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June 1, 2005
Atlanta is having one fine rainy spell, which undoubtedly wrecked more than a few people’s outdoor plans over the Memorial Day holiday. I, however, am loving this weather! Anyone who was raised in the Pacific Northwest has a special relationship with rainy days, not to mention how wonderful this misty weather is for one’s complexion.
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Accountability only goes so far as we have now all discovered in observing the pitiful and sorry saga of the Runaway Bride of Duluth,
Jennifer Wilbanks. She ponied up $13,249.09 to repay the city of Duluth for only the overtime hours and out of pocket expenses the city incurred in the bogus search for her wet footprints. Well, that was a Just Barely gesture, wasn’t it? Don’t anybody be bowled over. I think it is good the city managed to recover that much! Duluth will just have to write off the rest of that search effort, as law enforcement would have had to go to work anyway, according to the “overtime theory.” Puh-leeze!
The folks in Duluth are wonderful people and Wilbanks was “one of theirs” through the old-line Mason-fiance family connection. They pulled out all the stops to try to find her, terrified she might already be dead. I guess she can still be considered “one of theirs,” but old Jennifer might now want to consider switching to a paper bag over her head instead of a striped shawl when she goes to the Kroger.
Let’s hope, however, that our District Attorney
Danny Porter decides against prosecuting poor Jennifer for her brainless flight from matrimony. Most people really do not want official matters to be carried that far. Restitution to the city of Duluth was what most folks thought was fair.
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We must have more loonies in Atlanta than other people have in their cities. We just get through this Runaway Bride deal when another nut-bar climbs a tall construction crane over our hugely traveled Peachtree Road and threatens to jump. Well, that stunt tied up traffic and shot area business for a couple of days. That poor loser is now in jail, where he is receiving the usual expensive taxpayer support. I think it is dreadfully scary to contemplate what must be laaaarge numbers of seriously mentally sick people who are walking around loose in our general population. They are already off the scale of dysfunction and just waiting for a media opportunity to whack out. Then somebody will write a book or make a movie about the fiasco. Double awful!
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I had an interesting restaurant experience recently. In my line of sight were a young mother and her pre-teen daughter. They were enjoying an appetizer of chips and spinach dip. The chips which are presented in this restaurant are very large triangles, very large indeed. Both mother and daughter were dipping the chips without breaking them and making valiant efforts to fit the whole deal into their mouths. The extent of the facial distortions necessary to accommodate the huge chip with dip load was quite comical. Critical thinking skill, if not table manners, would have had those folks break the chips into manageable bites before they ate them. I guess it’s good nobody choked. A Darwin award could have been hovering.
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With the recent passage of Senate Bill 110 by our Georgia General Assembly, a massage therapists’ licensing board was created. There was a provision for one consumer seat on this board, the rest of which were licensed massage therapist seats. We in Peachtree Corners are hoping that United Peachtree Corners Civic Association Executive Board member
Marlene Gaskill will be appointed by Governor
Sonny Perdue to this consumer seat on this board. Gaskill’s name is written all over this seat! She was the singular leader in exposing the bogus “spas” that had cropped up virtually overnight in our area, “spas” that were nothing more than fronts for prostitution. She worked with our County Commissioner
Bert Nasuti to strengthen Gwinnett’s ordinances that regulate such businesses and was responsible for law enforcement’s maintaining heat on these places until they closed. She would do a wonderful job serving on this licensing board.
Things will move slowly, however, since there is currently no appropriation at all for the massage board. No such board existed, nor had one even been proposed when the Governor presented his current state budget to the General Assembly. Senator
David Shafer (R-48th) says the first shot at funding this board will come in the next session of the General Assembly in January 2006. He will push to get the board appointed and in place so that it is ready to begin its work as soon as its funding is in place. Keep your eye on this, my friends. We do not want to keep on having to deal with these gnarly bogus “spas.”
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There is a huge business opportunity for someone who wants to design, manufacture, and market clothing for women over 40 years of age, clothing that is made in America, with talent and pride! I was sorting out some closets and could not help but compare the quality construction of the stuff I have owned for years and years with the non-quality construction of what comes to us from offshore the last few years or so, name brands included. Just take a moment and look at the labels on your clothing. It is nearly all made in some other country. This isn’t right, my friends. We should NOT be sending all this money overseas. Even my reading glasses were made in China!
It used to be that clothing was an investment because the garments were classically styled and well constructed and LASTED. It ought to be that way again—we should not be stuck with car wash cloths after one washing, so to speak. With so much commercial space sitting idle these days, a location for manufacture could probably be found under market rates. Putting together a business plan for this deal ought to be relatively easy, too. The clothes that are available for women over 40 today just do not reflect the demographics of this country…you won’t find cropped tops on too many older women, or low rise slacks. Not everybody is happy with the fashion offerings that have been presented to consumers over the last few years. My plan would be to go back to “classic” and “flattering” and I think we can resurrect the garment industry in America if we start small and work the niche. Not everybody wants to wear garments made in Sri Lanka or Mexico. I think such a venture would have great support.
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Hope all is well and thanks for reading!
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