Thursday night and Friday we had another snow storm, we got about 4 inches of snow but didn’t have any wind. We should have another storm on Sunday and Monday with maybe another 5 or 6 inches. I think I am now ready for spring. As the snow melted and I could see the grass out front I saw that we have a lot of mole tunnels out in there. I will have to get some gas to get rid of them. That stuff they sell in the stores doesn’t do a thing. Maybe I will mix some Ammonia and Bleach together and soak a rag full and put it in one of the tunnels.
While at work on Friday night/Saturday morning I again got to watch Paul sleep. I don’t even know why he bothers coming to work, except to get paid. He might as well just stay home and sleep all day. It is a shame that our tax dollars go to pay someone who goes to work every night just to fall a sleep. I know everyone gets tired working nights but his sleeping is a everynight thing. It seems like he just comes to work so he can sleep.
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Centralia PA’s population has fallen to about 12 people and 5 houses but those who remain like to keep up appearances. Christmas decorations still adorned the street lamps, a large manger scene occupies a corner of the main intersection and a 2010 calendar hangs in the empty borough building. But the holdouts are fighting a losing battle. In the Odd Fellows Cemetery, vandals recently knocked over dozens of tombstones and nature has reclaimed parts of the town.
Odd Fellows Cemetery
The borough, situated over a large vein of anthracite coal, a rare and valuable form of coal, drew many miners to the area. By 1962, more than 1,100 people lived in Centralia, many of whom were coal miners. On Memorial Day of 1962, a trash fire was lit in an abandoned mine pit outside of town in attempt to clean up the area. The fire traveled down a mine shaft, igniting a vein of coal. The fire spread throughout the coal mines underneath Centralia throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Some efforts were made to extinguish the fire, but were unsuccessful. Some people who lived near the fire reported the smell of coal fumes and emissions of carbon monoxide in their homes. In 1982, 12-year-old Todd Dombroski was playing in a backyard when a sink hole opened up beneath him. A relative pulled Dombroski from the hole, which was estimated to be 150 feet (45 meters) deep. The incident brought national attention to Centralia, and in 1983, the Pennsylvania government offered a buy-out for the residents. Most of the borough’s residents opted to move, and today, many of them live in the nearby communities of Ashland and Mount Carmel. The remaining residents have refused all buy-out offers from the state. Their reasons are varied, but some residents believe the state has ulterior motives in forcing them out, such as claiming the mineral rights to the 3,700 acres of coal beneath the borough.
There are no plans to extinguish the fire, and the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection estimates the fire will burn out in 100 years.
Mayor's House - At last report still standing.
Check out some “Then and Now” Pictures:
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Tea Party - One of the biggest farces ever – and bringing Sarah Palin into it was a even bigger farce.
Sarah Palin – What a stupid bitch.
At least they were not stupid enough to invite and pay Joe “The Plumber” Wurzelbacher to speak. Although he does have the best way to reduce taxes – don’t pay them.
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Number of Operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom casualties as
confirmed by U.S. Central Command: 5325
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Capt. Daniel Whitten U.S. Army
