Free-For-All Friday 4/6/12
Decatur Metro | April 6, 2012Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discussed here in the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
Feel free to use this post to make comments and ask questions about local issues not discussed here in the past week.
Comments close on Monday.
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theron wasson
Hey I am looking for someone to do some interior painting and ceiling repair. Any referrals?
Regarding painters–try CertaPro Painters. They’re a Decatur business with kids in several schools and they are great supporters of these schools.
Thanks- I’ll give them a call!
Seems Queen Latifah is filming a new “Steel Magnolias” around town. Lots of trailers at the Avondale American Legion and some filming at the Avondale Pond.
Boy was downtown Oakhurst humming last night between Jazz Nights and folks sitting outside at the eateries. Very pleasant. And it was hard to avoid the cliche of counting strollers (for newbies a reference to the now retired School Board member who said that he didn’t care how many baby strollers the community counted, enrollment was declining…). Not only are the schools going to continue to be busting in a couple of years, they are going to be exploding.
Go ahead and say it.
Why isn’t city hall already a school? And the Rec Center and Fire Station #1? Those renovations better be installing giant interactive screens and white boards on the walls and kid-size toilets in the restrooms. Watershed, Trinity Triangle, the Depot. All potential schools.
Free everything!!
Don’t forget the BIg H shopping Center, DeVry, and Suburban Plaza–lots of room for kids, not to mention parking spaces for the strollers.
I don’t love jazz night. My already busy street explodes and people seem to speed more when it crowded. I am the opposite of those curmudgeons who move onto a busy road or next to, oh, say an amphitheater and then complain about noise and traffic. I am the curmudgeon who moved onto a quiet street only watch it get busy
That’s still better than Macon…
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hDBemI2mmCA-sMxRPGNfP44ChWvw?docId=16ee4bd91e8847dc9cc4318c0b56190f
I avoid Easter Egg hunts if at all possible. If your child is at all laid back or shy, they lose out immediately. I’m not an avid proponent of children-must-behave-in-public-at-all-times-or-take-them home but I’ve been ready to stomp a few greedy tykes at egg hunts. But I’m from a family whose egg hunt had the rule “Whatever you find, you must bring to the middle of the yard to be pooled and divvied up at the end of the hunt.” My grandmother would carefully make sure that every child had an equal number of black (unpopular) vs. red (popular) vs. yellow/orange/green/purple jelly beans. I find the free for alls at Easter egg hunts and Halloween trick or treating a bit distasteful.
In my family, each child got to keep whatever they found. In egg hunting, however, as in all else, we were taught to be generous and to not be greedy; to be patient; to give younger, slower children a chance to find some eggs, i.e., not necessarily grab every single one we saw, especially once we were a bit older. I can even remember surreptitiously re-hiding eggs from my own basket for littler kids to find. Being generous and kind was not the hardest part, though. The hardest part was tolerating those children who were grabby and overbearing and greedy. But putting up with badly behaved children was also part of what our parents expected of us. In any case, it would never in a million years have occurred to my grandmother to intervene in allocating the Easter treats.
Yeah, my family were really socialists even though they thought they were staunch Republicans or conservative Democrats. Places like the military, IBM, other big corporations, small town life, were really run like like socialist parental mini-states in the 50’s, 60’s, 70s. Hence equal distribution Easter Egg hunts. Then they wondered why they ended up with all liberals and left-wing libertarians/anarchists in the next generation….
Egads, that is awful.
I hear you. Personally, I liked the event better when it first got started and it was just a little neighborhood thing. I know the increased attendance benefits our village merchants and that’s a good thing. But it feels kind of like an invasion of sorts.
Better institute border control…
What would you say to a city-wide egg hunt?
1 egg, $1 million dollars!!
5,000 children enter. One child leaves. Let the games begin.
laughed aloud.
awesome
May the odds be forever in your favor.
Tributes! We need tributes from each Decatur “district” instead of the traditional free-for-all.
Oh, I love the Jazz nights…everything about it, and we’re going to miss every single one this April because of dog training conflict.
Unrelated to children but… Oakhurst representin’ in the Times this week. I had always been a little curious about what the Castle house looked like on the inside.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/04/greathomesanddestinations/what-you-get-for-600000.html?hp=&adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1333719130-nHu0RHY3Uh7eaNbPLP6cAg
anyone know why the original offer on the castle fell through?
It was contingent on the buyer selling its current home. I really don’t want it to sell. There are far too many houses for sale around me and I can’t handle anymore change
For all interested in another perspective about Wal-Mart coming to Decatur please see this article (link below). It is not a pro Wal-Mart story but just one that discusses how people tend to fight or not want a Wal-Mart but then use it once it arrives. Just some interesting reading.
http://lifeinc.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/04/04/11005788-we-love-whole-foods-but-shop-at-wal-mart
Kind of an awkward question, but does anyone have a recommendation for a transgender-friendly general practitioner? Or at least a one who is pretty laid back and open minded? It took months of intensely uncomfortable first appointments to find my current doctor, who is now retiring abruptly for medical reasons. Really not looking forward to starting the search again.
Have you asked your current doc for a recommendation?
I haven’t been able to get in touch with him as of yet. He did send a letter saying he’s going to try to find someone to take over his practice in May, but wasn’t sure. The letter was pretty cryptic, though, so I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. I may see who takes over, but if I am going to have to find a new doctor, though, it may be nice to find one in Decatur, rather than continuing to drive to midtown
Peter-
My partner sees Larry Ray and asked specifically about this and said that he’s seems very trans friendly. I haven’t gone to see him yet (I’m trans too) but am thinking of making an appointment soon. If you hear of anyone else, let me know!
You could ask Marion Owen at Whole Family Medicine if she would be willing to take you. Her waitlist is long but she might make an exception
Dr. Anna Steinberg is the warmest and most wonderful doctor. She is with Dekalb Medical Physicians right downtown,
Thank you everyone for the recommendations. I’ll start doing some research/making some calls.
Peter, you could try contacting Southern Comfort (the annual trans conference in Atlanta). I went with a friend a few years ago & they had resources for just about everything you could think of, including primary healthcare. Even if you don’t find a doctor through them, they’re a wonderful organization that I can highly recommend.
Can anyone recommend a good exterior house painter that won’t break the bank?
M&M Painting. 678-413-2270.
Peter, the Health Initiatiive. (thehealthinitiative.org) has a database of doctors who are LGBTQ friendly. You might also call the office for personal recommendations from the staff.
Hey, CFS — several weeks ago you recommended the Maisie Dobbs book series and I’m enjoying them very much. Thanks!
So glad! I just finished the most recent one, and the series is still great!
To return the shout-out, I have read the first Jane Austen mystery and really enjoyed it too! I will be reading the rest of the series, but I’ve promised myself that I’d finish a few books I already own before I buy another new one.
To all amateur lance armstrongs…stop at stop signs and signal your turns. Just about took out 2 idiots who blew through the oakhurst 4 way stop. And the jersey/sponsor/bike-suit….you aren’t on some pro circuit in Decatur. share the road?? start sharing the same rules as other drivers.
+1,000,000
Bikers only want to “share the road” as long as it is to their benefit. The next time a biker (who I already got stuck behind until I was able to pass him b/c he was in the middle of the lane) tries to go to the front of the line at a redlight (so I get stuck behind his slow ass again), I think I am going to open my door just as he approaches.
Because violence is always the answer. :-/
Fair enough. But, this is your blog and you have undoubtedly seen the many discussions here on this topic. You can’t reason with this subset of bikers b/c they wholeheartedly believe that the traffic laws don’t apply to them. Although they expect drivers of automobiles to be courteous of them, they don’t think they owe drivers the same courtesy. So, what other recourse is there?
BTW, I have no desire to damage my car to prove a point. I don’t plan to actually hit them with the door, but hopefully I can scare the living hell out of them. If they fall over, that is just a bonus.
What recourse is there other than violence? That’s a pretty disturbing question. Stay the heck away from my parents (who are law-abiding cyclists).
I was being sarcastic. Geez! I am not actually advocating violence against cyclists.
Not what you said. (I’m probably your problem.)
So far Dawgfan, the only illegal activity described in your post is the violent assault you propose to commit on unsuspecting, law abiding, road users.
Vehicles may pass traffic on the right as long as there is enough room to do so safely without leaving the pavement. They must also rejoin the traffic when it starts moving again. Moving to the front of the line is a recommended safe cycling practice to increase visibility and prevent dangerous passing by cars when starting up to a recently changed green light.
Intentionally blocking someone with your car is a third degree misdemeanor. Intentionally opening your door into a cyclist is battery.
I’m totally with you Dawg. I have no problem with well behaved bikers… but… if bikers want us to share the road, they also need to do so….. or at the very least… obey the traffic laws that everyone else sharing the road has to obey. I always squeeze right up to the right curb at lights after I pass a biker, because if I don’t, they will invariably butt back in front of traffic and slow us all down to 10 mph for the second… or third… or fourth time. IMO, that should be a ticketable offense… maybe it is.
Doesn’t the “Three Feet to Pass” rule/law thingy apply both ways? I gladly follow that each time I pass a biker but have never seen a biker do the same when passing cars at lights.
I am a honker though. Blow through a stop sign, traffic light, or pass me when I’m waiting for my turn and you will most assuredly hear my horn.
Then I smile and wave.
Cyclists may pass carefully on the right when cars are stopped at an intersection. It is safer and better for traffic flow. Similarly, motorists may pass cyclists on the left even in “no passing” zones — that is, lanes bordered by solid yellow lines. If we accommodate each other we can all get along.
This is pasted from the link DecaturCyn posted below. Note the part about being courteous. That is why people get frustrated or pissed off and have to vent on these forums. If you are unsafe, that is on you.
Unless a bike lane, wide curb
lane, or shoulder exists, do not pass
traffic on the right. Unless you’re
in a designated bike lane, do not
pass cars stacked up at a traffic light
in order to position yourself at the
front of the line. It is safer and more
courteous to pull up behind the last
car in the line and wait your turn.
If we only had well-behaved automobile drivers on West Howard during school hour. Maybe the BOE would not have to pay for 5 crossing guards. Talk to the guards about how well behaved many car drivers are as they threaten our children.
There are many more bad drivers on the road than bad cyclists. But, that is another topic…
Exactly.
I could go on all day about drivers and their inability to come to a complete stop, their complete ignorance as to how four way stops work, their complete befuddlement regarding flashing yellow vs. flashing red traffic lights.
Not to mention the arsefaces that speed down my little street…
You must be the person who threw something at me from their moving vehicle last summer, or are you the guy in the Sequoia who knocked my bike over at TDS then drove off? I love the attitude that it’s perfectly acceptable to mow people down and throw things at them, just for giggles. Like the guy who got out of his car, with his daughter in it no less, and punched a 15 year old cyclist. Way to go, pat yourself on the back there bud. Making the world a better place one fist at a time.
I’m shocked at this thread. To deliberately talk about violent acts against cyclists on a public forum is (a) evil, and (b) asinine. When a motorist blows through a pedestrian crossing without slowing while someone is in it, when a driver goes forty miles per hour in a 25 zone where kids play, when a car runs a stoplight, do I say that all drivers are bad and that I’ll start trying to hurt them? No, I don’t. Yet some posters feel it’s okay to pick on cyclists. Remember that cyclists are incredibly vulnerable. As a driver of a lethal machine, it is your obligation to treat them well. Be angry at those spandex-clad jerks who run lights and take up the whole lane, but don’t forget that there are many cyclists out there who obey the laws, and remember how vulnerable and exposed they are. They know they could be killed by someone like you at any moment. Tone it down and have compassion.
Re-read. I wasn’t referring to all cyclists. The majority are mindful of their surroundings, motorists, other cyclists, pedestrians, etc. I was referring only to those who think everyone should yield to them.
Jeez, don’t get me started. A cyclist side-swiped my car (intentionally, I strongly believe) two days ago while I was stopped at a red light and he was weaseling his way to the front of the pack of cars. When I confronted him, he said that cars had to allow three feet of space between the car and curb at all times on all roads. Total b.s. and not even close to being within the realm of possibility. Then, after lecturing me on what he *thought* the law was, he blasted through a four way stop at full speed.
Lather. Rinse. Repeat.
?
The bicycle brouhaha. This gets dragged out and discussed every few months. No minds are changed.
Yeah, and if a cyclist slowing you down a second or two is the worst thing that happens to you all day, then you’re doing OK.
That is exactly what I was thinking!!
The cyclist was definitely misinformed. Unpredictable moves like that make road travel more hazardous for everybody. GDOT covers the issue on p. 24 (pdf p. 3) of this publication: Motorists and Cyclists Sharing Georgia’s Roads.
http://dot.ga.gov/travelingingeorgia/bikepedestrian/Documents/motorists_cyclists_sharing.pdf
DecaturCyn, I’m sure you’re not a commuter cyclist, either. It is widely acknowledged in cycling-friendly cities that it is safer and better for traffic flow for cyclists to move to the front of lines of stopped cars at an intersection, so long as they do so carefully and then, once the light changes, move over to the right so that motorists can pass. Technically it is illegal for automobiles to pass cyclists in no passing lanes (lanes with solid lines), but they do, again for reasons of traffic flow. The point is for everyone to be safe and courteous.
As a motorist, I would respectfully disagree. From what I can see online, filtering forward is a highly debated practice among cyclists and safety experts, particularly because it frequently takes drivers by surprise and reduces reaction time, and it often lands bikes in drivers’ blind spots (which is easy to do, given the average 7:1 size difference).
I feel strongly about these issues because the last thing that I want to do is to accidentally hit a cyclist. We can all minimize such risks by advocating for more predictable behavior on the roads, mutual consideration, and a better shared understanding of traffic laws. By doing so, we will all be safer.
I think I am not alone with my feelings
Of course you are not, stereotypes are alive and well, but educated individuals realize they’re not an accurate way to judge. And I feel a little bad about spouting off in my post above, but my point to you and your peanut gallery was that people in cars can be overly aggressive to people on bikes, completely unprovoked, and that’s probably something that’s never occurred to you if you’ve never tried sharing the road from the other side. I don’t mean that in a condescending way, just trying to point out something that’s not obvious until you’ve actually experienced it.
Singling cyclists out for not following courtesies or laws is completely pointless and hypocritical, because motorists are just as guilty. Unless you’re the rare person who has never passed through a stop sign, before making a complete stop, or never gone over the posted speed limit, you don’t have any room to talk.
Here’s a different perspective for you- When you see someone riding along for exercise, commuting to work, getting their kids to school on their bikes, whatever, think of it like this- That’s one car off the road at that time, one car not polluting, one car not taking a parking space you could be using, one car not in your way, and then multiply that times a million or so. When put like that, it almost sounds like a thank you is in order.
+1
i walk A LOT and i feel the same about cars & pedestrians…
How about the fellow on the motor scooter last night who went up Ponce from Scott in the bike lane and almost knocked a legitimate bike rider off the road speeding past in whilst blowing his horn IN THE BIKE LANE? Motorized vehicle are supposed to be in the traffic lane.
This
http://moped2.org/laws/Georgia.htm
If the scooter is 50cc or under, its considered a moped and allowed in the bike lane.
From the sound and the appearance, I think it was larger than a 50cc. Even if he did belong in the bike lane, he had no business blowing a bicyclist off the road.
You gotta read Chuck Palahniuk’s Damned. Breakfast Club meets Dante’s Inferno.
In this hell, The English Patient plays on endless repeat.
Thanks. It looks like a book I would enjoy!
Ack. A 79 for Decatur Diner: http://blogs.ajc.com/food-and-more/2012/04/05/restaurant-inspections-ww-the-boss-bar-b-q/
Decatur-area Toyota drivers: Quantum Mechanics is awesome!!!
Quantum Mechanics is awesome!!!
Looking for a mechanic that knows how to work on Japanese cars… Nissan and Honda – nothing too extravagant. Any recommendations?
I like the place in Avondale near the vet clinic — not sure if they work on anything but Honda and Accura though.
Not sure about Nissan, but I took my Honda to the Pure station last month and they were great. A few of them have backgrounds working for dealerships. (I’m not a paid spokesperson, by the way!)
The fellow, whose name I can’t recall, at Pure used to be a Nissan technician at the old Troncalli on Church St.
Decatur Garage has been great with our cars.
Decatur Garage has been great with our cars.
You can say that again…oh wait…you already did…
Ooops too many cups of coffee this morning!
thanks for the recommendations!
CSD: Another year another major change/expenditure. Seems like every year CSD undertakes a huge capital “improvement” — often to un-do previous “improvements.” I would appreciate improved long term planning, fiscal responsibility, and just plain common sense on their part. I am so tired of them spending my money this way.
You should put this under the CSD thread where it is more likely to be noticed. School Board Meeting this Tuesday. Email your Board members. Lather, rinse, repeat.
Good points. Copy and paste?
Sure! Although whenever I do that, I always find that I have one more thought…….
The Decatur High School Close Up Club will be sending 27 students, myself and another chaperon to Washington, D.C. tomorrow, Sunday (to learn more about the Close Up program, please go to closeup.org). On Friday, the students will lay a wreath at the Korean Memorial, honoring the DHS students who lost their lives in that conflict. Please reply to if you have any personal information concerning the following students: Edward R. Ravenel, 1943, Korea, Charles Jackson, 1945, Korea, Gene s. Blough, 1948, Korea (names from plaque in front of Decatur High School). Their names will be on the wreath.
The DHS Close Up Club has been busy over the last school year raising funds for the trip. Thanks to the hard work of the students and their parents, the generosity of Decatur homeowners, and a few outside the city limits, all 27 students received a travel grant to help pay for the trip, as well as an extra trip to Mt. Vernon. In addition to the Close Up activities, students will tour the White House (on Friday) and the Supreme Court (maybe, if we are lucky) on Wednesday. A generous Decatur homeowner (and also a CSD staff member) has also agreed to pay for a tour of the Newseum for all the students. The Newseum is a fabulous First Amendment hotspot in D.C. It should be a great week for the students of DHS.
Please keep the students and chaperons in your thoughts and prayers. Happy Easter!
I hope you had a great trip, and thanks for not delivering the flowers!
I love reading Friday free- for-alls. Actually, almost every Decatur Metro topic is amusing. Can someone PLEASE figure out a way for some of our prolific commenters to be interviewed by a NPR program or something?
Not me. I’ve got a voice for the interwebs!
My Easter Sunday politics: The economy is growing. And income is rising for many. We see it here in Decatur. A new study from UCB shows that 93% of the income growth in 2010 went to the top 1% of the population. Meanwhile at the state house and the US House all energy seems to be going to lowering taxes for this group rather than investing in the future. Is something wrong with this picture? http://elsa.berkeley.edu/~saez/saez-UStopincomes-2010.pdf
Everybody feels entitled. Like everyone. Workers, CEOs, stockholders, management, elected officials, religious leaders, child molesters, women, men, parents and children, teachers and school leaders and School Board members, leaders of charities, leaders of businesses needing bailouts, lawyers, plaintiffs, criminals, it’s everywhere. And anyone not grabbing their entitlement starts to feel like a chump because everyone else is. I’m not sure that the parental and religious shame and guilt of earlier times was the way to go. But society, business, and government by entitlement doesn’t seem to function for long either.
To all my Christian DMers, Happy Easter!
Good plumber at a reasonable price? Any suggestions?
Pam the Plumber: 404.217.7539. Excellent master plumber with very reasonable prices! I’m sure others on this list have used her, too, as I always see her van all over the Decatur area.