Week starting 10th November – Last of the leaves, Planning Meeting and a new toy
We had some seriously cold nights this week, with temperatures several degrees below freezing. During the day it is not too bad, and by afternoon you don’t really need a jacket outside. Over the weekend we had some heavy rain, too, as the remnants of tornado weather in the Midwest blew storms through here. Most of the deciduous trees have only a few leaves left. Luckily we took a few photos of the last red leaves at the building site before the winds started blowing.
This week there was the big Lumpkin County Planning meeting. It took place in the courthouse with the old Georgia state flag including Confederate Battle Flag (see blog of 27th October) displayed on the entrance wall. There was only one item on the agenda, whether to permit a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre in our neighbourhood on Porter Springs Road. There was only standing room available, more than two hundred attendees by my count – the chairman of the planning committee said that this was the largest public turnout she had ever seen. All the pre-announced rules on length of speakers’ time, number of speakers and everything else went out of the window. Lisa was one of the speakers against the proposal. Alas, there was a huge representation from the proponent’s camp, organised largely through local churches. The rehabilitation centre is staffed only by volunteers without any professional medical or psychology staff, but it an evangelical foundation and religion counts for a lot in this part of the world. There are services at 90 churches advertised in the local weekly paper (for a county with a population of about 31,000). In the end, the proposal was approved – though Waypoint Ministry will apparently face very substantial costs in order to bring the access road and buildings into line with current county standards. And we will have to hope that all their reassurances that there have never ever been any problems in their current location continue to be true in Porter Springs.
Back on the building site, the current round of earthmoving has been completed, and a pole to carry electricity from the power line has been set up (and approved as fit for purpose). A temporary overhead connection will be installed soon to provide electricity to the building site. Longer term, the power cables (and a link from the telephone main line which runs along the same line of pylons as the electricity) will be buried in a trench. Plans for more infrastructure including drilling a well for water and putting in a septic tank are also moving forward.
Bill and his team have completed building a substantial storage hut close to the main road. This is initially a secure garage for the Polaris Ranger utility vehicle, which was finally delivered on Tuesday. Draw your own conclusions on whether Lisa is happy with the vehicle (already christened Ricky – don’t ask why!). The garage will eventually serve as a store for the garbage cans. In case anyone doubts that there are bears hereabouts who love a nice meal of tasty rubbish – our new neighbours delight in telling us of hungry monsters which have destroyed vegetable patches and beehives.
On Wednesday we went out to lunch. Before we left England, we had discussed our destination and plans with my stepmother. What a coincidence – she has a cousin who lives only about thirty miles from where we are building. We eventually got in touch, and met her for lunch at the Blue Bicycle, halfway between Dahlonega and her home at Big Canoe (a very upmarket gated community in the forest, with strict rules on access, house colour and protecting the environment). We had a great lunch with Maggie and her friend Neil, much conversation, and plan to repeat soon. And we took the opportunity to collect some organic vegetables from a local farmers’ market.
Robin’s Opinions of America
People have asked me what I like (and otherwise) about America now that we have get established here and I have some time to get opinionated. So, to keep you up on my thinking, I plan to have a weekly likes and dislikes section on this blog. Please feel free to let me know of your own feelings about America – maybe this will be a place to give you my take on them! So here is
Likes
Groundhogs
The groundhog (otherwise known as a woodchuck – though as far as I can tell they don’t chuck any wood) is a mammal of the marmoset family (ground squirrels). A bit like an overgrown chipmunk, they are about 2 foot long, weigh up to 9 lbs, and are largely herbivorous. Found all over the northern half of the USA, their southernmost habitat is in North Georgia (well, if you were wearing a double layer of fur coats, you wouldn’t want to be any further South than here in the summer!).
Their claim to cinematic fame lies in “Groundhog Day”, starring a groundhog called Punxsutawney Phil with a reputation for meteorological forecasts. Another weather predicting groundhog called General Beauregard Lee lives near Atlanta.
So, why do I like groundhogs? Especially as they have a bit of a reputation for aggression and for raiding vegetable patches. They don’t have quite as many suicidal tendencies as grey squirrels, though occasionally a body is lying by the roadside. But they make me almost burst out laughing, seeing a few of them plodding around open spaces by the roadside, or just lying and sunning themselves in the autumn sunshine. Possibly one of them is sitting up on his haunches as a sentry for the crew. You almost expect him to cheerily wave at passing cars. At this time of year, they are as fat as they can be in preparation for the hard times of winter, and are dumpy and round, almost shapeless.
They are just amusing to watch and that can’t be a bad thing!
Dislikes
The relentless search for “bargains”
Everything is America is on sale sooner or later. The only exception appears to be Apple computers and iPhones, where a ruthless monopoly and price fixing applies. But to take advantage of discounted prices needs the detective skills of Sherlock Holmes matched by the tenacity of a bulldog and the patience of a saint. You need to know what is available when, which stores have a discount for seniors on which day of the week, even when there are sales for a couple of hours at the crack of dawn.
And then there is whole “coupon” challenge. I can remember years ago the national frenzy for clipping out discount coupons from the newspaper and magazines. In this more technological time, collecting discount coupons online meets the same need. Then, when you pay at the supermarket checkout, your final bill tells you all about the “savings” you have achieved by judicious use of coupons, in-store offers and other reductions.
The impact can be really significant. When Lisa went to fill a prescription for asthma inhalers from her doctor, she was quoted a staggering $330 at the chemist. We have to pay our own way at present for most medical expenses, especially for pre-existing conditions. The whole medical insurance structure is in total turmoil at present – don’t get me started on that incredible muddle! But by the time Lisa had done some searching on the Internet, she ended up paying about a tenth of the original quote.
But why should you have to bother chasing the bargains? And who has the time and energy to search out the offers? More pertinently, who gains from this price saving frenzy?
It is easy to assume that the winners must be those consumers who are motivated and savvy enough to hunt down these savings. I do not buy that. There are darker forces at work here.
The companies manufacturing products and shops selling them are not giving away discounts out of pure altruism and charity. Maybe it is to entice consumers to try something new. Or get rid of stocks of last year’s model. Or to draw attention to something which you would not be interested in the first place. Or to spread confusion about the real price and value of items – reduce the price for a short while from a (made-up) pre-sale price of $X sets a post-sale expectation of $X.
Whatever the motives of the discounters, there are too many people out there being driven to spend too many hours chasing that elusive bargain. And I don’t like the deliberate manipulation of the population, including me.
Come back next week and read about :
. Rough plumbing and electricity – burying pipes and cables before the lower cement floor is poured.
. A wine tasting at Wolf Mountain
. Selecting windows (lots of them are needed for the new house)
. A further struggle with medical insurance
. Preparations for Thanksgiving – we now have three celebrations scheduled for the following week