One more good bit advice from my chat the other day, after I was bemoaning my fears about those near to me aging with a huge amount of material goods as well as my very slow attempt making room in my own place.
Yes. That’s tough. I was v lucky with my mom. She had been conscientiously decluttering and downsizing for years. A couple years before she died she showed me where her will etc were, and told me her medical wishes and she said Not to care about her stuff when she was gone because any value she attributed to it would be gone the moment she died. She said to keep what had meaning for me, or that I could use, and with a clear conscience, just get rid of everything else. That was so freeing because when she died I cleared out her apartment by myself and it was an honour. There was nothing superfluous or weird. There was a lot of stuff because she was very active and involved in a lot of things, but it all made sense. It took me 10 days and vast majority was donated. I was really grateful she gave me that little talk.
Went by the liquidation place yesterday and got 20 yellow bins for $20. Not a bad deal, and they should really help with the sorting of garage boxes into keep/donate/trash options. Really looking forward to being done with that particular chore.
I would have really been thrilled about this season of Taskmaster back in the day, before I found out Matt Lucas did blackface/ableist/transphobic stuff as recently as he did, or Ayoade’s endorsing Graham Linehan a year or two ago.
I watched the first episode and was pretty put off by them both, and that may have affected my enjoyment more than a little. A real shame, because I generally like the show. The pacing and the tasks seemed a bit meh, too.
Other to stuff, the in-laws are enjoying Ted Lasso, and that is giving me time to catch up on my reading while the TV is on.
Current read is Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke for Monday’s book club. BHK has already finished it, and has warned me that the first 80% is good, and the last bit falls apart. It is a lot better than I expected it to be, given the subject matter. (Tradwife/influencer “satire”)
The True Cost of the Cloud: Why a Data Center is a Bad Deal for the Roanoke Valley
Living here in Salem, it is easy to appreciate the natural beauty and resources of the Roanoke Valley. But our local environment and our wallets are facing a massive new threat. You have probably heard the buzz about the proposed Google artificial intelligence data center campus in neighboring Botetourt County. While the promise of tech development sounds great on paper, a closer look reveals that this project is a terrible idea for our community.
Here is a breakdown of why this industrial expansion is a bad deal for Southwest Virginia.
Draining Carvins Cove
Our region relies heavily on Carvins Cove for drinking water. This proposed facility will require an astronomical amount of water for its cooling systems. According to reports from WSLS 10 News, the campus could consume between 2 million and 8 million gallons of drinking water every single day.
To put that in perspective, Cardinal News noted that if the facility reaches that 8 million gallon maximum, the Botetourt site would become the largest data center complex in the world by water usage for Google. The Sierra Club Virginia Chapter has warned that this extreme consumption poses a severe threat to our fresh water, especially as western Virginia continues to face worsening drought conditions.
Ratepayers Footing the Bill
Massive water consumption means our municipal infrastructure will age and reach capacity much faster than planned. Initially, the region was not expected to need a new water supply until the 2060s. This project could push that timeline up to the 2030s.
Cardinal News reported that Botetourt County’s agreement with the regional water authority could financially obligate the county for up to $400 million if the data center demands require a completely new reservoir. As local residents, we are the ratepayers. We have every right to worry that we will end up paying for infrastructure expansions that we never asked for.
Grid Overload and Rising Electric Costs
Artificial intelligence data centers require staggering amounts of electricity. Yes, Google agreed to buy 79 megawatts of wind energy from the upcoming Rocky Forge Wind farm in Botetourt County. However, the Sierra Club points out that this local renewable energy is completely insufficient for a facility of this immense scale.
The data center will inevitably pull massive amounts of power directly from the main electrical grid. This causes extreme grid strain and forces utility companies to expand power generation. Those massive infrastructure costs are ultimately passed down to Virginia residents through higher electric bills.
Air Pollution in Our Backyard
To ensure their servers never go offline during power dips, data centers rely heavily on backup diesel generators. The Sierra Club data center impact report highlights that these facilities often utilize cheap, highly polluting Tier 2 models.
The Virginia Department of Environmental Quality permits these backup generators to run for up to 500 hours per year. That introduces a significant amount of daily diesel exhaust and hazardous air pollution directly into our neighboring communities.
Backroom Deals Over Public Interest
Perhaps the most frustrating part of this entire situation is how it has been handled. Local advocacy groups like the Southwest Virginia Data Center Transparency Alliance have been protesting the secretive nature of the planning process.
Even the Botetourt County Government FAQ page acknowledges that Non-Disclosure Agreements were used to protect sensitive information during negotiations. Citizens have rightly spoken out at Western Virginia Water Authority meetings to protest these secret deals. The public deserves total transparency when a corporate entity threatens the municipal water supply and the Carvins Cove ecosystem.
We should not be forced to sacrifice our natural resources and pay higher utility rates just to subsidize global tech corporations. It is time we prioritize our community over server farms.
A little “to serve man” doodle to honor Richard Keil and The Twilight zone
Need to work on the noggin bulge, I think. The beard totally makes the look.
Had a really good chat with an old pal from LJ after the loss of another. Some very wise and insightful things said, and it is appreciated. Thanks, Beej.
One quote was in my previous post, this one also stands out –
So anyway.. I told you that long sob story to make the point that in my experience, making an exercise of and documenting the simple everyday moments of joy (which have since come to be called “glimmers”) really does make a difference. I know you are an avid journaler, so you already have a foundation for that. Maybe a slightly different approach to make it stand out a little.
That’s a excellent idea, and one that can be utilized right away.
Some good stuff from today, in the form of Pearl making me smile:
Pearl got up on the table (a no-no), and grabbed a bit of disposable cutlery, to skin and gut it. I took it from her before she could hurt herself, but I weirdly love her predatory instincts.
She was snoring in her pink poofy bed shortly after.
If you have known me for 25 years, from LiveJournal or anywhere really, and I still want to talk to you, know that you are beyond awesome; if you still want to talk to me, that is even better.
Thank you for being here. It’s a hard world right now, and I think that you are improving it.
As for me, I feel like I have more rough edges now than I did as a young man. I think it’s supposed to be the other way around. I don’t want to be a grumpy old dude.
I was talking to a longtime friend and they said something pretty solid, and kind to me that I think bears saving, and looking back to later on
I learned a lot from you from very early on. I struggled with managing my feelings especially around rejection and belonging. You were a great example for me in terms of being less reactive and less reliant on the opinions of others. Even now when I’m deciding how to react to or feel about someone treating me badly, you come to mind as I process it. I go back to the good example I’ve had and the lessons I’ve learned and you were a huge part of some of the maturity I gained back then.
I think cruel men often soften as they age, but it’s normal and probably a good thing for very kind men to develop some sharp edges over time. Kindness is an action, and sometimes a difficult one, so it costs something every time. It is worth it, but some people take advantage either directly or by not taking responsibility for who they are – and that will wear you down. The world needs more kindness but you can’t let it destroy you. There have to be boundaries.
Boundaries are vital. I want to be kind, but I absolutely need boundaries, too. I can certainly still learn from myself to be less reactive, too. Opinions of others still don’t mean a lot, unless I care about people that hold them.
It is hard not to want to lash out against the cruel, and there are so many cruel people out there these days. I think it is better in the long run though to temper that enthusiasm with a plan to either correct that cruelty or remove the strength from it. If they can’t be fixed, remove oxygen, and stuff them out, without propagating the noise they bring if at all possible. Organization and forethought, while not as immediately gratifying, can lead to real change and not amplify my own rage.
As for LJ, there are some lovely folks who have been phenomenal for over a quarter of a century.
Those who leap immediately to my forgetful mind in no particular order, and I am sure there are others that are momentarily sitting in the Swiss cheese part of my brain:
Blackhellkat ( she is so amazing, I married her)
Appelard – visiting later this year, maybe?
Tarpo
Billijean
Ldy
Mootpoint
Lilmizcareall
Rosin_dubh
VickyCAhoy
Javaelemental
(I had to wrack my brain to remember some of the original usernames)
Folks that i have lost track of, mostly due to facebook going away but would love to see again-
It is bizarre to go back and read my old online journal posts (originally livejournal, transferred over to my own site back when lj went under russian ownership).
Recent events had me going back to 2001, over 25 years ago. I was a much nicer dude back then. I miss that guy.
Maybe he and I can have a little talk sometime soon. His writing was better too… i could stand to relearn some old habits.
Just got word that they let her pass. She was in the ICU with multiple organ failure.
I am sorry for her family and for the world. It’s going to be a little less weird and fun without her physically in it.
Thank you for making it a better place overall for so many years, buddy. You will continue to make things a bit strange and wonderful through the people you met along the way, and it will always be appreciated.
I just found out that a dear lj friend from back in the day that I havent spoken to in an age is in the hospital, and I hope she is doing better very soon.
Miss you, kiddo.
Update, Sept 8, 1:30pm:
She was not feeling well, short of breath, went to the hospital, was full of clots and had to be transferred out.
Just got word that they let her pass. She was in the ICU on ECMO with multiple organ failure.
I am sorry for her family and for the world. It’s going to be a little less weird and fun without her physically in it.
Thank you for making it a better place overall for so many years, buddy. You will continue to make things weird and wonderful through the people you met along the way, and it will always be appreciated.
AtlasOS is creating a “kinder” Windows experience. Reducing bloatware and optimizing performance for enthusiasts, gamers, and privacy-conscious individuals.
Oh this is nice! Why did I wait?batocera.orgLinux emulator that fits on a bootable USB drive, very compatible with controllers and etc ive thrown at it
“Where there is no imagination there is no horror.” – Arthur Conan Doyle.
Large corporations function like massive, biological neural networks that ingest data and generate outputs, but they run on human time and bureaucracy instead of silicon chips.
Corporations are like slow AI, which makes me dislike both even more than before.
angel skunk dashes through with a whisker sniff and orangina spider built a little web that is hard to see during the day
The Veil Over the Star City: Salem and Hanging Rock in Old Gods of Appalachia
In the alternate-history cosmic horror podcast Old Gods of Appalachia, real-world geography isn’t just a backdrop. It is a blueprint for the supernatural. Created by Steve Shell and Cam Collins, the anthology weaves the scarred topography of the Appalachian mountains into a narrative where Gilded Age corporate extraction is literally a blood pact with primeval horrors under the earth. While the neighboring railroad boomtown of Roanoke, Virginia serves as a primary hub of administrative malice, the historical city of Salem and the liminal pass of Hanging Rock mark the boundaries where mortal ambition collapses into ancient, untamed dark.
To trace the tragic path of Nadine Rigg and the shadows of the Locke family dynasty, one must look directly north of Salem’s town center, where the limestone cliffs of Hanging Rock, Virginia form a physical and spiritual gateway to the Inner Dark.
The Borderlands: Salem, Virginia
Historically, the city of Salem stood as an independent enclave, resisting annexation by its larger, industrial neighbor. During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, it witnessed the relentless expansion of the rail industry. In the lore of Old Gods, this expansion is driven by the tyrannical Locke Railroad Company. Salem represents a fragile threshold. It is a place caught between the structured, suffocating control of corporate ledgers and the vast, unyielding forests that cloak the Blue Ridge Mountains.
It is on this precise borderland that Nadine Rigg finds herself running for her life. As the daughter of Benji Rigg—a man who became fabulously wealthy by selling his land to the Lockes only to lose his mind to the phantom whistles of the tracks—Nadine inherits a legacy of blood and silver. When she flees her family’s ruined estate with a cache of her mother Inez’s jewelry, she is carrying a piece of the deep mountains: a clairvoyant “Thinking Ring” carved from ancient antler.
Salem is where the urban armor of the Gilded Age fails. It is where human property lines cease to matter, and where the things living in the woods wait to balance the scales.
The Fissure of History: Hanging Rock
Directly north of Salem lies the unincorporated community of Hanging Rock, named for a massive, looming geological formation. Today, travelers cross the intersection of Virginia State Routes 311 and 419 under the shadow of these cliffs. However, the area’s real-world history is steeped in sudden, violent conflict.
In June 1864, retreating Union forces under General David Hunter clashed with Confederate forces in a chaotic, pitched engagement known as the Battle of Hanging Rock. Though regarded as a minor historic footnote, the skirmish left the soil marked by blood, iron, and artillery.
For Old Gods of Appalachia, a landscape soaked in historical trauma is a place where the veil between worlds grows thin. The jagged karst topography of Roanoke County—honeycombed with deep subterranean voids and hidden caverns—reaches a point of sharp, dramatic exposure at Hanging Rock. In the podcast’s narrative, these stone marker zones and deep hollow gaps signify that a traveler has stepped onto land claimed by forces far older than humanity.
Walking the Lore: The Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail
To immerse oneself in the exact atmosphere captured in the series, one can hike the Hanging Rock Battlefield Trail off Dutch Oven Road. This 1.7-mile trail winds along the old cinder rail beds of Mason Creek and Kessler Mill Road.
The Canopy: As you walk the trail, the Appalachian forest canopy closes in tightly, drowning out the distant hum of modern interstate traffic.
The Atmosphere: It is an isolated, heavy environment. The quiet is frequently described by hikers as absolute—the kind of stillness where you can hear the leaves crunching behind you even when the wind is completely dead.
The Dark Convergence: It is precisely this landscape that sets the stage for The Holiest Days of Bone and Shadow storyline. Along these trails, the paths of Nadine Rigg, the dark entities of the woods, and the insidious, monochromatic agents known as the Grey Ladies converge.
When the lore of Old Gods stretches out to these liminal boundaries, the historic markers and stone monuments nestled in the brush of Hanging Rock cease to be mere historical points. They become wardens keeping watch over a porous, swiss-cheese geological foundation.
Ultimately, the story written in the soil of Salem and Hanging Rock matches the frequency of the show perfectly. The real-world history of sudden Civil War ambushes, industrial exploitation, and dark, snaking cavern systems offers a tangible blueprint for the cosmic horror that Steve and Cam masterfully bring to light.
Visual reference map outlining the thin veil zones along Mason Creek and the ancient limestone tracks where the alternate timelines of Locke Rail slice into Virginia’s wilderness.
