Railroading Night at The Grafton 123

I know I have some cross-traffic over here from The Grafton 123 site and from The Taylor County Blog Project, but I also have a few folks who visit here regularly that don't read The 123 goings-ons.
SO- today I will call attention to The 123 goings-ons:

Tonight is Railroad Night
Tomorrow night is Live Music.

Go over there and check it out.

It's Still Cold....

...and other babbling....

I think of a ton of things I ought to be blogging about, but if I don't write them down, they're gone.
Or if I lose the paper I write them on, they're gone, too.
Yes, that happens more often than I like to admit.

We are beginning to see the effects of the economic slowdown in our sheltered little corner of the world.
The one that hit me the hardest was my coffee roaster (my West Virginia coffee roaster) closing down. No, that's not true; the one that hit me the hardest was PC losing his job. After PC losing his job, the coffee roaster going under (with no hope for coming back up) hit hard.
Now, our coffee costs have gone up more than a dollar a pound and we now have to pay way more than 5.99 for shipping. Way more.
All of our syrups & sauces have increased in price.
Smoothies have increased.
Everything has increased.
[If I'm talking about the Coffee, why am I not posting this over at The 123? Because this is supposed to be a post about the economy getting personal, not about The 123 losing an important supplier.]
AGC Flat Glass -an automobile glass plant here in Taylor County- closed.
Everyday I have at least 1 person ask for a job. Somedays it's as many as 3 or 4. Everyday I hear someone personally tell me they got laid off and that they're looking for a job. It's not fun. I'm working to make more, but it's not an easy -or fast- thing to do (Yes, The 123 is now taking applications. For a short time. Call me at 304-672-6490).

It's snowing today. Again.
It's not the nice fluffy stuff we've been getting, either. It's sharp and hard and piling up fast. The roads are terrible and school was called off. I've shoveled the sidewalks. Twice. So far.

No, there is no cohesiveness to this post, unless I really stretched and said the cold is the perfect hibernation weather and our economy is doing just that.

I warned you I was babbling.

Pet Peeve

Treadmill walking/jogging is very boring. S calls it the Dreadmill and I can agree with that, but it sure beats going outside in crappy weather; it's wintertime so there's a bunch of crappy weather going on.
I have to exercise; I cannot function normally without it. However, I have pushed not exercising beyond the point of comfort - I didn't exercise at all for two months from about 2 weeks before The 123 opened until somewhere after the middle of November. Unless you count being on my feet for 18 hours at a time and not sleeping for a couple of days in a row exercise. [My body doesn't think that counts as exercise.] It got to the point that I had a hard time moving when I woke up in the morning - I must've looked about 75 years old hobbling around trying to get moving.
This post is not supposed to be about exercise, but while I'm talking about it I will say I've been very consistent for about 3 weeks and I can move better. Not good, yet, but better. I've been spending time on the treadmill everyday and the only way to make something so mundane bearable is to numb the brain a bit: The TV works well for this.
In the past few months, I've spent even less time watching TV than I have spent exercising. I do that fairly often - just not watch TV. A few years ago I think I must've went about 2 years without seeing anything on the television. Sometimes it makes me look like an idiot when the entire room is discussing a plot or a character from a show that I've never even heard of, but I'm sure that's not the only time I've ever looked like an idiot so I don't let it bother me very much. I remember that length of time because I was in a dentist's office for a check-up and they had the TV going in the waiting room with some afternoon talk show on and I was aghast at the content: the language, the violence -physical and verbal- and the content. This was mid-afternoon in a public place with school age children and the show was not appropriate. I mentioned it to a couple of people and they just laughed, shrugged and blew me off as prudish (or stupid) and naive. The things we can get used to...
Anytime I go a length of time without watching TV I am always re-shocked at some of the crap that is broadcast so nonchalantly. It's getting worse; I don't think this is my imagination.
This time it's the drug commercials.
I have a problem with drug commericials in general. They are very good at telling you that you need this drug because it will make you stop sniffling. They then go on to tell you (because legally they have to) that the side effects could include itchy or watery eyes, stomach cramps, internal bleeding, severe brain damage, and death. And yet, with all those hideous side effects, people go to their doctors and ask for that medication because they have an annoying sniffle. They must or the drug companies wouldn't spend the money on advertising.
I think that's stupid.
I've laughed about the drug commercials for years (since they began to allow them on TV -it was illegal for drug advertisements to be on TV at all up until, what, about 10-12 years ago?), but I'm also shocked by the number of generally healthy adults on a regular regimen of prescription drugs. I'm pretty sure that just about everyone is on something. (That's another scary subject....)
The particular drug commercials that have me shocked this go-round with the TV are the ones for ED: Erectile Dysfunction. I'm not sure I've seen any of these since Bob Dole told us he had that problem. That's been, what, 10 years ago? (Oh, hell, that means my initial guesstimate of 10-15 years for TV drug advertising is woefully short - it must be more like 15-20). Bob Dole was quiet and tactful compared to the ads now. Now they don't leave any room for misunderstanding: the commercials are blatant and outspoken with no room for misunderstanding. Apparently, the ED drug market is burgeoning and competitive.
I haven't seen these commercials with my kids in the room, but if they're watching TV when I'm not there, surely they're seeing them, too. What do they think?
I will have to ask them.

Over at The 123

I'm still over at The 123.

Taylor Made -Country Music Superstars- will take downtown Grafton for a ride!

On Saturday October 25 Grafton will rock to the sounds of Taylor Made, a country chart-climbing band whose roots extend to a back porch here in Taylor County.

What: A Good Time with some Great Music!

When: 3:00pm Saturday October 25

Where: Main Street in downtown Grafton - the City of Grafton property beside The Grafton 123 House of Coffee.
How Much: FREE.
Yes, really, I said FREE. The local trio -Brian Duckworth, Wendy Williams, & Greg Duckworth- are pleased to have an opportunity to bring their talent back to the community where it all began. There are, however, costs associated with the sound, stage, additional musicians, & transportation. Several local businesses have come together to share expenses, so donations will be accepted.

Why: Taylor County is proud of Taylor Made's success! This is the perfect opportunity to showcase our hometown celebrities, the great strides that downtown Grafton has made recently (the new sidewalks and streetlamps look great, don't they?), and the growth of Taylor County!

Thanks for coming out to this Homecoming Celebration!

See you Saturday!


*cross-posted at www.grafton123.com and www.taylorcountywestvirginia.blogspot.com

West Virginia Industrial School for Boys, Part I - Featured in September's Wonderful West Virginia Magazine

Click over here for information on my latest publication:
The Taylor County, West Virginia site - August 22, 2008 posting.

You ask, 'Where have you been?' and 'Why aren't you keeping your blog updated?'
Because of The 123. We are very close to opening and I am busy. Happily busy, but very busy.
You can click over to The Grafton 123 blog site for today's quick post to see what's up.

Skunk

The last post, 'Lazy Pictures', was not meant as an omen. I've only been lazy about blogging, not about everything else.
I've been busy at The 123 (go here to the main page or here to the blog for updates). Right now I'm laying tile (well, not really right now - right now I'm blogging when I should be tiling - See? that's why I haven't been around here much).


Maisie investigated her first skunk.
Blech.
Hopefully it will be her last.

S & I were on the deck late Saturday evening. Maisie was out patrolling, her usual evening dog duties.

"I smell a skunk," S said.
It took a few seconds for my brain to process what this meant.
My first reaction was to call the dog, but my immediate, second reaction, was NOT to call the dog.
Ugh.

The dog came anyway, wiping her face with her paws.
Then she wiped her face on S's leg.

Fortunately (or unfortunately, actually), S's dog, B, put a skunk in her mouth several months ago (maybe I can get S to tell you that story), so S knew what to do.

Here's the skunk recipe: http://home.earthlink.net/~skunkremedy/home/sk00001.htm

While I mixed this concoction, S stood at the kitchen sink with one leg on the floor and one leg in the sink, scrubbing off Maisie's smelly gift.

I lathered the dog from head to toe and left her outside to marinate.

30 minutes or so later I rinsed her out, and while she didn't smell like roses, she was tolerable enough that I didn't make her stay outside for the night.

Now, if you get too close, she has a faint skunkiness about her.
I don't know how long it will last.