[mfrance-writes]

The Christmas Special 2026 has been cancelled. The show has been placed on indefinite hiatus and will be put out to tender. This feels like one of those moments in a sitcom when the main character laughs nervously as they say, "It's fine. Everything is fine!" Then the voiceover chimes in with, "Everything was not fine."

[cool-video-wav]

How it feels being a doctor who fan today..

[mfrance-writes]

Helene: The Aftermath in Appalachia, 8 Months Later

Helene ripped through parts of East Tennessee and Western North Carolina a little over 8 months ago. The world seems to have moved on from the disaster that is now classified as a Geological Event, even in my area of East Tennessee. North Carolina, where the worst of the damage occurred, will likely never be the same, and repairs are slow-going, even 8 months later.

Most of the damage has been repaired in my area. The main roads are repaired, but some of the less busy roads and back roads are still washed out with no timeline for repair. The debris has been cleared away. A few weeks ago, we had the first train go through the area since Helene. The rafting companies have even opened back up, but they did get a late start due to hurricane-related river changes and water checks and all those things. The help centers have shut down and we've transitioned to hurricane-related meetings that (usually) occur monthly that provides updates on grants and other services.

Now that it seems like all the grand-scale issues in my area are fixed, we're left dealing with personal-sized issues. We're seeing mold in homes causing people to need to relocate. We're seeing people and small businesses still waiting for grant moneys to come in so they can fix their homes and businesses. We're seeing injuries as people are starting to go out to the rivers for summer fun. (So far, I don't think anyone has died as a result of the injuries, but someone did shatter their kneecaps on river rocks that had been moved by the flood.)

North Carolina, on the other hand, is still dealing with post-Katrina levels of devastation. Chimney Rock is still non-existent. Areas like Bat Cave still have roads washed out. Government officials stopped looking for bodies a surprisingly long time ago (by disaster standards), and residents suggest you can still smell death hanging over the area because a lot of bodies have been left laying where they washed up, covered by debris. The death toll has been SEVERELY under-reported, according to people who live in the affected areas. People are still homeless. Whole sections still look like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie. Other areas are open and begging for tourism so they can get back on their feet. Western North Carolina will never be the same.

I don't think any of us that went through the Hurricane Helene flooding will ever be the same. Hurricane season just started, and our emergency management agency has already sent out warnings and talked about prepping for another flooding event. People in my town still talk about it when they come into the office and ask after repairs that STILL need to be made at my office. Every time we get a flash flood warning, I get anxious that we're going to get hit with Helene-level flooding. It's like the ghost of Helene hangs over all of us, in a way, even though my area has tried to move on.

[mfrance-writes]

The Songs in My Head

The song stuck in my head when I woke ip today was "Work" by Fifth Harmony.

[help-me-find-a-name-please-lol]

Hero of the Year 2025

I'm calling it early - I doubt anyone will beat The Right Reverend Mariann Edgar Budde

(I sure hope I've addressed her correctly)

For the most stunning act of bravery, class, integrity, and speaking truth to power that has graced the USA in far too long.

Not a single shake in her voice as she spoke directly to one of the most vengeful, spiteful, and (unfortunately) powerful people on the planet, while also receiving glares of hate and outrage from the despicable VP and his wife.

It's not the first time she's stood up for what is right in defiance of trump's actions, but while many may speak out on it, there have been scarcely any with the backbone to follow through on the opportunity to do it to his face, and especially on live television. She had her moment, and she didn't waste it.

May she be the inspiration we all take forward with us into the turbulent times ahead.

[mfrance-writes]

Because it's Monday

Who were the snowman's parents? Mom and popsicle.

You're welcome.

[mfrance-writes]

Because it's Monday

What is the most successful season? WIN-ter.

You're welcome.

[mfrance-writes]

Because it's Monday

What happened to the man that shoplifted a calendar on New Year's Day? He got 12 months.

You're welcome.

[mfrance-writes]

Because it's Monday

What do donkeys send out around Christmas?

Mule-tide greetings.

You're welcome and Happy Holidays!

[mfrance-writes]

Reality Check: Paralegal Edition

I've been a paralegal for almost 5 years. I work in a small town for a sole practitioner attorney who practices criminal and family law. She's also certified to handle capital defense cases. (Capital cases are cases in which the death penalty may be sought.) I enjoy a lot of the work that I get to do, but there have been some pretty harsh reality checks since I embarked on this career journey.

Reality Check No. 1: Even as a Paralegal you will end up doing secretarial work, but just how much depends on your office set up.

I expected to be able to go into the office and spend my day (mostly) tucked away in a little office or cubicle space drafting documents, doing legal research, and handling trial prep tasks while the secretary handled most of the people-related tasks like scheduling and taking messages. While this may be the case in larger firms, this is not the day-to-day reality for me. I don't work in a big firm in a city, and my boss is the only other staff member in the office. That means that I'm actually secretary, paralegal, accounts specialist, and office manager all rolled into one.

Most days, I actually spend about 80% of my time doing secretary tasks AND dealing with current and potential clients and only about 20% focusing on actual paralegal work that I went to school to be trained to do. As an introvert, the day-to-day dealing with all the people is exhausting, especially when I wasn't expecting such an uneven ratio in the work I chose. While there are some blessedly quiet days in which I get to sit at my desk and just focus on trial prep, evidence review, or document drafting, there aren't nearly enough of them to balance out.

Reality Check No. 2: You can't just turn it off at the end of the day.

I originally chose to become a paralegal instead of an attorney because I wanted to be able to leave the work at the office at the end of the day. I wanted a better work-life balance than attorneys are able to maintain. While I do have a better work-life balance than my boss, I still end up bringing the job home with me sometimes. I think about the people dealing with domestic violence that come through our office for divorces and Orders of Protection. I think about every single child that my boss has had to recommend placement in foster care. I think about the clients that come through on repeat DUI charges because they just can't stop drinking. I think about them, and I worry about them while I'm actively at home trying to leave the day behind. I also can't unsee some of the crime scene photos I've seen from particularly violent murders.

Being a paralegal also means that when people find out what I do, they suddenly want to come to me with every legal problem they have, whether my boss represents them or not. Online, at the grocery store, at any public place...somebody always wants to ask for *free* legal advice. Or, they want me to hook them up with free legal representation because they feel entitled because they know me.

Reality Check No. 3: You DO help people, for better or worse.

One of the reasons I chose to become a paralegal is because I wanted to be able to help people. I wanted to be able to walk people through legal processes in a way that attorneys often forget how to do after so many years of experience. Everybody deserves to be informed of what the steps to resolving their case are in language that they can actually understand.

I DO help people by explaining processes and drafting things for their cases. I help families by drafting adoption documents and documents that prohibit one parent from using a child against the other parent in custody cases. I help people in abusive relationships by drafting divorce documents and informing them how to get Orders of Protection.

However, on the flip side...I also draft motions that exclude criminal histories and motions that exclude evidence, which helps people that have been charged with things like first-degree murder get less severe sentences if convicted. Sometimes we succeed, and then they get out and repeat the same criminal activities. And let me tell you, trying to find a way to continue to see the good in people after repeatedly seeing crime scene photos and reading autopsy reports in which people have been killed in such unnecessarily violent ways becomes emotionally exhausting.

While you *can* choose to find an office that has a more traditional staff set up, things can change if the secretary leaves or if the office has to downsize. And even if you have the luxury to apply for only the paralegal jobs at offices that don't specialize in criminal law, your attorney may still be on the appointment list for criminal courts. Given that information, if you're not okay with the possibility of having to live with the reality outlined above, you may not be happy long-term in a career as a paralegal.

[mfrance-writes]

Things I Haven't Stopped Thinking About Since November 6th.

Knowing the things Donald Trump has promised to do this term, here are the things I've been thinking about pretty much non-stop since November 6th:

According to Harvard's T.H. Chan School of Public Health, homicide AKA murder is the leading cause of death for pregnant women (See Source A).

According to The Trevor Project, it is estimated that 1 LGBTQIA+ person attempts suicide EVERY 45 SECONDS (See Source B).

According to National Institute of Health, homicide AKA murder is the leading cause of death for black men ages 10 to 24 (See Source C).

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, in 2022-2023, around 15% of students (or around 7.5 million students) received some kind of special services help at school in the form of IEP plans, 504 plans, and other specialized services for learning disabilities and physical disabilities (See Source D).

Why have I been thinking about these facts?

Because Donald Trump has directly stated some policy change that will affect the people related to the above-listed facts. He has promised to set a NATIONAL abortion ban with NO EXCEPTIONS. He has promised to ban gender-affirming care. He has also promised to overturn Obergefell v Hodges, which would overturn the federal protection for same-sex marriage and allow states to choose to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples again. He also said he would like to overturn Loving v Virginia, which federally protects the right to interracial marriage and would allow states to decide whether or not to issue marriage licenses to interracial couples. He has also said he wants to dissolve the Department of Education.

Women are already dying in red states because of abortion bans. When Trump sets up the national abortion ban, what do they think will happen? The answer is that more women are going to be killed by their partners because of an unwanted pregnancy. More women are also going to die because they can no longer travel to another state to receive care during a miscarriage. More women are going to die PREVENTABLE deaths from pregnancy complications if the NO EXCEPTIONS part makes it into law.

LGBTQIA+ individuals already have a much higher suicide rate than other youths and young adults. What's going to happen to trans people when they can no longer receive gender-affirming care? What's going to happen to same-sex couples when they can no longer marry someone they love just because they live in a red state? What about when the ones that are already married are suddenly told that their marriage license is no longer valid because it was issued in a red state only under the protection of Obergefell? The answer is that more LGBTQIA+ people will commit suicide as a result of the backslide in recognition of their human rights. And if Obergefell falls, what do you want to bet, some states will try to pass other anti-LGBTQIA+ laws?

Black men are already dying at a higher rate compared to any other ethnic group due to violence. When the protections for interracial marriage from Loving v Virginia are no longer there and states can decide individually if they'll allow interracial marriage, what do you think is going to happen to black people, especially black men, if racist white men, already emboldened by a racist president, feel like black men are stealing/tainting/"harassing" the white women they think belong to them? The answer: more black men are going to be murdered, especially in the Southern US.

Children with disabilities already have a harder time than their non-disabled peers at school. IEPs, 504 plans, special education classes, specialized teachers' aid's all help these students succeed in school so they can graduate. All these things are provided by the Department of Education, (as is federal student aid like FAFSA and the Pell Grant, which I received as a low-income student). What happens when the Department of Education no longer exists to provide these things? The students that relied on them may be forced to be homeschooled or left to fend for themselves in regular classes, where they may not be able to keep up academically or physically, which could cause PREVENTABLE mental health struggles as well as PREVENTABLE physical injuries, depending on the type of disability each student is living with. And college for the kids that come from low-income families? They likely won't get to attend college unless they can get enough state scholarships or loans to cover it.

We all had the chance to vote for someone who genuinely cared about America and wanted to help EVERYONE. Instead over half of America chose to vote for hatred, blatant racism, blatant misogyny, blatant transphobia and homophobia, and greed. Your vote to put this man back in power will literally be the reason someone dies. Your vote to put this man in power will literally be the reason some bright, ambitious children lose the futures they always dreamed of because you took their college funding away or had them deported. And for what? For the money he's promised will go in your pocket from a tax cut most of you won't even qualify for? For the ability to "own the libs?" For a laugh?

Let me be perfectly clear when I say this: You knew exactly what you were voting for when you voted that man back into power. You will have the blood of everyone we lose because of your vote on your hands. I hope you personally get every single thing you voted for. And when you do, don't you dare come to those of us you hurt with your vote to complain and say that you didn't know what he was going to do.

Sources:

A. Homicide leading cause of death for pregnant women in U.S. | News | Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

B. Facts About Suicide Among LGBTQ+ Young People

C. Unequal Burdens of Loss: Examining the Frequency and Timing of Homicide Deaths Experienced by Young Black Men Across the Life Course - PMC

D. COE - Students With Disabilities

[echobx]

that's all I'm gonna say today until the final results are in. bc I still have hope for you guys.

[mfrance-writes]

Helene: The Aftermath in Appalachia

Today marks 5 weeks since Hurricane Helene wreaked havoc on East Tennessee and Western North Carolina. If you aren't aware, Hurricane Helene is no longer considered a natural disaster. The storm has been upgraded to a Geological Event.

This means that Helene changed the actual geological features of our area. Whole mountain tops are washed away in North Carolina. Also, in North Carolina, entire towns are literally gone, washed away, leveled completely. They may not be able to rebuild to be on future maps ever again.

In Hartford, Tennessee (where white-water rafting is a main source of tourism), the flooding changed the course and width of the river. The rapids have even changed so that the rafting companies are unsure when or if they'll be able to open for next season. Where there was farm acreage before in Cocke County, Greene County, and other East Tennessee counties there is now riverbed, including HUGE river rocks, instead. Even if the riverbed wasn't physically deposited in people's farms, the condition of the soil has been changed, and they don't know when or if they can use that land to farm crops again.

Hours after the water rushed through, we knew that some roads between Tennessee and North Carolina were washed away. However, five weeks later, we are seeing more bridges collapse in my area because of the force of the water that rushed underneath them. A railroad trestle collapsed and fell into the road at the end of last week in my area as a direct result of the flooding. (No one was hurt, thank goodness.) In places where the river made it right up to the banks of the roads, those roads are collapsing in some areas now and requiring closures for repair or indefinite closes and rerouting traffic.

Even with the help of TEMA, FEMA, and Dolly Parton, government officials are saying that it may take upwards of a decade for us to recover from this storm. But, with all the changes caused by Helene, what will that recovery look like? We don't know yet. It's five weeks later, and we're still figuring out all the damage Helene caused.

[mfrance-writes]

Because it's Monday

Which monster is the best dancer? The Boogie Man.

You're welcome.

[despitethebite]

the way every single leaf is looking at gio in this photo...i'm.

[mfrance-writes]

And now I'm in my Giordano feels. I miss seeing him on the ice for the Leafs.

[mfrance-writes]

East Tennessee's Preparedness for Helene

I keep seeing people online saying things like, "You all had evacuation orders, why didn't you leave?" Or, "You had warnings, why weren't you more prepared?" Some people are even saying we deserved what we got because we were too stupid to follow orders.

We need to talk about it, y'all.

First, let's talk about the general preparedness in the area. We aren't an area that experiences heavy flooding or hurricanes. We're IN THE MOUNTAINS. We don't have alarms for flooding or hurricanes. We don't even have a tornado siren because we rarely have those. (We've had 2 in my lifetime, and I'm 34.)

Second, let's talk about the warnings we had. We'd been watching the weather all week. We'd been told, as I've said before, that we could expect heavy rain and winds that may result in downed trees and some downed power lines. We were warned of the possibility of flooding AFTER the breach of Waterville and Lake Lure because that's when officials found out what was headed our way, which gave people around an hour, two hours max, depending on the area of town they lived in. You can't prep for a disaster in two hours, especially not if you live on a farm, have pets, or have children and especially not if you're disabled or elderly.

Third, let's talk about the evacuation orders. In my area, people were told to evacuate by police going door-to-door knocking on each door and telling people to gather what they could and leave immediately. Only some of the evacuation orders had time to go out as a text alert from emergency management, and not everyone has cell service in the rural areas. There wasn't time for people to get out. People were literally in their cars to leave one second, and then water was over their car the next second. There are cars in trees because people were trying to evacuate when the water rushed in. One of the evacuation orders went out after midnight, and police were literally waking people up.

The people in my area didn't deserve what we got, and the people saying that and/or implying it should be ashamed of themselves. (Nobody deserves to go through a disaster...that should go without saying.) This wasn't an issue of ignorance, willful refusal to follow orders, or anything like that. This was a matter of time and access to information. Time was not on our side here, and everyone didn't have equal access to text alerts.

[mfrance-writes]

Helene Updates: People Don't Know What's Going on in East Tennessee.

I live in East Tennessee. The things that are going on here apparently haven't been reported on very well as we've been dealing with the effects of Helene. People in this same area just an hour to a couple of hours away don't even know what's going on over here.

The area of East Tennessee that I live in is close enough to Asheville that we can pop over to go to the farmers market or pop over for a nice dinner without really thinking about it. We have three rivers in my area: The Pigeon River, the French Broad River, and the Little Pigeon River. The Nolichucky River isn't in my county, but it is close enough to affect the area where I live. These rivers have not flooded in my lifetime or my parents' lifetime.

We are not an area that has EVER experienced more than a small rise in river levels that usually quickly recedes before the flash floods actually occur. We were told that we should prepare for rain to move in by Thursday and then wind to come with more rain on Friday that may disrupt power due to downed trees. There was the possibility of a flash flood in some areas, but overall we weren't told that we needed to be extremely concerned about Helene in my area. (I mean, we're in the Smokey Mountains, in a land-locked state.)

On Friday, we woke up expecting it to be rainy and windy. What we got was news that Waterville Dam and Lake Lure Dam in North Carolina had failed or been severely breached. Later that night, the Nolichucky Dam in Tennessee was breached and expected to catastrophically fail. As a result, the Pigeon River, the French Broad River, the Little Pigeon, and the Nolichucky River all rose to levels that we haven't seen since the late 1800s and the early 1900s.

We were prepared for SOME bad weather...power outages, travel delays because of downed trees or power lines. We were not prepared for something that has never happened here before. How can you prepare for something that has never happened that nobody knew we should be expecting?

We were not prepared for the rivers to break records from over 100 years ago. We were not prepared for the dams to breach and/or fail. We were not prepared for a mass flooding event that made the central area of our town grind to a halt as the first (and sometimes second) floors of essential businesses were submerged in flood waters. We were not prepared for the evacuation orders because we have never experienced evacuations on such a large scale before. This is an event that has never happened in my area.

We are in a State of Emergency. We are waiting for natural disaster relief. People have died, and more are still missing in the more rural areas. Entire homes, farms, businesses have been lost. We do not have water, and there is no timeline for when we can expect that to be fixed. Many people are still without power, and in the more rural areas, the linemen can't get to them to run new power lines without the help of other agencies. Many people still do not have cell and internet service back up and running. The post office is not operational, and the mail is not running. Updates from the Mayor via Facebook Live is the way we're getting most of our information.

I went into the office (because the courts in surrounding counties are still up and running and we have to prep for that), and the area where the law office is located is closed to the public. Helicopters and sirens are an ever-present sound as searches are being conducted. It looks like some kind of post-apocalyptic movie scene, and it kind of feels like one, too.

And the people around us (except for North Carolina, which was totally devastated) don't seem to know that's what we're dealing with for some reason. The sheer number of people I talked to today that are from as close as an hour away that have no idea we're in a State of Emergency is baffling. Literally, people called asking for consults, office appointments, letting us know they were mailing things in, asking if we could hurry and file things... Then when I have to tell them that we're in a State of Emergency, they're shocked because they "had no idea it was that bad."

At the time of posting, I have also only seen (maybe) two news cameras in the area since Saturday. (More may have come via helicopter for aerial footage.)