Workin' Nine to Five...

What a way to make a living...

So, training is a bit more intensive than I expected! I guess this means I won't be getting much blogging done this week. Hopefully I'll have enough time to squeeze out a post or two in the next couple of days. Between the technical difficulties and "speed learning" (cramming our brains full of more information than a normal human can process in a few hours), I don't have much time to think this week. All I can say is my cutoff time Friday is 5:00PM no matter what. There better not be homework that day (yes, they actually call it that).

There's a big difference between working to live and living to work. I prefer the former. Yesterday, I wasn't officially done with "work" until 10:30PM. After being sent all around the region all morning, it made for a long day. But on the bright side, I have a newfound appreciation for the term "going postal". Is it the intent of every federal job to drive you insane?

Grinding Out the Troublemakers...

Many places are rumored to have a ghost or two. But does such a statement warrant a lawsuit?

That's the question tossed around in court down in Miami County, Ohio these days. It revolves around the Staley Mill, built in 1818 by Elias Staley and his clan. The Troy grist mill was featured in the book Weird Ohio and has become an attraction for would-be ghost hunters and bored teenagers. One descendant, Melissa Duer, is determined to stop all this.

Duer filed a lawsuit against people responsible for both the book and a website, Forgotten Ohio. She told local reporters that both her and her husband have been physically threatened when telling people to leave. Melissa has hired off-duty law enforcement and a $35,000 watch dog. A judge ruled earlier this month that Weird Ohio did not paint the grist mill or the family in an unfavorable light. Trespassers were not the responsibility of the author, nor was any emotional distress" brought on by the work. A contributing author and the website owner, Andrew Henderson, may be held responsible for some of the expenses Duer is seeking due to the website.

So, writing down what other people have been saying for decades is, apparently, a very bad thing. It's not so easy to sue someone for saying a place is haunted verbally among friends (probably because it's not easy to track them down). Writing down a rumor that is merely a rumor isn't against the law, in my opinion. Stating it as emphatic fact, however, with intent to libel, is. Freedom of speech covers most literary work, with the added disclaimer almost every book has. So, why go after a storyteller and not the trespassers? Because it's easier to blame one than punish the many guilty parties.

As a writer and teller of paranormal stories, there is always inherent risk that someone will break the law to see a place for him or herself. All we can do is be responsible, let people know that they need to get permission to enter a property (which might be common sense, but isn't so common), and hope for the best.

In my opinion, Duer would be better off turning the mill into a ghost tour location and charging people for visiting it. Aside from suing people, what could be more American than earning a fast buck?

I Haven't Got Time for the Pain...

Bah, scheduling conflicts. I hate them. Everything wants to happen at the same time! I go through periods where nothing is on my slate, then everything wants to happen on the same day! Life would be so much easier if things were spread out, but that's just not how real life works!

This coming week, I was supposed to have jury duty. Then, the Census bureau called to say training is the same week. Luckily, some people are more lax about rescheduling, so jury duty has been postponed for one week. Sorry, Perry Mason. Of course, that means my next three weeks are busy, busy, busy! Leave it to fate to make my birthday month the busiest one of the year.

I'm still fitting in a trip to Dayton afterward, and I have some small things to fit into the schedule here and there. But, sheesh... mass chaos! I shouldn't complain, though. I asked for it by wanting to be busier. I'll gladly be too busy than bored to tears. Let's just hope nothing else decides to pop up and add to the chaos. When it rains, it pours...

Random Acts of Unkindness...

Tell the truth and shame the devil.

I find myself using that phrase quite a lot. While we desire to live by that phrase, we often live contrary to it. Truth can hurt and cause strain or argument. It can be a lot uglier than a lie. It's easier to say, but a tough pill to swallow.

So many times in our lives, we have the opportunity to open our mouths and let something spill forth. It often does. We later worry that those words will travel through the cosmos, or even casual banter, to the very ears they weren't meant to reach. But it does happen occasionally. Why? Because people like to talk. People don't act as we think they will all the time. Sometimes, words become weapons. Not always a dagger thrust into someone's chest, but a grenade tossed idly by the roadside. Still, it can find its target.

Always be careful what you say. Words haunt us worse than ghosts in the host haunted house known to humankind. While ghosts fade, words ring in the ears for all of time. Sometimes, karma is listening. Sometimes those spoken about. A person need not respond to digest the vocabulary. But they often don't forget. It can happen in a random moment on a random day years after the fact. Words do not have an expiration date.

We all have the ability to be wicked or evil in deeds and spoken sounds. Most of us suppress it. But we all slip. And when that minor loose tongue wags and its voice finds the appropriate ear, unrelated things make sense, sometimes. Puzzling equations become rudimentary; simple arithmetic makes a blunder. A new reality is formed... and it's up to the possessor to decide what, if anything, to do with it.

Peeking Through the Lens...

Those of you who know me well know that I love photography. I may not do it as often as I'd like, but I enjoy being behind a camera. I did fight the digital revolution (and still prefer 35mm), but digital is easier when you're dealing with the internet. Scanning regular images, as well as all the expense involved, makes it something I save for what I deem most important. Some sightseeing and paranormal adventures require tangible photos worthy of frames. The rest, well, I'll settle for a digital.

I've been a member of Flickr for a few years now, I think. It was only recently that I actually bothered uploading any photos onto the site. It's easy and a good way to get some exposure for any images you've captured... and, for some, a way of sharing other people's photographic work. For me, it's a way of sharing some of the things I've photographed (and bothered saving the images for) with new people, friends, and anyone else. I'm very picky about what I place on it.

But today, I finally uploaded some new images from this past weekend. I had the great pleasure of going to a small family gathering (not my family) in Valley View at one of the "haunted" places in the Cuyahoga Valley: Edmund Gleeson House. I was invited by a Gleeson family descendant who still lives nearby, and took the chance to get a sneak peek inside the rehabilitated home. I met the owner, listened sheepishly as the Gleeson descendant went on and on about my book to everyone (she even gave they mayor of Valley View a copy... I shook his hand), and poked around the old farmhouse. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and I went for it.

Everyone was pleasant. A few of the teenagers in the room immediately wanted to know more about the "ghost". The other Gleeson house down the road (occupied by the descendant) is also haunted, apparently. I maintained my usual speculative distance from any firm answers about the hauntings. I've never experienced anything nor have I investigated anything, therefore it could just be legend. We had an interesting discussion of local legends, like "Hell Town", as well.

I didn't overstay my welcome and had plans, so the visit was brief. But I did get to snap a few photos inside before leaving. I gave the owner a copy of the book as well, for curiosity's sake. The National Park Service did an incredible job on the home. I would have taken more photos, but the place was packed with guests and family and I didn't want to intrude too much.

To see these and some of the other photos from the Cuyahoga Valley (as well as other random images from the past few years), just go to my Flickr photostream.