Free-For-All Friday 10/27/17

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

27 thoughts on “Free-For-All Friday 10/27/17”


  2. Does anyone remember those secret spots, when you were ten to twelve years old, that no adult was aware of? I recall several in Decatur growing up and enjoyed thinking that I could do anything there, smoke cigarettes, curse, talk trash and of course, brag to the Ponce/Oakland boys what a lady’s man I was. I can only guess that in 2017, the new secret space is at the west Decatur square, on top of the Marta A.C. structure. I was at the square Wednesday around 5:00 when I saw some kids scampering up the wall. There appeared to be maybe six kids on top. I yelled, “Hey, Whacha doin up there?
    Kids, “Nothing”. Me, “Can I take a pic?” Kids, “Yeah Sure (murmering then another kid said), “No, better not!” and they ducked down and disappeared.
    I wondered what they said to each other: “Is he calling the cops/my parents/Renfroe Middle School principal… LET’S GET OUTTA HERE!!!”
    Oh to be young again!

      1. And that goes double for their parents. Not to threadjack (because I loved the spirit and general tenor of CB’s post), but in this day and age, if you randomly take a picture of someone else’s kids without permission, you’re really crossing a line (CB, you’re on the right side of things for asking!). I know it’s probably a generational thing and I’m sure folks of a certain age fail to see the harm in taking a snapshot of some precocious kids, but nowadays you have no idea why someone might be taking that picture or where it will end up. I speak from experience. With my twins especially, people (especially folks over 50, it seems) will just randomly take their picture at YDFM, on the square…wherever. Sometimes I just shoot them a dirty look. Several times I’ve asked them if they felt in any way obligated to ask permission to photograph someone else’s children, and I get a range of reactions from apologetic (most common) to acting like I’m the a-hole. And once or twice I’ve asked what they thought they would do with such a picture, and in both cases the answer was, “Oh, just to show to my friends on Facebook. No one else would see it.” Which of course is the absolute WRONG ANSWER. Please, if you see a kid doing something cute and you feel inclined to shoot a photo/video, think twice. At the very least, ask the parents’ permission, and be prepared to respect their wishes when the answer is “NO.”

        1. Agree with everything here. I dealt with an additional crossing-the-line issue when my boys were small. They both have red hair, and some are fascinated by that. More than once, people have touched their hair, which I just can’t understand. Why do you feel it’s OK to touch my child’s head? I realize they don’t mean harm by it, but it’s creepy and inappropriate.

          1. I have witnessed this trespass too. Seems to be more common with my daughter (who is 13 mos. old). I’ve seen it done to other people’s kids and in one case prevented someone who was about to do it. Just NO. Learn some impulse control. I have even experienced this with my wife. She has long, naturally light blonde hair, and other women seem gravitationally attracted to it. I remember my first time observing this behavior: We were on our second date (at Eddie’s Attic) and the woman in an older couple sitting behind us just randomly started combing her fingers through my wife’s hair, murmuring “Oh, it’s so lovely!” My wife said “thanks” and gently pulled her head away and tried to play it off like it didn’t bother her because it was in the middle of a performance, but was obviously deeply disturbed. That’s not even a benefit of the doubt situation. It’s a form of assault, frankly.

        2. “…snapshot of some precocious kids,…”: Precocious? Or precious? It’s pretty hard to tell how advanced children are from just casual observation. But maybe not in some cases. 🙂

        3. Thanks Lumber. My emphasis was not tattle-tailing on 2017 kids or creeper picture taking but the secret places in Decatur where kids in the fifties and sixties hung out. I was hoping to hear from a few old geezers about fav no adult spots back in the day. One of the Ponce boys secret spots was the gutter drains/tunnel under Ponce Place and the Baptist Church property (the tunnel under the street is still there). We would enter at the Baptist Church side, pop up into the street gutter space and have a meeting. This seems crazy now looking back but at the time, no big deal. Kinda like the kids today on the Marta A.C. unit.
          Next time I post on FFAF it will be something political. That way, no drama.

  4. I’m looking for a handyman to patch some drywall and put up some wood shelves in the pantry that will actually last unlike those evil white wire mesh things. All recommendations are appreciated!

  6. Anyone have any comments about the SPLOST/eHOST referendum?

    I always enjoy reading the different perspectives on these from neighbors who understand the details and impacts better. TIA

      1. I have not received a mailing on the topic. Anything interesting to share from your mailing?

        1. Too detailed to post here. It does have figures of how much each city would get and how much county property tax would be reduced in each city.

  8. Has anyone else been experiencing huge changes in their USPS mail delivery? When a package is tracked to show up on a certain day, it’s normally delayed then updated on the tracking. My guess is when they are running behind, they won’t take the time to get out of the truck to drop off a package at the door. Our post person may not even show up until 8PM some nights. Also, certain magazine subscriptions have not been showing up and others have randomly. And here’s the kicker — a domestic letter (which happened to be a check) postmarked in June from the sender had a local time stamp of September!!!

    1. That all comports with my expectations of the Decatur post office. They are consistently inconsistent.

    2. On Saturdays it’s hit or miss if we get our mail. We are apparently at the end of the route.

    3. This is just normal for us.

      My least favorite is 1-2 times/year when a package that is addressed properly has tracking showing it “undeliverable” due to an incorrect address. Followed by a rush the next AM and a 20 minute wait at the PO Box window/door and they will find it before it got returned. And no explanation of what was wrong with the package address (answer: nothing).

  10. Thursday morning hordes of (well-behaved) school kinds were walking down Adair with chaperones- what was the fun field trip? What school?

    1. FAVE 4th graders. Learning about colonial America and such. Rave reviews about “Harriet Tubman” from my 4th grader!

  12. Not in city, but near the new crosswalk on Clairmont (at Maediris) there has been water bubbling up from the manhole (personhole?) for weeks now. I have tried finding a ‘notify us of a leak’ type number for DeKalb water without luck. Any ideas?

    1. There’s been an ongoing thread on Nextdoor about it. As of mid-October, it had been going on for around two months. It is a state road, so GDOT has to be the one to deal with it. Multiple people have reported it to both the county and the state, and received responses, but nothing really concrete, other than that they know about it.

    3. They must have started working on it in the past few days because there is a steel plate over a hole there now. Hope they finish fixing it soon, but at least they have gotten started.

  14. Anybody have any recommendations for a company to polish concrete? I’m fixing up my basement and would like to use the existing concrete floor.

    Also, my thanks to the folks who recommended Lanny Adams Appliance Repair in a Free-For-All Friday post on September 22. They fixed my dryer quickly and the techician was a great guy. I would definitely use them again.

  16. Does anyone have a sense of when construction will begin for the new schools on the Talley St. property and when they are slated to open?

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