Free-For-All Friday 4/19/13
Decatur Metro | April 19, 2013Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
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Tomorrow is Record Store Day!!! See you at Decatur CD.
I have long been a music collector and used to love poking through the bins at Decatur CD. Most of my listening is now through streamed Rhapsody, so I am curious what the “business model” is for a CD store these days?
Move to vinyl.
Lots of new and old vinyl at Decatur CD. The new vinyl releases are beautiful but pricey. Also, they specialize in boutique reissue and compilation labels like Numero Group and Strut that produce gorgeous cd’s with extensive liner notes and thoughtful packaging. Much of that stuff might not be available on Spotify or Rhapsody.
I laugh every time I see this.
Celebrate Earth Day by playing in the dirt! Decatur High has a garden work day Saturday and we will have a tiller, lots of tools and lots of knowledgeable gardeners. Also, we will have seeds to give away. Come join us.
any need of an old wheelbarrow, perhaps with a flat tire? We would love to find a good donation home for it.
Every night and early morning, we hear multiple LONG train horns – and it seems they are getting longer and louder. I am assuming it is the tracks that run across Coventry. We live on the other side of Scott Blvd – but the train often wakes up Toddler Nubbs in the night….any idea why the trains honk at 4:00 in the morning (and 6:00 a.m. on the weekends) – and other times in the night? Any idea who we can complain to (other than friends and DM)?
I am always surprised at how loud train horns are at night. Tracks which seem far away at night seem to be right up against our house in the middle of night. It’s got something to do with the muffling effect of daytime white noise, I guess.
When my children were real little, I told them that the trains were talking to them saying “Go to sleep….” They still joke sometimes and say “What’s the train saying NOW, Mom?”
Having lived next door to the tracks for almost 20 years now, we refer to excessive nighttime horn blowing as the “If *I* gotta be up, then *you* gotta be up” principle. Thankfully, our child heard the train in utero, so she’s pretty well used to it.
Live near a train intersection, and they do, indeed, blow the horns in the middle of the night. Never woke up my children even once. I don’t even “hear”them anymore.
sound travels farther with temperature inversions, which often happen at night.
Since most of the intersections don’t have gates/arms that come down when a train is coming, the train is required to blow the horn.
I see signs around my ‘hood for this organizatoin: http://www.safercrossing.org/. Has some info about how you can speak up against the horn and in favor of gates, FYI.
The standard gates/arms require horn-blowing as well. To get a quiet zone requires a much heavier level of infrastructure — gates with barriers that physically ensure a car can’t make its way around the lowered arm, for instance. I believe, more than anything, that the cost of such installations is what led Decatur to abandon the idea.
The nearest example of a quiet zone crossing is on Frazier Road. The cost for such things approaches $ 250K.
If it matters, the horns don’t bother me and I’m only one street over from the tracks. I want the crossings to be safe, of course, but $250k is a hefty fee for now horns!
America’s finest news source nails it again.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/jesus-this-week,32105/
+1000
My dad is thinking of moving to Decatur (which would be great). He is an avid runner (i am not) and asked me about parks and such in which he can run. He is used to large parks, ala Piedmont. Where do you runners run that is not on the Decatur streets? Decatur Cemetery? The Path?
He’s probably not into tracks but I hear that the Agnes Scott outdoor track is good.
Walrus
Loads of great runs around that you don’t have to deal much with traffic/cars, be it on the mean streets of Oakhurst, through the cemetary and connecting to the Glenlake neighborhood, doing interval training on the Agnes Scott track or headed out on the PATH trail network. Running in Druid Hills, through the Emory campus and into Lullwater park can be pretty inspiring as well — particularly in sundress season.
Good trail running too — from short at Stone Mountain and along the Hooch to kinda long at Kennesaw Mountain.
Lullwater is always nice as is the trail that connects Medlock Park and Mason Mill. Not sure how far he likes to run but he can always check out mapmyrun.com to see runs others have done. I’ve also run with the Chatahoochee Runners Group and they have been super welcoming and have preplanned routes of varying lengths. Also the Silver Comet is a good flat run.
Deepdene has nice trails. If you don’t mind crossing Ponce, you can continue on up through the rest of the Linear Parks as well.
The new nature trail at Dearborn Park isn’t going to be terribly long (a bit more than a half a k), but it’s lovely, and it connects to nice quiet street routes in southern Decatur. Should be done by mid-May.
There are several running groups that start and finish runs at Fleet Feet, Big Peach and One Step at a Time on several days of the week if he is interested in running with others. They are of varying distances and speeds on routes around Decatur, usually not in parks though.
Can anyone recommend a podiatrist, particularly for the treatment of plantar fasciitis? Would prefer Decatur or Emory area. Thanks.
As it happens I saw Donald Powell for the same exact issue just two weeks ago. I’ve followed his course of treatment — mostly stretching exercises with some relatively inexpensive orthotics — and have seen improvement. He’s at Crawford Long in midtown. What I liked best of all was that he did not immediately try to prescribe expensive custom orthotics, which is what I’ve heard you will get from many podiatrists out there. Also, I was able to schedule an appointment prett quickly and the staff was pretty efficient and friendly.
http://www.ankleandfootcenters.com/dr-powell/
Thanks. I’ve already been through the stretching and somewhat expensive orthotics (the podiatrist I was seeing relocated), but my pain has returned and gotten worse. I might look into the treatment DecaturMom mentions. A relative of mine had to have surgery to release Achilles tendon tightness, which is one of my issues, along with calf tightness and flat feet.
I had a wicked case of running induced chronic PF last year. I saw Dr. Sadri and Dr. Cho at First Choice Healthcare on Lawrenceville Highway (kind of across from Bruster’s). They are sports therapists/chiropractors, so my treatment was probably different from what you’d get from a podiatrist. They treat a lot of athletes (and non-athletes). It took about six months, but my PF is gone. I highly recommend them, especially if you want to correct what caused your PF, rather than just treat the symptoms. http://www.1stchoiceonline.com/
My local MD recommended Dr. Ingie El-Khashab, whose office is on Scott Blvd. near the Medlock intersection. I was very impressed with both her and her staff, and have talked to others who like her also. Website is http://www.activeafc.com/about.aspx.
I second this recommendation
Last November I saw a sports medicine Dr. at Emory Orthopedic and Spine Hospital in Tucker. Dr. Mason, was awesome. He diagnosed and treated the cause of my PF instead of just treating the pain. I spent some time in physical therapy there and had to lay off running for awhile, but I am back on track now. I am also equipped to prevent more injuries win the future and am much more aware of my body and signs of injury.
Another recommendation for Dr. Mason.
I went through decades of pain and was prescribed every remedy short of surgery, which I considered. My feet were flat as a board, and every time I tried running, I had to give it up after a few weeks.
Then one day, a friend posted a link to a story about barefoot running, cautioning me that it is not something you can just do without gradual preparation. Two years later, after teaching my body to run the way it was built to run, I’ve run a bunch of 5ks, lost lots of weight, and I have highl strong arches and no more foot pain. I also don’t have any more shin splints or back pain from running or hiking.
I know it sounds like a cult to,some people, but it’s really common sense, and I am one of the many who is convinced that supportive shoes, orthotics, and running with our heels hitting the ground first are the cause of all these injuries that barely existed before the 70s.
I agree with you for the most part, though I would encourage anyone who’s thinking about it to get checked out by a chiropractor or sports doc first – my plantar fasciitis was caused, in large part, by a leg length deficiency (discovered during my treatment for PF (the foot on the longer leg had lots and lots of painful scar tissue buildup from years of bearing more of the weight of my high impact activities) and now I wear a lift inside my shoe to correct this. I have, however, grown to love my zero-drop, lightweight running shoes and won’t ever go back to running shoes with heavy cushioning and a built up heel. I don’t think barefoot running is a cult, but I definitely don’t believe everyone can or should do it.
I do not have a doctor recommendation for you, but I’d like to share my experience with you. After struggling with all sorts of treatments for plantar fasciitis treatments (splint, stretching, ice, anti-inflamatory meds, etc) for a couple of years, I finally decided to get THE CORTISON SHOT. I’d heard it was very painful, so I had been putting it off. I wish I had done it sooner. In only a few days, the pain was totally gone. I was able to begin power-walking routine and lost 30 pounds. I’ve been pain-free for 13 years.
Good luck!
Thanks. Unfortunatley, I’ve tried that. When I first sought treatment for PF, I got the cortisone shot and was mostly pain free for over a year. The last time, though, the effect lasted for only a few weeks. The daily stretching helps some, but not enough any more.
To all the people that helped rescue the baby owl from the bike lane on West Ponce during wednesday afternoon’s traffic fiasco: Thanks! For those of you that missed it, baby owl was found sitting in bike lane. It was protected by several kind Decaturites passing by. They encouraged it into a laundry basket with a broom and towel, then carried it to my neighbor’s huge backyard. Not touched once by human hands.
Update, even though we explained to baby owl that the large fenced backyard with many trees was much safer than the front yards near a busy street ,he (she?) was seen sitting on the chair by my front door last night . I would post a picture but I can’t figure out how to, sorry. Mommy owl will hopefully take care of the lovely rodent population stalking my chickens (and not my chickens, please.)
Another reason to love those new bike lanes (baby would have been hit for sure without them) and a reminder to SLOW DOWN on West Ponce.
email the pic to DM, maybe he will post it (I want to see!)…
Good post on several levels. Thanks.
Hey everyone,
I just had some ceiling fans installed (thanks, Matthew Morgan) and have two gently used ceiling light fixtures to give away if anyone wants them. Just click on my name, check out the photo, and leave a comment on my website if you want them.
-Russ
Mathew is great. And I bet he didn’t even need a ladder to install your ceiling fans. But he spells his name with one ‘T.’
More DeKalb County shenanigans:
http://www.11alive.com/news/article/288918/40/Cop-in-slow-McDonalds-line-accused-of-aiming-gun-at-customer-ahead-of-him
At least it happened in Forsyth, not DeKalb. Still…
But he was a Detective Sgt. for DeKalb County Police.
“DeKalb County Police Chief Cedric Alexander placed Biumi on administrative leave with pay while the case is investigated.”
Good to know he’s getting a paid vacation while they investigate the matter, which happens to be on film. As for the end result, who wants to bet that he won’t lose his pension?
They took away his certification so there’s no chance of him getting hired somewhere else or continuing with DPD with a gun and badge at least.
F the popo – aside from the Decatur PD, they seem nicer.
What are peoples’ favorite dishes at Siam Thai on the Square? Need some recommendations.
Siam – The chicken satay comes out on a flaming grill pot. It’s an old trick, but my kids always think it’s cool. The curries are always above par.
I order the chilli snapper — it may not be called snapper anymore.
There is also a crispy duck I had in the past.
Funny you should mention Siam. This is our go to restaurant. Food always good. Never have to wait. Staff is pleasant. Our child always orders the chicken satay. The Tom Yum soup is great. I usually always get the chicken green curry but this last time got the coconut pineapple curry.
The tofu is just so so. We like a firmer tofu.
The duck dishes are good. Their sauces are always consistent.
Have a great meal.
We are searching for working artists or art students to assist with the Community Art Project that will be created during the 2013 Decatur Arts Festival. These volunteers will help art project leaders on Saturday and Sunday during the festival. Please contact if you are interested.
Tomorrow is Fernbank Science Center’s Spring Plant Sale AND Astronomy Day. The plant sale is the Science Center’s equivalent of a bake sale, but there will also be lots of horticulturalists around to answer your garden questions . . . Looks like clear weather tomorrow, so the solar telescopes set up in the Science Center front yard will be awesome.
Looking for suggestions. . . . I’d like to take our puppy out hiking “off lead” where it is legal to do so. Access to water would be even better. Any thoughts? Thanks for any in advance!
Don’t go to Thompson Woods. We used to be able to get away with it, but these days, it’ll get you a $200 fine. The dog parks are the only places close by. If you go very early in the morning, there are usually not a lot of other dogs in any of the parks.
Be careful near the train tracks. There was a long thread here 6 months ago or so about coyote leg traps. Ugh.
ok I’ve got to know, is this sign up beside Big Tex right now?
http://theberry.com/2013/04/12/best-photos-of-the-week-47-photos/berry-break-305-2/
direct link to image – http://shechive.files.wordpress.com/2013/04/berry-break-3051.jpg
Kinda looks like that, doesn’t it? But if you look closer, you’ll see it’s missing the patio/fence, parking spaces where they would be, and some other tips that it’s just a coincidence in red neon.
Actually, I think that IS Big Tex. The photo is taken from Swanton Way. The No Parking sign on the right I think verifies that.
Discovered this morning that the nifty red rolling carts at YDMF are not permitted to roll out of the building to your car! Don’t use these carts to buy more than you can carry across the parking lot. Boooo.
Anyone got any opinions on AT&T U-verse? A sales guy came to the door a few weeks ago and I put him off, but I just got something in the mail offering me U-verse TV with HD DVD, high speed internet, and U-verse voice for $51/month for two years, plus a $150 prepaid gift card. We are currently paying about $73/month for Dish Network HD DVD, a basic package, and local channels, plus $50/month for Earthlink DSL. AT&T’s offer sounds too good to be true, but if it’s not we’d be fools not to switch to them. Does anyone have a ballpark figure for what the monthly cost would be after the first two years? Or experiences to share re: installation and customer service? Thanks!
Relative in Buckhead had such an aggravating experience w/ AT&T and the U-verse bundle, finally just decided to ditch pay TV. (Had previously become fed up with Comcast, too many trees for a dish.) There were some hiccups getting it going, then they tried a bit of a bait-and-switch with the cost…She had to nag them regularly and it finally got resolved but not before she got completely fed up. My own experience w/ AT&T and their bundling come-ons has been pretty negative. My biggest current grudge against them as an ISP is their refusal to provide even basic tech support if you use a 3rd party email client EVEN WHEN THE PROBLEM IS THEIR FAULT. (Resolution of problem when some of my inbound email messages disappeared from their server before I ever saw them: “We know we had some server glitches yesterday.” “Is there any way to get my messages back, or to even determine how many went missing?” “No.” “What happened?” “We don’t really know. It’s all fixed now, though.” The only way you can even get them to tell you when they change their server settings is to buy an annual subscription to premium support.)
I continue to use them for phone & Internet because no other carrier provides a reliable cell signal where I live. But if I ever move, they’re history, baby.
I can compare only to Comcast, but I prefer Uverse overall. Initial installation can be tricky, and it took me a while to get an appointment. But I’ve experienced far fewer outages, especially with the internet, than with Comcast. I cut the cord on cable several months ago (not for costs or service reasons, but mostly because of the timesuck), but it was comparable to Comcast except with a superior DVR. My one complaint was that the picture quality among the HD channels varied quite a bit—AMC sucked, ESPN was great, for example. I didn’t have HD with Comcast, so can’t say if it was better in that regard.
As a former Comcast subscriber, I love U-verse because of the vastly superior DVR system. If you like to record lots of shows, or have different people in the house watching simultaneous DVR it’s great. You can even set up a show when you’re away from home. I’ve never used DISH.
It seems to go down less frequently than Comcast did and no customer svc problems compared to enumerable with Comcast.
That being said, the price went up for us after a year (that was our offer) — so get it spelled out in detail.
Thank you all – very helpful info. I think I may stick with what I’ve got. The only time Dish goes down is during a storm, and Earthlink rarely, if ever, goes down. The main reason I hesitate to change is all the hassle of setting up appointments and switching everything (that, and I have all of season 3 of Downton Abbey on my DVR and I don’t want to lose it!).
Just wanted to get the word out a little early.We are planning an art hunt on Saturday May 18th in conjunction with the Sidewalk Saturday event and Spring Fling at Twains.A whole group of artists will be hiding art around Decatur for folks to find.Clues will be given out via Twitter.Check out #FAFATL on twitter or FAFATL.com to get an idea of what goes on
Aack! Aack! You are lessening my chances! I’ve been pursuing Catlanta for more than a year and have come within minutes of claiming one. I did however bag a charming flounder when #FAFATL and #championarthunt celebrated @greenspacesATL. The flounder now resides on my fridge. So, fisbn, this is a subject I’d like to blog about. Will you contact me? So much for my alias, I’m thinking of a new one anyway, you can reach me at .
Hey,I shot you an email–yeah the catlantas are elusive,but there will be 15 or so other artists involved,some really good stuff.
Champion Art hunt is also that weekend,fri,sat and sun
Let me tell you – my Catlanta is a PRIZED possession. It’s one of the gold magnets from the early days – Mr. Catlanta put it up near Fellinis and I RAN.
I also have a Crat, but I am always in search of an Evreman, a Flounder, one of these SUPER CUTE tiny Big Chickens that I know are out there, and…well, I just love this movement in general. This is going on my calendar in big red letters!
Marla! Soul mate! I guess I’ll see you out on the 18th for #FAFATL. I can’t wait. I envy your Catlanta but I am a proud Flounder possessor. Evreman would be a score but I don’t know about these chickens you speak of. Anyway, this should be enormous fun.
If any readers are not familiar with this project check out http://www.facebook.com/FreeArtFridayAtlanta
I loathe being moderated.
Marla! Soul mate! I guess I’ll see you out on the 18th for #FAFATL. I can’t wait. I envy your Catlanta but I am a proud Flounder possessor. Evreman would be a score but I don’t know about these chickens you speak of. Anyway, this should be enormous fun.
If any readers are not familiar with this project google “free art friday atlanta”
Cool. Send me over a press release closer to the event and I’ll definitely post it!
Sorry commenter soon-to-be the commenter formerly-known-as Parker!
great,I will keep you posted,thanks
What was that loud music playing until 11pm?
Rumor has it that it was George Clinton at the Sweetwater 420 Festival in Candler Park.
Surprised how far the noise travels. Live near thinking man tavern and it could be heard inside our house
I heard people were hearing it in downtown and in Winona Park. That it is the only explination we can come up with – we were convinced it was a neighbor a street over having a party.
Could have sworn it was coming from 3rd. But it was definitely a band and it was loud. Even the police were saying that they were having difficulty finding the source.
We are way up in NW Decatur and my daughter couldn’t fall asleep because of the noise.
we are on melrose and it was sound loud we assumed it was someone on parkwood having a big party
Luckily the concert only goes until 10:00 tonight – and doesn’t seem as loud, but was just out walking and we heard it.
Those wild Parkwood people. You never know what they’re going to do next!
What happened at the corner of Commerce and Clairemont earlier today? There was an ambulance and someone lying by the side of the road.
I hope it wasn’t a pedestrian struck by a vehicle; that intersection is very hazardous.
+1 Oh, yes, VERY dangerous. Been there, done that (2002).
If it is the incident I am thinking of, it was an elderly person who misjudged the curb and fell, according to the scanner.
I agree, I don’t like crossing the street there and avoid it, especially crossing Clairemont at the north side. The visibility is terrible there.
Anyone know anything about the cause and extent of last night’s power outage? From our home in Oakhurst, there was no man-made light to be seen. It appeared as though the whole village, center, whatever it’s called at the intersection of E. Lake and Oakview, was dark, too.
Probably Chechens.
Argh! Too soon, Fats, too soon!
Of course, I did chuckle a bit, so I’m also going to hell.
It shouldn’t, but it totally blows my mind that the Czech Republic had to post a message on their site to tell people this:
In a statement posted on the embassy Web site, Petr Gandalovic said “the Czech Republic and Chechnya are two very different entities — the Czech Republic is a Central European country; Chechnya is a part of the Russian Federation.”
Gandalovic calls it “a most unfortunate misunderstanding,” but some responses on Twitter are less diplomatic.
Mirca Sekerova recommends Americans “open a geography book once in a while…stop blaming our country for this.”
And Petr Manda commented: “Well done, U.S. education system.”
taken from- http://news.yahoo.com/czechs-were-not-chechens-132405023.html
I am appalled by this, but slightly comforted by the fact that a Dutch friend who has lived in the US for the last 20+ years was asked if she would respond to some questions about live in the States from kids now attending her old elementary school. All the questions came back being about Canada. When she pointed that out to the teacher, the teacher asked if she could answer them anyway since Canada was so close and practically the same thing anyway.