General Discussion

My dearest friend for over 40 years and co-worker died over a week ago but in Myrtle Beach after struggling with stress and physical difficulty of carrying buckets of water for a week in Asheville before going with a neighbor down to the coast to wait out restoration of power and water here. My friend had excruciating back pain and died from apparent heart attack in SC
after getting cortisone shots and strong pain meds. My friend had previously been so healthy that they did’nt even have a doctor in 40 years in Asheville and took no meds ever before. The losses here in WNC and elsewhere are staggering and incomprehensible both loss of life and health plus loss of our basic support structure such as stores, banks and roads and bridges gone. Our parks and greenways devastated or inaccessible right now. Myself and spouse personally dealing with a stroke and broken leg plus water damage in house requiring repairs. We still have no running water except murky trickle for flushing I have to lug up from basement but at least not having to drive to World Centrals tanker truck. No TV, landline or internet yet on Oct 22 and struggling to use smartphone for all communications including this response to excellent post where it’s taking me 10 times longer to type a message than before . Only good thing is spouse has lost 15 pounds and I’ve lost 7 since ordeal began and we have encountered so many angels to help and kind neighbors. So much compassion amidst our shared trauma and desperation. Other positive is our early voting sites close by up and running well!!!!