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I am trying to get there. My husband and I will be staying in Gatlinburg, and that is farther from Rita than I thought it would be. And I have stayed farther behind than I thought I would - too many graduations and other events to attend. But if the good Lord is willing and the creek don't rise, we will be there. Please PM me directions. And refresh my memory. I seem to recall we needed to bring a chair; were we supposed to bring food? I know some were offering to bring specialties of their location, but I hate to cross state lines with moonshine so not sure what to bring.

JMHO but you might consider stopping the skydiving.

Gail, no need to bring anything. I'm borrowing tables and chairs from church.

Gail, I hope you can make it. Gatlinburg is about 2.5 hours if you can navigate around Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge is on the way out of Gatlinburg, and during most days it is jammed with tourists and you had best plan for at least an hour to drive as little as 3 miles. (I am not exaggerating) BUT - you can avoid Pigeon Forge. Ask someone in Gatlinburg for the backroad to Townsend. It's not far, and you make a leisurely drive alongside a small cascading river until you reach the community of Townsend, the "back door" to the Smoky Mountains because it is so much less commercialized than Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge. From Townsend take big highway (four lanes) U S 321 westbound. You will go through Maryville and cross the Tennessee River at Lenoir City. These are towns with a little traffic but nothing as time-consuming as Pigeon Forge. Continue on Hwy 321 all the way to Interstate 40 where you will travel west and be in Crossville in about 45 minutes. This is about the best I can do - use Mapquest for more explicit instructions. Hope to see you - Edsel

I haven't had one, yet.

Head injuries always worry me though. And any injury that could result in a blood clot. Both of those can be life threatening. It's a shame we have to think about money and health at the same time. <backs slowly away from political edge>

Judy, I'm getting hungry, too!! Rita you're a gem. I'll have to get to TN after getting my hip replaced, herniated disk fixed, etc. It's maintenance, maintenance, maintenance! I'm also missing Appalachia Service Project this summer in KY and WV. A group photo with names would be fun, too.

This is my favorite picture of Karin and I, so you know what we look like.

John, as far as I know, yes, NC returns that we've been holding may now be completed.

i have family that live in Knoxville, Lenoir City, Murfreesboro, and an Uncle and Aunt that lived 8 miles from Crossville. Edsel is giving you the best route to take from Gatlinburg. Been there many times, and he is spot on.

Normally, if the election was made in April, wouldn't the effective date be January 1, 2019 ? Or is this a brand new entity ? It's not clear from your post.

Dang it I have to umpire the all stars softball games that weekend. My daughter and granddaughter are both playing. We start on Friday morning and go to Sunday night. A win here means we get to go to State tournament. Root for us. Put up pictures or videos. I can get them either way. Everybody enjoy but lookout for the back 40. Who knows what lies there.

Thanks for the advice! No need for a collection. I just hate paying doctors for something unless it's urgent. I was really ticked when she prescribed some ointment that is specifically for knee pain in March for a little bit of arthritis in my knee which was not a big deal to me. I did not have a copay for it, but when I saw the EOB I almost had a stroke to see that they paid over $1K for something that didn't help me at all. The original cost of it was over $3K. Then I received a letter from Blue Cross that I could not refill it without prior permission and that the deductible had gone up. I would never refill it anyway, I hardly used any of it. No wonder our health insurance premiums are so high! The also ran tests at my April physical that my insurance won't even pay for, which I now have to eat. I guess when I turned 60, she decided that I was going to fall apart.

I charge double what the bank charges. Any client gets one strike. Yes, occasionally we get someone who does not make good, and we eat the fee. Way cheaper than chasing them in the long run. I had one deadbeat call me years later, looking for papers relating to her daughter's adoption (she knew we scanned everything). She paid up - with profuse apologies - I went digging and found her docs, she was thrilled.

To @NECPA in NEBRASKA please take care! I saw Adam Savage of Mythbusters fall from a treadmill, utterly drunk (for a myth) and he was so gone he just bounced with nothing but bruises - but BOY did he bounce hard. If you need money for your doctor, we'll take up a collection for you! If you're sure of Aleve and ice, go for it. I certainly self-treat a ton of things most folks go running to the doctor for. That has included huge bruises, serious sprains, nasty deep splinters, and two (at different times) broken toes. Yeah, people (if you tell them) look at you like you're nuts - but YOU know how you feel. Look up the signs of punctured lung (bad break for a rib can do that) and as long as you don't see those, ice and Aleve are your very good friends. Yes, that's all they will do for you; they don't even wrap them these days. @Edsel, I certainly hope you can talk your wife into coming along!

Do you have a Facebook account? If yes, we can do Facebook video chat. It is the next best thing to being there!! If we can work it out, we may even stream live...

This thread is killing me. You're all going to have so much fun, like a high school reunion on steroids, seeing old friends that you remember what they looked like, but have changed. Only now, as Abby said, you have images of what you look and sound like, then when you see each other in person, I could only imagine all the hugging. I wish I could be there, but will be in heart and soul. Can't wait to hear about it, I'll be toasting all of you on the 23rd. Great photo Abby, Karin looks like a real sweetheart. You have my hair from the 70's.

My invoice states a $25 fee will be assessed for any item returned by the bank. Hmmm, maybe time to increase that !!!

Other attractions for those of you who might be in TN Friday and looking for something else to do. If you are around during the day on Friday, you might try whitewater rafting on the Ocoee River. Especially for anyone in the Cleveland, Tennessee area, it is very, very close (less than 30 miles). It is a good 1.5 hours or so from Crossville, certainly no less than that. Whitewater rafting is safe because of the skill of the guides, but I would not recommend anyone under 10 years to raft in this river. Allow about 4 hours at the river - you will be in the water only 2.5 hours but you have to gear up and ride a bus. The river is 30 miles east of Cleveland on Hwy 64 and there are any number of commercial outfitters willing to take your money. In planning, just remember the Ocoee is in the Eastern Time Zone - Rita is in the Central Zone. On Friday evening around 5-6 o'clock there is genuine southern bluegrass at Nine Mile community, a few miles north of Pikeville, TN. Nine Mile is only 45 minutes south of Rita's farm on US Hwy 127. Remember, polished, trained voices are not welcomed at bluegrass venues - you won't even get TV quality bluegrass voices. Expect voices with kinda a rough edge and soulful singing. Just tell 'em you "ain't furm here" and you will be treated royally. Come when you can, leave when you want - probably no admission but they will ask you for a contribution to meet expenses. I am planning on being there and trying to talk my wife into coming. If she comes, those who talk with her are in for a treat. She is from Dalton, GA and a career in the cotton and carpet mills. People in Tennessee call her the "Georgia Peach."

Deb, I'm glad that your mom did not get hurt badly. I did hit my head first and then landed on my chest where I proceeded to get thrown off the back. I just wasn't paying attention and pushed what I thought was the button to bring up my programs, grabbed the tv remote from the couch and stepped on with one foot. I am just glad that it didn't knock me out, because my husband was outside and would not have found me for at least an hour. We have already been through my husband breaking his ribs and they did not do anything but give him pain pills. I will just get by on Aleve, Ibuprophen and ice packs. Bonnie

Ouch! Saw my mother fly off backwards off of the treadmill in my office and smacked herself good on the head right into my filing cabinet. Saw the whole thing in slow motion. Nothing broke just bruised all over. I told her if not carefull I will be accused of elder abuse which is way far from the truth, as I would do anything for her. Since then she has taken several more tumbles, which has us both a bit scared. We recently moved from our longtime home town to a big city and in the last 4 months she has tumbled twice. Again nothing broke just bruised and scraped and hurt ego but hopefully this is the last for this year. Take care and definitely go get checked out! You are far more i,important than your roof!

Sounds awesome, hope you have a great time and post some pictures.

Oh, my. It's 'clothing optional'.

You know what's going to be weird? I (and I'm sure you) read everyone's posts in the voice I imagine you sound like. But your actual voices are going to sound NOTHING like I've imagined. I even have heights picked out for some of you (tall, average, short). Will be great to have actual voices from now on!

I've decided to do a couple of YouTube videos, since people are just going to want to party and relax, plus half the attendees use Drake or other software. This way any one can view the videos at their leisure.

We're driving in Thursday evening (me & Karin) and we're headed to Asheville NC on Sunday. Any suggestions for things to do on Friday are welcomed, and we'll be able to lend a hand for anything last minute items on Saturday. Will the tea be unsweetened? We'll bring some water and beer and/or wine and/or hard seltzers. I see there's a Quaker Meeting! We might check that out on Friday or Saturday, since we're hitting the road early on Sunday. I'll DM you my email and cell in case we need to communicate.

My husband and sons will be in TX that week so I get to mind the store. Also, the date is halfway between my BD on the 21st and my 58th Anniversary on the 25th. I'll be waiting for pictures.

I can't wait to see pictures and videos! I know that you all will have a great time. I broke a few ribs and possibly my sternum last week on a very stupid treadmill accident. I will never push the program button before I step on again. ( I pushed start, by accident) I wish that I had a video of me being thrown off of the back of the treadmill, because I'm sure that it was hilarious and would get a lot ot viewings. I am self treating, since my deductible is way too high to go for something that they can't fix anyway. If one starts poking through the skin, then I will have to go. We just found out that we need a new roof and that deductible is ridiculous, so roof comes before anything else.