LIKE THIS BREAKS MY HEART!?!?!

I have written before about my lying, cheating husband - and you have been so patient with me when I choose to go on a tirade. But Facebook has its benefits, as an old classmate just happened to post a picture of a bar in my hometown of Parkersburg - which happened to burn to the ground last night.



After my husband and I moved to this area - I managed to make a couple of trips a year, back to Parkersburg to visit friends. Little did I know that at a future date, my husband would move back to "my hometown" with his slut girlfriend. (I'm not being too nasty - am I?) Being the creature of habit that he was...he always had a "bar of choice" to quench his thirst.

The "Sly Fox" was just that bar. Hee-hee, it burned to the ground last night. I know that his "girlfriend" still frequented the place, as I always spied my husbands car (which was supposed to go to my daughter) in the parking lot of this bar, when I made my trips to town.

Dumb ass that she was/is, I even got pictures of the man she moved in with her a month after my husband died. What a moron. Now, I am sure there is a major case of depression going on in her household this day - because she will have to find a new "watering hole."

Be that as it may...this does NOT break my heart.

I am still feeling a little punky, but will try to put together a more substantive post after while. Have a great day - it's sweltering here - 84 degrees already. No AC yet, just ceiling fans to move the air.

Later.....................

A little commercialization....

On December 1, 2007, I blogged about this. It was a devastating fire, which resulted in a lucrative business loss to our town. I did a great deal of shopping in Country Square, as I was there from its inception.

Here we are just over a year later...and unfortunately, much of the burned out shell of this building is still standing. This is due to low insurance coverage and a "fly by night" contractor who did not complete the demolition, get the proper insurance coverage, pay his help and left a lien on the property for unpaid equipment rental. The townspeople are in an uproar, but the owners did everything required of them, and the courts can't get "blood from a turnip" in suing the asshole contractor.

Be that as it may...Country Square has opened in a new location (different town) and are trying to get back up and running.

Click here to Link

Their pricing is excellent, they accept all major credit cards and PayPal. Just take a gander, if you are so inclined, at the site and check out what they have to offer. I stopped in one day last week, and they say sales are steady, but thought I could help them out a wee bit through this blog. I do so much ordering online anymore - and they are realizing the benefits of this type of sales also. A wonderful site for Country & primitive items.

So that is all I have to say. I'm going to add a permanent link on the sidebar, so in the future if anyone would like to gander at their wares...have at it. Thanks for allowing me this one commercial moment.

Later...............

Still dangerous situation...fire still burning!

Amazingly enough, the fire (previous blog) is still burning, almost 26 hours later. I was just back at the scene, and water is still being poured into the remaining structure - it is a mess! Also, considering it has been raining all night, one would think that would help - but the center of the structure still is being supported by 16" oak beams which have all dropped and piled into this one area. The firemen told me that when that area is totally consumed the possibility increases considerably that the entire structure will collapse.

Eight companies have been contacted to have the building dismantled, and the stock answer was "No, too dangerous!" Governor Strickland has sent a representative who has now contacted a firm in Cleveland to see if they will tackle this job - the gentleman is expected to arrive in town early this afternoon. There is always the chance that this building will not wait for a "company" to tear it down...every minute that passes, collapse is more imminent.

With this side view, it is easy to see that the entire building has been gutted. This one hose has been directed on one of the hot spots in the center. An interesting fact, after I spoke with the Water Superintendent of the treatment plant, he stated that over 2 million gallons of water had been sprayed on this fire in the first couple of hours. When our resources were seriously depleting, the tanker brigade started getting water from the Ohio River and filling portable "ponds."

I am posting this for my friends in other states as they are also familiar with this business and its location. That's all for now...football day (NFL) and have to get my fix. Especially since WVU managed to get beat last night and that depressed me...I was hoping to see WVU and Ohio State mix it up. BooHoo!



Take care and stay healthy...TTFN.



I found this humorous - firemen
taking at break - using the table & chairs from Country Square this morning. Just manning the hoses and chatting.

Sad sight to see...

A fire has struck a business here in town, and I worked with and for this family for many years. My former business partner and friend still had her bookkeeping/tax business there, plus a crafts and home furnishings store. We moved into this building March 1988 and at that time we operated an RCA Sales & Service center also. There are four floors and originally there were 2 separate store fronts, one which was rented out to various businesses for the first few years. In May 1992, we opened Country Square (I came up with the name) and offered country crafts, furniture, knick knacks and stuff. It became a success because it was family operated and we offered such personalized service. I remember the opening day, as I managed to have my first UNIMPRESSIVE heart attack that day - oh the memories.

The economy slowed, television sales lagged and they "laid me off" in January of '96. From that point on it was strictly family working the stores. Our business partnership was severed, and I was really pissed for awhile, but got over that, and we have remained friends and share the costs of our tax programs to this day.

This is what I saw as I was heading to get my new tattoo. I stopped and found a place where I could get a better look and my heart just sunk to my ankles.

Thedaughter went in town later and got these pictures, not as close as I was but you can see the same effect from the smoke.
The building is to the left of the large white building in the center of this picture. As of an hour ago (3 pm) the 4th and 3rd floors had collapsed into the building. It is amazing how devastating this fire is, considering it is only one building. There are 13 fire departments - 3 ladder companies fighting this battle.

There is no electric service in the downtown area and our water service may be out for a couple of days, as the drain on the water treatment plant caused it to shut down, and they can't get it up and running again. Amazing!

Oh well, no lives have been lost - the loss is just "stuff." When our home burned to the ground in 1984 - I learned that what we have is just "stuff." Everything can be replaced, but a life cannot. I have spoken with the family and offered any help that they may need, and we cried and laughed together. They definitely have the right idea for this situation - let the firefighters do their job and they are cracking open the wine. There's not much else they can do.

Later....everyone take care. TTFN.

...and it was an EVENTFUL beginning!

Well, this is not the best picture in the world - as are most of the ones from this trip. I had major camera malfunctions and missettings (is that a word?) and so we deal with what we have!
This picture is for the introduction to our vacation. We arrived at the Bahia Mar Beach Resort and Yachting Center in Ft. Lauderdale, and upon arrival, they stuck us in an outer building and when we went to the room - another couple was in the room - deciding that they didn't like it either. So off we trek back to the main building and the reservations desk. We then got a room in the main building on the seventh floor. We lounged around for awhile then went downstairs for dinner and then sat outside watching all the Mercedes, Jaguars, BMW'S, Lexus' and even a Bentley roll up. There are several events going on at any given time at this hotel.

We probably went back to the room around 9 pm, watching TV, till 12:01 am and BOOM - all the power went out. No TV, no lights (very dim) and NO AIR CONDITIONING!!!! Then an announcement comes over the PA system - "Ignore the alarm that will go off, this is a false alarm!" Then it began, the piercing blare of the alarm - which did not cease till 1:51 am. Almost two solid hours. Now mind you, when the alarms are activated the elevators do not operate. I called down to the main desk several times, and it would ring non-stop then disconnect. At 1:41 am I got thru to the front desk, to be given a "stock" answer that it was only a false alarm due to a power surge. Although it is hard to see in the picture, that is a firetruck (one of three that showed up, only 2 staying for almost 2 hours) as we look directly down from our window. (We had a small step-out ledge and banister.) Strange as it sounds, we did have power and lights in our bathroom. We watched the firemen go to their trucks carrying a long bar, which they use to pull down ceilings. I went to get us a pop at the vending machine - which didn't work because of no power and the smell of burning wires was awful. Since this is a distinct smell, I knew it had to be more than a "power surge."

We could get NO answers and here we are stuck on the 7th floor. We could have gone down the 7 flights of steps, but certainly would never have made it back up. Again, I kept calling the front desk and did not get them to answer again till 4:01 am. There was nothing they could do about the power. Hahahaha!! I think we managed a couple of hours sleep, but when we went down for breakfast, I stopped at the desk and asked for the manager, and the young man in charge says, "there was NO fire", when I said I smelled the wiring and the firemen were highly active. He then said "can you prove there was a fire?" WRONG!!!!! I am much smarter than him on his best day - don't test me!

That was not even the point - I wanted a complete refund for the lodging because if I want to camp out I am certainly not going to pay $150. This young man told me that "they" would be having a meeting on Monday to decide what to do - and that wasn't good enough for me. I called Orbitz (booked through) and explained the entire situation (making sure she was writing it all down) and she told me to hold, she was calling this young man - it wasn't 6 or 8 minutes she came back on the line and said the entire amount had been credited back to my credit card. I WAS IMPRESSED. Then from that point on, we told EVERYONE - don't settle for less than 100% refund. Some were getting 25 - 50%. I felt much better then. We couldn't even get a hot breakfast, as there was no power there either.

It was eventful to say the least. Going back to my blog from June of last year, there was a fire next door to the hotel where I stayed before leaving on my cruise. Now that is kind of eerie!! I guess everyone needs a little excitement now and then.

Gonna play with the grandson - so take care and TTFN!