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Columns

  • Stop trashing our roadsides

    If our roadsides are littered with trash, it's mostly us who's doing it. No one is sneaking into the county at night and throwing old washing machines, refrigerators and household garbage on roadsides. When Robert Presnell informed Gadsden County commissioners it's costing the taxpayers $1 million a year. That is money we are thowing away. Just think of what this county could do with a million dollars.

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  • I can quit anytime...really...

    Anyone who knows me well knows that I have a profile in Facebook, which I check via my cell phone several times a day. It’s a great way to stay in touch with family and friends. It’s also one of the quickest ways to reach me.

    If you’re not familiar with Facebook, it’s a social network on the Internet. You can sign up for free, and you can e-mail people, add photos, post notes and update your status frequently – your status is however you’re feeling or whatever you’re doing at any given moment.

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  • Braggers' rights are yours for the taking

    I hear it all the time. People, mostly males, bragging on their barbecue. They have secret recipes, secret sauces, secret ways to build a fire and secret wood or charcoal. Wherever the male mystique with the cooking of meats over an open flame came from, it has lasted since lightning set fire to a tree and some unsuspecting animal was cooked.

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  • Just about reached the end of my pencil

    In March of 1984 Iran accused Iraq of using chemical weapons. I remember thinking, "Who cares?" The only reason I’d ever heard of either place was because back in junior high Miss Velna Gray Paschall made us learn the major food crops of every nation in the world (rye, barley, oats, wheat and corn for both, in case you are interested). That same year, “Terms of Endearment” won the Academy Award for Best Picture. Again, I didn’t care. I was pulling for, “The Return of Billy Jack.” The Macintosh computer was introduced in 1984.

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  • There's nothing wrong with it; we're just making it better

    As I was leaving the paper one evening recently, I met up with a delightful older woman who, after retrieving a paper from our box out front, asked, “What’s wrong with this paper?”

    She was referring to the size of the paper. If you’re a regular reader, you’ve probably noticed the size of the paper has narrowed a bit. I have written about that before. It’s because, as I explained to my new friend that evening, we’ve changed printers. The move has helped us keep costs low for us and for our readership.

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  • We beat 'em and got bottled water in return

    The North Koreans have fired (OK, semi-fired) off a ballistic missile. Iran is bragging loudly to anyone who will listen of their growing nuclear program. Every day it seems some wannabe world power is on the brink of attacking or at least posturing to do harm to anyone it feels led to point a finger at. It can be a little unnerving.

    Someone commented around the water cooler this week that it would be nice to live in the “idyllic 1950s where no such threats and innuendos existed and everyone lived in peace and harmo—”

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  • Come out and support the rally; you just might learn something

    When you have the facts on any subject, you are better armed on how to handle any situation.

    On Saturday, from noon to 5 p.m. the Refuge House will host an event to bring attention to sexual assault in the community. While the event will be sprinkled with entertainment, refreshments, games and giveaways, the message is a serious one. Information will be available to victims of sexual assault. It could also be useful to families, friends, spouses or partners of a victim of sexual assault in helping with the recovery process.

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  • There's always the 'armpit of doom'

    How quickly children learn.

    I recently received an e-mail from my brother telling me something my niece had done, a la “Gigi” – Gigi is what she calls me.

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  • Maturity is where it's at

    I know by the calendar and the number of birthdays I have celebrated that I'm becoming a mature woman. It's no surprise and I'm not complaining. I love where I am right now.

    I can travel and enjoy the scenery, the sights and the food to my heart’s content. By the end of the day, I'm not so tired that all I can do is collapse and fall in bed. I know what I like and don't like because I've already tried it.

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  • Making a statement with a puff of smoke

    I don’t smoke because of baseball.

    I sure wanted to smoke. I thought those guys in the movies were cool the way they thumped that cigarette away as they made a definite statement about life, love or horses, or all three! If an actor was really peeved, he’d grind that butt into the ground as he exited, stage right. And who could forget Jeff Chandler’s command as he gave his men a brief respite in their trek across the Philippines in “Merrill’s Marauders”: “OK, men, take five. Smoke 'em if you got 'em!”

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