Free-For-All Friday 10/8/10
Decatur Metro | October 8, 2010 | 7:00 amFeel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not already discussed here in the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
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This week’s Free-For-All Friday is sponsored by Six Star Service Subaru…
Six Star Service is a locally owned and operated independent Subaru service facility. We offer Atlanta area Subaru owners personalized service and savings as an alternative to dealership pricing. With over 30 years of combined experience and an attention to detail unmatched by others, we hope to make Six Star Service the preeminent choice for Subaru repair and service.
We invite all Subaru owners to stop in, say hi, and get to know us. We are offering a free oil and filter change to the first four Subaru owners who respond to this posting by emailing .
We would also like to use this opportunity to announce our new “Oil Change Saturday”. Starting in November, we will devote the second Saturday of every month to those customers that need the most basic of maintenance but just do not have the time to get it done during the week. Check our our website for more details and valuable coupons. www.sixstarsubaruservice.com
Every bus and train I was on yesterday during a full day “about town” was full and some had standing-room only. People at stations/bus stops were all talking about how the service cuts have affected them personally.
Yeah! Full buses and trains!
Does anyone know the route for DHS Homecoming parade today? Also, do any local retailers sell DHS gear in kids sizes? Thanks!
I asked a couple of weeks for recommendations for general practice physicians. Just thought I would let you guys know that I went to Dr. Costley at Ponce Primary Care and I could not recommend him more. His office is very nice and convenient and I feel like he truly cares about his patients. Highly recommended!
Oh good. I was one of those people. I gave him a try about a month ago and was very pleased. Will be using him from now on. It is great to have a doctor that actually listens to you.
Here’s an update on the restaurants and food businesses who have accepted the invitation to come to the Decatur Wine Festival: Isabella’s Cafe, The Cookie Studio, Watershed, Feast, Farmstead, Iberian Pig,Parker’s on Ponce, and, as of this morning, Saba!
Registration for restaurants is still open through the end of next week and I have a few spaces left.
If you are going out to lunch or dinner this weekend please tell them thank you. If you are going somewhere not on this list, please encourage them to join us for a good time, a good cause, and a great way to promote their business.
http://www.decaturwinefestival.com
I have to pass along a recommendation for LexTechs (www.lextechsofatlanta.com) down at the old Relics and Rarities space.
My inlaws were in town last week and needed a new light for their turn signal on their Toyota, which apparently is hard to access without some sort of magic tool. In an effort to stay local, I sent them to LexTechs on Saturday morning and the service technician there changed the part and refused to charge my father-in-law for such a simple procedure.
This kind of customer-focused service promises to keep them in Decatur for a long time. For those of you who drive Toyotas or own a Lexus, try them out. They deserve your patronage. Thanks LexTechs!
I love hearing stories like these!
I’ll take you up on that recommendation – I’ve been needing to take my car somewhere to have the power locks checked.
For Audi/VW owners, I have had the same kind of experience at Lewis Motorwerks on Lawrenceville Hwy – great independent service, and they wouldn’t take my money for a light bulb change.
have they performed any major engine surgery for you? if so, how was the experience?
Biggest thing so far has been replacing the timing belt, they were less than half the price the dealer would have charged. They also fixed a problem the dealer couldn’t figure out, which is how I got to them in the first place.
thx for sharing. I’ve used a place out in Doraville and been very satisfied with the work and the price (esp compared to the dealer) but it’s kind of a hike. Have also wondered about Karma on E. College, which I just noticed a month or two ago.
Just adding my voice as another satisfied customer of theirs.
If there’s one thing that old-school Decaturites and new residents agree upon it’s the love of the Subaru. And if you own one, you really can’t beat today’s FFAF sponsor for service. The mechanic there knows more about Subarus than Nellie knows about cupcakes. And that ain’t easy.
As the owner of a 12-year-old Forester, I’m thrilled that there’s a Subaru service garage in Decatur!!!
We’ve got Decatur High gear at Decatur Screenprint, 340 W. Ponce de Leon, above Garlic Thai/Snoball Cafe. Kids sizes, too.
And check out the new Decatur Beef Festival shirts, hot of the presses.
Patrick
DecaturScreenprint.com
Moo, y’all.
Decatur Beef Festival? Why am I reminded of the cattle in the theatre lobby in Blazing Saddles?
Moo cows on the Square? Cow Decorating contest?
I am working on my absentee ballot and am stumped by the City of Decatur special referendum. Can anyone translate/explain? “Shall the Act be approved which authorizes the City of Decatur to exercise redevelopment powers under the “Redevelopment Powers Law” as it may be amended from time to time? Yes/No.
Thanks.
It’s a referendum to give the City of Decatur power to create Tax Allocation Districts in the future. It’s actually something the city has been trying to get on the ballot for years, but the Legislature only let it through during the last legislative session.
Yesterday at lunch time I was walking my dog along the first block of Ponce Place . A car pulled up and the driver asked me where to find a parking space.
I pointed to my left at the many, many open spaces in the 315 Ponce Lot and then to my right at 6 or 8 open metered spaces alongside the CVS center. She said, ” Oh no, I ‘m not gonna PAY to park ” and drove away.
I wonder which world she came from – I’m guessing the Land of Malls and Strip Centers. Maybe she should try parking in Atlanta.
If she asked where she could get a lunch and you pointed out some restaurants.
“Oh no, I’m not going to PAY to eat!”
She probably parked in the CVS lot, everyone else does.
Warning – security guard on duty and will have non-customers of the shopping center booted and/or towed. Don’t ever think the guard is not there. I have seen him and talked with him several times. They’re SERIOUS about reserving those parking spots for customers!
I wish the City would get SERIOUS about ticketing the people who park in the resident parking only areas around the CVS and on the sidewalk in front of Taqueria. Parking behavior won’t change until there are consequences for breaking the rules.
If you see a violator, call. They will come and ticket if made aware of it, but they can’t watch the area all the time.
I’ve called several times and they have come every time and they come promptly.
Like I said – be a little proactive rather than waiting for “someone else” to do it. I have had similar experiences – including at least one time when the car got impounded and another when the bicycle officer responded.
Who said anything about waiting for someone else to call ? I call about improper parking in this area on a regualr basis . The police do respond when called.
I have spoken to the officers. More than one admitted – off the record- that they only ticket when someone calls and that they rarely deal with parking violations during routine patrols of the neighborhood. That is what I meant by I wish the City would get serious about it.
I for one would rather have police officers looking to crime than illegally parked cars. Not to say it’s not a problem, but priorities have to be set. If there need to be additional personnel dedicated to parking enforcement, they will have to be paid from someplace.
I totally agree that police officers should be dealing with things other than parking. The number of City administrative employees has increased quite a bit over the last 10 -12 years. I am not exactly sure what they all do but I know there are positions overseeing festivals and doing public relations jobs like writing the Focus. We hire consultants to have neighborhood meeting to discuss development issues and have spent hours of staff time on the recent round table discussions.
If we can find funding for these things , it seems we could find some funding for parking enforcement employees to help preserve a good quality of life for those living closest to commercial areas.
I would like to lodge a complaint. The stories and commentary over the past few days have been too tame for my liking.
DM, please post something controversial so we can spice it up a bit.
Thank you.
Yo, Token! Where ya been?
I should think any Repub worth its salt could stir up some shizzle on its own without too much effort, eh?
Hi Cuba. Sorry I haven’t been around. My coworker left the company and I have been spending all my time picking up the slack. So not much time to play on DM.
It’s also difficult to think of ways to start trouble, seeing as how I end up agreeing with DM posters more often than not.
Missed the seniors post eh? Your fellow Repub’s were out in full force and thirsting for blood…
I read it, Rebecca, and I infer from your statement that you believe those who spoke out against the tax could only be those awful, baby-killing, warmongering, wingnut Republicans.
Nice bit of stereotyping, that.
Anytime. Don’t forget to fill up your Hummer on the way home!
I wouldn’t put Token in the same category as certain people on that thread.
How about a fire department in Tennessee who let a guy’s house burn to the ground because he didn’t pay the $75 to opt-in for fire coverage and what it says about the uncomfortable limits of libertarianism?
Homeowner’s quote: “I thought they’d come out and put it out, even if you hadn’t paid your $75, but I was wrong,” said Gene Cranick.
Uh, instead of a discussion about the “uncomfortable limits of libertarianism”, maybe we should talk about how we have become a society that expects something for nothing and takes personal responsibility for nothing.
Or how, as a society, we’ve come to expect firefighters to do their bleedin’ jobs regardless of political considerations.
What political consideration? You either paid for the service or you didn’t. Tough consequence for sure and if i was a firefighter, I’m not sure I could let a house burn. However, he knew he was to pay if he wanted service and he chose not to.
So expecting firefighters to save your house is a symptom of spoiled society?
Man, you are harsh and tough and backwards and–don’t you think they could’ve billed the guy?
And maybe they can make him breakfast in the morning and brush his teeth as well.
As usual, there is an avoidance of something very important in this discussion: yes, being away from the urban area he should have paid the $70 fee, and this is the important part, but his house burned down–his house, where he lived. Why is the timing of his payment so important here? Hell, bill him an extra $30 after the fact.
As I stated earlier, I wouldn’t have let the house burn. My point was that if we are going to have a discussion on “libertarianism”, we should also have one on personal responsibility.
It’s a ridiculous system. Apparently, for a a property tax increase of less than $1per lot, the entire rural area could have had county-paid fire services. Walrus, I don’t know your background, but there was a huge trend to privatize public services in the late 80s and early 90s. Public administration and urban policy academics started analyzing the trend in the last 90s and found privatization was costing more and people were less satisfied with the services. Privatized trash systems were about the only thing found to benefit the public across the board. Firefighters, like police, shouldn’t have their hands tied like this. Government services for the common good are wanted and needed by the public. There is too much room for error and too much at stake – lives, property and basic civic duty- to defend this sort of system. There is too much room for a mistake or human error.
The fire dept. wasn’t privately run in this case so I’m not sure I see the relevance of your point. Furthermore, the trend towards privatizing these services that these “academics” reference were ones that were constrained by heavy regulation. Also, if the citizens are not happy with the private service, the company doesn’t get the contract again and it goes to a company who does it better; competition is good. What can you do if you are unhappy with your govt. service? Finally, if you look at the current trend toward privatizing city services, you will see that they are working very well. For example, Chicago turned over all city maintenance services to a private company and it has been very successful at providing great service at WELL BELOW the cost the city spent to do the same service.
My understanding was that property taxpayers within the city limits were covered and nearby non-taxpayers outside city limits could voluntarily subscribe for a fee.
I wonder though, if a firefighter is state certified, can they legally refuse to protect life and property (while on duty, equipped and present) at an emergency?
I was intrigued by the question of the fire, so I posted this query to my fire-fighting relatives:
Hey there, active and retired firefighters of the family, what do you think of this story? with a link to the story.
So far I’ve had one answer, from the now-retired Captain of his department: Redneck jerks, no professional firefighter would or could just let the house burn.
I thought you all might be interested in the correspondence.
I hear that Dollar General won’t allow dogs into their store.
If it’s a service dog you can.
Very Random Question here …….. but isn’t that what FFAF is about? Has anyone else out there noticed the movement of the elevated concrete parking lot directly behind the Decatur Library? I am hoping that there is some architectural guru who can set my mind at ease that the amount of motion experienced when cars drive over the joints is perfectly normal and not an reason for concern.
Every bit of pavement and bridgework in NYC shakes like that and usually doesn’t fall. But I don’t have the engineering background to reassure you. Actually, once a major bridge on I-95 in Connecticut did fall, along with the speeders who didn’t stop to see why other cars were stopped and waving at them.
Funny you should ask that, because I was just in the Atlantic Station garage and commented to myself about how much movement there was in there.
You should wait at the light on the joint of the 10th street bridge spanning I85-75 when the traffic come busting over it. My little car seems to get bounced off the ground.
I think it’s the ones that don’t have any flex that are most likely to fall down. But it surely can get your attention. One of my faves is sitting at the light on the Sam’s Crossing bridge over the RR tracks when a MARTA bus comes along.
Went to Stone Mountain Park earlier and they already have their Holiday tree up. It wasn’t lit up but still it seems a tad early. It’s not even Halloween yet!
The year before last I went to Publix two days before Halloween to buy candy for trick or treaters. Their entire Halloween display was gone, and they were in the process of putting out the Christmas candy. It was kind of distressing, somehow.
Anyone know what’s going on at the old Pullman train yard on Rogers Ave in Kirkwood? Whatever it is, it’s BIG. My gut (and the signs posted nearby– “FV” and “FF5″) hint at a movie set but with the level of activity there now it would have to be one huge production..
Just nosy.
Fast & the Furious
Wow I had no idea they were at Fast & the Furious FIVE. Dang.
PS I hear Paul Walker is there.
Oakhurst Arts and Music Festival was a great time today. Beautiful weather, good music, interesting art, and the kids’ area looked like fun. Congratulations to the organizers. I stopped in at Nectar while I was in the neighborhood and the fellow there said he wished there was a festival every weekend.