Free-For-All Friday 8/12/11
Decatur Metro | August 12, 2011Feel 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 sponsored by The Marlay House…
We at the Marlay are thrilled to report that The Mobile Marlay is one of the first two food trucks ever to get invited to operate at Turner Field! Obviously we are excited at the opportunity and glad to represent Decatur at a Braves game.
We feel that when they were assessing our our potential as a Food Truck guest, our quality, menu and the tie to an actual bricks and mortar establishment helped nudge us over the line versus some of the other trucks active around town.
I’m sure we will see some smiling Decatur faces at the Braves vs. Cubs games this Friday and Saturday from 2pm until the first pitch is thrown!
Latest from Decaturish
Go Braves! Go Marlay!
Oh, heck yeah! The Marlay’s fish & chips are deeelish, & I’d much rather have that than the usual ball park fare…I’m sure they’ll become very popular with gamegoers very quickly.
I understand Decatur has a no street vender policy in place still. This seems to be pushing the limits.
Here’s a plug for the Atlanta Rough Riders Girls Softball League. Signups for girls in the Upper Elementary and Middle School leagues are happening right now for the fall season.
Our daughter has done this the past couple of seasons and absolutely loves it. All practices and games are at the field behind the First Baptist Church of Decatur, right at Clairemont and Commerce, so it’s extremely convenient. And the focus is on instruction and fundamentals, not ruthless competition.
This is a grassroots league that has been growing due to the efforts and support of many parents in and around Decatur. More info at the link – http://arrbc.com/
More info at the following link
Looking for a b&b/condo-apt rental in walking distance of the Square for the last week in Oct. The two hotels on Church have been vetoed. One of the visitors will be first time to Decatur and I’m hoping she gets to experience our walkable best. Any suggestions welcome.
Btw, checked with the Decatur Hotel/Conference Center- the reservationist told me they start renos the first week of Oct and will be closed through the beginning of 2012.
there is a b&b in the great lakes area, i believe…try this:
http://www.gardenhousebedandbreakfastdecatur.com/
I have known Doug & Rhoda Joyner of the Garden House for about 20 years,. They are wonderful people! Highly recommended!
Yes, Doug and Rhoda are some of my favorite people! You will not be disappointed!
The Decatur Hotel folks have taken out a full page ad in the AJC-DBF program, and it includes a rendering of what will be the Courtyard By Marriott lobby.
Wow. It’s really gorgeous. Keep your eyes open for the program for your sneak peek.
Sycamore House
http://www.city-directory.com/sycamorehouse/home.htm
The Mannings moved from Sycamore House over a year ago. It is no longer a B&B.
there’s the holiday inn express on n. decatur – it’s not exactly walkable, but it’s possible.
I used to think the Super 8 was probably a dump, but then my brother and my son’s girlfriend’s parents stayed there, and I got a good look at it. I’ve since put up other visitors there. It’s much better kept than you might assume. If you’re dismissing it out of hand, you should take a second look. And aside from the old Holiday Inn, you can’t get closer to downtown.
However, if it’s still not satisfactory, take a look at Laurel Hill B&B near the east end of McClendon in Lake Claire. It’s just beyond the Decatur line and an easy walk from East Lake MARTA station. Quite nice.
http://www.theinnkeeper.com/bnb/9721
DBF needs you!
AJC Decatur Book Festival, Sept. 2-4 in downtown Decatur, is the largest independent book festival in the nation. It takes hundreds of volunteers to hold a world class Book Festival. You are invited to volunteer at an author venue, help set up or close down the Book Market on the Square, or assist with one of the many other volunteer positions at the festival. This is a great opportunity for book lovers. Volunteers receive a Decatur Book Festival t-shirt. There are opportunities available that are perfect for individuals and groups. To sign up, visit http://www.decaturbookfestival.com/2011/Participate/volunteers.php or http://www.decaturga.com/volunteer. If you have any questions about volunteering, contact Lee Ann Harvey at or (678) 553-6548. Festival information is available at http://www.decaturbookfestival.com.
Nearly every author I talk to that has been to the festival mentions the great Decatur volunteers. Please help us show off the best of Decatur.
Just curious. What does that mean to be an “independent” book festival? What would be an example of a non-independent fest? Are there large corporate sponsored events in some places? Or does it mean stand-alone, i.e., not integrated into a broader fest?
There are three book festivals that draw bigger crowds than the dbf. One is owned by the Tribune company, one by a large college, and the third by the library of congress. The DBF, on the other hand, doesn’t even have a full time employee.
I just sent my form in this morning & Leeann emailed my assignments (Saturday & Sunday) this afternoon. I’m looking forward to helping out!
Recently ate at Kitchin 155 and liked it especially the chicken fried steak, french fries, shake, squash casserole, and ice cream cookie sandwich. Saw lots of Decatur families there and the owners said that a lot of folks are mentioning that they heard about the place on Decatur Metro.
All the credit for this one goes to Mrs. DM!
Oh, and they have real homemade lemonade, that may have been my favorite. Have driven by around lunchtime and seen VA staff walking to and from. So hope this all works out.
I agree! Grilled cheese and homemade lemonade was delicious!
We drove up and tried it out last week too. LOVE the Grownup Grilled Cheese. The homemade lemonade was great too. Hubs had a burger and it was really good as well. Staff was super friendly and explained everything to us since it was our first time there. So far, I think it’s a great addition to the area.
Today’s blue plate special is crab cakes! I can’t wait!
Have to agree with all the good things being said about Kitchn 155. Very friendly, clean and delicious food – something for everyone. We all (3.5 yr old boy included) enjoyed our meals which were delivered with a smile and definitely look forward to going back. In the course of eating there, I saw others with beautiful salads which I hope to try on our next visit. The ONLY thing I would change is the sweet potato fries – delicious – but could do with out the skin.
We had lunch there today too. I had the burger and sweet potato fries and the lemonade. Yumm-o. And my friend had the Grilled Cheese which she loved. Thanks for the suggestion.
Did I miss something? What is the work being done on the cemetery pond? Are they filling it in or cleaning out all the goose guano?
I guess you did miss what has been going on for a least 6 months. It’s all part of a major re-do of the cemetery funded by the bond issue. Cleanup, re-landscape, etc. The cemetery office has already had a major renovation. The entrance by the old Roly-Poly will also get a makeover after the fire department moves out after the fire station #1 renovation is done.
There’s a new bridge over one of the gullies in the graveless southeastern area of the cemetery. Anyone know what’s being done there? More plots or more trails?
Yes
They aren’t messing up the sledding hill, are they? Hope not — best fun when it snows in Decatur!
Terrible imagery, but I can’t help but think “bring your own coffin!” when I see kids dragging sleds into the cemetery…
Anybody dee the AJC review on Big Tex? One star rating and the reviewer thinks its a burger joint. I know its not 5 star fine dining, but wow. Oh well, it definitely did not get a fair shake in my opinion.
We went there for the first time last night and loved it. Great food – they have Tex-Mex versions of the killer appetizers that Fox Bros is known for. Good kids menu options too. The service was outstanding, the manager dropped in several times to check in on us. And I hesitate to post this well kept secret, but the hidden game room in the back is a gem. I’ll be hunkering down back there for a football game real soon.
I agree that the MEX part of the equation is not working. But the Fox Bros know their meats. Had the brine marinated 1/4 chicken for lunch and it was amazing. And cheap!
My experience was similar. I will be back soon.
Just read the review – it pretty much sums up our experience.
I have to agree with the review too.
I thought it was a fair review as well. Food critics don’t give out stars easily; you have to have pretty damn good food to even get two stars.
IMO review was fair. As a Native Texan I would like to add – it is not really a Tex-Mex restaurant. Not even close.
Once again I’m thinking we should give Tay-Hays back to Me-hee-ko.
I agree with the review after my 2 experiences there. I will not be back anytime soon.
The AJC recently changed their star rating system so it’s not a traditional 1-5 star rating that you see everywhere else. 1 star has a specific meaning and generally means that the restaurant is a “worth addition to the neighborhood” just not a destination restaurant. That’s prbably about right for that type of place. Here’s a link explaining their rating system:
http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/files/2011/03/ratings_key_febUSE.png
I had a terrible experience at Big Tex. Fried chicken was burned to a crisp, my taco was flavorless (who’s ever heard of such a thing?) and the service was really bad. Asked three times for a margarita and four times for more chips. I hate to be a grump, but it was a miserable experience. However, the watermelon margarita was excellent, and their creamed corn was also very good.
I thought the review was pretty accurate.
In advance of the DBF coming up, read any good books lately? Which ones? I will say I’ve read enough YA stuff to last me awhile.
The best book I’ve read in a while was “Cutting for Stone.” It’s pace is laid-back, but the story is compelling. It gave me insight into Ethiopia’s history and made me realize it’s an amazing country. Warning: It also made me crave Ethiopian food!
I loved this too.
Ditto. Fabulous book.
Oh yes, I loved this book also.
Another, Barbara Kinsolver’s “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle.”
+1
Make that Barbar KINGsolver.
I don’t think any of the authors we are discussing are going to be at the DBF, however.
Just finished the same book and it was a really good read. Now reading Outliers.
Another fan of Outliers. It was a great read, with some surprising facts about how little things make a big difference.
I also love the way Bill Bryson writes.
We ought to start up a book club.
Fish tibs at Desta! Now you have to go.
Recently reread Orson Scott Card’s “Ender’s Game.” Just as good the second time around.
Also, John J. Nance’s “Orbit.” Rarely have I been so emotionally involved in a book.
Enders Game was pretty good considering the Dickishness (had to, I’m sorry) about it. Try Walker Percy’s Lancelot. And Bill Bryson’s At Home.
Also, I’ve been going back through JG Ballard’s work; The Drought is a great story.
I’ll second the Bill Bryson. That book was fantastic.
Ah, Bill Bryson. “A Walk in the Woods” is brilliant, and he perfectly captured my experiences of hiking the AT.
I will definitely try “At Home.” Thanks for the recommendations.
“A Walk…” was great, Bryson is gold–“I’m a Stranger Here Myself” is also a good read. (I love my daughter’s Kindle…)
The wife is reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, by Rebecca Skloot. I need to read it next week for book club. A fascinating subject.
Another great book. The author has a bias and not all may agree with her slant on the topic. But nonetheless it is a fascinating story of an era, a family, and a cell line. And the book is having great effect–an update of scientific ethics rules is specifically addressing the issue of consent for use of one’s leftover biospecimens.
+1. I found it to be a really easy read for non-fiction.
Karass – seems like we might be getting our recommendations from a common source. I also enjoyed this book, but agree with you about the slant. However, I didn’t find that it detracted from the book.
I just finished “The Hypnotist” by Lars Kepler. I read about it on NPR’s site. It’s an easy and fast read. Gruesome in places. If you enjoyed the Larson trilogy (aka the Millenium trilogy), you’ll probably like this one too.
I’ve mentioned it before here, but I will tout it again: Triumph of the City is a very good generalist book dealing with urban public policy from a somewhat libertarian viewpoint. It’s not overly academic or full of impenetrable jargon. I didn’t agree with all of the author’s contentions, but he changed my mind on some issues.
Agree that Triumph is a good and important book, even though I disagree with Glaeser on a good number of issues and take issue with some of his arguments (I disagree with more of his academic writing than what is in this book)/ while he has some conservative credentials (Manhattan Institute) and background, I would not call this book “libertarian,” since it is mostly antisprawl and pro-urban, praises density for its environmental benefits, and other aspects. He does agree with some libertarian perspectives, but his perspective is much more complex than that. Book will definitely make you think.
Parrot and Olivier in America, Under the Sea, The Likeness. Am now on the second “Game of Thrones” book and wishing a little bit I hadn’t gotten into these but I can’t stop — it kind of feels like the literary equivalent of potato chips. (Also recently read the latest Stephanie Plum — those are the literary equivalent of pork rinds but the serving size is much smaller.)
I haven’t read any of the Game of Thrones books, but a while ago they ran one of the free weekends of HBO and all the episodes of the first season were available on demand. Totally sucked me in. Watched them all in two days.
Worth reading. The series is an excellent adaptation.
considered reading the Game of Thrones books, but loved the HBO series so much that I don’t want to spoil the plot! We had the best time talking about each episode and speculating what would happen. Not our usual kind of show at all, but really really great mix of characters, politics, action, suspense and surprise.
I just finished Devil in the White City by Erik Larson. It is a history of the Chicago World’s Fair and one of America’s first serial killers.
+1
Anyone one else using Ubuntu?
If so, tell me what you think.
I use it. Linux has come a long way but it’s still a “power user” operating system because while it generally works great, I usually find one or two bugs that I have to wrangle each time I upgrade to the latest version. For example this time Unity does not work. The other issue I run into is hardware that is out of the mainstream may not work. Those issues notwithstanding it is just as user-friendly as Windows or Mac and arguably more secure. Plus you’ll find more free software.
All true. I’m digging it so far–it’s (Natty) far more responsive on my HP laptop then Vista ever was. There is a bit of learning curve, but that’s not a bad thing–plus I’m starting to get into the command line.
I just wanted to give a shout out to Decatur’s recycling team. The city is providing recycling services to businesses, institutions and parks while they have contracted with Latham Recycling for its residential services. I am thrilled to see all the big blue large recycling containers in all of Decatur’s public areas! And Latham Consulting, which is a small family-owned business, just graciously provided Fifth Avenue Academy with 30 green recycling bins for the classrooms.
You got that right. Latham Recycling is small, but they could at least try to act bigger. I tried calling them last week to get a larger recycling container. The call went something like this:
Them: Yeah? Um, Hello?
Me: Hi. I was calling about recycling. Do I have the right number?
Them: No. Um, yeah.Well, I borrowed his phone, so it’s not the right number right now. Do you want his number? (Like I know who “he” is)
Me: Sure
Them: Uh. I think his number’s in this phone. Can you call me back later? I can’t look up his number while talking to you.
Me: Okay.
(Called back 10 minutes later)
Me: Hi, I talked to you earlier, do you have that number.
Them: Uh, no. I couldn’t find it.
Me: Never mind. I’ll try another day.
This is their published number that I found on the Decatur government site.
The PTO paid for the bins. They may have been graciously given but not for free.
Any word on Sapori di Napoli opening?
Last I heard, from the CL folks, was Sapori was pushed back again. Maybe early September.
I just moved to Decatur about 2 weeks ago (actually exactly 2 weeks ago!) and I was looking for a really good, moderately priced car wash/detail place around here? Any recommendations?
I used to use Dr Wash down in Henry county which was about 35 bucks or so for a full inside/outside detail and my car came out looking brand new every time. Is there anything similar to that around here?
Thanks in advance!
-George
Hey George,
Two options I use around here:
— Cactus Car Wash down Ponce, near Old City Hall East, across from Whole Foods … $30-$40, plus tip — it’s full service, inside and out.
— There is a place up Lawrenceville Hwy … I cannot remember the name, but it is on the left. $10, but you must use their vacuums (no extra charge) and clean your own interior…
The basic car wash at the Lwville Hwy. place is $5. But as you say, cleaning the interior is DIY.
The new pure gas station on ponce does washes from what I read here. I think the post said it was around 15$
IMO Cactus has gone downhill over the years. Even had a problem recently with some theft from the car.
I’d recommend California Gold on Scott Blvd. & Church St.
I’ve been meaning to give Pure a try also.
That explains it. I had always heard rave reviews but I when I went, they held on to the car for hours until I insisted I had to leave. Then later I discovered that they’d broken a knob on the dashboard. I think they had been vainly trying to fix it instead of owning up to their mistake. I ordered a new one for $6 and even an unhandy person like me could just snap it back on. So that left me unimpressed with Cactus.
Avril’s on Briarcliff at Lavista.
Drive up and down Fayetteville Rd in Oakhurst and ask for K.C. He does a good job and you can tip him with a cold Bud Light.
My kind of guy!
Haha, thanks for all the info guys I really appreciate it! It looks like Avril’s is the best places for the money to go, I’ll probably check that out as soon as i can.
Uh, actually no. Keith’s not kiddiing about Kenny. See my post below.
Avril’s is a good value for the money. Just don’t expect more than what you pay for. The California Gold place used to be great. They just try to upsell you now. It’s really annoying and borders on harassment. Last time i was there I had to argue with the guy and barely got out of there for under $100 for a wash, wax and washing my freaking floor mats. Insane. I won’t be back there any time soon.
Kenny Carter on Fayetteville Road. Just drive by,. He’s the the 100 block and either he or is uncle will always be outside. He does a nice job and he’s lived here his whole life.
I have never had a good experience with Cactus on Ponce, BTW.
Yup…wasn’t kidding. He does both of our cars. Sometimes we leave them there, sometimes he does them at our house. Wasn’t kidding about the Bud Light either!
@KF and NellBell–that is what I call a community service–seriously.
(Other than suggesting pulling out the hose, a couple of sponges and a bucket of soapy water…)
Oh come on, not another new George!
This is really getting out of hand…
(The more Georges the better, I always say. But I’ll definitely have to work on a better nom-de-comment)
Hey, is the narrowing of Commerce between Trinity and Howard a permanent thing or is it temporary until the housing construction is completed? That’s a real mess right now until everyone gets used to it. As I was crossing Trinity towards Ponce this morning the car in the left turn lane continued straight as well. Bad news.
Temporary until demolition and construction are complete just like the last phase.
For those who helped me out with info last week, I though I would complete the tale of my jury duty saga — it might prove useful to someone else. I’d complained that in 13 years of DeKalb County residence, I’d been called to jury duty six times. Responses I got indicated that was unusual, so I talked to the jury administrator when I reported this week. Turns out I was triple listed on the jury rolls — once with my name included middle initial, once with my legal signature, which includes an unfortunate Roman numeral, and once under my nickname. I still had to serve jury duty, but getting the additional listings off the rolls means I probably won’t be called so often in the future.
So did they let you off this week?
Nope. Still had to serve. Ended up in voir dire but didn’t get picked for the trial, so I went to work at noon.
Valuable lesson! I’ve been getting called frequently so I should check!
Wow. I would have never guessed!
Dang. I’ll bet Sean Combs must be called to serve, like, every week!
Didn’t see “Puffy” or “P Diddy” on the list…
Have her contact LeeAnn Harvey at the city for Volunteer Decatur! She will plug her in.
My mother is moving here at the end of the month. She’ll be in an apartment over off Arcadia. She’s looking for some volunteer opportunities. Recently she’s been involved in the Sierra Club, so she’ll probably get involved in that here. She is currently volunteering at a clinic for people with no health insurance. She also worked on the previous Obama campaign.
Any good thoughts on nearby organizations?
See Invincible Summer’s post above.
Decatur Cooperative Ministry
DeKalb Rape Crisis Center
Fugees
Sometimes the CSD School Leadership Teams are looking for community members to appoint, if that sort of quasi-governmental, quasi-political, quasi-educational volunteer role would appeal to her. But parents cannot serve as the community member for their own child’s school, only as an elected parent member. I don’t believe that grandparents have been addressed yet. No matter what, she could serve on the SLT of schools without any of her grandchildren, and maybe any CSD school.
I believe a grandparent was the community member of WP’s SLT one year.
Volunteer Decatur
http://www.decaturga.com/index.aspx?page=417
There are tons of great Decatur nonprofits that can use help, especially from people with flexible daytime hours. In addition to reviewing the website, your mom can e-mail Lee Ann Harvey to get her monthly announcements about volunteer opportunities. When I first moved to Decatur years ago, she even talked with me on the phone to help me narrow down options.
Hands on Atlanta
http://www.handsonatlanta.org
HOA is a great way to learn about lots of different Atlanta-area nonprofits and causes through 1-2 hour projects.
Literacy of Volunteers of Atlanta:
http://www.lvama.org/html/contact.php
The name says Atlanta, but–get this–they are actually in downtown Decatur! Right by the library and the MARTA station.
Crap. That should have been Literacy Volunteers of Atlanta. The typo was ironically humorous, however.
Thanks for the chuckle.
I volunteer with LVA-a great group of folks who do very important work!
LVA is also helping many Somali mothers improve their literacy skills here in Decatur. It’s a wonderful initiative that helps participating moms collaborate more effectively with their children’s teachers and improve their own experiences, too.
Another of my favorites is a fantastic organization called ICARE, which coordinates volunteers to drive older adults and people with disabilities to medical appointments. They’re always in great need of more drivers. It’s at http://www.icareseniors.org.
Decatur Emergency Assistance Ministry (DEAM) located at Holy Trinity Episcopal across the street from Glenwood (Elementary? Academy? I can’t keep up these days!)
I’m afraid to say anything…my latest comment in the Growler thread says I’m being moderated!
It does? I don’t see it.
It cleared after about 10-15 minutes but it had a note that said something to the affect of “Your comment is awaiting moderation.” Not sure if my name ever came up on the Recent Comments list but it hadn’t while the moderation note was up. Had never happened before…except once when I had a link in a post. Oh well…chalk it up to gremlins.
Don’t know if it’s related to your issue- but every time I clean my cache & cookies, I get the moderation message.
Dude, I been in and out of MODERAtion for years now-I wonder where Eric went to…
Maybe I should change my name to Thread Jack.
Hi Gibbs. I’m still around. I’m just using a different name now.
Dude, good to hear–or read.
Still wondering about Marshall…
Some don’t return after moderation. Anyone remember Rick?
What about me? Always good-natured and level-headed, but always moderated on account of my moniker.
Not Decatur related, but this blew me away: 30 counties in Georgia don’t have websites. At the risk of sounding like an urban elitist, maybe a county that can’t provide a website shouldn’t be a county.
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2011/aug/12/sam-olens/olens-some-georgia-counties-cities-lack-websites-e/
That’s just a symptom of a much larger problem that will never be solved in parochial Georgia. One place cited in the article was Taliaferro County, with less than 2000 residents (if you’ve never heard of it, it’s about 100 miles east of here, beyond Greene County). How can a place of that size be expected to provide anything approaching a decent level of services to the people who live there? There are and always will be too many little governmental units in Georgia, each with their own agenda.
Yeah, let’s not have people governing themselves.
Speaking of county websites, I’ve long thought it was weird that Dekalb County’s website “tagline” is “The Greenest County in America.” Says who?
You weren’t the only one to question that claim:
http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2011/jan/03/dekalb-county/dekalb-greenest-county-nation-claim-gets-muddy/
You know your post sounds weird. There really are places out there that don’t need a website to communicate.
Urban elitist.
In counties without websites, what proportion of the residents have Internet access? I’d bet not many, and that’s an infrastructure issue that IMO needs to be addressed at least as urgently as transportation needs.
I guess it depends on your definition of access. Dial up? I’d say very few don’t have access to that. Whether or not they actually subscribe to it or not is another matter. Broadband? I don’t see how it gets done in those areas without massive government subsidy. One thing I’m pretty sure about, though, is that having all these tiny counties is inefficient and a barrier to improvement.
Georgia has more counties than most states:159 counties. Why? It’s my understanding that state officials wanted to ensure that all county residents were a day’s travel (by foot or carriage) from the county seat so that they could pay their taxes, receive county services, serve on juries, file lawsuits, etc. So if you think about, it is a much better approach to open government than throwing up an impersonal website which sometimes does not provide the necessary information.
Georgia has more counties than any state except Texas. The thing about being a day’s journey was done 150 years ago in horse and buggy days and is really irrelevant now, but what was done then set the precedent for tiny local governments that struggle for resources needed to provide basic services in today’s age.
Nobody wants to give up their little fiefdom. I would point out that, until about 40 years ago with the Voting Rights Act, many of these counties operated under a single commissioner form of government with one all-powerful elected commissioner rather than any kind of local legislative body.
Haven’t heard much chirping on here about the newly re-opened Trackside. The place looks great! Haven’t tried the food yet, but I can vouch for the much improved bathrooms. Thoughts??
Beer was–beer, service good, bathrooms–clean, which was weird for Trackside.
We, I think, brought the average age up to at least 37 when we were there last weekend.
Funny you should ask, I just pulled out the leftover half gyro and potato salad that I ordered for my walk home on the way out last night. Still the best late night/early morning bar food around!
At the risk of sounding anti-elitest, I suspect that most DMers are more the Brick Store/Leon’s fancy pants type demographic. Not that there’s anything wrong with that, I’ve just been a Tracksider since the choices were that or the Grog Shop.
If you liked the old Trackside, you will love the new place. Al and friends did a fantastic job of maintaining the best parts of the old place while also making badly needed updates. If you were not particularly fond of the pre-fire Trackside, you still might be pleasantly surprised at what they’ve done with it.
The food is surprisingly good for bar food. I’d eat there every time over Taco Mac or Twains, which is really all you can compare it to. However, if they get Robert back in the kitchen, I’d eat there over some of the “real” restaurants around town as well!
As for the jokes about the age of the patrons, well, I too used to mock the “day shift” crew. Now I’ve turned into the guy who gets there at 5:00 and leaves by 10. When the blind draw dart tournament went til midnight last night, I even found myself cursing the damn kids who just don’t understand that my old ass needs its 8 good hours of sleep. I suspect it won’t be long before I’m the guy opening the bar at 3 and rushing home before the sun goes down. So joke away Gibby, but if you want to put some money on a game of darts, you’ll know where to find me!
I will always play darts, but not well–so not for money. Maybe TeeRuss and I will see you there.
Chiming in late since I’ve been at work…”Cutting for Stone” was one of the best books I have ever read.
I bought the book at Eagle Eye since it was highly recommended. Otherwise, I would have requested it from the Decatur Library and waited months to check it out, and avoided the surly staff with the great self check out system. I love Decatur!
I just finished reading all three books in the Girl trilogy, then bought the Swedish films with subtitles/dubbing. Great writing, great characters. So sad that the author died before being able to enjoy the fame and fortune of his trilogy!
Ahhh. The Grog Shop, now there’s a blast from the past. The square was a lot different back in those days. BTW, I pulled in behind the recycle truck on Oakview a couple days ago and observed the following: Most houses had several recycle bins on the curb and each was filled with a different type of material, newspaper, plastics, cans, etc. All of the bins were tossed in together in the back of the truck. So I ask, why do we separate it if it’s all going to be thrown back together? i have also observed the same practice at work, only there the trash cans and recycle cans are all emptied into the larger containers together.
Waste/recycling companies are able to sort at the plant. Waste Management for example is able to sort most things for recycling and what they don’t they turn into gas. This industry has keep up with the times. Just check with your local company at work and they are more than willing to educate you.
As SAHM says, separating hasn’t been necessary for some time, so maybe it’s a matter of convenience or habit for those households or workplaces., although some workplaces may have paper-only recyclers in order to get a better deal.
CSD uses a single-stream recycling company, and sorting is not necessary.
Any reactions to the new DeKalb County Superintendent? Is it unrealistic to think that the superintendent of a large county school system could be effective, honest, and objective in hiring and promotion? Is that just too naive?
She has worked at an Associate level in two large systems, Charlotte and another I can’t remember; she has large system experience.
Got a sneak peek of the interior of the new Cakes and Ale last night. It is GORGEOUS. Two lovely rooms plus a beautiful bakery. There was so much excitement among the regulars. HUGE congrats to Billy and Kirstin and the entire staff at Cakes and Ale.
p.s. Open on Tuesday!
This is making my day–the bakery!
Is the City of Decatur’s borders the same as the 30030 zip code?
No. Almost but not quite. A few 30030 addresses near Emory Commons are not City of Decatur–all condos/apartments, I think. And then evidently there’a a few non-30030 residences within the City.
There are some addresses, primary in the North Superior area, that are COD but 30033.
I am not in the city or an apartment/condo and my zip is 30030.