Relief Efforts for Haiti
Nothing like a real disaster to put my petty bitching about the weather and a few dozen extra people in my house into perspective. I'm just grateful to still have a house and all those people to stuff in it now.
I'm aware that times are very tough for the majority of the average workers worldwide but, if you have anything at the moment, it's more than a lot of the people of Haiti can claim. Give what you can, and make your gifts count. Make sure you're giving to an organization that gets the aid into the field and not into the pocket of some fund raiser. Instead of texting $10 to the Red Cross and having $1 or more of it disappear along the way in bank and phone charges go to the bank and withdraw the money, take it to the local Red Cross office, and--while you're there--ask what they need in addition to money. They probably have a very long list of volunteer jobs that need to be filled to support their relief efforts. And there will be lots of other groups who can use your labor, your soon to be out of date canned food, serviceable used cloths, shoes, and lots of other items you just might have lying around. Check for local churches and civic organizations that are mounting relief efforts and pitch in.
I'm aware that times are very tough for the majority of the average workers worldwide but, if you have anything at the moment, it's more than a lot of the people of Haiti can claim. Give what you can, and make your gifts count. Make sure you're giving to an organization that gets the aid into the field and not into the pocket of some fund raiser. Instead of texting $10 to the Red Cross and having $1 or more of it disappear along the way in bank and phone charges go to the bank and withdraw the money, take it to the local Red Cross office, and--while you're there--ask what they need in addition to money. They probably have a very long list of volunteer jobs that need to be filled to support their relief efforts. And there will be lots of other groups who can use your labor, your soon to be out of date canned food, serviceable used cloths, shoes, and lots of other items you just might have lying around. Check for local churches and civic organizations that are mounting relief efforts and pitch in.
Synchronized Snoring
Yesterday's anticipated heat wave amounted to a blazing high of 33° F. Nothing thawed. The body count in front of the fireplace has actually increased by two. That's an even dozen people in the living room, four in the office, Emily and I in the loft above the office, and six more in the two bedrooms in the basement. So, I'm lying here listening to the collective breathing of everyone and wondering what kind of load rating I used when I designed the floor trusses for this place. Twenty-four people in a cabin I designed to be cozy for just Emily and I!
Well, it's just real cozy about now. I'm writing this at 3:00 AM while listening to the whole damn family snore, in unison. Except for Emily, the poor dear. Em and I have lived together for eight years now and my family considers her one of us. Her genes,though, just don't quit know how to adapt to some our ways. Like, apparently, snoring together. She's just not quite in sync. In fact, she's so out of sync that it's driving me nuts. So I wake her up.
If there were an empty couch in this house, I'd be sleeping on it for the next week.
Long Hair Fetish
Just so you don't get the idea that I'm totally fixated on redheads, I do have other fantasies that occupy my mind. Like long hair. It can be almost any color. Straight or curly. Doesn't matter so long as the woman sporting it knows how to use it to her advantage. Here's an example:
Click on the image to view more of this set.
We've been having WEATHER
I really didn't intend to skip ten days without posting but Mother Nature is a bitch. When you live on a farm, even if you claim you don't work there, when the weather goes to hell, you either work or get disowned.
We're in the middle of the longest, coldest winter freeze the region has seen since 1985. The long underwear I had in 1985 has long since been eaten by moths and I've grown a bit since then ( I was 9 that winter ). There used to be equipment here to handle this kind of cold but none of it has been used in 25 years and most of it refuses to work any more. So everyone, whether we're dressed for the occasion or not, has been drafted and has been working overtime hauling feed and water for the critters. And we're counting ourselves among the critters. One third of the houses on the farm are without water and one quarter are without heat and power. Anyone with a fireplace is very popular right now. I only have two bedrooms but I've got ten people sleeping in front of the living room fireplace. One of my sisters, her husband, and two daughters have commandeered my office for the duration.
It's supposed to get above freezing tomorrow for the first time in over ten days. Which means all the pipes will thaw and leak and the nice solid frozen ground will turn to mud. And we all shift from disaster response to cleanup and repair.
I'd tell you that life should be back to normal by March but I live on a farm: this is normal.
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