Free-For-All Friday 7/29/11
Decatur Metro | July 29, 2011 | 7:35 amFeel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close Monday.
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This week’s Free-For-All Friday is brought to you by: Kick in the Fit, offering a free month of boot camp (morning or evening) to one Decatur Metro reader. www.kickinthefit.com
To enter, just send an email with the subject line “Decatur Metro Giveaway” to [email protected] Make sure to include your name and address in the email. Kick in the Fit will pick the winner at random on Monday morning.
Woo Hoo! Barring any last minute hiccups, this should be my last post as an OTP C.O.D. Imposter! Closing at 1:00. If you don’t hear fro
Oh man, love the new mobile site but hate this new “smart” phone. I wish it was at least smart enough to not send texts and comments before I’m actually ready to…
As I was saying, wish me luck. If you see something on the news about a Decatur house closing going horribly awry, that’ll no doubt be me.
That was pretty funny how your post just ended in mid-sentence, especially with what you were writing at the time. Kind of like, “help me, I’m fall…”.
Welcome back to our island of sanity in a sea of chaos.
Where is your AVATAR??? I feel so confused.
I entered the wrong email address.
Good luck. Hope your signature writing hand is up to the task.
Welcome back, neighbor!
Please do not move until the OTP rash hath faded.
No worries, between the work we planned to do and the added delay we did not count on (the former owner felt the need to get one last sucker punch in by having the county and gas company physically shut off and lock the utilities on the day of closing sometime between our final inspection and the closing – breaching both our contract as well as all human decency
) we will be slowly transitioning back. We’ll hopefully be moved in for good next weekend, rash-free with any luck!
Has anyone else noticed that all of those trees that were planted along the new rec path on Ponce between Lakeshore and Artwood were planted directly underneath the power lines? Though they look great and I’m all for more trees, they all seem to be growing directly into the lines already! Was that intentional? I’m just envisioning the future where large chunks of the trees will be cut out to make space for the lines.
I think that stretch is moving towards underground power lines, so lets hope it is temporary. Crews have been drilling and installing what looked like large conduit and wire around that area for some time. maybe it is just taking a while to get all the individual homes switched over to the new wire. Park looks great! Now if we could get a safer bike/run crossing from decatur to connect the Linear Park system to us, wouldn’t that be something.
+1 (crosswalk)
+1 (crosswalk)
Same thing with many of the 100 trees planted by Trees Atlanta in Oakhurst for the 100th Anniversary last year. I assumed they knew what they are doing, but certainly some of these are going to be big trees and they were planted just under power lines.
The power company doesn’t trim trees under all lines.
Look at the tops of the poles and look for a bare wire that connects to fairly large insulators at the poles. It should feed into all the transformers across a switch with several long thin insulators. That line is called a primary and is carrying high voltage supply. If there is a primary line then they will definitely trim the trees at least ten feet back since branches touching that line will short it out.
If you see only insulated lines on the poles then they may not trim those trees. Our street has a primary come out of the ground and go one direction to feed the next street over. Trees are trimmed next to our house but not our neighbors, whose trees are all in the lines.
1st Annual Madison Avenue Soap Box Derby
http://www.madisonavesoapboxderby.org/
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Madison-Ave-Soapbox-Derby/203907216326593
Madison ave near east lake dr?
RE: Soap Box Derby
Madison near East Lake? YES, Joe. Madison runs parallel to 2nd Avenue. NO speed humps!
Great idea and a wonderful fundraiser as well. Deadline to register YOUR car is Sept. 1 @ $25. Gravity powered cars only but permitted materials allow for the unusual like your kayak on wheels. 2 person cars can enter and there’s 3 age group, too.
Thanks those that responded in last Friday’s Free-For-All regarding my concerns about LINKS. Nellie-Bellie – Karass- Chewey – thanks.
CSD Dad – missed that last week. What are your concerns with LINKS? I have been very happy with my sons LINKS experience at Oakhurst
Ignore my comment above – actually went back and read it. As usual, Nellie Bellie took care of everything
Hey everyone! If it’s cool with DM – I’d like to ask yall to take a short 5 question survey for a paper for my Anthropology class if yall don’t mind! the survey is anonymous! survey is here- http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JK8SKFR
Thanks everyone for the responses!!!! I ended up getting double the amount needed for my paper!
Thanks!
Anyone else have bad allergies right now or am I getting a cold?
Allergies.
Allergies to what, exactly? I have been suffering all week but would love to know it was an allergy to something and not just a bad cold.
hot weather (kidding).
It’s dust mite season.
Seriously, if you think it might be allergies, you can get an allergy test done. It doesn’t test for everything, but it tests for several of the more common allergies. My husband and I had this done, and while we both had minor reactions to plants and pets, we were both off the charts when it came to dust mites.
The beginning of ragweed season., my worst time of year.
Same question in our household. Wife thinks she has allergies. I think she has a summer cold. She looked online to see what allergens are high right now, and I don’t think she saw anything currently active. I’m betting summer cold. So, like the sign at my Dr’s office says: “If you have a cold, you can either come to us and we’ll get rid of it in a week, or you can stay home and it will take seven days.”
It’s allergies definitely. The summer is over and school starts Tuesday allergies!
I’m hearing about a bunch of cases of unexplained persistent hives. Related?
When is Mr. Gargiulo gonna take down his evil empire-like signs on the corner of College and Sams Crossing? I think are all well aware of his opinions about the “war on terror” and municipal annexation at this point.
Plus the current wording is very confusing. Not exactly sure the point of this particular rant.
Beats me, but the sign at the bakery before you get to Anthony’s Pizza is one of the oddest signs I have noticed around town in a while.
“Jesus saves, Obama spends”
I don’t know why the people who put political/religious signs up, don’t realize they are running off business with such ridiculousness
Do you get a free baptism with each loaf of bread?
Yeah, easy to save when you’re God! You don’t have to write out checks, you just WILL it to happen!
Not to mention the fact that most establishments give professional courtesy and don’t even bill God.
I always have wondered about businesses that put the fish symbol on their signs and advertising. What does it mean? We give a better deal to fellow Christians? No shirt, no shoes, no crucifix, no service? You can’t bargain with us?
True. Pizza place where I grew up had this sign: “In God We Trust. Everyone else pays cash.”
You grew up in a pizza place?? My son wants to be you!
LOL! I guess inserting the word “near” in there would be more accurate. We did eat a lot of pizza, though–it was the only type of place to which we ever went out to eat.
Jesus saves, Mosess invests.
Jesus Saves. Backs Downtown Decatur WalMart.
Hello everyone. My wife and I are moving from Midtown to Decatur in October, and I’ve been reading DM constantly for a few weeks getting the scoop on my new community. While reading the city’s 10 year plan I noticed that annexation of surrounding areas was mentioned – I was wondering if anyone knew how likely this is to happen? If Decatur asked a surrounding area to join up, would the residents there definitely say yes? Also, does anyone know when the city’s boundaries last changed?
Thanks for any insight!
Ha! If we could only predict what the outcome of that debate! Given the continuing rise in enrollment of Decatur City Schools, I doubt any residential will be added to the city any time soon.
I believe the last time the city’s boundaries were changed was a few years when a few houses on Midway Rd were added. Or did the old Devry annexation happen first?
By that I mean the annexation of the old Devry campus on the other side of Ponce from Sams Crossing on the way to Big Kroger. That is quite a bit of land, if I remember correctly, and someday could have significant residential/office/retail if the economy ever turns around.
The land was annexed but the upkeep of the corner of Winn Way and Dekalb Ind is still under Dekalb maintenance. Yea me who got them to come out and clean that mess up!
I doubt there will be any more significant annexation into decatur because it is a divisive issue, is a time consuming process for the city commission, and the Decatur school superintendent strongly recommended against the large annex plan because the school population is already pacing to outgrow the systems capacity. I can’t imagine the city jeopardizing the reputation or performance of one of the better school systems in the state even if the additional tax revenues helped. I’ve been here for 15 yrs and don’t know of any significant changes to the boundaries, except for small parcels like the ones on derrydown way (of which mine is one). Hope that helps. RST
There was talk of expanding the city limits to encompass the Clairmont/N. Decatur intersection, mostly for the taxes they would collect from the businesses. Those few of us who live in that area would be severely impacted by City of Decatur taxes and are pretty vocal. Not that we wouldn’t want to be part of the city, but I have become used to paying my taxes at the current level!
Do some math. With the recent increase in the County tax rate, you would be paying less that 20% more to be in Decatur, with far superior schools and services.
Please elaborate on the services that would be provided in COD. We purposefully chose to live in unicorporated DeKalb because of the taxes (before they voted to raise taxes a whopping 26%!). We don’t have kids so the school issue isn’t important to us.
* Accredited police department with very quick response time. Decatur patrol officers have 1 sq mile to cover – DeKalb at least 4 times that. Community orient policing make for low crime rate – the last homicide in the City was 18 months ago.
* Fire department with Class 2 insurance rating, only 1 of 2 in the metro area. Saves on insurance cost.
* Comprehensive Active Living department with a soon to be completely renovated Active Living center and one (of 2) brand new pool.
* Comprehensive and responsive sanitation department (only 1 pickup per week, though, not 2)
* City management who return their own phone calls (including the City Manager).
* Loyal and dedicated employees with over 10 years average length of service.
* The only government-sponsored comprehensive volunteer program I have ever seen.
* Long history of fiscal responsibility.
And, oh, I just did a rough calculation. Not counting homestead exemptions, which can vary greatly depending on one’s situation, Decatur total taxes are about 19% higher than unincorporated DeKalb.
Hi Steve. I’ve looked at some data from Claudia Lawson which I’m not sure I’m interpreting correctly but it indicates a total millage for Decatur of 64.708 and for unincorporated DeKalb a total millage of 44.44. This would mean that Decatur’s millage is 45.61% higher. Could you share the numbers you’re using to come up with the less than 20% difference? Thanks.
Decatur’s rate has never been that high. For current figures, look at this I picked up from a Dunwoody blog. It looks like ti came straight from Ms Lawson’s office.
http://dunwoodynorth.blogspot.com/2011/07/2011-dekalb-county-tax-rates-shows.html
Keep in mind there are slight differences in assessment ratio (County 40%, Decatur 50%) and, due to vast individual differences, I have not accounted for any homestead exemptions.
No kids here, either, but worth noting the quality of Decatur schools contributes significantly to the stability of residential property values within the city limit.
Ah, but the school issue SHOULD be important to you, and here’s why. You want a house that will retain its value, or even increase in value, right? Well, houses in neighborhoods with lousy to mediocre schools tend not to retain their value.
Not mention an educated population is far more desirable than an ignorant one.
Is ignorant really the opposite of educated? I’ve met many folks who are both. Unless your definition of educated isn’t as formal as I’m interpreting.
So you’re saying a geologist can be dumb as a bag of rocks?
Ha! I’m saying that you can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make them drink.
IMHO, an educated population that is ignorant is due to the quality of the education. Either that or some very strong social, familial, or political forces that are counteracting the education.
Math is hard. Thanks for doing it for me!
I know for my hot little area of maybe annexation it seems to fall into if you have kids or not. Kids involved then heck yes for it would be vastly cheaper to pay City of Decatur taxes than to private school. As for the rest of us without kids who are not wanting to sell our houses in the next few years we seem to have no interest in doubling our tax bill and reducing our services with garbage. Though heaven forbid if Police or Fire services were ever needed for City of Decatur has excellent response time versus DeKalb County.
With the County’s recent tax increase, Decatur’s taxes are only about 19% higher than the County, certainly not double.
Opinions about Eye Physicians & Surgeons on Scott Boulevard next to Maddies? I’ve taken a child there but am looking for a good, nearby place for my own eye care. Any recommendations for a particular physician there?
Thanks!
My grandmother went there. My mother went there. I go there…Dr. Menon is my current eye doctor and she is thorough and professional.
+ 1 for Dr. Menon.
My wife went there for the first time yesterday and had good things to say.
After a number of very long waits there, including an hour, I’d had it. I recommend Reagin Optometric Group. Once when Dr. Tom was slightly behind schedule he apologized profusely, and my children really like him.
+1 on Dr. Tom.
I went there for the first time last week and was very pleased with Dr. McDowell’s breadth of knowledge and experience.
Any updates on the Seafood/Raw Bar establishment that was supposedly going in at the El Tesoro space?
They’ve put on a new roof, repainted the entire exterior and are madly working on the interior.
Thanks Steve and DM. I am eagerly anticipating the new option.
It’s liquor license was temporarily approved at the last city commission meeting, so it seems like things are moving forward.
Wee-hooo! Liquor! I’m there.
Lick her? I don’t even know her!
Liquor in the front – Poker in the rear
Anyone bought a scooter online and put it together yourself? I know it’s more work, but a heckuva lot cheaper than buying one ready to roll out of the store.
What kind of a scooter? (Just curious, I couldn’t put together a Razor push scooter any more than I could put together a motorscooter).
The motor-scooter type.
I’d caution you against buying one of these internet scoots. You really don’t know what you’re getting. The price may seem right but if something breaks down you’re screwed. And something wil break down, even more so with these cheaper scoots. And some of the break downs are extremely dangerous, i.e. brakes going out. Just as you wouldn’t want to buy a car from a shady dealer, the same holds true for a scoot. It’s worth it to go to a reputable dealer. If you do buy an internet scoot, good luck finding a decent mechanic to work on it. If you’re looking for a bargain keep an eye on Craig’s for a used bike from a respected scooter brand.Also, don’t even think of not getting a full faced helmet.
I agree 100% with Chadass. Your scooter will be your best antidepressant. The flipside is that there are few things sadder than a beautiful spring day with a busted scoot.
I don’t know if you’ve ever made bad decisions in your life, but if you have this one would shoot right to the top of the list.
Go the used quality scooter route or nothing at all before buying something that at best should be considered disposable.
Georgia’s Assistive Technology Act program is called Tools for Life (http://www.gatfl.org/). They have many great resources for finding affordable scooters and other technology. In particular, look for “gtrade” (an exchange board for AT equipment) and Star Network (a collaborative program that helps people with disabilities obtain inexpensive or free gently used equipment).
And while I’m on the subject, Friends of Disabled Adults and Children (FODAC) is always looking for extra medical supplies and gently used DME to clean and refurbish for people in need. They can use just about anything — shower benches, walkers, wheelchairs, packaged wound-cleaning supplies, etc. FODAC is right in Stone Mountain.
Are there any newer condos available in Oakhurst or that general part of town (I currently am in Lenox Place)? I am sick of having a fixer upper but don’t think we could afford a non-fixer upper at least 3-2 house.
There are several newer townhouse developments in Oakhurst, Nathan, but not certain about condos outside of the downtown Decatur area.
Thanks. Can you tell me where they are? I like this part of town and would like to stay in the Oakhurst elementary district.
One is just east of Oakhurst Park. It’s on a street called “Fairpark Lane,” but really it’s a continuation of Feld Ave. just south of Leyden.
There is another off of South McDonough just past the College Heights Early Learning Center. Also, a never finished development on Oakview across from the Fifth Avenue School.
I think there are some others than I’m just not thinking about right now.
Yep, but McDonough will be zoned for Winona.
That is true TOK. I didn’t get the impression that Nathan was looking for particular school zones though. He just said he like the Oakhurst area. Maybe I was wrong.
The most recent CSD thread started to go off the rails into the weeds of grammar and spelling. I was disappointed that it did not, because there are a couple of things I want to get off my chest.
The period always go inside the closing quotation mark.
“Barbeque” is an abomination
“In order to” should always be reduced to “to.”
Somehow “We the People of the United States, to form a more perfect union…” just doesn’t sound quite right. But neither does “more perfect.” <-period inside quotes
The official scribe was paid by the word?
There’s an exception to every rule. According to The Scott, Foresman Handbook for Writers, page 456, “Commas and periods always go inside a closing quotation mark–except when a sentence ends with a page number in parentheses: Hitchcock claims, ‘The sequence was never filmed’ (21).”
What’s wrong with “barbeque”? It’s in the dictionary, no? Or do you mean that you don’t like to eat it?
Agree that the “in order” part of “in order to” is wordy and unnecessary.
To your first point, I’ll be damned.
To your second, barbeque is a misspelling that is common enough that it has been included in some dictionaries, often with the “common misspelling of barbecue” caveat. There is no properly spelled word in the English language in which the the “kew” sound is formed by “que.” By the way, I’m totally cool with “bar-b-q.”
What about to queue up as in get in line in London?
I’ll throw my two cents in on the grammar. Use more than instead of over in a sentence like this: He posted more than 300 comments on Decatur Metro. Over is a spatial relationship, as a UGA professor made me repeat multiple times. But what I really can’t stand are all the buzz words spawned by the business world, like “incentivize.” Yes, it’s probably in the dictionary but I don’t think it should be.
Hey DM! How about a post devoted to buzzwords and phrases that irritate us? DSW started us off with “incentivize.” I would like to add “on a go-forward basis” and “ideation.”
I was in a meeting at Coke once, presenting some ideas and a corresponding estimate, and the person we were meeting with suggested that the quote needed to be “value engineered downward.”
How about the perennial “thinking outside the box?” Each time I hear someone say it, which has to be at least once a week, I want to club that person over the head with said box…
My favorite New Yorker cartoon is of a businessman lecturing his cat to “never, ever think outside the box.”
+1
I love that one, but my favorite is Barsotti’s cartoon of the piece of pasta on the phone saying “Fusilli, you crazy bastard, how the hell are you?”. Right behind that is the Mankoff businessman explaining to a visitor about the duck on his desk: “I got it at the Stadium. It was Yankee Duck Day”.
Oooh, I’ve got some. Bandwidth. And Metrics.
As in, “Hey Jenny, how much bandwidth (read: time/effort) are you going to be about to devote next week to assesing the metrics (read: standard measures to assess performance) for our upcoming deliverable.”
Ah, there’s one more. Deliverable. *Ack* Can’t stand it.
about = able
Respect and its variations are nouns, not verbs. One cannot be disrespected.
I respect your opinion Willowmom, but I am pretty sure that “respect” can also be used as a verb.
Agreed fervently with Willowmom, but on seeing DEM’s response, I looked it up and sure enough — according to Webster’s Online Dictionary — both “respect” and “disrespect” can be used as a noun or a verb.
I hate the use of the word “impact” as a verb, but will accept that it is technically correct. However, the phrase “impacted upon” drives me absolutely nuts.
Ugggghhhh! Whenever I hear someone say “impactful” (as in, “That lecture was very impactful.”), I want to strangle something!
“Stand up…” as in “stand up the new software” instead of releasing it or putting it on the market.
“Drill down” instead of examine the parts.
“Roll up” or “cascade down” instead of paying attention to the organizational goals or plans.
“Business case” instead of look at the costs and benefits.
omg – mee too! (business world buzzwords — and cliches too). If I hear one more person say “offer up”, I’m going to jump off a bridge. Does anyone ever say “offer down”, when withdrawing a previous offer to “offer up” ?????
The management at my company uses all of the above and more. My coworkers and I have created a drinking game to keep us from jumping out of the windows.
Right. So, speaking of grammar …
“The period always GO inside the closing quotation mark?!?”
Just sayin’…
Exactly. Verbs has to agree with their subject. This has saved me from Muphry’s law more than once. Apologies to Decatur’s many journalists and writers who have probably seen this a million times…
Writers’s Rules:
1. Verbs has to agree with their subjects.
2. Prepositions are not words to end sentences with.
3. And don’t start a sentence with a conjunction.
4. It is wrong to ever split an infinitive.
5. Avoid cliches like the plague. (They are old hat).
6. Also, always avoid annoying alliteration.
7. Also too, never, ever use repetitive redundancies.
8. Be more or less specific.
9. Parenthetical remarks (however relevant) are (usually) unnecessary.
10. No sentence fragments.
11. Contractions aren’t necessary and shouldn’t be used.
12. Foreign words and phrases are not apropos.
13. Do not be redundant; do not use more words than unnecessary; it’s highly superfluous.
14. One should never generalize.
15. Comparisons are as bad as cliches.
16. Don’t use no double negatives.
17. Eschew ampersands & abbreviations, etc.
18. One-word sentences? Eliminate.
19. Analogies in writing are like feathers on a snake.
20. The passive voice is to be avoided.
21. Eliminate commas, that are, not necessary.
22. Never use a big word when a diminutive one will suffice.
23. Kill all exclamation points!!!
24. Use words correctly, irregardless of how others use them.
25. Profanity is for assholes.
26. Understatement is always the absolute best way to put forth earth shattering ideas.
27. Use the apostrophe in it’s proper place and omit it when its not needed.
[“it’s” = “it is”, “its” = possessive form of “it”]
28. Eliminate quotations.
As Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “I hate quotations. Tell me what you know.”
29. If you’ve heard it once, you’ve heard it a thousand times: Resist hyperbole; not one writer
in a million can use it effectively.
30. Puns are for children, not for groan readers.
31. Go around the barn at high noon to avoid colloquialisms.
32. Even if a mixed metaphor sings, it should be derailed.
33. Who needs rhetorical questions?
[A rhetorical question is one asked for effect or to emphasize a point].
34. Exaggeration is a billion times worse than understatement.
And finally . . .
35. Proofread every space and letter carefully to see if you any words out.
——modified version from a William Safire column in New York times.
I somehow missed this and appreciate you sharing it. I still miss William Safire.
And IT’S is ALWAYS a contraction, never a possessive.
Who’s means “who is,” and does not substitute for “whose.”
Those whose profession may require them to write publicly would do well to learn proper spelling and grammar.
Anyone know how/where to get papasan seat cushions deep cleaned?
In the same vein, anyone know where a gal can find (and use!) a commercial-sized washer in the city? OTP, ITP, anywhere; I’ll drive.
I think the laundromat over by Melton’s App and Tap near Medlock Park has the giant washing machines.
I take our big comforters, etc. to the laundromat in the middle of Oakhurst next to Mojo’s. They have two of the bigguns!
“Anyone know how/where to get papasan seat cushions deep cleaned?”
______________________
The 1970’s…
Just kidding, I actually love papasan chairs.
Swear to heaven, Walrus, I thought exactly the same thing…then when I scrolled down & read your post, had to laugh aloud. (I have to admit that I loved my rattan & khaki canvas papasan back in the day…no better place to flop down with a bowl of popcorn when the munchies kicked in!)
We keep ours between the bean bag chair and the table with the lava lamp, in the room with wood paneling on the walls.
Do you also have Peter Max blacklight posters? ‘Cause if you don’t, your decor is sorely lacking…
please don’t forget the greg brady beads hanging down from the ceiling…super groovy!
I am told that there is a pile of “take me for free” things in front of Bill Floyd’s house on W Ponce. Stop by and take some of the Mayor’s castaways.
Where is the Mayor moving to, by the way?
I don’t know exactly, but he has said in the past that it won’t be outside Decatur. They’re just downsizing.
I heard condo.
Does anyone know where there’s a food bank/soup kitchen near by? I had a roommate move out and leave an astounding amount of dried/canned food.
You might call Decatur Cooperative Ministry and ask. They don’t take food donations per se due to lack of storage space, but they can probably point you to somebody.
You can take it to Deacatur Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM). They set up shop in Holy Trinity Episcipol right off of downtown Decatur
You can download the first four chapters of Colin Meloy’s The Wildwood Chronicles from NPR’s music blog here! You have to put in a real email address, but it’s free.
Having read Wildwood, I can tell you that the book starts off kind of slow, builds through the middle, and has quite a bit of action toward the end. It’s a welcome change of pace from the breakneck speed / cliffhanger-at-the-end-of-every-chapter style that a lot of adventure authors employ (aka “The DaVinci Code Syndrome”).
The first four chapters establish the premise of the plot and will give the reader a good feel for Colin Meloy’s writing. Most of the book’s pleasures, however, come later.
Here’s a brief review.
http://littleshopofstories.blogspot.com/2011/06/wildwood-is-coming-to-ajc-dbf.html
Dave
Little Shop of Stories
Where can a broke animal lover take a cat for cheap(ish) routine maintenance? Vaccinations, of course, but a basic exam would be really nice.
Paws Atlanta has a low cost vaccination clinic. http://www.pawsatlanta.org/Services/LowCostVaccinationClinic.aspx
I use Dearborn Clinic. Their prices seem reasonable and they do a great job with my cats.
PAWS usually does these vaccination clinics once a month. Get there early as there is usually a significant wait (and you have to wait outside), but the vaccs are way cheaper than in a vets office. You can also get heartworm & flea preventative as well. PAWS is awesome and I love throwing business their way.
Pet Supermarket has clinics once a month. Check out clinics on their homepage.
Check out Lifeline in Avondale Estates.
+1 Lifeline vaccination clinic. I only waited about 20 minutes and their vacination package does include a basic exam. Thyey don’t let you go in the exam room though, so be warned if that bothers you.
Is the DM phone app only for andriod type phones? I’m leaving for a week without a computer and get the heebejeebes if I go that long without reading DM. : )
that would be android
I didn’t know there was an actual DM app…I just thought you use the web browser and DM mobile theme. I checked the iPhone and there’s no specific DM app.
“These aren’t the droids you’re looking for.”
Thanks for the vet recommendations, I haven’t chosen one yet, but will soon. Today I’m looking for a reasonably priced awesome eye doctor for my 13 year old. Any recommendations? Thanks so much in advance!!
oh never mind, i just saw this conversation was already started earlier.
Looking for a tech suggestion…I need internet connectivity for my laptop ( currently using a Verizon air card which is $$$) and thinking about getting a smart phone of some type plus I have a Nook that I can only use at wifi hotspots. And I want to save some money over my current Verizon bill.
Any ideas?
If you aren’t under contract, you could pickup a “hotspot” mifi (small square device) that is a wireless modem, like your aircard, but is a wireless router as well, allowing up to 5 devices to have wireless access.
as for lowering the verizon bill, Verizon and ATT have corporate discounts with tons of companies.
for example, bob works at coke, bob goes to the ATTstore, says hey i work for coke and they told me i get 23% off my bill just for being an employee! ATT employee looks up what is called an CRU( Corp responsibility user for corp lines )/ IRU (individual responsibility user for personal lines) number to attach to the customers account, customer has to have their work ID with them to do this in-store.
Verizon works the same, but I can’t remember what they call their version of the CRU/IRU .
Hi Friday Friends–
Need advice for these two things:
Need good wallpaper hanger….
Need reliable someone who will do yard basic maintenance (mow, blow, go)- not a big name expensive company.
Thanks!
Anyone know of any interesting locations for a small wedding, ideally within walking distance of Decatur square / the eventually remodeled hotel? There’s the Old Courthouse, Mary Gay House .. but there must be some hidden obscure gems somewhere..
How small is small? 50 people?
Yes, 50ish. Thanks!
Nathan, Friends Church is a block away from your current home.
Cator Woolford gargens at the Frazer Center is a beautiful small venue. Not really walking distance to the square, but not too far away either. http://www.thefrazercenter.org/cator-woolford-gardens
Ditto for the Solarium in Oakhurst
The hotel might provide a shuttle to the Solarium.
http://www.thesolarium.com Click on The Solarium and then Photo Gallery. It’s a lovely space and very flexible.
Decatur First Methodist Church has a lovely chapel.
Does Agnes Scott allow weddings in the new chapel? If so, you need to check it out.
Yes they will, but I don’t know who to call. Start with the Chaplain’s office.
Less than 2 years ago I inquired about Agnes Scott’s wedding spaces – VERY expensive then.
Wahoo’s Garden room and patio.
Does anyone know the hours of the Oakhurst Market?
Don’t remember exactly but they are pretty extensive and every day, at least for now until they reassess patronage. They have a website you could check.
open at 10:30am, can’t remember what time they close
August 8th. Decatur parents skip day: drop your kids off at school, call in sick, and let’s all go to Six Flags!
Can anyone recommend an appliance repair company that works on stackable washer/dryers? Our drying is making a horrifying screeching sound and possibly needs a new drum. We called Lanny Adams, but they said they do not work on stackable washer/dryers. (We do not have the confidence to try fixing it ourselves!)
I also have a stacked washer / dryer and recommend Mark Houck.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/mark-houck-appliance-repair-decatur
I don’t have a stacked unit, but when mine started making a horrible screeching noise, it was just a bearing. super cheap to order off the internet and not too bad of a job to replace yourself! I’ve done that and also changed the dryer guides on mine, as the factory ones started to wear out on year 10. the bearing was less than 10$ and I think the dryer guides were 15 or 16.
We have one spot in our basement that keeps getting wet somehow. It’s on the carpet and smells horrible. The spot is right next to a vent in the wall, so I’m guessing the water is coming out of the vent. Can anyone recommend a company I can call to come out and fix this problem? We’ve been in this house for 7 years and have never had this problem.
I just saw a new documentary film The Race to Nowhere — http://www.racetonowhere.com/ — that’s basically about overworked school kids who suffer all sorts of problems as a result. (I’m sure there are better ways to briefly summarize it). Does anyone know how kids at CoD schools tend to compare to the kids presented in that film? Like, are they allowed to have “balanced” lives or are they typically very overstressed, over-committed, with tons of homework, etc.?
I think it’s family-specific in Decatur. A capable but unmotivated student could get lost in the crowd in RMS and DHS and never be noticed as long as they got okay grades and didn’t cause trouble. At the same time, there’s families who seem to make sure that their children are creating a stellar record for college applications from Day 1 of K-3. How much of that is the students’ intrinsic motivation and how much it is external pressure or expectations is hard to know. Since my children pay little attention to my suggestions about how to be organized, diligent, and productive in school, our experience has been somewhere between lazy and balanced with little danger of being overcommitted and overstressed.
I haven’t found the homework load to be overwhelming in the older grades but have not experienced AP courses yet. I do think it’s counterproductive to have homework in the preK-3 age group. For those who already know the material, it’s boring, for those who don’t, struggling with it at the end of a long school day is not the way to master it.
+1 on homework in K-3…totally useless. Too many knock-down-drag-outs with my rising 3rd grader over boring busywork.
Just saw this… http://clatl.com/omnivore/archives/2011/07/31/watershed-restaurant-to-close-next-saturday
Seriously? No big deal to me, but they want to leave Decatur? Meh.
Obviously the population of Decatur doesn’t compare to Amsterdam, but there is a similar mentality going on. People here would riot before they paid $1k for a license, but other than that fee issue, this city is certainly worthy of imitation.
The Dutch Way: Bicycles and Fresh Bread
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/31/opinion/sunday/the-dutch-way-bicycles-and-fresh-bread.html