Southern Sojourner

McCalla Rising

Yee Ha!  Things are jumping and McCalla is hopping!  The long awaited Colonial Tannehill Promenade is open (at least some of it) and so far so good.  I have seen more movies this past week (2) than I have in the previous 9 months.  The Publix is great with a nice beverage selection and friendly employees.  I will probably go in there at least 2 more times this year, my experience was so positive.

The much ballied hooed Target opened as well and it is nice I suppose, but I don't think they were quite ready.  They weren't fully stocked and my experience with the employees was uninspiring.  Most seemed ill informed and in a daze.  My sister however has a pleasant experience and I am hopeful.  The thing is, I get so stressed in those big box retailers (Best Buy not withstanding).  There are just too many people.  People walking too slow or two abreast blocking the aisle.  Others going too fast crossing right in front or behind you so you spend all your time looking where you are going rather than looking over their goods.  I may go in there one more time this year.  That would not count the times I go into the Starbucks cafe.  I don't count it as an attendance unless I go past the cash registers.  A good cup of coffee, less than five minutes from the homestead is indeed worth celebrating.

The movie house is open and it is as nice as anything in town.  The screens are all digital light projection and all have digital sound.  The chairs are comfortable, and there is plenty of leg room.  Again the customer service is needing some improvement, but I will give them a pass for the first few weeks and will definitely see another movie there this year.  I have heard from some "out of towners" who have tried it and have already claimed the movie house as their own.  I invite each of you to come spend your dollars here.

Zaxby's has opened and I have eaten there once as has Habeneros, where I have also dined once already.  I am going to go out on a limb and say that I will be back several more times this year. 

Chick-fil-a is being constructed as I type and the Logan's Roadhouse is getting closer to completion.  Other dining opportunities await with the McAlister's Deli, Taco Bell, and Burger King and a COOKIE STORE!  The Deli will be nice since I could get a salad after I tire of drive thrus. 

All in all, I will say that this is a very, very good thing for Southwest Jefferson County.  It is time for the residents of Bessemer, McCalla, Lakeview, Woodstock, Green Pond, Hueytown, Pleasnt Grove, Oak Grove, Sylvan Springs and those of us in the county to prove that we have for too long been under served.  Show up, shop, dine, entertain and show Birmingham that there is more to this metropolis that "Over the Mountain", Shelby County, and Trussville.  Arise McCalla! Arise Bessemer Cutoff!  Arise my friends who are tired of driving!  Arise and discover what we have known all along.  This is a fine and proud community.

Rants and Raves at the end of 38

    First, thanks to all the well wishers that offered their thoughts on my birthday.  Most came through Facebook, which I haven't used much of late.  I was wasting too much time on it so I got away from it, though it is great way to find old acquaintances. That said, I appreciate all the greetings, but I can't respond individually to each you.  I am sure you understand.

    Life has been busy. I hate saying that because I don't want to come off like one of those incessant whiners who is always complaining about being busy as if they are to be rewarded for their martyrdom. It is so tiresome.  We are all busy, so get over it.

    So I am not griping in the least.  I feel blessed .  My business continues to grow and the prospects of a sustainable career are now within sight. But running a growing business by yourself, attempting to serve your clients as they rightly deserve, trying to be technologically efficient while trying to continue marketing efforts that will keep new business coming in, all the while maintaining life balance with my family, friends and having time for myself as well has proven challenging.  Blogging has suffered as a consequence.

    As usual there have been many stories that have caught my attention, other events that are worth sharing. So since, it is 11:15 P.M. I will use the ubiquitous bullet format for what has been happening in my mind and life that merits a mention.

• One of the great things about having a toddler:  Goldfish!  You would never feel right about buying this stuff for yourself, but Emerson has been very generous with her Goldfish and her old man thanks her. Delicious.

• Alabama is the 2nd fattest state in the country and 66% of the population has a gun.  Yikes.  Perhaps if we (I do mean we) got off our lazy ass butts and quit getting our fears aroused by over dramatized news, we would drop a few pounds and quit shooting each other.

• We sold Tracy's car and we now have a three weeks to find her a new one before she heads back to school.  I hate cars. I hate the fact that we have to have two.  I hate the fact Birmingham has no reputable and reliable mass transportation system.  I hate having to save for two years only to spend it all on a depreciating utility that destroys our environment, makes oil companies richer, and will have to be replaced in another 5-7 years.

• I am not looking forward to the Olympics, but I am looking forward to the political conventions.  I love patriotic drunken happy liars. I don't like seeing people's dreams and life's ambitions shattered in a matter of moments. For every medal winner there are all those loser's who have worked so hard for nothing.  Just sad. 

• I have an iPhone and I love it.  The Pandora application is fantastic as is the NY Times access. It is a fabulous piece of technology.  That said, I will not put an "apple" sticker on my vehicle window.  I will not trash PC users and I will not claim moral superiority.  Take note Mac users.

• The Tannehill Promenade is coming to life.  The movie house, a restaurant are already open.  Target and Publix open this week.  Coming are more restaurants, shops and crap like that.  I am looking forward to reducing my spending in Hoover.

• I heard from my old room mate in college on facebook and I am really looking forward to talking with him on the phone soon.  That is news in itself because as a rule I hate the phone.  It is one of the necessary evils in this society.  I just do not like talking on the phone.

• I finished 2nd out of 2,700 players in the Full Tilt Poker freeroll tournament the other night.  I was stoked.  It did take almost 6 hours and my winnings amounted to a little over $2 per hour, but I'll take a free $12 anyday particularly on something as enjoyable as poker.

• Finally, what is the friggin' deal with these Bluetooth devices. Really, do you have to have that goofy thing in your ear all the time.  We ate dinner at Bottega tonight and there were these four folks at the table next to us.  It was obvious that is was a business dinner.  And there was this guy, sitting there in his suit and tie and this stupid blinking ear piece in his ear.  I wanted to stab my fork into his temple (or maybe mine).  If you are having a dinner with friends, business associates, or family or whomever, show a little respect and demonstrate that for the next hour or so you are committed to them and that conversation and turn your stinking phone off.  AAAHHHHRRRHHH!  That just drives me crazy.

• Bottega is deliciously overpriced.  My food was very good but good grief.  And the pretense in that place is palpable.  That is definitely not my scene.

Anyway, in reading back over this it appears like I am griping a lot.  But the reality is I start my 39th year tomorrow and life is good even when it is busy.  I hope to hear from many of you soon.  E-mail, comment on the blog or drop by the house rather than call though. :)

Woo Hoo!

Sent from my iPhone

Bush's Pro Life Hypocrisy

It would seem to me that it is pretty obvious that Republicans have exploited the issue of abortion and homosexuality to garner religious support. So many evangelicals have embraced the Republican party as if it were the party of G*d Him/Herself. 

I overheard my Granddad (whom I love and respect very much) say to someone, "I don't know how you could be a Christian and vote for Obama."  I didn't say anything, but I wanted to say, "But Granddaddy, I'm a Christian."  But you pick your battles and it wasn't one I wanted to fight and not with a man who is salt of the Earth, but just spouting off crap he hears in his own confined little world.  Misinformed and unthoughtful.

Had I wanted to fight, I  could have pointed out the hypocrisy of the "pro life" agenda, one that is often tossed out as being one of the reasons so many of the religious have a blind love affair with the Grand Ole' Party (or God's Own Party). "We champion human life!," they like to say.  Really?

• A pro life agenda that is truly pro life would not rush to war, lie to its country as to why we were fighting, and have its supporters (e.g. Dick Cheney's former company, etc.) profit from the mayhem, while minimum wage workers spend a full day of work just paying for their commute..
• A true pro life agenda would not allow the Environmental Protection Agency devalue the "value of human life" so that regulations could be softened because regulations may cut into their economic prowess.
• A true pro life agenda would call for more than a mere 50% cut in carbon emissions by 2050 instead of trying to make science fit their own economic agendas. 
• A true pro life agenda would work to ensure that contraceptives were readily available to prevent "unwanted" pregnancies.
• A true pro life agenda would not allow genocide.
• A true pro life agenda would make sure that the sons and daughters that were sacrificing their lives for their country didn't come home to sit in hospital rooms of excrement at it facilities and deny them the mental health care they so desperately need.
• A true pro life agenda would allow embryonic stem cell research to take place when these embryos have no chance of coming to conception.
• A true pro life agenda can't refuse a moratorium on death penalty cases while we continue to execute some who are not guilty.  I could argue that a pro life agenda couldn't support a death penalty in the first place. If life is sacred, then it is sacred, even when it the results of that life have been horrific. 

All that to say, "pro life" has to mean more than abortion.  But for Republicans such comprehensive views may complicate their power over blind religious followers.  Why mess things up, when they can get their tax cuts, make their record profits, while using the religion to distract us from their real agendas. 

I am not dead, I promise

So this has been the longest period of time in which I have not blogged since I started.  I don't like that but it has not been entirely my fault.  I had to "upgrade" my firewall and security suite on my PC and when I did, I ran into some issues, one of them being that it did not like Typepad "editor." 

To be fair to me, which I always am, I did sit down to post on at least four occasions with undoubtedly fantastic content, only to be shunned by persnickety security issues.  But I am not dead and I hope to rant here in this space soon. Thanks for being so faithful in my absence.