10 APR 09: Hung Out to Dry

This is a big week of the year for many religious people. Some are in the second day of "Passover season," or the days of unleavened bread. Others will mark Good Friday today, then Easter on Sunday - which always leaves me wondering if that makes Saturday better, worse or about the same.

Some people who want to dress their best for these occasions might be a bit frustrated right now. That's because a Columbus dry cleaning business reportedly has been shut down by the state, with unclaimed clothing still inside. I don't think "being taken to the cleaners" is supposed to work like this....

WRBL reports Value Cleaners on Buena Vista Road was shut down by the state of Georgia last week. I'm surprised that state agents would shut down a dry cleaning business - unless that distinctive aroma inside had been replaced by the smell of methamphetamine.

The problem with Value Cleaners reportedly involves a dispute over "financial and repair work." It wouldn't be surprising if the two are connected. You know - a bad clothing press, leaving the management hard-pressed.

But there's a bigger problem for Value Cleaners customers. They say they paid in advance for cleaning, and have been unable to pick up their clothes. WRBL ought to borrow an idea from ABC News 30 years ago - and call it "Pantsuits Held Hostage: Day 10."

There was some good news for Value Cleaners customers Thursday night. The business will reopen Saturday, for people to collect their clothes - but it will reopen only for one hour, at 12:00 noon. For once, the storm sirens will sound for more than a test.

(Come to think of it, this will give "One Hour Martinizing" a completely new meaning....)

One question comes to mind as I consider this story. Should you pay up-front for dry cleaning work, as customers did at Value Cleaners -- or should you wait until you pick it up? Either way, the staff would be paid. At least if you're like me, and you forget to check your pockets for spare change....

There's one big advantage to waiting until pick-up to pay for dry cleaning. If something goes wrong, the customer has leverage over the business. Fix that busted button, or two B's will turn into three - as in the Better Business Bureau.

-> We skipped poker night Thursday, but our blogging about poker and life goes on. Check our other blog, "On the Flop!" <--

E-MAIL UPDATE: Here's a follow-up to this week's "Proclamation Day" at Columbus Council. We mentioned there was no agenda for the meeting posted Tuesday afternoon on the city web site - and that brought this reply:

Hi, Richard --

Sorry for my confusing the issue! The "event" on the first Tuesday of each month is not an official Council meeting. It is the meeting when the only activity is the awarding of proclamations issued by the Mayor. The official meetings are subsequent Tuesdays, except the third Tuesday when there is no meeting. We're all still trying to make sure we're doing the new schedule correctly, and hopefully, we'll get there. There was notice given to the Ledger about the proclamations, but it did not appear in Sunday's paper as does the Council agenda.

So bear with us and we'll all ultimately get it!

As you might have guessed, this reply came from someone in the mayor's office. But we still don't know what was proclaimed last Tuesday. If April was declared Blogger Awareness Month, there's clearly a problem here.

Let's see what else we've missed from the last couple of days....

+ A Tuesday evening fire damaged businesses at the Hilton on the Square shopping center. I drove by the scene on the way to a communion service, but wasn't sure what was going on. For all I knew, a customer may have fainted after finding a price that beat Columbus Park Crossing.

+ Russell County sheriff's officers made two arrests, after discovering an alleged meth lab. Officers say they were tipped off by unusual activity on a water meter. And let's face it - no one has a good reason to run lawn sprinklers right now.

+ The Russell County Commission rejected plans for a landfill on State Docks Road in Phenix City. You can understand why people living near the site were against it. The road isn't named "State Boondocks," after all....

(Columbus Councilor Mimi Woodson spoke to the Russell County Commission. She's concerned about the proposed landfill polluting the Chattahoochee River. But I'm still waiting for her news conference, to complain about that recent Columbus Water Works sewage spill.)

+ National Infantry Foundation Director Jerry White told WLTZ attendance is slowly improving. But he admits some early screenings at the IMAX theater had fewer than ten people -- so viewers had almost as much stretching room as the screen.

+ Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue announced a new Disney movie called "The Last Song" will be filmed in the Savannah area. There's speculation this movie will star Miley Cyrus - and if she's preparing to retire from show business at 17, something is sadly wrong in this country.

+ WLTZ turned on its digital 38.2 channel, as it prepares to show The CW. Right now it's showing a boring test pattern. At least it could have Al Fleming's picture on it....

+ Columbus golfer Larry Mize shot a five-under-par 67 in the first round of The Masters. He's two strokes off the lead, and three strokes ahead of Tiger Woods - so don't be surprised if Mize wears a bright red shirt today, in an attempt to psych Woods into confusion.

(Mize told WRBL he's been working on his swing since last September with Columbus State University golf coach Mark Immelman. Excuse me for asking this - but shouldn't Mize work with brother Trevor? After all, he won The Masters last year.)

+ Jordan-Hare Stadium in Auburn was named a potential site for future World Cup soccer matches. This was stunning news for Auburn fans - because Tommy Tuberville never would have allowed this sort of thing on his field.

+ Instant Message to the Taco Bell on Milgen Road: Is there a reason why you've put up a poster on perseverance -- not in the preparation area, but where people eat? Is this a sneaky message about the restaurant staff?

SONG OF THE DAY: By request, we post an idea which came to us several weeks ago. What if Hank Williams was alive today, in the age of Twitter?

COMING SOON: The nicest area restaurant you've probably never heard about....

The number of unique visitors to our blog is up more than 18 percent so far this year! To advertise to them, offer a story tip, make a PayPal donation or comment on this blog, write me - but be warned, I may post your e-mail comment and offer a reply.

BURKARD BULK MAIL INDEX: 697 (+ 42, 6.4%)

The views expressed in this blog are solely those of the author -- not necessarily those of anyone else in Columbus living or dead, and perhaps not even you.

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