A Day in Court

Yesterday my husband and I dressed up in our Sunday best and visited the General District Court.

He had been called to serve as an expert witness in a case that involved a landlord and a tenant. My husband had installed a septic system on the property (that's one of his three jobs, installing septic systems). 

The tenant was claiming they did not have to pay rent because the problems with the septic system (and other things) had gone on a long time before it was fixed. The landlord wanted my husband to tell how and when he had repaired the old septic system.

I decided to go along to watch because we have a little house that we rent out, and I wanted to see how things went in the case. Also, I used to cover the courts when I was writing for the newspaper and I always enjoyed the cases, unless they were about rape or child abuse.

General District Court is where the lesser items come before the court, including most issues involving rental property. This is also where speeding tickets, etc., first are heard before a judge. If the issue is appealed, it goes to a higher court, called the Circuit Court. That's in the bigger courthouse in Fincastle.

Security in the courtroom has tightened since I was last there. You have to walk through a metal detector, and you must leave your cellphone in your vehicle. You can't take an umbrella in with you, either. It was pouring rain so we both had umbrellas, and had to leave them in the front.

It had been years since I attended a court hearing in General District Court. One of the things that bothered me was that the deputies politely grilled every person entering to ascertain if they had legitimate business there. I was dismayed at this, for seeing how the country's laws work is important and should not be something to be challenged. You used to be able to do that without worry.  Personally, I think everyone should go spend a day in the courtroom to see how the law works.

I guess you can go watch because I did, but it is not comfortable being asked why you are there.

Anyway, we took a seat in the courtroom. After a while, the judge came in. We all stood while he was seated. Immediately the lawyers asked that the witnesses be removed from the courtroom, so my husband was sworn in and then he had to leave.

I stayed so I could hear what was going on.

I learned a lot by visiting. I learned about the importance of the lease and the initial inspection, and how necessary it is to keep promises, especially those in writing. Emails, I discovered, are admissible evidence. Being careful what you put in an email is very necessary these days. The same goes for recoverable text messages. It is no longer just hearsay - it's what you did say. And that gives it more weight.

Had the issue merely been one of an unlawful detainer, which is what a landlord files to reclaim possession of a leased property when the rent's not been paid, the case would have been over very quickly. The tenants had not paid the rent and under the law there is no legitimate reason for not paying.

However, the tenants had countersued claiming the property was uninhabitable and they asked the landlord for money, I think. At least that was my impression from the things said in the courtroom. The law has a remedy for tenants if they think things are wrong with the property; they can petition the court and make payments to the court in place of paying the landlord until the issues are resolved. But they can't just not pay. The tenants did not make such a petition.

Anyway, my husband was an expert witness for the landlord in her defense against the tenants.

Unfortunately, I had another appointment late in the day and the hearing went on so long that I had to leave before I heard my husband testify. He said the lawyers asked him about the septic installation, why the old one failed (he had no idea, they could fail for 1,000 reasons), and when he installed the replacement septic system. Once he gave his evidence, the judge told him he could leave.

I looked the case up online last night and the landlord won her unlawful detainer case. She was awarded back rent and interest. The tenant's countersuit was dismissed, which I take to mean they lost.

The thing I like about court is that it deals mostly in facts. They are contested facts, I suppose, and someone must decide who is right and who is wrong. But in many instances you can present things that reveal the truth - receipts,for example, for payment for work done. Or no receipt for nonpayment. That's a pretty incontrovertible fact.

I enjoyed covering court when I was writing for the paper, but no one covers court cases anymore unless they are sensational. I think this is a great failure on the part of the newspapers, and a total injustice to democracy.

Without news about what goes on in the courts, justice is not open and transparent. Certain political sides are able to make things seem worse (or better) than they are because the news is quashed.

I think this hurts the rule of law and the court system, because people don't see how it works. They don't see how the law functions for the mundane things. The workings of the law has to be visible and on display in order to be effective.

It is my opinion that the lack of news coverage has given unwarranted credence to one side of the political fence, the side that doesn't like courts or the law because it does deal in facts. That particular political side does not deal with facts, it relies on emotion and opinion.

We are slowly undermining what is left of our democracy in favor of flashy toys and soundbites. The loss of the media in the day-to-day issues that really matter is just a symptom of our demise. I am 100 percent certain we will regret it all one day.

Bye Bye BAM

This morning as I was slowly reading the Sunday paper, an advertisement in the main section caught my eye.

Books-A-Million in Roanoke is shutting its doors.

The bookstores are dropping like flies that have passed through a cloud of Raid. Soon not even the chains will have bricks and mortar stores, and we'll all be ordering off Amazon.

This is not the first major bookstore closing recently. Ram's Head Bookstore, the area's largest and most interesting independent book dealer. The owners retired, closing the doors. Printer's Ink also closed its doors. Also, while it affected fewer people, Hollins University's bookstore stopped stocking textbooks.

Soon we'll be left with only Barnes & Noble in this area, which according to reports is teetering financially.

This scares me. It also makes me very sad.

It scares me because Amazon has already shown, in at least a few instances, that it won't hesitate to reach into your Kindle and pull your purchase back. And the fact that it can do that is frightening. Why should this company have the final say over what you read, what you learn, and what you think?

What if, say, the government decides that you shouldn't be reading 1984, because it might give you ideas? And you bought it on your e-reader, not as a hard copy? And then poof, it's not there anymore, so you can't go back and revisit that again. In part that's because you're not buying the actual book, you're buying a license to read the book. While the model may eventually change (thanks to litigation, necessity, and money (but not morality)), that's how things are at the moment. E-readers are also moving from their own stand-alone units to being on apps on mobile phones and tablets.

I don't know about you, but my eyes are not too happy about trying to read a long work on an e-reader, let alone on a phone screen. I have an e-reader and still prefer a real book. I don't have to plug up a real book. And a real book doesn't access my email or Facebook or have other distractions.

So I guess I'm a dinosaur. I like paper.

The loss of yet another bookstore in my area means I will have one less place to go and feel at home. One less place to browse to find things I might not otherwise read. One less way to enlarge my world. One less place to get away from it all.

It seems like everything I care about - reading, liberal arts, art, English, morality - all of that stuff has gone by the wayside. There are enclaves of writers and readers still, but more and more they are being cast aside like so much rubbish. All that matters anymore are tech inventions - being able to code is so much more desired than being able to write a strong sentence.

We are losing so much in this headlong dash to destroy ourselves that I am starting to think it will be a good thing when we are all gone. Mother Nature must be throwing up every time she looks at humanity.

I used to embrace technology but I eventually realized it was an insidious beast that eats its young. I stopped trying to keep up with the new and improved in the race to the bottom. I refuse to go there though I know now that is where I will end up in this topsy-turvey world we have created.

Books-A-Million opened its chain store in Roanoke in the late 1990s. I thought it was great. Rams Head was over on the other side of town for me, and while BAM didn't have the same stock of poetry and writing books, it carried some. When WaldenBooks closed it was nice to know there were other choices.

I frequented them all and alternated purchases between them. Each offered a unique selection, a different feel. And now they're gone.

Bye Bye BAM. I guess B&N will be next.

29 Years

Today is our anniversary.

We're an old married couple, having spent 29 years together as of today.

We wondered this morning, both of us up early, as we are most days, where the time has gone. All of those years, passing through our hands like water, shimmering, cleansing, life-sustaining.

We have been mostly happy. There are always, of course, good times and bad. That is what life is made of, but we have been fortunate for the most part.


We'll be celebrating all day!

When Mercury Goes Retrograde

This is the moon, not Mercury.

In the world of astrology, which I confess I do not particularly believe in, there is a phenomenon called "Mercury Retrograde." This apparently happens three times a year and lasts about three weeks at a time. It is a time when the planet appears to move backwards instead of forward in some kind of optical illusion.

Mercury, one might recall from high school classes on mythology, is the messenger of the gods. Thus the planet Mercury is considered the messenger planet. Hence anything to do with communication supposedly is affected by this retrograde business.

That means it affects computers, Internet, telephone, the mail - most electronic gizmos, in other words. When Mercury is retrograde, you should be cautious, take care of yourself and others, and not make hasty decisions.

Generally speaking, I do not pay much attention to this, even though, as a Gemini (double trouble, that's me), Mercury in retrograde is supposed to affect me almost always, as it is my ruling planet. Or something like that.

I frequently do not know when Mercury is retrograde, but it turned yesterday. I knew this because the astrologers were predicting it would affect the elections.

I don't know about that, but I do know this: about 10:30 yesterday morning, I lost my Internet connection.

Along with my telephone service.

It stayed out all day. This was not a good day to be out of touch as I was keen to see how the voting was going.

Last night was my first-ever professional job as an instructor, too. I had spent hours preparing a beautiful power point presentation. When I arrived, everything worked fine, but within minutes, the school computer died. And would not reboot no matter how many times I started it and shut it back down.

And this morning, my electricity went out for a good while.

So I don't know if I believe in Mercury retrograde, but certainly some gremlin is playing games with me right now.

Fired Up For a Cure

October is Fire Prevention Month and Breast Cancer Awareness Month, and this morning my husband wore a pink shirt to work. The fire department is promoting awareness via the shirts to help “extinguish” breast cancer!

During October the firefighters wear these pink uniform shirts to show support for the community and to remember those that have passed from breast cancer, those battling or those who have won the fight.

This is the back of the shirt. I took a picture of my husband from the front, too, but I was half asleep and the photo is blurry.

In September, the fire department held a walk/run and other events to help prevent, educate and advocate about the importance of self breast exams, mammograms and also to remind citizens to practice their fire safety plans. Here is an article about that event.

Breast cancer is second only to lung cancer in all reported cancer cases, accounting for a little more than 10 percent of cancer diagnoses around the world. Women are about 100 times more likely to develop the disease than men; however, the survival rates are about the same regardless of the patient’s sex. About 519,000 people died from the disease in 2004.

Women over 40 should get a mammogram every 1 to 2 years. I'm a little overdue for mine and this is a good reminder to get this taken care of.

Be well, my friends!

Questions and Answers

1. You have been awarded the time off from work and an all-expenses paid week anywhere in the United States. The catch is that it must be somewhere you have not been before. Where do you choose to visit?

A. If it must be somewhere I have not been before, I would have to choose the northern states, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut. I think it would be fun to visit them now, as the leaves are turning. Wouldn't it be great to be driving along country roads, the top down on some convertible, your hair wrapped in a scarf, sunglasses on, looking at the trees?

2. Name three of your guilty pleasures.  A. Chocolate. Reading. Video games.

3. The best kind of Girl Scout Cookie is: A. I don't eat Girl Scout cookies because I don't know any Girl Scouts. But my favorite cookie is a Keebler Fudge Stripe (original).

4. What do you value most in other people? A. Honesty, tolerance, and patience.

5. Be honest. Do you sneak some raw cookie dough when you’re baking cookies? A. Of course. It's the best part of making cookies.

6. Have you ever looked back at your life and realized that something you thought was a bad thing was actually a blessing in disguise?! A. Yes. I left a job in 1985 and thought it was a bad thing, but if I hadn't left I wouldn't have gone on to Hollins College and obtained my bachelors degree.

7. What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever visited? A. I live in the most beautiful place I know. But I also enjoy the beach on the South Carolina coast.

8. Are you more of a thinker or a feeler? A. I'm a thinker. I'm an INTP on the Myers Briggs, which means I'm an introverted, intuitive, thinking, perception person. Sort of the absent-minded professor type. You can find your personality type for free here.

9. Name three things you are thankful for right now. A. That my husband has decided to paint the bathroom. That it is raining and washing the pollen out of the air. That I am seeing the doctor this morning to deal with a health-care matter.

10. Have you ever participated in a three-legged race? A. No. At least, not that I remember. I can't be sure of what I did when I was very young.

11. When you are at an event that plays the National Anthem, do you place your hand over your heart? A. Usually, yes.
 
12. What kind of work do you do? A. I am a student of words, a writer of wrongs, and chief cook and bottle washer.

13. During the course of your lifetime, which job or career has been your favorite or most fulfilling? A. Writing for the local newspaper.

14. Do you think it’s necessary in your life to have a day-to-day “career” that is meaningful and service-oriented or do you function better in “just a job” with a steady paycheck? A. A career is important to me.


15. Was there ever a time in your life when you wanted to stay home with your children instead of working, even if it meant less money in the household? A. I never had children, but money has never been that important. I imagine if I had had children, I would have stayed home with them.


16. Tell us your worst boss story. A. I once worked for an attorney in the nearby city who was cheating on his wife by sleeping with his other secretary. When he found out that I knew about it, he fired me. It is the only time I have ever been fired.


17. Have your ever been the boss? A. I have been self-employed for many years, so have been my own taskmaster for a long time.


18. What is your dream occupation? A. Probably to be a best-selling novelist making $100,000 a year. Or a college English professor. Or the editor of a newspaper. Something along those lines.

I took this meme from Sunday Stealing, which collects memes. Obviously it is not Sunday, but Tuesday. Not that it matters.

Remembering the 343

Eleven years ago today, over 1,000 men and women, all of them dressed in 50 to 75 pounds of firefighting gear, faced the worst event of their careers.

The Twin Towers in New York City had been attacked and were burning.

At 8:50 a.m., the New York City Fire Department had established its incident command center at the World Trade Centers. The first plane hit at 8:45 a.m.; the response was immediate. The fire department was on the scene within five minutes.

These brave firefighters hustled inside while everyone else was doing their best to get outside.

They were saving lives, these folks. They were doing what they were trained to do.

What they loved to do.

What they would die doing.

At 9:59 a.m., the first of the tallest towers of the World Trade Center collapsed. The firefighters who were valiantly trying to reach people believed to be trapped on upper floors, were unable to get out. As those of us who sat watching the events unfold on TV know, the collapse occurred without warning. The buildings were down before anyone could react.

And 343 firefighters died, along with over 2,000 other people.

As the wife of a firefighter, I know that every day could be the day that things go wrong on the fire scene. This could be the day that a building explodes, a roof caves in, a car crashes into firefighters standing on the side of the road putting out a burning vehicle (something that happened in Roanoke in 1985, killing several firefighters).

These people do a job that most people wouldn't dream of doing. They risk their lives every single time they go to work. When you are running away in fear, they are putting on their hats and heading off to face down whatever it is you are afraid of. Tornadoes, hurricanes, fire, flood, derecho winds, downed power lines or a terrorist attack do not halt these dedicated people. They go forward when the rest of us would hang back.

On this 11th anniversary of the attack on New York City, please remember the sacrifices of these brave men and women, the firefighters who go where no one dares to go.

You might want to say thank you to them, too. You never know when the life they save might be yours.

One Thousand Trains

Here is something you may not know about me: I like trains. In particular, I like miniature trains.

If I had a bigger house with extra rooms, I would have a train room. It would be full of miniature trains and miniature buildings and little tiny people. I would love to have a table full of "Z" scale train stuff (I think that is the smallest you can get) if I had a place to put it.

Saturday in Fincastle an auction of over 1,000 miniature trains took place. Most were Lionels, American Flyers, etc.

My husband and I stopped in.

There were, indeed, literally at least 1,000 engines and cars, and who knows how much track.

The cars were piled in boxes, lined on tables, and otherwise tumbled about.

A number had an Armed Forces motif.

Almost all of them looked well-used.

These cars hauled Baby Ruth bars!

Some of the signal lights for display.

Tiny little railroad crossing signs.

I guess most of the miniature items were stuffed in boxes and not out where I could readily see them. We were unable to hang around as long as I would have liked because four people were sucking on cancer sticks like there was no tomorrow. I had an asthma attack because of the second-hand smoke and had to leave.

But I enjoyed looking until I couldn't breath.


If, like me, you're fascinated by miniatures, you must check out the website for the miniature wonderland in Hamburg, Germany. It is billed as the largest model railway in the world, and has things like firefighting scenes, an airport, boats, scenes of countries (including the USA) and other attractions.The four-minute video is incredible, and there are longer videos on youtube if you want to take a look at the wonderland in more depth.

Choo choo!

The West Virginia State Fair

The West Virginia State Fair started yesterday and runs through August 18. It is located in Lewisburg in Greenbrier County, WV. It's about 1.5 hours up the road from where I live, give or take a stop.

I was a child when I was last at this fair; I have a vague memory of going with my parents. This fair has been around for many years; it's been the official state fair since 1941.

Anyway, enough of that. You don't want a history lesson, you want to see photos!

To reach the fair from the main parking lot, you have to walk up and over a bridge across the road. This is a shot from the bridge, with the camera over my head to get above the chain-link fence.

Ah, the food! Snow cones and hots dogs and pizza, oh my!

I am a big fan of cotton candy, a treat I only get at fairs. Which is to say, not often! At $5 a pop, I'd better enjoy it, eh?

The rides.

What we really came for. The agriculture stuff. Tractors! And more tractors!

Old antique tractors, all in a row.

Doesn't this look like the best southern food shack EVER? FRIED GREEN TOMATO SANDWICHES! BROWN BEANS AND CORNBREAD! Who could resist?

We like old things, and this grist mill, circa 1870, was no exception.

We watched it grind grain for a good while. Plus it was in the shade and the sun was relentless between the clouds.

The quilts! Aren't they lovely?

A final shot of a one of the rides.

What's a carnival without a lot of color, eh?

If you are local and have never been to the West Virginia State Fair, you should check it out. We left home about noon and arrived around 2:30 (we made stops at other places). We only stayed for about three hours - between the heat, the threat of rain, and the thickening crowds, that was long enough for us. We were back home by 7 p.m.

One of the nicest afternoons I've had in a while!

**Photos taken with my Nikon Coolpix L22**

The Bird Nest

When I was picking up sticks in recent days following the demon wind storm known as a derecho, I came across a bird's nest.

I picked it up and placed it gently on my boxwood.

It fit into the palm of my hand. As you can see, it is very small.

Such a delicate creation! It is soft inside, lined with brown, black, and gray hairs.

I hope the baby birds had all grown up and flown away before the winds came.

Derecho

Last night we had a weather event that this area had never experienced before. It is called a derecho, a straight-line severe windstorm. I had never heard of it.

We had no warning. We had been out to dinner, and when we returned we turned the TV to HBO. About 9 p.m., suddenly the air around us burst into a roar; it sounded like the house had suddenly imploded.

We jumped up and raced to look outside. The clouds were dark and foreboding, and the wind was fierce. The Roanoke Airport recorded 81 mph winds, which are hurricane force.

This is the damage just around the house:

Tree limbs down, my wishing well destroyed.

Tree broken off.

A redbud twisted and destroyed.

Two more trees down.

Debris and limbs in the yard.

Poplars, which had died and needed to be cut down,
are now mostly down.

Large pine tree down.

Another large pine tree down.

An ash tree with the top gone.

Debris in the yard.

What is left of my garden.

I have no idea what the rest of the farm looks like, but I am sure there are many more trees down.

Thousands are without power, and the temperatures here today are expected to reach 102. I have, somehow, been fortunate to keep my electricity, and I have already invited a few folks to come use my shower and stay out of the heat here if they have to.

Hopefully the county will open a shelter, but I have not heard if they have done this yet. UPDATE: The county has opened as a shelter at Lord Botetourt High School, and Fincastle Baptist Church is also offering its space as a shelter.

Please everyone, be safe. Stay out of the heat.

After the Storm

Yesterday the area experienced severe thunderstorms. We were under a tornado watch. My friend Cathy, with whom I used to work and who is a reporter for The Roanoke Times, caught a picture of something that looks like a tornado. Click on the link to see it.

After the bad weather passed through, I went outside to take photos of the storm as it was heading off into Bedford.

My favorite fence with dark skies in the background.

The storm moving toward the Peaks of Otter and into Bedford.

My rock lilies (or yucca) with the storm as a backdrop.

An hour or so later, a rainbow.

What's Next?

Almost as soon as I had the diploma in my hands, the thought hit me: what's next?

Others echoed that. "What are you going to do now?" asked my stepmother.

The truth?

I don't know. I have considered more school. I love college. I enjoy learning. I like the atmosphere. I like big ideas. I like being able to discuss books, theories, and facts with logical passion. I find the young people stimulating, the professors exhilarating.

Hollins offers other advanced degrees - MFAs in creative writing or children's literature, and something called a Certificate of Advanced Studies. That is 10 more classes - or over $13,000 - for a higher degree.

The children's literature MFA is offered during the summer only. The creative writing MFA is quite competitive, but to be honest I've never really wanted the creative writing MFA. That sounds odd, perhaps, coming from someone who considers herself to be a writer, but the truth is as a Hollins undergraduate I had many writing classes, and many of my recent Hollins MA classes were writing classes. I don't know that either of these MFAs would offer me anything more.

That leaves a degree from some other university. Locally, Virginia Tech and UVA are the closest with PhD programs. Radford University has a number of masters programs and one PhD program in psychology.

When I was a very young girl, I wanted to be many things. Those I can remember include geologist, archaeologist, investigator, newspaper reporter, psychologist, rock star, historian, lawyer, and writer of mysteries a la Nancy Drew. Somewhere along the way I realized that writing gave me the opportunity to explore any career I wanted. It also allowed me the freedom to take part in things without actually being a part of them. The anonymity of being a newspaper reporter was something I quickly embraced. As a reporter (at least the way I have always been a reporter) I sat in the back, I observed, and I wrote the facts of what I saw. I seldom embellished - I had no need to - because the words of others generally speak for themselves. I didn't see a need to explain what was so obviously already said.

I know that other reporters thrust themselves into the stories - they became a part of it, rather than an observer. That was not - is not - my style. But it slipped into the industry, and soon became the rule. My way became antiquated. I still think it is better.

In the last two decades the landscape has changed. Newspaper writing is not what it was - the industry has shot itself in the foot by giving away its news on the Internet and by allowing greed to run amok among the upper levels of management. Newspapers were never meant to be for-profit businesses and those who wanted more than a decent salary and breaking even should have looked elsewhere for their dollar bills.

For me, it has never been about the money. It's been about the story, the self-satisfaction, and what I could live with.

Which brings me back to today. I look at the current landscape and it looks like something from another galaxy. Self-publishing looms large and I suspect that is the way of the future, though it scares me. I am not big on the self-marketing aspect of that - the social networking, the push to sell.

I have read a few self-published ebooks on my Nook, and all of them have suffered from a lack of editing. They had typos, places where they repeated themselves, trains of thought that went on and then ended nowhere, or gave too much information. Every single one of them would have been a better story if the author had taken the time to review the work with a critical eye, or had someone else do that for them. Sometimes stories need to sit for years before they see the light of day. But now it is easy to put something up, place a price on it, and hope it sells. Few people have the patience to wait for perfection.

Putting up something for sale that is less than it could be scares me. I suppose in that regard I am anal, a perfectionist, a book snob. Just last night I was in Barnes and Noble. I picked up a book on writing that looked interesting. I turned to a random page. There was a misplaced period and a poorly written sentence. I put the book back and didn't buy it. It might have had the greatest advice ever but if the author, editor, and publisher couldn't figure out that a sentence needs a noun and verb and that periods do not belong in between clauses, then it wasn't advice I wanted to read.

So what's next? I don't know. I don't know where I am going. I can look back at where I have been. I have made mistakes, of course. I wouldn't be human if I hadn't. And I will make mistakes in the future. We all do.

For now, I am going to take a little time to enjoy life. It is almost June, and in a few weeks I will be adding another year to the chronicle of my life. I will be 49 years old. I am at an age when finding work, changing careers, and reinventing yourself is not as easy as it was at 20, or even 40. My hair is graying, my face is wrinkling, and parts are wearing out. I'm solidly middle-aged. And I am okay with that.

I'm even okay with not knowing what is next.

For surely, something will come.

Luck of the Irish

Earlier this week I found this four-leaf clover in my mother-in-law's yard.

It had been a long time since I'd found a four-leaf clover. For a long time, I found them everywhere I went, no matter the yard.

But then I stopped looking. So I didn't find them.

My husband says he has never found a four-leaf clover. But then, he has never really looked.

Perspective is all in what we make of it. If we look for four-leaf clovers, we will likely find them, provided we're looking in the right place.

Of course we won't find a four-leaf clover just waiting for us on the living room floor. But out in the yard, amongst the clover, odds are better that you might find what you're looking for.

If we look for bad things in people, then of course, bad things we will find. If we look for good, then we will find good.

The world is full of people who are quite willing to point out the bad things. You're lazy, you're fat, you're not fast enough, you're old, you're young, you're too skinny, you're a workaholic, you're too quick and don't think.

See, it's all a matter of perspective and in how you look at it. What's fat to you might be pleasing to someone else. Someone who's too old might be a fountain of wisdom to another.

I wonder what the world would be like if we all practiced looking for the good things. What if instead of telling people what was wrong with them, we told them what was right?

Perspective. Looking in the right place, at the right time, through the right lenses.

I have been accused of looking at the world through rose-colored glasses - from the perspective of someone else, I see too much promise in the world sometimes.

But the world needs a little promise, don't you think? Someone who looks for the four-leaf clovers - and finds them - and doesn't just trod them over and squash them beneath her heel.

Bye Bye Britannica

A story yesterday on a New York Times blog says that Encyclopedia Britannica will cease publication of its print editions. Here's a link to a Reuters story about it, too.

Excuse me while I wipe away a very real tear. This makes me sad.

I do not own a set of encyclopedias, and I guess now I never will. At least, not a new set. I once bought a used set from the library book sale, but they were already musty and dusty and after a while, I took them off my shelves and gave them back for a resale.

My grandmother had a set of World Book Encyclopedias* that I loved to sit and read. They lined up beautifully on the book shelf and were a sight to behold. I loved the colored pictures, the black and whites, the even lines of type. I loved the words, the information, the ideas. So much knowledge. So much to learn.

I have, of course, always wanted a brand new set of encyclopedias of my very own. That desire waned with the advent of the Internet, though. And when, about 15 years ago, a CD with an encyclopedia found its way into my home, I was ecstatic. All of that information on a little disc. It was amazing.

Britannica will continue to be available online. It is good news that the knowledge will be available. But my problem with this is the same as it is with all things digital: it's availability can be snatched away in the blink of an eye.

The permanence of books cannot be denied while the fleeting ephemeral quality of digital also cannot be denied. Websites come and go. Just look at the geocities or my spaces of the world. Digital also has little respect for the past, and I fear gaping holes of history in a hundred years. That's a loss no one can put a price on.

All of the knowledge that is on Britannica's website might be available elsewhere, but I doubt it. Certainly it is not in that format. If the website folds, there goes all of that information.

I love books. I think print is better than digital. Digital has its place, and it is useful. But it should not replace print.

And that's all I have to say about that.


Update:

*World Book is a different company from Britannica, and I understand their books will still be available.

Have A Seat

A couple of weeks ago, I did a major clean-out of my office. This was necessitated by the quantity of stuff I had piled up, as well as the purchase of a new all-in-one printer/scanner/fax that I had to buy. I had to make the purchase because my old fax machine came under a recall and I was sent an email to unplug it immediately or it might catch fire.

On top of that, my second desk had been confiscated by my husband over a year ago. He took over the small spare room for his office and computer. Yes, we are like a little office building with living space.

Anyway, I decided I missed my second desk, so I bought another. I also frequently need a second seat in here. I was using a stool but the thing had wheels on it. It thought nothing of scooting away and leaving me in the floor when I went to sit on it.

During my clean, I pitched the thing out the door. I wanted no more part of that!

My husband very accommodatingly went to the office supply store and brought home a desk chair for me. He found a great bargain with a 70 percent mark down.

It is a lovely chair.

It also fits him perfectly and me not at all. You see, he is 6' 2" tall and I'm 5' 2" tall. So a chair that is perfect for him makes me look like a little child sitting on a grand throne.

After a few attempts to sit in the chair, I determined it would not do. Since he was using a kitchen chair at his desk, I suggested he take this wonderful chair he had purchased for his very own, and I buy me another.

So last night we went to dinner and stopped in one of the two office supply stores. I tried out several chairs. The really comfortable ones were out of my price range, but I finally found a small, yet durable-looking one, that I thought would work fine.

We brought it home in a box, for it had to be assembled. My husband patiently sat with the directions and put the chair to together.

When he finished, we stood and looked at it.

The chair looked drunk.

Somehow it was completely off kilter, with the right side pushed forward and the left side to the rear. I sat in and it there was no way it was usable. Well, at least not as I am presently proportioned.

This morning we loaded the chair back into the car and drove to Roanoke to the store. We explained the problem to the sales clerk, who agreed that the chair looked crooked.

He fetched another from the rear. When he began opening the box, I thought he might put it together to ensure that it was just an anomaly with the chair we'd hauled home. And that was what he suggested, as he handed out some parts, that we put the chair together before we left to see if it would be satisfactory.

However, by "we" he did not mean himself or someone else in the store. He meant us. And us alone, without a smidgeon of assistance from any one there.

So we sat in the floor at the front door of Staples and put the chair together.

The clerk wandered off and left us to mull over the parts and figure out how to assemble the chair. I was miffed at this terrible lack of service, to be sure. After all, they were getting a completely assembled chair out of the deal, even if it was a crooked one. Plus we had driven no short distance to make this return.

I made a point of spreading things out all over the front of the store. It was, though, about 11:15 on a Sunday morning, and there were not many shoppers.

I am sure we were quite the spectacle, my white-headed husband on his knees trying to put the chair together while I read the instructions to him (he did not have his glasses) and handed him parts. However, we assembled the chair and pronounced it serviceable.

Customer service at all of the national chain office supply stores in this area is abysmal. I am an office supply junkie and have always loved going to look at stationary, ink pens, planners, and the like. I still like to do that but I find myself shying away from purchases or asking questions of the employees. Unfortunately, the help is either nonexistent because there aren't enough people on the floor, or the people who are there are among the most sour and unhelpful in the valley.

I realize that the economy is tough, but it's tough all over. I don't necessarily expect service with a smile, though it would be nice. But at least make some effort to do the job.

How Do I Look?

I do not consider myself a stylish dresser. In fact, I think the word "frumpy" probably covers it better. I try to dress nice, but I lean toward a conservative look.

Most of my clothes are by Alfred Dunner, purchased at JC Penneys. In part, this is because of my fat butt and my pear-shaped body. I have a hard time finding clothes that fit.

While my weight loss has stalled, I am still attempting to keep the eating in check and trying to lose. I am down over 20 pounds.

At some point, I will need some new clothes. Actually I will need a new outfit or two sooner rather than later.

I want a make over. A complete, total "gosh who is that" kind of makeover.

Sunday night I found myself entranced with a show called How Do I Look? This is not something I normally watch. Indeed, I had never seen it before and didn't konw it existed. But it came on after reruns of Sex and the City and I was reading, so I didn't change the channel. And then the next thing I knew, the book was forgotten and I was watching slovenly women being transformed into lovelies.

I want to be a lovely.

However, it hard to be a lovely when you don't know how to be a lovely. I also have some bad habits. For example, I chew my nails, still, though not as much as I once did. I am overweight, of course, and I tend to lean toward comfort over fashion. I do not like things that bind, and I need good, sturdy shoes. I need my glasses, too.

Every one of these women in these make overs lost the glasses, turned blond, and put on high heels. They looked good, but they did not look comfortable.

Sexy, yes. But not comfortable, or very practical. And definitely not me.

When I was about 14, my father hauled me off to a beautician, I guess because he was tired of my shaggy hair. This is the only time I remember him taking an interest in my appearance and I don't know what precipitated it; maybe someone said something. Anyway, the cut was way out there, for me, so much so that later that day, when I ran into my cousins at the mall, they did not recognize me.

Photos of me throughout the years show a woman who never knew what to do with her hair. I had perms that were wild; when I see the pictures I can't believe I looked like that. These days my hair lays against my head, no perm, and the gray shows. But it is gray and unpermed because I discovered I couldn't deal with the chemicals in the hair coloring and permanent solution. They made me ill.

When the time comes to buy new clothes, that time some months away when I have lost another 20 pounds and absolutely nothing in my closet fits, I hope I have the courage to step out of the Alfred Dunner section of the department store and try something else. Even if I don't get a different hair cut, or stop chewing my nails, I can purchase different clothes.

Maybe it is time I decide who I want to be, eh? It's only taken an entire lifetime! Time to find my personal style so that the answer to "How do I look?" is ... SMASHING.

Mark This One Off the Bucket List

Last night, my husband and I went to the Roanoke Civic Center to watch Guns and Hoses. This was a hockey game played by members of local police and fire departments, with all proceeds going to MDA.

It was my first-ever hockey game. The only thing I know about hockey is that players are supposed to put a puck into a net.

That I had never been to a hockey game will not surprise regular readers, who know I don't spend much time with sports or attend venues with large crowds.

The announcer said there were 8,000 people in attendance at this game.

It was a family event, and there were little children running everywhere. Loud rock music played at various intervals, and I fear it must do something to the little tot's nervous system, as there was much twitching and shaking every time the music came on. I enjoyed watching them. I didn't take any photos of them because, well, they weren't my children and I didn't want to put pictures up of kids I don't know on my blog without permission.

The firefighters wore red, while the policemen wore black.

The showdown began!

The police team took the first point.

During an intermission, the firefighters did the chicken dance out on the ice.

During a second intermission, this firefighter did a little striptease to win the "sexiest player" title, as demonstrated by much yelling from the crowd.

We left with four minutes left in the game; the firefighters were losing and I assume they did not take home a trophy.

Still, everyone had a good time for a good cause! And we did something besides stay home on a Saturday night.

Burning the Bad

So on the first day of the year, I wrote down on a piece of paper four items that I considered to be bad habits that I wanted to do away with.

Then I burned the paper.

It took a long time for this to turn to ash!

The idea behind this is that I am leaving these bad habits behind me. With the new year, these problem behaviors or activities will vanish, up the chimney with the smoke from the paper.

Now, it is five days later, and I cannot remember all four items on the paper. I can only remember three of them.

Does that mean I no longer have the bad habits?

Or does it mean I have old timer's at an early age?

What could the fourth have been?!?

Any guesses?

Power Words

Last Thursday, Yolanda left a comment on my blog. She was a new visitor, so I checked out her blog in return.

She had noted that she was going to use EXPLORE as her word for the new year.

I loved this idea. And then I read a Guidepost article by author Debbie Macomber who said she does the same thing. She takes a word for the year. An interview with her can be found at this link.

This was enough for me to figure I was being led to find a word for myself. A power word.

But a single word? I am finding this difficult.

I have four words on my mind, instead. Those words are PASSION, INTUITION, COURAGE, and CREATIVITY.

They are all related, at least in my mind, so I wondered if there might be a single word that I missing.

One that covers all four.

PASSION means any powerful emotion, want, or desire. I chose this word because, while there are many things I enjoy doing, there are very few things that I absolutely must do or I will feel like I've lost a part of myself. Writing seems to be something I am passionate about, but I am not sure I am passionate enough about it. Certainly I am not passionate enough about a specific project, and I think that is what I am looking for. That writing project that I absolutely have to work on, every day.

INTUITION means perception of truth without reasoning, or quick insight. This word came to me when I was doing some reading over the New Year's Eve, and then it turned up again in a tarot card reading yesterday. My intuition is something I generally do not trust, but I also think the things I write from intuition are generally much better than the things I write from a different space.

COURAGE means able to face difficulty or danger with firmness and without fear. I chose this word because it seems to me that fear stops me in my tracks with alarming regularity. Sometimes I think it wouldn't take much for me to become agoraphobic and never leave the house. So I want to be stronger and feel more able to stand up to the breath of the world, instead of letting it blow me over.

CREATIVITY means original thought or expression, able to create. As in, writing a poem, or making a drawing. I chose this word because it something that means a great deal to me, but it, like courage, is something that seems elusive to me.

I don't think there is one word that covers all of that. Perhaps what I need is a power sentence instead of a power word.

Something like:

For 2012, I will have the COURAGE to find my PASSION and I will use my INTUITION and CREATIVITY.

Words have power; they can be as hard as a fist when used improperly.

If you have a power word or a power sentence, I hope you will share.

More power to you!