Free-For-All Friday 3/6/15

Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not yet discussed here over the past week.

63 thoughts on “Free-For-All Friday 3/6/15”


  2. I just saw a couple of snowflakes, plus it is below 32 degrees. When will the schools be closed?

    1. I KNOW. How will my precious blossoms cope with the eighth of an inch of accumulation on the quarter mile of sidewalk between here and the high school?? Somebody do something!

    2. PLEASE PLEASE… where are the snow plows..where are the salt trucks … PLEASE SOMEONE DO SOMETHING !

    3. False alarm. Snow gone. High near 50 degrees today.
      BTW, looks like a perfect day for Touch-A-Truck tomorrow.

    4. True quote from child attached to earbuds attached to phone: All the NORMAL parents are letting their kids stay home because of the snow.

      1. Great “life lesson” our school leadership has instilled in its pupils. A snowflake appears, forget about your responsibilities for the day and just stay home.

  4. Anyone know what the deal is with the light at Rocky Ford and DeKalb Ave? It seems like almost every other morning it’s not functioning correctly (flashing yellow or red light). Combine that with the occasional train and your commute into Atlanta starts off on the wrong foot. Any idea of who we can report this to?

    1. Not sure if that’s a DeKalb County or City of Atlanta light. Try calling DeKalb traffic engineering and if it’s not theirs, they’ll tell you.

    3. Worse than how it functions, is how people use it. Flashing yellow does NOT mean stop.

      1. If they didn’t treat it as a stop at least sometimes, I’d never be able to turn left onto Dekalb Ave. I wish they’d just blink it red.

        1. If drivers would proceed, with caution, through the flashing yellow light, the intersection would clear from time to time, allowing drivers at the red light to proceed.

      2. Yellow means “proceed with caution”. If cars on the cross streets are prone to pulling out in front of you, then it is appropriate to stop as that is being cautious.

  6. Does anyone have any insight into just what the AJC is going to do with their website? I guess I’m a little old fashioned in that I kind of expect a region like Atlanta to have a working, comprehensive media presence fit for the 21st century (present company excluded, of course).

    2. I see it as a public service. Their cruddy, unusable site keeps me from reading their awful, so-called content.

  8. Everyone should take a few minutes to go over to Decaturish and read Bill Banks excellent tribute to Doc Fowlkes and Hans Utz extremely well written and informative essay on COD finances.

    1. Hans’ piece seems very well researched, with lots of facts and easily digestible explanations. But it’s also math. Math is hard. It’s Friday.

      1. I just read Hans’ piece. Yes, a lot of math, but very factual and informative. He certainly has the credentials to author such a piece.

        1. I do not see it as a lot of math – rather, I see it as a lot of categories and caveats! The math is just addition.

          I found myself wanting to make a Venn diagram when I read it. It is very well written.

          2. ^^This poster sees the math as a plus. (Yes, it’s a bad pun, but again, dang it, it’s Friday.)

    2. So what I got out of this is: don’t panic over the whole debt limit thing, that can be worked out and the city isn’t about to collapse, just decide whether you are willing to pay a greater amount of school tax. Correct interpretation? Correct message?

  10. I just saw something from the 90s described as vintage and something from the 80s described as an antique. I was not prepared for this moment.

    1. Those references are always disturbing. Accuracy is also an issue at times- yesterday the “Classic Rock” station played the Police’s S.O.S. While it is a song that should live through the ages, I’m not sure my 9th grade self would have ever thought the Police would be described as classic rock.

      1. I hate the “classic” moniker, which is so overused these days. The word is supposed to connote some degree of quality, and a lot of what’s played on those formats is crap. The more apt descriptor would be “nostalgia”, which is boring as hell to me, but at least honest.

      2. No complaint here about equating The Police with ” a lot of what’s played on those formats is crap”.

        In the vein of ones trash is another’s treasure, I know that a lot of my generation are big fans of The Police. I was able to mildly tolerate them in high school, but hearing them played up to 6 times a day on the “Classic” radio stations over the last 20 years has driven me over the edge. Ditto for many other groups of that era.

        1. I wasn’t necessarily equating The Police with “crap”, though I’m not a fan and certainly don’t consider their music “classic”. They were ok, but I don’t think their stuff stands the test of time all that well. One of the worst examples of crap, imo, would be Jefferson Starship, a staple of the format. Now, Jefferson Airplane might be classic rock, but Jefferson Starship is just wretched.

          1. What, the theme song from Mannequin isn’t your style? I can’t imagine why not. (Although I still know all the words to We Built This City by heart and belt them out alone in the car at every opportunity) (“opportunity” meaning any time it comes on the radio) (and “radio” means when I call it up on my iPhone) (don’t tell anyone I play the song on purpose)

  12. I’ve become obsessed with the pineapple salsa at Raging Burrito. Anyway know of a decent publicly available retail equivalent?

  14. The AJC is showing SB 63: Allows craft breweries to sell a limited amount of beer directly to customers has a 5% chance of passing. That is really too bad and shows just how much the Georgia alcohol distributors have control of the GA senate

    1. At least it’s still kicking. Brewers are reporting it cleared committee with just one no vote.

  16. Anyone have good kitchen cabinet re-facing vendors to recommend? Cost experience?

  18. Yippeee!!! Neighborhood cleanup days announced:

    http://www.decaturga.com/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5602

  20. Wondering how I’m just now discovering the web series “High Maintenance”. Catching up with these (most episodes are about ten minutes) has wasted most of a Friday off, but I can’t stop. It’s like Portlandia, but set in NYC and funnier.

  22. Anyone have any recommendation for a brick-block mason?

    I need to get the bottom of some new construction sealed up (or so says the insurance man) with some masonry product, such as blocks. I haven’t had much luck finding one. It’s not a very big job, but it’s probably beyond me, for doing it right.

  24. I need advice about how to handle a possible breach of contract situation with a residential general contractor.

    I do have a written contract which spells out that they are over the estimated duration for the project in a week or so with no extensions having been added as spelled out in the contract. The penalties for being over the estimated duration are not addressed in the contract.

    There have been a few billing issues in the past – probably just mistakes – but recently a paid invoice was created that showed an amount different than the amount I actually paid. Some recent work was not as specified in the contract (substituting materials).

    I don’t want to get nasty or sue. I just want to pay the agreed upon amount for the agreed upon work. And I don’t want my family to be homeless at the end of the month when our lease is up at our temporary home.

    Does anyone have advice? Or can point me in the right direction for advice?

    This situation is causing me an incredible amount of stress which is terribly ironic because the whole point of this massive renovation was to reduce stress by remaking our home on our beloved street into a safe and suitable place to take care of our daughter (who has a terminal genetic disorder) until she dies. I can’t handle any more stress.

    I would really appreciate any help.

    1. Hi Laura, I’m so sorry to hear about your trouble with the contractor. I understand that you don’t want to sue, but perhaps a real estate attorney could help you find out what your rights are and what the contractor’s obligations are, and how to go about making sure they are all met. We have consulted with Linda Dunlavy (she’s here in Decatur in the ACME lofts on Howard Street) in the past and she was very helpful.

      1. Thanks. I actually know Linda! I was hoping not to have to get an attorney, but it is great to have one in waiting.

    2. So sorry. I think contractor/renovation problems are common, especially completion on time. It can be due to a number of factors including the weather, planning, labor market, supplies, small business inefficiencies, overcommitment, etc. I would calmly explain why you have to be back in your home. You have reasons that go beyond minor inconvenience and cost. I know cases in which people have just cut their contractors loose at a certain point beyond the deadline and finished up the job themselves or with another contractor. I wish this wasn’t common but I think it is. It’s one of the many reasons we’ve only done a major renovation once. It’s hard to summon up the patience, courage, and energy to do it again. It reminds me that I don’t really lust after being truly wealthy because then there would be all that managing of assets, properties, security, taxes, whatever. I know you can hire people to do the management but then you have to monitor and manage them. (Slightly wealthy would be ok.)

      1. AHID, “Never again” is what I keep telling myself. Maybe it will be like childbirth, and the horror will fade with time. We looked for months for a house to buy, but our needs were too “special” and we ended up having to build. I’m still hopeful that everything can work out. The house is beautiful, and we can’t wait to be back home!

    3. Laura,

      I have run into this situation at my job and have found even if penalty terms are spelled out in a contract they are not always easy to enforce. You must have documented quite a lot during the project.

      Since you have no leverage, my advice would be to have a genuine conversation with the contractor and address your concerns. When you sit down with your contractor, let them know you want to talk about the rest of the project and come to an agreed upon end date. Discuss all of your concerns and get into a lot of detail. For example, if you are renovating a kitchen, what work if left to complete (electrical? plumbing? counters? any inspections?), how many days will it take by trade, have the materials been ordered or already onsite, etc. Also let them know you will check in on this agreed upon completion schedule to make sure they are on track.

      You may already know this, but absolutely make sure to have your contractor sign a lien waiver before you release final payment. In some cases, I have asked to get a copy of a lien waiver from the contractor’s supply house if it was a larger job to make sure all debts have been settled.

      1. Thank you for your advice. I think that is what we are going to do. I knew a bit about lien waivers, but had not thought to contact their main supplier. It’s going to be a fun week!

  26. Anyone know where I can get some wood pallets for free? Looking to use them for a couple Maker projects.

    1. I saw some recently in the alley behind Squash Blossom. They were out with the trash, so I assume they’re there for the taking.

    2. We have a bunch of 30″ x 36″ pallets available at our warehouse in Avondale Estates. They are inside the building but free for the taking.. Contact me at [email protected] if you are interested.

    3. InTown Ace. There is usually a pile of them next to the pine straw trailers in the back of the side parking lot.

  28. Does Place on Ponce aka 315 Ponce have tenants already? At about 9:15 tonight, someone was talking on the phone out on the balcony of one of the apartments facing the side street and it looked like that apartment and another had some furnishings. But maybe it was just an employee or realtor.

    1. As of a month ago, 20 of the 28 had been leased. Last week their Facebook page said all 2 bedrooms were gone and only one 1 bedroom remained. I’ve seen activity on a number of balconies so at least some folks have already moved in.

  32. Last minute FFAF…Tuesday morning at approximately 12:30 AM, I spotted a very large coyote (outside of the city limits) on Clairmont right past the Emory Clairmont campus entrance. My passenger who is a Veterinarian also saw it and commented on large it was for an urban coyote.

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