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From a faithful reader:
Great blog! I very much enjoy reading it every week, and daily when time permits. Occasionally, you provoke a thought or two and thought I might share or at least minimally regurgitate a bit. I moved out of the Shoals area years go to the economically greener fields of the Huntsville metro area a couple of decades ago, but have still ties and visit often. Maybe a bit less after my parents have passed on, but still upon occasion.
1) "We have read the articles about the bad service/food from the Muscle Shoals Logan’s We wonder if they will be next." Horrible. Truly pathetic service and food. In general, I like Logan's just fine and have dined at numerous Logan's throughout the South. But the worst one - hands down - was the Muscle Shoals location. I have tried to eat there several times on visits back, and have yet to have good service or a properly cooked meal. Not once. And never again.
2) "How many of you want to move to New York City? That’s what we thought. One of our readers told us yesterday that we couldn’t make it there as she had done. No, according to AB, those left here are, as we understand her meaning, inferior." That's an interesting viewpoint. I got out myself 19 years ago n 1997. A few years ago, my mom passed away and my dad and I were walking around in his front yard (in Ford City) under some 80 foot pine trees that I planted when I was in fourth grade in 1976. He told me, "With your mom gone, I am going to redo my will and leave this place to you instead of your brother. I really want to see it stay in the family." "Dad, I understand, and you can do what you like... but you have to understand - I'm not moving back." It almost broke his heart but there's nothing left for me in the Shoals - I have no relatives there and there is no job in my technical field, and I decided long ago that my legacy is in my bloodlines and not my dirt. Many people bemoan the migration away of young professionals and talent from the Shoals - but it really is pretty easy to understand. If not for the music industry - which is not exactly a high paying field for anyone right now - what is there to attract new talent and workers to come to the Shoals? Investment and growth there compared to other parts of the state is pathetic. The Shoals has a wealth of natural resources and talents, beautiful scenery and locations, a pair of clean, vibrant downtown areas in Tuscumbia and Florence, and a comprehensive community college and four year college. The tools are available but seem to go unused.
3. "While writing the above, we had the thought, is it best to hire within the Department or outside the Department." I have enjoyed both the administrative and elected official candidate updates you have provided as well as your opinion and insight regarding them. I used to go to church with both Tony Logan and Ron Tyler; while I was not particularly close with either, I always felt that they were pretty good guys. I also knew Kerry (Bubba!) Underwood fairly well growing up outside of Leighton (his mom taught me one year in grade school). Ron Tyler in particular, is fairly active on Facebook and often discusses details - and even dissenting opinions - about the Florence Police Department and why they make some decisions that are made. In this era, it is refreshing to see some transparency.
4. "You can’t say that our blog isn’t ready to jump into the pressing issues of the day, and with that we’ll attempt to answer the important question of just who owns the panty tree under the Old Railroad Bridge. The Midnight Rider has assigned the tree to Sheffield, but at least one reader has questioned that, asserting the tree is closer to Florence than Sheffield." Ok, I laughed. I didn't even know that was there until I took some photos of some visiting friends on the railroad bridge one day after we had walked all the way out to the end. I assume there are some unwritten rules involved here that are inviolate - such as you can't bring a second pair just to throw on the tree? And so forth. Maybe Shoalanda can muse at length one day about the unwritten rules of the Shoals area some day. You know, stuff like 'if you have stomach gas or need to fart on a date, make sure you drive down 2nd street in Muscle Shoals so you can blame the water treatment plant for the smell" and so forth. That would be a fun article to read. :- )
Anyway, just some random musings on a slow Friday. Keep up the good work!
1) "We have read the articles about the bad service/food from the Muscle Shoals Logan’s We wonder if they will be next." Horrible. Truly pathetic service and food. In general, I like Logan's just fine and have dined at numerous Logan's throughout the South. But the worst one - hands down - was the Muscle Shoals location. I have tried to eat there several times on visits back, and have yet to have good service or a properly cooked meal. Not once. And never again.
2) "How many of you want to move to New York City? That’s what we thought. One of our readers told us yesterday that we couldn’t make it there as she had done. No, according to AB, those left here are, as we understand her meaning, inferior." That's an interesting viewpoint. I got out myself 19 years ago n 1997. A few years ago, my mom passed away and my dad and I were walking around in his front yard (in Ford City) under some 80 foot pine trees that I planted when I was in fourth grade in 1976. He told me, "With your mom gone, I am going to redo my will and leave this place to you instead of your brother. I really want to see it stay in the family." "Dad, I understand, and you can do what you like... but you have to understand - I'm not moving back." It almost broke his heart but there's nothing left for me in the Shoals - I have no relatives there and there is no job in my technical field, and I decided long ago that my legacy is in my bloodlines and not my dirt. Many people bemoan the migration away of young professionals and talent from the Shoals - but it really is pretty easy to understand. If not for the music industry - which is not exactly a high paying field for anyone right now - what is there to attract new talent and workers to come to the Shoals? Investment and growth there compared to other parts of the state is pathetic. The Shoals has a wealth of natural resources and talents, beautiful scenery and locations, a pair of clean, vibrant downtown areas in Tuscumbia and Florence, and a comprehensive community college and four year college. The tools are available but seem to go unused.
3. "While writing the above, we had the thought, is it best to hire within the Department or outside the Department." I have enjoyed both the administrative and elected official candidate updates you have provided as well as your opinion and insight regarding them. I used to go to church with both Tony Logan and Ron Tyler; while I was not particularly close with either, I always felt that they were pretty good guys. I also knew Kerry (Bubba!) Underwood fairly well growing up outside of Leighton (his mom taught me one year in grade school). Ron Tyler in particular, is fairly active on Facebook and often discusses details - and even dissenting opinions - about the Florence Police Department and why they make some decisions that are made. In this era, it is refreshing to see some transparency.
4. "You can’t say that our blog isn’t ready to jump into the pressing issues of the day, and with that we’ll attempt to answer the important question of just who owns the panty tree under the Old Railroad Bridge. The Midnight Rider has assigned the tree to Sheffield, but at least one reader has questioned that, asserting the tree is closer to Florence than Sheffield." Ok, I laughed. I didn't even know that was there until I took some photos of some visiting friends on the railroad bridge one day after we had walked all the way out to the end. I assume there are some unwritten rules involved here that are inviolate - such as you can't bring a second pair just to throw on the tree? And so forth. Maybe Shoalanda can muse at length one day about the unwritten rules of the Shoals area some day. You know, stuff like 'if you have stomach gas or need to fart on a date, make sure you drive down 2nd street in Muscle Shoals so you can blame the water treatment plant for the smell" and so forth. That would be a fun article to read. :- )
Anyway, just some random musings on a slow Friday. Keep up the good work!
*****
We're aware that there has been some very misguided speculation recently about owners of this blog and various other Shoals cyberspace sites.We hope this clears it all up for most people, but for those it doesn't...yes, Bigfoot is our principal writer.
* Our blog is not connected to any other site in any appreciable way. It's an opinion BLOG and not a news site.
* There are three major news sites (meaning they publish with regularity) in the Shoals and two or three minor ones (they do not publish with regularity or simply regurgitate news links). We are not connected to these sites with mutual owners or editors, etc.
* We do have an advertising compact with the Shoals Insider and Pen-N-Sword. If you want to advertise with us, you may choose one site, two sites, or all three sites.
* We post links from both these news sites which are excellent publications. We post more from PNS simply because they publish more. The owner of SI is an extremely busy person and does not have the opportunity to publish multiple articles every day of the week.
* The three major news sites we have mentioned all publish a great deal about crime. In other words, they publish more information than the TimesDaily. If you have a friend or relative mentioned in these sites, please remember it is not the site's fault that your loved one committed a crime. That seems to be a hard pill for many to swallow.
I was wondering this weekend why I was asked if I was Shoalanda.
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