IrishAyes
IrishAyes's JournalWhatever you 'lost' in false 'friends', you've more than gained
by your righteous rant. If I could've said it so well, I would've. Thank you for saying it for us.
Remember, Dr. King also said something about how society will sometimes condemn you for doing the right thing, but that's nothing compared to what your conscience will mete out if you don't.
I'm deeply sorry you've been through so much.
Not only will I pray for your dear, sweet nephew but also for you, his loving parent. Thank you also for sharing with us, many of whom have suffered the same sort of thing and always appreciate such tender stories. Everyone's experience may be different, and none can fully understand the other. But we can and do care so very much.
My sentiments exactly, but everyone forgot Ted Nugent for the front line.
Thanks for the OP/share.
However, it does bring up one painful incident from my own post a year or so ago. I called a receptionist at a Big Pharma company a 'lying little bitch' for telling me something about ObamaCare she knew to be false. And every one of my friends jumped me for using that one word 'bitch' when it's flung around with such impunity by most others. Is it only okay for others, especially men, to say it and for women to repeat their words? Sorry I have to point out such a glaring inconsistency but it continues and yes, it still stings to be singled out for what is deemed laudatory in others.
THANK YOU for this OP.
Due to other pressing life matters, I've been zipping in and out of DU for awhile. So glad I caught your post.
This poor guy has suffered enough, and I'm outraged by the holier-than-thou offal spewed by 'the usual suspects'. One thing I've learned through extensive reading on the subject is that Beau had actually been in another branch of the military - Navy, I think - and was discharged due to emotional issues. But this brave and conscientious young man was determined to serve, and against all decent consideration the Army actually took him because they were so damned determined to supply bodies for the infamous surge. The fact that Bowe buckled under the pressure and left his post is more the fault of the military than his own. I don't mean it in any degrading way, but due to stress he was clearly 'unfit for duty'.
While I've never actually served in the military myself - how many 5' old ladies do you know who have? - I spent the vast majority of my life in and among military folks and their families as an Army brat and later career Army man's wife. So I have at least some understanding of what really goes on. Anyone who thinks of PTSD as a fairly recent phenomenon needs a good history lesson, and also should watch John Huston's documentary 'Let There Be Light' a few dozen times until the lesson sinks in.
Let me tell you something else I know as fact from numerous first hand accounts: A lot of the much-ballyhoo'd 'greatest generation' committed war atrocities with impunity. If a grunt cut loose and mowed down a few prisoners of war, it was winked at. Now I'm not preaching pacifism (noble as the thought is) and I don't think for one second Hitler would've played nice if people had just treated him better. But sweeping the worst of our own behavior under the rug won't do any good either.
So I can feel for Bowe even while acknowledging that his judgment failed him that night. Or maybe it didn't entirely either. Walking off base at night straight into the hands of the enemy was a regrettable way of addressing a matter of consience. He would've been better off simply reporting to his officers that he could no longer fill his post. But then it's easier for me sitting here in old age, comfort and safety to see that; as a matter of course, someone in great prolonged mental anguish is by definition less capable of their better judgment. Nobody has any right to crucify this young man at all.
Looking for old-fashioned metal gate latch with vertical tension rod that slips into a horseshoe
bracket on the gate post. Something my clever dogs can't open. I actually have one such device on the back gate but need another for the front. Not asking anyone to do my research for me - I've been at that for hours! - but maybe someone will already know where one's to be found and will give me a clue. Just a little hint. Anything, a crumb even...
One of the major indulgences I awarded myself when I first bought this 100-yr-old fixer was the type of wire 'rainbow' or scallop top wire fencing popular when it was first built. Had to find the one company left that still made the stuff, then it was on special order when they had enough demand to justify it; now they don't make it anymore. I could put some kind of modern looking gadget on there but it would look horrible. I'm not persnicketty about much, at least according to my own perception! but I am about period compatibility in design. I once saw a picture of a renovated Vic that had been made ultra modern inside, and it still hurts my eyes.
Hooray!
Now the key is to convince the idiot to run as a write-in candidate, thereby splitting the nutjob vote as much as possible and encouraging a leftward win. I encourage Mike Huckabee to run for president for that very reason.
Thank YOU. Something else I just discovered:
Magna seal soundproofing windows. They clip on to your regular window, inside of course. win.alturl.com Don't yet know how much they cost, but it looks like something I could do myself and certainly buy a few at a time. Soundproofing would also mean energy conservation, though both would be appreciated. This is basically a very quiet neighborhood with a lot of old houses and trees, but every little bit helps.
A neighbor sold to move to FL so of course she had a big yard sale, with a ton of magazines in the free box. Something like that I don't even look through at the moment; just scoop it up and carry it home for later examination. If I don't want all of it, I'll know someone who does. This time it turned out to be about 30 DIY publications, with valuable resource listings in the back. That's where I found the soundproof window ad.
The attic has fairly large gable AND ridge vents. New metal roof and (supposedly) max insulation
installed by Amish 6 years ago.
Good points you made. Do you think that under the circumstances I might be trying to gild the lily?
With all the variations - blackout curtains, shade etc - I'm comfortable enough until July before turning on even a table fan, then only the whole house attic fan until very late July maybe even August before needing any AC. Am I perhaps wishing to improve a system that's already at max? Had to install 21 new windows and made sure they were all very low E even though I couldn't afford double panes, needing that many at once. I do have smokey film on them. I just don't want to leave any available stone unturned.
Relay for Life
This teeny town holds one every year for cancer survivors, all night long on the 'town' square. This year a good friend who has a bit of agoraphobia wanted me to go because her husband leaves early and she's too nervous to stay there alone with a whopping crowd of 30-40 people. Anyway, we went together and sat on lawn chairs from 7-10:30 pm when I got too tired to hang on any longer.
We had a good time watching a few other people walk and the local talent show wasn't too bad for what/where it was. They auctioned an expensive pie that came with the honor of throwing it at the police chief. Too bad I didn't bring $ with me.
Maybe I should be ashamed of what I enjoyed most, however. A lot of the music was canned, and the attendees went wild over 4 particular great songs: 3 by the Village People and 1 by David Bowie. These folks are so vociferously anti-equal rights that I'm fairly sure they don't know certain interesting facts about those artists or they wouldn't have been so enthusiastic. The rightwing butthead who writes and publishes the regional weekly here recently referred to national LGBT activists as 'animals'! But I'm not one to spoil good clean fun, so I kept my trap shut. Maybe someday they'll be ashamed of their attitudes when and if they do find out. One of their kids might have to tell them. That's one reason I tend to admire the younger generations; for the most part they don't seem too bothered by such differences.
I appreciate everyone's help immensely,
but I think just perhaps people are thinking the (possible) solar powered attic ventilator and the whole house attic fan I already have are one and the same, when they're 2 different items.
The whole-house attic fan I've had for 6 years took almost 2 years to find one to fit the super-narrow upstairs hallway. The only model in that size came with nothing more than a pull chain. Thank goodness it still has really strong pull.
It's a solar attic ventilator (different thing) I want to add that had me concerned because of what I read in the trades; concern that it would have to be turned off during AC season and the fact that the only kind I could begin to afford just fits outside the soffit and doesn't require wiring, just mounting. By the time I paid an electrician to install a fancier solar kind with a kill switch inside the house it would cost a minimum 3 times what the simple one that only requires mounting, no wiring at all. I can't afford that.
And of course I've never tried to run the whole house attic fan I already have at the same time as the AC.
I've since decided not to worry though because with all the mental stimulation everyone kindly offered, I realized I can still shut off the stairway at the bottom and top; since I don't use the upstairs during heating and cooling weather, I don't think the downstairs window AC will be bothered. Took me 2 years to find an 18K BTU AC narrow enough to fit any of the windows, too. In a 100-yr-old house they're tall and quite narrow just like the stairway and hallway. The only kind of regular window ac that would fit in these windows would be too wimpy to cool much more than a closet. You can imagine the vastly greater expense of a central AC system and all the new ductwork that would require. Not to mention the additional cost of operation.
That's part of the fun(?) of real Vics. Trying to find stuff that will fit. Couldn't be done w/o the internet. Doors are narrow too. The main compensating virtue is that the rooms are 15x15 at minimum. Well, except the upstairs bath, which is only 15x12. Everything in life's a trade off.
Profile Information
Gender: FemaleHome country: US
Current location: retired to MidWest
Member since: Mon Feb 18, 2013, 10:15 PM
Number of posts: 6,151
