new place, dead Atlanta politicians, trivia
Loving my new apartment. I have a full-size shower that actually drains. A dishwasher. My own AC (though it's really loud). And, as of yesterday, a cable modem.
While I wish the bathroom were bigger and the kitchen had more counter space, it's such an improvement on the last place I ain't complaining.
The move went pretty well. I actually managed to back up that 24' U-Haul (whose tagline is no longer "Adventures in Moving") perfectly into my teeny-tiny driveway, only to realize I needed to go down forward so I could then back up to the door. NikkiandPaul(andJonah) and Amy came by to help, and we had everything loaded in just a couple of hours. Getting the truck back up the driveway was easy: I just drove the thing around in the neighbors' back yard, making a big loop around their inexplicably placed beach chair & umbrella. We had it unloaded in about an hour.
Total time from truck pick-up to drop-off: 5 hours
Total miles from pick-up to drop-off: 6
Total cost of gas to refill truck to pick-up level: $5
Overall, much less of a headache than it all seemed it was doomed to be, what with folks dropping out at the last minute and the rental place running out of 14' trucks.
So now the place is pretty much put together. Just need to sort out the stereo situation, put away some old VHS tapes, and hang pictures. Oh, and wait until MomandWyman bring their old couch and loveseat from Charleston. Wyman volunteered to drive them up here for a ticket to a Braves game. Sold!
It's been a depressing week in Atlanta politics. First, former mayor Maynard Jackson dies on Monday, then, less than 48 hours later, former governor Lester Maddox dies. It's an interesting juxtaposition of men: Jackson was Atlanta's first black mayor, Maddox was Georgia's last segregationist governor. The AJC had a really good article about it this morning. (I can't believe I used "AJC" and "really good article" in the same sentence.) Their careers overlapped by a few years. Maddox finished his terms as governor and followed that by winning a race for Lt. Gov (under Jimmy Carter, no less) just as Jackson won his first mayor's race (against Atlanta's only Jewish mayor, Sam Massell - Jackson was his vice mayor, prompting many "kosher chitlins" jokes).
Mayor Jackson lay in state at City Hall today. When I walked past it around 12:45, there was a line snaking down Mitchell St around the corner onto Central. By 1:30, though, the line was only halfway down Mitchell. Gov. Maddox will lie in state here in the Capitol Rotunda tomorrow morning. Capitol employees (including your truly) won't have to come to work until noon, just before the funeral procession leaves for the funeral service and burial. Parking's gonna be a bitch. Jackson, a Dallas, TX native, will be buried on Saturday at historic Oakland Cemetery; Maddox, an Atlanta native, will be buried in Sandy Springs.
There was the usual politicking going on about flying the state flag at half-mast. They stayed up on Tuesday, then came down on Wednesday after Gov Maddox died, prompting local knee-jerk race-baiter Tyrone Brooks (who has gleefully taken over the job for the late Hosea Williams) to cry "wolf" - or, rather, racism. Sec'y of State (Democrat) Cathy Cox passed the buck to the governor, who basically told everybody to shut the hell up. The plan is to fly the flag at half-mast for Maddox Wed thru Fri, then again on Saturday for Jackson's funeral. Brooks wanted the flag down on Tuesday (through Saturday) for the mayor.
Look, people: Governors outrank mayors. Period. The end. Even racist ones. Especially since we're talking about the state flag. It's entirely appropriate to lower the flags in honor of Jackson; they probably would have come down for him on Wednesday if not for Maddox's death. But the folks in Bainbridge and Vienna couldn't care less about the mayor of Atlanta; why should they lower their flags? Maddox was governor of the whole state. Still, Jackson was an icon. If the flag can come down for Lewis Grizzard for two days and Hosea Williams for four, surely it can come down for four for Jackson.
And on a completely random note, it looks like I'll be picking up that Hooters of Conyers trivia show after all. So starting next week, it's Hooters on Tuesdays and ESPNZone on Wednesdays. Should I feel guilty for this?
While I wish the bathroom were bigger and the kitchen had more counter space, it's such an improvement on the last place I ain't complaining.
The move went pretty well. I actually managed to back up that 24' U-Haul (whose tagline is no longer "Adventures in Moving") perfectly into my teeny-tiny driveway, only to realize I needed to go down forward so I could then back up to the door. NikkiandPaul(andJonah) and Amy came by to help, and we had everything loaded in just a couple of hours. Getting the truck back up the driveway was easy: I just drove the thing around in the neighbors' back yard, making a big loop around their inexplicably placed beach chair & umbrella. We had it unloaded in about an hour.
Total time from truck pick-up to drop-off: 5 hours
Total miles from pick-up to drop-off: 6
Total cost of gas to refill truck to pick-up level: $5
Overall, much less of a headache than it all seemed it was doomed to be, what with folks dropping out at the last minute and the rental place running out of 14' trucks.
So now the place is pretty much put together. Just need to sort out the stereo situation, put away some old VHS tapes, and hang pictures. Oh, and wait until MomandWyman bring their old couch and loveseat from Charleston. Wyman volunteered to drive them up here for a ticket to a Braves game. Sold!
It's been a depressing week in Atlanta politics. First, former mayor Maynard Jackson dies on Monday, then, less than 48 hours later, former governor Lester Maddox dies. It's an interesting juxtaposition of men: Jackson was Atlanta's first black mayor, Maddox was Georgia's last segregationist governor. The AJC had a really good article about it this morning. (I can't believe I used "AJC" and "really good article" in the same sentence.) Their careers overlapped by a few years. Maddox finished his terms as governor and followed that by winning a race for Lt. Gov (under Jimmy Carter, no less) just as Jackson won his first mayor's race (against Atlanta's only Jewish mayor, Sam Massell - Jackson was his vice mayor, prompting many "kosher chitlins" jokes).
Mayor Jackson lay in state at City Hall today. When I walked past it around 12:45, there was a line snaking down Mitchell St around the corner onto Central. By 1:30, though, the line was only halfway down Mitchell. Gov. Maddox will lie in state here in the Capitol Rotunda tomorrow morning. Capitol employees (including your truly) won't have to come to work until noon, just before the funeral procession leaves for the funeral service and burial. Parking's gonna be a bitch. Jackson, a Dallas, TX native, will be buried on Saturday at historic Oakland Cemetery; Maddox, an Atlanta native, will be buried in Sandy Springs.
There was the usual politicking going on about flying the state flag at half-mast. They stayed up on Tuesday, then came down on Wednesday after Gov Maddox died, prompting local knee-jerk race-baiter Tyrone Brooks (who has gleefully taken over the job for the late Hosea Williams) to cry "wolf" - or, rather, racism. Sec'y of State (Democrat) Cathy Cox passed the buck to the governor, who basically told everybody to shut the hell up. The plan is to fly the flag at half-mast for Maddox Wed thru Fri, then again on Saturday for Jackson's funeral. Brooks wanted the flag down on Tuesday (through Saturday) for the mayor.
Look, people: Governors outrank mayors. Period. The end. Even racist ones. Especially since we're talking about the state flag. It's entirely appropriate to lower the flags in honor of Jackson; they probably would have come down for him on Wednesday if not for Maddox's death. But the folks in Bainbridge and Vienna couldn't care less about the mayor of Atlanta; why should they lower their flags? Maddox was governor of the whole state. Still, Jackson was an icon. If the flag can come down for Lewis Grizzard for two days and Hosea Williams for four, surely it can come down for four for Jackson.
And on a completely random note, it looks like I'll be picking up that Hooters of Conyers trivia show after all. So starting next week, it's Hooters on Tuesdays and ESPNZone on Wednesdays. Should I feel guilty for this?