Enjoying the thaw

The temperature was higher today than was forecast so I was able to get out and ride a bike around town. I caught the start of the Martin Luther King Day March that started at the Court House and will end at SJC.

 As I was maneuvering to get the right angle for a picture, I noticed that the small space next to the guitar shop was now open so I stopped in. The business has a new name, Serenity Health & Wellness, and a new location, but it is an old business, Therapeutic Message, that used to be in the same building as Jennings Chiropractic. The owner said that the move was prompted by two considerations: it gives her more space and a more visible location. Services are by appointment only and men who want an massage must be accompanied by a female companion. It was lucky I stopped in today because she did not have any appointments scheduled due to the move--normally she probably would not have had time to chat. (If you want to know more, check the Facebook page that is linked above.)

 My next stop was the Presbyterian Church to see how the Talk to A Lawyer Day was going. I walked into the large community room and was stunned to see it full of people. However, the crowd was not there to talk to lawyers but was there for the reception following a funeral. I was redirected to the smaller room were people vote on election day and found a lone lawyer who had not seen anyone in his hour-long stint. A number of different lawyers take part in the event, each taking an hour. This event has been held for a number of years, always on the Martin Luther King holiday. I learned that the lawyers who volunteered were not supposed to be soliciting business and were not supposed to tell people the name of their firm or even their last names. If someone came in wanting to have a will drawn up, they would give information on how to go about getting a will, but would not draw up a will. The idea is to give information about where and how to get legal services, not to provide them.

 This year the Talk-to-A-Lawyer event was originally scheduled for the Library Conference room, but because of the Library's problems, it was relocated. The Library was next on my itinerary, and as I pulled up I noticed that the dumpster was about to be removed. It was loaded up and taken away not because it was no longer needed, but because it was full. An empty dumpster was returned to the site an hour or two later.

 I met two library workers in the parking lot as I was waiting for the perfect picture of dumpster removal, and they told me that the latest news was on the Library door (as well as the Library's Facebook page):

To update you on the status of the Rensselaer Library – It has been 10 days since frozen and broken water pipes flooded the Rensselaer Library. The staff areas and offices are dry but inaccessible. Public areas are still drying. Repair work has begun. Dry wall repairs and repainting will occur first with re-carpeting to follow. While we only lost a small portion of our materials inventory due to the flood, many items are not currently on shelf as shelves has to be moved for complete drying and restoration to occur. We are sorry for any inconvenience our situation is causing. We are working hard to put the pieces back together correctly, quickly, and completely. As soon as we are able to open our doors again, we will. In the meantime, our DeMotte and Wheatfield locations are open to serve you, and our website www.myjcpl.org is available 24/7.

And then I was fortunate enough to be invited in to see the progress. Books were being re-shelved, but unanticipated problems had popped up. The dry wall had soaked up moisture, and to dry the dry wall (that sounds rather strange, doesn't it), the bottom of the vinyl wallpaper had to be lifted up.

 The wallpaper cannot be reglued, so it hast to be removed. Until the walls are repainted, lots of things are out of place, and it is the mess created by the movement of furniture and fixtures, plus all the people busy at work trying to get the drying, repainting, etc. done, that is the primary reason that the library remains closed.

 The warm weather had melted the snow and ice in the streets leaving them wet and slushy, and because the weather forecast for the rest of the month sounds terrible, I rode around town a bit to see what else was happening. I did not find much other than a crew of CSX workers removing part of an unused rail spur.

Today my ride around town was a lot more interesting than I expected it to be.