Thursday Thirteen

1. I no longer post much on Facebook. I have opinions and information on things, but usually I just let it roll on by. Yesterday, someone posted about the county courthouse, which is empty and will soon be torn down. The current structure is one that was rebuilt in 1975 to replace an historic structure (built in 1848) that burned in 1970. This was my response to the complaints that (1) blamed the county administrator and (2) said this was an historic building. I posted it but then deleted it. I know a lot about this project because I was writing about it from the beginning, plus I have covered other courthouse renovations in other areas when I was a news reporter. There is no talking sense to some people.

Redoing/changing/rebuilding a courthouse is a long process that begins not with the Board of Supervisors but with the judiciary. The state has mandates that the courts must meet as far as ADA, safety, security, etc., and at some point (no I don't know when, best guess is 2010), the judges went to the county and said, we need to meet these mandates. There was a lot of study, a lot of meetings, etc., over a period of years if not a decade, before this began to become a reality. And no offense to anyone who helped construct this replica of the historic structure that burned, but the construction was not the best because the money, which was mostly raised by the community in an effort spearheaded at least in part by my husband's grandmother, wasn't there to build the best. In the end, there was black mold, there were lots of leaks not only in the roof but in the brick itself and into the walls. I saw this for myself. It had become so tainted with mold that I personally could no longer go into the building because of my asthma. I hate to see this structure removed just as much as anyone else but there comes a time when older things must go. This structure, as it exists, is an historic replica. It is not historic in and of itself. The things it houses are historic, but the people who must work in it are as important as the documents it holds, and if you wouldn't work in a building full of mold, then county employees should be given that same grace. This is something that needs to be done. In the end, it will be a benefit to the county, to the community, and to Fincastle. Yes, it will change the look of Fincastle, but so did Dollar General, and I bet a lot of you don't hesitate to stop in there.

2. I have more reactions to medication than anyone I know. I was using Nasacort for my ear infection at my doctor's orders and ended up with a yeast infection in a lower orifice.  The yeast infection cleared up almost instantly when I stopped using the nasal spray. These synthetic steroids do not sit well with me.

3. The ground is white with ice and snow. It is more ice than snow, but it snowed first and then crusted over with ice. The temperatures here are well below freezing and not expected to rise anytime in next week. My driveway is icy and I cannot get the car out. I do not ride in my husband's truck because it smells like hay. It's a work truck so it's supposed to smell like hay.

4. I actually like the smell of freshly cut grass, but my body does not. Talk about an allergy-inducing time! When my husband mows the yard in the summer, I go for a drive.

5. I used to mow the yard, back in the 1990s, but I stayed sick and my doctor finally told me I should stop. Then my husband bought a bigger yard tractor, and it was so big that I had to sit on the lip of the seat in order to reach the pedals, and the tractor wouldn't run unless there was weight on the back of the seat, so that ended that. I actually liked mowing the yard. There's a satisfaction in mowing kind of like cleaning up a big mess - you can see the result of what you just did.

6. Fires rage in California again. My husband's cousin has evacuated; she's in the Eaton (?) fire area. She's safe now, but we don't know if she still has a place to live. I have friends online who live in California, too, who are near or close to evacuating. All are without power. One of them called electricity "magical," and when you don't have it and you get it back, it certainly feels that way.

7. Just think of all the things we couldn't do if the electric grid went down. The world as we know it would stop. Eventually, you couldn't even drive because it takes electricity to make petrol and car parts. We'd be back to steam powered, or possibly solar or nuclear power. We take so much for granted, don't we?

8. I read the Kondo book about decluttering. I can't say I took much away from it - that kind of minimalist lifestyle sounds nice but that much cleaning up would take energy I don't have. I did find it interesting that she thanks her things. As in, thank you computer for working so I can write this blog. Thank you, shoes, for taking care of my feet today. I went around for a few days thanking my stuff, and while I can't say that anything I thanked performed any better, I did find it a sort of peaceful gratitude exercise. 

9. I am trying to stay away from politics on my blog these days. I probably won't succeed (see #1 above), but I am not going to change anyone's mind about anything, and people will just have to F around and find out what's about to happen. Maybe I'm wrong and authoritarianism and oligarchy will be the greatest thing ever, but I kind of doubt it.

10. My most recent book reading was The Women, by Kristin Hannah. It was about women who were nurses in Vietnam during the Vietnam War. It was quite engrossing.

11. My friend's mother fell earlier this week, and she is in the hospital with a brain bleed. She is 94 years old. I am quite concerned.

12. I would rather write about good things. What's good? Well, we still have our electricity - I know about 100K in Virginia lost power during the ice storm, but we were lucky. The roads are clear if you can get out on them.

13. Growing old is not fun. What a cruel trick to play on humanity. 

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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 888th time to do a list of 13 on a Thursday. Or so sayth the Blogger counter, anyway.