Idling My Life Away

In honor of West Virginia's first snowfall this year today, I am posting this blog.

One time I was driving a car back from Florida to West Virginia. It had some sort of mechanical problem and it wouldn't idle below 45 miles per hour. What that means is that if I wanted to go slower than 45 mph, I had to ride the brake. I was doing fine until I hit the West Virginia State line.

I ran into a snow storm. It was not a little snow storm. It was dumping snow down by the foot. Like a big dummy I elected to take the back roads to my hometown of Logan. This is a good 3 hour drive when the roads are good. When it is snowing it is a 6 hour drive - not to mention that I was riding my brakes the whole way on a snowy, winding, back country road. A recipe for disaster if there ever was one.

I was doing pretty well and I had actually reached Gilbert (about 30 miles from Logan). I had just thought I was going to make it home without wrecking when everything happened. A car came around a curve flashing it's lights at me. (this probably saved some lives) I slowed down (I was only going about 25 to begin with), and I rounded a blind curve to see 3 cars wrecked in the road in front of me. This would not have been a problem except for the fact that the people who had been in those cars were trying to cross the icy road in front of me. They were slipping and sliding and not getting anywhere!

I turned my wheel so that I wouldn't hit them which sent me into a slow motion tailspin. I was wondering which car I was going to hit (at least I wasn't going to kill anybody!) when I got control of the car and it straightened out. It was aimed perfectly between 2 of the cars, heading straight for the ditch. I let it coast gently into the ditch. Nobody was hurt and I had managed not to touch any other cars... I believe that only divine intervention could have made things turn out so perfectly.

A few minutes later a tow truck came and the first thing the guy did was announce, "Who has cash, they go first!" (obviously he was just going to pocket the money). I volunteered $25, he pulled me out first and I was on my merry way home!

I Eloped (in 1982)

I always planned on eloping. My parents did it and I thought it was cool. When Bobby and I decided to get married we were going to do it on Thursday, but I was sick on Monday that week, so I had to work Thursday. We got married on Friday. We woke up that morning and we drove to 7 different preachers houses before we found one who was home or had the time to marry us.

Once we found a minister who agreed to marry us, he was busy. He told us to come back around 4:30 he would be happy to perform the ceremony. So we went back home and partied all day. (No sense having the reception after the wedding!) We went back to the church at 4:30. It was a little country church in Jeffrey, WV. right down the road from his sister's house. (she was one of our witnesses). I was surprised by how pretty it was inside. It was decorated in baby blue and white. The preacher counseled us for about 1/2 an hour. Asking many questions before he was satisfied that we were indeed ready to get married. He wouldn't let us pay him, he said that was his wedding present to us.

After the ceremony I stopped by a store and bought a mother-in-law's day card. We took it over to my parents house. (I had been kicked out of the house for going on a weekend trip with Bobby without benefit of marriage first) We walked in the house and as soon as my mom saw us a look of stone came over her face. I ran up the stairs and handed her the mother-in-law's day card and she looked at the card and said in complete bewilderment "Mother-in-law's Day? When is Mother-in-law's Day?" "It's today," I replied, "today is the day we got married." She immediately started gushing and all was right with the world again.

My dad wasn't home when I told my mom we had been married. The next day I was awakened by a phone call and the voice said "Why didn't you invite me to your damn wedding?" I explained to him that I had always wanted to elope because that's what they had done and also I didn't think that he would want to come anyway since I had been kicked out of the house anyway. (he didn't kick me out of the house - that time anyway - she did.

The funny thing was that the same day Bobby and I eloped, my Aunt Mary and Doug eloped and my cousin, Lil' Man and Tonya eloped. None of us knew the other was eloping either. Must have been something in the air that day.

Anyway happily ever after lasted 15 years. We were best friends and had everything that we could want until he fried his brain with drugs. That was after 13 years. I spent 2 years living apart and drug testing him. He passed all of them except for the first one. Finally I told him that if he was going to be clean, then he could do it with no testing. Within 3 months he was as bad as ever.

So, My divorce was final on my 34th. birthday.

I contacted him after being divorced for 10 years and he is still on drugs. Leaving him was the right decision. We had a wonderful marriage which is why I'm so particular. I lived on a pedestal for 13 years and I don't want to get off it now.

Feels Like Home

My nephew is asleep in the bedroom. Actually he is the only reason I have a bedroom. I sleep in a recliner and have done so for years. The only reason I bought that bed was in case he might want to come over and stay.

He's had a rough time since his mommy was murdered. Some of it of his own making but who among us hadn't had some MAJOR screw ups as a teen. I know I sure did! I know what it feels like to feel everyone has abandoned you. That's the place where he is now. By the way, thank you to my Aunt Mary for being the one person I could talk to when things were going bad in the old days.

I knew when he came over last week that things had to be bad for him to want to see his old aunt. I'm not actually old by the way. I watched him as he visited and I could visibly see him relaxing. It's kind of nice to be able to be that place for him. Don't worry I won't coddle him too much. He has to learn to make it on his own. He is ready to turn 22 and everybody in his life has decided that it's time for him to grow up. And it is. But everybody needs a support system and he doesn't have one right now.

So, he showed back up last night and we watched movies just like we used to and he bought us a couple of Subway subs. I made us some homemade french fries in the middle of the night and instead of leaving like he did last week, he crawled into bed and is sleeping away.

I could stand and watch him and smile for hours but I won't let him see that. His mom and I used to stand at the kitchen window and beam at him as he marched across the yard in that way that only little boys do when they have a mission on their minds. We did it for years and he never knew it.

So, I'm glad I can give him a little peace. He has a good job, he just has to learn to settle his personal life a little. He knows of some of my exploits when I was his age but he doesn't know them all.

Thank God, he is one family member who will never read this blog because it's all there.

Deputy Floyd Farley, My Pepaw

Picture #1 is My Pepaw, Floyd Farley on his horse. He was a deputy in Logan County, West Virgina, during the 50's.

Picture #2 is Floyd Farley's official Police Portrait.

Picture #3 is a picture I took of the knife he carried while he was on duty. I still have it.

Picture #3 is a copy of a 50's era APB (All Points Bulletin0

February Good Deed Alerts

My uncle gave me deer for Christmas. I couldn't get it because Lee Terrace was giving everyone new refrigerators. Now I have a new refrigerator and I went to get the venison yesterday. Next Lee Terrace is giving us new stoves at the end of the month. I had a good stove and refrigerator. Guess this is the kind of thing they sale at state surplus sales.

I gave deer meat to 5 people yesterday. Also Fruth gave me several large cans of sweet potatoes that went out of date in January. I gave those out with the venison.

My aunt also gave me several bags of frozen leftovers. I distributed most of that as well. I can guarantee anything she makes is GOOD COOKIN'

Shane gave me a couple of bags of clothes the other day. He intended them for me. His wife has lost a tremendous amount of weight. Yah for her!!! If I can't wear the clothes I will give them to others in the building.

Someone left me a bag with a warm blanket and 2 robes to give away. The woman I gave it to the other day stopped me in the hallway wearing one of the robes. She said the blanket was WARM. She is very happy and gave me a hug. The hug was nice but everybody that knows me knows I'm not a hugger.

Fruth has also donated more "damaged" merchandise for the Lee Terrace Bingo. The prizes have been the featured prizes at the last couple of games. Not bad for stuff they would throw away anyway.

I am doing the church newsletter again since I got the new laptop. Some of you may remember the "People of Lee Terrace" series I was doing. I'll be doing that again.

Last but not least my uncle and aunt LOANED me a video camera. Now I can start making my world famous movies again, like the Devil Anse Hatfield Cemetery video that I did. It has 6000 hits on youtube. Of course many less hits on my own blog!

I Remember Looking Back and Seeing My Mom Peeping Around the Corner .....

.... when I told her I was old enough to walk to school by myself in the first grade.

I mentioned this to her one time.

She said she didn't realize I had seen her. She was just making sure I made it to school okay.

Blog Macabre

I did this blog a couple of years ago when I was having an episode with my heart.

It is a repost for "Go Red for Women" month.

I went into A fib last night.

I am still in A fib

so why am I blogging and not at the hospital

because I am never going back to thehospital

at leasst not consious

the pain isn't bad

the nausea is

it has been long enough that i can take a handfill of my medicine

same medicing they give me at the hospital

i can't get off my oxygen

its really a strange4 feeling to fade away

my heart is pounding so hard that I can feel my body twitch withit

interesting

time for bed and cpap and oxygen

same thing they would do at hospital but I don'tt have them poking and aggravating me

peaceful.

"Piping In Sunshine"

There is a phrase 'round here.

"They live so far up a hollow, they got to pipe in sunshine"

I always thought it referred to people who were considered to be "backward hillbillies".

One day I learned what the phrase really meant. I was going to look at a little place called Frog's Creek that my husband had just rented. This was an unusual move for him. Usually I was the one to pop up and say, "hey, guess what, we're moving." He found this place, called and told me he found the perfect place for us to live and he had already rented it. I was not going to be able to see him that day, so he gave me directions to it.

I was driving through a maze of hollows that I had never been to when all of a sudden it became so dark that I literally had to stop my car on the spot! I was wearing sunglasses so I took them off to look around and I saw a beautiful glade that was so shaded by trees that it was too dark to wear sunglasses and drive any further. It was the middle of a beautiful afternoon as well.

I started to laugh because that phrase, "they have to pipe in sunshine," immediately came to mind. I drove on to our new place and he was right. It was perfect.

Eddie Moved

40 Years Later: The Buffalo Creek Disaster & Its Aftermath

40 Years Later: The Buffalo Creek Disaster & Its Aftermath

Aren't You Glad This Isn't Your Family Cemetery?

They are busy carving up Blair Mountain in the same way. They just make sure they stay out of site of the main road so people aren't aware of what is going on. I have no problem with mining coal and even some mountaintop mining. But Blair Mountain is a historical site.

Union coal miners actually fought against the national guard for their rights. It is the only tiime in American history that troops have fought against our own citizens.

This picture is of Jarrell Cemetery. This is what they mean when they tell you they don't disturb the familys around a coal mine. I have a friend at the state road office. She told me that as long as coal companies stay "20 FEET" from the property line then what they do is legal.

The Mighty Pamburger

The best burger in the world. Both the bun and burger grilled on George Forman Grill. Topped with Cheese, tomato and banana peppers with secret sauce. (worst kept secret in America)

Worked Last Night

Need rest.

Why am I not resting?

Because I have to take those fluid pills...grrr

My List of Cashier Pet Peeves

1. Go ahead, rub it in, WE KNOW, "It's a beautiful day out there."

2. Don't bird dog the cigarettes - just ask for them!

3. I can think of better lies to tell you than "we are out of "your brand" of cigarettes."

4. I am sick of hearing, "I just made it this morning." when I check a bill to see if it's counterfeit.

5. I am sick of hearing, "It's good. It came from the bank," also. (they do not check them before they give them to you!)

6. If it takes you 5 minutes to dig out your money - GET ANOTHER SYSTEM!

7. If your purchase ends in ".00" please do not say, "Well that never happens." It happens all day long actually.

8. After you spend 5 minutes digging out the change to the penny and letting the line build up behind you - don't expect me to smile proudly back at you!

9. I won't be smiling at you while your child throws a screaming candy fit for half an hour and then you give in. If you are going to give in anyway, (99% do) give in immediately so we don't have to listen to it.

10. GET OFF THE @#!*ING CELL PHONE!!! Really, if you can't count money or sign your name what makes you think you can drive a car!

11. DON'T CUSS ME OUT WHEN I "ID" YOU. YOU MAY NOT LIKE THE RESPONSE YOU GET IN RETURN.

12. If your cell phone rings when it is time for you to pay, please pay and THEN answer the phone. I have yet to hear a NECESSARY conversation while we all wait for you to get off the phone.

13. If it costs too much, put something back.

14. FREE HELL! If anything is going to be free then "I" got dibs on it.

15. If the alarm is going off then the store is closed. If you weren't in the store AFTER closing you wouldn't hear it.

16, I am not locking you in when we close. I'm locking people out.

17, Give the old people a little extra time...that will be you someday.

Dedicated to Bob. My list isn't as funny as the one we made. Guess I don't have his touch.

Mifi Works iin the Basement of My Building

Woke up this morning at 5. Took fluid pills. They aren't working. The only thing worse than fluid pills working (meaning umteen trips to the bathroom) is fluid pills not working. That means I am retaining fluid and will be bogged down for the rest of the day.I can tell by my breathing it's going to be a long day.

That's alright. I have 4 loads of laundry in the dryer. When they finish I will go back to bed for the day. I have to rest before work this evening. This is my first time using mifi in the basement. I wasn't sure it would pick up. The free public one doesn't work down here but my ntelos does. By the way I finally paid my ntelos bill yesterday. Whoo Hoo!!! It was double this month because it was the first month. It will be a relief to pay half next month.

Then I stopped by the local IGA. I like to shop their instead of Walmart because it is a local business that has been there for years. I can tell by looking at the stock they carry that they are having trouble staying in business. They had a bunch of good sales and I stocked up on a few things. The last few times I have been there many prices were so high that I didn't really buy anything.

Just a quick aside: This IGA made the national news back in the nineties when a gas leak caused it to blow to smithereens! They were open when it happened and not one person got killed. A miracle if ever there was one. They rebuilt after and have been in business ever since.

I don't have to cook today. Last night I cooked a pot of kidney beans. Saved them at the last second from burning. I turned some of them into yummy baked beans and the rest into a pot of chili. It may sound good but it is all salt free and I have learned from people eating my cooking that it leaves a little to be desired. Oh well, I'm used to it.

I'm off to finish the laundry, breakfast and to sleep the day away before work.

Winter Heart Health Tips

I got these from an article in Yahoo today.

1, Frigid air - just breathing cold air is enough to trigger chest pains. I try never to go out when the temp is under freezing or over 90. I have problems with heat as well

2.Vitamin D levels drop - didn't know that one. I guess if you are outside less you absorb less vitamin D. Makes sense.

3. Flu Shot - If I get the flu it is a hundred times worse that when a healthy person gets it. That's why it's recommended for anyone with a suppressed immune system and the elderly.

4.Overzealous workout - don't have to worry about that one. a minimal workout gets me. I try and try and I'll keep trying though. The article did say how to calculate your maximum safe heart rate. Take your age and subtract it from 220. Then multiply the result by 0.6. The result of that is your maximum safe heart rate and you should try to exercise at that rate for 20 minutes according to Yahoo. Ask your doctor first is the best policy. I remember when I used to laugh about that "ask your doctor first" thing.

5.Too much holiday cheer. Drink in moderation. My pharmicist told me I should be able to have a glass of wine now and then. I have tried it a couple of times. The effects are strong and severe. Most of my meds have "may cause dizziness" or "caution when driving lables". i stick to those now.