7 MAR 07: STILL A WAYS TO GO

"It's a refill cup," I told the man behind the convenience store counter Tuesday afternoon, as I held 32 ounces of Diet Dr. Pepper.

"You brought it in yourself?!" the man answered. As if people bring executive assistants with them inside convenience stores.

"In fact, I brought it all the way from Columbus."

"Where they don't have a Quik Trip!" The store employee was absolutely correct. I was on the road, at a Quik Trip in the Atlanta suburb of Union City. So it really was a Long Trip - but they don't have stores with that name.

I confirmed that indeed, Columbus has no Quik Trips. If it did, the employee told me, "I'd be working there." I suppose it's because he has relatives in the area -- unless maybe he's a disgruntled former manager of a Spectrum.

A couple of stops in metro Atlanta had brought me to this Quik Trip. It was the longest road trip in my humble Honda since I had back-to-back tire blowups last summer, to doom the dream of Power Frisbee. Thankfully, nothing like that happened Tuesday - although a steep downhill ride to a gas station may have saved me from emptying my tank in Cobb County.

Is it possible that almost ten years have passed since I moved from metro Atlanta to Columbus? Indeed it's true - and this month marks my first trip to Columbus for a job interview. My Honda actually still had a working cassette player then....

Some things in metro Atlanta have not changed since 1997. For one thing, an afternoon wreck Tuesday blocked all the lanes of Interstate 285, near one of my stops. But a traffic message board warned me about it well in advance -- so I could have a short slowdown on the Downtown Connector.

But some things have changed in the ten years since I left a duplex in College Park for my current home. A few became obvious to me only Tuesday....

+ The closest Atlanta-area shopping mall to Columbus has changed its name. "Shannon Mall" is out. "Union Station" is in. Either the Union City Council demanded this, or the mall now is filled with stores selling toy trains.

+ A Wal-Mart store on Cobb Parkway which looked new and modern in 1997 looks outdated now. That's what happens, when you don't have a SuperCenter.

+ A radio traffic report included a lottery commercial - on one of the area's leading Christian music stations. Some of us already know church members playing "fast and loose" with that one.

+ Columbus seems to have lower gas prices. I filled my tank in Vinings for $2.37 a gallon, while the Marathon station on Second Avenue in Columbus posted a price of $2.33. So of course, the critics now are comparing Columbus with Macon instead.

The gap between Atlanta and Columbus has narrowed in ten years, when it comes to big-name stores. Columbus Park Crossing has made sure of that. But we still lack Quik Trips. We lack Beef O'Brady's, the family sports bar chain which is in metro Albany. And as for Ikea -- come see us in about 100 years.

The drive to and from Atlanta was noteworthy in a couple of ways. For one thing, the weigh station along southbound Interstate 85 is far too close to the I-185 exit. I simply followed the 18-wheelers in that extra lane - but thankfully I didn't have to pay excise tax.

The biggest surprise was that a couple of deer were out grazing along I-185 near Smith Road . They seemed to be in no mood to race across the highway - so perhaps somehow they know hunting season is over.

Only four miles beyond the deer, I received my first close-up look at last week's tornado damage when I turned from I-185 onto the J.R. Allen Parkway. Tim Chitwood was right when he wrote in the Ledger-Enquirer about how much you could smell the pine - and I think it was from fallen trees, not people disinfecting open-air homes with Pine-Sol.

But I was home around sundown from metro Atlanta, in plenty of time to watch the latest "must-see TV" show for single guys like me. If you missed it, CW-66 will rerun the search for the next Pussycat Doll tonight.

Because of our road trip, we didn't catch a lot of local news Tuesday. But here's what we noticed....

+ The Federal Emergency Management Agency added Muscogee County to its "disaster area" list. Those of you who for some odd reason were envious toward Americus can calm down now.

+ Mayor Jim Wetherington waived city landfill fees for two weeks, for people with tornado damage. I thought Columbus elected a "law-and-order" mayor - not someone who suspends the rules, and risks depriving police officers of raises.

+ A political campaign sign from Enterprise, Alabama was found in a Stewart County field. It apparently was blown there by last week's storms - or else it was released by a District Attorney candidate, who's looking for free advertising anywhere he/she can find it.

+ Phenix City officials announced a new AlaTrade Foods poultry processing plant will open in an industrial park later this year, employing 500 people. The number of daily specials at KFC had better increase.

+ A strange odor from a library delayed the start of class at Loachapoka High and Elementary Schools. Teachers actually climbed aboard school buses during the delay, to teach children waiting inside them. You can tell the "No Child Left Behind" tests are getting close....

+ Instant Message to any local lottery player who might have the winning Mega Millions ticket: Do you realize you could give $1,000 to every resident of Columbus, and still have enough money to retire comfortably? It's just a suggestion.

CLASSIC BLOG: Lewis "Scooter" Libby was found guilty of federal perjury and obstruction charges Tuesday. It reminded us of a "song of the day" we wrote about the case 04 Nov 05, to the tune of "Boot Scootin' Boogie:"

To invade Iraq, some folks took it to the line -

Then someone went too far, talking with The New York Times.

A reporter went to jail for weeks, before it all went down.

They formed a grand jury, which heard from Karl Rove.

Then somebody else got the shove -

Let's boot Scooter Libby!

Oh, who named Valerie Plame?

Whoever did, it's a shame -- boot Scooter!

Don't say any day/ who's with the C.I.A.

No names, Libby.

Bob Novak knew jack,

Then turned his back - to boot Scooter Libby!

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