Author: Ed Jacobs

Thursday, July 8, 2021
Hurricane Elsa seems to have taken it easy on folks in Florida, and hopefully the same in NC. Beach forecasts are for lots of rain; here in Raleigh we expect more than 3″, which is a ton, of course.

Have been reading a Master’s Thesis in prep for a defense tomorrow (zoom). It’s centered on Kendrick Lamar’s Damn, and focusing more on the musical elements, rather than the text/lyrics. This is a good document, albeit in need of some editing, and I’ve quite enjoyed this particular student’s approach which, to be honest, is one of the best thesis documents I’ve read at ECU. This student, Shawn, seems to “get” the idea of such a study; research, absorb, synthesize, and suggest conclusions. And, as a good paper should, his conclusions are both logical and interesting! Lots of years of reading such documents, and this is really a fine example of the process of a research paper.
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The many faces of Jackson, from a recent morning call:
July 8, 2021
Wednesday, July 7, 2021
Hurricane season is upon us, and Elsa is headed our way after ravaging the Caribbean and the west coast of Florida. So I drove down/back to Surf City yesterday to bring the furniture in from the deck, away from any potential wind damage. It’s about 30 minutes further from here than it was from Greenville, but the round trip was uneventful.

Back here in Raleigh, continually amazed at the progress being made on the buildings in this development. The pix below represent four days’ work:
The changing view from our porch…
July 7, 2021
Tuesday, July 6, 2021

Now about 80% settled into this new place, which feels good. But certainly getting that final 20% settled involves lots of work yet. Most rooms are livable, if not completely as we want them. There’s at least one thing to do in every space though–finishing the spackle/paint around the medicine cabinet in the master bath; unpacking a few boxes in the master bed; dealing with furniture arrangement in living room, etc. The laundry space, the hall bath, the guest bedroom and bath, and just about everything related to Pattie’s mom’s space are set, though. Six ceiling fans installed, lots of handyman work, which I enjoy.

Pattie’s sewing room still isn’t finished–painting, some shelving–and it was part of what we’ve already paid for, to have been done before our move in on June 9. That’s pretty frustrating, to say the least.

I’m working on my ‘office’ space, having finished a nice table and set up audio equipment there. Hoping to get to serious work soon on the piece for Rachel/Ari. But I have to figure out how to deal with creating some shelving for books.

I think we’re getting to a point where I’ll soon not spend all day every day working on the place, and I’d like to see that happen this week. I’ve a master’s degree defense on Friday, so will need to spend time reading this week. Also getting us out of the house is the local gym/health club we joined last week. It’s got a pool that Pattie and her mom like, and the elliptical and weight machines I like.

I’ve been trying out a few yoga classes to see if there’s anything I like…one was ok, but a bit more gentle that I want on a regular basis. Am trying another one this morning. It’s a good stretch, and I have missed it. I may just return to the online video classes I like (so many really great, and diverse, Ashtanga series on youtube).

Joe still looking for something viable work-wise. He seems to be doing ok, but I know I’m stressing a bit about it. On the other hand, he’s so enjoying his time with Jackson–pics from this week’s trip to Maine below–and that’s a great thing. New baby boy still a few months away now (October), and all seems to be going well with Cristin.

Onward with the day, and hoping yours is pleasant, and healthy.

July 6, 2021
Sunday, June 20, 2021
The pace of the building of this development is really something to observe. I feel like a kid watching the crews work each day, and noting the progress. The builders are aiming to begin/complete a building (4-6 townhomes in each building) every 4 weeks. And they may just meet that aim.
- The first building completed, containing the model we viewed in mid-March
- This is the building we’re in (white suv is ours). First closings were late-May
- This is the next building…
- and the next…
- The next–let’s call this building 5.
- And the one whose foundation just poured a few days ago. This building is right behind us.
- Two more views from our porch.
- And then the next buildings, mapped out, not yet poured.
- And here’s building 5 Thursday morning
- Friday morning
- Saturday morning
- Sunday morning
June 20, 2021

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

A particularly potent “Heather Cox Richardson from Letters from an American” this morning:

Today, more than 100 scholars who study democracy issued a letter warning that “our entire democracy is now at risk.” The letter explains that the new election laws in Republican-led states, passed with the justification that they will make elections safer, in fact are turning “several states into political systems that no longer meet the minimum conditions for free and fair elections.”

If we permit the breakdown of democracy, it will be a very long time before we can reverse the damage. As a nation spirals downward, the political scientists, sociologists, and government scholars explain, “violence and corruption typically flourish, and talent and wealth flee to more stable countries, undermining national prosperity. It is not just our venerated institutions and norms that are at risk—it is our future national standing, strength, and ability to compete globally.”

The scholars called for federal action to protect equal access to voting and to guarantee free and fair elections. Voting rights should not depend on which party runs the state legislature, and votes must be cast and counted equally, regardless of where a citizen lives. They back the reforms in the For the People Act, which protects the right to vote, ends partisan gerrymandering, and curbs the flood of money into elections.

They urged Congress “to do whatever is necessary—including suspending the filibuster—in order to pass national voting and election administration standards that both guarantee the vote to all Americans equally, and prevent state legislatures from manipulating the rules in order to manufacture the result they want. Our democracy is fundamentally at stake.”

“History,” they wrote, “will judge what we do at this moment.”

But in Tulsa, Oklahoma, today, President Joe Biden noted that the events that transpired in the Greenwood district of that city 100 years ago today were written out of most histories. The Tulsa Massacre destroyed 35 blocks of the prosperous Greenwood neighborhood, wiping out 1100 homes and businesses and taking hundreds of Black lives, robbing Black families of generational wealth and the opportunities that come with it.

Biden pointed out that he was the first president to go to Tulsa to acknowledge what happened there on May 31 and June 1, 1921. But, he said, “We do ourselves no favors by pretending none of this ever happened or doesn’t impact us today, because it does.” He drew a direct line from the terrorism at Greenwood to the terrorism in August 2017 at Charlottesville, Virginia, to the January 6 insurrection. Citing the intelligence community, he reminded listeners that “terrorism from white supremacy is the most lethal threat to the homeland today. Not Isis. Not al-Qaeda. White supremacists.”

Victims’ trauma endures, too, and it eventually demands a reckoning when “what many people hadn’t seen before, or simply refused to see, cannot be ignored any longer.” Today, Americans are recognizing “that for too long, we’ve allowed a narrowed, cramped view of the promise of this nation to fester, the view that America is a zero-sum game, where there’s only one winner. If you succeed, I fail. If you get ahead, I fall behind. If you get a job, I lose mine. And maybe worst of all, if I hold you down, I lift myself up. Instead of if you do well, we all do well.” Biden promised to invest in Black communities extensively to unlock creativity and innovation.

Then the president took on the elephant in the room: voting. On Saturday, Biden took a stand against the state voter suppression laws being passed in Republican-dominated legislatures that, as he said, attack “the sacred right to vote.” They are “part of an assault on democracy that we’ve seen far too often this year—and often disproportionately targeting Black and Brown Americans.” They are “wrong and un-American.”

Biden called on Congress to pass the For the People Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, which would restore the voting protections the Supreme Court stripped out of the 1965 Voting Rights Act with the 2013 Shelby County v. Holder decision. He called on “all Americans, of every party and persuasion, to stand up for our democracy and to protect the right to vote and the integrity of our elections.

In Tulsa today, Biden called the Republican efforts to restrict voting a “truly unprecedented assault on our democracy.” He urged voting rights groups to redouble their efforts to register and educate voters, and then he put pressure on Democratic senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ), who continue to say they will not challenge the Republican use of the filibuster to stop passage of voting rights bills. Biden promised to fight “like heck with every tool in my disposal” to get the For the People and the John Lewis Voting Rights Act passed.

He has asked Vice President Kamala Harris to lead the effort. Today, she released a statement placing today’s fight for voting rights in the context of our history. “[M]any have worked—and many have died—to ensure that all Americans can cast a ballot and have their vote counted,” she said. “Today, that hard-won progress is under assault.” She promised to work with voting rights organizations, community organizations, the private sector, and Congress to strengthen voting rights.

“The work ahead of us is to make voting accessible to all American voters, and to make sure every vote is counted through a free, fair, and transparent process,” she said. “This is the work of democracy.”

Notes:
https://www.newamerica.org/political-reform/statements/statement-of-concern/
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/05/29/statement-by-president-joe-biden-on-texas-senate-bill-7/
https://www.rev.com/blog/transcripts/joe-biden-tulsa-race-massacre-anniversary-speech-transcript
https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2021/06/01/statement-from-vice-president-kamala-harris-on-administrations-voting-rights-efforts/
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© 2021 Heather Cox Richardson

June 2, 2021

Tuesday, May 25, 2021

May 25, 2021
Friday, May 21, 2001

Greenville home is under contract, appraised, inspected. The buyers will get the inspector’s report soon, and then we’ll negotiate what we’ll do before the closing. As the buyers are, literally, our next-door neighbors, they’re very familiar with the area, and have a pretty good sense of this home. And, thankfully, our other next-door neighbor is a former builder, and is willing to work on any issues within his abilities, which are broad-ranging. So, it’ll mostly be a matter of negotiating an agreement between what the buyers want and what we’re willing to do (not much).

We close the deal on the Raleigh place next Thursday. Last week was the inspection on that place, and two days later a “new home orientation.” That was four hours of learning about every item in the home–function, maintenance, etc–and then walking every inch with a roll of painter’s tape to mark any cosmetic issue we wanted to bring to their finishers’ attention. Thankfully, the builder’s project manager, who led the session, also started that final marking process with us; and our realtor Laura was there to help, as well. Even still, that marking phase took about 90′.

The home-buying process is really something, I must say. Really, I suppose, it’s less the home-buying than the mortgage. It seems we have new forms to sign every day; though it’s made a bit less difficult with “docuSign” online electronic signing. So we can get through these forms at the kitchen table, on our computers/iPads/phones, which is certainly simple and convenient.

Once the home is ours, next Thursday, then the adapting of the place begins. The kitchen for Pattie’s mom will be built into the bottom floor (proposed image below), as well as the finishing of what will become her laundry room. It’s a significant project, including lots of plumbing, electrical, and HVAC work. The other part of the job is finishing the unfinished room on the top floor (no plumbing to deal with there, and not a great deal of electrical), and putting French doors in the wall adjoining that room with the ‘loft.’ The loft will be my work space, but also another living area, couch, tv, sitting area, etc.

this is all just bare walls at this point…

That work will all begin with our walking the job with the contractor after the closing, just to review every element of the work he’ll do. Then he’ll start the work the next day.

We had a great visit from Joe/Cristin/Jackson about 10 days ago, and that was a wonderful change in the push that’s all about selling/buying/moving. Had to put them up in a hotel, as we don’t have beds, etc., available to provide at this point. Maybe I already posted these…just can’t remember.

They’re finishing up a sweet visit with Cristin’s folks in Naples, FL, and then will head north. I’m so glad they’ll spend an afternoon with Bob/Brigitte on Saturday; will be good for all of them to see each other. Then they’ll spend the night in Jacksonville, FL, then continue up to Surf City, arriving Sunday. They’ll stay until Thursday, but we’ll likely leave on Wednesday to facilitate getting to Raleigh on Thursday morning for the final walk-through, then the closing, then the appt with the contractor. Can’t wait to spend a few days with them.

The best news, hopefully finalized later this morning, relates to Joe’s job situation. He had an interview with a firm whose litigation director has been in touch with Joe continually for a year now, awaiting the ‘unfreezing’ of hiring at that firm. The interview was about ten days ago with various folks/partners at the firm–but not the director who’s been advocating for Joe’s hire. Today he’s got a meeting with that person, Gil, who was years ago at the firm Joe was (Reed Smith) at until being laid off a year ago now; and since Gil’s been with his current firm he’s hired quite a few folks from Reed Smith. If this works out (fingers crossed!!), then it will mean a shift in the work Joe will do, and he’s looking forward to that. He’ll still be working at a litigator, but the work will focus on Real Estate, rather than Bank Finance.

At any rate, we’d hoped that things would open up here in NC and offer something before an offer came in NY, but if this is an offer, and if the offer is a good one, then he just needs to take it and get back to work. He’s been chomping at the bit for months now, trying to patiently await the economy’s thaw, and making the most of appreciating his time with Cristin and Jackson. So, looking forward to hearing about Joe’s morning meeting, and really hoping it’s a positive development.

Onward with the day, and wishing you a good one filled with smiles.

May 21, 2021
Sunday, May 9, 2021

A lovely, albeit brief, visit with Jackson, Cristin, and Joe, as they make their way south for a visit to Cristin’s folks in Florida for a few weeks. It’s been a nice 36 hours with them, and have enjoyed the respite from all-consuming moving-related things.

Jackson’s first slide!

May 9, 2021
Saturday, May 1, 2021

This weekend I’m trying on the role of real estate agent, it seems. Pattie out of town at niece’s graduation from nursing school (yay Hannah!) in Lander, Wyoming, so I’m the sole ‘agent’ on duty this weekend. One showing yesterday, and a few (so far) scheduled for today, so the house is clean and ready for anyone.

And here comes the first appointment of the day right now, so I’m off.

Back later with more updates about Raleigh planning…

May 1, 2021
Friday, April 23

It’s been weeks since I’ve logged in here, weeks since time has allowed for the reflection this space offers.

In these weeks my family has grown to include two new children–welcome to the world Asher Widlanski (3/29) and Ellery Powers Loverme (3/22)!–and the announcement of Cristin/Joe anticipating the arrival of Jackson’s younger brother ~October 2.

And Pattie and I will relocate to Raleigh in about 7+ weeks. For a few years now we’ve been searching for an approach to family needs, largely wanting to ease any potential issues that arise during the aging process. Lots of lessons learned from my mom’s illness and passing back in 2010, we hope to find an easier time by relocating to an area ~15 minutes from Pattie’s sisters (still a distance from her brother at the beach), and welcoming her mom into the large space which our new place has in the bottom floor (almost 1000 sq ft).

While we (us and Pattie’s siblings) have considered lots of options over the past few years, this seemed the most efficient way to proceed, and we’re excited about it. It’s new construction, which is a completely new experience for us. This little development in N Raleigh (near 540/Six Forks Rd, for those who know the area) will mean living in a townhome, rather than a stand alone house. No yard work, but no large yard for Frankie; but she’ll have the company of mom-in-law’s small dog Bailey, and we will fence in a small area and install a doggie door. Townhome living will mean neighbors abutting, as in Surf City, and we’ll hope for good folks and relative quiet. The space is, unlike what I expected for our next home, actually considerably larger than our current place, which should give us all space to ourselves. Quite a luxury, and we’re very fortunate to be able to make this happen.

We’ll have an inspection May 17, a “new home orientation” May 19, and the closing May 27. Then we’ll have some work done to create a kitchen area in the bottom floor, allowing mom to have the means she’d like to maintain independence. That kitchen, also finishing some unfinished rooms–creating a laundry room for mom, and a sewing room in a room on the top floor which will open into a space we’ll use for my office/studio and a second living room–will hopefully all be complete before our moving day on June 9.

Mom has now shown her Gvl home to one person, and now she’s under contract to sell. What a great time to be selling a home. Pattie/I have been packing for weeks now, slowly but surely. We’re not completely done, but really quite close to ready to show the house. We’ll try to do this on our own, without broker/agent, to save the commission fee (6%). I’ll put out a sign next week, and arrange showings beginning May 1. Hoping it’s as quick a process as most people seem to be experiencing these days. We did get a call from someone who knows we’re selling, so we showed it last night to a young couple…Pattie seems convinced they want to make an offer, I’m less sure. They know we’re putting it on the market next week, so if they’re interested, we’ll find out soon, I imagine.

It’s been quite a process, this packing up. We had gotten rid of alot when clearing out for renters while we were away last year, and that certainly helped. But there’ve still been many trips to donate things to Goodwill, Habitat for Humanity, and 2nd hand stores. And, very thankfully, I’ve also had luck simply leaving various construction materials, scrap wood, etc., on the curb, and finding folks just come by and pick it up. We sold a few things via FB marketplace, which was an amazingly fast process–things gone in hours. And the best was, within 7 minutes of posting, finding someone interested in hauling away 100+ landscaping blocks from the back of our yard. It took three people more than two hours to haul those blocks (and lots of broken up concrete, too) away; it would have taken me a full day to load and haul that to the dump, let alone the cost of dumping.

So now the house looks good, and I’ve taken pictures of almost every room. Today I’ll get pix of the two remaining rooms, as well as some outside shots of the front and back yards.

Then there’s school, which is finishing up well, and I’m so very proud of our students and their hard work. More on school tomorrow…

Leaving you with the best of recent days, Jackson with his dog Ellie, and with dad and Oscar:

April 23, 2021