DD Date 1984.02.14

February 14, 1984

Back in October we were worried about "nuclear winter" freezing us to death, but the mild winter so far has caused problems we did not foresee! The cold of the winter here in the upstate of South Carolina usually keeps down pests -- like insects and mice. But with practically NO cold weather the pests are over-running our house! It does not help having a wooded area with standing water just a stone's throw from the back porch.

Long story short, the bugs carry "bugs" -- we all got sick! I'd say if we did not have connections with the hospital we may not have survived. Debbie's job provided the support we needed to get clean water and food. I guess I could say we just got careless. Even with running water, we didn't always wash properly. The food get from the distribution center has to be eaten as soon as the cans and boxes are opened because we have no refrigeration.

Little Rebecca got sick first, and since I was with her more those first days (it was in the middle of the week when Debbie was working her twelve-hour shifts), I had to clean up after her puke and diarrhea! It spread to the boys, and even to Debbie. About that time, to make matters worse, I lost my job as I feared might happen. Debbie tried to pick up a few more hours but then she was out sick as well. Finally, on February 2nd, we moved as a family into adjoining rooms at the hospital!

The support we had from the church and from Debbie's work was great. But there were times when I had fevers so high that I was seeing things. Drugs have already become scarce so the most they could do for us was keep us comfortable and have us drink plenty of water to replace what we were losing.

Friends from church moved our stuff to the new house, but I had someone drive me over to see Nanny after we were released from the hospital. Thankfully, Nanny was healthy. She shared with us some herbal remedies a friend of hers recommended. Even the doctors at the hospital are beginning to use natural medicines whenever they can. Most of them are realistic about the current situation and know that out of state suppliers are out of the question for quite some time.

Oh yeah, I just noticed that today is Valentine's Day. Funny, but I don't think many folk were celebrating today. Those that were gave hand-made cards and flowers from the back yard -- yeah, in February? Mostly weeds! Candy was homemade as well -- mostly cookies made from cornmeal and honey since the sugar supplies are gone. I guess the Christmas treats used up most of the sugar on hand.

Well, I'm still weak, and some of those herbs I'm taking are making me drowsy! Well, it's getting dark anyway. I'm going to bed early.

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DD Date 1984.01.25

January 25, 1984

It's getting where I can't concentrate at work. Beth Eden Nursing Home has been officially closed. It has become clear that there are no more funds available from US governmental agencies to support the residents. It will continue as a nursing facility for the treatment of private citizens with the funds to keep their aged parents hospitalized. Medicines are scarce and getting scarcer. Meanwhile, herbal and alternative treatments are on the rise.

This does not bode well for me, for my job is low skill (taking blood pressures, checking temps) and physical (turning patients and bathing, for instance). As the needs increase, administrators are looking to hire more nurses and do with fewer aids. My hopes to finding a church to serve are slim, so it's going to be into the odd jobs market for me if I get let go. I would have thought in the current situation healthcare would be the securest of all fields. I certainly hope Debbie's job holds up. The hospital she works at is privately owned, but I'm pretty sure a lot of the patients there depend on government insurance to pay for their care (like Veterans' Administration).

On another related note, the abortion clinic near the hospital has been shut down! It came as a result of a rash of abortions after the reports of nuclear war became public in October. Hundreds rushed to end the lives of babies they didn't think they could afford. Some of my friends were outside on Grove Road trying to stop them, holding signs and all that. But mostly just praying publicly. Well, anyway, without proper facilities, the doctors got sloppy. Some girls died as a result, so charges were filed. The local police made it a priority, the courts pushed it through, and quite appropriately the order to close was affective last Sunday, January 22, on the eleventh anniversary of the famous Roe v. Wade decision.

The abortions continue over on Laurens Road, though. I talked with some friends at church and they want to picket the place. It's the least we can do, I guess. I wonder if the politicians locally will change things after this. I doubt if any courts of appeal will take a case when we can't even get a phone call to reach Asheville anymore. Maybe the next election will change things. You never can tell.

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DD Date 1984.01.04

January 4, 1984

It seems a little strange, it being the long "predicted" 1984. George Orwell's classic tale of a land ruled by a socialistic leader who took Machiavelli to the extreme has served as a warning to Western democracies of what the world would be like if the ways of the Soviet Union prevailed. Orwell was writing in post-war England in 1948 as London was rebuilding from German attacks not so many years earlier. He knew that Russia was an ally in that war, but he also realized the danger of the socialism that nation represented.

Well, I guess he was right, in a way, Russia seems to have been much more evil that even president Reagan imagined. For all of his talk, I shouldn't be surprised that Russia's leader Yuri Andropov attacked us. The man was KGB, and from what I have read those guys are not nice! Well, we survived his attacks, for now anyway. The winter is about to set in, though, and without electricity we'd better hope that the wood holds out.

As scheduled, I was working Sunday night when the year began. The silence was broken in the minutes before midnight by fireworks in the neighborhood. I don't know if the firecrackers were left over from the Fourth or whether people actually spent money on them instead of more important things. There's no explaining some folks. At least the patients I take care of didn't particularly care. Many of them only have days to live anyway, since we now are a kind of clearing house for the morgue. I think it's called 'hospice' and we are trying to keep the people comfortable without much more than out of date narcotics. I still visit some of the elderly folks that we sent home to live with family as part of my job, though. They at least have the comfort of knowing their family is near.

The good news is that we now have running water! Mayor Workman's office has worked with the utility companies to bypass electric pumps with a low pressure system bringing water downhill from the lakes and reservoirs. Flushing toilets is forbidden, though, since the sewage treatment system cannot handle the waste. Our outhouse is going to have to last a bit longer, I guess. As it is, runoff from the drainage systems is going directly to the rivers downstream. I suppose this is not good news for folks living downstream!

Well, Debbie will be home soon (it's been dark for some time and the kids are in bed). So I think I'm going to put down the pencil and paper and pick up a book to use up a little more of this light. I finally got plans on how to hook the car's old alternator up to a bicycle to charge the battery. Now if I can only get it working before the battery goes dead!

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