Why do the delegate numbers keep going up?

Something is starting to smell fishy. On Monday the 17th the Chattanoogan reported that some 225 delegates were chosen to elect the Hamilton County Republican party candidate for sheriff.

On March 24th the Chattanoogan reported that there are now 300 delegates.

I heard today that we are now at the full 480 delegates for the sheriff's race. I did try to call the Hamilton County Republican party several times today to verify the numbers, but no one is picking up the phone. My only question is, if we picked 225 delegates on the 17th, then where did the extra 255 delegates come from?

Update:It looks like there is actually 426 delegates. That number does include alternates, which means for the 426 to be legit there would have had to been 200 alternates delegates elected on the 17th. I was there and I can tell you it is not likely.

hat-tip: Jeremiah M.

Georgia declares war against Tennessee

Okay, maybe not, but the news is very interesting. Evidently the southern border of Tennessee was drawn incorrectly back in 1818 and now that the Atlanta water shortage is in full swing, a few Georgia state legislators are proposing the line be redrawn. I guess the idea is they want to be able to get the water out of Nickajack Reservoir/Lake to make up for the water shortages caused by their ill-planned & ill-thought-out population growth. (chattanoogan)

I made a google map that shows what the new boarder would look like. Evidently Alabama lost a huge swath of land as well. If this goes through there are going to be a lot of unhappy Tennessee Vols fans that are now going to be living in either Bulldog or Crimson Tide territory. Not that I care too much about local sports, but I do think some locals would be willing to fight a war over this.

hat tip:
Is St. Elmo really in Georgia?

Festival of the Jack O'Lanterns vs. The Cleveland Apple Festival

What to do today? We are thinking of going to either the Festival of the Jack O'Lanterns or the Cleveland Apple Festival. Has anybody been to either of them before?

The Festival of the Jack O'Lanterns looks like it could be fun. I am just not sure if it is worth the price. We are already members so it would only be $10 vs $12. It looks like it starts at 2:00 and goes until 9:00 tonight. It does sound like it could be fun. They have pumpkin carving, a bonfire, storytelling, live music, hayrides through Reflection Riding, and several outdoor movies including "It's the Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown".

I know I am late on asking, but has anyone been to either?

Ronny Littlefield: Our One Term Mayor

Chattanooga Recycling Program Goes Once a Month

So I have been thinking it might be a good idea to find out where Ron lives and let him store my recyclables for the next month. I'm thinking his front yard might be a good place. Does anyone know what the process would be to get a Mayoral recall going? Seriously, he should be recalled.

It would give me great pleasure to rename this post: Ronny Littlefield: Our 1/2 Term Mayor

Soldier from Hixson Killed in Iraq

Chattanooga Wiki

A few friends and I have decided it might be a good idea to start a Chattanooga wiki. If you have ever been out to wikipedias page on Chattanooga it does not take long to notice that what Chattanooga has to offer can't be described in one long page and a few sub pages. I really believe that the history of Chattanooga, its industry, surrounding suburbs, and politics can be written about endlessly. I can't wait to see the Walter Williams and Mayor Littlefield's write-ups. Please remember that the wiki should not be based on feelings but on fact.

Anyone is more than welcome to add to and edit the wiki. We have already set up the wiki, and I have stubbed out a few pages. Nothing so far is in stone. The design will come in the next few weeks. Please don't let that discourage you from jumping in. We decided to go with www.inChattanooga.org. Being that the .org domain fits the purpose of a wiki, we have gone with it. Plus, they wanted $19,000+ for www.inChattanooga.com, so there was not much of a decision there.

My blog commenting is down right now for some reason, so if you have any questions you can head over to the wiki and leave me a message. Or you can shoot me an e-mail at j.d.gidcumb[at]gmail.com

Is Sticky Fingers stealing your money?

So we headed to Sticky Fingers today for lunch. Everything went well until we got our checks. Ben noticed that they had done their math wrong and overcharged him by a penny. We all laughed because that is the sort of thing we expect to happen to Ben. When the waitress came to get his money he jokingly said she had overcharged him by a penny. She said:
"Oh yeah we don't deal with pennies anymore. We just round up the checks".

What!!!! They just round up the checks. You have got to be kidding. No where on the menu does it say they are going to round up the checks. I know it is just a penny or two per check, but isn't that stealing? I mean, if I decided to scrape off a penny or two per transaction from the company I work for I would end up in Jail.

So, here are some numbers that are totally made up, but seem fair enough.

First, we were sitting on the deck for lunch and between us and the other people eating there was a total of 17 people. Being that it was lunch and that there were business people eating that would equal 17 checks.

Let's say there were 250 individual checks during lunch
And that there are 175 individual checks during the evening rush
Average of 2 cents per check overcharge.
365 days a year
17 store locations

This is what you get...

(( 250+175 ) .02) 365) 17 = $52,742.5

In my book $52,742.50 is a serious chunk of change.

Chattanooga's Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary, Theft, and Auto Theft rates

I found a link to this site in a Dawn Treader post a few months back.

Five minutes after doing some city comparisons and seeing how Chattanooga compared nationally I decided that Chattanooga needed a new sheriff with fresh ideas. That said, Leslie and I decided not to vote for Sheriff Cupp in his bid for reelection.

If you follow this link and compare Chattanooga's Rape, Robbery, Assault, Burglary, Theft, and Auto Theft rates to cities in our area you will see that ole' Chattavegas has a problem on its hands. I hope our new Sheriff has some good ideas.

I guess I should have maybe asked this question before deciding not to vote down party lines but: Can someone explain to me why the sheriff race is tied to a political party? Of all the publicly elected officials the position of sheriff does not seem to have anything to do with a political party. It has always seemed ridiculous to me when I see an elephant or donkey on a sheriff campaigning sign. Anybody got a good explanation?

Star Watch update

I called the Times Free Press the other day about the unwanted Star Watch that was showing up at the end of my driveway. A really nice lady answered the phone and asked how she could help. I simply told her that I did not want to receive the star watch any longer. She asked for my address and two days later I ended up with one of these on my mailbox.

I know this is childish, but I don't want the sticker on my mailbox. What gives them the right to put a sticker on my mailbox? I understand that when I subscribe to the newspaper they put the reflective sticker on the mailbox so at 4 in the morning they can easily see who gets the paper. But, I did not subscribe to anything. I called them and politely asked them to quite littering my yard. Shouldn't the sticker only be on the mailbox if you want the star watch? I really should not let this get to me, but I'm too immature for that. Ask my wife. :-)

Star Watch in Chattanooga

I can't tell you how many times I have wondered why the Times Free Press had the right to throw trash in my yard. Does anyone actually read the Star Watch? Well there is now something you can do about it.

Call the circulation office at 757-6262 if you no longer want them to litter your yard.

Here is a great quote from City Councilwoman Marti Rutherford that got me all excited!

Hamdems Embarrass Themselves Further

I will be the first to admin that I don't want Corker in office though, for far different reasons then that of the Hamdems. But really, could the hamdems possibly stoop any lower? I've read more posts then I could count on one hand where I was embarrassed for them after reading their blog. I have to say that this one takes the cake. If it had been about Chelsea Clinton they would be in an uproar about how sick Republicans are for bringing someone's kid into the political arena. Instead they in some sick way try to make it something to laugh at.

Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail

This is a post I have been trying to post for two weeks but I have been too busy to put it up. I did not have time to caption all the pictures, so I will have to do that later. We had a great time on this little day trip. If you are in North Georgia and have an hour or two to burn then the Shirley Miller Wildflower Trail is worth going to. Here is a link to the pictures and some info (1 ,2).

Do you live in Hamilton County?

If so, here are some useful links.

Here is a link to find out what district you live in, and to find out who is your current County Commissioner.

Here is a really good link to find out who is running.

The two main(local) issues for me this go-around is in their stance on taxes in general, and in relation to public schools and their stance (pro\con) on Hamilton County emissions testing.

By far my biggest issue is the emission testing tax. Between the emission test and all the repairs I had to make, I spent at least $300 last year. I wish I lived in District 2 where Dumas is running because he would get my vote.

If anyone knows how the candidates for District 3 stand on the emissions testing issue I would love to know. I asked Joe Public over at TennesseeTicket if he knew anything, and he said no. But he did say he would look into it.

I will let you know if I find anything out. If I don't find out something soon, then I'm going to start making some phone calls to the three candidates in the running for District 3. Well, I might just call them anyway. :-)

Dumas the blogger

let it snow, let it snow, let it snow

When we woke up on Saturday morning there was suppose to be some snow on the ground, but only Signal Mountain and Lookout Mountain ended up with any. Being the storm chaser that I am, I packed up Leslie and the boys and we went to find some snow.

John David and Elliot really loved it. We ended up finding a soccer field somewhere on Signal Mountain that had a pretty good blanket of snow. When John David noticed the pine trees on the other side of the field he yelled "Christmas Trees" and took off toward them. Elliot followed right behind.

Elliot and John David's first taste of snow

a little sledding

Oh yea, last night we got two inches here at our house so once the boys wake up we will be doing some sledding at our house. I will post some pictures if I get any good ones.

Protest by Hamilton County Democrats in downtown Chattanooga

Chattanooga Democratic Party protest

Well I managed to get Eric, Ben, and Jason to head down to the protest with me this afternoon. We got there at 11:30 or so. The protest was not very big. I guess there were about 25 people there at the most. To be fair they did have protester on both sides of the street, but very few on the side of the street that is not pictured to the right. Though, they did have quite a few people honking their horns as they passed the corner of M. L. King Blvd and Georgia Ave. I guess they were expecting more people to show because they brought a bunch of extra signs with them. As I was taking pictures they were trying to get me to get a sign and to hold it for just 5 minutes.

Well if anyone else was there then feel free to leave a comment. Either way, if you want to be able to read some of the signs then make sure you click the pictures.

Chattanooga Democratic Party protest

Chattanooga Democratic Party protest

Chattanooga Democratic Party protest

Chattanooga Democratic Party protest

Jason watching the show

Ben and Eric getting into it

Mid week vacation at the Rock City cornfield maze

Rock City Maze Leslie, Elliot, John David

Yesterday I took off and we went to Rock City Enchanted Maize. In spite of the fact that it was in the mid 80's and felt nothing like fall we had a great time. Well, it did not start out that way. When we got there we decided to go through the maze first. The first thing you noticed when starting the maze was that there was a net on either side of the trail to keep people from making short cuts. On top of being just unsightly John David tripped a few times on all the net that had been pulled down into the path. One time he fell pretty hard and was crying a good bit. Leslie and I were both upset about paying so much and it being such a mess. There was even a bunch of trash in there. I think they should have had staff member walk through the maze from time to time to tidy it back up. We are usually not ones to complain to a manager about such things but we did talk to the manager about it. But, he just gave some excuses as to why it was such a mess. It was really bad. No really, it was a total mess. It was so bad that we only did half the maze.

John David in the Rock City Enchanted Maize

Okay enough of that; back to the good times. After the maze we ate a snack and headed to do the hay ride before we left. John David loved the ride. What made it even better is that we were the only ones on the trailer. The ride was only about 10 minutes but we had a good enough time that our spirits began to lift. After the ride we headed over to the kids section where they had this other ride, which is kind of hard to explain so just look over at the picture of Leslie, John David and Elliot. All three had a lot of fun. I think they road around the little field three or more times. John David was ecstatic with joy. I took a lot of film with my camcorder and can't wait to watch it. The pictures just don't do it justice. Elliot looks miserable in the picture but he wasn't. It was just that split second he looked like that.

After the little ride we swung on the swings and did the seesaw/teeter-totter. They also had a few animals for the little ones to look at. Surprisingly, I think John David was having too much fun on the toys to really be interested in the animals. Though come to think of it, when I was getting him in bed last night he was trying to tell me something about the pigs having dirty nooses and them trying to eat, so I guess those little pigs did not totally get past him.

the three in the maze

As we headed out we stopped by the kid's maze. John David and I had a lot of fun chasing each other through the bails of hay. I think he could have stayed longer but Leslie and I were getting tired so we decided to head home. Plus by that time it was 3:30 and neither of the boys had had a nap, so we wanted to get them to bed a little early.

I'm going to try and get a page together with all our pictures of the day on it. Yea, don't hold your breath….

Altoids on the move

Altoids on the move

This news is a bit old but it still affects my everyday life. The news is that Altoids are coming to ole Chattanooga. It looks like it will add 150 new jobs here. From what I have read it looks like they are closing the Welsh factory and moving production state side. You know our British friends have to be happy about that. I'm glad Chattanooga is getting the new job in spite of the fact that I don't think manufacturing jobs are the ones we should be trying to attract. Data is where it is at, but I know no one is asking. To be honest there is something I like about the fact that Altoids are made over sees. Every time I eat them it sends me on a tinny vacation, which helps to get me through the day.

I was thinking about how they might change the Altoids tin when production moves to ole Chattanooga. What do you think?

Hurricane update and a little site seeing

Cravens House Lookout Mountain

Well we have heard from most everyone now. There is still no word from Leslie's grandmother. We would expect that she would be being evacuated. It looks like late at night is the best time to get phone calls through.

We all decided to do a few hours of site seeing last night so we headed up to Lookout Mountain. We headed up to the Cravens House and sunset rock. The view from both was nice. I total forgot to take a picture of Sunset Rock because I was holding on to John David. I did take a few pictures at the Cravens House. The picture that was to the right is of Aunt Heather and John David at one of the Civil war monuments. It has since been removed. :-)

Parking Meter Proposal in Coolidge Park

Can you believe it! I just ran into this article on Channel 12's site. I'm really ticked off about the proposal. Like Chattanooga needs another tax. One of the greatest things about Coolidge Park is that it is free, sounds to me like the city is looking for a way to further capitalize on the revitalization of downtown Chattanooga.

You will notice that in the News 12 article that Brian Hahn is paraphrasing Sally Robinson by saying "They believe it's the only way to resolve overcrowding".

Parking meters have always annoyed me. I totally understand that a city might not want cars parked on the street for long periods of time, but the way they are going about it is all wrong. They are using it just as another way to raise money. Note: if a city is raising money and it is not a bake sale then it is a tax.

The way it should be done:
I think Parking Meters are useful, but the way they are used now is as a tax. Why don't they make meters in a way that when you park on a city street with a meter you should have to hit the button on the meter, which will start your time. If the time runs out before you get back to your car then a meter maid should be able to give you a ticket for using city parking for more than you far share.

Okay, okay maybe my idea is not the greatest idea. I see there would be some issue that would have to be gotten over, but there has to be a better solution then adding a parking tax to Coolidge Park.

I think channel 12 does not keep there articals up for long so I've posted it below.