By Elliott Brack
Editor and Publisher, GwinnettForum
SEPT. 10, 2021 | A now deceased attorney was familiar with many of the small towns of South Georgia, and had a theory which applies elsewhere. “You can tell a good deal about a town just by looking at its cemeteries and its courthouse. If they are kept up neat and clean, that’s a pretty good town to live in.”
We agree, and have seen that played out in many towns. It seems that some communities just don’t think much of their key facilities, and that tells…..
Around suburban areas, we’ve seen another way to tell potential business people whether they should rent space in a particular shopping center. It also applies for potential renters in housing units. If you find a lot of potholes in the parking lot of a shopping center or untended lawns at apartments, don’t rent an office or home there. Places with well-maintained facilities show that the owners care, and will probably be a good landlord.
It’s downright bad, and virtually criminal, to find developers routinely buying land adjacent to heavily traveled roads, such as along the Interstate highways, and building apartments, houses and condos there. (They build there since it’s cheap land.) All that Interstate traffic can only bring constant noise, at all hours of the day. That’s not healthy living. The developers should know better, but all too often they are looking for the immediate dollar.
Not only that, but all too often after building such complexes, these owners vamoose, selling out that development, and probably going to build more apartments adjacent to noisy roads.
One more sore point about those building apartments and condos: when you see an end unit of each building, why do builders not install windows for the renters or owners in at least that end unit, to have more sunlight? We can understand no end windows in apartments in the middle of a row of housing. But the two ends of the buildings? There’s no excuse for that! Or, the builder could put in clerestory windows to bring in more light. Good architecture tries to get light from the outside with at least windows in every room. Not only that, but they could probably get higher rents from units with more light shining into the rooms.
A recent retiree, just turned 62, summed up life this way: “I always knew that I wanted to travel extensively in retirement, but I didn’t know it would be from doctor to doctor.”
The Mary Tyler Moore television series was a wonderful, zany and happy series. It made us laugh. Sure, it was often outrageous, but it was generally grounded on a positive aspect that maybe could have happened in that television newsroom.
Asner
Recently Ed Asner, one of the show’s principal actors, died. He was a really good actor, as he showed with his solid performances and many awards.
For us, one of the scenes we laughed out loud about took place in the very first show, which I have probably written about before. Mary is to have an employment interview with Asner, the newsroom boss, and she comes to his office somewhat nervous just after the daily news show has been completed, as Asner is off the deadline pressure.
Once Mary enters his office and sits down, Asner also sits down at his desk, leans back, and pulls a bottle out of his bottom desk drawer, smiles, and asks: “Wanna drink?”
This somewhat startles Mary, but she gets her composure, and tells him: “I’ll have a Brandy Alexander.”
That was funny.
- Have a comment? Send to: elliott@brack.net
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