Living

Living story sections

Housing in Brattleboro: Let’s Get It Done

by jeannie1163 | Activism

Though the selectboard knew the motel funding would end, they did no planning. Instead now they are talking about thinking about proposing something.  

BCS has promoted emergency homeless shelters in RVs and campers since last summer. We’ve been saying to the selectboard basically, “We have started a decentralized homeless shelter.  It’s a simple solution to the homeless crisis, but it doesn’t fit any current permitting process. Can you help? ”. They said nothing. In February they began prosecuting us. Now the news says they are proposing the same thing and calling it “dispersed camping”.

We Need To Understand CPR Better

by RDavis | Health

Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is something that has become ingrained in our culture. When someone collapses people are supposed to feel compelled to start pumping on someone’s chest. Communities offer a number of ways for health professionals and lay people to learn the technique and an industry has developed around the use of CPR.

But I wonder if enough people take the time to look at the big picture and weigh the pro’s and con’s of CPR. The technique has been in popular use since the 1970’s and it’s interesting to note that the idea of cardiac compression first came to light in 1878 from experiments with cats.

During my career as a nurse I have done CPR hundreds of times and I have come to the conclusion that it is a good tool to have but it should be used wisely and only after carefully weighing the benefits and possible outcomes.

Selectkitten Meeting Notes – Cuteness Not Called Into Question

by cgrotke | Pets

The Brattleboro Selectboard is meeting tonight and the agenda looks thrilling. By thrilling, I mean pretty ordinary. The biggest item, to my eye, is the hiring of two security firms for downtown patrols. They will also start to look at enterprise fund budgets. It’s all in their background materials.

Tonight, I’d rather tell you the tale of a stray cat that showed up late last fall. It was a little thing, and solid gray. It was getting cold out and I wondered if it was just lost so I put some food out. It seemed a bit on the feral side, or at least a bit standoff-ish or unsure, so I kept my distance.

Warning – Scammers Locally Active

by MarkTwain© | Living

A polite “gentleman” knocked on my door, offered to pave my driveway, explaining that the town wants everyone’s driveway to be brought up to code.

At first he sounded like he was there on official business from the town, but when I asked precise questions, such as why I have not received written notice from the town, I was able to determine that, in fact, the statement that the town wants everyone’s driveway to comply with code was a non-sequitur, and that my driveway is not out of code compliance.

Drug Shortages, Deadly Consequences

by RDavis | Health

We live in a world that has become dependent on prescription medications. It has been that way for decades despite the fact that too many people cannot afford them. And although cost remains a major barrier, people now have to contend with worsening shortages in the supply of drugs.

There have been shortages of critical drugs in the past, but it seems as though the current shortage of life-saving drugs may be showing us how the pharmaceutical industry is driven by profit while the value of human life is marginalized. Nothing new. Not exactly a revelation.

Suggestion for Solution for Homeless Folks

by CrisEricson2016 | Activism

Apparently, from what I am reading about Brattleboro and other areas https://www.mynbc5.com/article/brattleboro-homeless-vermont-hotel-motel-voucher/43934250 there are restrictions on land use and local zoning ordinances and state laws, etc., etc., but what about “unrestricted land” for sale in Vermont?

If a few non-profits got together, and did some of those online fundraisers, maybe you all together could come up with enough money to buy “unrestricted” land in Vermont and a bunch of tents from a big box store like Home Depot or Walmart.

If you can find a property with a stream on in, people can take a dip to get clean.

Surviving in the Rough Handbook (a work-in-progress)

by Norsehorse | Activism

Surviving in the Rough Handbook:

For those living unhoused in Vermont who either have been or are due to evicted from the motel/hotel program or have otherwise have already been abandoned to the streets, woods or elsewhere with nowhere else to call home.

A living, work-in-progress, document anonymously co-written by various peers (those with lived experience, knowledge and insights, because we have been there and have done that).

In solidarity. Don’t give up!!!

Dosa Kitchen’s Ninth Season Starts

by Dosa Kitchen | Food

Dosa Kitchen food truck has started its ninth season! This year we are located on the beautiful Winston Prouty campus at 209 Austine Drive, Thomas Hall, in Brattleboro. Our hours are Friday, Saturday, Sunday (and holiday Mondays) 11:30-3:30. Our food truck is right outside our new dosa batter factory, with a small factory store to pick up dosa batter, other products, and dosa merch. The store has the same hours as the food truck. We hope to see you there!

A New Revelation About Dying

by RDavis | Health

One of the greatest privileges working in health care is to be able to make the passage into death a little bit easier for people and their families. Nurses and doctors and other providers do their best to ease pain and provide comfort despite the fact that we know almost nothing about the process of dying.

Death is something that has mostly been dealt with in religious and philosophical realms. The fact that we can’t experience death and then come back to talk about it makes it difficult to know anything about the passage.

Of course, there is something of an exception to this when people have what are called near-death experiences surviving after cardiac arrest or remembering being brought to the brink under general anesthesia. The common thread is seeing a bright light and a long tunnel and having a feeling of complete calm. Beyond that we don’t know much, but a study done in 2014 at the University of Michigan with four patients opens a new window into the act of dying.

Learning To Accommodate

by RDavis | Health

Regular physical activity has always been an important part of my life. Baseball was my go-to sport growing up and it was a rare day (weather permitting) that I was not riding my bike. If there is a day without movement I feel as though I should be guilty of some sort of crime.

As the years have passed it has become necessary to make accommodations for the constant decay of the body. But despite that decay I have always found a way to figure out how to get some sort of exercise on a regular basis.

After spending a working lifetime in healthcare and reading all kinds of medical reports it is clear to me that if you want to prevent a lot of health-related problems one of the best things you can do is to exercise on a regular basis.