Lake Lanier Woes, Part 3

My neighbor heard some rather shocking news today regarding the City of Cumming’s plans for routing the water into town. He met a surveyor in his yard and apparently they are going to go through our creek and up through Roger’s yard. The surveyor asked if he had gotten a letter yet. Yikes.

That doesn’t make any sense! That is a lot longer path to go from the current pumphouse to the city. My neighbor said it’s going to be about 40 feet wide taken of his land. Plus all the digging they will have to do to come around the creek and up our way, up his hill and to the street. What is going on?

He also said that the city manager has been going to Mobile 3x a week. Why does the City of Cumming Manager need to go to the Army Corps headquarters when they will not listen to the Governor of Georgia? What are they hiding?

Anyway, I need to research what our rights are if they come between our yards and the whole eminent domain issue. That means our trees will go in the front right side of our yard. This is so upsetting.

We also wonder if the lake level is being held so they can dig. The lake dropped for the first time in awhile and they released 3x more water than usual. What is going on???? Who does the Army Corps answer to? Where are our checks and balances? The rumors are flying in Forsyth County and it’s not good.
Who can help us, Clark Howard? WSB-TV? Someone!

Lake Lanier Woes, Part Two

The latest rumor on our street about the City of Cumming and Army Corps of Engineers is that they will keep dredging until September 08. The heavy trucks continue to tear up our roads and some people’s yards continue to get parked on. My neighbor thinks that since they have so much equipment invested in the lake in young deer creek, that they are purposely keeping the water level down.

On weekends when there is rain in the forecast, the water is released before the rain comes and the readings appear different than what they should be. My neighbor has been measuring.

That coupled with the fact that there is a lot of dredging equipment where the water would come up makes us think that it will be a long while before our water comes back to full pool. Even a Congressman who lives across the lake from us wonders what is going on. I think they are keeping things from us. We can handle whatever truth there is, but just don’t hide things from the local citizens. It’s our money they are using to dig for more water in the first place.

This wouldn’t happen if English was the official language of the United States

This is out of control. Now congress is going to allocate funds to help teach English in schools? It is time that we make English the official language of the United States before we have to start catering to a barrage of languages and bending over backwards to please everyone. If you come to the US, you know you need to know English. Period.

House OKs English-language instruction

Senate to vote today on $40 million for language instruction; allocation system faces fight
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0410flores0410.html

WTF? And now the Senate votes…

Help a Reporter.com

As a public relations person, I am always looking for ways to connect with journalists. Here is a great web site and newsletter for journalists seeking experts and sources. Peter Shankman is hilarious and started it out of the goodness of his heart. He also offers humor and insight into the curious world of PR. Check it out.

http://www.helpareporter.com

The new Press form can be found at www.helpareporter.com/press

HARO rules!!!

Cheeky Monkey! Seven Year Old Loves Monkeys, Creates Online Store with Monkey Themed Gifts

My friend's seven year old daughter loves monkeys and is known to friends and family as the monkeylady. She recently started her own online monkey themed gift store and is saving for college. Check it out - it has the cutest monkey-themed personalized gifts!

www.monkeylady.com

"Thank you for visiting my webstore, monkeylady.com, which specializes in cute monkey stuff! My name is Michaela but my family and friends call me Monkeylady. I am 7 years old and I LOVE MONKEYS! I thought it would be fun to run my own business and sell the things I love, with help from my mom of course. I pick all of the products for my store and help with photography, product descriptions, personalization, packing and shipping. I promised my Mom that I will save all my profits for college (and a few new monkeys every once in a while). I will be adding more monkey products so be sure to check back soon! You can email me at michaela@monkeylady.com if you have any questions!"

All Things Monkey! Backpacks, purses, picture frames, jewelry, magnets, plush, room decor, you name it. http://www.monkeylady.com/

I personally recommend the quilted backpack (in Michaela's words):

"Quilted Backpack with Monkey, one of my favorites. It has a drawstring top and a magnetic snap closure on the flap. My mom will put your name on this bag. Just choose your font and thread color. My favorite thread color for this bag is orange." It is $26.50 and you can personalize it.

http://www.monkeylady.com/Personalized-Quilted-Monkey-Backpack-p/sj1099a.htm

Attention Cancer Survivors in Alpharetta, GA

Sometimes The Lap Is The Victory

Cancer Survivors & Caregivers…this is for YOU!

Relay For Life of Alpharetta
Friday, May 2, 2008
Alpharetta High School
Survivor Activities –
Dinner at 6:00 PM
Survivor Lap at 7:00 PM

For cancer survivors, each day, month and year is a victory. The American Cancer Society invites all cancer survivors to join our survivors' celebration and first lap at this year's Relay For Life. We applaud your courage and strength and want you to join in our community's effort to take up the fight against cancer.

If you are a cancer survivor and are interested in participating in the 2008 Alpharetta Relay for Life, please contact me. Check out http://www.alpharettarelayforlife.org or call Kate at 678-522-3823 for more information.

Crayon or chapstick in the dryer? Either way it's pink.

Well I just witnessed my first dryer debaucle as a mom. My four year old daughter left a pink girls lipstick/chapstick in her pocket and shazam! Everything is pink. Of course, it occurred when I was drying her school uniforms. Aargghhhhhhhhh.

Thank goodness for the internet! I did a quick search, read a forum and a few minutes later ran the dryer to heat/melt the lipstick, then cleaned it away with a damp washcloth and comet.

Here is the awesome web site. Note to self, start checking her pockets!

http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf690227.tip.html

Mayer? A New John's in Town

John Mayer, yes he's great and I love his work. But I am more proud of my cousin John Gurney and his band. Here is his myspace link. He won the talent contest at University of Missouri last year. And a claim to fame of his is that he lives in Brad Pitt's room at his fraternity house. Love it! Go John - we are so proud of you and wish we could see you more.

http://www.myspace.com/thejohngurneyband

Farewell 99X

I moved to Atlanta in 1993 after I graduated college and 99X had just begun as the only alternative station in the southeast. It was great. I grew up with the station and enjoyed getting to know the DJ's like we were old friends.

I'm sorry to see you go. You will be missed. Steve Craig is brilliant and I will miss my favorite 80s lunch hour show.

I have many fond memories of Resurrection Sunday at the Atlanta Beer Garden in Buckhead and many great concerts were brought to Atlanta thanks to them.

Leslie Fram, you have made an impact on radio and as a fan, thank you for all that you have done!

http://www.99x.com/