working out for Disney

[HouCuseChickie]

Hello-

I did a lower body workout this AM and went for a walk.

I've been avoiding Callie. She has been making me sneeze and my eyes itch after being with her. She likes when I lie down and she lies down next to me. Then, she mashes her face against me. My son calls her "aggressively affectionate." She has to be on top me, even when I move a bit. I notice her tail still improving. She can hold it 90 degrees away from her body. I don't think it will ever be 100%. Sometimes, the very tip of her tail wiggles when I am petting her and I think it's so cute.
View attachment 848244

I know she's triggering your allergies but she has developed so much trust and love for you. I know she's feral, but she has certainly learned to accept human affection and attention.

 

[Songbird76]

It's horrifying that any of those people were allowed to be educators and administrators. I'm glad you guys at least found some way around their horrible attempts to kill the music options.

That fire damage is really bad. I guess at least they got the people responsible but that's still really awful. So many things damaged or destroyed. I wonder if they'll ever be able to stabilize things enough so that the remaining businesses can reopen. Smoke isn't as hard, but water damage is pretty devastating.

Yeah, our school became kind of a dumping ground for any staff that wasn't doing a good job. Our district consisted of our town of 1200 people, and the next town over, 40 miles away, with I think around 15,000. We had one elementary school and one jr. sr. high school....there were around 250 kids in the jr sr high. Gillette had 2 junior high schools, one high school, and I don't know how many elementary schools.....probably around 10? Anyway, whenever a teacher or administrater was not up to snuff, they would send them to our town where they wouldn't have as many students. So we tended to get some pretty bad teachers. And since teacher pay is horrible, and Wyoming is not the most desirable place to live , it was already hard to attract good teachers in the first place. When our high school first opened, somewhere around 1986 I think?, our school district had some of the highest paid teachers in the state, and it was pretty competitive, so we had some pretty good teachers to start with, and a few of them were still around by the time I graduated. My English teacher was great...well, the one I had for most years. We did get one my sophomore year who didn't make it more than the one year before she ran away screaming. (She literally had a breakdown and walked out in tears because some kids stood up to her) She was horrible. She had been teaching in Florida at a school where she said they let the guard dogs out at 4pm and they had metal detectors the kids had to go through to get into the school. She said she had been a drill seargent in the military before she started teaching, so we'd better behave ourselves. She told us the first day that she was always right, we were always wrong, not to dispute her. She sent a boy in my class to the principal's office because he raised his hand when she asked if there were any questions and he said he didn't understand the thing we were working on....I think it was maybe symbolism. She gave me a zero on homework that I turned in, because I was in speech and debate and had a tournament and was missing class on Friday. The school rule was that if you were going to miss class for an activity, you had to get the assignments you were going to miss before you left and turn them in on time. So I went and asked for the homework, she didn't have the planning done, so she wrote down some exercises on a post-it and handed it to me. I did those exercizes, and when I turned them in, she told me it was the wrong assignment and gave me a zero. I showed her the post-it, in HER handwriting, with those exercises on it, but she said she wouldn't have made that mistake. Even my mom went in to talk to her about it, and she refused to give me credit for the assignment I did, and wouldn't let me do the correct one, because it would be past due. So I just had to take a zero on it, because SHE screwed up. One day, in the other Sophomore English class, she called one my friend Nikki spoiled for some reason, and my best friend stood up and said "SHE is not spoiled!! She has 4 brothers and sisters! Her parents can't afford to spoil her! -I- am spoiled! See my new shoes?" and she held out her foot. The teacher ran out of the room sobbing and didn't come back for a few days. She decided that our school was too intense for her after that year and decided to look elsewhere. My class seemed to have that effect on bad teachers. There were a few who didn't make it more than a year or so, and they cited my class for being a major reason for leaving. And I mean....it's rural Wyoming...it's not like we had a bunch of hardened criminals in our school. My classmates just tended to be really mouthy, and not particularly motivated or hard-working. But we got the other town's reject teachers and then apparently made them miserable.

They may just decide to tear that whole block down like they did the SoLow, I don't know. I haven't seen anything since a couple of days after it happened, so I'm not sure what they are doing about it. But I feel bad for all the businesses that can't open now. And it's really sad for the book store, because this week is National Book Week, and they were supposed to have a bunch of things for that, like author signings, readings, etc, and now they can't. And I can only imagine that most of their inventory is trashed from water damage and/or smoke damage. I can't imagine many books survived.

 

[Songbird76]

I swear, it is band directors. In Junior high, we had two women. One was ok, the other had issues with regulating her emotions. I really disliked her, because you never knew what mood she would be in. I had to deal with this at home with my mother and then I would come into school to see what mood this woman was in. She would fly into rages if someone messed up a part. We were a competitive band who went to state contests and won. But it's not necessary to throw your baton and sheet music and fly off in a huff. She would go into her office and close the door. Then she would say, "You let me know when you want to be serious about performing." Ma'am, you're talking to a bunch of 12 year olds.

In Hugh school, we had a man who did the throwing batons and stuff, but was also he was very belittling. I was in the percussion section and he would call us "dummers." He would make sarcastic comments that were meant to make you feel small. I ran into him right after I got married. My husband were visiting my family we decided to go to a local grill for dinner. I saw him and I was hoping he would not recognize me. I kept my head down. OMG, he came over to our table and he was sloppy drunk. Right after he said hi, he started crying and talking about how he and his wife had a baby recently who died after birth. It was really awkward and he wouldn't leave. I felt badly for him, but I didn't feel it was appropriate for him to dump on a former student and he didn't care for me while I was in band anyway. He once told me I was lazy when I went into his office to play for him to determine which chair I was. It made me angry because I had so much on plate at home with my mom and keeping my grades up. I was in band for fun, I had no aims to be a musician.

Well, we did have the one really good director. She had been teaching for years there...she just unfortunately had enough by the time I got into her class and she left after my 7th grade year. There was one more good one I think my....sophomore year maybe? I had given up on band by then, so I didn't have her, but she was always nice to me when she saw me, and she gave me some good advice because I said I wanted to study music. She asked if I was going to do education or performance and I said I didn't know. She advised me to go for education because you don't need a degree to perform, but if you get a performance degree that's all you can do with it. If you do Education, you can still go the performance route, but you have something to fall back on, too. I'm not sure how long she made it...she may have been there longer than the one year. But after I graduated, they moved our choir director to an elementary general position in the next town over and they got a new teacher that did k-12 general music, choir, and band. And our principal also left after I graduated, so then the new administration was much more supportive of the music department, and that new teacher really turned the program around. When I was in high school, I was the only one who made All-state choir until my senior year, and no one ever made All-state band. Once that new teacher started, he managed to recruit a bunch of the athletes into the music program, so it became much more popular, and he had 5 kids make All-state choir one year. When I started teaching, I went to the concert at my high school and the kids were actually good. We hadn't had a decent band or choir since the one teacher left after my 7th grade year. I'm not sure if he had any students make the All-state band, and there was no orchestra program at our school at all, but I know he did wonders for the choir, and the band at least sounded pretty good.

The teacher who choked my friend also had a habit of throwing chalk and erasers at kids who messed up. She was also a screamer, calling out specific kids and humiliating them. Probably because she was drunk.

 

[Songbird76]

Hello-



I might be on your side of the pond before the year ends. lol

I know it's scary right now, and I know you don't really want to move, but if it's what's safe, I hope at least you can do it more easily this time.

 

[Sans Souci]

Well, we did have the one really good director. She had been teaching for years there...she just unfortunately had enough by the time I got into her class and she left after my 7th grade year. There was one more good one I think my....sophomore year maybe? I had given up on band by then, so I didn't have her, but she was always nice to me when she saw me, and she gave me some good advice because I said I wanted to study music. She asked if I was going to do education or performance and I said I didn't know. She advised me to go for education because you don't need a degree to perform, but if you get a performance degree that's all you can do with it. If you do Education, you can still go the performance route, but you have something to fall back on, too. I'm not sure how long she made it...she may have been there longer than the one year. But after I graduated, they moved our choir director to an elementary general position in the next town over and they got a new teacher that did k-12 general music, choir, and band. And our principal also left after I graduated, so then the new administration was much more supportive of the music department, and that new teacher really turned the program around. When I was in high school, I was the only one who made All-state choir until my senior year, and no one ever made All-state band. Once that new teacher started, he managed to recruit a bunch of the athletes into the music program, so it became much more popular, and he had 5 kids make All-state choir one year. When I started teaching, I went to the concert at my high school and the kids were actually good. We hadn't had a decent band or choir since the one teacher left after my 7th grade year. I'm not sure if he had any students make the All-state band, and there was no orchestra program at our school at all, but I know he did wonders for the choir, and the band at least sounded pretty good.

The teacher who choked my friend also had a habit of throwing chalk and erasers at kids who messed up. She was also a screamer, calling out specific kids and humiliating them. Probably because she was drunk.

That's good that you got someone who was able to turn the music program around. I think the advice to focus on education v. performance was good.

I think these band directors thought that being a director in schools with well-regarded band programs would be a stepping stone to something bigger. I get these directors want wins under their belts, but they have to remember they're dealing with pre-teens and teens. They expected us to eat, sleep and breathe band, while forgetting we have actual classes that go towards our GPAs. For me, it was meant to be a fun hobby, since I really liked playing the drums. I ended up quitting before my senior year after being in band since 5th grade. It wasn't fun for me anymore.

I totally forgot that in Jr hi, we got new band director who was very abrasive. I happened to start watching a documentary on TLC or Discovery in the late 90s, It was about him! He inherited this rare form of insomnia where he couldn't fall asleep at all. He died from it. It was very hard to watch, because they showed him as the disease progressed.

 

[Sans Souci]

I know it's scary right now, and I know you don't really want to move, but if it's what's safe, I hope at least you can do it more easily this time.

I had a horrible dream back in June that I was dropping my son off at a military base for basic training. I felt like he was going to fight in Ukraine and I didn't feel good about it. I also felt like I was never going to see him again. The whole dream was awful and I hope I am wrong. But I am sending him to the UK if there is a draft here. It's one thing to be drafted to defend your county against a hostile invasion, it's another to help another country invade a sovereign country. My son will not be cannon fodder for a rogue state. So, on one hand, I wouldn't mind going over there. It's just starting over in a new country at my age feels daunting. It's not like I'd be moving for a "good reason". I'd be moving because we ran out of options here.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

Checking in with a circuit workout. I was going to go for a walk, but I felt dehydrated today. So I just skipped it, had a Liquid IV and had lots of water after that.

I am supposed to see the cherry blossoms is Washington next weekend. It's a week before they are in bloom. I am thinking of canceling it. I am not feeling it. We were going to belatedly celebrate my husband's birthday. I'll keep an eye on the weather and see how I feel in a few days. I am just trying not to spend money where I don't need to. I think my husband booked the hotel on points, so maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Right now, my gut says no. lol

 

[Sans Souci]

Yes, I keep reminding myself that people like the two that keep coming to mind are in the past for a reason. I know it's easy to fall into that trap of romanticizing people that never quite panned out because there were no fights or ugliness. Whatever romantic connections we had were strong and really good, but the timing was never right, I know there was fear on their part, so they're people that were never really tested in the longer run. In other words, the memories are primarily positive. Still, if they were meant to be, we would have found a way and the hiccups that occurred while we had the potential for more time together wouldn't have gotten in the way as they did. Ultimately, I think the old love may be like you're saying...an activity-based love. I am bored and I'm at this point where I'd like some me stuff in my life vs. focus on the kids or being lazy like my husband has been. I appreciate the insight because like you said...reading for yourself can easily get twisted.

I hope I wasn't coming across as condescending. I was just trying to show you maybe the cards had a different message/meaning for you.

 

[Songbird76]

I had a horrible dream back in June that I was dropping my son off at a military base for basic training. I felt like he was going to fight in Ukraine and I didn't feel good about it. I also felt like I was never going to see him again. The whole dream was awful and I hope I am wrong. But I am sending him to the UK if there is a draft here. It's one thing to be drafted to defend your county against a hostile invasion, it's another to help another country invade a sovereign country. My son will not be cannon fodder for a rogue state. So, on one hand, I wouldn't mind going over there. It's just starting over in a new country at my age feels daunting. It's not like I'd be moving for a "good reason". I'd be moving because we ran out of options here.

I'm hearing that a lot of people are trying to get passports if they had parents or grandparents in another country, so they can flee if necessary. I saw Rosie ODonnel, Ellen Degeneres, Richard Geer, and a few other celebrities have moved overseas. I can see how it would feel daunting, but you do what you have to do to be safe.

 

[Songbird76]

Update on the fire:
It was on the news this morning that they have gotten advice from experts and it is too expensive and time consuming with no guarantee of success to save the remaining buildings, so they are tearing more down, but they will do their best to rebuild it in the style of the historical origin. They will also save as much as they can of the cellars and inner walls. But this way, they businesses surrounding that block will be able to get back into their buildings and fix any damage they have.
I got an email from the book store that they are reopening today, though they can only use the front part of their store for now and have to use a generator. Gas and electric are still not turned back on in that block. But they had a thing where you could buy a gift certificate for the book store to use once they were open again...it was a way for people to continue to support them even though they were unable to open. So I bought a gift certificate online, and they sent me an email to say they were partially opening today. So I'm really happy. Hopefully the chocolate store and the Indian and Pakistani street food will be able to open as well.

Edited to add:
Just read that the chocolate store closed permanently. That makes me so sad!

 

[Sans Souci]

I'm hearing that a lot of people are trying to get passports if they had parents or grandparents in another country, so they can flee if necessary. I saw Rosie ODonnel, Ellen Degeneres, Richard Geer, and a few other celebrities have moved overseas. I can see how it would feel daunting, but you do what you have to do to be safe.

I read that, too. My son lost his UK passport, so he is trying to get it replaced. He needed someone who was a professional to vouch for his identity. He is in regular touch with one of HS teachers, so he did it. Then the passport office contacted his teacher and asked him to upload a copy of his passport. He doesn't have one. It doesn't say anyone on the applications site that the person needs to verify their ID. TBH, I am not sure I'd feel comfortable giving that info over. It's stupid--he can ask a nurse, but not a doctor. Ironically, social worker is on the list, but he's my son--so that's a no. lol We don't know anyone personally on this list of professions. It's kind of classist, because not everyone lives in a world where they are friends with airline pilots, barristers, politicians, or someone with an OBE or BME. We've kept to ourselves since we moved here. My MIL offered to help by calling the passport office directly, so I don't know what she came up with. He might have to apply in person.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I did a full body strength training work out this morning and I went out for some fresh air.

Thankfully, my husband's work CC wasn't turned off when he went to settle his hotel bill. That is such a weight off of my shoulders. I was really concerned he'd have to pay OOP and try to get reimbursed. I don't think he'd ever see that money again.

My husband was in Japan for his birthday, but before he left, he gave me the birthday present he bought for himself for me to wrap. It was in a small, rectangular box. I looked in it earlier today and it's a very small hardcover copy of the US Constitution. Not what I would want for my birthday, but OK. He told me not to buy anything, that this was what he wanted.I don't what you do with a small copy of the constitution. Do you keep it on your person and whip it out to ready while you're waiting for the train? idk.

 

[Songbird76]

I read that, too. My son lost his UK passport, so he is trying to get it replaced. He needed someone who was a professional to vouch for his identity. He is in regular touch with one of HS teachers, so he did it. Then the passport office contacted his teacher and asked him to upload a copy of his passport. He doesn't have one. It doesn't say anyone on the applications site that the person needs to verify their ID. TBH, I am not sure I'd feel comfortable giving that info over. It's stupid--he can ask a nurse, but not a doctor. Ironically, social worker is on the list, but he's my son--so that's a no. lol We don't know anyone personally on this list of professions. It's kind of classist, because not everyone lives in a world where they are friends with airline pilots, barristers, politicians, or someone with an OBE or BME. We've kept to ourselves since we moved here. My MIL offered to help by calling the passport office directly, so I don't know what she came up with. He might have to apply in person.

Wow....that's a lot of hoops to jump through. I suppose it has to do with identity theft. Anyone who loses their passport, they have to assume it may have been stolen, and they don't want to send a new passport to the thief? But there's got to be a better way to do that. Do they use Biometrics? I have to get my picture taken and my fingerprints scanned whenever I renew my residency card here. Fingerprints don't change...couldn't they use that? I hope he gets it worked out.

 

[Sans Souci]

Wow....that's a lot of hoops to jump through. I suppose it has to do with identity theft. Anyone who loses their passport, they have to assume it may have been stolen, and they don't want to send a new passport to the thief? But there's got to be a better way to do that. Do they use Biometrics? I have to get my picture taken and my fingerprints scanned whenever I renew my residency card here. Fingerprints don't change...couldn't they use that? I hope he gets it worked out.

I am not sure if they use biometrics. He's had a UK passport from a young age. I don't remember ever having to take him to get fingerprinted. I think he's going to have to go London to do this, because he is not "friendly" with any of the professions on this list. My husband and I are both professionals on this list and my BIL is, but he's related to all of us. lol

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I hope I wasn't coming across as condescending. I was just trying to show you maybe the cards had a different message/meaning for you.

Oh no, you're fine. I think sometimes we veer towards things that have been on our mind and tailor results to match those thoughts vs. a broader picture that's more likely and plausible.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Yeah, our school became kind of a dumping ground for any staff that wasn't doing a good job. Our district consisted of our town of 1200 people, and the next town over, 40 miles away, with I think around 15,000. We had one elementary school and one jr. sr. high school....there were around 250 kids in the jr sr high. Gillette had 2 junior high schools, one high school, and I don't know how many elementary schools.....probably around 10? Anyway, whenever a teacher or administrater was not up to snuff, they would send them to our town where they wouldn't have as many students. So we tended to get some pretty bad teachers. And since teacher pay is horrible, and Wyoming is not the most desirable place to live , it was already hard to attract good teachers in the first place. When our high school first opened, somewhere around 1986 I think?, our school district had some of the highest paid teachers in the state, and it was pretty competitive, so we had some pretty good teachers to start with, and a few of them were still around by the time I graduated. My English teacher was great...well, the one I had for most years. We did get one my sophomore year who didn't make it more than the one year before she ran away screaming. (She literally had a breakdown and walked out in tears because some kids stood up to her) She was horrible. She had been teaching in Florida at a school where she said they let the guard dogs out at 4pm and they had metal detectors the kids had to go through to get into the school. She said she had been a drill seargent in the military before she started teaching, so we'd better behave ourselves. She told us the first day that she was always right, we were always wrong, not to dispute her. She sent a boy in my class to the principal's office because he raised his hand when she asked if there were any questions and he said he didn't understand the thing we were working on....I think it was maybe symbolism. She gave me a zero on homework that I turned in, because I was in speech and debate and had a tournament and was missing class on Friday. The school rule was that if you were going to miss class for an activity, you had to get the assignments you were going to miss before you left and turn them in on time. So I went and asked for the homework, she didn't have the planning done, so she wrote down some exercises on a post-it and handed it to me. I did those exercizes, and when I turned them in, she told me it was the wrong assignment and gave me a zero. I showed her the post-it, in HER handwriting, with those exercises on it, but she said she wouldn't have made that mistake. Even my mom went in to talk to her about it, and she refused to give me credit for the assignment I did, and wouldn't let me do the correct one, because it would be past due. So I just had to take a zero on it, because SHE screwed up. One day, in the other Sophomore English class, she called one my friend Nikki spoiled for some reason, and my best friend stood up and said "SHE is not spoiled!! She has 4 brothers and sisters! Her parents can't afford to spoil her! -I- am spoiled! See my new shoes?" and she held out her foot. The teacher ran out of the room sobbing and didn't come back for a few days. She decided that our school was too intense for her after that year and decided to look elsewhere. My class seemed to have that effect on bad teachers. There were a few who didn't make it more than a year or so, and they cited my class for being a major reason for leaving. And I mean....it's rural Wyoming...it's not like we had a bunch of hardened criminals in our school. My classmates just tended to be really mouthy, and not particularly motivated or hard-working. But we got the other town's reject teachers and then apparently made them miserable.

They may just decide to tear that whole block down like they did the SoLow, I don't know. I haven't seen anything since a couple of days after it happened, so I'm not sure what they are doing about it. But I feel bad for all the businesses that can't open now. And it's really sad for the book store, because this week is National Book Week, and they were supposed to have a bunch of things for that, like author signings, readings, etc, and now they can't. And I can only imagine that most of their inventory is trashed from water damage and/or smoke damage. I can't imagine many books survived.

Any time I hear stories like this, it makes me realize how lucky we were to have the schools we had growing up. I know there was drama and scandal at times, but nothing like this. It's amazing how these educators were downright abusive. These sorts of things can do so much to shape how these students act in adulthood.

So sad to think of all that was lost

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I did a biceps, triceps and shoulder workout this AM. My arms feel like overcooked spaghetti, even washing my hair was hard. I'm going out for a walk when the rain clears up.

I made the chocolate Guinness cake, I thought it was just ok. My husband really liked it, though and it was his birthday cake. It was pretty easy to make, so that was a plus. I thought there would be more of a "dark" note to it. I saw this was a Nigella Lawson recipe and I've never been blown away by her recipes. My son is doing his Greek Orthodox lent again, so I've frozen a piece for him to enjoy on Easter.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Good morning! It is the start of week 14 of the exercise component of ending my personal pity party.

Saturday was a break day for me. I drove up to get Kendall home for spring break. I did at least get in a little walk after we got home. Nothing major but a little 1.5 miles to get the legs moving after being stuck in the car for hours on end. Yesterday, I walked 8.5 miles in the morning and then Sam and I went over to the new Planet Fitness in town to sign up for memberships. We each put in a workout after that. I got on the elliptical for 30 minutes + cooldown, did something like five or six different machines on the arms circuit, the lower back extension, one of the glute machines, a couple of rounds on an ab machine I didn't care for, and I finished up on the twisty one for obliques. I'm a little nervous as I was getting into a pretty good rhythm with my home routine but changing it up is usually a good thing and I certainly have more options at my disposal in the gym. I feel like my 30 minutes on the elliptical worked me a lot harder than the bike, but I'm more worried about weekdays, where I step it up to an hour on my cardio machine of choice. We'll see how tonight goes. I also have family coming into town this week so I need to juggle them while keeping on track.

In other news, I'm having some concerning tummy issues. I don't want to get too graphic but decided it's time to finally enlist the help of a doctor. Unfortunately, the doctor I wanted to see can't get me in until mid-May, so I opted for a different doctor under the same medical group (different office) that can see me in a month. The issues aren't constant, so I'm going to just try and eat really clean over the next month and monitor to see if I notice any patterns in triggers. My self-diagnosis has me leaning towards ulcerative colitis but we'll see what the pro has to say.

 

[Songbird76]

Good morning! It is the start of week 14 of the exercise component of ending my personal pity party.

Saturday was a break day for me. I drove up to get Kendall home for spring break. I did at least get in a little walk after we got home. Nothing major but a little 1.5 miles to get the legs moving after being stuck in the car for hours on end. Yesterday, I walked 8.5 miles in the morning and then Sam and I went over to the new Planet Fitness in town to sign up for memberships. We each put in a workout after that. I got on the elliptical for 30 minutes + cooldown, did something like five or six different machines on the arms circuit, the lower back extension, one of the glute machines, a couple of rounds on an ab machine I didn't care for, and I finished up on the twisty one for obliques. I'm a little nervous as I was getting into a pretty good rhythm with my home routine but changing it up is usually a good thing and I certainly have more options at my disposal in the gym. I feel like my 30 minutes on the elliptical worked me a lot harder than the bike, but I'm more worried about weekdays, where I step it up to an hour on my cardio machine of choice. We'll see how tonight goes. I also have family coming into town this week so I need to juggle them while keeping on track.

In other news, I'm having some concerning tummy issues. I don't want to get too graphic but decided it's time to finally enlist the help of a doctor. Unfortunately, the doctor I wanted to see can't get me in until mid-May, so I opted for a different doctor under the same medical group (different office) that can see me in a month. The issues aren't constant, so I'm going to just try and eat really clean over the next month and monitor to see if I notice any patterns in triggers. My self-diagnosis has me leaning towards ulcerative colitis but we'll see what the pro has to say.

The like is for K being home and for you getting to see a doctor sooner. I hope they can figure out what's causing it.

Is it weird to have K home now that she doesn't live there? Does Sam miss her a lot, or were they not really close? I remember when my brother went to college and we had been really close in high school, involved in all the same activities and had a lot of the same friends. It was so hard for me. Most of my friends had been in his class, so they were all off at college and a lot of the ones who had been in my class moved away. I felt really lonely that year and I craved the speech and debate tournaments where I actually had people to hang out with.

 

[Songbird76]

Update on the fire:

They decided to tear down more of the buildings, and they will start with that tomorrow. But in the meantime, they built a sort of reinforced passageway in one of the alleys, so that some of the businesses could reopen. The Indian Pakistani restaurant opened Saturday, the Mexican restaurant opened Saturday as well, but the tapas restaurant has too much damage. They had their vacuum and some fans upstairs that completely melted according to the article I read, and it isn't safe for them to go upstairs yet, so it sounds like it will be a while before they can open. I want to go soon to spend some money at the places that were affected to support them a bit. It will be weird to see the whole area once they tear stores down. They didn't say how many they are going to take down, but they said it would take a few days. I'd like to go this weekend, but I don't think we can because we have a birthday party planned at the nursing home for my MIL on Sunday, so we won't have time to go shopping or anything. I guess we'll see. It's sad that they have to tear a bunch of stuff down, but at least it means more businesses will be able to reopen.