Thursday Thirteen #570

1. If anyone had told me 10 years ago that I'd have done a Thursday 13 for 570 consecutive weeks, I would have laughed at them.

2. That's because I considered myself someone who couldn't stay with something long term.

3. But that's a myth that came from . . . somewhere else. Because I am no short-timer.

4. I've been married for 35 years.

5. I wrote for The Fincastle Herald for 30 years.

6. I wrote for The New Castle Record for 10 years.

7. I've written this blog for 12 years.

8. I took 8 years to finish my bachelor's degree at Hollins University, but by gosh, I finished it.

9. I took 18 years to finish my master's degree, but by gosh, I finished it.

10. I've been playing the guitar since I was 12 years old, so . . . 43 years. I should be a virtuoso after all that time but I still just mess around with it. That's because I'm ok with just messing around with it. I never sat out to master the thing.

11. My friendships run in years . . . 35 years, 25 years, 15 years, 10 years for four of my closest friends. Long time.

12. I have used the same kitchen clock for 35 years. That goes for my pots and pans, my kitchen table, and many other things.

13. Given this, I think it is time I stop looking at writing a long piece of work as difficult. My hard copies of my blog take up about 16 inches of book space shelf. I think the new year will find me, finally, working on a long piece of writing.

Let's hope so, anyway.

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 570th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The Work Begins

This was the French door my husband installed in 2010. It has always leaked. It was a cheap Lowes door.

This is the hole that is left when said door is removed.

This is the new door in the process of being installed.

The finished door, except we need to decide if we're going to paint it or stain it a color to match the rest of the
oak wood in the house.
 

Next up was this double window. I have never liked the color of these replacement windows.
My husband insisted on the woodgrain look but I knew when we bought them
it wouldn't look good. But sometimes you pick your battles. It was easier to
live with ugly windows than fight over it. But they leaked so, oh well.

This double window had some wood rot and mold around it. Fortunately all of this came out and was replaced
with new wood.

We also sprayed things down with mold elimination spray that we have here. I use it all the time when I see anything
that looks like mold and it works well.

The window hole without the rotten wood in it.

The window replaced. Doesn't that look better, that off-white inside instead of that brown
interior on the sashes? Yes, it does. Thank you very much.

Renovations Underway

At long last some of the housing renovation projects are underway.

The men arrived this morning to install new doors and windows.

This has become an entire house-fix-it project. It initially started out as a door replacement project. The Pella representative gave us a good price on new windows, too, and so we decided to replace those as well. 
Astute long-time readers may remember we replaced the windows in 2010. Those windows failed, and the company that made them, Gorell, went bankrupt. Southwest Sunroom & Windows out of Salem sold us these windows and installed them, but wouldn't or couldn't honor the window warranty, only their installation warranty, which did us little good. We fought with them for five years as the windows failed one after the other. The company that bought out Gorell, Soft-Lite, did replace some of the windows but it was a constant battle to have the replacements made, and then the new windows fit loosely, which only let in that much more air.



That was the biggest waste of money - and probably the biggest mistake - we have ever made in our 35 years of marriage.

This is what the windows look like now. It is hard to take a picture of a window that shows this clearly, but here goes:

I think you can really tell from the bottom one how bad the glass is. That is not dirt. That is glass failure. This is the worst one in the house but several of the windows have spots or areas where you can't see out of them because the glass failed.

The remaining project involves flooring. We weren't planning on replacing flooring this year but a leaking dishwasher changed those plans. We will be replacing the kitchen parquet hardwood with tile, and we decided while we were in the middle of tearing things up we may as well pull up the carpet and put down hardwood floors.

We are hoping this will help my allergies, if nothing else.

Lots of hammering going on now with the new installation. I'll show you some of that tomorrow.

Bruffey Memorial United Methodist Church

Back in May, when we were tooling around the borders of Virginia and West Virginia, we took a side trip over to Gap Mills, West Virginia.

The land there is lovely. From Sweet Springs to Gap Mills, there is a long valley full of gorgeous farmland.

We were searching for a church called the Bruffey Church. That was all I knew about it at the time. Allegedly some of my relatives started this church.

We could not get inside the building, and while we ran into one person there, that person offered no information about the structure or its history.

It's a plain little country church

You see structures like these all over southwestern Virginia and West Virginia.

My husband wondered why the cross was lopsided on the front.

The full name of the church is the Bruffey Memorial United Methodist Church. I don't know if it has always been Methodist.

As best I can tell from an unproductive internet search, about 30 people attend services here. There was no cemetery attached to the church so I am not sure where relatives who attended this structure might be buried.

There is a Facebook page for the church and I've written to see if there is a history available. I'll update if so.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Do you ever doubt the existence of others than you?

A. No. And if you answer "yes" to that question, I suggest a psychiatrist and medication.

2. On a scale of 1-5, how afraid of the dark are you?

A. I am not afraid of the dark, generally. So I guess a 1.

3. The person you would never want to meet?

A. It's a cross between our current president or the loud-mouthed father on Orange County Choppers or whatever it is called.

4. What is your favorite word?

A. Interesting.

5. If you were a type of tree, what would you be?

A. Barbara Walters, anyone? I would like to think I'd be a California Redwood, strong, tall, sturdy, living hundreds of years. I suspect I am actually a willow, fat at the bottom, wispy, with branches that easily break.

6. When you looked in the mirror this morning what was the first thing you thought?

A. My eyes look tired.

7. What shirt are you wearing?

A. I still have on my nightgown.

8. What do you label yourself as?

A. A writer.

9. Bright room or dark room?

A. Dark room.

10. What were you doing at midnight last night?

A. Sleeping.

11. Favorite age you’ve been so far?

A. Sometime in my 40s. Most of my 40s were fairly good years. I had work I enjoyed and my health, while always not the best, was not as bad as it is now.

12. Who told you they loved you last?

A. My husband.

13. Your worst enemy?

A. Myself.

14. What is your current desktop picture?

A. It's just blue. I don't like pictures on my desktop, it makes it too busy.

15. Do you like someone?

A. I like a lot of people.

16. The last song you listened to?

A. Barracuda, by Heart

17. You can press a button that will make any one person explode. Who would you blow up?

A. I wouldn't press the button, sorry. I am not into killing people.

18. Who would you really like to just punch in the face?

A. I don't do that, either.

19. If anyone could be your slave for a day, who would it be and what would they have to do?

A. I don't do that, either.

20. What is your best physical attribute? (showing said attribute is optional)

A. I don't know. My skin, I suppose. People often told me I had nice skin when I was younger.

21. If you were the opposite sex for one day, what would you look like and what would you do?

A. I'd look like a guy. I have no idea what I would do. One day is not a long time to adjust to something like that. I know what I wouldn't do: I wouldn't treat women as objects, I wouldn't whistle at them or grab them, or rape them. I would be a gentleman.

22. Do you have a secret talent? If yes, what is it?

A. If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret.

23. What is one unique thing you’re afraid of?

A. I can't think of anything unique.

24. You can only have one kind of sandwich. Every sandwich ingredient known to humankind is at your disposal. What would your sandwich be?

A. I'd have a BLT with chicken salad on the side.

25. You just found $100! How are you going to spend it?

A. You can't buy much with $100 these days. I'd probably spend it on groceries.

26. You just got a free plane ticket to anywhere in the world, but you have to leave immediately. Where are you going to go?

A. New Zealand.

27. An angel appears out of Heaven and offers you a lifetime supply of the alcoholic beverage of your choice. “Be brand-specific” it says.

A. I don't drink alcohol. What kind of angel offers you an addictive drug, anyway?

28. You discover a beautiful island upon which you may build your own society. You make the rules. What is the first rule you put into place?

A. All are equal.
 
29. What is your favorite expletive?

A. F#ck apparently. I say it a lot.

30. Your house is on fire. You have just enough time to run in there and grab ONE inanimate object. Don’t worry, your loved ones and pets have already made it out safely. So what’s the one thing you’re going to save from that blazing inferno?

A. My external hard drive. It has my computer back up on it.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Teenage Dream

Saturday 9: Teenage Dream (2010)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) Much of the video for this week's song takes place in a convertible and on the beach. How's the weather where you are? Would you be comfortable riding around with the top down today?

A. We have bands of rain from Hurricane Florence so I think I want the top up today.

2) This video was filmed all around Katy Perry's hometown of Santa Barbara. Amtrak runs through Santa Barbara via The Pacific Surfliner. Tell us about a memorable train trip.

A. The only time I remember being on a train was in Spain in the late 1970s. We were supposed to go from Madrid to France on an express train but there was a union strike of sometime scheduled to take place at midnight after we arrived, so we left a day early and took "local" trains to get to France. The trains were small and full of people. The restrooms were way in the rear of the train. Several of us young women in our travel group needed to get to the restrooms. To get there you had to walk through cars that were full of men and they suddenly grabbed us and pawed us and otherwise severely manhandled us. It was terrifying, actually. I kneed one guy in the crotch and he hit me in the head with his fist. Another girl got grabbed by the hair and dragged. When we finally got back to our car, our guide (a woman) shrugged it off and said that was what happened there. I don't think I ever told my parents about that.

Despite that, I like trains. I am just not sure I want to ride one again.

3) Katy sings that her boyfriend thinks she's funny, even when she gets the punchline wrong. Do you think you're a better joke-teller or audience?

A. I think I'm better in the audience but my friends think I am hilarious in a sardonic, tell-it-like-it-really-is kind of way.

4) Her "teenage dream" lover is shown working out with a heavy bag. When is the last time you visited a gym?

A. Ha. Ha. Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Now if you want to count the gym at my physical therapist's place, then it was only about 10 months ago.

5) Katy changes her hair a lot. She's gone from long black hair to cropped blonde hair with stops at red, green and purple. Today, are you having a good hair day?

A. It's humid and wet outside. So not really.

6) Katy thinks dimples are "irresistible" and can't help poking a finger when a dimpled friend smiles. Do you have dimples?

A. Yes. I think. I'm not 100 percent sure and I'm too lazy to go look in a mirror.

7) Two of Katy's fragrances (Meow and Purr) are sold in cat-shaped bottles. Are you wearing a scent as you answer these questions?

A. I am allergic to all scents. Everything in my house is unscented.

8)  Katy's favorite dessert is ice cream (specifically Cold Stone Creamery's Birthday Cake Remix). What's the last dessert you ate?

A. A piece of chocolate crème pie.

9) Random question: How often do you change your bedsheets?

A. Every Saturday.

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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however.  (#250)

Praying Mantis

Thursday Thirteen

Things I'm looking forward to -

1. Having my kitchen floor redone.

2. Having the bedroom, hallway and living room floors redone.

3. Having new windows and doors installed.

4. A vacation (maybe).

5. Doing a little writing for the local paper for a week.

6. Reading the third book in the All Souls trilogy (Deborah Harkness, author).

7. Cooler temperatures

8. Losing weight.

9. The November elections.

10. Finding a new fiction book to read.

11. Seeing a friend.

12. Having my house back in order after numbers 1, 2 and 3 are finished.

13. Haircut!

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 569th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

The "Luxury" of Being Sick

An acquaintance of mine told me Friday, as she has on other occasions, that she doesn't have the "luxury" of being sick. She said this with a scowl on her face because she's working very hard at the job she has chosen. She has aches and pains and works through them. I'm glad she can do that.

I, on the other hand, have spent the last five years recovering from multiple illnesses, one of which nearly killed me as I had internal bleeding with ulcers, and another which forced me to use a cane for a long time until I finally, with lots of hard work and therapy, was able to do away with the cane.

That doesn't mean I am well. It means I am better, but my stamina is awful and my anxiety levels high. I can't sit for long periods, or stand for long periods. I can't lift anything heavy. I don't eat tomatoes or foods that will cause my stomach to act up.

I do the laundry, I go to the grocery store, I make dinner, I keep the house reasonably clean though I cannot run the vacuum so I have someone come and help me with that. I still write some. Not as much as I'd like but I am not floating in my bed, waiting on someone to bring me an aspirin.

I do what I can.

This acquaintance - we used to be friends, but we aren't anymore - has no empathy for people who are suffering. She seems to believe if she can work with a sore shoulder then everyone else should be able to work with whatever is wrong with them. This is how a certain segment of the population thinks, until they find themselves with cancer or on the end of a surgical knife. Then, as happened with my elected official, there may be second thoughts about allowing Medicaid into Virginia. Because golly gee, people do simply get sick through no fault of their own, and it hurts and you feel bad and sometimes you really can't get out of bed.

Being sick is by no means a "luxury." I would trade my "luxury" of being sick for a steady job and good health any time. However, I have always been a sickly person and I don't expect that to change as I age. From the time I was born, according to my mother, I was sick. I had colic, ran fevers, and I was allergic to cow's milk and formula and had to drink goat's milk. I fell down and dislocated a shoulder, I cracked my head open on something, and I had surgery to remove a pre-cancerous mole - all before I was five.

I used to miss 30 days of school, at least, every year. I kept a cough, and bronchitis and/or pneumonia found me every winter. I caught each bug that went around. And still I weathered it and made straight As.

You don't make straight As and be sick by sitting in the bed and not doing your homework.

This same acquaintance once told me she would never hire me to work, because I had a 3.96 GPA in college. People who make As don't have to work for them, she said. The people who makes Bs and Cs have to work to get those grades.

I don't know where someone gets this idea. Does she think I did not spend hours upon hours studying and reading, taking notes, learning the things I needed to know?

My life has always been about work. My father did not let us have much down time - we lived on a farm and I had chores. I watched after my brother. I fed birds. I gathered eggs. I brought in firewood. I helped keep the house clean. One of my finest hours was the day my mother told me, about a year after I'd married and left home, that she had had no idea how much work I'd actually done around the house until I was gone. Finally, some recognition for all those towels I'd folded.

After I married, I worked. Not only did I work, I put myself through college. I worked full time and went to college part-time. I did this for eight years. It took eight years to finish school because I had many surgeries during that time and I had to drop out of college a few semesters because I couldn't drive. I lost a few jobs because of illness, too. And I finally stopped working "for the man" altogether in the mid-1990s because I was having three-day migraines at least three times a month. I couldn't stay that sick and work, so I started freelancing full time so that when I needed to rest, I could rest. But even then, though I was working from home, I worked very hard at my writing. I wrote thousands - yes, thousands - of articles.

You don't do that because you have the "luxury" of being sick. You do that in spite of being sick.

And then being sick finally took its toll and my poor body said, "Enough of this. Stop with the stress and the stuff you shouldn't be doing or you'll bleed to death from these ulcers."

Lesson learned, though it took two years and much prodding from my doctor before I finally gave up my newspaper work. Then I worked hard at physical therapy. I did my exercises. And while I'm not healthy, I'm functional.

I'm functional because I worked at it. I was sick because I was sick, and not because I had the "luxury" of being sick. Sick people do not consider it a luxury because it isn't one. Sick people generally have less money, because they work less, they can't enjoy life like a healthy person can, and if you're disabled to any degree the people in the USA look down on you as if you're some kind of ratty flea with something contagious. I feel sure there are more sick people than healthy people in this country, because we're a pretty sick country overall, but I think a lot of people tough it out. And toughing it out has consequences that, in the long run, are not pretty.

No one has the "luxury" of being sick. If anyone ever says that to me again, I think I might have to punch that person in the mouth.

Sunday Stealing

Sunday Stealing

1. Ever had ramen noodles? How do you fix yours? Do you add anything to them?

     A. I only eat the chicken flavored kind and I fix them like the directions say, except I generally only add half a packet of "taste" to keep the salt content down.

2. Do you like spicy foods? No.

3. Crispy or grilled chicken on your salad? Grilled.

4. Do you like corn on the cob?

     A. I do, but it doesn't like me since I had my gallbladder removed.

5. Pumpkin or apple pie? Apple.

6. Dinner rolls or crescent rolls? Doesn't matter.

7. How do you like your eggs? Scrambled.

8. Most expensive meal you have ever eaten?

      A. I think it was one in Richmond. It was a swanky restaurant near Short Pump.

9. Do you like stir fry? Yes.

10. What kind of pots and pans do you use?

      A. Club. They were a wedding present and they are the ones I still use.

11. Do you like Brussel sprouts? Yes.

12. Canned or fresh tomatoes? Fresh, but not often.

13. BBQ Chicken or Ribs? Neither.

14. Do you like coffee? No.

15. Cupcakes or ice cream cake? Cupcakes.

16. Hot dogs or polish sausage? Hot dogs.

17. Do you like cinnamon toast? I like cinnamon rolls.

18. Do you eat dinner at the table or in front of the TV? At the table.

19. Do you like to BBQ? I like it but it doesn't like me.

20. Do you like cold cuts? Yes.

21. Do you like rice? Yes.

22. Macaroni and cheese? Yes.

23. Key Lime Pie? Yes.

24. Favorite Fair/Carnival Food? Cotton Candy.

25. What kind of gravy do you like? White biscuit gravy with no pepper in it.

26. Jalapeno Poppers? No.

27. Broccoli/Chicken Alfredo? Yes.

28. Do you like cottage cheese? Sometimes.

29. Do you like lasagna? I do but it doesn't like me.

30. Do you like hard boiled eggs? Yes.
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I encourage you to visit other participants in Sunday Stealing posts and leave a comment. Cheers to all us thieves who love memes, however we come by them.

Saturday 9: Gotta Travel On

Saturday 9: Gotta Travel On (1959)

Unfamiliar with this week's tune? Hear it here.

1) In this song, the Billy Grammer sings that "summer's almost gone, winter's coming on." When you look out your window, do you see any evidence that the seasons are changing?

A. Yes. The leaves are changing, there is a tinge of yellow in the air, and the goldenrod is blooming. The bucks are roaming around still in velvet, but it won't be long before their horns are showing.

 2) He admits he has laid around and played around for too long. Do you consider lazy days to be wasted days?

A. Not anymore. I used to, but no day is a wasted day.

3) Billy relaxed by fishing. Tell us about a visit you made to a pier, or a ride you took on a boat, this past year. (Bonus points if you went fishing!)

A. I have not visited a pier or been on a boat in the past year.

4) Born in 1925, Mr. Grammer was the eldest of 13 children. He and his wife Ruth were childless. What do you think is the ideal size for a family?

A. Two adults and two children.

5) This song was very popular on juke boxes back in 1959. When were you last in a bar or restaurant that had a juke box? Did you play it?

A. I don't remember when I was last in a restaurant with a juke box.

6) In 1959, movie tickets zoomed up in price to $1.00 and Ben Hur was the big blockbuster. What's the last movie you saw in a theater? Do you remember how much the ticket cost?

A. I think the last movie we saw in the theater was a Star Wars film. We went to the matinee and the tickets were $9.50 each.

7) Huckleberry Hound was a hit with the younger audience in 1959. What cartoon did you enjoy as a kid?

A. I liked Bugs Bunny.

8) In 1959, continuing dramas (soap operas) were still broadcast each day on the radio. When you turn on the radio, do you listen for talk, news, or music?

A. I listen to music and NPR.

9) Random question -- Which competition would you rather judge: The Pillsbury Bake Off, The Miss America Pageant, or Dancing with the Stars?

A. The Pillsbury Bake Off.


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I encourage you to visit other participants in Saturday 9 posts and leave a comment. Because there are no rules, it is your choice. Saturday 9 players hate rules. We love memes, however. 

Thursday Thirteen

I'm a little behind on my magazine reading:

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Thursday Thirteen is played by lots of people; there is a list here if you want to read other Thursday Thirteens and/or play along. I've been playing for a while and this is my 568th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.

Friends in the Rain

It was pouring rain when I shot these photos Saturday. I cleared them up a bit with software because it was raining so hard the camera had trouble focusing.

I always like to see the deer and turkey together. Too bad the bear didn't make an appearance!

An Unexpected Guest

We had my mother-in-law up for Labor Day hamburgers last night. We had all settled in to eat when my husband said, "Look coming there!"

I was expecting my nephew at the back door or something, but no. Instead I saw a bear!

He was not a big bear, as bears go, but big enough! He sniffed around the back door and then headed around the house, circling around to the front yard and then moseying on into the hollow.

You just never know what you're going to see around here.