2 OCT 08: MADE FROM SCRATCH?

"Now taking applications in back" said the sign outside a restaurant Wednesday. And you thought the only place doing backroom deals these days was Capitol Hill....

The restaurant taking applications Wednesday was Wendy's on Wynnton Road. And that seemed strange, because the restaurant shut down only nine days before for remodeling. Construction workers have stripped the place practically to the bare walls - leaving me to wonder if the applications really are for interior designers.

But with local unemployment at a 15-year high, isn't this good news? Isn't any business taking applications for workers a good thing? Yeah, I suppose so - but part of me said something didn't add up here. Who was serving Wendy's customers two weeks ago, before the remodeling started? Who was so insistent on people having their money ready that signs were posted along the drive-through lane?

Wendy's on Wynnton reflects a trend I've been seeing across the area. A fast-food restaurant closes for several weeks of renovation - then people are hired in time for the grand reopening. What happens to the old staff members? Is this a stunt to "lay off and rehire," with a cut in pay? I've heard of airlines doing this, only they've kept the same planes.

The most recent example of this approach which I noticed was the KFC in downtown Phenix City. It shut down for a few weeks to convert to a "Colonel's Buffet" - and did it so quickly, drivers wondered if the renovation crew could finish the Streetscape project on Broad Street while they were at it.

(Then there are the restaurants where the entire building is leveled, and a new one is built. That's happened on Airport Thruway, at both Hardee's and Taco Bell. Apparently the Taco Bell corporate executives take that "why pay more" idea only so far....)

That was another restaurant where people were hired before the reopening. So is there a plot here? I walked over to Wendy's Wednesday afternoon to find out -- and found the renovation is so extensive, they've torn out part of the parking lot. Is the grease from the fries draining to a science lab at Columbus High School?

Construction workers pointed me to an entrance at the far back corner of Wendy's. But when I walked in, I was told the people taking applications were out until about 4:00 p.m. Well, I did show up well after lunch hour - but I think Minnie's Uptown Restaurant still would have served me.

I asked one construction worker if he might know what happened to the old Wendy's workers. It turns out he did. They were sent to other Wendy's restaurants across Columbus. So their jobs are safe - unless the construction crew comes to their new location next.

Perhaps a wave of workers is building here - with restaurant staff members moving back and forth across town, as their chains get new looks. My only remaining question at Wendy's on Wynnton is this: which employee won the right to keep the picture of Dave Thomas?

E-MAIL UPDATE: It's time to play rumor control again. This one came in two parts....

Can you possibly find out about the increase in car jackings the past 2 weeks....an email is traveling around mentioning the Ussery family and Windsor Park areas................I wish a crime report was in our ledger enquirer like in most cities. Much more valuable than "read more at LedgerEnquirer.com" Thanks....

Anyway in our Sunday school class we were talking about it yesterday and Wesley, an assistant DA, was saying that there were 5 car-jackings Thursday night. Most, if not all, were after 9 with women driving by themselves or looked like they were by themselves. They are thinking it may be a gang initiation thing. The cops told Teddie the best thing to do is to drive past, throw it in reverse, or start honking, basically do anything to avoid them getting you. Anyway I just wanted to let you know that so y'all would be careful and make sure your doors are ALWAYS LOCKED!!

Apparently Wesley didn't know what he was talking about. Lt. Steve Cox with the Columbus Police Department's Robbery and Assault Division told me Wednesday there was "one isolated incident" last Thursday night, and there's NO wave of carjackings in Windsor Park. Cox said he's received "37,000 e-mails" about this -- which, of course, may be an exaggeration in the other direction.

But yes, you should lock your car doors. Especially if you're going to warm up your car in the driveway on the next few cool mornings - or are gas prices now so expensive that people are willing to shiver for a few miles?

Since we've determined this is a humor blog, I suppose it's my duty to come up with a carjacking joke. So this guy walks up to Teddie and says, "Gimme your car!" And Teddie says in response - "You don't know jacking!"

We moved up poker night to Wednesday again this week. How did we do? Check our other blog, "On the Flop!"

OVERHEARD OVER HERE: The man stood at a Wachovia bank teller window, talking about the pending takeover by Citibank.

"Does my home loan payment stop, when Citi takes over? I thought maybe they might give me a bailout."

We think that man was joking, so let's joke a bit more about the Wednesday news....

+ Car dealer Carl Gregory issued an updated statement, saying his buyout plan for Bill Heard Chevrolet appears to be dead. He stopped short of saying it's as dead as the battery on a used Chrysler LeBaron.

+ The evening news checked to see if local businesses had reduced their city sales tax. Firehouse Subs at Cross Country Plaza was caught still charging seven cents on the dollar - with the staff explaining only the managers could reset the registers. Then do the right thing -- and donate those extra pennies to a REAL firehouse, say in Harris County.

+ Instant Message to Domino's Pizza: Why? Do you really need to add sandwiches to your menu? That sounds as silly as expecting Subway to sell pizzas, and they.... oh wait, they started doing that last year....

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