Not Washed Away

We survived Helene. And we got lucky … really, really lucky. Asheville and the areas east and north of there got the worst of it. If the storm had shifted further west, it might have been a different story.

A weather system had stalled over us that Wednesday and dumped rain on us for 24 hours. And then the remnants of Helene arrived the next evening bringing even more rain and high winds. We left the house on Thursday night and stayed elsewhere in case any flooding happened. It was nerve-wracking not knowing what was going to happen. The emergency alerts started at 3 AM and didn’t stop until the rain ended.

Emergency Alerts

It turns out that the creek across the road stayed in its banks the whole time (from what I can tell) thanks to the town reservoir and a big dam about a mile up the road. The worst that happened here was a culvert stopped up and sent water through the lower part of the yard/driveway plus a bunch of limbs fell out of the trees around the house. The power and water stayed on but cell and internet service were nonexistent for five days. We didn’t have any idea about the amount of devastation until we were able to get back online and see the photos and videos coming from Asheville and beyond. All things considered, we made out okay, and I am super grateful for that. Our minor inconveniences are nothing compared to what communities around us are dealing with.

This is the only photo I have taken of any of the damage around the my county. The bridge on Coleman Mountain Road that crosses Jonathan Creek failed … which probably saved some friends or ours from being killed. They live in an RV on the creek just up from here and stayed even when the water was coming up under the RV. They think if the bridge hadn’t failed, they would have been washed away.

Coleman Mountain Road Bridge

We, as far as I know, don’t know anyone personally who is missing or was killed. The county’s death toll is five. There are a lot of missing people in the communities east/north of us. Some of them will probably never be found and that’s a sobering thought. The death toll in Buncombe County is well over 100 right now.

It’s been a bit weird. Life here has pretty much returned to normal, while very close by we have friends that still have no reliable power, phone, internet, or water. I won’t say it’s survivor’s guilt but it’s … something.

 

Not Washed Away

NYC [Pandemic Edition]

After a week and half of me stressing out totally over going to New York City in the current world situation … we went to New York. The idea of loosing the money on the theater tickets and hotel was just too much to bear. So we headed out last Thursday.

The nearly empty plane should have been a sign. Seriously. There were ten people on this 70 seat plane.
Empty Plane

We arrived in New York City to the news that Broadway had closed down and we were not going to get to see any theater. Well, shit. We Uber-ed into the city, checked in the hotel and got settled.

You gotta love this beautiful view from our room. Ha, ha.
Hotel View

We decided to walk around some before dinner. The city seemed busy, but not overly so. Here are the ice skaters at Rockefeller Center. Not nearly as many as there usually are.
Rockefeller Center

I love this They Live themed billboard at the corner of 7th and 48th in Times Square.
Awesome Billboard

We had an incredible dinner a OBAO on 9th in Hell’s Kitchen. Yum.
Pho Bo at OBAO

After dinner we walked around the Theater District and I tortured myself by going by the now darkened theaters of the shows we were supposed to see. Seriously crushed to not be able to see Hangmen.
Hangmen at The Golden
Book of Mormon at the O'Neill

We went back to the hotel, but I was craving donuts. So, I went back out and got some at the Dunkin’ across 8th. Jelly Filled and Chocolate Covered with Sprinkles!

We also found out on Thursday that all the museums had shut down as well. There went our backup plan. Dammit. So, we Uber-ed into Brooklyn and had an early lunch at Junior’s. It’s my kind of place!
Junior's in Booklyn

We caught a movie at the Alamo Drafthouse. I now know I would give my left nut to have an Alamo Drafthouse close by. Such a cool movie theater chain.
Alamon Drafthouse in Brooklyn

Since we were close to the Brooklyn Bridge, we decided to walk that way back into Manhattan. It was a really beautiful day to be out and about!
Brooklyn Bridge
Pandemic Tourists
Brooklyn Bridge

And then we just kept on walking. We navigated up into the West Village and had drinks at The Stonewall Inn. Then we went around the corner and found my old friend, Ian. I hadn’t seen him in years, so it was great to show up unannounced and surprise him. For the record, this picture is not a good example of social distancing.
Old Friends

Then we continued our walk up to 44th and had pizza at John’s Pizzaria. I guess that was the one good thing about Broadway being shut down. We were actually able to get a table there with no wait. Once back at the hotel, I decided to go out one last time to see Time Square. I might have stopped at the Junior’s Bakery on 45th and gotten a slice of Raspberry Swirl Cheesecake. Yum (again)!

We were supposed to be in the city until Sunday but had decided to change our flight to Saturday just to get out of the city early (and away from any carriers). Delta let us switch with no added fees and we were able to upgrade to first class for cheap. So fancy!
First Class Drinks!

We did end up loosing to money on the hotel for Saturday night. Oh well. We made the best of it but the trip was a bit of a bust. Had we know one day earlier that Broadway was going to go dark, we would have cancelled the trip. Double oh well.

We were very proactive in regards to our safety with lots of hand washing and sanitizing and touching as little as possible … especially our faces. As a precaution, we are self-quarantining for the next 14 days since we were out and about in (what I suspect is) a fairly active contagion zone.

Hopefully, this mess will pass through quickly and with as little death and disruption as possible. Everyone stay safe (and stay socially distant)!

NYC [Pandemic Edition]

Countdown!

NYC
We are just under two weeks until our trip to New York City … which is EXCITING! Though I would be lying if I said that the whole COVID-19 situation isn’t weighing on my mind a little. A lot can happen in two weeks. So, I am just keeping my fingers crossed that a major outbreak (which all the experts are saying is just a matter of time) won’t happen before or during our trip. Ain’t nobody (i.e. David and myself) got time to be quarantined.

Countdown!

Alert!

I’M SPECIAL! For some reason I did not get the highly anticipated Presidential Alert that was sent out at 2:18 pm this afternoon. Oh well. I guess Trump doesn’t have a direct pipeline to my phone. That makes me sad.

Presidential Alert

One of my friends on Facebook posted this in regards to the alert:
“To America the land of the free! Your privacy has just been violated and our country has been breached of our constitutional rights …”

Jeez. I don’t like Trump either but that’s just a little hyperbolic. [SMH]

Alert!

Ugh!!! [This Week Edition]

This week has lasted forever. Is Friday ever going to get here?!

Yesterday, work on all fronts was a hot mess. Rush tasks on one end. Cleaning up someone’s utter idiocy on the other. That kind of crap makes me want to punch people!

Plus, I found out yesterday that there is potentially bad health news looming on the horizon for a family member. We’ll know more after tests next week. I have my fingers crossed for good news.

Got out and mowed this afternoon before any of the customary late afternoon summer rain/thunderstorms blow through. Thank God I spotted the yellow jackets nest as soon as I ran over it with the mower. I was able to run away in terror and avoid getting stung. There were a crap-load of bees that came out of the ground. I hate those fuckers.

At least my fun skeleton undies are supposed to arrive tomorrow.

Hurricane Florence is posed to dump a bunch of rain on us Sunday/Monday. Will there 6″ or 12″+ of the wet stuff? Every time the forecasters talk, the predictions change. There’s talk of flooding and power outages. I guess I’ll just have to wait and see if the creek gets out of its banks. I have plenty of whiskey, rye, moonshine, and rum to get me through. Maybe I should stock up pizza as well?

And … A Brief Political Rant:
Donald J. Trump is a piece of work. From his behavior (and tweets) on the 9/11 anniversary to today’s denials of the death toll numbers in Puerto Rico. He truly is a narcissistic piece of shit. And I really think this country is dumb enough to re-elect him.

Here is my favorite meme from This Week in Trump Land.
Manchild

Ugh!!! [This Week Edition]

Retraction

Idiot in Chief
Remember all those times I bitched about what an idiot and awful President George W. Bush was? Well, I take it all back. I really didn’t think there would be someone worse than him … and there is. We are currently FUCKED.

Retraction

Political Friday

I had not realized how much George W. Bush bashing I did until looking back over the archives.

Will there be Trump bashing? Maybe … and maybe not. He’s such an easy target because of the sheer amount of stupid things he says and does. Now he’s off on his first foreign trip and is set to give a speech about Islam in Saudi Arabia. Based on just about every speech he has ever given, you have to wonder … what could possibly go wrong? And then there is the “witch hunt.” He’s says, “No politician in history … has been treated worse or more unfairly.” Honestly, if Trump has done nothing wrong, he should just let them investigate and quit whining about it. He certainly “doth protest too much.” It would look a lot better if he didn’t always take the bait and act like a spoiled child.

Okay. Enough political ranting.

I will leave you for the weekend with this meme …
Politics

Political Friday

To The Editor

So, apparently, some “Christians” are upset that the County Commissioners aren’t specifically mentioning Jesus when they have their pre-meeting prayer. Forget that whole separation of Church and State thing.

Then I saw this nice little “Letter to the Editor” with it’s veiled (or not so veiled in this case) threats and it kinda pissed me off.

So, I wrote a wee letter of my own. It will be interesting to see if they publish it.

******

To the Editor:

I was disturbed by Tuesday’s article about “generic” prayer at the opening of Haywood County Board of Commissioners meetings.

Kenneth Henson’s statement that if “commissioners would back off on issues such as erosion control and a nuisance ordinance and take up issues such as defending Christian prayer, they would become worthy of the peoples’ esteem” is ridiculous. County Commissioners are elected to help govern and make things better for ALL the citizens of Haywood County. They are not elected to promote one groups’s religious beliefs.

As a resident, I find it upsetting that these people want to force their religious views onto the Commissioners and in turn on Haywood County as a whole.

I also find some of the statements that Kelly Rogers made in his “Letter the Editor” disturbing as well. To say that the commissioners should “Take a stand for us Christians. If not, I guarantee you, we will stand up next election and you just might not have that Commissioner title” is nothing but outright threats and bullying.

The United States was founded on the concept of FREEDOM of religion, which to my mind means that our County Commissioners should be respectful of all the county’s citizens. “Christians” need to realize that in this county (and in this country), everyone does not have the same belief system.

Charles Mills
Waynesville, NC

******

To The Editor

Maine Stew

I have been stewing a wee bit today about the outcome of the Maine vote.

From the ABC News Story:
Mary Lou Narbus, a 51-year-old mother of three from Rockwood, Maine, told ABC News she’s pleased Question 1 prevailed in rejecting same-sex marriage. “I believe that marriage is for a man and a woman… and I don’t believe that [gay marriage] should be taught in school, period,” she said.

Seriously? Legalizing gay marriage will lead it to be taught in school? It’s all just more lies about how equality for gays is going to lead to homosexuals indoctrinating children into the “evil lifestyle.”

The best thing that I can think of to saw about the whole thing right now is “Fuck you, Religious Fundies and your churches.”

Maine Stew

Post Full of Whine

So, it’s downtime for me here at the theater. Yup … backstage blogging.

OMG! Could the costume for Drake be any hotter? They finally kicked on the air conditioning after I sweated through my shirt and sweater. Hooray for air conditioning!

I have had a headache all damn day. It just doesn’t seem to want to go away. Oh well. At least it’s not The Swine.

Time to go waddle through Act II … and then home for some tasty Sugar Buzz !! Carrot Cake.

Post Full of Whine