16 NOV 08: CITY ON SALE

Have you taken advantage of the big Columbus sale yet? We're about halfway through the three-month period with a reduced sales tax. So get out there and buy some things, before Mayor Wetherington makes you feel guilty in January....

Some items in Columbus had even bigger discounts this weekend. Gas stations along Veterans Parkway lowered their prices below two dollars a gallon Saturday. OK, it was only down to $1.99 9/10 -- but after what we've seen in recent months, a win is a win.

Raceway at Victory Drive and Interstate 185 apparently was the first Columbus station to fall below two dollars. I noticed their price at $1.99 at midday Friday -- yet there was NOT an unusually big crowd of cars around the pumps. I did see unusual smoke from one car, though. Perhaps someone was burning tires in celebration.

Contrary to what other web sites have posted, Columbus has NOT waited four years for the return of two-dollar gas. Our blog archives show one station was that low two years ago [7 Nov 06]. But that was a station on Cusseta Road - in a part of town mainstream media only tend to visit when a police alarm sounds.

Isn't it hard to believe that only two months ago, the best gas price in Columbus was $4.29? The price has dropped more than 53 percent since September. Here's hoping the stock market stops following that example....

But of course, some travelers may grumble about lower gas prices in other cities. An online check Saturday night found some Atlanta stations down to $1.75. I think it's due to that big-city reputation - since it sounds cool to "get down in the A-T-L."

I didn't need gas this weekend, so I passed on the low prices. But I drove to another business with a big discount - the new Jimmy John's sandwich shop in the St. Francis Marketplace shopping center on Manchester Expressway. It offered a four-hour grand opening special, of one-dollar sandwiches. I'll trade a "five-dollar foot-long" for a one-dollar line-long any day.

But surprisingly, there was NO line stretching out the door when I arrived around 12:30 p.m. Friday at Jimmy John's. Maybe that's because there were two cash registers set up, instead of Subway's usual one. So that's apparently one of the big differences - do you want it faster or fresher?

The one-dollar special applied to six basic Jimmy John's submarine sandwiches. I chose #2, a roast beef sandwich called "Big John." Which is strange, since all six choices are eight inches long -- and none of the others are called big.

This leads to more big differences between Jimmy John's and Subway. All the sandwiches are made well behind the counter. Your only option for bread seems to be French. And for some reason, Jimmy John's is big on using alfalfa sprouts as a topping -- which must explain why they're hard to find at salad bars anymore.

The Big John sandwich (with NO alfalfa sprouts) was wrapped up and in my hands in less than three minutes. But I did NOT eat it right away, choosing to save it in the refrigerator until after my Saturday evening run. The fancy Friday evening dinner takes top priority, you know - and we thank Wal-Mart for the Beef Pasta dinner in a box.

So after a four-mile Saturday twilight run on both sides of the Chattahoochee (no, I never saw that river rescue), I opened the wrapper on my one-dollar Big John - and found a lot of French bread, with not a lot of meat inside. No wonder the menu denies Jimmy John's official name, and admits the sandwiches are NOT gourmet.

But the Jimmy John's sandwich was eight inches long, while the standard size for Subway and Quizno's is six inches. At a one-dollar discount, that's OK. At the regular price of $4.49, the other guys have the first down by about three inches.

One other discount price came as a surprise to me Saturday night. I finally succumbed and decided to fire up the heater for winter, but my lighter was all sparks and no flame. I could stop and draw a comparison to my dating history here....

So I walked down the street to a convenience store, where "lighters" usually go hand-in-hand with "cigarettes." Since I don't smoke, I bought a bottle of diet soda to go with the lighter. I explained to the cashier that if I couldn't control the flame, I could douse it in a hurry.

The lighters at the counter didn't have a price on them, so I was stunned to learn they were only 69 cents. I guessed one would cost a couple of dollars - especially since it's marked as "electronic." If you lay it on a table sideways, I suppose it does have an HDTV rectangular shape to it.

If you're still looking for a discount - well, maybe I shouldn't post this. But my weekend e-mail included news of a "secret sale" at Dillard's, which ends today. Some items supposedly are half-priced, but the e-mail didn't say which ones. Hmmmm - I suppose this IS the right time to buy swimming trunks....

BLOG UPDATE: Half of the Frank Lumpkin III case is now settled. The teenager Lumpkin is charged with shooting was convicted of theft, and will spend five years in juvenile detention. Maybe now the school-skipping will end....

Defense attorney Derrell Dowdell again asked why his teenage client is being punished, while Frank Lumpkin III is free on $2,500 bond. I would have asked a different question - why the teen's case went to juvenile court in less than 30 days, while Lumpkin's charge may not go to a grand jury for months. Maybe fewer Columbus teenagers are troublemakers than we thought.

Frank Lumpkin III took the witness stand in juvenile court, and claimed he shot the teenager accidentally during a wrestling match for control of his stolen SUV. Then came a chase on foot, in which Lumpkin says he fired a warning shot into the air. If Lumpkin avoid jail time for what he did, he has a great future as a private detective on TV.

Two teenagers were sentenced to five years in juvenile detention - the admitted car thief, and the teenager Lumpkin is accused of shooting. A third teen has released for lack of evidence, while the fate of two others remains unclear. Hopefully they're not committing crimes -- and instead are spending their free time setting up strange Facebook sites.

How did we do on "poker night" Thursday? Find out at the blog getting visits from around the world -- "On the Flop!"

E-MAIL UPDATE: Speaking of Facebook, and teenagers behaving questionably....

read Richard's article about CHS...I guess that was what sound off was about today..

If you mean that "other" Richard, he wrote a lot this past week about the Columbus High School students and their "Not My President" Facebook page. The Secret Service reportedly has finished an investigation of the site, and found nothing threatening the life of President-Elect Obama. Well, nothing Hillary Rodham Clinton didn't already say was possible....

Columbus NAACP President Bill Madison called a Friday news conference to protest the "Not My President" project. He declared it's "not OK" to threaten the life of the President-Elect. Madison's right, of course - but it's sad that he has to call a news conference to tell people that. Perhaps local schools should make this their "virtue of the week."

Today's entry is getting so lengthy that we'll hold other e-mails until Monday. That's because there's a lot of weekend news to review....

+ Aflac Chairman Dan Amos announced he'll give up any rights to $26 million in "golden parachute" money in his contract. Perhaps the Aflac board should give that money to Synovus, so it doesn't need such a big federal bailout.

(I don't understand why Dan Amos is doing this. Why not put the executive compensation to a vote, at next year's shareholders meeting? They were so nice to him last spring, before Aflac's stock price dropped 40 percent....)

+ The Muscogee County School Board finally announced the names of its three finalists for superintendent. One of them is Harris County Superintendent Susan Andrews - so a contract with her likely would include a fuel-efficient car, for commuting from Hamilton.

+ Muscogee County Teacher of the Year Linda Wilkes received a replacement for her "victory car." WRBL showed her accepting one from Rob Doll Nissan, after she had to give up the one provided by Bill Heard Chevrolet. So this media event was brought to you by the letter Z....

(First Rob Doll Nissan sold a car to Ed DuBose. Now it's providing one for a public school Teacher of the Year?! If I didn't know better, I'd think Doll is about to convert to the Democratic party.)

+ Actor Danny Glover visited the Columbus Civic Center, to speak at an "Economic Empowerment Conference." So which movie director is hiring extras, and what's the daily rate?

+ Troy University blew a 31-3 third-quarter lead, and lost to Louisiana State 40-31 in college football. When I heard L.S.U. score its first touchdown on radio, I said to myself the "Comeback of the Century" was underway. I could have made this accurate prediction a lot meaner, and called it the Choke of the Century.

(The Troy-L.S.U. game made college football history, as the first one to be broadcast on radio in Navaho. To which I have to ask -- why?! Aren't the press boxes in Arizona big enough to hold one extra broadcast team?)

+ Georgia edged Auburn 17-13 in their big rivalry game. Auburn will have to beat Alabama in the Iron Bowl to have a break-even record, and qualify for a bowl game -- so it's a case where one good bowl will deserve another.

+ Instant Message to Columbus High School: I didn't realize you had an ice hockey team at all, much less a winning one. Better right now to have face-offs than Facebooks.

POEM OF THE DAY: Now a quick summary of the weather we faced Friday afternoon....

Rain at three, go running at four,

Colder this weekend -- close the door.

SCHEDULED MONDAY: Is Hurtsboro getting better or worse?.... and HDTV help from our readers....

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