9 JUN 05: STORM STORIES
Three-quarters of an inch. That's all I left my car window cracked open when I arrived at work Wednesday - the width of my index finger. I did it to ventilate heat, and surely little rain could get inside with that small a gap. So what happened? Columbus had its deluge of the year - and my driver's seat got soaked.
More than two inches of rain fell on the center of Columbus in a little more than an hour - enough to make some people fear flood water was about to wash their cars away. I should have asked those people if they know how to set their parking brakes....
The Wynnton Road area seemed to have some of the worst flooding. One man told me of stalled cars from Burger King near AFLAC to Books-a-Million at Cross-Country Plaza. In other words, it looked like a typical afternoon when Wynnton Elementary
School is in session.
Another man told me of flooded apartments on Lawyers Lane near 7th Street -- along with a couple of "Habitat for Humanity homes." Bailing out water? Hey, there's a new idea -- wet equity.
Some of the rain reports seemed almost too exaggerated to be believable. One person told of flood water covering four-foot-tall mailboxes on Benner Avenue, near Carver High School -- so you see all sorts of Pizza Hut coupons and credit card offers on the street today, that's why.
With so much rain falling in such a short amount of time, some water-logged Columbus residents did the only thing they knew how to do -- the only thing many seem capable of doing. Yes, they blamed the city government....
Take the man on Elm Drive, who told me a neighbor's yard had "three feet of water in it." First of all, he was very brave and daring to climb over his neighbor's fence at the height of a downpour with a yardstick....
But anyway: this man on Elm Drive declared the city was to blame for the flooding in his neighborhood, and this was NOT the first time it had happened. I told a co-worker this, and he scoffed - saying people should have enough sense to avoid living in low areas. Why this scoffer lives in Columbus and not the north Georgia mountains, I have no idea.
The man on Elm Drive explained the flooding stems from the debate several years ago about turning First Seventh-Day Adventist Church on Martha's Loop into a Walgreens store. The city fouled up the drainage, he says - and now he suspects Edgewood School will be flooded before long. Well, at least a Partner in Education could pay for that damage.
Then there was the man on Cambridge Drive who saw his home flood for the second time in three days. He somewhat blamed the city as well, telling WRBL storm drains must be clogged with pinestraw. We may have just discovered new work for jail inmates and their weed-whackers....
One woman in the Cambridge Drive area told me the rain was so bad, city sewer drain covers were "floating like geysers." Only later did someone point out to me the obvious problem with that statement - geysers don't float, they make things appear to float.
The religious side of me says all these blame-placers are missing something. If there had been no rain, there would have been no flooding -- so is standing water in yards and homes really the fault of City Hall? Or did some people pray too hard for a break on their water bills?
As it happened, my monthly water bill came in the mail Wednesday -- reminding me Georgia is under mandatory odd-even
watering restrictions, whether we have rain or not. I post this note on Thursday, which is an odd-number day. On Friday, NO one can water - so count on a lot of extra noise, as everyone uses their mowers.
BLOG UPDATE: We looked the other day at one-year and three-year Columbus crime trends. But Thursday, I was shown an F.B.I. breakdown for five years - and believe it or not, violent crime in Columbus is down 22.3 percent from 1999. This apparently means police officers can retire anytime they wish.
The only crime categories to show a consistent increase in Columbus since 1999 are burglaries and auto theft. The latter category hit a low in 2001 -- perhaps because drivers were concerned about international terrorists filling cars with dynamite or anthrax, so they actually used door locks.
E-MAIL UPDATE: I first noticed this a few weeks ago, but now a blog reader has as well....
Richard,
A story in the Sunday Ledger-Enquirer covering the Tidwell Cancer Survivors' Day referred to the Tidwell Cancer Treatment Center as owned by Dr. Jack and Eve Tidwell[1]. WRBL also covered the event and interviewed Eve Tidwell.
Isn't Eve Tidwell really Miriam Tidwell, formerly of TV16 show "What's New Miriam?" and the restaurant Miriam's Cafe? Why would such a well-known local personality be misnamed (with no follow-up correction)?
The Miriam's Cafe web site[2] is not responding, but Google's cache indicates that it is now owned by "Faye Simmons and her husband John".
Puzzled,
Thomas
Before I answer, let's clear up a puzzle inside this e-mail. The numbers refer to footnoted links in the message -- so if this Thomas's summer term paper, I hope he passes.
Going out of order: point #2 is a change we actually mentioned here last fall [13 Oct 04] - that Miriam Tidwell passed her 13th Street café on to Faye Simmons. I'm wondering if this café is no longer the eccentric place it used to be. After all, a new restaurant is opening right down the block called "Loco's."
As for point #1: the only proper person to address the name question seemed to be Ms. Tidwell herself. So we e-mailed her - and received an "auto-reply" message right back:
Miriam as my name expired at 50. Now I am reborn, renewed, reinvigorated as Eve Tidwell and diligently working in support of the wonderful and expanding efforts of the Tidwell Cancer Treatment Center. If you need me call me there....
Change my "Evemail" address to....
Thankyou.
ET
So is this the real reason why Ms. Tidwell sold her café - because her name had an expiration date?
I'm glad Ms. Tidwell feels "reborn, renewed, reinvigorated" at 50 - but is this really the proper replacement name? After all, it implies she's in the "eve" of her life....
I've known a few women over the years who changed their names during mid-life. And no, I don't mean they took their husbands to divorce court....
Years ago in Atlanta, I attended church with a woman who changed her legal first name from Retha to Susan. I never had the courage to ask why she did it. It seemed a bit like asking why a woman died her hair blonde or cut it all off - especially if they're not doing it for a movie role.
Does changing your name really give you renewal and new vigor? Perhaps it's more an inner thing than an outer thing. For instance, I haven't noticed much difference in stardom between "Lil Bow Wow" and "Bow Wow."
Then there's Sean Combs, who one day changed his nickname from "Puff Daddy" to "P-Diddy." I personally think that was a bad change -- if only because he lost an opportunity to do commercials for Puffs tissues.
Before I go from P-Diddy to downright giddy, let's close out the Wednesday record book:
+ Reports from Los Angeles revealed a Phenix City man led police on a three-hour high speed chase, after allegedly trying to kidnap a woman. Why would a Phenix City man go all the way out there to.... oh yeah, I forgot. WRBL's "Chopper 3"
disappeared a few years ago.
+ The army announced Fort Benning Commanding General Benjamin Freakley will be moved to Fort Drum, New York. Some people in Columbus will NOT be sad to see him go -- you know, the ones hoping to get their businesses off the off-limits list.
+ A survey of recent college graduates across Alabama revealed Auburn University had the highest satisfaction score of any public university. Now will the Auburn Faculty Senate please shut up, and get back to teaching?
(Which reminds me: Auburn Interim President Ed Richardson says the search for a permanent President will begin soon. Hasn't he held the job about as long as the usual "permanent Presidents?")
+ Columbus Civic Center officials revealed they're trying to bring a new indoor football team to Columbus. It would play in the A.I.F.L. - which isn't too far from being awful.
+ Georgia's former heavyweight boxing champion Evander Holyfield survived the first cut on "Dancing With the Stars" - but the judges told him he still has much to improve. This alone should explain why Mike Tyson is not a contestant on this show....
COMING FRIDAY: The telemarketer who kept me on the line until after midnight....
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