KAT's Blog

I am stupid

2011-03-04T12:11:00.002-05:00

I am stupid. I may be legitimately stupid. Some people think I am stupid. It's my fault I am stupid. Not stupid in the sense that I can't read or write but the other kind of stupid.

Unemployment figures are out so I might have a chance at mobility- if I don't blow it. I oversleep and have a few too many distractions.

Two culprits

2010-05-17T22:52:00.006-04:00

I removed the internal gear and put a picture of it and the worm gear on the tiller. I found a loose washer and bearing unit on the worm gear shaft.

Tiller woes

2010-05-13T12:03:00.002-04:00

The tiller won't till. I got it to do the reverse-till feature but before going far the engine conked out under the load. The engine sometimes will stop running after several seconds even after a load. I tried a belt to get the forward-till to work but, possibly because there wasn't enough tension, the machine just scraped the belt. It's time I changed the engine and fixed another idler pulley.

My inherited tiller

2010-05-11T01:37:00.010-04:00

In the middle of last month I received a tiller. It was free and my cousin was giving it away as he had sold his parents' house. I went to the house and my first thought was that he was giving up a beautiful pine-covered yard with pretty plants. The tiller sat under a washtub and other covering. Thus it wasn't all that rusty. No doubt my new baby would need work but I love bringing dead things back to life. His neighbor told me that the tiller was his family's and that my cousin's parents only used it once. We trotted it through the pine grove to my vehicle.

The first thing I did was read the model numbers and other data off the machine. Its model number defied a Google search and some of the model tag was missing. The original owner said it was a Wizard tiller. One forum poster said it was a True Value tiller; my uncle concurred. He had acquired a similar unit that was reengined. The small picture has a Wizard tiller of similar vintage.

The 5hp Briggs and Stratton 130202-0136-01 engine had a date code of 6610251 which meant it was made in Milwaukee on October 25, 1966. Likely the tiller was made at about the same time. Few plastic parts made up the tiller. It was solid. I took pictures and sprayed cleaner on the machine. The gear box received a flushing of its blackened lubricant and in went some 85W gear oil which slightly oozed from the leaking edges. I drained the crankcase and ran paint thinner through it. I took the spark plug wire off and cycled the engine. I poured in some oil which I later drained and refilled. The oil plug was stubborn and my pliers rounded it off so I now have a carriage bolt damming the oil.

I took off the metal tine cover and handle shield to allow me to paint the deck. I took the handles off. The once-chrome handles were covered in rust and white paint.

It took a week to paint the deck red (I could find no orange/red like the original finish). The gas tank came off and I removed the carburetor before sanding and priming it. The several coats of primer and paint didn't totally obscure all of the bare metal. One set of tines came off but the other tines were rusted on. I did the best I could to paint the deck.

The tiller would not generate a spark to power the machine. I at first used a voltmeter to ohm out the magneto. I didn't put it on 2KOhms but on a lower setting. This caused a false reading of a short so I ordered an electronic armature/ignition assembly. After thinking it was just a modified plain-jane magneto and hooking one of its wires to the condenser I finally found out that I didn't need to fix the points to go with the device. The reason it wouldn't fire after installing the assembly was a wide gap between it and the flywheel as well as not generating enough RPM while spinning the wheel by hand. It takes a high RPM to activate an electronic ignition. I tested the ignition by putting starter fluid in the spark plug hole and inserting the plug. It puffed to life for the first time in several years before the flammable ethers ran out.

The carburetor is a story in and of itself. I replaced the diaphragm and cleaned the device thoroughly but the engine ran only when cleaning fluid was sprayed into the air intake. I had ripped up the stuck valve seat and thought the seat was the problem. Last Friday I broke a plastic secondary intake hose. I finally got the brass seat out and replaced it and the needle assembly this Saturday night. This took several tank seals over the past few days. Rust was in the gas tank and twice I had to shake the tank after I put in rocks and cleaning fluid to scrape the muck away. I did not get the carburetor to work without fully choking it. Only full replacement of the carburetor will remedy this but for now it works.

I have to get a third belt for the tiller. The last two were too small. Finally it dawned on me to sever a washing machine belt and cut it to fit so I could find out exactly what I needed. The beast has a reverse feature but who tills backwards?

February 1973 snow had no warning

2010-02-10T01:04:00.003-05:00

This Friday there is a 30% chance of snow and rain predicted. Never does it accumulate or pile up in Macon when you expect it. The people go crazy and buy bread and milk at the first hint of snow (what if the juice goes out and the weather becomes warm? What of your milk, then?)

Perhaps it is the memory of the unexpected snow of 1973. The graphic shows how the Weather Bureau was blindsided. They expected rain but for three or four days Macon was paralyzed. Without the aid of 4WD vehicles, most from the National Guard, we would have been in big trouble. The Middle Georgia CB Club (predecessor to REACT) volunteer group was of immense aid. For the first time the local Civil Defense (later called EMA) got its feet wet (and cold) in a real crisis. They did well.

Not that Friday will give us much of what we saw happen up north this week. Then again....

A little more oomph but...

2009-10-24T03:55:00.002-04:00

I've felt a little more motivated since early September. I don't think I'll go to school until I'm comfortable doing so. I would like to get some certifications in networking. Grease monkeys- IT or otherwise- don't go far. I figure that, unless it's higher math, that my failure to achieve academically is linked to laziness.

I got the Genral Tso to go more places. I put in a battery. I wish I didn't have the issue with the radio playing on not all speakers.

A little better but....

2009-08-17T05:09:00.003-04:00

The past month, since I had gotten dehydrated the last of June, has been dull. I got in a rut where I didn't do much but sleep and fix a stubborn lawn mower. For two weeks my back has hurt when bending a certain way. It is getting better but slowly.

What's got me down is finding I have worthless college degrees. I am having to confront my weaknesses. I find more and more that I am too impulsive and emotional to function as I should on the job. I'm also seeing that everything is the same old same old. Finally I waste time and then get mad about it. Why do I do these things to myself. Oh and I dropped a Java course partly because I would come home too sleepy to study.

Maybe I'm in an orgy of self-hate and that's why I am beating myself up. I think I am lazy- and I probably am. It's also easy to be cynical of others when you don't go to church very often (that is, once every two years) and don't socialize with but a token few people. Every time I go to the Wal-Mart on the northwest side of Warner Robins I walk away mad at my exposure to humanity.

I have a tooth hurting me when exposed to cold food. I have a feeling it needs a root canal so I don't want to spend too much money too soon. The same goes for some redneck passing by in a big-wheeled pickup and flinging rocks at my windshield- possibly from his big treads or the bed of his vehicle. Safelite will love me.

Now I need to go back to bed. I woke up at 3:45AM and now it's 5:25AM. I have a feeling that my sleep is being violated. All I wanted to do when I got up is brush my teeth and look up Boone's Farm. I thought about drinking a little bit of it one night while on vacation. This may mean a trip to a slummy liquor store and sleeping through breakfast and beach time. It also means working with an unpredictable drug- which alcohol is. I've had a soft spot for Boone's farm since I saw a picture my sister drew and since I listened to a Kenny Chesney song.

Universally Wet

2009-04-06T22:30:00.002-04:00

Monday, April 6, 2009

On Saturday I woke up at around 11AM. I had slept late the previous night because I was dumb enough to read Google's newspaper archives. My head was spinning in anticipation of my vacation. I didn't get worked up about it on the days previous but I was excited. Too bad I only had three days off including Sunday. I suspect I wanted to save on a day's motel check.

I got food for the family from Zaxby's and got packing once I finished lunch. It was approximately 2PM when I left. I dropped by a Dollar General and got lucky on drinks. I found a six-pack of Coke for as much as a 20oz bottle. With that and two
candy bars I left. I dropped by a station near the Dooly County line to gas up then went to Cordele to take pictures of the missile. There is a Titan I missile on display. The plaque on it was updated since I last took pictures but it was still referred to as the "Confedereate Air Force" missile pad. I didn't know they could get away with that in these times!

I dropped by Ashburn and Cordele to see a surplus store. I saw a billboard and got the exit numbers confused. I drove through Ashburn and found nothing. I found the store in Cordele but it was closed. There was this drive-in which seemed to be a leftover from the Sixties. On the way to Valdosta I took pictures of some flooding near Brooks County. The boat ramp was inaccessible due to the water. I felt I needed a john break so I went to Wal-Mart in Valdosta. There are bunches of fat,
whiskery country boys in Valdosta. This happens in agrarian communities. I slid by Shoney's and had coffee and a strawberry pie.

It was becoming night and I drove on and on to Ocala. One motel there had plywood on the windows. Another had someone rolling luggage on a provided clothes rack. I figured the motel was a bit too rich for my blood. When I hit the turnpike I drove
back and forth and down side roads since I was reading what passed for a map. A little more planning would not have hurt. I made it to a Best Western in Ocoee. The room was only 70.00 or so. I love being off the beaten path sometimes; it is so
cheap!

I intended to lay there in bed and wake up. I woke up- at 9AM. I slept in my clothes. I brushed my teeth, showered and shaved, and made it down to Perkins' restaurant. They were busy. But not to worry; I had a 10% discount. These days mean
that I will take anything cheap besides a kick in the pants. I had a 10.00 breakfast. Just think; I could have gone to Hardee's if I had gotten up earlier. Why do I do these things to myself?

I picked up a few things and drove to Universal Orlando Resort. Being the absent-minded person I am I had picked up brochures only to forget them at the breakfast table. At least I remembered what I read. As I made my way to Interstate 4 I
took some pictures of an Ocoee hotel that was being demolished. There were three police cars nearby so I went to the side of the building on the sidewalk to take pictures. I guess the cops were there to see who wrote gang graffiti on the structure.

I had sidetracked myself onto Apopka-Vineland and Conroy-Windermere Roads. I had to turn around twice near the Catholic Church around the corner from the Mall of the Millenium.I looked at the map again in the parking lot of the mall. I had no time
to go into the mall- even if it had a Bloomingdale's and was fancier than most malls in Atlanta. I wasn't thrilled enough to go into the Ikea either.

I made it onto the exit to Universal. I only had to pay 12.00 to park. I was pleasantly surprised. I had to take a few moving walkways and get my bags searched but it was much more trouble-free than Disney World. I was in the park and thought
was going to visit for only 12.00. I didn't see much in the el cheapo section. I sat and had a non-alcoholic pina colada. Then I found that the rest of the attractions cost 94.00. I waited in line at the Islands of Adventure as some clueless people tried to buy tickets. My efforts were simple; just give the man a credit card and say what you want. I was determined to make my money count.

My favorite was the Comics section of the park. There was a Gasoline Alley store where I bought Mom a shirt. There was xylophone and raucous swing music playing to set the mood. The station played old OTR episodes of "Gasoline Alley". I went to the Popeye store to look at goodies for my sister's grandchildren. I loved the fog-fans used to cool visitors.

The next stop was Jurassic Park. I had ribs and chicken with a corn ear and seasoned potatoes. I should learn to cook this good. I bought my great-nephew a shirt. I saw a cute "dinosaur" hatch from its egg. I wondered if Big Boy would have attacked it mercilessly or just run. I rode the roller-coaster style ride. I sat on my hat and put away my sunglasses. The ride was innocent enough other than being splashed a little bit. Then my craft was raised for approximately four or five stories. I saw a wall in front of my head and wondered if I were headed right for it. I felt the ride stop for a little then I closed my eyes. I wish that I had not closed my eyes but it seemed to be the thing to do. I had to keep myself from leaning forward (we were instructed not to do this). I saw the Dr. Seuss section and returned to the Cartoon section. I rode a Popeye raft after circumnavigating a maze that seemed to lead in circles. I was drenched as much or more than at Jurassic Park. I bought my great-niece an Olive Oyl doll.

It was close to 6:30 when I left. I saw the actual Studios section and saw where the ticket was for two parks. This was a park made to appear like a movie set. I went in line and asked if the ticket would get me in. I put my thumbprint on a reader, had my ticket scanned, and went in. There was a Schwab's Drug Store restaurant, a Mel's Drive In, and some old-style Hollywood
stores in the first section. After passing through a garden I went to the Woody Woodpecker and Barney sections. It's sad when signs are posted telling you to respect "the little people" in the Woody Woodpecker area.

I walked through the Jaws area, the San Francisco area, and went to the Disaster section. It was an interactive exhibit which had a select few of the audience participate in a tape-and-splice disaster movie including "The Rock" himself. I and the other secondary "players" were subway riders who were videotaped. I had pizza and cherry Coke at Louie's, a restaurant in the New York section. Before I left i got a big cookie. It was 8:30PM.

I drove from I-4 going the opposite way, thinking I was headed to Daytona. I was headed to Tampa. I wanted to head to St. Augustine and get some rest. I went to the Super Target to make a pit stop. I took the turnpike to US 17. I felt weird listening to airchecks instead of the radio. Most of the time I listen to talk radio as I drive. In Orlando I saw a white lady either selling crack or tricks to a black man in the decrepit section. I saw a Cowboy-whatever club. Then I saw some old bedraggled man making gestures to the traffic. And I was scared of the ride at Jurassic Park?

I made it out and when I got to Sanford I decided to just take Interstate 4 to Interstate 95. My speed was taking a hit at the stop lights and small towns. I needed to go to bed sooner or later. The Ipod had some 1964 WKBW airchecks replete with easy listening intertwined with Beatles cuts. I made it to St. Augustine near FL 16. I stayed in an Econo Lodge. My room had an inoperative TV so I had to try to get the weather on the radio. I should have brought the larger AM/FM/TV/Weatheradio instead of the hand-crank gizmo. My feet stunk and it was a wonder I didn't have athlete's foot.

The next morning I woke up in time to catch the last ten minutes of the continental breakfast in the lobby (rolls and coffee). I went to the old village and was rained on. It turned sunny so I returned to the SUV to stow my umbrella as it was getting sunny. The Florida weather gave me a sucker punch. Thankfully I had a hat
on as I finished my hot dog. I took FL16 to Lake City and took Interstate 75 back home. I got gas in Valdosta and made a toilet stop at a rest stop near Adel on the way home.

Outta Town?

2009-02-17T04:46:00.003-05:00

I don't want to be greedy in these times when GM is on the ropes and a stimulus bill might kill off what little's left of the economy, but....

I am tired of stagnating in my career and my life. I put 110% of me into my job. So much is self-induced stress. I come home tired. This may earn me a trip to the doctor if more exercise doesn't build me up. My biggest goal is to live in a place of my own and to move upwards. Ten years as a tech has been wonderful and fun but there's more work- and more fun- to be had. I see the world, and the town, around me collapsing.

One thing is for sure; I need to smooth over some people skills and quell some impulsive aspects of my nature. But who was it that decided he was too tired for church? I'm in a cocoon and I want out immediately!

Teaser: on being a snob

2009-01-21T12:40:00.002-05:00

This is what is known as a teaser post. It means to get ready for a larger post.

I met some people I knew from college; some who I never heard from in almost TWENTY years. Then I thought; do they or did they ever know that my family didn't have the money that they or their families had. In fact, we are maybe a step behind compared to the people attending our church or living nearby.

The kids attending my college, a private school, were technically from upper-to-middle class families. Many of the out-of-towners joined Greek organizations. I was a GDI (the last letter is Independent; the first two come from Reverend Wright). I would have been closer to my element at, say, UGA or GCSU. Would I have enjoyed it as much? Maybe or maybe not.

Take me twenty years ago. I was not only a shy person with very awkward social skills; I was a snob. A snob is one with an inferiority complex who worries about the other person having more and who dislikes whoever has less. That was me. A poor snob.

I want to elaborate so those who knew me from school will realize that I was who I was and fairly judge me. They may have not known I had little. I got along fine with them and enjoyed talking to them. In fact some still remember me. I didn't reveal too much about myself. I was scared they would hurt me for who I was- or what I was.

I also want to get into the discussion further to apologize to these people. I was a Democrat, for example. I felt they were too tight with "evil" evangelical Christians. I was attracted to taxing the rich because I thought it would make my world better. Today I feel terrible I could be such a fool and not treat them more fairly. I wasn't doing that badly after all; I did get into the school, make decent grades, and had no intentions of letting it go to waste.

I'll talk about this later.

New Year, Old Promises

2009-01-01T21:07:00.006-05:00

1/1/09

I realized that the reason I dread the new year is because I am scared I will get lazy and break my promises. I want to lose weight and go further in my career. I want to live in another city. I have made too many excuses and become too lazy. Nobody is trying to make me break my promises. Yes the economy may be bad but that isn't a sign to roll over and give up.

It is likely the General Tso will ride again. In October I idled it due to lack of funds to fix the wheel bearing on the front driver's side. It also has a transmission issue. When all of that is dealt with I plan on fixing the valve cover gasket.

To bring the newbies to speed here are some notes on the General Tso:

Sunday, August 06, 2006
General Tso actually gets brakes fixed
08/06/06

The General Tso got its brakes fixed. Yes, it does need its rotors ground but for 280.00 that can wait. The danger aspect of the brakes is gone thanks to the Mad Machinist. I had replaced the front pads but the rear shoes needed replacement. Try this; take a glass jar and rotate it as you would when taking off the lid. Put your thumb on the inside of the jar and force the twirling to stop. This is how brake shoes work on a drum on the rear of a car. Of course it isn't that simple due to the springs and brake adjustment screw so I took it to the Mad Machinist. Yes there is lots of travel space on the pedal but much of that is normal. I do have to finish with the smell issue and the fuel feed being stubborn but these aren't that critical. Nor is having to feed the thing a quart of oil once every few weeks. A
head job is more costly than feeding it oil until it smokes all the time.

General Tso's Rug Gets Shampooed
07/24/06

I took out the passenger's seat on the General Tso as I figured this would most effectively let me clean the carpet. I shampooed and brushed the carpet and front and rear mats. I vacuumed the rug after it dried. The seat was shampooed, brushed,and vacuumed too. Of course the hardest part was aligning the screw holes with the holes on the seat. The left front screw hole had been stripped by the time I got through. Saturday night I tried to screw the seat in and got really angry. I tried to pry, curse, and sweat through the ordeal.

Wednesday, July 12, 2006
General Tso gets new brakes for real I slept then changed the brake pads on the General Tso. I put a new retainer clip on the left side and compressed the piston with a C-clamp and a chisel laid flat. Even with this I had to do some tapping to slide the caliper on. I am sure a pro would not have to resort to tapping to force a caliper onto the rotor. I hate travel space and feeling a thunk when I brake slowly and hard. Possibly this is normal operation but I did see less of this happen thanks to the new pads.

Saturday, July 01, 2006

Thursday I tried to put brake pads on the General Tso. I had pages printed from the Honda manual I downloaded which told me how to do the pads. Of course on part of another page I didn't have it advised me to move the piston. Thus when I had the 3/4 in pad and backings on each side of the rotors I was unable to get the piston (looks like a pipe) to fit around the pads. Another web site told me to remove the cap from the brake fluid.

I got a C-Clamp yesterday from Big Lots. It may not be big enough. I also need Honda-type brake fluid. The DOT3 probably isn't to specifications. I would have done the brakes last night but didn't feel like it.
General Tso gets new tire and brakes fixed

6/26/06
I took the General Tso to get the passenger's front tire replaced with a used tire at Economy Tire on Third Street. It cost around 28.00. I also purchased from Pep Boys 30.00 worth of brake pads and the adhesive and cleaner I would need to effect the repair. The car drives better. Of course this weekend it rained, even heavily sometimes. This put a damper on all but indoor work.

Speaking of the General Tso I got "The Damn Show" DVD off Ebay. It has too much of the male reproductive system and too little in the way of creativity but there were some moments- such as Willie the bum and "The Gooks of Hazzard" -that were so funny.

Saturday, June 10, 2006
General Tso gets new fan

Hello
I got the condenser fan for the Honda (General Tso). It was a used Acura fan which I had to remove from its mount and put onto the old shroud for the Honda. I installed it and works fine.

I am concerned about the brakes on the General. When I put on brakes I find they shake when doing all but sudden braking. I looked at the pads; they have 1/8 in left on them. Honda's service manual says .05 of an inch is serviceable (huh?). I priced some basic metallic pads at 20.00. Hopefully the debacle with the Corsica won't repeat itself (in which I could not get the wheel nuts off as they disintegrated when I used a non-metric wrench). I may just take it to my machinist and let him turn the rotors; they are ribbed for my displeasure. He can then do the pads. Then again 20.00 is so attractive for a car that will last a year or two.

Driving an Explorer makes for a heavy foot on the General. I wasn't doing that great with being attentive to the road so I had to hit the brakes hard at least twice. Needless to say I must be careful. I will say this; the General Tso is in for an oil change. I have the filter to do it with too.

The Air Compressor PT 3 and General Tso
5/31/06

I took my dad's Honda which is now a secondary car. I want to use it to save gas and to keep the car in running condition. I call it the General Tso. The reason for this name is that some Athens comedians did a "The Damn Show" DVD. Therein is a sketch in which "The Gooks of Hazzard" drive a Celica with a Japanese flag and 01 written in a Chinese font. They call it the "General Tso" and can run away from the sheriff as they have better gas mileage.

New Radio Feud

2008-12-27T21:47:00.003-05:00

A new radio feud has appeared. Not between two radio stars but involving one county commissioner and a talk show host. Click on the link. Remember another feud with an Allen? Fred Allen and Jack Benny? This one is more hysterical.

Christmas 2008

2008-12-26T01:37:00.002-05:00

Where we got my boyhood bathroom from.

On Christmas Eve I woke up at 8:30 like a good boy but went back to sleep. My mom's friend from church came by and visited briefly with her, my sister and myself. She brought cookies and peanut butter sticks. Another sister came later in the afternoon. I cleaned the house, emptied both litter pans, watched part of “Thunderball” and went by the computer store and presented everyone with Reese’s Cup candy canes. I went to Logan’s in Warner Robins.

After Logan’s I went to Kroger to get ice and Diet Cokes. I got home and looked at the old Christmas Sears/Wards/Penneys/etc catalogs I downloaded online. I felt a little nostalgic and a little sad. One catalog, from 1958, had a bathroom ensemble similar to ours. We put our bathroom in when my youngest sister could barely talk. That puts it at 1957 or 8. I loved the toy sections and the Eighties fashions.
I still feel a little lonely when thinking of the past.

It doesn’t hurt as bad as it did last year (Dad died that summer). At least I didn’t listen to the sad old Christmas record I listened to last year. Sometimes Perry Como, ripped from an LP, sounds very terrible. I helped get dinner ready and made the Texas sheet cake. The cake came from a box but the icing was from a recipe on the Nestle package. It calls for 2/3 cup of cocoa, a stick of margarine, three cups of powdered sugar, six tablespoons of milk, and a teaspoon of vanilla. I dislike using electric mixers because of the cleanup but in the case of icing there is no other option.

My aunt and some of my cousins came. We had barbecue from the town's favorite joint, baked beans, potato salad, chips, and tea. I also made some grapefruit/lemon/pineapple punch but nobody but I drank it. One cousin lives on my grandmother’s old place and told us about the goings on with his neighbors. His kid is going to school to learn web design.

It was the highlight of last year’s Christmas to have them over. I gave my aunt a gift certificate for Wal-Mart. My cousins gave me chocolates, my aunt gave me a hand-cranked flashlight, and someone gave me an outdoor clear acrylic digital thermometer.

I went to bed because after years of life I found that Santa Claus comes at 12AM and nobody who is awake will receive gifts. Not that this is founded in fact but it seems to be a sort of tradition I developed. I had to wake up at 1AM to wrap gifts. Sleep came at 3AM.

I got up at 11:30. My sister and her kid and grandchild came. For lunch we had Honey Baked Ham and green beans, potato salad, and cranberry sauce. Everyone but me had broccoli casserole. We opened presents I received a set of blank DVD’s, an ashtray, and a Jeff Foxworthy calendar. One sister gave me a long-sleeved tee shirt. Another gave me a metal flask (to heat water, not for liquor!) and a sheet set for the new bed. My niece gave me an address book. Mom gave me two videos- a “Why We Fight” video (mostly antiwar; not Frank Capra!) and “The Party” with Peter Sellers. An uncle came later and gave me a wireless thermometer.

We had barbecue for dinner and I worked with my wireless thermometer. It is off by three degrees on the transmitter and it takes some working with to get set up. I looked at more old catalogs and washed clothes. Before midnight struck I listened to The Waitresses’ “Christmas Wrappings” which was a new-wave song from 1981. I could swear I heard it sometime during the Eighties but could be imagining things.

I hate that Christmas is over with. The days seem so lonely. I make plans for things in my life to get better and they never do. I don’t like some things I do or how I let too many things happen when they shouldn’t. I guess I get the feeling that I don’t have control over my life. I feel I have too much room for improvement. But Wednesday morning I listened to a rendition of “It’s A Wonderful Life” on the local talk station. It made me think of how much difference I could very well have made in people’s lives. Maybe I am wrong about myself. Maybe I am not as much of a detriment, not as much of a jerk, not as much of an idiot. The boss at my shop wrote on my Christmas card that he “couldn’t have done it without (me)”.

Macon Mall in a few years

2008-08-07T00:57:00.000-04:00

Tell the nice people who posted this at Flickr I said thanks. It's actually the Dixie Square Mall which, since 1978, is still standing. The Blues Brothers movie was filmed here not long after the Walgreen's and Jewel stores closed (the common area of the mall closed in late 1978; the Walgreen's closed in early 1979).

Macon Mall has tarps over its glassy skylights. It's such a shame the surrounding area has become gang-infested. Even more shameful is its foreclosure. A court-appointed manager runs the mall. All I can say is have fun!

Who wants to wager that the mall will close in seven years? I'm being generous. Dillard's will or won't close or is thinking about it dependent on whom you ask. An unspecified anchor tenant, according to a document associated with the foreclosure, was considering closure.

A OneEarth web article detailed how malls are dying and how cities want to avoid the eyesores like Dixie Square. Houston Mall is a sad case. The Warner Robins mall writhed in mortal pain since the Galleria opened in 1994. Offices and third-tier tenants replaced the once-thriving stores. Since Houston Healthcare Complex uses most of the space I say they should buy the mall, refurb it (one store takes up three unmodified spaces)and make money off the lessors.

Time Stamp Song

2008-07-01T01:06:00.000-04:00

Kenny Chesney was on my MP3 player and I heard him talk about a song which brought back a flood of memories. I had a few songs which kicked the time machine into gear. Some were oddballs. One was from the Beastie Boys. There were some cuts from Michael Jackson, Madonna, Def Leppard, Duran Duran, and The Go-Gos. I can hear songs from some more obscure artists and be reminded of the way it was. I remember some good songs from the heavy-metal artists of the late Eighties. The short answer is that there is really no single song which jars my memories.

I guess it happens when you have never fallen in love, never have many earthshaking events in your young life, and have pulled yourself into a childish kind of shell.

If I have any real ideas- and maybe some I am not embarrased to share with you- you'll be the second to know. I'll be the first to know, of course.

Snags

2008-07-01T00:28:00.001-04:00

I took June 27 and 28 off. The store was closed Sunday so that day didn't go to waste either. On Friday I stuck around home until my sister came to relieve me. I picked up a few items from Wal-Mart and went home. The bad thing about vacations is that I like to stay up and revel in my temporary freedom- regardless of what has to happen the next morning.

I went to the USFS Lake Sinclair National Forest park near Eatonton. I had been there before. I picked up a few more things before I reached the vacation site. I ate at the Old Clinton BBQ restaurant off US129. If you've watched Discovery's "Dirty Jobs" you've seen the restaurant. It was great as I would expect.

It was 3:30 or so when I reached the campsite area. I had the pay envelope with me but saw few unoccupied spots which were entirely ideal for fishing. I left the park and checked out the hunt camp near Twin Bridges. It has an area where people camp and fish. It was occupied. It seems more and more I want to keep to myself. I don't understand why and I don't like being antisocial. Regardless, the area was cramped so I returned to the park.

I picked B-29 as the campsite number instead of D-28. Gosh I seem to be getting more and more tired and frazzled as time goes by. I set up my tent and inflated my mattress. Even under the tent it was some hot! Even under the pine and oak canopy I sweated. I was glad to see the rain come. I woke up after three hours of using a sweatshirt for a pillow. I made a canopy over the picnic table with a poncho. Here I chose to meet a challenge.

The Boy Scouts, according to a book I read, will teach you how to build a fire using one match in a cold rainstorm. That seemed a little far-fetched but I couldn't see why not. I cheated a little. Not only did I find dry kindling I used two books of matches. The "damp proof" book had a damp strike pad so no matches lit. I got another one out of my pack and lit a nice fire. I found the woven poly tarp I thought I left at home and replaced the miniscule poncho with its larger blue canopy.

Then came the retarded child. As I got my food ready I had this teenager with either autism or Down syndrome come in from another campsite, seeking to socialize. I didn't feel like babysitting him. I consider mentally handicapped people like children; they must be tended to at all times. I took exception to his invading my space. So I told him I had to "finish eating". As if I was past the preparation phase of eating!

He apparently came in from some people I think I remember seeing before. They had a mini-SUV with a Bleckley county tag and spoke even poorer English than some in the bowels of the Delta. It dawned on me that I forgot a lesson I learned; NEVER go to the Lake Sinclair National Forest campsite on a weekend. Too much riffraff tends to go there on weekends.

I had my hot dogs and chips but was still thirsty. I didn't feel like drinking much because the dentist put a temporary crown after grinding the living daylights out of the upper left molar. I had to take Ibuprofen during the trip.

It seems that fishing demands too much time to set up the fishing spot. I made three trips for insect spray, the Coleman hiker's lantern, ice chest, rod and reel, cup of Joe, fishing tackle box, bait, towel, poncho, and stool. Once I got done I managed to catch a 24 foot-long log which stole my 4.00 lighted bobber and two overhanging branches. I forgot another lesson; when fishing in snags use cheap bobbers with reflective or phosphorescent tape or paint.

I was glad to end the affair even with the new MP3 player entertaining me.

Morning came and I slept a little extra. Extra meant that breakfast became a very light brunch. I had a toaster pastry out of an MRE and some instant coffee. Of course building the fire took 45 minutes and only took off with a dousing of Purel and insect spray. The retarded kid also came by but I ignored him and he went away.

I removed all traces of my being and left for Eatonton. The drive is neither long nor short. I went to the Dairy Queen and had a big burger, fries, and Coke. I had to get the manager to pour some new Coke (usually very sweet at DQ's) because the self-serve fountain had a terrible taste to it.

At that point I learned why rich people are rich. They speak up and don't accept the status quo. One old man in walking shoes and a Reynolds Plantation shirt said the Coke tasted "terrible". I concured with him and told him so. I told him DQ Cokes were "sweet as honey" and the fountain tasted like "cleaner".

I finished lunch and went home. I took item after item out of my SUV, hung what needed to be rinsed and dried, stored in my Honda what was to be stored, and brought the rest of the gear into the house. I made a trip report of items most used, items needed (Coke, tent poles for the tarp, dessert, and tin foil)in the future, and ideas for improvements.

Somehow I felt as tired or more tired from the trip. I blame oversleep, a lack of exercise, and stress. I did too much sleeping this trip.

The Fan Logo

2008-06-25T22:17:00.000-04:00

I still want to replace the logo and the motor screws, not to mention the butchered junction box. Above you will see how I fixed the logo with Paint Shop Pro (a pain to use sometimes) But I am very proud of my fan.

I mounted the motor to bench test it and put new screws for the handle. Next comes the SOS pads to clean the bad paint job on the grille. It was all I could find at the Warner Robins Kroger. It's soap and steel wool. It's the same stuff used by the lady on the Fifties commercial at the behest of her Viking husband. Remember: "Hilda, listen to me. Listen to me Hilda". The lady then sings praises of the SOS in a baritone dubbed-in voice.

Corrections and Continuation of The Fan

2008-06-21T01:55:00.002-04:00

I want to correct something about the fan; it has SEVEN blades, not five. There are also only TWO speeds for the motor.

That being said I did the electrical connections to the fan. I first wiped the polishing compound off with a Windex-soaked rag. I took the fan blade/hub and the handle and sprayed them with bathroom cleaner.

I removed the 18AWG lamp-style cord from the switch assembly's wires. I had to squeeze the crimp connectors and eventually twisted them off. Ah, American workmanship a la the Sixties! TV's, radios, and Hunter fans were built to last by someone in Kansas, California, New York, or Iowa. I soldered the double-insulated supply cord onto the bared wires, put wire nuts on for insulation, and applied electrical tape. I surrounded the motor wires going to the switch and the supply cord with 3/8" split loom plastic.

The fun part was fixing the box. I notched the box at three different places and the lid at two different places before I found a way to avoid yanking the wires. This was tedious. I found that the fastening nut for the switch needs to be brushed with a metal cleaner. It looks ugly. And I would love to get a thin fender washer to cut down on the switch nut's gnawing on the metal fan shell. I had to really tighten up on the two long screws holding the motor onto the shell. The thin wires weren't there anymore; the new wires were thicker.

I turned on the fan and touched the shell with my finger to see if it would electrocute me. This was a dumb idea but my finger would give less of a path to the current and I was on a wooden floor should there be stray volts. All was well. I still want to get longer screws for holding the fan motor to the shell.

Please note that I did not repaint the motor casing. That would have been too time consumptive given that the coil and shaft would have to be removed. Spraying paint with the motor in place would require an impossible feat of masking. At least I cleaned it with solvent.

I found a problem bigger than the grill issue. The Hunter grille logo, on a round badge with a simulated wood grain background, is wearing off. Other than taping over it with clear tape I can see no easy solution. I could mask over the Hunter lettering and paint the whole darned thing brown. When I sand down the grilles I will remove the badge and seek a solution. I could scan the badge and make a decal using my inkjet.

Restoring an old fan

2008-06-20T00:51:00.000-04:00

Project: Restoring a box-type fan to near-original status
Asset: Hunter 20" box fan
Model: Unknown
Manufactured: 1968 (approximately)
Specifications: 20", 110v motor ungrounded, three-speed, four-position push-button toggle switch, single-piece plastic disk with five plastic blades, metal casing brown in color, chrome-steel protective grids front and rear of the box.
Status: Inactive for approximately six years.

I have been reading up on air-raid sirens and their restoration. I am tooting the horn about how Houston County is spending too much money on a system that can play chimes and pre-recorded messages. I would rather they use the motorized fan-type sirens which use a 220-volt motor to force air through a stator to make their feared whine.

That, and having cats enduring a warm porch, let me to fix the Hunter fan. The Hunter was my favorite fan when I was little. It stayed in my room when I was asleep and soothed me with its cold fingers and soft whirr. The fan had a white plastic handle, an 18-gauge cable, and a button to push for controlling its three speeds.

I wanted to yank it out of the shop where it lay dormant for years and cool the kitty cats under the screened porch.. Dad put it in a window of the shop for ventilation but he became too ill to stay out in the heat very long. I took down the fan and found it needed cleaning. It bore the remnants of mice, insects, and dust from various workshop projects.

So an intended cleaning led to a full disassembly. After taking the Hunter apart I decided to wait until I cleaned, painted and rewired the thing before hanging it in the cats' porch. As with the tractor and the riding lawn mower I didn't take pictures of the fan as it was prior to my efforts. Surely there are snapshots with it in the background but I can't find them as of yet. I did take a picture of it after I cleaned and partially sanded the top.

I did a coarse and fine sanding before priming the metal shell with a cheap red oxide primer. I had bought a can of Krylon medium-gray paint from Wal-Mart. I wasn't thrilled with the look of it even after two coats. I decided to go with the closest tint to the brown-gray the Hunter bore. Lowe's had Rust-O-Leum Anodized Bronze. It was a nearly perfect match.

For a really decent paint job I would say aerosol paint is a sham and a racket. Never do you get anything but specks and stripes. I was still relatively content. I gave the fan shell two coats of Anodized Bronze and a clear-coat of cheap Wal-Mart spray paint. Tonight I smoothed the coat with a rubdown of automotive polishing paste left over from years ago.

I took the Hunter's motor out and put in on a workbench. I used electrical contact cleaner to remove the crud and ensure adequate conductivity. The switch splices were in a plastic bag clipped on with a metal clip. Today fans have a plastic box for the wire junctions. I have a project box from Radio Shack for enclosing the wires. The lead from the switch to the outlet will get a new double-insulated 18AWG wire.

I will give the fan new grommets and fasten the motor to the shell using the original screws and faucet washers. The cord will be a snug fit against the frame and motor. I took the cord and bench-tested the cleaned and lubricated fan motor. It whirred right along. The blades were a pain to clean even with a Clorox solution and Purple Power cleaner. I am left with only bathtub cleaner to bare the gunk off the plastic tines. The Hunter gets the plastic handle back and with new screws.

Now if I can find out how to get the grilles restored. I have automotive chrome paint but it looked like I just painted over the rust. The grilles must be resanded and bared with steel wool.

Bibb 411 Blog

2008-05-05T23:21:00.001-04:00

I do not endorse or object to all that is wherein but it merits a look. It is largely about the Bibb County Sheriff's Office.

This blog isn't dead

2008-04-25T18:31:00.000-04:00

I might return to this blog as the default blog. I just don't like the new blog and think it's a pain in the rump.

I do have a question; when is Moon Family Properties going to resume work on the shopping center at Interstate 475 and Hartley Bridge Road. The hippies managed to blow the whistle on Moon for erosion issues. The developer tried to abate a washout but didn't put up a fence soon enough. Also the Altamaha Riverkeeper (environmentalist fruitcake) told his/her sycophant at the Macon Telegraph and the county engineer. The county engineer was chastized for not walking ALL of the Moon property to check for erosion. So the county has stopped Moon from turning any more dirt.

Thanks for nothing, longhair.

Blog Reorganization

2007-12-26T00:16:00.000-05:00

26 Dec 07

I have been thinking about revamping my blogs. I will add a blog which doesn't deal too much in personal issues and may not deal in politics so much. I want this one to be for everyone. I had contaminated this blog with personal nonsense and I want to create another blog and retitle it something catchy. Supposedly I have a secret blog but I rarely go there. You will be kept posted.

This Christmas was wonderful considering what has happened to us this year. I am having to adjust to new realities since I have gotten older and that isn't too much fun either.

The first celebration of Christmas was Sunday. My niece, nephew, nephew's wife and niece's kid came with my sister to swap presents. We had roast. It was good. I gave my niece an Itunes card, my nephew and his wife a Subway gift card, my great nephew a Pirates of the Carribean treasure chest. I got a desk calendar with cat cartoons.

Monday I worked until 2PM. The boss stopped in and brought donuts and a jug of coffee. Somehow I didn't hog the donuts. After work I went to the auto parts place to get the battery out of my car tested. Surprisingly it took them longer than it did the NAPA place down the street. My sisters were scrapbooking except for one who was cooking. She was aggravated from being the Lone Ranger of the kitchen. I helped her then had two hot dogs. I learned the art of slawmaking. Don't use the blender and fill it with water; the water does not create enough centrifugal force against the pieces of cabbage. We had to work fast on both scrapbooks and dinner before my aunt came.

I went to the auto parts place and picked up the dear departed battery. I went to Food Lion and got sugar (ours was solidified) and a big bag of ice. I had to go to Kroger to get the gingerbread mix. We had for years a family tradition where Dad would cook us gingerbread and make the sauce in a pan, usually the one which had been banged around in the kitchen since I can remember. I came home and helped create scrapbooks for my cousins.

The main course was barbecue and baked beans along with chips and canned cokes (no bottled Cokes were available). We had Coca Cola Cake and Dixie Bars (Dixie Bars were from a recipe on the side of a sugar bag from Dixie Crystals hence the name).

My aunt and uncle from around the corner came along with my cousin from Florida, her husband, and their gargantuan son. Not that he is fat but he is quite a big man. I gave my aunt and uncle a USB hub for their PC. I think at some point I will upgrade their PC to Windows 2000 but they don't know that. I received a set of John Cleese DVDs. For some odd reason I could not get to bed that night.

I woke up at 12:30 PM on Christmas Day since the others chose to sleep late. It seemed like a very condensed Christmas celebration. The givers of the gifts gave each family member their gifts to them. I gave Mom a towel, a calendar, and a cup with old pictures of her inserted into the cup shell. My youngest sister got a scrapbook calendar, The oldest sister got measuring spoons and a calendar and crossword puzzle book, the middle sister got a Diabetes Crockpot cookbook, and when my uncle came he got a DVD collection of John Wayne B-grade movies and a selection of Inner Sanctum old radio episodes on CD. I went to bed for a little while.

I received Season 3 of "Emergency!" on DVD from Rosemary. Mom gave me a white dress shirt and Ruth gave me an Eddie Bauer sweater (green).

We had ham for lunch prior to doing the present swap. My sister made mashed potatoes and we had lima beans. My uncle came and he gave me a "Politically Incorrect Guide to American History". He actually has read David Limbaugh's book and finds it very factual. Perhaps we are more conservative than we think. We had the ham for dinner.

Christmas Albums from retailers

2007-12-05T19:31:00.000-05:00

I have been digitizing some albums my parents bought over the years. I ripped them to MP3 and put them on CD. One is a 1972 album from Grant's Stores (we had one in Warner Robins) and another was from JCPenney in 1973. Penney's is on the nice part of Libertycounsel.org's list of those retailers who do or don't mention Christmas in their marketing. But don't look for too many retailers' Christmas compilations.

I bought a compilation off Ebay that we had discarded years ago. The album was sold by Goodyear stores in 1967 and was stamped by Columbia Special Projects. This compilation of various artists was called, "The Great Songs of Christmas" and features, in a round robin, several singers including Robert Goulet and a young John Davidson.

Featured twice on the record is the folk group The New Christy Minstrels. Mind you this is a politically incorrect name but none of the members wore blackface and in fact longtime member Barry McGuire sung the 1965 protest hit, "Eve of Destruction".

I guess it's a way of honoring my childhood- and my Dad. I see so much wrong with the present that I have to reach to the past. It's only going to corkscrew myself further into a depressed state. I come home tired from work and oversleep. I feel angry at myself because I don't listen to people, am impatient, am not nice to people as I used to be, and need to go to work on finding another job.

But I'll still listen to those old records. I mean, CD's.

Had Enough

2007-11-22T14:11:00.000-05:00

11/22/07
I've had enough of being in a rut. The ads with the pretty women in their sweaters for Christmas reminded me of how the slick sales circulars passed through my hands and wished I had a girl like one of them. I royally messed up for years and years and it never happened. I didn't find anyone to date and they didn't find me.

Oh, some girls wanted to know more about me but I had unrealistic expectations of whom I was looking for. I also had family members who were quite frankly an embarrassment. I didn't know how to dress and I worked at a job that was a turn-off to most females. I didn't make a trip to a good doctor to put me on meds to take care of my issues. I didn't ask anyone about how to improve myself- and I don't mean my parents. They either didn't know how or they liked me the way I was.

Not any more.

It's more than dating where I fall behind. That's just a symptom of what the medical people say I have; anxiety and depression. Ask the insurance company. I should be making decent money- half again what I make. I should be more fun and intersting. I shouldn't get upset about little things or stay in a constant state of anxiety. I shouldn't dream like a twelve year-old dreams- about being a big hero, a soldier, or anything else.

I have gained several powerful weapons in which to destroy the bad part of myself. I am on medications to ease the more undesirable parts of me. I have gotten older, wiser, and more independent though some of what has gone on recently should have taken place twenty years ago. Now I will work on even more life changes. I can't tell you about the most important of them because this blog is read by others. I will give you a hint; it's challenging and rewarding and I now realize that challenges are what it takes to get rewards.

North Georgia and Hot Cars

2007-10-29T00:00:00.000-04:00

10/28/07
I left work and headed to North Georgia. I went to the Five Guys hamburger restaurant. Their fries are awesome and so are their hamburgers. This was on Tom Hill Sr. Blvd so there were a few yuppies. There are a few still left to shop on that side of town though Tom Hill is slowly deteriorating.

I got coffee at Dunkin Donuts and gas in Forsyth. I went up 675 and 285 but didn't bother to find out if Interstate 985 were off 285 or 85. I missed the 85 turn so I headed up 53 to Dawsonville.

Before I got to GA 53 the truck got hot again so I turned on the heater and rolled down the windows. I thought this problem had cured itself but I guess I'm no mechanic. I got gas and went to a nearby Kroger in Dawsonville off 19. I put a little drinking water into the reservoir in a desperate attempt to solve this issue. Of course it didn't work but I was too stubborn to realize this. The reservoir fluid was murky. I still think it is a bad thermostat.

I should have stayed in a motel in Dawsonville but instead decided to mosey over to Dahlonega. There were no vacancies at the motels because of some special occasion and what one desk clerk told me were three weddings. So I know how Mary and Joseph felt.

I went to Cleveland and saw nothing but the Gateway Inn. The Best Western in Gainesville had nothing but the Days Inn had a room. It was 3 AM and I wasn't too concerned about the need for renovating the room.

I was very hungry and thirsty by the time I hit Ma Gooch's in Cleveland. It is to me a mandatory pilgrimage as their chicken is excellent. And I mean chicken! They must raid the henhouses at Gainesville for their little birdies. Never will I say "I'll eat it all". This isn't 1981 when I could eat up the Hardees on Pio Nono every morning. I went to Blairsville and stopped on the way at Helton Falls.

There is a one-lane road which is paved for approximately a mile before reaching the Forest Service's unpaved path to the falls. These falls led people in the Seventies to try and scale them with deadly consequences. The man whom my dad worked with ran the Neels Gap trading post in the Seventies and told us the GDOT ripped the pullover for the falls as a consequence.

Helton Falls was so beautiful! The short-needled pines and the leaves in their halfway transition from green to bright colors made it even prettier. The rocks were polished by the aqueous buffing of time and I loved the water! It was cold and one puddle was deep enough for someone to bathe in.

I went to the Sorghum Festival's last weekend. A guy named Nix played bluegrass music behind the civic center in a Fort Sorghum compound. A rusty sorghum press with its white female mule was no longer needed to squeeze the half-grassy, half-cane looking weeds for their tart, sweet sugar. I bought two small bottles and one large bottle of syrup. I am sure this was the only real sweetener available for years to the mountain residents near Union County until trucks could bring sugar and make it affordable to all. I know of no other area in Georgia or below Kentucky which grows a sorghum crop.

The time came to leave and fight off the overheating truck (the light came on, the needle moved to the extreme, and the truck ran a little sluggisly so I can't conclude little else). I was the only nut on the road with the heater on and the windows rolled down.

It bothers me that I don't have but a few people to speak to. Maybe it's that I am a happy batchelor and everyone else is married. I have hangups that preclude me from doing so much with people and everyone my age is busy doing whatever they do. I try to network with people on the net but it isn't helping. I need something to help me out of this rut I am in.

Fair Time

2007-10-07T00:23:00.000-04:00

Here it is October and I am going to the fair tomorrow if the weather is good. I might go anyway. This time it should go better. I had a date get mad and leave me there. I want to go to church first. It is a shame that the last time I went to church was at Dad's funeral a few months ago.

I might even ride that Tilt-a-Whirl ride even though it scared the heck out of me some thirty years ago. It can be a thrill to be scared as long as you don't sense total adversity.

I am off on Monday and will likely use it to either go day fishing or take care of business. For some reason I want to clean up the house and do tons of other things. Given that I will have to work the rest of the week I won't overexert myself. In another two weeks I'll take an additional day off to go to the mountains of North Georgia. There will be a Sorghum Festival and the Georgia Mountain Fair later this month. Oh and let's not forget the leaves.

I wish I could stop this narcolepsy. It may be lack of sleep and an improper sleep cycle but I want to give medication a shot. I cannot keep getting tired and having to pull over to go to sleep every time I go home.

Back Porch in a Month

2007-10-01T02:08:00.000-04:00

I built a screened-in deck on a portion of the house. It seems Sam, the yellow fluffy male, doesn't do well with other cats. So to keep from having him go to the vet at 109.00 a pop for abscesses we had to do something.

I at first wanted to screen in a 4x6 stoop on the back of the den but concluded this would be tantamount to caging him. I talked my sisters into letting me put a covered and screened deck between my mom's room and the central part of the house. Sam would gain 18 square feet of space and we could sit in it despite his litter box revealing its presence. From September 1 until the 26th my sister and I worked on the porch. I am disappointed that the roof panels are off kilter yet that cannot be helped. Other than insect-proofing it I can say the facility is complete.

I might even sleep in it some night when the weather isn't nippy.

Old Ambulance Picture I'm Colorizing

2007-07-17T22:55:00.000-04:00

I found this picture in the newspaper of an old ambulance The Medical Center operated in the early Seventies. They used Chevy SUV's with a shell on top. They were painted orange though the color I chose was louder than what MCCG painted theirs. The 1973 article showed a bus accident simulation which took place on the busiest side road in Macon come the end of the school day.

Hangin' in there

2007-07-14T02:10:00.000-04:00

Hello
My father died in his sleep at home on June 23, 2007. He had been discharged from the hospital the night before at 11:30. I wish that I knew the end was imminent but thought he'd last weeks or months. I could have given him more of a goodbye. At least I told him I loved him when he was in the hospital. He was to get home health care and perhaps hospice. He had congestive heart failure, perhaps kidney failure, and only 10% heart effectiveness upon admission to the hospital the previous weekend.

There was nothing anyone could do to reverse his dying process. I went to the hospital to room 508 that night. He was conscious and alert though very weak and unable to drink, eat, or urinate. The hospital would let him out only if he could urinate. He had little fluid in his bladder scan and the nurse and tech did an in/out Foley catheterization. His pulse ox was zero despite using two sensor modules, two readers, and an earpiece. His radial pulse was very weak. The nurse called the doctor and thought he were having an anxiety attack. They had to give him oxygen in a nasal cannula before he was strong enough to go much of anywhere. In fact, as he left the hospital he was so weak it took three of us to barely get him out of my sister's red SUV and into the transport wheelchair.

I decided to lay in the hospital bed so I could be near her. Dad wanted to sleep in the regular bed. He I guess knew he were dying. Mom had to page me two or three times. One time he was inverted in bed with his head at the foot. Then Mom paged me to ask if a cat were in the room. Smokey, the female kitty, snores loudly sometimes. My mother wonders if it were Dad having agonal breathing or some other dyspnea instead of Smokey's snoring.

I managed to hold my composure though I was shaken when I found him dead. He had apparently been dead a few hours as rigor had set in. I had had courses in CPR and First Responder but they didn't prepare me for much of how to deal with a dead father. I did have sense enough to treat the room as a "crime" scene and ordered it untouched until authorities came. I called the sheriff. My mother asked to be helped into my bedroom. My youngest sister came in right after I got off the phone with the dispatcher.

My dad's brother came about the same time the firefighters did and so did my middle sister. She was in tears. My aunt and uncle around the corner came. The firefighters, then the paramedic and her partner the EMT examined my father, ran a strip, and the paramedic called the coroner. The firefighters as well as the deputies were nice though they had to maintain a distance.

The rest of the morning I was more into the "let's do what we have to do" mood. I cut the grass and washed up while my aunt worked so much in the kitchen her feet swelled. I called my cousins, the doctor, my friend, the store I work at, and a multitude of others. The worst I felt that day was when I was tired during the middle of the afternoon. Most people came to the visitation. Dad's silver casket was beautiful. I enjoyed meeting the people from Dad's store and the main offices of the company. Monday's funeral was a graveside affair with dinner in the church meeting hall. I cried the next night and the night of the funeral.

I almost lost it in Starbuck's that Tuesday. I told myself not to think about things and to just relax. I am sure if I think about Dad and my childhood I'll cry again. I was on vacation that weekend and Monday but I took Tuesday and Wednesday off to get situated and make sure I didn't crumble under at work. The worst part is the half-empty house. Most of us want to get our feet back under ourselves.

The store my dad ran had a sign saying, "We Miss You". It was my dad's second home for almost twenty years. If you never knew him you missed something.
Edited 10/7/07

Sinclair Trip

2007-05-01T10:43:00.000-04:00

On 04/28 I left work and went to Sinclair at the national park. I stopped near Blountsville to sleep because I was tired. I went down the road to Miller's Lake and slept. I woke up and perhaps too soon I started driving. I felt weird when I went down 129 to the bait shop. I got bait and gas then drove on. I put 20.00 in the envelope at the gate. I looked around for a campsite then pulled in.

I set up my tent and rolled out the air mattress. I forgot the plug to hold the air in! I would attend to this later. I put my gear in the tent and gathered firewood. The advantage to spring is that leaves and twigs have fallen and haven't been harvested by other campers.

The older man in the camper near Lot 40 D is neat. He is the caretaker/host for the complex. It keeps him alive to do his work there though I feel bad for him. I probably should see if USFS needs volunteers to work at the sites. I am weak on customer service and security but my nice complex might be a godsend in this case. I went to bed at 12 or so. Rule is that you go to bed at nightfall or shortly thereafter because the only lighting there is God-given. Coleman only lasts so long.

I woke up to go to the restroom at 6:50 and saw some guys sitting and talking and having coffee in the lot two paths down. I felt lazy; these people are on break and getting up early because they still think they have to go to work. I resolved to see if I could get up at 7 or 8AM from now on. For this morning I decided to get some more shuteye.

I woke up at 10 AM and had an el cheapo Hostess apple pie and some MRE instant coffee. I did a poor job even in a hurry when I made sure I had everything. I had forgotten the plug, the coffee, and the tin foil to avoid pine tar smudging on the cookware.

I sniffed out a fishing spot between the pier and the next campsite along the shore of D loop. It had overhanging branches and a brush bed which made for lost fishing floats. Three floats were lost in my failed attempt to catch fish. I was so frustrated that I thought about packing up and cancelling my vacation. I also felt a little lonely and worried about my Mom and Dad. Time made me feel better. It didn't make me hungry.

I put up my fishing gear and drove over to the Twin Bridges Trail entrance on A loop. I went to the restroom on A loop and found that they were actually flush toilets! They didn't have sinks but I was grateful for what I had. The trail was 1 4/5 miles according to the sign. I thought I'd have enough Pepsi in the bottle to sustain me.

I walked and walked and the first part of the trail was overflow from the lake. I saw the sand. Three or more bends were close to the shore and before too long I saw across the lake where there were private houses. Did I go too far? The white spots on the trees and the oddly-spaced brown 4x4 posts with the numbers said no.

I kept going and hoped I wouldn't get back after dusk. I never was that good with calculating distance and time. The stacks of Plant Branch were visible as I got close to the shoreline once again. I saw more footbridges and thought I was looping back but the path was unfamiliar. I kept going out of curiosity and found this parking area. I found out it was a hunting camp. The trail marker on the cosmolite post said 119. I made it to the end! Now I need to make it back.

I needed to rest but still had plenty of oomph. I wanted to see if there was a sign for this strange area with the trash and burnt out campfires. An old Dodge car and trailer, with little sign of recent occupancy, was parked to the side. Since I saw no sign close by- and only a signboard with nothing on it- I decided to expend my energy to return.

I improvised a pace counter and turned on my stopwatch feature on my Wal-Mart watch. The pace counter is used by the Army, probably to make sure the troops dont' waste time walking too far as they get confused in the repetition. I took a tree branch and counted 13 leaves. For every 1000 feet, or 335 paces, I would rip a leaf off. I removed nine. I timed myself at 45 minutes. I walked more slowly on the return trip.

I found bugs crawling on my pants! They looked like little crabs. I decided to wash my pants and other clothing. The caretaker told me the shower was down at the D restroom so I went to the B shower. The B loop is closed but the restroom is still operational (sink has no water due to a glitch). I showered my clothing and myself myself. After stretching some paracord across two trees I hung the clothes to dry. For dinner at 6:00 I had beef stew from an MRE and the good portions of a veggie burger MRE.

I went fishing at the pier. There were only two campers besides me as the weekend was going away. The campers nearest the pier were gone. I had to watch where I went since the pier was only three feet wide. I caught a normal catfish and a bullhead-type catfish. I caught another catfish that was very small but threw it back. The fishing went sour after dusk and when it got cooler. Come 11:30 I had to throw the two fishies back. They still made a croaking sound as they gasped for air so that was a relatively good sign. The normal fish I could not easily remove from the snap of the chain stringer. I forgot to include pliers in the fishing kit. That will teach me to inspect my gear before embarking. So I had to avoid the fish spiking me with its dorsal fin and remove the snap. It went through his skull but wasn't lethal.

I went to beddy bye and woke up at 10:00 because I was too lazy to set my watch. I thought I could nagically wake myself. The gear went back in the truck and I drove off to Eatonton, stopping at the Huddle House to eat. I went to the old part of town and took pictures of the old grammar school (now an art center)and the house where the 10k starts. I ran it in 1987. Running makes people feel so good about themselves. I was sick as a dog and my tummy hurt that day but I loved running that race. Maybe I will run it again next year but I seemed to say something like that several years ago.

I took pictures of the old bridge on Old Macon Circle. Would you believe UGA students traveled down this road prior to the erection of the present bridge in 1967? I saw the ends of the bridge were widened 6' on each side. This must've been in the days of one-lane bridges where one side got the right of way (remember "Ode to Billy Joe"?)

I got home and emptied the litter pan. I was miffed when Dad went to the bathroom. I wanted to decontaminate but realized Dad couldn't help it- he had to go. He hasn't been taking his constipation meds or eating right nor has he engaged in activity to strenghten him. This week he has been feeling better nonetheless.

I work the next five days. I hate to see the store not make money but I enjoy the quiet pace of summer at the store.

"Ghetto" meals for the cheap

2007-03-31T01:43:00.000-04:00

03/31/07
I am doing a little better but for lack of sleep. I don't see how I can come home tired and keep on going sometimes but it does happen. Today wasn't one of those days. My mom seems to be getting a little weaker while Dad is gaining strength.

Our outbound service contractor is trying to save money on meals. He doesn't have a lot of money. My cash is not where I'd want it to be and I want to gain a "profit" on what I take home per month vs. what I spend in checking.

Thus I am looking to see what the cheapest meals are that are 1) edible 2) not "junk" food. The contractor eats Ramen noodles and sometimes spaghetti in a can. Somehow I feel like I am eating slop when I eat those. So I am searching for a good meal and a cheap one.

McDonald's, Wendy's and Burger King (breakfast only) have items for a dollar or so. The potato and the salad from Wendy's are best for your body. Be careful of fast food joints as a rule. You spend 3 times as much to get an inferior meal- or one no better than if you eat a 3 oz portion of meat, a carbo, veggie, and fruit. Just be sure what you eat doesn't constipate you or shoot your blood sugar through the roof only to leave you hungrier.

I advise cereals, even dry ones, for snacks or breakfast. Make your own coffee and don't drink that fancy creosote at Starbuck's (Creosote was used to treat fenceposts before it was found to be cancerous). You may want to have a dessert but be sure it has fruit or fiber in it. If you must have a meaty breakfast make some biscuits and sausage and freeze a two-week supply.

Fruit is good if you can eat what you buy this week by the next week. Soup, combined with a veggie or bread, has been a staple of good eating for years. Today there are fancier soups tasting better than the older smaller cans our parents knew. For lunch consider a whole-wheat bread with sliced meat on it. If you want a warm meal look at frozen dinners or just make your own burgers. Heck you can even grill outside and freeze some beef patties or drumsticks. Bake your own goodies and freeze them- but be smart. Not always will you want to eat in.

At the grocery store look carefully on the main "side" counters at the store because the idea of featured items (that aren't discounted) is to make the store money and make you poorer. I have heard of wonderful deals even at Walgreen's. Just don't single source but dont' drive around town wasting gas to save a dime.

Oh and get store brands and experiment with them as some are better than others and some use low-grade components (but not all). If you aren't a soft drink snob you can save a mint on store brands. However Kool-Aid has the powdered drink down to an art. Make your own tea and bring it. If you get fruit juice get it frozen; don't pay extra if freshness isn't your priority. Wholesale clubs and "odd lots" stores don't always promise savings so don't make them the single source for everything. I'll let you in on a trick; get a sale paper for the week and if you see a good deal on something circle it and take it with you. My mom used to do that.

Menu:
Breakfast: Frozen sausage biscuit or frosted wheat squares. Don't rule out oatmeal but don't get it in bulk. Fruit is optional. Your own coffee.

Lunch: Soup and cornbread with a fruit or a side salad. Or substitute a sandwich and potato chips you bought in bulk. Your own tea.

Snack: Peanuts, peanut butter/crackers you made from scratch or bought in packs, or a fruit. Avoid Twinkies or candy bars unless you bought a box of them beforehand. If you don't eat candy that often don't buy in bulk.

Dinner: See lunch or make chicken/dressing with creme chicken soup gravy. A vegetable or fruit cup is more than welcome. Chips and two hot dogs (not too often; the buns aren't whole wheat and weiners have salt and grease). If you must eat out consider the dollar items I mentioned.

Very cheap meals: Soups, oatmeal, ramen, fruit cups, sliced ham sandwiches on whole wheat, and diet drink powder mixes. Rule; avoid constipation, high sugar content, and heavy salt or grease.

Dad's CHF

2007-03-15T21:29:00.000-04:00

03/15/07

Dad is requiring more and more care. Three weeks ago 02/22 Thursday My sister called me and said Dad had not only been short of breath but his speech seemed slurred. and I called my dad. Then I called the doctor. He wondered if it were CHF. I told him of the slurred speech and that I'd double check with Mom and my sister.

I told Dad when I called him that I wanted to talk to Mom. She confirmed his slurred speech which I didn't pick up on over the phone. I talked to my sister and she said the heart doctor said it wasn't CHF. I called back the doctor and he advised me to get him to the ER. He later advised I call an ambulance so that he could get to treatment faster.

I called the seven-digit number since it was not a life-threatening emergency and that the 911 Center in Bibb County was a joke (I emailed Joe Allen of the County Commission about the 911 Center but to no avail). The dispatcher was on the phone while my sister rang my cell phone. I had EMS on the phone while the cell phone was in another ear. I told her I had to call back.

Mom called me back and I told her EMS was on the way. The doctor called me and I told him EMS was on the way to pick up Dad. They even sent a fire engine as first responders as per protocol.

I went to the Medical Center emergency room and waited until they got Dad settled into a treatment room/bed in the EC. After an hour or so the nurse told me CHF and pneumonia was suspected.

I went to grab a snack and I was in McDonald's when my sister called. She told me to high-tail it home and sit tight until she and my other sister arrived.

The next day I got scared. One of my sisters told me that the BNP (a peptide count associated with CHF) was 5000+ from what she heard of a nurse talking about Dad. She looked it up and said it was associated with low life expectancy. My oldest sister told me that he might last a year or two but then reversed herself. She's the sister who tends to be argumentative and not wrong all the time.

I felt upset not so much that my dreams of living in a better place away from Macon were evaporating. It hurt to see such a seemingly indestructible man as my dad go downhill. I disliked that I was still living at home years after finishing four let alone six years of college. I had personal issues such as depression, anxiety, and not really being allowed to grow up. Yet I blamed my self for my predicament.

Don't get the idea that I would have rather looked out for myself than my parents. I swore to dedicate myself to helping them when in need. I just hated they haven't seen me succeed out of the cocoon.

They drained 750cc (3/4 liter) from Dad's thorax and his BNP went down to 2500 or so. It was at 1999 on 03/07. He still has trouble sleeping especially with being constipated. He is slowly gaining weight- slowly as he cannot have salt and very much sugar. His sugar was around 140 at the doctor's office on 03/07.

Meanwhile I have resorted to a new antidepressant- or I should say I did resort to it. I found it made me drowsy. Yesterday was Wednesday and since I had to make trips to the bathroom and to help my parents- not to mention while drugged- I slept and woke and slept and woke most of the day.

My big goal is to figure out how to make myself as much of what my parents want as I can but to balance personal goals. Mostly it is of action not planning.

Repeat post on Houston Mall

2007-01-22T22:52:00.000-05:00

<>Picture is of Houston Mall in 1976
Hello
I went to the Houston Mall again. I was rehab shopping for my mother. No, not THAT kind of rehab; she is becoming less and less mobile with her disease.

Even at 3:30 PM the mall is dead. Evelyn's, the dress shop that was too stubborn to leave, is no more. A third of the mall is rented by the Houston Medical Center. This is not a bad idea if the $/sqft sales are high even for spending money on medical procedures. But HMC isn't the Mayo Clinic or Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

The northeast entrance is no more. Home Decor resides in it, the small stores along the way, and in two or more old stores possibly carved out of WT Grant's. I remember when my sis and I went to Grant's and bought a small globe. This was on a Sunday. Eckerd's is a billing center for HMC and the southeast corridor has Warner Robins Municipal Court and a probation office. A nail place and beauty supply replaced stores near where the old record store and Burton's shoes once thrived. I forgot there was a southeast wing to the mall. It has a few of HMC's storefront facilities.

Were I HMC and if no expansion were already planned for the hospital I'd buy the mall and revamp it. Then I would rent it out. Hospitals likely find themselves hurting to make a profit and though Houston Medical Center doesn't have indigents bleeding them dry it remains a neat idea.

Management needs to market the mall as an office center and fill the hallway with another row of offices. Perhaps they can bulldoze all but the east and west anchors and make a strip mall. Westgate did this but their mistake was remaining commercial in a deteriorating neighborhood.

Cree

2007-01-19T22:00:00.000-05:00

Hello
Christmas went ok other than Mom falling the previous Tuesday and having an eternal nosebleed. Her lip was lacerated in a few places. The nosebleed stopped enough for us to take her to the Coliseum Medical Centers ER. We had to go back on Christmas Eve since 12:45 saw her nose bleed again. We would stop it on and off and this went on until 7AM. We hustled her back to the ER again and the doctor had Afrin sprayed in it as a vasoconstrictor. I held Mom's nose for 15 minutes. It stopped. She coughed up a nice big blood clot on the way home. Mom's nose bled again Christmas morning but I sprayed Afrin and held it for 15 minutes. This did the trick and stopped the bleeding; she coughed up Clotzilla.

I felt like I was in a fog and felt a little discouraged and depressed. It seemed everything I was working for as far as work and pleasure was going down the drain. I knew the day would come for me to take care of Mom and Dad but I felt it came so soon- too soon for me to reach my goals. It can't be anyone's fault but mine that I didn't achieve them. I have no objection to taking care of Mom and Dad though the do things sometimes to make it hard on themselves. Mom doesn't want to make sacrifices and Dad is unwilling to straighten out his sleep cycle. I would be miserable if I moved too far from them that is for sure.

I learned a new word Thursday. My boss at the store had difficulty understanding a person on the phone. This is understandable as even in the past three months our demographic has deteriorated at the store. A rinky-dink Mexican grocery set up next to us and we have a new landlord.

Anyway one of the words my boss had trouble understanding was the word "cree". It is an African-American corruption of the word "three". This is common in rural areas. We had a good time with that one.

I am still coming in late for work more often than not but the delays are less. I want to be goal compliant by January 31 with my annual resolutions. I promised I'd do a regular job search, be punctual, and embark on a diet and exercise program. I promised that I would subject Mom to an exercise regimen. I am exercising two or three times per week and doing walking once every week. This is half the number of days per week I need to do this.

I dislike making and breaking promises and seeing my life deteriorate.

2006-11-17T02:07:00.000-05:00

I forget what time of the night I was born but in the legal sense 12am today began my fortieth year. November 17 begins at 12AM so that settles that where the law is concerned.

I guess I overdid the sweets or didn't snack often enough yesterday when I said I felt rotten. My boss's dad brought in some cookies that are as decadent as a slice of birthday cake. Combine that with grape Kool-Aid (bought for 2.00 per jar at Big Lots) and you have me eating like a puny kid again. There is no doubt I am facing my parents' mortality in seeing them get sicker and more infirm.

I am having to make a few sacrifices in not going out and hitting the stores and restaurants whenever I please. Nor do I do much night fishing anymore. I am trying to find a job that affords me an hour or two travel distance between here and wherever the job is. I will have to find another place to live under this scenario.

Not that I haven't done fun things. I have been helping find airchecks for the producer at pawfilmworks.com so he can work on his website for a long-closed mall in Chicago. Some time ago I saw a web site for a recently closed mall and tried to revisit it. It was in New Jersey or a nearby state. That was when I bumped into Dixie Square Mall.

This mall near Chicago opened in November 1966 and closed that month in 1978. Months later it was used by Universal to film the mall chase in "The Blues Brothers." It seems the mall's closure in a rapidly-deteriorating town had a silver lining for John Landis, the movie's producer. The video snippits and pictures of the abandoned mall are a surrealistic view of something similar to ancient catacombs.

I did one call-canvassing session and a letter to the editor for Mac Collins, who ran for Congress. He may or may not pay for a recount but the state's secretary of state gave the election to his opponent, Jim Marshall. I saw my party ruin their chances to retain power nationally. Not that Iraq would have been a flash in the pan but Americans want to see tangible progress. A war kept Lyndon Johnson out of the White House although Johnson exhibited much more ineptitude than Bush.

These days I have gone to bed early though I have still been a little more tardy at work than I should be. Why don't I get quality sleep and why do I feel tired even after nine or ten hours?

I will ask my doctor about Cymbalta or a higher dosage of Zoloft. I don't want to monkey around with the Buspar. I only occasionally take the morning dose of Buspar. My head feels like it is in a fog when I am on Zoloft and the Buspar seems to be making it a little more noticeable. I haven't had the reality of turning 40 sink in quite yet.

Last day that I am 39

2006-11-16T16:53:00.000-05:00

11/16/06
Today is the last day I am 39. Tomorrow I turn 40. I have mixed feelings about becoming 40. For much of my life I haven't achieved what I want and I think I have wasted too much time in my life.

This week I have been stuck at home for two evenings while we work with Mom and Dad. Sometimes neither one wants to listen to me or my sisters, especially Mom.

I feel depressed today. I work with the half wit crew this weekend again.

Dad's second ablation session

2006-11-09T15:34:00.000-05:00

11/09/06
Last Friday Dad had to go to the hospital via ambulance because his implanted defibrillator went off five times. It went off four of those times when he walked to the house for help. He was planting pansies. I think I beat the ambulance there since I was around the corner and up the road at my shop.

I waited in the ER and my uncle dropped by. We waited then he was brought into the Chest Pain center partly because the ER was jammed with the runny nose club. It's a shame a flex space isn't available for peak ER visits. The electrophysiologist was there and paced Dad back into normal rhythm and dropped his heart rate to 70. Medications including morphine and lidocaine went into Dad. I had to go home and help Mom and give Dad some rest.

I was furious in a sense that Dad could not have been fixed earlier this year. I thought about sending him to Emory as an option but Dad felt the care from the Macon doctor quite sufficient.

My dad got a room on the 8th floor and was spared the laggards who worked in the cardiac ICU. That Saturday he found that he would get an ablation and they weaned him off the lidocaine that Sunday. The doctor ablated his heart to burn off nodes generating short circuits. He wanted to do more ablating but could not. I hope that Dad won't have to make a return trip to the hospital.

I know my Dad won't last forever and that long-term care of some form is in the near future for both of my parents. I just feel I haven't done enough for them or to make myself a successful person. I dislike being so cynical, so angry, so quiet, so grumpy. I have another side to me that is nice and as honest as the day is long. I guess the word for me is scared. I've been scared and now that forty years close in on me I am tired of being scared of this, that, and the other.

KAT

2006-10-22T17:48:00.000-04:00

Hello
I got back from a weekend at Lake Sinclair Campground. It was okay though I didn't catch any fish. The deep spots along the lake had campers and I snagged my line on overhead branches near the empty and shallow spots. I did have one fishy nibble at my bait but he was too smart for my own good.

I had to listen to a group of Girl Scouts/family members from Cobb County (a tag on one of the vehicles near their pad said such). Three redneck-looking guys and three fat ladies supervised the 9-12 year old females. One woman looked like Harpo Marx. A dog looking like her would not be eaten by starving Koreans. Speaking of which one Amerasian brat in a tent across from my fishing hole talked loud enough to wake the dead.

I preferred the mean-looking redneck in the van next to my tent. He at least played classic country when he was not talking half the day on his cell phone. He was bellyaching about this and that on the cell phone and talking about how the doctors could not figure out why he had high blood pressure. Maybe it's a mind thing. I want to go by the record store or on Itunes and buy some early George Jones/Tammy Wynette and some Conway Twitty/Loretta Lynn. We're talking about early Seventies- at least before 1974.

This will teach me not to go to Lake Sinclair Campground-National Forest Service during the weekend. I also froze in my tent and underinflating an air mattress made me no happier. I will definitely get a low-weight low temperature bag if I can get such for less than 75.00. The mattress was too big for the hiker's tent and I needed to get a single-sized air mattress-or a swimming bed.

I chose to spend the second night in my SUV. I let the small seat down in the rear row and sandwiched myself in my bag. I didn't like not having a bedroll or an inflatable bed but 18 inches didn't allow me much room. I was warmer and when the rain came I was glad I made the choice.

When I woke up at 11:00 and did the rest of the packing I left. I accidentally went to Monroe County instead of Covington. Not to worry; I made another turn and went to Fresh Air Barbecue and headed to Covington. I took pictures of the town square which was depicted in the "Dukes of Hazzard" pilot show.

On the way I saw where the south end of Newton County has a few developments but is turning ghetto closer to Covington. A new grocery store advertised that it was accepting EBT. I had heard that small towns where farming was the primary industry lost their higher-income citizens to the areas bordering Atlanta as the farms died out. Some towns have good homes being built nearby. There was a nice "Scoops" coffee shop and ice-cream parlor on Church Street. Then again I saw "Lee's Fashions" which hosted black fashions and black mannequins".

I felt so good to get home. I will definitely resolve to do SOMETHING about a job although I want a career or other worthy obsession to bury myself in. I need to get out on my own and make real money. As for a direction I don't want just something "fun"; I want a career interest that is long-term. I'll post whatever answer I find later on.

I read that State House District 140 Candidate Lauren Benedict's people, in a September 27 posting of the Peach Pundit, wanted to show that Allen Freeman was on the prowl for girls. Someone put the word that Allen's Myspace account did not mention a family and said he didn't want kids. Not the Allen Freeman I know. I tried to set up an account and had little better luck finding how to update my information. Now one of her alledged cronies has filed an ethics complaint which holds little water.

Just keep on, Ms. Benedict; you're making people mad. Oh and welcome to District 140 where you just moved to. Don't unpack your things yet. You won't need to be here long.

http://www.selfforsuperiorcourt.com

2006-10-18T22:49:00.000-04:00

Hello
I am calling the race for Superior Court for Tillman "Tripp" Self. Tons of people in the legal community and elsewhere are endorsing him and he has had extensive experience handling civil and criminal cases. Ed Ennis has been a federal prosecutor for quite a while. He has more gray hairs and more importantly does not wear a bowtie.

Many who style themselves ultra classy wear bowties. This is to say "I'm different and thus I am better than you so I can wear this retro-Fifties goofball neckwear". But we have dealt with Tripp's family and find them wonderful people.

Pam White-Colbert will likely cater to the militants in the African-American community- but that is all. She has reportedly antagonized the staff in the DA's office wherein she works. Charles Jones and Cedric Leslie don't stand a chance as both are unknowns.

If I had gobs of money you would not catch me dead in a bowtie except in a tuxedo. I might be dead by the time I wear a tuxedo as most certainly the only occasion for wearing such might be my own wedding. This doesn't seem to be something that will happen soon.

Of Malls and Marshall

2006-10-05T18:04:00.000-04:00

Hello
I went to the Houston Mall again. I was rehab shopping for my mother. No, not THAT kind of rehab; she is becoming less and less mobile with her disease.

Even at 3:30 PM the mall is dead. Evelyn's, the dress shop that was too stubborn to leave, is no more. A third of the mall is rented by the Houston Medical Center. This is not a bad idea if the $/sqft sales are high even for spending money on medical procedures. But HMC isn't the Mayo Clinic or Cook County Hospital in Chicago.

The northeast entrance is no more. Home Decor resides in it, the small stores along the way, and in two or more old stores possibly carved out of WT Grant's. I remember when my sis and I went to Grant's and bought a small globe. This was on a Sunday. Eckerd's is a billing center for HMC and the southeast corridor has Warner Robins Municipal Court and a probation office. A nail place and beauty supply replaced stores near where the old record store and Burton's shoes once thrived. I forgot there was a southeast wing to the mall. It has a few of HMC's storefront facilities.

Were I HMC and if no expansion were already planned for the hospital I'd buy the mall and revamp it. Then I would rent it out. Hospitals likely find themselves hurting to make a profit and though Houston Medical Center doesn't have indigents bleeding them dry it remains a neat idea.

Management needs to market the mall as an office center and fill the hallway with another row of offices. Perhaps they can bulldoze all but the east and west anchors and make a strip mall. Westgate did this but their mistake was remaining commercial in a deteriorating neighborhood.

I heard Jim Marshall this and that today on WDEN and WMAC. I am firing off a letter to Mac Collins' staffer to tell the campaign to hurry up and get some ads on the air yesterday. There is no reason for a last-minute full court press to be delayed. Collins needs to counter the liars lying about his lying and get the word out. The other GOP related groups do much better at putting out the facts on Marshall.

Allen Freeman a shoe-in but....

2006-10-02T13:21:00.000-04:00

Allen Freeman of Georgia House District 140 faces Lauren Benedict in a reelection fight for the state house. Peachpundit.com has more details but it seems that Ms. Benedict has rented a house so she can live in the district. She is reported to be a trial lawyer and a full-blown liberal. Anyone with further skinny on her political leanings and affiliations please post comments here.

As for Mr. Freeman his parents have lived near South Bibb for years. His wife's grandfather fixed the telephones in South Bibb in the earliest days of telephony.

More on Dead Malls

2006-09-29T21:20:00.000-04:00

Hello

Speaking of dead malls we have one in Middle Georgia. Houston Mall in Warner Robins (off Watson Boulevard across from Suntrust) was built in 1972. On the north end was Grant's and Belk's anchored the west end. Sears was on the Watson Boulevard side. In 1994 its anchors left it a nearly empty hulk. Manager Laverne Norris and the owners struggle to keep it alive.
I swung by Houston Mall two days ago. The facility is trying to fill up empty holes but I do not see this as meaningful. I saw a doctor's office, an outpatient annex for the hospital up the road, a Primerica office, a used office furniture dealer, a beauty supply place, a furniture store, a softlines/home decor outlet, and a billing office for the hospital mentioned above. I whirled around back and saw the old Belk's entrance which is the front door for the Air Force Reserve Band's offices.

Last year I saw an Asian-made junk store and an art gallery. At the old Grant's end was a clothing store whose owner is too stubborn to give up. Where the bookstore was at the north court is Municipal Court.

The Telegraph article from July has management gloating at its 85% occupancy. Sad to say but these will not stay for long. The mall's owner is unable to grasp one rule of marketing; have a goal for what you want for your business. He seems to want to fill space with whatever comes his way.

The best that the Houston Mall can hope for is to become an office mall or a government center. Forget about being a power center near a slum area. I would advise ripping down the center section and leaving the old Grant's and the adjacent strips as well as the old Sears building. There is no reason to air-condition five or six people walking around in in thousands of square feet of space in the common area. A patched parking lot looks horrible as does an old road sign that is more of a tombstone.

Belk's is talking with the owners of the Bass Road power center and Dillard's has all but committed itself as an anchor. This will suck Macon Mall dry if both choose to move away. It would make sense as I have heard there is lower occupancy of the mall and people tell each other not to visit MM at night. The ghetto has surrounded almost all of the mall.

More on this and other malls in days to come.

Dead and Dying Malls

2006-09-27T03:27:00.000-04:00

Hello
I've been looking at dead and dying malls on the Web.
Your homework; visit
http://mallsofamerica.blogspot.com/2005/12/macon-mall.html There I have posted words on the Macon Mall and Westgate Mall. Below is a picture of the back end of Westgate dating to 1971

http://www.deadmalls.com
http://georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com
Google for "Dixie Square Mall Harvey Illinois" which is a still-standing dead mall.
Also google for "Houston Mall Warner Robins" and see the Telegraph article

Enjoy while I go to bed.
KT

Dead Malls

2006-09-27T03:12:00.000-04:00

Hello
I have been reading websites about dead malls and dying malls. I will fill you in on this later but here's some homework to do.

Visit the above link as per Macon Mall. I made a comment on this and Westgate Mall. Here is an external, from 1971, of the rear of Westgate.

Also see below:

http://www.deadmalls.com
http://georgiaretailmemories.blogspot.com

Also Google for Dixie Square Mall in Harvey, Illinois. It is a mall in which the car chase in "The Blues Brothers" was filmed. Not to worry; almost all of the mall is still standing. Empty. For over 25 years. Someone has done videos of the abandoned mall.

Finally look for an article on Houston Mall in Warner Robins. Read it then drive by for a few laughs.

We tend to wrinkle our noses at recent history but those who forget the past are condemned to my ire.

Been out for a few days

2006-09-22T10:56:00.000-04:00

Hello
I've been off the blog for a few days. I have been trying a medicine for my sleep issue and the first one I tried made my heart beat too strongly. The next one seems to be causing me to stay in a sleepy state. I just want it to alleviate my issue of falling asleep after work.

I'll give the Strattera another chance before I give up. I like the idea of an SSRI but not if it will make me sleep like a bear- and at the wrong time.

Visit this link; deadmalls.com

What did I do the morning of 9/11/01

2006-09-12T00:47:00.000-04:00

I don't know if I've written down what I did on 9/11/01 but it cannot be too much of a good thing to write it down again. The big thought I had was to make sure our leaders and our country would not pull any punches. We haven't done all we can but we are surely safer.

It was ten minutes after 9 and I was in bed getting ready to go to work. I lay there to get primed for the work day at the computer store. I was listening to WMAC-AM and Kenny Bee told us to stand by for a report on a terrorist attack- or an airplane crash, or both. I wish I had his words written down earlier. I didn't know if it were an airliner or a small craft. I remembered the B-25 that crashed into the Empire State Building during WWII. Reports from ABC initially indicated there was a plane crash. Later it seemed the reports talked of terrorism. I made my way to the store.

Our store was in a bigger facility at Mercer Crossing and I had a back room almost to myself for doing service work. I did almost nothing but service work. We had more manpower back then. We didn't have "same day next day" service yet but I took my job seriously.

I had a television tuned to Fox as we had cable internet run to the store. I got to see the pictures run over and over again of the planes crashing into the towers. I got to see an almost live picture of the towers crash. I say these pictures were almost live because the Fox staff indicated no surprise and said "here's some video of the tower crashing". Later the Pentagon fell prey and a plane crashed in a Pennsylvania field.

News wasn't entirely instantaneous though some live video showed us what was going on. Much of the video was looped and from other sources. Journalists have to confirm and reconfirm their stories before going public. It is still faster than having to wait for days or weeks as many in our nation did after the Declaration was signed.

Only a token few customers came into the store and the phone was relatively quiet. The nation seemed to stop; there was almost no activity in the shopping center. I heard that the Colonial Mall (later called Macon Mall) was evacuated in the wake of a bomb threat. My sister, who travels to many places in her job, called Mom and Dad later that night to tell us everyone was doing fine and that people were sent home from work due to having nothing to do.

I had heard stories of Pearl Harbor and the Kennedy Assasination. I wondered if we in our dumbed-down generation would trivialize this event and worse, insist on political correctness and forget what kind of stuff we as Americans were and are supposed to be.

I would be more infuriated with American attitudes than our goverment if nobody did anything about the terrorists. The generation after ours knew less about history or government and fell prey to the media and those who want to throw oru nation's principles out the window. I think the new adults very well have a chance to redeem themselves.

Been out due to boss' baby

2006-09-09T23:26:00.000-04:00

Hello
I've been out because of my boss' wife giving birth but my mind has still been active.

I updated the Nike Hercules page at http://home.earthlink.net/~kturnerga/robinsnike. I am too cheap to buy a domain name so this long-drawn-out URL will have to do. Someone from the Byron Area Historical Society sent a picture of a sign that adorned the Byron Nike Hercules Base in the Sixties. The present property is now a restaurant fixture business and a pyrotechnics facility. Hopefully I can jazz up the web page to make it a showpiece but I am learning more about networking and not so much about web authoring.

The mayor of Macon wants nobody but his spokesperson, Ron Wildman, to respond to any press inquiries. Likely the public safety staff will be able to answer questions on events dealing in breaches of safety but everything else is under Mayor Ellis' lid. It's that simple: we in unincorporated Bibb must consolidate or break off ties with the City of Macon. The big fear is taking on the city's debt and having North and South Bibb become rich uncle to the rest of the county.

Now I did finally get the General Tso's brakes to behave. Or Kubia's Auto Center did. I got the rear brake shoes replaced a few months ago but the brakes were still spongy. I tried bleeding them with the 5.00 gizmo that allows one person to bleed them. I did more harm than good and there was air in the line. Next I propped the pedal with a sawn board and bled the lines in the back. I saw improved results but was not happy. The rear brakes were adjusted at Kubia's. At first the brakes would intermittently require me to hit metal to get to a complete stop at slow speeds. I tried backing up and hitting the brakes several times and voila they work fine.

The next task on the General is to change the oil and shampoo the rug on the driver's side. It still smells of manure when I first start it and the blower kicks in. I will insert some room deodorizer pads in an attempt to alleviate the smell. Should this fail I want to get a Haynes book and go further into the blower intake to make the machine smell better.

We have two window air conditioners in the living room. The big A/C (13000BTU) died so my uncle had one A/C that he didn't need. He and my sister bought another one. Each unit is 5000BTU and 8000BTU respectively. As the big A/C window unit is under warranty we will actually gain two instead of losing one A/C. I just wish that years ago the family had acquired high-velocity ducting and central air. This is if we had known that six window A/C's were to cool 1500 SQFT of space. Some of the units are unused but most tick along all the time. I may be wrong about the square feet of house; I will check with the Board of Tax Assessor's web site (so I read the headlines on Macon-Bibb's BOTA; big deal!).

I have lost a little weight just from judging by the girth I have. Some Tommy Hilfiger pants I got for a song and a dance manage to fit. My belly protrudes less. I attribute this to a small breakfast every morning and sometimes missing a meal. It wreaks havoc with my mood and my sleep cycle is going to pot. I wake up still sleepy at 9:15 and have a small snack. At 3:00 I have lunch and at 8:00 or 9:00 I take a nap. I wake up come 12:00 and shortly thereafter I will have dinner.

I am not getting richer nor am I doing a good job search to build up my piggy bank. I sleep and do a little playing and lots of housework. I want to take Brainbench's Windows 2003 Server exam (free) come October. I don't care if I am seeking a non-computer related career; I want to stay on track and do something with my life.

Dad is getting better and is doing more around the house thank goodness. His sleep cycle is slowly improving. Everyone's thoughts and prayers have been greatly appreciated.

South Bibb Development near Hartley Bridge

2006-08-14T22:00:00.000-04:00

08/14/06

I read about a Moon Properties development at Hartley Bridge Road and Interstate 75. I praise this form of growth for South Bibb. The houses coming after the commercialization phase include multiple-family structures. If there are any houses built they must be middle-to-upper market. We do not need cheap rental property this close to Crawford and Peach Counties. With the ghetto being a few miles up Interstate 75 we most definitely need Moon's development to be relatively upscale- not snooty but upscale. This is being billed as an alternative to living in Atlanta. Of course we do need the jobs and decent schools to draw in people.

I am very excited with what I see going on in the next few years. Moon, according to the Telegraph, mentions a theater, elementary school, home improvement place, and supermarket.

Just think; when I grew up (an example; 1973)we had to travel to Rocky Creek Road to go to a real grocery store. Back then we had two superettes (Bryant's and the Red and White), one pharmacist (McCook's), four convenience stores, a few smaller country stores, a handful of churches, six full-fledged service stations (most on the Interstate), a few smaller "filling" stations, and two restaurants (Stuckey's and Shane's).

This development means a big push to get more goodies. Who knows; a tire store, a lube shop, more major fast-food outlets (A Hardee's I hope)and a multitude of doctor's offices. I really do not think a Wal-Mart is needed in our community for the next ten years at the earliest.

KAT

City phone bill being paid?

2006-08-14T21:49:00.000-04:00

08/14/06

Question:
Is it true that the City of Macon has not been paying its telephone bills and that some of the phone numbers are dead?

Carelessness, neglect, and even worse can kill

2006-08-14T00:20:00.000-04:00

http://www.wmaz.com/news/local_headlines.aspx?storyid=28777 details a woman who is smoking in bed- and she is on oxygen, by the way- and causes a fatal fire.

What part of "Oxygen: No Smoking Within 50 Feet" do some of us not understand?

General Tso actually gets brakes fixed

2006-08-06T14:51:00.000-04:00

08/06/06

The General Tso got its brakes fixed. Yes, it does need its rotors ground but for 280.00 that can wait. The danger aspect of the brakes is gone thanks to the Mad Machinist. I had replaced the front pads but the rear shoes needed replacement. Try this; take a glass jar and rotate it as you would when taking off the lid. Put your thumb on the inside of the jar and force the twirling to stop. This is how brake shoes work on a drum on the rear of a car.

Of course it isn't that simple due to the springs and brake adjustment screw so I took it to the Mad Machinist. Yes there is lots of travel space on the pedal but much of that is normal. I do have to finish with the smell issue and the fuel feed being stubborn but these aren't that critical. Nor is having to feed the thing a quart of oil once every few weeks. A head job is more costly than feeding it oil until it smokes all the time.

I read about Leslie Elliot, who I grew up with. She worked in advertising- like I wanted to. I was an intern for her back in college. But she now has chosen to teach for Heard Elementary. Leslie is going to hang an angel in her room just as her deceased mother, Marian Hamlin, did when she taught a previous generation at Heard.

I do have one question; when is the ACLU going to yank out the angel due to church-state separation issues? Oh and one more question; why are so many promising people like Leslie and myself, when leaving college, forced to teach school, work for the federal government, do telephone insurance sales, or work in health care? This is what is happening in the Macon area. My family needs me here but I can't move forward in my career as long as I'm in Macon or the surrounding area.

I do have a plea for everyone while on the subject; vote for Allen Peake if he is running in your district. I trust a businessman over a lawyer who's father was just another politician at the State House. Read the Peach Pundit. Stebin's father gave to a Democratic candidate this year. So much for his dad being a closet Republican.

Stebin at one time refused to restrict the mayor's powers. I do not know what the issue was but it was in 2005. Someone please clue us in on this before we vote this Tuesday.

Finally, vote for Karen Handel and vote for Black in the runoff.

KAT

General Tso's Rug Gets Shampooed

2006-07-24T17:20:00.000-04:00

07/24/06

I took out the passenger's seat on the General Tso as I figured this would most effectively let me clean the carpet. I shampooed and brushed the carpet and front and rear mats. I vacuumed the rug after it dried. The seat was shampooed, brushed,and vacuumed too.

Of course the hardest part was aligning the screw holes with the holes on the seat. The left front screw hole had been stripped by the time I got through. Saturday night I tried to screw the seat in and got really angry. I tried to pry, curse, and sweat through the ordeal.

Then Dad checked his blood pressure and found it to be 205/??. We then called 911 and an ambulance came. The paramedic and EMT examined him and found him to be fit despite his having the jitters. We thought it best to have him go to the ER.

KAT

Blackballed and a Clarification

2006-07-22T11:28:00.000-04:00

Hi!
I got blackballed today!
I posted a comment on a blog about the blogger administrator's opinion on Bibb's public schools. I told him his attitude towards supporting the schools was akin to the Alan Jackson song (lyrics if nothing else), "Prop me up 'side the jukebox when I die". He was in effect propping up dead schools. I then admonished him to think of his kids rather than the institution of public education. I capped it off by referring to the "dog excrement" sending their kids to school as being the big reason Bibb schools stink.

We do have bureaucrats and top-down management wreaking havoc on our schools. Not that they were perfect. My dad used to say that any white Chevrolet truck with a work body going somewhere slowly was a Bibb BOE truck. My mom said it took two people from BOE headquarters to run around a classroom with a Flit can to kill bugs.

If I stepped on the administrator's toes I must apologize but not because I was wrong.

KAT

Mayor Cialis tells MHA board to resign

2006-07-21T13:27:00.000-04:00

Hello
Mayor Ellis today told the Macon Housing Authority's board to resign. This request is in light of a federal report detailing improper spending.

So I wonder who among the mayor's friends frittered away the housing funds? I'm waiting for the MHA's members and Mr. Hiscox to tell us their side.

KAT

General Tso gets new brakes for real

2006-07-12T23:13:00.000-04:00

07/12/06
I went to put in a new network card for a friend but the card didn't work. I had bought a card to install in her computer but I couldn't find it. I saw her new dog; it is sooo cute. It's an 8 month-old dachsund.

I went to get my hair cut and finally found a place after three tries. I cannot believe how poorly staffed some salons are! In Warner Robins I went to the second-hand office furniture store. They had some nice office chairs and a few tables but oddly enough the tables, as simple as they were, cost 99.00. I need a smaller table for the sewing room as well as a flippable ironing board.

Next I went to Home Decor. It is one of few businesses that keep the lights on at the Houston Mall. I would advise bulldozing all but the anchor stores and outparcels, putting the bricks and other items for sale on Ebay as keepsakes, and building a strip. This would entail a bit of capital though and I am sure the property makes a nice tax write-off.

At Home Decor I found $4.00 bath towels, some nice mats, and a sheet set for 13.00. I could go nuts with my money in that store. I also found old store racks and fire extinguishers from Wal-Mart. I might partake in one of the extinguishers for the house. I saw some hanging torso squares with female breasts along with some store mannequins.

I slept then changed the brake pads on the General Tso. I put a new retainer clip on the left side and compressed the piston with a C-clamp and a chisel laid flat. Even with this I had to do some tapping to slide the caliper on. I am sure a pro would not have to resort to tapping to force a caliper onto the rotor. I hate travel space and feeling a thunk when I brake slowly and hard. Possibly this is normal operation but I did see less of this happen thanks to the new pads.

I got Dad his medicine to calm him down and allow him to sleep.

The Dang Thing Works After All

2006-07-12T16:12:00.000-04:00

Hello
I asked the local ambulance service about problems transmitting my dad's 12-lead EKG to the hospital.

It turns out the ambulance crew did get a link up to the hospital. I stand corrected. For those who don't have 12-lead EKG in your ambulances I advise it since a cardiologist, in some instances, can read your EKG on a Blackberry or other PDA even if you collapse near a turnip field. Automatic defibrillation should be in every place visited by tons of people along with staffers trained to use it.

Robins AFB Strippers get automated

2006-07-09T15:54:00.000-04:00

Hi!
On CNET's news page I saw a C-130 getting its paint stripped (Photo via CNET). An automatic machine cuts five days off the task of stripping the birds. The article did not mention Robins AFB by name but likely that is where the robot cranes work. NIST, a government agency, developed the Robo-Crane technology which includes an AMP (Aerial Multi-Axis Platform adapted for stripping. The operator is safely enclosed in a compartment. Previous painters had to don suits and deal with hazardous toxins. NIST's web page reports that two production units are being installed at Robins.

It's good to see Robins (if not by name) make it onto front-page geek news.
KAT

Telegraph endorses Stebin, Ellis faves

2006-07-06T23:53:00.000-04:00

07/06/06
Dad is doing fine; just hates being hogtied to a hospital bed by his condition.

I read the Telegraph's endorsements for City Council and State House 137. Some of the nominations make sense but I dislike something about Nancy White and Cynthia Knight, two candidates endorsed by Mayor C. Jack Ellis. Something must be cooking for Ellis to endorse these two.

I also refuse to comprehend how the Telegraph, given Becky Burgess and Allen Peake's reform attitudes, can endorse Stebin Horne. Actually I can; Stebin "kills" more babies than the leading candidate (booming tv ad voice). He is lenient on abortions compared to Allen Peake as per a pro-life group's survey. The Telegraph liberals ate this up.

My support is going with Allen Peake. The Mercer University School of Law has been a staffing firm for the Georgia House way too long. Not that we have had bad lawyers in there at all; Floyd Buford did a reasonable job and so have a token few others.

Becky Burgess has largely been working at Mercer since she received her law degree from there. She is the third banana of somethingorother at the Medical School. She wants to freeze property taxes prior to the sale of property. This means municipalities lose a windfall from companies who reform blighted property. So the knife cuts both ways. Becky also wants to consolidate Macon and Bibb so property owners outside the city limits won't be the rich uncle to the decaying city. I don't see how planning a consolidated government is in her hands; local leaders will have to concoct a charter.

The Peach Pundit says Stebin's mom handed out campaign buttons in one of the classes she was teaching.

As for Dale Washburn the citizens of Jones County weren't totally happy with him when he was their County Commissioner. He could be tempremental with Jones residents although there was the "free lunch" crowd of Macon refugees who have since become more bourgeois. At my store back in the Eighties one lady who had trouble getting a road paved advised her friends weres going to hold a motorcade protest on "Dale Washboard Road." His base, according to the PP, is largely confined to realtors.

Also I have a homework assignment for the readers! I remember Stebin Horne last year was reluctant to restrict the mayor's powers at one point because he disliked being too restrictive on the office of the mayor. This was on a certain issue which escapes me. Clue me in, please. I know Stebin did propose limiting the mayor's power on another issue to be frank with everyone.

Prediction; Aaron Bowers and possibly Cynthia Knight get on Council. And it's a runoff between Allen Peake and Becky Burgess. Becky advertises with the right words and Allen Peake appeals to the average person for what he's not- a lobbyist or lawyer. Anyone who runs restaurants and is a CPA earns their money and then some. If you don't think the restaurant business is hard just try my biscuits- with a good set of dentures.

KAT

Dad's brush with death

2006-07-06T01:00:00.000-04:00

Early Thursday, July 6, 2006
Hello
This early Monday morning on July 2 my dad had his defibrillator go off 15x at our house at 1:45 or so in the morning. I was night fishing and returned home to see a red light flashing in my room's window. I knew there were no red lights on our house. I drove up and saw an ambulance. I slid beside it and saw my uncle there. He said Dad had his device go off 15 times and that he almost carried him to the ER. Mom fortunately dialed 911 and had an ambulance and fire engine en route. The medics called in to the Chest Pain Center and tried to transmit a 12-lead EKG but the transmission failed. One medic told me a cell phone was connected to a fax machine on the unit. I read about these units in a news story.

Dad was conscious the whole time and Mom said he told her he wasn't going to make it. I felt a combination of shock and sickness despite knowing about the pessimism Dad always feels. He had seen this and that relative die in the past few years and his sister died as a teenager. I felt guilty. I wondered if I was spending too much time on the computer, too much time playing with my airchecks, too much time hitting the singles web sites, or too much time sleeping. I come home tired from work partly from being upset at what is going on at home and what is going on at work.

I wheeled Mom in her borrowed wheelchair to the ER's front entrance as there was nobody to watch her at the front entrance. I went out the McDonald's door, to the ER's entrance, and then got a ride with a hospital cop. I drove up to the ER and took Mom home. Now I did break a rule; never let the gas go below 1/4 of a tank. We luckily made it to a station and gassed up. I had intended to go to work in the Honda but that was before I was greeted with the ambulance in the driveway.

Monday evening I visited Dad in the CVICU (Cardiovascular ICU). After work and eating at the McDonald's (cafeteria was closed) I went to the 2nd Floor CVICU (Cardiovascular ICU) where Dad was housed. Two of my sisters were in the waiting room. One was knitting. It was cold and they were covered in thin blankets. The hospital does visiting hours at the CVICU in 90 minute blocks. My middle sister came too.

Tuesday I cut grass and one sister helped with cutting what I missed. We watered the tomatoes and before long we felt we should rest before we both wound up in the ER ourselves. I rested and went up to the hospital.

Wednesday around 8 AM we took Mom up to the CVICU waiting room. Ms. D took us to the Heart Lab on the 2nd Floor. We waited for the ablation procedure on Dad's heart nodes to be finished. This would cause sections of the heart to not generate improper impulses to make the heart beat in V-tach. It was around 12:30 when this happened. I found out later when they withdrew Dad from the Lidocaine his machine zapped him 30 times until he was manually converted. Thus they were early with the procedure. The doctor did two of the nodes and had to let a third, slightly less serious node, be managed by medication. We saw Dad at the CVICU where he was returned.

We were tired and went to the Cracker Barrel to eat as one of us stayed behind with Dad. I had a large coffee and biscuit for breakfast so I was half-tired, half-tense. The service was horrible at the Eisenhower Parkway Cracker Barrel. It needed to be bulldozed and most of the staff machine-gunned as they ran from the falling ruins.

There was some loud two-year-old behind us screaming bloody murder. I almost told them to shut up. I got some rest then my uncle brought some stew and cornbread. I ate some chicken he brought two days ago and went to see Daddy. The nurse told us what went on with Daddy and the background behind the procedure. Dad seemed less groggy thank goodness.

I told him every night he was there I loved him as I left. I felt better about myself when doing this though we as a family don't get too sentimental with each other as a rule.

I dropped by Wal-Mart around 11:00 and got some supplies. I got small Diet Cokes so Dad would have it by Mom's bedside at all times and wouldn't have to deal with the big bottles.
I left and went to Wal-Mart to pick up some supplies along with Sean Hannity's book, "Deliver Us From Evil" as it was on sale.

General Tso Brake Secrets and Flomax

2006-07-01T04:47:00.000-04:00

07/01/06

Thursday I tried to put brake pads on the General Tso. I had pages printed from the Honda manual I downloaded which told me how to do the pads. Of course on part of another page I didn't have it advised me to move the piston. Thus when I had the 3/4 in pad and backings on each side of the rotors I was unable to get the piston (looks like a pipe) to fit around the pads. Another web site told me to remove the cap from the brake fluid.

I got a C-Clamp yesterday from Big Lots. It may not be big enough. I also need Honda-type brake fluid. The DOT3 probably isn't to specifications. I would have done the brakes last night but didn't feel like it. I am on Flomax nightly. I have considered a multivitamin 2x per day.

The Flomax may be doing odd things to my appetite and I am writing this at 15 minutes until 5AM. I got up at 1:30 and had two hot dogs and soup. I notice that even when awake at work I get dyslexic with my typing and I think it might be spilling over into my writing. I may see my general practitioner about my depressed state if things do not get better. There is a new medication out but it costs an arm and a leg. I may ask him about a few medications I have on a list underneath the mirror in my room.

General Tso gets new tire and brakes fixed

2006-06-26T22:39:00.000-04:00

6/26/06
I took the General Tso to get the passenger's front tire replaced with a used tire at Economy Tire on Third Street. It cost around 28.00. I also purchased from Pep Boys 30.00 worth of brake pads and the adhesive and cleaner I would need to effect the repair. The car drives better. Of course this weekend it rained, even heavily sometimes. This put a damper on all but indoor work.

Speaking of the General Tso I got "The Damn Show" DVD off Ebay. It has too much of the male reproductive system and too little in the way of creativity but there were some moments- such as Willie the bum and "The Gooks of Hazzard" -that were so funny.

Monday (today) I went to the urologist. He gave me some medication to take for a month and then I would report back to him. I saw Denise's mom as I swung by the cafeteria after seeing the urologist in Coliseum Medical Center's C building . I didn't tell her who I was so she might think I'm a fruitcake stalker since I asked about Denise. She works at the hospital's front desk.

I went to the computer show in Perry this Sunday. I bought a 256mb memory wafer, some DVD blanks for 10.00, CD cases, a whole-band FM transmitter for the MP3 player, and CD sleeves for the store. Then I went home, played with my PC a little while, and took Donna to a movie. She apologized for telling me about a job opening on base; it seems she is liking her job less and less. Donna's been there for almost twenty years so she can't really jump into the private sector and lose her retirement benefits.

I have been uptight on the job and coming home tired. More and more I am getting tired. I have been doing more job searching. I have had a tense stomach this week; a few times I could take a dump on a screen door and not hit the wire for the most part. I have taken stock of my life and my attitude towards people and life in general; I don't like the way I feel. I feel so negative and unhappy.

I'll try this; I'll love people and stop myself when I think negative thoughts about them.

Denny's and Oversleep

2006-06-12T12:30:00.000-04:00

I had a frustrating day at work on Saturday so I went to sleep. I got up, jumped in the Honda, and went to Denny's in Byron.

For those who don't know, Denny's in Byron started out in the late Eighties as a Shoney's. When Shoney's left most of Middle Georgia the facility became a Denny's. A few years ago it suffered from bad service and lukewarm coffee (Millstone tastes a bit like wee tee anyway). People had to wait at the front for minutes to get seated.

I was the last customer in all likelihood come the night Denny's closed. I heard the manager on duty say that afternoon they waved off someone coming to close the restaurant because of a lack of a court order. The next day I went by and found the place closed.

Today the facility is still a 4500 ft2 behemoth compared to the smaller Denny's such as the Locust Grove store. That means a bigger light bill and lots of rent to be recouped for a 24-hour operation.

Having said that the service needs improvement. I had to wait 15 or so minutes for my food despite there only being 7 other customers there at 11PM. My lukewarm wee-tee did not get refilled promptly. I thought to myself that the labor pool must be from Peach and Crawford counties (can we say redneck?).

I may not go back to Denny's; then again it may be closed down again by the time I change my mind.

General Tso gets new fan

2006-06-10T00:53:00.000-04:00

Hello
I got the condenser fan for the Honda (General Tso). It was a used Acura fan which I had to remove from its mount and put onto the old shroud for the Honda. I installed it and works fine.

I am concerned about the brakes on the General. When I put on brakes I find they shake when doing all but sudden braking. I looked at the pads; they have 1/8 in left on them. Honda's service manual says .05 of an inch is serviceable (huh?). I priced some basic metallic pads at 20.00. Hopefully the debacle with the Corsica won't repeat itself (in which I could not get the wheel nuts off as they disintegrated when I used a non-metric wrench). I may just take it to my machinist and let him turn the rotors; they are ribbed for my displeasure. He can then do the pads. Then again 20.00 is so attractive for a car that will last a year or two.

Driving an Explorer makes for a heavy foot on the General. I wasn't doing that great with being attentive to the road so I had to hit the brakes hard at least twice. Needless to say I must be careful. I will say this; the General Tso is in for an oil change. I have the filter to do it with too.

My tooth still hurts upon waking but not to worry; Dr. Arnold the endodontist will have a whack at it come two Wednesdays from now. If he had looked at it to start with I would have had a happy tooth this January but the rear-view mirror offers the clearest view of events. I don't fault my dentist for trying but I would have given him three strikes if I weren't so nice.

I am still debating my educational options. I will likely get my Microsoft certs out of the way and learn MS Exchange Server. Of course I need to memorize my processors and sockets. Today I wasn't sure if one DDR2 stick were needed in a system.

The Letters to the Editor have come to a trickle since I've come home tired. When in good spirits I've been doing housework, chatting online, and making DVD's to play at work when time runs slowly. Tomorrow I don't expect too much slowness. I have a screen to change out for Wood Floor Man and a thorny reload that needs to go out at 2:00 for Ms. Nutty Professor. Thus I'll just bring the MP3 player.

I charged up the NiMH battery but it only lists a half-charge on the MP3's LCD. So I have another one charging; big deal. I did hear a WABC Rewound aircheck with a pretty mellow and happy 1973 song George Harrison did. It was one of those Peace and Love gooey things. The song stuck in my mind because even if he were speaking Greek the vocals and instrumentals sounded good. Agreed, George, but I'm still glad Zarqawi is room temperature.

Pat Topping Dances a Jig thanks to Uncle Sam

2006-06-05T01:35:00.000-04:00

Hello

The 6/4 Telegraph tells us there is a rosy scenario for jobs in Middle Georgia. Robins AFB will have a slew of retirees very soon and Pat Topping of the Chamber of Commerce says it is worth several "Brown and Williamsons" in the number of jobs created by attrition.

Once again we see how this town relies too much on Robins AFB. What I would have done had I been Mr. Topping is to say, "Good but not great." We are relying on the federal government to prop up this rotting town and sluggish midstate as we have been for sixty years.

I remember a BRAC-related meeting in which George Israel said that people in the old days felt "to get on (get a job) at the base is to have arrived" Yes- arrived at a potential salary and workplace booby-trap.

Firstly, Robins AFB isn't quite likely to close. It may cut back some aspects but not close. Sadly jobs outside of Robins AFB are scarcer and scarcer. That is, unless you love working retail and getting yelled at on a daily basis as you have coworkers lacking your work ethic. Unfortunately the Greater Macon Chamber of Commerce is too lazy to get white-collar jobs into the midstate, let alone skilled blue-collar employment.

Here's how the "base" will be a lower-paid hell in which to work. With workers unable to find alternate employment and the prevailing local wage being lowered, Robins AFB's supervisors can treat workers like a dog and pay what they wish. And not always is the laggard working next to you going to get disciplined.

Just try to get a job at Robins AFB. It's who you know not what you know or can do. A Wal-Mart manager, when I put that down on a psychology exam when applying there, wondered if I ad worked at Robins. I am not jealous of Robins AFB's workers or their jobs. I know several people who prefer private enterprise and its more direct, if still flawed, results-oriented microeconomy.

I don't want to ruin a good Letter to the Editor so I'm shutting up.

The Air Compressor PT 3 and General Tso

2006-05-31T23:50:00.000-04:00

5/31/06

I'm hoping this June will mean working harder, having more fun, and sleeping less. I need to stop doing nonsense projects such as the media machine I am building and do more house-related work that needs to be done. I also need to enhance my career. All I do it seems is to come home from work tired. I am also afraid I make impulsive and rash decisions a little too much.

On Sunday I slept late and woke up just in time to see Donna. We went out to see X-Men 3 at the Galleria in Warner Robins and ate at the Cracker Barrel. At her house we sat and watched "Flip This House" in which Ginger bought properties more rotten and moldy than the chicken in my broken down fridge (another subject of this blog).

On Memorial Day I taped WABC's interned feed of its Rewound 2006 show. Johnny Donovan, who does voice-overs for Rush Limbaugh, was an air personality at WABC. Look up Musicradio77.com. WABC was to pop music what WSM was to country. I used a VCR and its audio-in jack to tape 2 hour segments of the show. Unfortunately the only VCR I had that lacked wow and flutter was an anti-theft VCR that only recorded 2, 12, and 24-hour segments (it was a time delay unit a motorcycle dealer threw out).

I ate with my mom and dad at home. We had grilled hamburgers and hot dogs. Sadly the refrigerator let the food get just as warm as the grill did. After I sunk 40.00 into a freezer fan several months ago it had to do this to me. I slept and had dinner with Mom and Dad at the Cracker Barrel. I picked out a fridge, got the model number (a white Frigidaire) and told Dad about it.

Tuesday was a normal day at work and it was relatively slow so I got a peek at some DVD movies on my laptop. I went home and rested. Afterwards I took most of the fridge's contents, put some in a cooler, and soe in a milk crate. I put what needed cooling- even what little the fridge afforded us- inside. The cooler and crate allow Dad and I to yank out everything come delivery day, which is June 1 (Thurs).

Today (Wed) I slept then went to Po Folks. The service seems to be deteriorating but the food is at least unchanged. I went home, played with my media machine computer, and went to Hillsboro Lake. I took my dad's Honda which is now a secondary car. I want to use it to save gas and to keep the car in running condition. I call it the General Tso. The reason for this name is that some Athens comedians did a "The Damn Show" DVD. Therein is a sketch in which "The Gooks of Hazzard" drive a Celica with a Japanese flag and 01 written in a Chinese font. They call it the "General Tso" and can run away from the sheriff as they have better gas mileage.

The lake is on the Jones/Jasper line and was drained a few years ago. The campsites were taken down by the US Forest Service and there are red flags within 12 feet of the lake's former rim. The beavers have tried to dam the lake so there is standing water. I ate some chicken I bought in Gray and walked around. I still have a little stamina left.

I am almost finished with my air compressor but it won't get above 40 PSI. I need compression washers that don't leak as badly.

2006-05-31T00:28:00.000-04:00

Mayor Cialis and his friends want to save Macon

In this Lorra Lypstick story Mayor Ellis outlined a few items to be dealt with at the Community Leadership Summit at the Douglass Theater. These included public safety, education and teen pregnancy. The mayor said our infrastructure and worker skills were up to snuff. He said there is much work to do to get Macon into the 21st Century.

I don't like to get personal with politicians but last year didn't someone get sued for child support that fit the name and description of the mayor? What message is this to send to our kids? How about showing up with liquor on your breath at a City Council meeting?

Education can't get far when the parents of Rutland High School students use filthy language at school officials who discipline their kids. I live in RHS's area and cannot believe these parents are of the same stock that have anchored this community. The point is that parents are the bulk of the problems we face with our schools in Bibb. There has been crass ineptitude exhibited by the Bibb County Board of Education for years and having crud for parents only added fuel to the fire.

And whom has sent good garbage trucks to Ghana and traveled there on our dime? Small wonder we can't buy decent fire engines and police cars. Not that all of this is the mayor's fault; it is natural that people in Macon have moved further and further outwards with their tax dollars. Macon's City Council let the mayor get away with overspending. They also managed to have a hotel built in the Coliseum parking lot. Yet everyone knows what has happened in the Finance Department.

Someone needs to press for consolidation- and only if the chief law enforcer is elected. We must also take over our schools and deal with unruly kids. Sharon Patterson has done what she can with whomever and whatever she has to deal with. Our local government needs to not sacrifice public safety to charities, festivals, and a wealthy hospital. We need to fix our infrastructure. Let's try not to destroy our neighborhoods but don't sacrifice safety (eg. Interstate 16 and 75 Project) to the environmentalists. If we have to move Interstate 16 to the foot of Eisenhower Parkway let's do it.

KAT

2006-05-24T11:46:00.000-04:00

Hello
Sheriff Jerry Modena, according to the 5/24 Telegraph, mentioned litigation against the Bibb County Commission for failing to give him money to buy adequate equipment and manpower. I cannot vouch for the legality of this though the sheriff's PIO, CPT David Davis, advised the law required the Commission adequately fund the BSO.

Joe Allen, commissioner for West Bibb, held up one finger according to a 5/23 Telegraph article. This meant the sheriff should cut his budget by one million dollars. Guess where we can get close to 975,000.00.

Who's the richest, most spoiled payee for county taxes? You guessed it; The Medical Center. They want 975,000.00 more for indigent care- never mind that they are a non-profit hospital that is supposed to sustain itself. Of course substaining itself is not having Carlyle Place and a doctor's office on every corner. MCCG let its Level One trauma center designation go down the drain for lack of money and they won't put a heliport up on their roof because of the sign proclaiming themselves as the king's castle (or Faulk's castle).

Jerry Modena, in short, is getting Faulked. Big time. The county should cut MCCG and the museums and recreational leagues in order to take care of priority one- protecting its citizens.

KAT

2006-05-14T16:59:00.000-04:00

5/14/06 Pictures
One is of me in my protective gear prior to the last two sprays on the tank and frame. It isn't
NIOSH approved but it'll do for my purposes. The thing on my head is a Wal-Mart or Lowe's sack to keep my remaining hair from becoming red- and sticky.

The other is of the unit before its receiving the pump module. The coverings are for masking the wheels, regulator, and electrical hookups.

The other is of Sam the fluffy yellow cat. He needs to groom himself better but I help out with this when I can.
I fixed the battery door on the Photosmart 320 by taking a thumbscrew and cutting a hole in a 3.5 inch drive bay cover. It isn't tight so I may get a 1/16" thick metal tab and drill a hole for the thumbscrew. It seems the cameras, as good as they were, had the battery door tabs fracture off. You can find bunches of them like this on Ebay.

I had an enjoyable Mother's Day. Two of my sisters and my uncle came. I gave Mom a speakerphone. She needed a phone with a small handset to grip with her crippled hands. We had grilled hot dogs and hamburgers. Sadly they had gotten a little cold when removed from the grill but I loved them, especially the zingy flavorful hot dogs. We had mixed fruit and Vanilla pound cake for dessert.

2006-05-13T03:20:00.000-04:00

Hello
5/3/06
Air compressor, part II

A few weeks ago I assembled the air compressor on a bench with the motor and belt. I connected a two-conductor power cord and though it spat oil the device functioned fine. The next step was to take the board on which the apparatus lay and put it onto the frame.

I connected the 300PSI orange hose I got from Lowe's and powered the unit up. It did fine though once it reached 60PSI the machine's shaft and clutch assembly separated and the pulley span freely. I drilled a hole in the pulley and shaft assembly and inserted a 1/4 inch bolt. I tried the compressor again but it had trouble attaining 80PSI.

I at first thought the compressor itself was broken. I disassembled the head from the body and examined it. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. That was my mistake. I had damaged the gasket. I took some silicone gasket sealant (comes in a tube for 4.00 or so) and did a half-hearted job of replicating the gasket according to the smudge pattern left after I cleaned the surface.

I then put the compressor onto the belt and bolted it to the frame. There was air coming out of the intake after powering on the unit. Also my coupling to the discharge hose needed tightening and a little teflon tape.
I was about to give up and went to an auto parts store and purchased some paper gasket material.

I decided to be a fair man and give the device one more chance. I did a much better job of placing the sealant onto the head and let it dry for a day or two as it was loosely nested upon the body of the compressor. The screws were tightened and I turned the machine on. It hit 80PSI though the unit's 1HP motor shuddered.

Of course all the compression is for naught if the tank leaks into the compressor and the still-loose fittings. The next step is a check valve. I tried the one that came with the Campbell-Hausfeld unit but it didn't seem to turn loose when air came from the compressor. It also warrants another chance. A visit to Tractor Supply turned up a check valve with a 25.00 price tag. The valve was too large. Prices on the Internet are much better.

I found a link to a stationary version of my unit. Click on http://home.san.rr.com/jerryswartz/AirCompressor/HomeBuiltAirCompressor.htm .

Darnit I wish I had tallied the costs of materials before I embarked on this project. I also wish that I had tried the sealant on the Campbell-Hausfeld pump/motor but I was in the "cut my losses" mood and subjected the unit to the trash way too soon. Next time I will leave the parts lay for a few days as my frustration bubbles away.

2006-04-15T02:35:00.000-04:00

Hello
I'm going to come off the soapbox and wander into my workshop. I really have other things supposedly more
important to do but this home project isn't without value.

Last fall my air compressor died. It was a 20 gallon, belt-driven unit with a one-piston pump and a 1hp motor. I bought it out of a surplus yard and paid 100.00 for it. This was in 1998. Of course air compressors have gone down in price.

I hated the idea of spending so much money. I also had a 13 gallon air brake tank someone gave my dad for use as an air tank. This translated into trips to the gas station for air as it leaked slowly. I dreamed for years of having an air compressor to inflate tires and perhaps operate air sprayers and other tools.

For 50.00 I could get an air pump and motor off Ebay. So all I had to do is buy a regulator and the framework and piping would not cost much. So I thought. I sanded the tank and flushed trash from it. Paint remover and a RotoZip's sander attachment took most of the tank down to bare metal. I had to use Liquid Wrench and elbow grease to pull out the plugs inserted over 30 years ago.

My secret to painting it was to hang it like an animal being skinned. I painted the tank with primer and two coats of paint. I painted it red since I had that color available. I had fixed the PowerPainter so I was in good shape for doing this quickly.

I almost had the compressor ready when I found a leak in the gasket of the pump. I was dumb enough to pull the piston out of the channel rather than remove the arm from the rocker. Thus I ruined the piston gasket. By this time I decided on either a new compressor or a belt-driven pump.

I saw several candidates for the pump on Ebay but they were either too costly or required a 5hp motor. New compressors ran 130.00 for units that would run my paint sprayer (yes I know about the Power Painter; I already had a spray gun). So I referred back to a Mother Earth News article from 1978 that the magazine graciously archived on their web site. I also read some web sites about off-road vehicle air compressors tethered to the drive belts on off-road trucks.

The heart of these units is a York vehicle air conditioner compressor. Ford and Chrysler used these in the Sixties and Seventies for vehicle air conditioners. Gas- be it air or Freon- must be compressed to achieve its function. In air conditioners it is to create a cool coil for a fan to blow cool air. I found a York-type compressor from a late-Sixties model Mustang on Ebay. It was from somebody in Georgia so shipping wasn't too hideously expensive.

There are two caveats to using such units. One is to have the clutch engaged at all times. Off-roaders have electrical connnections engage the clutch as if the air conditioning compressor were still compressing refrigerant. Another issue, especially important for painters, concerns lubrication. You can fill the compressor with 30W oil up to the shaft but some oil will emerge from the discharge.

I dealt with the clutch first. The clutch would have to be welded onto the pulley. With cast iron this is easier said than done. My machinist, a customer at my store, proposed another idea. He had milling equipment to take the lip of the shaft on the clutch assembly down to where no air gap existed between pulley and shaft. Visualize this; the clutch assembly has a shaft onto which the pulley slides and engages if there is electrical activity to grab the shaft. This slides onto a beveled shaft running the pistons on the compressor.

This wouldn't happen because the electrical connectors on the clutch were gone. So the machinist lathed the lip down to where tightening the clutch shaft onto the beveled inner shaft would eliminate movement. He said for me to try it out.

I went home that night and tried it. Voila! I turned the pulley and air came out. I had to modify my frame to hold the belt-driven assembly. The previous pump was a small motor and piston that lay at a slant. So I had to rebuild the frame. I had to drill- using a 1966 vintage drill- some large holes in an axle holders I fashioned. I need to make a few minor adjustments, find the axle I lost in the shop, and put the motor and compressor
mounts onto the unit before the frame is complete.

For my next trick I put one more coat of paint on the tank/frame assembly. There is a Square-D pressure switch I had left over from the previous completion of the task. It is still connected and plumbed. I have the regulator on the rear of the tank. The compressor will go on the front and the motor goes on the rear.

To be continued.

2006-03-29T01:01:00.000-05:00

Gang Violence coming to South Bibb?

I read a WMAZ-TV story in which a gang consultant mentioned gang graffiti on a stop sign along Houston Road. Maybe it was put there by thugs to mark future territory. It makes me unhappy to see this and I hope we have the South Bibb ethic, handed down from generation to generation, which makes everyone make those who want to "trash up" the neighborhood very unwelcome.

I believe much of the gang activity in South Bibb will be bred in the new houses growing where soybeans once did. There is an apartment complex and trailer park between Hartley Bridge and Houston Road to provide fertile ground. I am hoping at some point in the future that a community meeting will bring up this issue.

Warner Robins likely has more of a gang issue than its spinmeister, Detective Karen Stokes of the local police, wants to tell us (per WMAZ TV reports last year). Let's not make the same mistake. Identifiy that the problem exists, and to what extent. Then freeze out the gang members and their permissive parents. It would not hurt for everyone who is compentent to handle a gun to own one- if nothing else for deterring a collateral effect from dope fiends who seek to harm property or person.

Given what happened to Deputy Joe Whitehead I do not see where the Bibb County Sheriff's Department will be leninet in the event of drug and gang apprehensions. They don't need to be. With using deadly force they should stop short of being judge, jury and executioner- but VERY short.

If this were 75 years ago the only gang members you would see in South Bibb would 1)have stripes where people in the neighborhood beat them or 2) be headed out on a wagon with their belongings.

I heard an elderly man tell me some 15 years ago of a crippled WWI vet who drank too much while his kids starved. The locals burned a cross on his front lawn. Yes, he was white. When this failed to modify his behavior they took a stick and beat his butt.

I will say this; if I move to another town with as much or more of a gang issue it will be where intellect and hard work rule whenever the gangs do not. If Middle Georgia does not deal with the issue and keeps on relying on Robins AFB to save its economic hide we will be a festering ulcer much like a dying Steel Belt town.

KAT

2006-03-26T01:12:00.000-05:00

03/26/06
I just got back from Charleston. The drive there is a seemingly goofy, down-and-up, path to Interstate 95 via Interstate 16. I went to see the old town though I couldn't buy a whole lot due to my slimline budget. I also have this darned cap on my tooth that precludes me from having sticky or hard candies.

Vacation started on my off day of Wednesday. I slept late like an idiot and woke up in time to take Sam, our newest acquistion to the feline fleet, in to the vet. He gave him a leukemia and rabies shot, prescribed antibiotics for a puncture wound to the ear, and told us to hustle back with him in three weeks for a leukemia shot and a test. Then he would be glad to have him neutered.

I packed and decided to do the darned rail for the hallway late at night. Mom encouraged me to go to bed. I woke up at 10 AM that Thursday and had lunch with Mom and Dad. At 1:00 I left for Charleston. I packed my rucksack for an overnight camping trip in case I went to the park in Aiken. I figured on returning that Sunday.

I drove along Interstate 16. At the old Nike site (missile base) in Jeffersonville I saw a water tower rise up. Its rusty, dark shell looked so much like a relic of the Cold War days. Yet I knew towers and ships made of steel look like a woman without makeup. The radar stands were gone and so was everything else but the metal ground-mounted water tank and generator building left from the Cold War. I regret having the base ripped down but historic preservation won't butter the bread that an industrial park will.

I drove on and made a wee-wee call in the woods near Dudley. I almost fell asleep several times until I got to Metter. I had the strongest stimulant you can get from outside a drugstore- Waffle House Coffee. I got gas and kept going. I turned north at Interstate 95 and went up 17 then back up 95 in a miscue at Hardeeville.

I made it to Charleston at 7 PM or so. I went to Blassinger's (or whatever) the barbecue place is on the Savannah Highway. I drove to the Days Inn off Johnnie Dodds Boulevard in Mount Pleasant. This was after I cursed the remaining skeleton of the old Ashley River bridge and said, "They finally tore the son of a XX down". I hated that bridge and Dad hated it even more; it was designed for Model T's and we had no such vehicle when we went to Patriot's Point in 1980 and 1988.

Next day: Market Street and the cold
Saturday; Yorktown, Laffey, Clamagore, and the cutter Ingham.

2006-02-21T20:57:00.000-05:00

Hello
I lost my temper at work and did a few things I didn't want to in front of everyone including clients. I hate losing my temper. The boss told me that I need to be unemotional and view customer criticism and helping people as something other than personal. He says that pride in my work is a motivator. So I asked how I could avoid letting my pride hurt me emotionally.

I want to take some time off and reassess my life and how to do my job better and without all the fuss. I am not taking mental leave but I need to spend time away from worrying about Mom and Dad and my career, my job, and my life.

Ideas on this are welcome.

2006-02-17T20:14:00.000-05:00

02/17/06

Someone in our South Bibb community told me of a nightclub locating in our area. I wish I could tell you more. Unless it is near Interstate 75 at Hartley Bridge or the new interchange, I say this would be not a good thing given the spillover we have from Crawford and Peach counties. We have enough riffraff in our neighborhood despite the overwhelming majority of decent people.

Stay tuned and if anyone holds a meeting concerning this, attend. Please.

2006-01-25T22:13:00.000-05:00

The Open House on the Sardis Church Road connector took place on January 24, 2006. The news made it out to be such a horrible project. The Telegraph's S. Heather Duncan got on her envirocrazy soapbox a little bit.

Here http://tomcat2.dot.state.ga.us/PublicOutreach_ex/projectInfo/projectInfo.cfm?projID=311910-&projNum=NH-75-1(246)&projName=Sardis%20Church%20Rd%20Proposed%20interchange%20@%20I-75&CFID=196295&CFTOKEN=71385225 are some dandy maps. I saved the maps in case the link dies.

Dirt should be turned same time next year. However I do feel for Martha and Joe Hymerling and the others losing their homes. I pray they are justly compensated.

The road will be a good thing for the county but I doubt we will succeed in attracting much industry as long as Jack Ellis is in office and we refuse to take back our city and county from the race baiters and old boy network.

I also modified some maps for easier viewing. I may post those later.

2006-01-18T19:02:00.000-05:00

On January 24 at 4PM the GADOT will hold a meeting on the Sardis Church Road extension. This will attract the hippies at CAUTION Macon, the fruitcakes, and those who want South Bibb to stay in the early Sixties.

The roads project won' t solve all Bibb's problems but will make it safer to get through South Bibb and to its factories and Robins Air Force Base.

Eventually, according to plans, the road will stretch to Sgoda Road in Twiggs County. Thankfully GADOT plans for Sardis Church Road have it widened to four lanes. If plans from a few years ago are followed, new construction will stretch from near Nowell Road to a quarter of a mile from Houston and Walden Roads. It will cross South Walden Road above Glen Haven Memorial Gardens and rendezvous with Avondale Mill Road.

Will the Sardis Church Road project send our community into a downward spiral? Poor zoning regulation has allowed two trailer parks, several rinky-dink houses, and other trashy developments to settle in South Bibb. So where were the crybabies back then?

I still would like to see us reform our city government, fix our public schools, and do better with our industry recruitment. Saying no to the Sardis Church project would hurt and not help.

2005-12-27T14:44:00.000-05:00

27 DEC 05
I haven't gotten into the spirit of Christmas and it has seemed it has been another day. I enjoyed Christmas Eve. I watched part of "The Green Berets" and played with my computer. I watched a Marx Brothers movie on the laptop before I went to bed. All but Patricia's children and the grandchild were there.

I got up and went to church with the family. Patricia went but she didn't want to meet some of the people she hadn't seen years ago. Maybe she's ashamed of herself; I would if I dressed like her. She has little self respect. We had lunch around 12 and were waiting to wrap presents when Rebecca and her kid came by.

We opened gifts. I got a WABC shirt from CafePress, a mind bender game set, a puzzle book, two hiking books, dress socks, a shirt, a 256m thumb drive, and a microfiber blanket. Tyler cried like he was gutshot when Big Boy scratched him upon rubbing his belly. Patricia grunted and groaned half the time. I shot a tiny bit of video and took a token few still photos. After the presents were opened I went to bed. I listened to Daddy bellyache about this and that. It is really wearing him out having Mom not do as much as she used to.

2005-12-20T21:42:00.000-05:00

RecallEllis has joined the past. Per WMAC-AM's newscast Jim Palmer expresses no desire to appeal the ruling that struck down the application for recall petition. Worse, the liberal Macon Telegraph thinks Council and Mayor Ellis should work on "communications".

If we can't deal with Mayor Ellis himself let us try to blunt his sword of incompetency. Those enabling the mayor will be dealt with and those who are trying to stave off his destruction need bookoodles of support.

The remnants of RecallEllis and their friends need to form a PAC of some form to bring in new City Council members with vertebrae, support Joe Allen and other commissioners wanting to wrest some county service from city hands, and conduct a publicity effort to sell the notion that whatever the mayor is trying to pull is a shenanigan.

The PAC won't be just an anti-Ellis effort; it needs to be a pro-Macon/Bibb effort. Why should City Council look at local business leaders as liars as it did this fall as per the hotel? Furthermore, why should they hire a consultant when they should have enough sense to say yes or no to hotel plans?

It is sickening to find myself in Eddie Smith's court on this matter but just because he likes pepperoni pizza doesn't mean I'm going to start eating sausage pizza from now on. All is fair in love and politics I guess.

I don't count on citizens lining up behind the GETBACKCJACKPAC but it gives them a way to not worry about racial labels or going after just one part of the problem. Maybe the idea wiill fly but remember the citizens are partly to blame for our problems. And I still wish I had a U-Haul agency in Macon.

KAT

2005-12-15T22:33:00.000-05:00

I wish to apologize for my choice of wording per the redneck mother ergo calling her the b-word. This isn't what a gentleman does. Now as for the redneck mom moniker I must say that stays.
KAT

2005-12-14T21:27:00.001-05:00

Guess what!
I have officially completed coursework in Windows 2003 server. This software is a version of Windows XP on steroids for big businesses. It isn't for all businesses; ten or less need XP Professional and its backup utilities.

The first test I flunked. I made a 56. I didn't allow enough time to study between the first take and the second take. I could take it millions of times but only the second test counted. Next I resolved to do better. I also was more familiar with how to undo my mistakes on the test. I managed to make an 80, 87, 90, and a 97. I had to retake the last test and one other but I was well impressed with my results.

It means one more software title on my resume and that I will be 1/3 ready for the Microsoft exam. That exam is sort of a union card though to many employers it means it only your feet got a little wet.

Not that I 've closed the door on other professions such as journalism, logistics/defense, or health care. I am also open to anything else that piques my attention. I don't think I'd be a disk jockey especially with the corporate nature of radio but I am nuts about WABC's Saturday Night Oldies.

The WABC/SNO show is leaning heavily towards the Seventies. One person in a message board felt that Sixties music was burned out. I beg to differ. I tried cutting some voice-overs for a tape with jingles and music. I sounded horrible but largely because I was not my natural self. When the mike goes on I go wimpy.

I could use a little testosterone too. I will check into DHEA but if I am under tension I don't want to take it as it might make me demolish the store, pop my coworkers in the mouth, or smash someone's car.

Today at Wal-Mart I saw two redneck moms-possibly single- crowd my vehicle and theirs with a buggy. They didn't seem to know how to park a vehicle either. They had a Durango that was probably acquired from a used car lot or their Daddy. There but for the grace of God and high interest rates. Anyway I called one of them a stupid bitch behind her back while the windows were closed. I was trying to insult her without her hearing in but half hoping she would hear me. Then when I left one of them was waddling in the way with her buggy when she should have moved over. I blew Mr. Horn and I am sure they think I am a rotten person. Then again I am probably sending one of their butts to community college (I saw a Middle Georgia Tech tag on the Durango).

I am on a program to write down negative thoughts as I have them and more importantly try to not have them. It isn't easy when you have been programmed with negativity and talk radio doesn't help much. I keep thinking I am a better citizen by listening to Neal Boortz, Rush Limbaugh, Laura Ingraham, and watching Bill O'Reilly.

If anything is eating me it is that I have largely wasted about forty years of my life. I have less than a year before I hit 40 to get my ducks in a row.

2005-12-07T00:31:00.000-05:00

As promised here are the donors to Democratic causes as seen in various donor lists on the Internet:

Willingham, Josephine H Mrs. (Retired), (Zip code: 31211) $200 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 02/20/04
Greenhaw, William B Mr. (Retired), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 01/30/04
Richardson, Gary A (Merren Univ/Professor), (Zip code: 31210) $300 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 05/28/04
Richardson, Gary A (Merren Univ/Professor), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 06/16/04
Ezell, Mary Lou L (Elementary School Principal), (Zip code: 31211) $200 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 06/14/04
Carswell, Margaret Ann, (Zip code: 31211) $400 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 06/03/04J
ohnson, Lee A Ms. (homemaker/homemaker), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 07/30/04
Akridge, Rufus (Akr/Real Estate Broker), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 08/19/04
Brown, Philip M (O'Neal Brown & Clark P.C./attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 08/26/04
Shurden, Klay (Self/Therapist), (Zip code: 31204) $2000 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 08/04/04
Stuckey, Mark (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $2000 to DNC SERVICES CORPORATION/DEMOCRATIC NATIONAL COMMITTEE on 08/26/04
James, John E. Esq. (Harris & James/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $1200 to ASSOCIATION OF TRIAL LAWYERS OF AMERICA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE on 05/29/03
James, John E Esq. (Harris & James/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $1200 to ASSOCIATION OF TRIAL LAWYERS OF AMERICA POLITICAL ACTION COMMITTEE on 07/29/04
Qazi, Farid (Dublin Hematology & Oncology/Physic), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to CYNTHIA MCKINNEY FOR CONGRESS on 07/18/04
Mr. Sam Bruce (STAR/Exec VP), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to SANFORD D. BISHOP JR. FOR CONGRESS on 08/06/03
Mr. Ronald Payne (Payne Investment Inc./president), (Zip code: 31220) $500 to SANFORD D. BISHOP JR. FOR CONGRESS on 08/31/03
MARSHALL2000.ORG, (Zip code: 31202) $1000 to AMERIPAC: THE FUND FOR A GREATER AMERICA on 03/26/03Sheridan, Alice S (Housewife), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to SUSAN B ANTHONY LIST CANDIDATE FUND on 05/07/04

Ford, Beverly O (Self-Employed/Consultant), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to MOVEON PAC on 09/19/04
Williams, Mark (Coliseum Radiation Oncology/Physici), (Zip code: 31201) $225 to MOVEON PAC on 08/03/04

Friends of Jim Marshall, (Zip code: 31202) $1000 to SUSAN DAVIS FOR CONGRESS on 07/13/04
Akridge, Rufus (Self-Employed/Real Estate), (Zip code: 31206) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/03
Allen, Hannah L (Joseph A. Boone/Paralegal), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/03
Boston, Russell M (Boston Passante LLP/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/03
Claxton, Russell (Self- Employed/architect), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/03
Fickling, Roy H (Fickling Real Estate/Broker), (Zip code: 31202) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/10/03Fickling, Roy H (Fickling Real Estate/Broker), (Zip code: 31202) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/10/03
Frolich, David J (Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/27/03
Griffith, Benjy III (Timberlands/Real Estate Developer), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/03
Terrill, Nancy F (Mercer University/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/03
Bargeron, Robin N (Self- Employed/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $450 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/25/03
Brannen, Dianne (Self-Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 08/20/03
Buford, Floyd M (Buford and Buford/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 07/09/03
Adams, Virgil L (Adams Jordan and Treadwell/Trial At), (Zip code: 31210) $350 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Akridge, Rufus (Self-Employed/Real Estate), (Zip code: 31206) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/11/03Brannen, Dianne (Self-Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Buafo, Charles K (Pre-Med Medical Associates/Physicia), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/28/03
Buzzell, R. William II (le/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Carty, Dave (Progressive Computing), (Zip code: 30201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Claxton, Joseph E (Mercer University/Professor), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/17/03
Cullinan, Neil M, (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Daniel, J. Robert (The Daniel Law Firm/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/18/03
Deaton, Kenneth D Jr. (Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Dellacona, Tracey L (Self- Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $300 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Dozier, Lester Z (Dozier Lee Graham & Sikes/Trial Att), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/12/03
Faulk, Don (Georgia Hospital Association/Presid), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Glover, W. D (Phibro-Tech Inc./Executive), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Graham, Neal B (Buzzell Graham & Walsh/Trial Attorn), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Groover, Duke (Groover & Childs/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/28/03
Harmon, Adrian (Harmon Masonry & Construction/Contr), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Huckabee, Leo (Huckabee Auto Company/auto dealer), (Zip code: 31220) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Huckabee, Patricia P, (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/30/03
Hutto, Richard J (Self- Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
James, John E (Harris & James/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
James, Lillas (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31211) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/11/03
James, Samual (SACAL Engineering/Engineer), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/15/03
Johnson, Lee A (None/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/16/03
Lee, A. Burton (Buzzell Graham & Welsh/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/11/03
Lee, James E (Law Office of James E. Lee), (Zip code: 31208) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Lovein, Hubert C Jr. (Jones Cork & Miller/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
McGouirk, Don (Gannett Co Inc (WMAZ 13)/Manager), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Meyers, Emily (Mercer University/Senior Vice Presi), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Powell, Julius A Jr. (Marshall Lindley & Powell/Trial Att), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Robinson, Joe S Jr. (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $400 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Schnell, Frederick M (Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/28/03
Solis, Maurice M (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/16/03
Stephens, Jeffery L (Mercer University School of Medici/), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Treadwell, Marc T (Adams Jordan and Treadwell PC/Attor), (Zip code: 31210) $350 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Tsai, Stella I (Neurology Associates/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Wells, Charles C (Sleep Medicine of Central Georgia/P), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Williams, Larry (Self- Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/31/03
Willingham, Josephine H (None/Retired), (Zip code: 31211) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/29/03
Wright, Robert H DDS (Self- Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31211) $300 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/30/03
Bacon, Frank Mr. Jr. (Self- Employed/Engineer), (Zip code: 31204) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Bargeron, Robin N Mr. (Self- Employed/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/02/04
Brannen, Dianne Ms. (Self-Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/15/04
Buzzell, R. William Mr. II (le/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Cantrell, Charlie Mr. (Five Star Chevrolet-Cadillac), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/25/04
Claxton, Joseph E Prof. (Mercer University/Professor), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/16/04
Creswell, Elise D Ms. (None/Housewife), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/11/04
Deaton, Kenneth D Dr. Jr. (Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/29/04
Ford, Michael Mr. (President of NewTown Macon), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 01/29/04
Godsey, R. Kirby Dr. (Mercer University/President), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Griffith, Benjy Mr. III (Timberlands/Real Estate Developer), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Griffith, Teresa Ms., (Zip code: 31220) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Herrington, Ryan Mr., (Zip code: 31220) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/29/04
Hogue, Franklin J Mr. (Hogue & Hogue/Attorneys), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 01/20/04
Hogue, Franklin J Mr. (Hogue & Hogue/Attorneys), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Hope, Thomas D Dr. (Neurology Associates/Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04
Hudson, Benjamin G Mr. Jr. (Hudson & Marshall/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/22/04
Jenkins, Jack Mr. (attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 02/18/04
Johnson, Lee A Ms. (None/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Katz, Richard M Mr. (Katz Flatau Popson & Boyer/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Kelly, Frank B Dr. Jr. (Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilita/), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04
Langstaff, James P Mr. (City of Macon/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 02/04/04
Lewis, Bob Mr. (Bob Lewis & Associates/Real Estate), (Zip code: 31212) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04Lewis, Cynthia Mrs., (Zip code: 31220) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04Passante, Brian Mr. (Boston Passante LLP/Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Rockefeller, Jim Mr. (Self- Employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04Sammons, Jack L Prof. (Mercer University/Professor), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Schnell, Frederick M Dr. (Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Schnell, Frederick M Dr. (Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Shoemaker, John F Mr. (Riverside Ford Inc./Businessman), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04Solis, Maurice M Dr. (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Spiegel, John Dr. (Neurology Associates/Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Stuckey, Mark Mr. (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04Terrill, Nancy F Ms. (Mercer University/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Terrill, Nancy F Ms. (Mercer University/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $1500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Thornton, David W Mr. (Self), (Zip code: 31202) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/29/04Tsai, Stella I Dr. (Neurology Associates/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/30/04Wells, James M Dr. (Physician), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Wight, Tom B Mr. (Mulberry Street Investment Company/), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/04/04Zimmerman, Muarion D Mr. (Professional Systems USA Inc./Vice), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/26/04Zimmerman, Muarion D Mr. (Professional Systems USA Inc./Vice), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 03/31/04Powell, Julius A Mr. Jr., (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 02/20/04Williams, Larry Mr., (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 02/20/04Heath, Miller Jr., (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 12/23/03Adams, Virgil L (Adams Jordan and Treadwell/Trial At), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/29/04Akridge, Rufus (Self-Employed/Real Estate), (Zip code: 31206) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/22/04Allen, Hannah L (Joseph A. Boone/Paralegal), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/28/04Bacon, Frank Jr. (Self- Employed/Engineer), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/01/04Bargeron, Robin N (Self- Employed/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $550 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/09/04Bargeron, Robin N (Self- Employed/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/16/04Bayme, Scott (retail), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/16/04Bond, Susan M (None/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/29/04Brown, Manley F (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/10/04Buzzell, R. William II (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Carswell III, George (Accucomm Telecommunications/Tele. C), (Zip code: 31211) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/29/04Clark, John C (O'Neal Brown & Clark PC/Trial Attor), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/03/04Claxton, Jane P (None/Retired), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/07/04Frolich, David J (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/28/04Frolich, Terri (Homemaker/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31221) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/12/04Frolich, Terri (Homemaker/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31221) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/28/04Glover, W. D (Phibro-Tech Inc./Executive), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Harmon, Adrian (Harmon Masonry & Construction/Contr), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/28/04Harris, Burke (Harris & James/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Heath, Miller Jr. (Self/Facilities Construction), (Zip code: 31201) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Horn, Mark W (Professional Systems USA Inc./Chief), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/02/04Horn, Mark W (Professional Systems USA Inc./Chief), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 05/15/04James, Thomas C III (James Bates Pope & Spivey/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/29/04Jones, Zoe J (Central Georgia Heart Center PC/Phy), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Kallay, Wynn E (Primary Pediatrics/Physician), (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/28/04Katz, Richard M (Katz Flatau Popson & Boyer/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/02/04Sandefur, J. Terrell, (Zip code: 31204) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Smith, James F Jr. (Central Georgia Hematology and Onc/), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/12/04Treadwell, Marc T (Adams Jordan and Treadwell PC/Attor), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/29/04Wagoner, Glenda A, (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/29/04Wagoner, Tom O (CORE Resources Management Group/Pre), (Zip code: 31202) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 06/30/04Williams, H. A (Sanco Products/Entrepeneur), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 04/30/04Akridge, Rufus (Self-Employed/Real Estate), (Zip code: 31206) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Bargeron, Robin N (Self- Employed/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/27/04Boggs, Mike (Coliseum Medical Center/Administrat), (Zip code: 31208) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/27/04Boyer, Wesley J (Katz Flatau Popson & Boyer/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/02/04Brown, Manley F (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Trial Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Brown, Philip M (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Cassidy, John D (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Causey, William III, (Zip code: 31220) $300 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Clark, John C (O'Neal Brown & Clark PC/Trial Attor), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Claxton, Jane P (None/Retired), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/10/04Claxton, Jane P (None/Retired), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/25/04Claxton, Russell (Self- Employed/architect), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 08/19/04Ford, Michael (President of NewTown Macon), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/30/04Glover, W. D (Phibro-Tech Inc./Executive), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/28/04Godsey, R. Kirby (Mercer University/President), (Zip code: 31201) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/20/04Graham, Neal B (Buzzell Graham & Walsh/Trial Attorn), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Haskell, George O III (Elliott & Haskell/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/22/04Heath, Miller Jr. (Self/Facilities Construction), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Hogue, Laura D (Hogue & Hogue/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Huckabee, Leo III (Huckabee Auto Company/auto dealer), (Zip code: 31220) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Jelks, Jordan O (Jelks McLees & Boggs Architects/Arc), (Zip code: 31211) $300 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Langstaff, James P (City of Macon/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $350 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Lee, A. Burton (Buzzell Graham & Welsh/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Lumley, Jerry (Attorney), (Zip code: ) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/27/04Lynn, Kathy (Self/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Mayville, Christina (Neurology Associates/Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $1800 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 07/19/04Meyers, Emily P (Mercer University/Senior Vice Presi), (Zip code: 31208) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/17/04Morton, Daryl (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Murphy, Lee B (Mid-County Financial Corporation/Ba), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/22/04Peters, Alfred (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Powers, Jeffrey N (Buzzell Graham & Welsh/Attorney), (Zip code: 31208) $300 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Purcel, Morris (Putzell Electric Contractors/busine), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/20/04Richardson, Thomas F (Chambliss Higdon & Carson/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Robinson, Joe S Jr. (Self-Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31201) $400 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 07/14/04Rollins, Ronnie D, (Zip code: 31201) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 07/16/04Sandefur, J. Terrell (13 WMAZ News/Sales Associate), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Schnell, Kim D (None/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Sedghi, Reza (Self/Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Sheftall, Waldo C (Sheftall Development/Insurance Brok), (Zip code: 31202) $1200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/12/04Stuckey, Mark (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 07/14/04Treadwell, Mark T (Adams Jordan and Treadwell PC/Attor), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Whitley, Wallace C (Retired/Teacher), (Zip code: 31206) $301 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 07/14/04Wright, Robert H DDS (Self- Employed/Physician), (Zip code: 31211) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 09/26/04Acton, William C (Physician), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/12/04Bond, Susan M (None/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/09/04Carty, Dave (Progressive Computing), (Zip code: 30201) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/01/04Chatfield, Trevor (Brown & Williamson/Electrical Tech.), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/11/04Cullinan, Neil M (Retired/Retired), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/07/04Davis, T. Lynn (Self-Employed/Auctioneer), (Zip code: 31206) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Dozier, Lester Zack (Dozier Lee Graham & Sikes/Trial Att), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/12/04Elliott, A.V. (Elliott Machine Shop), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/10/04Hargrove, Robert (Mercer University/Professor), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Hertwig, Sara B (None/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/11/04Hinson, Thomas H (Westmoreland Patterson and Moseley/), (Zip code: 31202) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Hudson, Benjamin G Jr. (Hudson & Marshall/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/09/04James, Samual (SACAL Engineering/Engineer), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/09/04Jelks, Jordan O (Jelks McLees & Boggs Architects/Arc), (Zip code: 31211) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Katz, Richard M (Katz Flatau Popson & Boyer/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Koplin, Myron (Retired), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/05/04Lee, James E II (Law Office of James E. Lee), (Zip code: 31208) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/10/04Mayville, Christina (Neurology Associates/Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/12/04Morgan, C. Cloud (Macon Judicial Circuit Superior Co/), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/10/04Morton, Susan M (Museum of Arts & Science/Group Serv), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/12/04Peskoe, Stanley T (Mercer University/Doctor), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/12/04Popson, Sandra (Katz Flatau Popson & Boyer/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Sedghi, Shahriar (Center for Digestive Diseases/Physi), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Sell, Ed S III, (Zip code: 31211) $300 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/09/04Shoffner, G. Michael (Neurology Associates LLP/Neurologis), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/06/04Stephens, Jeffery L (Mercer University School of Medici/), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/11/04Walden, Katherine (Katherine Walden Interiors/Owner), (Zip code: 31201) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/09/04Whitley, Wallace C (Retired/Teacher), (Zip code: 31206) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/10/04Wight, Tom B (Mulberry Street Investment Company/), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/08/04Williams, Robert Wade (Retired/Retired), (Zip code: 31216) $200 to FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL on 10/13/04Shurling, Tredway (Shurling & Company/Real Estate Brok), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to DENISE MAJETTE FOR SENATE on 03/25/04SHURLING, TREDWAY, (Zip code: 31201) $250 to DENISE MAJETTE FOR SENATE on 04/15/04ADAMS, VIRGIL L (ADAMS JORDAN TREADWELL), (Zip code: 31201) $500 to DENISE MAJETTE FOR SENATE on 09/23/04TREADWELL, MARC T (ADAMS JORDAN & TREADWELL PC), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to DENISE MAJETTE FOR SENATE on 09/23/04Frolich, David (Radiology Assoc. of Macon/Doctor), (Zip code: 31221) $500 to TONY CENTER FOR CONGRESS on 03/26/04MOODY, SHERRIE M. MRS (TELAMON CORPORATION/DEPUTY STATE DI), (Zip code: 31216) $405 to USAFARMWORKERPAC on 04/29/04Erwin, Neal (Not employed/student), (Zip code: 31211) $200 to DEAN FOR AMERICA on 12/30/03Griffith, Benjy, (Zip code: 31210) $250 to DEAN FOR AMERICA on 11/25/03Boston, Russell (Boston Passante Llp/Lawyer), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/25/04Day, John (Self/Financial Advisor), (Zip code: 31220) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/03/04Greenebaum, David (Mercer University/Librarian), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/12/04James, Lillias L (N/A/Retired), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/31/04Lane, William A Mr. (N/A/Retired), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/22/04Phillips, Betty Ms (N/A/Retired), (Zip code: 31204) $200 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/31/04Solis, Maurice (Mcvi/Surgeon), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 03/17/04Johnson, Lee (Not employed/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/30/04Kalli, Ramana V Dr, (Zip code: 31210) $500 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/17/04Lane, William A Mr. (Not employed/Retired), (Zip code: 31210) $300 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/16/04Pietrzak, Marianna Mrs (Bibb Co Board of Ed/Teacher), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/08/04Shurden, Walter (Mercer University/Professor Of Reli), (Zip code: 31204) $500 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/14/04Sullivan, Wendy (Boston Passante LLP/Attorney), (Zip code: 31211) $1700 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/17/04Claxton, Russell (Self employed/Architect), (Zip code: 31211) $2000 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 05/25/04James, Lillas L (Self/Physician), (Zip code: 31211) $500 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 05/14/04Lee, Burton (Self/Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $1000 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 05/25/04Rowe, Lucy (Cherokee Brick & Tile Co./draft), (Zip code: 31206) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 05/12/04Stephens, Jeffrey Dr (Mercer Univ./Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $500 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 05/05/04Boston, Russell M (Self employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $2000 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 04/17/04Stephens, Jeffrey Dr (Mercer Univ./Physician), (Zip code: 31210) $800 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 06/29/04Vangala, Rahul (Allergy & Asthma ctr of middle geor), (Zip code: 31210) $200 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 06/15/04Benedict, Lauren (BOSTON PASSANTE LLP/ATTORNEY), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 07/28/04Johnson, Lee (Not employed/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31201) $1000 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 07/29/04Passante, Rebekah (MERCER UNIVERSITY/ATTORNEY), (Zip code: 31220) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 07/28/04Pietrzak, Nicholas II (Self employed/PHYSICIAN), (Zip code: 31211) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 07/29/04Holliday, Marie (HOLLIDAY DENTAL ASSOCIATES/BUSINESS), (Zip code: 31204) $250 to JOHN KERRY FOR PRESIDENT INC on 07/07/04Adams, Virgil (Adams Jordan & Treadwell PC/Attorne), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Brown, Jean C (Not employed/Retired), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/26/03Brown, Manley F (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 02/19/03Brown, Manley F (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/26/03Clark, John C (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/26/03Gautreaux, Jarome E (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Groover, Duke (Groover and Childs/Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $2000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Hart, Samuel Jr (Adams Jordan & Treadwell PC/Attorne), (Zip code: 31216) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Lee, Andi (Not employed/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Lee, Burton (Self employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31202) $2000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Treadwell, Marc (Adams Jordan & Treadwell PC/Attorne), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/31/03Brown, Philip (O'Neal Brown & Clark PC/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 05/07/03Clark, John C (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 05/16/03Elliott, Jsewell NULL Jr (Self employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 05/16/03Gautreaux, Jarome E (O'Neal Brown & Clark/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $25] to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 05/08/03Graham, Neal (Self employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31201) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 04/02/03McArthur, Katherine (Reynolds and McArthur/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $2000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 05/16/03Adams, Virgil (Adams Jordan & Treadwell PC/Attorne), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 01/14/04Elliott, Sewell Jr (Self employed/Attorney), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 01/20/04Treadwell, Marc (Adams Jordan & Treadwell PC/Attorne), (Zip code: 31210) $1000 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 02/25/04Buzzell, R William II, (Zip code: 31210) $500 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/08/04Clark, Elizabeth B (Not employed/Homemaker), (Zip code: 31210) $250 to EDWARDS FOR PRESIDENT on 03/08/04Important note: This list is based on the data made publicly available by the Federal Election Commission. City-Data.com has made no additional attempt to verify the accuracy or validity of the names on this list and it cannot individually remove or update any of the information. Please direct any inquiries or corrections to the FEC. City-Data.com will periodically update this list based on the data made available by the FEC. Note that it is possible for multiple persons to share the same name. Unintentional errors are possible. Do not use for any purpose before consulting official data provided by the FEC.

campaignmoney.com 11/6/05Lane, Eleanor A Mrs. Family Counseling Center/Family The MACON GA 31210 250 09/07/2005 EMILY'S LIST
Lane, Eleanor A Mrs. Family Counseling Center/Family The MACON GA 31210 250 07/19/2005 EMILY'S LIST
Creswell, Elise D Ms. Housewife MACON GA 31210 500 07/12/2005 EMILY'S LIST
LANE, ELEANOR FAMILY COUNSELING CENTER MACON GA 31210 200 06/14/2005 FRIENDS OF HILLARY - DEMOCRAT
LANE, ELEANOR FAMILY COUNSELING CENTER MACON GA 31210 200 06/29/2005 FRIENDS OF HILLARY - DEMOCRAT
UGOLIK, LORI UGOLIK CHRIOPRACTIC CLINIC MACON GA 31211 500 04/28/2005 FRIENDS OF HILLARY - DEMOCRAT
Akridge, Rufus Mr. Self-Employed/Real Estate MACON GA 31206 1,000 03/21/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Allen, Bruce S Dr. Self/Physician MACON GA 31210 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT Allen, Bruce S Dr. Self/Physician MACON GA 31210 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Allen, Hannah L Ms. Joseph A. Boone/Paralegal MACON GA 31204 500 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Allen, Jennifer H Dr. Self/Physician MACON GA 31210 800 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Bargeron, Robin N Mr. Self- Employed/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31208 1,000 03/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Bowyer, Frank P Dr. III The Children's Hospital/Medical Dir MACON GA 31210 1,000 03/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Brooks, William P Dr. Self/Physician MACON GA 31206 250 01/02/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Brown, Manley F Mr. O'Neal Brown & Clark/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31210 250 03/31/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Buafo, Charles K Dr. Pre-Med Medical Associates/Physicia MACON GA 31210 500 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Buford, Floyd M Mr. Buford and Buford/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31210 1,000 01/10/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Butler, G. Marshall Mr. Butler Automotive Group Inc./Owner MACON GA 31210 1,000 01/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Claxton, Joseph E Prof. Mercer University/Professor MACON GA 31201 250 03/31/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Deaton, Kenneth D Dr. Jr. Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys MACON GA 31201 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Deaton, Kenneth D Dr. Jr. Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys MACON GA 31201 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Faulk, Don Mr. Georgia Hospital Association/Presid MACON GA 31210 500 01/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Fdoul, Ibrahim H Mr. -- MACON GA 31220 250 02/23/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Fickling, Roy H Mr. Fickling Real Estate/Broker MACON GA 31202 2,100 03/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Fickling, Roy H Mr. Fickling Real Estate/Broker MACON GA 31202 2,100 03/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Fickling, Roy H Mr. Fickling Real Estate/Broker MACON GA 31202 800 03/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Ford, Michael Mr. NewTown Macon/President MACON GA 31208 1,000 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Glover, W. D Mr. Phibro-Tech Inc./Executive MACON GA 31210 1,400 03/24/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Godsey, R. Kirby Dr. Mercer University/President MACON GA 31201 2,000 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Griffith, Benjy Mr. III Timberlands/Real Estate Developer MACON GA 31210 1,900 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Griffith, Benjy Mr. III Timberlands/Real Estate Developer MACON GA 31210 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Gupta, Manmohan M Dr. Self/Physician MACON GA 31210 1,000 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Hogue, Laura D Mrs. Hogue & Hogue/Attorney MACON GA 31210 500 03/24/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Hudson, Anne B Ms. Homemaker/Self MACON GA 31216 250 03/31/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
James, John E Mr. Harris & James/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31211 1,000 03/31/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
King, Damon Mr. -- MACON GA 31210 500 01/03/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Myers, Emily P Ms. Mercer University/Senior Vice Presi MACON GA 31208 1,000 03/24/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Patterson, Lancing Dr. Urologist MACON GA 31210 500 01/03/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Richardson, Elmo A Mr. Jr. Stantec Consulting Services Inc./Vi MACON GA 31210 500 01/10/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Schnell, Frederick M Dr. Central GA Hematology Oncology/Phys MACON GA 31210 1,000 03/31/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Shoemaker, John F Mr. Riverside Ford Inc./Businessman MACON GA 31204 1,000 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Smith, Blake Mr. Nelson and Smith LLP/Attorney MACON GA 31201 1,000 03/29/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Tsai, Stella I Dr. Neurology Associates/Physician MACON GA 31201 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Tsai, Stella I Dr. Neurology Associates/Physician MACON GA 31201 2,100 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Wells, Charles C Dr. Sleep Medicine of Central Georgia/P MACON GA 31210 500 03/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Wilfong, W. Winston Dr. Self/Physician MACON GA 31210 500 01/05/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Wilson, Walter S Mr. Jr. -- MACON GA 31210 1,000 03/21/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Yousef, Ahmed S Dr. Self/Doctor MACON GA 31210 300 01/10/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Banks, Don Mr. Capital Cycle/Owner MACON GA 31211 500 04/22/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Bargeron, Robin N Mr. Self- Employed/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31208 1,000 06/21/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Benson, E. Earl Mr. Aquacoolers/Retail sales MACON GA 31210 500 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Boston, Russell M Mr. Boston Passante LLP/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31202 2,000 06/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Buzzell, R. William Mr. II Self/Attorney MACON GA 31210 1,000 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Collins, Chris Mr. International Asset Group Ltd./Mana MACON GA 31210 1,000 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Cusson, David M Mr. Boston Passante/Attorney MACON GA 31210 500 06/10/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Davis, Edsel Dr. Self/Veterinarian MACON GA 31210 250 06/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Dollar, Wayne Mr. Georgia Farm Bureau/President MACON GA 31298 1,000 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Elliott, A.V. Mr. Elliott Machine Shop/Owner MACON GA 31210 300 06/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Faulk, Don Mr. Georgia Hospital Association/Presid MACON GA 31210 500 06/28/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Flatau, William M Mr. Katz Flatau Popson & Boyer/Attorney MACON GA 31210 500 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Ford, Michael Mr. NewTown Macon/President MACON GA 31208 1,000 06/27/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT Frolich, David J Dr. Radiology Associates/Physician MACON GA 31221 500 05/27/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Frolich, David J Dr. Radiology Associates/Physician MACON GA 31221 500 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Godsey, R. Kirby Dr. Mercer University/President MACON GA 31201 900 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Groover, Duke Mr. Groover & Childs/Trial Attorney MACON GA 31202 1,000 06/16/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Henderson, Terry A Ms. Self/CPA MACON GA 31210 250 06/15/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Hodges, William F Mr. Hodges Harbin Newberry and Trib/Own MACON GA 31201 1,000 06/26/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Hogue, Laura D Mrs. Hogue & Hogue/Attorney MACON GA 31210 250 06/06/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Hope, Thomas D Dr. Neurology Associates/Physician MACON GA 31210 2,000 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Ivey, Norman T Dr. Self/Dentist MACON GA 31210 500 04/01/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
James, Lillas Dr. Self-Employed/Physician MACON GA 31211 500 04/14/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
James, Thomas C Mr. III James Bates Pope & Spivey/Attorney MACON GA 31204 1,000 05/15/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Morton, Daryl Mr. Self/Attorney MACON GA 31208 250 06/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Mullis, Gerald S Mr. Self-Employed/Attorney MACON GA 31211 250 06/07/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Oliner, Henry Mr. General Steel/Adminstrator MACON GA 31210 500 04/04/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Passante, Brian Mr. Boston Passante LLP/Attorney MACON GA 31202 388 06/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Passante, Brian Mr. Boston Passante LLP/Attorney MACON GA 31202 1,000 06/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Passante, Rebekah Mrs. Self/Attorney MACON GA 31202 1,000 06/11/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Plowden, W. Warren Mr. Jr. Jones Cork & Miller/Attorney MACON GA 31211 500 06/10/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Porter, Benjamin G Mr. Retired/Retired MACON GA 31210 1,000 06/16/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Ramsey, John Mr. Fairfield Financial/Broker MACON GA 31220 1,000 05/19/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Schnell, Kim D Mrs. None/Community Volunteer MACON GA 31210 1,000 06/27/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Sheridan, Chris Mr. Jr. Chris R. Sheridan & Co./General Con MACON GA 31211 1,000 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Shoffner, G. Michael Dr. Neurology Associates LLP/Neurologis MACON GA 31210 1,000 05/19/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Shurling, F. Tredway Mr. -- MACON GA 31210 500 04/27/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Solis, Maurice M Dr. Self-Employed/Physician MACON GA 31201 2,100 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Solis, Maurice M Dr. Self-Employed/Physician MACON GA 31201 2,100 06/30/2005
FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT Spiegel, John Dr. Neurology Associates/Physician MACON GA 31210 1,000 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Stephens, Jeffery L Dr. Mercer University School of Medici/ MACON GA 31210 750 06/30/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Terrill, Nancy F Ms. Mercer University/Attorney MACON GA 31204 1,900 06/16/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Terrill, Nancy F Ms. Mercer University/Attorney MACON GA 31204 2,100 06/16/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
Wight, Tom B Mr. Mulberry Street Investment Company/ MACON GA 31201 1,000 05/03/2005 FRIENDS OF JIM MARSHALL - DEMOCRAT
James, John E Mr. Harris & James/Attorney MACON GA 31211 500 02/23/2005 FRIENDS OF JOHN BARROW - DEMOCRAT
Patterson, Rudy Self-employed/Attorney MACON GA 31210 1,000 09/26/2005 FRIENDS OF JOHN BARROW - DEMOCRAT
Treadwell, Marc T Adams Jordan & Treadwell P.C./Attor MACON GA 31202 500 06/23/2005 FRIENDS OF JOHN BARROW - DEMOCRAT

More to come soon. It blows my mind that Anne Hudson gave money to Jim Marshmallow.
Oh well.
KAT

2005-12-07T00:09:00.000-05:00

Hello
I haven't made my rounds here as much since I have been working on the floor in the laundry, trying to pass this goshawful online series of exams for my class, and dealing with Christmas.

My career plans are in a state of flux. I know I have to leave Macon and quit being a homebody but I am finding myself less and less motivated by information technology. I have considered working for a defense contractor, being a journalist, or even being a nurse. I would make a good professor but don't have the patience with some students and most professors. Besides, government is a cop-out. The last time I gave up on information technology was when I tried to find a job in the local defense contractor community. It was like an alcoholic staying away from alcohol I kept gravitating towards information technology.

I will initiate a Kool-Aid drinker's list on another posting. It is voluminous. Lori Ugolik is one of the names along with two doctors who gave to Moveon.org.

Meanwhile I got hold of an aircheck of WABC's Saturday Night oldies show. For those unitiated, WABC was THE radio station when it came to hit music in the Sixties and Seventies. It didn't play everything out there but catered to a mainstream Top 40 audience. It was an AM station and the disco movement and FM radio killed it back in 1982. But its listeners didn't forget WABC entirely.

Corporate radio, along with rap music, drove off anyone over 30. Oldsters and aircheck nuts like myself worship WABC. So Phil Boyce, the program director, let the music play again on Dec. 3 with Mark Simone doing the talking. The phone calls were a bit much but this was part of a build-up. You can catch some cuts minus most of the music on airchexx.com (RIAA, who can sue if anyone gives away copyrighted music, says all but snippets of music are not to be posted on the Internet).

I just pray to God that Cumulus does NOT buy WABC and the rest of the ABC radio stations. They have ruined radio in Macon and made life miserable for those whom they did not run off. Can anyone say Rick Knight or Gerry Marshall at WDEN? They kicked the oldies to the curb at 105.5. I hope to see Cumulus in bankruptcy court; no tears for them if they make it there.

I am still boycotting Wal-Mart (for not allowing clerks to say "Merry Christmas") but that may come to a halt as K-Mart is a depressing place to shop. Yes, K-Mart/Sears officially disallows "Merry Christmas" but they aren't two-faced nor do they put on a homestyle front). The Warner Robins store looks like a going-out-of-business concern in some ghetto. Even the best-looking K-Mart isn't as well stocked with goodies. And I will NEVER go into Target; not only does the place shun Christmas it is a contributor to liberal causes.

KAT

2005-10-28T23:11:00.000-04:00

Today Jeb Bush, governor of Florida, in a sense blamed the Floridians for being short on food and ice. This sounds harsh but remember, these are the same people that probably have no spare tires or tools in their vehicles, haven't taken Red Cross safety courses, or checked their smoke alarms regularly. I myself have always been fascinated by emergency preparedness and disasters- not like I was in grammar school when "Jaws" and "The Towering Inferno" came out, though. Preparedness can mean the difference between life and death in many cases.

The governor advises three days of food and ice and other provisions. In the time leading up to a disaster this isn't the best last-minute purchase. I advise expanding on FEMA's guidelines and putting two additional days' supplies aside.

My ideas of preparedness are:

-Be sure the gas tank is full and fluids as well as tires checked in your vehicle.

-Store five days worth of food to supply 3000-4500 calories per adult.
MRE's, one per person per day at least. A family of three should get two cases of 12. The MRE is the same food soldiers eat in the field. Their advantage over canned food and freeze-dried food is not needing preparation or water. These can be stored in 70 degree temperature for five years. If you freeze them do NOT refreeze them or handle them roughly. You can get these from various internet resources. You can get various entrees and side items from MRE's separately.

Canned food lasts six months in most instances. Survivalist versions of canned food last well over a year in some cases. Just be sure to have a nonelectric can opener. You will need some paper plates, tin foil, bowls or mess kits, and drinking cups if you do this. Get a canteen cup or other cookware for heating your food.

Freezers can store all but bread effectively (mushy when thawed). When power goes out remove the items you need. A freezer can keep food good for two days without power. Store dry foods here. Good items requiring at the most just warm water are instant cream potatoes, crackers, powdered milk, cereals and trail mixes, dehydrated fruit, oatmeal, and granola bars. Expect to change these out every year. You will need instant tea, coffee, cocoa, or fruit drink in powdered form. Canned juice should last six months or a year.

You need a heat source such as propane stoves, trioxane bars, or MRE water-activated heaters. Just DON'T use them indoors unless there is adequate ventilation. Flammable gels are a viable option (Purel, for example). An old can with holes punched in it makes a good stove. Just be fire-safe.

-Store at least one gallon of water per person per day. Except for bottled water you should drain the water and replace it every six months. Put a few drops of chlorine bleach in the containers.

-Get copies of extremely vital documents and financial account information. Have extra medications and provisions for special health needs on hand. Have contact numbers for family members.

-Non-food supplies to have on hand are a shovel, hatchet, knife, rope, first aid kit and medicines for minor illness, small hand tools, trash bags, plastic Ziploc bags, two tarps, a tent, rescue or space blankets, flashlight, radio, extra batteries, matches, a compass, maps of the state and US, three changes of clothing, extreme weather clothing, paper and pencil, books and games, toiletry items, towels, a sleeping bag, and other items your emergency management agency specifies.

-You will need buckets with lids, duffel bags, and most certainly a backpack for these. Government surplus houses have good prices on backpacks.

-Learn survival skills for a disaster. Check "Are You Ready" at www.fema.gov. Various military documents provide information on how to deal with the cold and other "camping" information. Your military is the largest group of professional campers. Learn CPR and first aid by enrolling in courses hospitals, the Red Cross, and fire departments hold in your town.

This is not meant to be a total list but this should make Jeb happy.

KAT

2005-10-15T01:58:00.000-04:00

NOTE; THIS WAS CUT AND PASTED FROM ANOTHER BLOG OF MINE; PLEASE ACCEPT MY APOLOGIES FOR THE PUNCTUATION

I took my regular off day and two additional days off. I didn't know if I wanted to go hiking on Pine Mountain, go to Lake Sinclair National Campground, or to Charleston to see the Yorktown. The first two alternatives presented themselves as most feasible so I went to Lake Sinclair National Campground.First I had schoolwork to take care of. I had to check to see if my online course in Windows 2003 was under way and the password issues with email and the Expert online curriculum were working. They were. I saw the syllabus list Oct 12 (that Wednesday) as the day of a test. This was only suggested, I found out later. I did want to get the software for the class.

I hate that bookstore at CGTC. They make you stand there and present your HOPE credentials (for the grant). I told them I'd just pay via credit card and let the state cough up a book reimbursement check. I waited impatiently and went to the counter. I feel bad I changed my mind and asked if they could look up my HOPE information at the counter. I finally said to heck with it and paid using my credit card.I went home and packed. I packed in too many bags when two or three should have done nicely (not counting the one-man tent). I had the fishing gear in the truck anyway. I drove off around 5:00 and got to the campsite after stopping at Wal-Mart on Gray Highway and Ingle's in Gray (Wal-Mart was redoing their hot dog cooler).The campground is off Twin Bridges Road off GA 212 near Eatonton. I put a 20$ bill in the envelope though the fee for a campsite was 9.00 per day.

I made it in time before darkness set in. I put up a tent and tried to get a fire started. The worst part was kindling. I could not for the life of me get the fire going despite a trioxane bar (bar for soldiers to heat up MRE's before the flameless heaters came out in '92), Purel, and an initial burst of bug repellent (don't try this at home). I got in a long burst with the bug juice and attained a good fire.Next I cooked hot dogs. These were franks so as to not waste any food. I had soda and chips. It was almost 10:00 by this time so I went to beddy bye. I gave rescue breathing to my air mattress because I told myself I didn't need the pump I bought when David got married and I thought we'd need to crash on the floor at Ruth's.

The next morning around 10 am a lady woke me up and asked how long I'd be staying. She said she usually has my campsite but would camp next door. I hated to be mean but I didn't want to undo my tent, etc and move the numerous bags I had (I had four plus the radio, lantern, cooler, and what I removed upon settling).
I scouted out a fishing place and heard a guy go spash and grunt. I heard the lady that came to the tent earlier ask if he were okay. I walked fast then sprinted to the dock near my campsite. He was okay other than needing to dry out! He had dunked himself into two feed of water. Oh so that's how deep it is.

I had coffee heated with a triox bar. This took a while. Since my hiker's lantern lost its fuel I went to Eatonton to buy more. I thought I'd go to a small store where they charge an arm and a leg. Instead I found a Wal-Mart. I do have a soft spot for Wal-Mart though they do several bad things to associates and the community.I bought a tank of propane, ice, inflator kit for my compressor to blow up the bed, and some more alcohol hand sterilizer. It took 10 minutes either way from the lake to the Wal-Mart. I went up 129, then turned around at an abandoned house thinking I went the wrong way. I went up 441 and found I was right the first time!

I got to the campsite and had an MRE. That's a pouch with retort-packaged food designed for military personnel. I took the flameless heater out and put the meatloaf and creme potatoes in it and heated them. There were crackers in the meal too as well as a yellow vanilla cream sandwich. It was reasonably good.Then came the moment of truth. I went to this spot next to the campsite next to mine (D-31 was my site) and set up my gear. Overhead were the lines and bobbers from unfortunate fishermen. I used pink wigglers going two or three feet deep. I caught nothing but overhanging limbs three or four times. Something was nibbling at my bait but I caught nothing. The fish were splashing around though they weren't hungry.I got a fire going after blistering my hand from chopping a fallen tree trunk. I am becoming a believer in a saw. The kindling was rather moist as it had rained a little over the weekend. I had hot dogs. The tea I made was fair-to-middling. I hoped that some Kool-Aid mix could be found easily- or even that lemon tea that mixes in a heartbeat. I returned to fish and was becoming intemperate at the snagging that went on. I also sat there as I waited for my quarry and felt unhappy. I felt unhappy about the career choices I had before me. I felt unhappy that over 20 years of high school were out the window and I didn't feel but a little more like an adult than I did back then. I'm working on a prescription to get myself out of the doldrums.

As I went to bed that night I looked at the people in the campsite on the other side of the gully (the ones usually camping at D-31). They had a fire going and were still fishing. They seemed to enjoy themselves. I don't know if they caught anything. I should have asked and been a little more neighborly. Maybe I was embarassed about getting their favorite campsite.I showered at the bathhouse on the D loop before going to bed. I felt better about myself for doing so. Sleep was difficult on a half-inflated mattress and a bad urinary tract. The sleeping bag doesn't allow room for error, that is for sure.The next morning I left. I took a shower and went to bed when I got home. I didn't like the fact that I wimped out and didn't take another day of vacation time. I just didn't feel like stepping on anyone's toes at work. I would have enjoyed the trip much more. But I need to solve problems in my life at home instead of using a vacation to solve them. Who thinks a vacation lasts too long anyway?

2005-09-27T23:54:00.000-04:00

Tuesday Night
I have been very busy at work. My boss took off some time last week (Thursday through Saturday) to fix his new house. He is doing the same this week. I got frustrated but it was partly my fault my service area experienced such a backlog. I did not call two people about their machinery and spent time doing unneeded and incorrect repairs. One person got mad and came in Monday, slamming their laptop against the counter. The other person is a long-winded snob who seems not to be all that good a listener.

I did put in for some time off come October 15 and 16. I also applied for financial aid and a declaration of major at the technical college. I intend to take an online course.

I got a new toy. The Wagner Power Painter died and I tried to buy an inexpensive unit on Ebay. I was outbid. Thus I went to buy an air-powered sprayer to work in concert with my air compressor. I built a cage for the 10-gallon tank/one piston pump/electric motor combo on jury-rigged wheels. It takes some muscle to push the sucker around.

My Letter to the Editor concerned the need for a plaque at the Nike Hercules base site in Jeffersonville, GA. Phil Dodson worked at the "Birdie" office (Battery C)/Headquarters at Robins during the base's operation. He emailed me and told me this. He is the Editorial Page Editor at the Telegraph. Phil did make corrections to my letter. He said the Nike had a range of 100+ miles (my stats had it at 75) and mentioned its having the explosive warhead option (space did not permit me to mention this).

I feel guilty about wasting time in such a fashion but it is necessary to do some things for this world. I also have been hitting the job boards every other day on average. My goal of submitting 3 resumes per day hasn't been realized. I have been spending too much time being the Bill O'Reilly of the community.

I have also gotten frustrated about having the emotions of a teenager. April (who I dated last fall) told me this one time. I keep saying I need to get this or that problem resolved but it may be how I deal with a problem, not whether or not it gets resolved.

2005-09-22T03:06:00.000-04:00

Wednesday night I went to Dennis Station Access Area. It is a boat ramp and fishing dock off Twin Bridges Road near GA 212 and US 129. It is a 50 mile drive from south of Macon. I didn't catch anything. I don't know if it is because of its proximity to Plant Branch (the smokestacks are right across from the boat ramp). I fished with flat tails which were gargantuan. I don't think I am using the right bait for some reason. I did lose the bait off the hook for some reason so something is eating it. I heated some coffee using some triox bars burned in a can. After I did this I bagged the stinky trash from the can that was full to the brim. The state doesn't spend much effort to maintain the area though it isn't run down by any stretch of the imagination. It was windy and I saw ripples in the water. Hurricane Rita was dropping us in Middle Georgia a note.

I did go by the Lake Sinclair National Forest Campground which is six miles from the boat ramp. I like it when not so many camp there. There are some nice nooks and crannies for tent sites. The admissions gate is self-service. A sign says that hurricane refugees can write their address and put "Hurricane" on the pay envelopes and not pay a nickel to camp there. Of course many who need the free lodging aren't good campers nor do they have RV's.

Lake Sinclair National Forest Campground is a viable alternative for Hillsboro Lake, which is being revamped into a day-use picnic and fishing area. I went to Hillsboro on Sunday and found the tent sites dozed over and Accord sprayed for the weeds (a sign said spraying took place July 25). Another sign gave a July date for its conversion to a day use area but it is now September and I saw no gate over the entrance. I am sure the hurricanes and other obligations sapped the Forest Service's assets. Oddly the Oconee ranger's name is Bill Nightingale. I can imagine what his young life was like given such a name.

I will put in for a day or two off come late September or early October. I may camp at Sinclair, hike (only a mile or two) at Pine Mountain, or go to North Georgia.

2005-08-31T23:46:00.000-04:00

Katrina hits the pump hard
Today I went to Warner Robins and saw the lines at the pumps. It wasn't quite 1979 all over again, much less 1973. It was close. The first sign something was wrong came as a man had his burgundy SUV half in the road and half out. I wondered what the problem was. The Shell store on Russell Parkway had a line. I had heard of gas going up.

Up the road another station had up to 3.35 per gallon. I went to Watson Boulevard and at the corner gas station at Houston Lake there was a line. A man took a 4 off the sign; what place alongside the decimal in the price I do not know. Byron had lines but not as long when I reached the Byron exit.

I reemerged from my house after putting groceries up (some take-to-work food) and took the Explorer to the corner gas station. Only premium grade could be found; it cost 3.00. I put enough to keep the machine going to town and church. I took my Chevy, half-full of gas, to Byron to put 10.00 worth of the precious fluid in my car since it will be the mainstay of the Kturner fleet.

It is hideous what I saw on TV; people needing help but not being able to go anywhere. Relief is on the way for them but it may be too late for the sick and elderly. I did a rip of a video copy of an old Civil Defense film on Hurricane Camille. We did a project in 1996 and used the film to depict relief services in a hurricane. Relief is a process that has to be organized. Sadly you cannot take a helicopter and just throw food nor can you take a johnboat and save the whole darned city. Some need help more than others and those who have to wait will fight you.

I wish I had a week to go down there and help partly to "do good" for the sake of doing good but mostly for want to help a fellow human.

Thanks
KAT

2005-08-30T01:14:00.000-04:00

Hi!
I am Ken, a longtime resident of Bibb County. I remember more than many have forgot and less than some have lived through. I am eventually going to have to bid adieu to the area due to personal reasons but I see many good things about Macon. It would be nice to see some posts- and a variety too! I don't want to see just rock n' soul. I don't run a one-tune orchestra. And yes, I am open to opinion.

Many of you are baby boomers. That is good. My three sisters are baby boomers and I grew up on some of their music. In fact I am into old radio airchecks of Top 40 music stations. Check out airchexx.com and my website, http://www.mindspring.com/~kturnerga/aircheck. Posting about airchecks is welcome.

Oh and I'll post some things about my life past and present.

Thanks
Ken