D and I had a good time at the food bank warehouse. The volunteers were a mix of 50- to 65-year-olds and middle and high school students. We don't have another scheduled shift until the 20th, but I've been getting emails saying, "We could use some more volunteers this afternoon/tomorrow morning, if you're available," and now that we've done it once, we could jump in on those if we don't have a conflict.
Tasks included inventory-ing boxes of donated non-perishable goods, bagging up Emergency Food Program items for distribution - "One of each, plus six packs of raisins." - and processing perishables donations from grocery stores: examine, weigh, sort, box, refrigerator or freezer. D liked going in the walk-in freezer! Oh, and putting labels on bags of children's snacks that a local church had packed. Those will be distributed at various "back to school" events around the county.
The manager said that, in the afternoon, the stuff that was processed in during the morning gets loaded out again to go to distribution pantries. Because it's August in a warehouse, we're only signed up for morning shifts at the moment!
You're so luck to be able to do that. I miss my time working at the Food Bank (Dr's orders). Fun and gratifying. It was always a good group sorting in the warehouse,. Every 2 weeks, a group from my church would meet up with one of the trucks making a delivery where the food is distributed to those who cannot drive to the Pantry--pallets of food to be unpacked and organized into bags. We donated foldable hand carts for the recipients as some women were trying to juggle babies, toddlers, and bags of food. So much need, not 10 minutes from where I raised my kids.
D is doing service for Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge, but I plan to make this a regular thing even when she's finished. A teenager is always needing more service hours for something. She wanted to do Waterfowl Rescue, but she's not old enough.
I struggled not to sleep on the plane, nor at home. I went to bed exhausted by 10:30am. My oldest texted me at 4am, thinking I was still in Rome Italy. We chatted for 20 minutes. I may nap this afternoon.
I had to laugh; my youngest is a leader for a HS Young Life group. They TP'ed our house last night. He laughed it off and cleaned it up late last night. What I am proud of most? They go as a group to McDs about 2x a month, cokes apple pies, etc. I found out there's a new kid attending, hasn't made many friends yet. My son buys his coke and Apple pie, as the kid doesn't come from a well-off family, and would have to skip this if he had to pay.
My dogs love me; that or they are getting old. The older one, Zeus happy peed on the hardwoods coming up to hug me. We ran him outside and he emptied himself, but he wagged his tail for almost 30 minutes. I walked them this morning, they were happy.
I have at least one more Italy story, but have work to do today.
What a welcome from Zeus! Aren't dogs great? I consider them to be the closest creation to what God meant for us to be. Our first family dog, an English Springer named Toby, was nicknamed "Pierre" because he would roll over on his back and do it in the air when I came home from work.
Welcome back stateside, glad you're home safe and sound. Your dogs love you, mine would have a hard time with me being gone more than a week. Who am I kidding, I would have a hard time not seeing them in more than a week.
At the cheap hotel free breakfast, lots of tattoos. A young woman who probably wishes she was Sydney Sweeney has a large Medusa head tattoo on the back of her right thigh. A young man with backward baseball cap and overdeveloped pecs and biceps has a full arm sleeve tat; he keeps looking around with squinted eyes, like one might do if they're on perimeter guard duty in hostile territory.
I observed a surprising number of tattoos in Italy. My favorite was a young woman in Orvieto. Small and skinny. But she had tattoos that appear to have gone down well into her butt cheeks. In front she had a similar design that suggests her tattoo artist got to see an eyeful. She wore cutoff jeans that, standing still you could see butt cheeks. Our guide called someone to keep an eye on her and her boyfriend, who looked like they wanted a tomb of their own, for twu wuv!😏 She is not happy seeing the tombs used for that purpose.
My husband wears a visor. I don't think he thinks ball caps look good on him. Honey, I have news for you....not to mention you are not protecting your balding noggin from the sun.
On the road, in a cheap hotel in Clearfield, PA...where something must have happened because it's a small city with a remarkable number of classic historic buildings from around the turn of the 20th century. After that, it's kinda like the town that time, everyone, and everything else forgot. Downtown restaurants on a Thursday night were deserted, with lone host/hostesses staring at their phones. On the way to the 27th (maybe the 26th or 29th, I forget)Annual Building Science Symposium in Westford, MA, an invitation only convention of building nerds from all over the globe.
Driving across the upper Midwest reveals America in ways that other places do not.
Maybe a little, but back country 'Bama isn't like this. This is forgotten Northern Industrial Town, where everyone works at the grain mill on the river. Several very large commercial buildings on the National Historic Register, with the Dimeling Hotel standing out from the rest. It's big. 1904 must have been a big year in Clearfield. Several beautiful old buildings were built in 1904.
Now, the Dimeling Hotel is a faded old folks home with 2-3 very old people looking forlornly out the window. I peeked in the old grand lobby doors, obscured by faded lace curtains; the once elegant lobby, now a chaotic storage room with tipped over boxes and cobwebs. The attendant and the old people look at me nervously; apparently, historic building nerds are a rarity in here.
I get it. More rust belt. WV has that along the Ohio River, and some in the Kanawha River Valley, too, around Charleston. Industry that packed up and left in the ‘80s.
I was going by the old joke of Pennsyltucky: the space between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Places to the west of where I am in WV, toward eastern KY, are full of towns that were supposedly some of the richest in America from the 1910s to 1920s. Not so much industrial skeletons as decrepit, once ornate downtown areas that have been on perpetual decline for a century. For the past quarter century they’ve been better known as meth and opioid disaster zones.
It's the same thing where I (kind of) "met" Kevin Williamson, whose wife is a genius level building scientist/architect. Her parents, Joe and Betsy, put the event on at their building science research compound and home.
Building Science Corporation; anyone interested in buildings and how they function should read his Insights and reports. http://www.buildingscience.com.
I was a presenter in 2017, a high point in my life.
The conference is about the science, which can be applied to any built structure. Air, Vapor, Water, and Thermal Control Layers, and how to achieve them...stuff like that.
EARWORM: “Haze hangs heavy, like a heartache” when you’re trying to explain away tears by smoke in your eyes. Noeline Hofmann nails it in her aptly named “August” (video, 3:48): https://youtu.be/b7rojpCNcVc?si=LKjJsHa_JNF0F16k
Geez...that's wholesome. A nice counterpoint to the backward baseball cap, overly tatted, squinty eyed-ness in the cheap hotel free breakfast dining area.
I am in VA with my 89 yr old mom surprising her today with reunion of her old coworkers. I don’t think she’ll be able to make the 6 hr drive much longer. It’s been a fun 3 days seeing family if you don’t count the mistake I made with the dates of our Airbnb, losing $350 bc of it and my mom accidentally pressing her medical alert and I was unaware. She was out on the terrace in 94° SMOKING. My mom is also legally blind. 😵💫 Never just dip down in the lobby for a banana, people. You wouldn’t believe what could happen.
The 2d day here, Hubs called and he’s now back in TN, hospice gave his dad maybe 3 days. Neighborhood scramble underway to cover for the Aussies until I can get home tonight. His check engine light came on in his truck but it was a bad code. Our neighbors will be on the 5 day trip I had planned to Bend OR next week for all of us.
Smokers gotta smoke. Both of my parents were, it was one of their quirks. But it sounds like it's been a hoot of a trip, which is good.
Sorry to hear about the hospice news, hopefully his hospice care has pain well medicated. Even when they get old it's still sad. Prayers up for you and your hubs.
Thank you, Jay. His father is a very fine man who loved God, his family, his farm and his country. A lot of people are better because of his influence.
I had a great aunt who smoked for a long time—not starting quite that early, though! But she was an oral smoker rather than an inhaler.
Sorry about your father-in-law. The Remnant I was listening to recently with Jonah and Sarah featured a bit about caring for aging parents that I thought was touching, though I can’t quite remember in what way…
My late mother started smoking at 12, too. It was kind of sad that she didn't have time, after she was diagnosed with the last thing, to start smoking again, and anyway, she wasn't able to walk well enough to go out behind the Dumpster with the housekeeping and maintenance workers.
She didn't care for auto racing: she preferred college football and basketball. And CNBC, until the stock market closed at 4:00 p.m., when she switched to Fox News.
😆 Mom has survived colon cancer (twice) and has an ostomy bag. How she cares for it now with low vision is beyond me. Smoking is the least of my concern but I still hate it.
My dad has been gone 20 years. If you saw a previous post of mine on the mothership, mom also is ultracrepidarian, 5’5” and 120# of pure sass. I’m exhausted in every way, she’s happy. It’s a win and a big contrast with what Hubs is facing now.
Nope, I'm not leaving this page. It's not the same level of distraction, because there's not nearly as much to read and discuss. Also, it's easier to avoid disputes.
Well, I just want to say that I don't think you've entirely severed the constructive connection you have to the mothership.
Aside from Jonah with his animals, you were the first to demonstrate to the Dispatch community how intelligent and positive off-topic discussion helps foster civility by stimulating the kind of social interaction that serves to remind everyone to treat each other like fellow humans. And that's important in supporting a remnant culture that attracts people and gives them a venue to share important ideas, because one never knows who might pick them up. Others can keep that going, though they may have to up their game. I have a bit more free time than you do, so I'll continue posting on the mothership and helping to maintain and refresh that culture. (I'm less bothered than some are by the occasional jerk over there. As long as their attitude doesn't dominate, I can brush it off. And there are always promising newbies.)
What you have to say on CLSF will still support that, if indirectly. The discussion over here is not really redundant, because it is more about sharing daily lives and thoughts with others. Besides being good for our mental health, that's helpful because the diversity of the people who check in over here, much like at the mothership, is significant--ages, demographics, family status, lifestyles, geography, past experiences, favorite pursuits, occupations, areas of expertise--and yet we all seem to be for truth, justice, the American way, kidding around, and being decent people. It's the same kind of culture we would also like to maintain over there, and it helps to be reminded to keep it going.
Not that I have any intention of ceasing to complain when The Dispatch is failing to hold up their end of the bargain, just because you're not around to upvote me on it.
If you would like a license to channel Edith "Edit" Burton, that can easily be arranged.
I mean, that was a complete, coherent, grammatical, and correctly punctuated sentence. But it's just a place to start, right? When one can read (for instance) Ralph Waldo Emerson, and understand and parse his sentences, one will have a good basis to become able to write perfectly well.
D and I had a good time at the food bank warehouse. The volunteers were a mix of 50- to 65-year-olds and middle and high school students. We don't have another scheduled shift until the 20th, but I've been getting emails saying, "We could use some more volunteers this afternoon/tomorrow morning, if you're available," and now that we've done it once, we could jump in on those if we don't have a conflict.
Teens can find that very rewarding. Good for both of you!
Sounds neat!
Tasks included inventory-ing boxes of donated non-perishable goods, bagging up Emergency Food Program items for distribution - "One of each, plus six packs of raisins." - and processing perishables donations from grocery stores: examine, weigh, sort, box, refrigerator or freezer. D liked going in the walk-in freezer! Oh, and putting labels on bags of children's snacks that a local church had packed. Those will be distributed at various "back to school" events around the county.
The manager said that, in the afternoon, the stuff that was processed in during the morning gets loaded out again to go to distribution pantries. Because it's August in a warehouse, we're only signed up for morning shifts at the moment!
You're so luck to be able to do that. I miss my time working at the Food Bank (Dr's orders). Fun and gratifying. It was always a good group sorting in the warehouse,. Every 2 weeks, a group from my church would meet up with one of the trucks making a delivery where the food is distributed to those who cannot drive to the Pantry--pallets of food to be unpacked and organized into bags. We donated foldable hand carts for the recipients as some women were trying to juggle babies, toddlers, and bags of food. So much need, not 10 minutes from where I raised my kids.
D is doing service for Citizenship in the Community Merit Badge, but I plan to make this a regular thing even when she's finished. A teenager is always needing more service hours for something. She wanted to do Waterfowl Rescue, but she's not old enough.
Not old enough? What fowl luck! 😡
Well played.
Big operation, huh.
Yes, it is.
I am back friends!
I struggled not to sleep on the plane, nor at home. I went to bed exhausted by 10:30am. My oldest texted me at 4am, thinking I was still in Rome Italy. We chatted for 20 minutes. I may nap this afternoon.
I had to laugh; my youngest is a leader for a HS Young Life group. They TP'ed our house last night. He laughed it off and cleaned it up late last night. What I am proud of most? They go as a group to McDs about 2x a month, cokes apple pies, etc. I found out there's a new kid attending, hasn't made many friends yet. My son buys his coke and Apple pie, as the kid doesn't come from a well-off family, and would have to skip this if he had to pay.
My dogs love me; that or they are getting old. The older one, Zeus happy peed on the hardwoods coming up to hug me. We ran him outside and he emptied himself, but he wagged his tail for almost 30 minutes. I walked them this morning, they were happy.
I have at least one more Italy story, but have work to do today.
Welcome back! Very much enjoyed your travelogue.
What a welcome from Zeus! Aren't dogs great? I consider them to be the closest creation to what God meant for us to be. Our first family dog, an English Springer named Toby, was nicknamed "Pierre" because he would roll over on his back and do it in the air when I came home from work.
Welcome back stateside, glad you're home safe and sound. Your dogs love you, mine would have a hard time with me being gone more than a week. Who am I kidding, I would have a hard time not seeing them in more than a week.
"Ultracrepidarian" has yet to make it into etymonline.
I LOVE THIS WORD! Ultracrepidarian...wich da Substack spel cheker sez tain't a werd.
This word describes about 90% of the folks on all the popular opinion-izing publications.
Ultracrepidarian. Perfect.
Denise gets credit for introducing me to it, in an earlier conversation today.
At the cheap hotel free breakfast, lots of tattoos. A young woman who probably wishes she was Sydney Sweeney has a large Medusa head tattoo on the back of her right thigh. A young man with backward baseball cap and overdeveloped pecs and biceps has a full arm sleeve tat; he keeps looking around with squinted eyes, like one might do if they're on perimeter guard duty in hostile territory.
I observed a surprising number of tattoos in Italy. My favorite was a young woman in Orvieto. Small and skinny. But she had tattoos that appear to have gone down well into her butt cheeks. In front she had a similar design that suggests her tattoo artist got to see an eyeful. She wore cutoff jeans that, standing still you could see butt cheeks. Our guide called someone to keep an eye on her and her boyfriend, who looked like they wanted a tomb of their own, for twu wuv!😏 She is not happy seeing the tombs used for that purpose.
re: he keeps looking around with squinted eyes
or opted for the wake and bake method of greeting the day.
Maybe, but he looked angrier than the usual early riser stoner. Like, real angry. I could feel the axe grinding in his brain.
Maybe he ran out of his breakfast drugs. Personally, I hate that.
What? Squinty eyed weirdos or running out of breakfast drugs?
Both
It's a weird ol' world out there.
There's an oversupply of backward baseball caps in the dining area.
That's funny.
As I get olde, the backward baseball cap thing... For me, it puts a big label on their head. An uncomplimentary label.
My husband wears a visor. I don't think he thinks ball caps look good on him. Honey, I have news for you....not to mention you are not protecting your balding noggin from the sun.
Note…MLB players look good in ball caps. Almost no one else does.
"Goofball"?
Too kind. I’m meaner than you.
On the road, in a cheap hotel in Clearfield, PA...where something must have happened because it's a small city with a remarkable number of classic historic buildings from around the turn of the 20th century. After that, it's kinda like the town that time, everyone, and everything else forgot. Downtown restaurants on a Thursday night were deserted, with lone host/hostesses staring at their phones. On the way to the 27th (maybe the 26th or 29th, I forget)Annual Building Science Symposium in Westford, MA, an invitation only convention of building nerds from all over the globe.
Driving across the upper Midwest reveals America in ways that other places do not.
Isn’t that Pennsylbama?
Maybe a little, but back country 'Bama isn't like this. This is forgotten Northern Industrial Town, where everyone works at the grain mill on the river. Several very large commercial buildings on the National Historic Register, with the Dimeling Hotel standing out from the rest. It's big. 1904 must have been a big year in Clearfield. Several beautiful old buildings were built in 1904.
Now, the Dimeling Hotel is a faded old folks home with 2-3 very old people looking forlornly out the window. I peeked in the old grand lobby doors, obscured by faded lace curtains; the once elegant lobby, now a chaotic storage room with tipped over boxes and cobwebs. The attendant and the old people look at me nervously; apparently, historic building nerds are a rarity in here.
I get it. More rust belt. WV has that along the Ohio River, and some in the Kanawha River Valley, too, around Charleston. Industry that packed up and left in the ‘80s.
I was going by the old joke of Pennsyltucky: the space between Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.
Places to the west of where I am in WV, toward eastern KY, are full of towns that were supposedly some of the richest in America from the 1910s to 1920s. Not so much industrial skeletons as decrepit, once ornate downtown areas that have been on perpetual decline for a century. For the past quarter century they’ve been better known as meth and opioid disaster zones.
Yeah, exactly like that. That's the feel of this joint.
I hope you'll write a report on the Building Science Symposium for this publication.
Good suggestion.
I'll take notes. It might be a worthy piece.
It's the same thing where I (kind of) "met" Kevin Williamson, whose wife is a genius level building scientist/architect. Her parents, Joe and Betsy, put the event on at their building science research compound and home.
Building Science Corporation; anyone interested in buildings and how they function should read his Insights and reports. http://www.buildingscience.com.
I was a presenter in 2017, a high point in my life.
Thank you. I suppose commercial buildings are more likely to incorporate the best Building Science than residences are.
That would be an incorrect supposition.
The conference is about the science, which can be applied to any built structure. Air, Vapor, Water, and Thermal Control Layers, and how to achieve them...stuff like that.
Oh, okay.
It's Friday. So ...
EARWORM: “Haze hangs heavy, like a heartache” when you’re trying to explain away tears by smoke in your eyes. Noeline Hofmann nails it in her aptly named “August” (video, 3:48): https://youtu.be/b7rojpCNcVc?si=LKjJsHa_JNF0F16k
Geez...that's wholesome. A nice counterpoint to the backward baseball cap, overly tatted, squinty eyed-ness in the cheap hotel free breakfast dining area.
Very nice. These kids seem to keep getting younger by the day.
Meddling, kids. Why I oughtta ...
She wrote that at 19, I think. She's a seasoned 21 now and touring. Nominated for Americana Newcomer of the Year.
Well, it appears they weren't long guns.....
I got here too late to blast away at these jokes.
It's never to late to barrel into this conversation.
Well. The authorities weren’t on the lookout for hardened criminals, that’s for sure.
HAHAHAHA....
...and no bullets.
HAHAHA...not even blanks.
HA!
Excellent!!!!!
All they found was a snub nose pistol......
That's funny...
A good round, no door awards on these.
Phil's at the beach.
：-）
Oy.
Yeah, this used to be a family publication...
I blame the small-town local news consumers.
Oh sure, blame the victims.
My neighbor was a volleyball coach in CA univ system and knew the lady killed on the hike in Arkansas. She said she was an amazing woman and athlete.
https://csusbathletics.com/news/2025/7/31/volleyball-csusb-athletics-saddened-to-announce-loss-of-cristen-trent-brink-07.aspx
I am in VA with my 89 yr old mom surprising her today with reunion of her old coworkers. I don’t think she’ll be able to make the 6 hr drive much longer. It’s been a fun 3 days seeing family if you don’t count the mistake I made with the dates of our Airbnb, losing $350 bc of it and my mom accidentally pressing her medical alert and I was unaware. She was out on the terrace in 94° SMOKING. My mom is also legally blind. 😵💫 Never just dip down in the lobby for a banana, people. You wouldn’t believe what could happen.
The 2d day here, Hubs called and he’s now back in TN, hospice gave his dad maybe 3 days. Neighborhood scramble underway to cover for the Aussies until I can get home tonight. His check engine light came on in his truck but it was a bad code. Our neighbors will be on the 5 day trip I had planned to Bend OR next week for all of us.
Life, man.
What a pile up! Good thoughts headed your way.
What a horribly tragic crime you referenced in your first sentence. I've not been keeping up with the news lately so hadn't heard.
After looking it up, speechless…
Smokers gotta smoke. Both of my parents were, it was one of their quirks. But it sounds like it's been a hoot of a trip, which is good.
Sorry to hear about the hospice news, hopefully his hospice care has pain well medicated. Even when they get old it's still sad. Prayers up for you and your hubs.
Thank you, Jay. His father is a very fine man who loved God, his family, his farm and his country. A lot of people are better because of his influence.
I had a great aunt who smoked for a long time—not starting quite that early, though! But she was an oral smoker rather than an inhaler.
Sorry about your father-in-law. The Remnant I was listening to recently with Jonah and Sarah featured a bit about caring for aging parents that I thought was touching, though I can’t quite remember in what way…
I'm very sorry about all that, although I have to admire your mother's commitment to smoking.
You have no idea. She’s been smoking since she was 12. She also loves chocolate, Pepsi and NASCAR, she’s the whole package, lol.
My late mother started smoking at 12, too. It was kind of sad that she didn't have time, after she was diagnosed with the last thing, to start smoking again, and anyway, she wasn't able to walk well enough to go out behind the Dumpster with the housekeeping and maintenance workers.
She didn't care for auto racing: she preferred college football and basketball. And CNBC, until the stock market closed at 4:00 p.m., when she switched to Fox News.
😆 Mom has survived colon cancer (twice) and has an ostomy bag. How she cares for it now with low vision is beyond me. Smoking is the least of my concern but I still hate it.
My dad has been gone 20 years. If you saw a previous post of mine on the mothership, mom also is ultracrepidarian, 5’5” and 120# of pure sass. I’m exhausted in every way, she’s happy. It’s a win and a big contrast with what Hubs is facing now.
I'm going to try to use "ultracrepidarian" in a sentence at least three times today. It'll probably be easier tomorrow if Thor comes over, though.
Yeah, right? Ultracrepidarian. Ultracrepidarian. Ultracrepidarian.
OK, after the second one, the auto-write feature pops up "ultracrepidarian" automatically.
Now I got it, spring loaded, ready for use.
Well, it's only alleged ...
Good morning. I've turned all the calendars downstairs to a new page. Still have to get the ones upstairs.
High of 87 today, heavy rain in the afternoon.
Ummm, I just noticed the one over my home office computer is still in June. tbf, I left for Roma in June and got back late last night, soooooo.'
I'll change it in the morning.
I have to go finish changing my own calendars, now that my morning newsreading is done.
You just turned the page on something else, too. I can understand that. I'd be upset if you left this page, though.
Nope, I'm not leaving this page. It's not the same level of distraction, because there's not nearly as much to read and discuss. Also, it's easier to avoid disputes.
Well, I just want to say that I don't think you've entirely severed the constructive connection you have to the mothership.
Aside from Jonah with his animals, you were the first to demonstrate to the Dispatch community how intelligent and positive off-topic discussion helps foster civility by stimulating the kind of social interaction that serves to remind everyone to treat each other like fellow humans. And that's important in supporting a remnant culture that attracts people and gives them a venue to share important ideas, because one never knows who might pick them up. Others can keep that going, though they may have to up their game. I have a bit more free time than you do, so I'll continue posting on the mothership and helping to maintain and refresh that culture. (I'm less bothered than some are by the occasional jerk over there. As long as their attitude doesn't dominate, I can brush it off. And there are always promising newbies.)
What you have to say on CLSF will still support that, if indirectly. The discussion over here is not really redundant, because it is more about sharing daily lives and thoughts with others. Besides being good for our mental health, that's helpful because the diversity of the people who check in over here, much like at the mothership, is significant--ages, demographics, family status, lifestyles, geography, past experiences, favorite pursuits, occupations, areas of expertise--and yet we all seem to be for truth, justice, the American way, kidding around, and being decent people. It's the same kind of culture we would also like to maintain over there, and it helps to be reminded to keep it going.
Not that I have any intention of ceasing to complain when The Dispatch is failing to hold up their end of the bargain, just because you're not around to upvote me on it.
"just because you're not around to upvote me on it"
You can be sure I would, if I weren't in the throes of the academic grind with a 13-year-old who says things like, "I already write perfectly well!"
If you would like a license to channel Edith "Edit" Burton, that can easily be arranged.
I mean, that was a complete, coherent, grammatical, and correctly punctuated sentence. But it's just a place to start, right? When one can read (for instance) Ralph Waldo Emerson, and understand and parse his sentences, one will have a good basis to become able to write perfectly well.
Yes, effort will need to be made.