Obviously, though, one (or maybe the combination?) of those foods did not sit well with me. The only way to figure out which it might have been is to eat them singularly and see what happens.
My throat is a little better this morning; I took an antihistimine last night night.
I have eaten all of the foods separately all my life and never experienced such a reaction. The protein powder, which is soy based, is relatively new for me; however, I'm at the bottom of my first can of the stuff. Also, I have been drinking soy milk for years.
Obviously, though, one (or maybe the combination?) of those foods did not sit well with me. The only way to figure out which it might have been is to eat them singularly and see what happens.
My throat is a little better this morning; I took an antihistimine last night night.
Thursday, October 04, 2007
Thursday Thirteen
Things I love about my life:
1. My husband
2. My words (ability to write)
3. My friends
4. My family
5. The sunrise
6. The sunset
7. The deer in the field
8. The ability to sleep late sometimes
9. My books
10. My camera
11. My computer
12. My work
13. My bed!
1. My husband
2. My words (ability to write)
3. My friends
4. My family
5. The sunrise
6. The sunset
7. The deer in the field
8. The ability to sleep late sometimes
9. My books
10. My camera
11. My computer
12. My work
13. My bed!
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
A Question of Style
This is a writer thing, but the Chicago Manual of Style has a Q&A that is updated monthly.
The questions are generally worth a smile and the answers are often priceless.
Check it out. If you like it, sign up for the notice so you'll remember to check for new questions and answers every month.
The questions are generally worth a smile and the answers are often priceless.
Check it out. If you like it, sign up for the notice so you'll remember to check for new questions and answers every month.
The Food Chain
Last month we took a trip to Harrisonburg. We took a wrong turn and found ourselves off the main thoroughfare (US 11 and I-81).
Rounding a corner, the ground was suddenly white.
Rounding a corner, the ground was suddenly white.
A stench wafted across the road as well. It was a warm day, about 85 degrees.
We were beside the Cargill plant. I had never heard of them, but apparently they are a major food processor.
The white turkeys (for it was white feathers littering the ground) were in crates, apparently awaiting slaughter.
I am not one of those people who cry when they think an animal has been hurt or abused, but even my heart broke at the site of these birds.
We have millions of people to feed and I realize that it is not an easy task. I don't know if things can be done any better than they are; my husband and I are small farmers, not a big corporate business. Our cows roam free across the pastures and only are penned when they need their shots or they're on their way to market. After they have left us, I think they generally are slaughtered. They are probably penned up for a while before they are turned into hamburger.
I doubt these birds have had much freedom; I suspect they've been cooped up in tiny cages all along.
Large fans blew air on the birds. I suppose this was so they could breath or maybe it was simply to keep the meat from spoiling quickly in the heat.
I would not want to live close to such a place. I don't think I could bear it. I'm pretty sure it would make me stop eating turkey.
Monday, October 01, 2007
The Visitor
Around 2:30 p.m. today, a movement near the window caught my eye. I watched the small doe - a fawn, really, for the spots were still visible - as she meandered in front of my window.
Then she settled down about 10 feet from me. We were separated only by a pane of glass.
Then she settled down about 10 feet from me. We were separated only by a pane of glass.
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