Free-For-All Friday 12/16/11
Decatur Metro | December 16, 2011Feel free to use this post to ask questions and make comments about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Feel free to use this post to ask questions and make comments about local issues not discussed here over the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Latest from Decaturish
Cubalibre
Michael
Cubalibre
Cubalibre
smalltowngal
Trudy
J_T
GM
J_T
J_T
Jessamine13
Jessamine13
Lee Coursey
J_T
Parker Cross
Sorry all. Guess I didn’t push the “publish” button on FFAF earlier this morning!
Boy, Terrific Thursday was fun last night. Shopping done and a free buzz. Yeah.
Hubs took Young Toddler Nubbs (YTN) to the bonfire last night and YTN blankie fell out of the stroller. If you happened to pick up a fluffy and super soft light blue blanket, please let me know.
You might try calling the Public Works people. They do a pretty good job of saving things they find in their cleanups.
Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart. Walmart.
Selig sucks. Selig rocks. Selig sucks. Selig rocks.
More parking. Less parking. More parking. Less parking.
You’re an idiot. No, you’re a moron.
Thank you. You’re welcome.
Thank you – now that topic need not come up today. Or ever again.
That was my completely unrealistic hope and expectation
Are you telling me there’s a Walmart coming to town earthling?
Hey! What did I say about personal attacks against yourself?
Well, my mother always told me that I’d go blind from too many “personal attacks” but I’ve still got 20/20 vision!
Have you checked the palms of your hands for hair? I hear that’s a worry, too.
LMBAO! You slayed it today, J_T. SLAYED it!
J.T.: Meds are available for that. Just sayin’.
…handing YTN’s blankie to J_T for comfort…
DM – I love the “notify me” button below this comment box. Great add.
What’s with the feral cat colony behind Farm Burger?
I asume thet eat well.
They’ve been there forever. I think occasionally a rescue group goes and traps and neuters/spays them. Someone also leaves food for them by the dumpster. I thought it was the Watershed folks but now I don’t know who is feeding them.
Where do you think they get their locally produced meat comes from? duh.
Hahaha! You funny.
What’s up with two things I saw this morning?:
1) Decatur DeKalb YMCA: Marquee sign says that it’s closed due to fire? I didn’t get a chance to read carefully as I drove by.
2) When a prisoner bus comes to that lot by the Calloway Building, does it always have a police escort of 4-6 cars with flashing blue lights? Around 7:36 this morning, a speeding blue flashing convey arrived just as I was passing the Calloway Building on Trinity. It was quite impressive, so much so that I was tempted to yell out at all the teens converging on the the high school to duck and take cover! But instead I pulled over and put on my best citizen behavior ever. It’s never quite hit me before how close the justice system and the high school are to one another. Not complaining, just hoping that the DeKalb County Courthouse has better security than the Fulton County Courthouse evidently used to have.
Sauna caught on fire.
Wow. Men’s or women’s? How much damage? Anyone hear how long the Y is likely to be closed? Thank goodness for the East Lake Y.
DDY’s voicemail is announcing that they will re-open normal time tomorrow.
Thanks DM and AHID for alerting me to this. I was planning a run with a workout at the Y in the middle of it. Saved me the trouble of carrying my gym bag.
And thank YOU for letting me know that I have no excuse tomorrow….
!
You’re welcome. And I’m sorry…
One of the main reasons for building the new Justice Tower was to segregate prisoners and the public. They enter through a separate, secured entrance (the “sally port”), are held in a separate area and use separate elevators. And yes, the escort is normal, although it’s usually only 2 or 3 cars.
Anyone hear they are building a Walmart at Suburban Plaza?
Thoughts?
Rumor is they are planning to build the world’s largest Olive Garden right next door.
No way! This is getting better and better!
Mmmmmmmmmm, salt.
I heard Plankton is looking to open a Mega-Bucket in the old Watershed location.
Now for a non-Walmart parking question: Did city officials take into account the potential parking problems in the neighborhood surrounding the new 4/5 Academy? Every time there’s an event at the school, spillover parking seems to be out of control. Yes, the impacts are short-term and temporary, but they are inconvenient, recurring, and they do create potential safety issues.
Every school has parking problems — College Heights, Winnona Park, Fernbank. The problem is that we use too many cars. Leave the cars at home. Bike or walk to your event. You’ll feel much better for it, and you’ll be destroying your children and grandchildren’s future just a wee bit less. Every mile you drive pumps a pound — a POUND — of CO2 into the atmosphere.
I think this is more of a School Board than City of Decatur issue. There were pros and cons to all of the locations considered for building a new 4/5 to deal with increased enrollment. I’ve been slammed for saying this before but I think what the F.AVE neighborhood is seeing is what all CSD schools see, maybe a little less at the K-3s now that their attendance zones are smaller again and there’s more walking/rolling and less driving. The only exception to traffic/parking woes is the high school because 1) there’s less residential area around it and 2) high schoolers avoid being driven by their parents at all costs. You can push hard on the police and CSD to enforce speeding and inconsiderate parking but it will need constant attention and effort.
There’s also a wonderful spirit around F.Ave as children and families swirl around it. I hope that can make up for the safety issues and inconvenience.
This may just involve a recalibration of how we define “spillover.” The suburban model is that schools are designed as stand-alone entities, distinct from surrounding development. But here in Decatur, most of our schools are integrated with their surrounding neighbors. So, as a contributing part of the neighborhood, their having a lot of guests one night is not really different than someone having a party and not having room to park all their guests in their own driveway. People just park on the the street and that’s okay, because it’s a shared public asset.
I live in the immediate area around FAVE and let me say that I am thrilled by the activity there, including the spillover traffic and street parking. To me, it is a sign of vitality for the anchor of our community that was a dead zone for a decade.
While I love to see people walking/biking to FAVE for school and activities, that is just not practical for everyone for every occasion. I am glad that they did not take up a lot of land on the school site for a big parking lot and decided to use the surrounding streets for parking instead.. Street parking makes us safer, it is not more dangerous. Cars that would normally go 10-15 miles over the speed limit on Oakview have to slow down.
So, come to FAVE. You are welcome in our part of the city!
Anchor of our community? Pffftt. Everyone knows Steinbeck’s is the anchor.
I thought the sidewalk bar outside Kenny’s house was.
I live steps from FAVE too and I totally agree with all of Marty’s sentiments, with one small request to all of the spillover street parkers: please try not to park along both sides of the street. I could barely get my minivan between the cars on Spring St. last night so I suspect that emergency vehicles would have issues if they needed to get into the neighborhood. Otherwise, the more the merrier!
Re parking at FAVE: Fourth is a great alternative when you have to park and 5th is packed. You cut across the pocket park.
Re: “To me, it is a sign of vitality for the anchor of our community that was a dead zone for a decade.” At the risk of inspiring vitriol, that’s how folks who lost Westchester felt too; it was the neighborhood center of the area west of Scott Blvd. We’re now on 7-8 years, I believe. I’m not accusing Central Officers of being zombies but their presence is not the same as having an operating school. And the Westchester area doesn’t have a Steinbeck’s equivalent for back-up! Not trying to stir up trouble but promote understanding. There will be many happy families and neighbors if Westchester ever opens again as a school. Coincidentally, Westchester and the old Fifth Avenue always looked like twins to me.
The world’s largest Olive Garden in is NY and the second largest one is on International Drive in Orlando. I find them to be nasty and a perfect complement to a WalMart.
but all you can eat breadsticks!
Anyone know what movie is filming at ASC?
Coma
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2132641/
Thanks
Best place in Downtown Decatur to find a last minute “Secret Santa” gift for an adult woman? I’d like to rule out Cook’s Warehouse as an obvious choice (for now).
Seventeen Steps
Heliotrope
Taste
Greene’s or The Chocolate Bar (fresh chocolates)
Homegrown (craftsy/art)
Mingei, if she has a taste for the exotic.
Hands down…Vivid Boutique! Great choices, prices and they will have it wrapped and you out the door in no time.
+1 for Vivid!
Vivid Boutique, between Little Shop of Stories and Starbucks, is good. At least that’s what Mrs. JT says, and she’s got the credit card receipts to prove it.
This was hopefully obviously meant to be in reply to JoeBlow’s question re: adult woman gifts.
So, having lived in the South for a few months, I’ve learned that there is good sweet tea and bad (unsweet?) sweet tea. I’d like to start making it at home but I’ve gotten all sorts of differing opinions on how to do it. Would any long-time resident like to give me the best (secret?) way of making a proper sweet tea? I’d really appreciate it.
For one thing, don’t put the sugar in hot tea. Wait until it cools.
Why wait to sweeten until the tea cools? Doesn’t hot tea help the sugar dissolve? I noticed cubalibre’s comment below about waiting until it cools and using simple sugar to sweeten.
I’ve been doing it wrong all along! Ack!
Hot tea seems to suck up the sugar and it takes a lot more to sweeten it. I’m sure there’s a chemistry explanation for that but I don’t know what it is. All I know is that tea sweetened while it’s hot is never as sweet.
My take on it comes from decades of exile in Yankee-land, where you can’t order sweetened tea in a restaurant. My experience is that you can dump a dozen packets of sugar into a glass of already-iced tea–it will just sink to the bottom and your tea still won’t taste sweet. So I’m both flummoxed and intrigued by how many credible folks have advised here that you shouldn’t try to sweeten hot tea…with simple syrup, maybe I can buy it, but plain sugar? Please, somebody explain…
I put the sugar in after the tea cools on the counter but before the fridge. Putting sugar in iced tea never works.
This is probably going to have more differing answers than Carter has liver pills— but here is how my East Tennessee Mother always did it
Bring about two cups of water to a rolling boil – add 4-6 regular size tea bags (they didn’t have the larger ones back in her day, but I use two of the “family” size bags). Let this simmer for about 10 minutes. Then add about a cup of sugar(more or less to taste) and then pour this into a pitcher that is half filled with ice and cold water, add more water if the tea is too strong.
You basically just have to experiment with the amount of tea and sugar that you use to get it to where you like it.
That’s how my deep south Georgia/south Louisiana mama taught me to make it, too. Cut up a lemon and get some fresh mint from the backyard, and you’re all set.
I wish I had paid attention to how my East Tennessee grandmother had done it before she passed away and I lost that chance, but I have never been much of a sweet tea fan (gasp!) despite being a native. Craig, you are the only person besides her who I have ever heard use that expression about Carter and the liver pills. Thanks for the smile.
I’ve only heard my Mississippi mama make reference to carter’s liver pills!
What part of Mississippi?
Near Meridian and the world famous Chunky River.
Carter’s LITTLE Liver Pills, right? Can’t remember which grandmother mentioned those but both were Northern.
Northerners? Well,….bless their hearts. ; -)
i can give you my mom’s recipe: she boils water and steeps Orange Pekoe tea bags in it, then adds six or seven saccharin tablets to it. i know a lot of people don’t use saccharin anymore, but she does. it is the best sweet tea ever in my opinion.
I sweeten my iced tea with Better Stevia (from Rainbox). And the juice of 1/2 lemon. YUM!
RainboW!
Speaking of Rainbow, they have great fresh-brewed iced tea in flavors like Red Zinger, Iced Magic Mint, and Very Cherry Berry. And the delish veggie chili is some of the best around.
So please settle a family debate. I say keep the tea in the fridge after it’s made, cause that’s how I was raised in NJ. My West Virginian father-in-law says keep it on the counter. Which is the norm around here?
depends on how fast it’s going to get drunk up, and how much room is in the refrigerator. when I was growing up, we usually made a fresh pitcher at every meal (dinner and supper) and it was consumed before the next meal.
Aha! Finally, a fellow southerner who grew up calling it dinner and supper. Lunch makes more sense mind you but growing up I ate dinner during midday.
You know, I think the mountainous range from the Piedmont to the Appalachians to the Poconos and Catskills to the Adirondacks and the Green and White Mountains all got settled by the same folks because my older relatives used “dinner” for the noontime meal and “supper” for the evening meal too, especially if the dinner meal was going to be larger than the supper meal, e.g. on Sundays, holidays, all days in farm families.
expand those boundaries- my dad and his fellow Michigan farm relatives all use dinner and supper, as did we growing up in CA. No one outside the family knew which meal we were talking about.
And as my dad’s farm days were left behind in Michigan, dinner was used only on Sat/Sun if there was a roast/big meal planned.
My grandparents were middle Georgia farmers. They also referred to the noontime meal as dinner. After getting up at 4 a.m. to do the milking and farm chores they were ready for the biggest meal of the day by midday. Often my grandad would lay down on the floor in the living room (I guess it was the coolest place in the house) and take a snooze after the meal. Then back to work for the afternoon milking. They often would have buttermilk and saltine crackers for supper. My dad loved buttermilk and crackers up until he passed away. I never developed a taste for it….ew..
Thanks smalltowngal. I usually make a medium pitcher and don’t drink it fast enough for it to stay on the counter. My FIL says that you should keep it on the counter cause it goes bad in the fridge. I find that with the high sugar content and how slow I drink it that it goes bad faster on the counter.
Snellville Milkshake: A glass of buttermilk, fill with crumbled up cornbread. Eat with a spoon. Yum.
the odd from-the-farm combo in my family- rice in a bowl with milk over it. That used to be a main dish some times.
My grandparents were born and raised in Western Pennsylvania and they called the midday meal, “dinner” too. Supper was around 5:00pm for them.
Pull out a 3 quart stewer pot. Fill with cold water. Bring to a boil. Remove from heat and add 1 family size Luzianne tea bag. Cover and let steep till the right color. This varies. I dislike bitter tea so mine might be a bit weaker than some.
Add sugar when cool and refrigerate. Better the next day.
Well played, Scott! Did you also go to PittsburghMetro and ask where to get the best pierogi?
No, I could answer that one all on my own. Tea is something I take much more seriously.
The real question is where can one find fresh pierogi in Atlanta closer than Suwanee.
Nowhere that I know of. I don’t think you can even get them in Suwanee anymore. After Gimza closed (and their pierogi were mediocre at best anyway) the lady at the Touch of Europe store (Danuta?) apparently made her own for a while but found that it took too much time and effort that she’d have to charge way too much to make it worthwhile, or at least that’s what she said when I asked why she only sold frozen pierogi from Chicago (and I’m sure she was telling the truth because when she asked if I wanted to try some stuffed cabbage I said “no, but I’ll take two golumpki!”). If you know of someplace else, let me know!
I’ll be making another attempt at my grandmother’s recipe next week. I can’t ever seem to get the dough just right. Maybe this time will be the great success. Until then, we can only hope that they have another Pierogi Festival next summer:
http://www.gwinnettdailypost.com/news/2011/aug/27/polish-pierogi-fest-an-ode-to-iconic-food/
I sure hope this will happen again this summer. The church has a Mass in Polish .. may have to take my Dad on Christmas.
I haven’t been able to find any fresh pierogis either. However, Patak Market in Austell sells very good frozen brands so that I don’t have to resort to supermarket Mrs. T’s. They also sell several varieties of fresh kielbasa which helps to keep me sustained in between trips to PA.
The frozen pierogi at Touch of Europe in Suwanee are also actually pretty damn good if you’re ever on that side of town (I think they are Andy’s from Chicago). The lady that runs the place also makes a few dishes each day and I really did enjoy her golumpki (golapki, gowumpki, whatever-ki, it’s delicious in a spicy brown sauce that’s much different than my grandmother’s red sauce but a worthy substitute nonetheless).
Patak is certainly worth the trip and I’ve done that several times when I’ve had to run up to Cobb for work. Closer to home, I’ve heard that Pine Street Market in Avondale makes a mean kielbasa. I haven’t tried it yet but I think that may change this week after all this talk!
Nittany and Jeff (wait a minute, am I talking to myself? I went to Penn State and the J in J_T just may stand for Jeff but I swear to God these are not my alter-aliases even though. like the now muted DTR, I do have one ;-)), aaaanyways, if I’m happy with the results, I’ll be making a few large batches this week for Christmas Eve with plenty of extra to freeze or share. Yellow cheese, white cheese and sauerkraut. I don’t think we will be getting that front yard farm stand proposal approved anytime soon so I can’t sell them but I’d be happy to part with some as Christmas gifts for fellow Polish foodies.
Thank you very much everyone! I might just try all of them.
re sweet tea in restaurants- I have learned to never buy sweet or unsweat tea labled Nestea. Disgusting.
My mama, like hers before her, used simple syrup to sweeten her iced tea. Keeps it from being too cloying, and no granules (’cause you’re supposed to let your tea cool down completely before sweetening it)!
Decatur obviously needs a……Sweet Tea Festival!
Now THAT would be a dream come true for me!
Use Luzianne tea….. add 3/4 cup of sugar to 1 gallon of tea.
Just so you know, there is no such thing as the “South” anymore than there is a “North”.I will never forget the scandal of cheese grits when I came here as a teenager. Grits are supposed to have 2 pounds of butter and a pound of salt per cup- no cheese.
Sweet tea should be brewed more strongly than unsweet tea. And add the sugar while it’s hot to help it dissolve into the tea. Anyone who tells you differently is a fraud of a southerner.
Are there any trails nearby that would be suitable for running? Something that isn’t paved; scenic would be nice too.
Depends on how you define nearby, but Kennesaw Mountain has great trails. Avoid the one that goes up and down the mountain (lots of folks) and do the loop trails…
Nice running trails through and around Lullwater Park.
http://www.seriousrunning.com/10/590/Trail-Running/Lullwater-Park.html
Lullwater, Hahn Woods to Lullwater, Deepdene, WD Thompson, Dekalb Water Works. Lullwater Garden. If you’re on a long run you can connect any or all of them. And those are just the ones you can easily run to from Decatur!
Great suggestions so far and if you want to drive east on 78, Yellow River Park has a ton of trails to run. Some of the trails are shared equestrian and bike trails too.
Well I was born and raised in GA by old school country parents and grandparents and I think I had sweet tea in my bottle rather than juice/milk. This is how we do it…For a gallon of sweet tea, bring a 2-3 quart pot of water (at least 1/2 to 3/4 full) to a boil on the stove, add your sugar to your liking (one cup of sugar for what I call “crack” tea but your doctor nor your dentist will be happy with you, I vary with 1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar depending on how bad I want to be) Stir the sugar into the boiling water until it dissolves making a “simple syrup”, this only takes a minute. Add your tea bags (I use three family sized Lipton tea bags) and gently submerge them into the simple syrup with a spoon and remove the pot from the heat. Allow the tea bags to steep. Do NOT boil the tea. This is the biggest error I see. I usually let the pot sit covered on the stove for a couple hours letting the tea bags steep. Then pour it into your jug/pitcher and rather than just adding water to the jug/pitcher to finish it off, add your water back to the pot with the tea bags in it and gently squeeze out the bags then pour that off into the jug/pitcher. There is still alot of tea flavor in those bags, but I see folks just pour the first pot off and top the jug/pitcher off with water and they lose flavor that way. Repeat until the jug/pitcher is full. Also, I use filtered water from my Brita pitcher rather than tap water because I have found I can sometimes smell/taste what I think is chlorine in my tea. This is not the only way, but guests always compliment my tea so enjoy!
Everybody should go see the Darwin exhibit at Fernbank Museum before it goes away on January 1. Very detailed, especially concerning his voyage on HMS Beagle. It took me two days get through it but I like to read every word.
http://www.fernbankmuseum.org/explore-exhibits/special-exhibitions/darwin/
Just thought I would plug the Avondale Post Office for its friendly, efficient and kind staff. There’s another P.O. closer, but I and several other friends (on separate occasions) have been yelled at-no exaggeration here-by one of the staff there and as a result I won’t go there if I have to get in line. The Avondale post office is located on Franklin Street which is one block north of the main strip. It’s behind Skip’s. I was in line behind 7 people yesterday and was out of there within 5 minutes.
Avondale P.O. rocks ! Stamps.com also rocks – can save you the trip.
What’s a Post Office?
the place eudora welty lives
ha!
I drive past the Decatur post office and go to the Avondale post office for the speed and great service.
i proudly haven’t stepped foot in the decatur post office for the last 8+ years…no reason to…how is it that the decatur post office can get away with such poor service?
My last visit to the Decatur post office was a pleasant surprise, almost too good to believe. They obviously have been reading this blog.
Kirkwood P.O. also rocks! Very friendly staff.
Mother Effing Blah *&*@!&!*! This is at least the second time someone has posted this information. For crying out lout, STOP! Do you folks not understand the meaning of a SECRET? You put this intel on Decatur Metro and next time you go to Avondale it’s gonna be packed with CODers trying to avoid the WePo lines. I swear to God, anyone even dare to whisper the word “Scottdale” and I’m gonna slap ‘em silly!
on second thought i’d really like to give a shout out to the decatur post office…they’ve really stepped things up in there! streamlined their customer service…can’t say enough good things about how happy and helpful people have been! avondale p.o. could learn a thing or two….
Is there another PO in Decatur that I don’t know about? And BTW, I never mentioned that the “nearby” PO was Decatur….
(sorry…i couldn’t find the sarcasm font!)
We had some drama recently with a misrouted package, and we needed to go to the Avondale PO to get it sorted out. My husband and I were VERY impressed with how everything was handled and plan on going there for our future postal needs.
In other words, +1!
Happy to see a curb/island/crosswalk thing on E. College in front of Agnes Scott. In fact there are more of those curb things on S. Candler at E. Dougherty and somewhere else but I can’t remember where I saw them. I’m happy these are going in but sincerely hope they will be well marked.
As someone who crosses in front of Agnes Scott almost everyday, I am so glad this crosswalk will now be safer.
A HAWK Beacon will be installed so the island will be very visible, and the pedestrians will be safer. http://spotdevices.com/system-hawk.html?gclid=CJGzoKirh60CFRBb7AodSnveTQ
I looked at the site you linked to. I hope we see more of those in Decatur. And they are American made!
Don’t bet your life on motorists stopping or even slowing down for those pedestrian lights. Just wait until traffic STOPS before crossing in front of it.
How is Big Tex doing? I get their facebook updates but it all just seems so heavy and unhealthy. I guess that’s the idea, but even so it still seems a little over the top.
Oddly enough, I was just about to come here and comment on that. Ate there at lunch for the first time today. Based on the reviews I read here I was expecting some taco deliciousness. It was mainly a southern menu. I wound up ordering the chicken fried chicken (it was offered with queso on the menu) but when I ordered it that way, she said they no longer had queso or were offering chips, or any other type of tacos (except the lone entre of carnitas on the menu). The chicken was ok, not exceptional, and probably not worth the $12. Won’t be going back. The people were very nice though.
Unrelated- I have commented in the past that I have been a little bored with some of the yogurt tap flavors, so it’s only fair to say the holiday offerings are heavenly. Could have easily eaten a gallon of the marshmallow. My friend had the eggnog and it was delicious as well.
I ate there one rainy afternoon and really enjoyed their brunch specialty, corn beef hash with seasoned potatoes and fried eggs. I would go there more often if they made that available every day (hint, hint). Alas, whole family went there last Saturday and everything the little ones wanted–mac n cheese, pulled pork, wings–only at Fox Bros. I agree, staff is friendly.
We went there Saturday night for a birthday party on the back room. They are no longer a cantina. The waitress said they dropped items that were not selling well. This included all the tacos. Menu now looks meh and service was awful. The place has great potential. Just wish they would have kept the tacos and have a few more veggie/pescatarian options.
Major props to McKinney’s Apothecary. Even though it’s closed on weekends, it’s far better than hell, I mean CVS.
it’s seriously 100000000x better. wife and I switched all of our rx to them in the spring. never looked back. I think the longest I’ve waited for anything was almost 5 minutes.
I went to the Tucker WalMart yesterday and bought a Christmas gift. Couldn’t find a space close to the entrance so I had to park a little away from the door. The parking spaces were somewhat cramped. There were stray carts all over the parking lot. I found the gift and proceeded to the check out. The lady in front of me had 25 items in the 20 or less checkout aisle. She looked like someone I woundn’t want to mess with if I was even thinking of pointing out to her that she should go to another aisle. On my way to the checkout I also picked up a tomato, cucumber, and some corn for dinner. I probably won’t go to WalMart again until I need to make a very specific purchase. Even if there is a WalMart in Suburban (and I drive by Surburban at least daily) I probably won’t go there regularly unless I need something very specific.
What very specific item would Walmart have that you’re looking for? Now., we may all have to go.
Yesterday I overheard some Java Monkey employees talking about a string of business break-ins (including their own)near the square, but I haven’t heard about this anywhere else. Anybody with the 411?
I saw on Twitter that the cost of replacing the broken window at JM was more than the amount of money stolen, but that’s all I got.
That’s usually the way it works. Ditto for metal thieves.
Sapori had their tips stolen last night. Guy walked right in snatched and ran. Kroger has had purse snatching. Tis the season.
Tis the season, indeed. Woke up this morning to a $500 online debit charge to WalMart – that I most certainly didn’t make. Hopefully, the bank will straighten it out, but it definitely put a dent in my Christmas spirit
Ouch- I hope it didn’t clean you out. I read that crime is supposedly at a 20 year low, but with all the anecdotal evidence I have been hearing from people here and there lately, it’s hard to believe.
I think maybe the manpower and funding for investigating and reporting crime is down rather than crime itself. Or maybe definitions have changed. It certainly felt safer here 6 years ago but maybe my head was in the sand of parenting/work and I didn’t notice.
the smaller media such as blogs (DM!)/Facebook all have me hearing more about local crime than I used to take in- so I think some of the feeling @ more crime is just hearing about it. re the lower stats though, I also wonder if there is a decrease in crime reported. At jury duty the other week, one of the jury panel questions was if we had ever been a victim of a crime and whether or not we’d reported it. A surprising # of people had not reported crimes against their property or otherwise (including myself, though not from a Decatur incident).
Reporting something can be an hours long inconvenience and I understand why people don’t. I’ve had to do it twice in the past 2 years and doubt I would do it again unless it was something major. Earlier this year I found out someone used my ss # to attempt to get a refund from the IRS and after I pulled/froze my credit report and saw everything looked normal, I just said screw it. Perhaps the IRS will try to handle the fraudsters, but I seriously doubt it since they never even wound up sending me the paperwork they were supposed mail, to get it cleared up on their end.
I went to Big Tex last Saturday and it did not seem very busy and it seems like they have dropped a few on the menu items that I saw last time I was there earlier in the fall.
Also they used to give you chips and salsa when you sat down, now they are charging $3.95 for chips/salsa.
I think they are really trying to push their bruch options.
I’ve expressed my love of both Fox Bros. and Big Tex several times here and I hate to admit that I’ve grown a bit disappointed in Big Tex. They raised some of their prices and cut back on extras. Besides the charge for chips and salsa, they also eliminated the side item with the taco plates (you do get chips and salsa, which used to be free, and you cannot substitute anything else) and you can no longer order tacos a la carte. To be honest, I felt pretty ripped off last time when I ordered the taco plate with a side and a drink and ended up spending over $20 including tip. It didn’t help that on my previous visit my roast chicken, which I’ve greatly enjoyed before, was salted apparently to the taste of a horse. Not sure what’s going on over there but if the Fox boys read Decatur Metro maybe they can take this criticism constructively.
Yeah. I ordered the fried chicken for the first time there and it was good but a little bit on the dry side. My 4 year old son had the kids quesedilla and fries and I tried a bite of his quesedilla and they used some super sharp cheese in it. Seemed like an odd choice of cheese for a kid’s taste buds.
I too love the Fox Bros stuff and the feeling I got from my last visit here is this place may not be around this time next year. City of Decatur rent is not cheap, and they are not really in the best location.
I heard through the grapevine (and please don’t take me as a reliable source) that the owners were thinking of making it into another Fox Bros location, because the menu they have now isn’t doing so well.
Also, a relative was working at Big Tex (brought over from Fox Bros) and was making about half the money. She wasn’t allowed to transfer back to Fox Bros and had to quit and find another job.
It’ll be interesting to see how this whole thing is handled. I have been twice to Big Tex, and was disappointed in the food and the service. But having a Fox Bros so close would be a dream come true!
I would much prefer a Fox Bros. Frankly, Tex-Mex is pretty near the bottom for me when it comes to cuisine preferences.
Oh hell YES! I hope that grapevine speaks the truth. Fox Bros. in downtown Decatur would totally be a dream come true, albeit a nightmare for my waistline!
We thought seriously about buying a house directly across the street from Fox Brothers but eventually decided on Decatur (very wise decision I think). I agree that having a Fox Bros in Decatur would be fantastic! Although Community BBQ and Burnt Fork are already two of our favs.
We were at Sapori di Napoli last night, and some jerk just grabbed the employees’ tip jar on the counter & ran off with it! Two of the staff ran out after him, but they couldn’t catch him. The police showed up just as we were leaving, but man! How brazen can you get? I hope the perp is caught. Yes, it’s just a tip jar & not the cash register, but still– that’s money out of the employees’ pockets. BOOOO to thieves!
I’m hearing stuff like this all the time from local merchants. I think the recession has totally sunk in now. I’m actually surprised it took this long. I’m of course not saying that the bad economy makes good people steal; I think it makes lazy, marginally employable, criminally-inclined folks tip towards crime instead of intermittent, low-paid, unskilled employment, the option they used to have. Now some pretty terrific skilled folks are competing for the jobs they used to go in and out of.
Is there any hint of hazing in the DHS band, or connected to other DHS activities? The Dekalb Co story that implicates graduates of SW Dekalb and Druid Hills, with an investigation of all Dekalb bands, has concerned me about our kids.
Mr. B and band parents, are you there and can you comment?
http://www.championnewspaper.com/news/articles/1247dekalb-halts-marching-band-activities-launches-full-scale-investigation1247.html
I’m not in the know but I haven’t heard even a whisper. I’ve heard of band members getting sent home from band trips but not for that type of offense. I’d like to know too. The term needs to be changed from “hazing” to “abuse”. Hazing is requiring pledges to wear a silly hat all day. Anything physical is abuse.
DHS is very clear and persistent in monitoring hazing. Even the traditional NHS induction day (where the old members adopt a new one and have them dress up in something odd) was eliminated a few years ago due to concerns about potential hazing. They are super vigilant at homecoming as well – replacing class color day with a Blue and Gold day instead.
The administration and staff appear to all be on the same page regarding anti-hazing policies.
Thanks for posting this. I had the same question.
I’d love to see this added to Terrific Thursdays for next year. Anybody in?
http://video.nytimes.com/video/2011/12/16/fashion/100000001231503/bill-cunningham–reds.html
I had a cousin who went to NYC a couple of years ago to do this and he said it was a blast! 2012 Christmas for sure: LET”S DO THIS! I can see a posse of Santas visiting all the waterholes from Leon’s to the Marlay… and then, over to Oakhurst!
You’re on!
I’ll put this in my come-up file to remember next year.
Where to see alot of christmas lights nearby? We used to go to the place in marietta where you could drive your car through
You mean Life College.
Here is the link for info on Life University’s “Lights of Life” :
http://www.life.edu/lightsoflife
Adair Street has th Polar Express train, and some other good lights. Drive tonight when many neighborhoods have their luminaria displays going for the City competition!
Really impressed by the Atlanta Botanical Garden’s Garden Night Holiday Lights. It was beautiful plus they sold hot drinks and allowed people to make s’mores. It is a nice walk–takes about 1.5 hrs to stroll around and see everything (off hours are better). Open until 10pm every night until first week of Jan.
Altmod, what’s the train situation there? Our toddler is obsessed and we think he’d like them, but the descriptions of where they are and what they do are pretty limited on the Atlanta Botanical website.
Oh, I remember those days so well. In the past, the Botanical Gardens’ trains were perfect for all ages from toddlers to seniors, not sure this year. Have you invested in Thomas the Tank Engine books, DVDs, trains, tracks, music yet? Toddlerhood is a peak age for them but there’s a resurgence at age 4-7 as well when they get into collecting and the Thomas stories, so the big $ spent on Thomas et al is worth every cent. The Thomas stories are a weird English tradition but are like Bible stories for little train addicts. Also keep an eye out for miniature train shows/conventions–there’s grown men that spend their life savings on set-ups that can delight little ones for hours. And a “real” Thomas train occasionally shows up somewhere in North Georgia or the N.C. mountains and is worth the trip.
The one good side of having CSX split our town, ugly, inconvenient, unsafe intersections and all, is that it provides endless entertainment for our little train addicts. If only one could predict when the train was coming……
The trains were very nice. You can’t get TOO close to them but if you picked up the toddler, he/she would definitely be able to see everything. There are a few trains moving in all different directions. They’re housed in one of the buildings, sorry I can’t tell which one specifically, but you can’t miss them if you walk the whole, sort of, trail through everything. It was towards the end but that might be the way we walked. If you went the opposite direction, it might be at the beginning. Just ask someone, the employees/volunteers were very nice.
I second the recommendation for Botanical Gardens light display. We liked the section where the light sculptures “danced” to the rhythm of the music being played. The whole thing seemed very professionally-done.
“allowed people to make s’mores”
Do people bring their own fixins for s’mores? Or can we buy them there?
Sounds like fun. Thanks.
Thanks for *tape to DVD* referrals. Gonna try a couple.
Even got a Groupon for one mentioned (the place on Caroline St).
Anyone know whether DHS has half-days or full-days, on Monday and Tuesday? Been confused in the past — I think it’s full-days just wanna confirm.
Thanks.
Full days as far as I know. We are in deep, deep trouble if that’s not the case! Unplanned free range!
And I meant to add that something I do like about the calendars of the last few years is no more half days. The kids loved them but I’m not sure much learning got done with all the rearranging of timetables and student excitement. And they were hard on those who have to show up at a workplace, part-time or full-time. You ended up taking more leave than you do with consolidated whole days.
hmm I wonder if Kim Jong just died or died a while ago
Only the flying monkeys know.
Big thanks to Bobby for sharing this link last week. (I was swamped, but just knew Bobby had found another good ‘un!):
http://www.publicsquareatlanta.org/about_us.php
Seems like it has terrific potential if Decatur Metro folks ever want to meet up to tackle a community endeavor together.
Eh. This has been around for a couple years now, and it definitely has its setbacks.
In a nutshell, it seemed like PBA believed that all they needed to do was create a forum and people would flock to it and make it their own (aka successful). Unfortunately, it’s a bit more complicated than that. First they decided to make all of Atlanta their scope. Great potential for traffic, but terrible in terms of your site’s focus. Buckhead folks don’t give a hoot about Westside (unless it has to do with restaurants!) or Decatur or Gwinnett. Sure there are exceptions, but the real strength (and weakness) of forums is the inside baseball aspect of them. Sure you can read about it in the AJC, but if you really want to talk about/learn an important issue in your community you’re forced to the forums/blogs, etc. So that’s both a strength and a weakness. Forums thrive on niche, and Atlanta Public Square offered no niche.
The way around this if you’re looking to be “inside baseball” and cover a large area is to devote separate sites to different neighborhoods or areas of interest. (ie Patch, Curbed, etc) Public Square had one person looking to take on the whole of the metro. An unenviable task to be sure.
I hadn’t visited the site in a good long while, but it still seems to be just a shadow of what it had hoped. Until someone can really offer you a better product, you’re neighborhood forums are probably still the best way to “tackle a community endeavor together”.
Good points, DM. What I like about the concept is that it provides a hub for Decatur folks sharing a similar interest to come together. We do it for official City of Decatur things. Think what the possibilities could be, for instance, if folks with lots of passion for the “Two Decaturs” discussion were to come together? This would surely be as valuable as Strategic Planning, but it’s up to us as residents to take it on.
It’d be nice to have a central location for sharing useful info, finding out about meetings, etc. on a specific effort, and it seems to me like a natural progression for taking our community conversations to the next level. How wonderful it’d be (sugerplums dancing in my head at the thought!) if Decatur Metro and Patch were to go in together to create such a site that could be spotlighted on both blogs. :0)
Just tried to make an appt at my nail place and they are booked solid through the end of the week, go figure. Can anyone recommend a place that you have actually been? I know a couple of places but don’t know anyone who has used them. Thanks in advance!
I like Jazmin in the CVS shopping center. I have also used the nail place across from Noodle before – they were fine and seemed clean.
You can walk into the salon called Thai Nail or Viet Nail across from McKinney’s/Natural Spa.