Dad and I built this garden

A number of years back, Dad and I cleared out a little 12×6 patch of vines and small trees in between the road and the drainage ditch. We laid down an old cross tie and piled in whatever compost dirt we had at the time. We tried to maintain a vegetable garden there, we did miss a few years. One year Dad even boldly planted a winter garden of broccoli and brussels sprouts.

It is now heading back towards winter (though sunny days in the mid 80s don’t really give that impression). I decided to crack the bed back open. It was in decent shape, but i was going for a full overhaul.

The first stop was a visit to the local garden store. Hutto’s is an excellent store, if my endorsement isn’t enough, Felder digs it too. I asked for any seeds that would still grow if i planted them now. I left with packets of turnip, kale, mustard, collard, spinach, mesclun salad mix, lettuce, cabbage and radishes. When handed the large packets of turnip, kale, mustard and collard greens, I was told “a little goes a long way.” I’m sure that is true, but i have a lot of seeds, so they will probably go even further. I grabbed a bit of gin trash compost and some winter bed fertilizer to get things going.

Back at home, i piled dirt into egg cartons and sprinkled seeds in. I covered each with another layer of dirt and patted it down gently. Then I watered them and put them on the screen porch. All together, I made twelve cartons of seed to germinate. I would put the turnips and radishes straight into the bed when it was done.

Over to the street, I moved the old cross tie out of the way to make room for fresh, still creosote-smelling cross ties. The kind that leave your skin itching for days. Since creosote is heavily dangerous for the plant life, and already leaving mold in its tracks, I covered the bottom, bed-side, and top with plastic sheeting and lay them in place. Two nine foot timbers make me a eighteen foot bed. I filled the cracks underneath with old bricks strewn in the garden. Mondo/monkey grass had to be transplanted. Some stayed to form an edge between the road and the garden, some lined the ditch to be a last line of protection against erosion from the garden, and the rest went to the wheel barrow, where anyone is free to have it.

Clearly, i needed dirt to fill in the bed. Another trip to Hutto’s got me a cubic yard of Mrs. Hutto’s Bedding Mix for $35. That will do for now. Maybe another yard in the spring when i want to level it out a bit more.

Today the turnips and radishes got planted, as did moms brussels sprout plants. Some of the seeds have started to sprout so that is all quite exciting.

More as it grows.

pictures would improve this post

In these days of instant communication over the inter-tubes, people having the interwebs in their pockets, and taking pictures on the digitals, all i had was a bike and a notebook, and a grocery list. That is not to say that the grocery list really mattered. But it does indicate that I had other things to do, namely, make fajitas. This is not about fajitas. This is about the the recently announced resurfacing of Woodrow Wilson Drive.

Talking about municipal public works is boring. This is going to be very boring because of that. Also, i forgot my camera, thus, no pictures to liven the mood. Please forgive me.

Yesterday I saw a JFP (and JFP-Local) tweet about a press conference Mayor Johnson would be holding announcing the resurfacing of Woodrow Wilson Drive. I figured this would be a good chance to go and ask a question or two. Conveniently, I could combine trips and hit the grocery store afterwards, pay attention, this is almost a theme of the post.

I arrived at the corner of Peachtree and Woodrow Willson to see a small clutch of news-peoples, police officers and people of some local significance standing behind some orange traffic barrels by the park. I walked over to the cameras and leant on my bike waiting for Mayor Johnson to arrive at the podium. He announced the work to be done: a resurfacing of Woodrow Wilson, done with assistance from the MDOT Intermodal Connector Program. Work has also been approved on Mill and Pascagoula streets, presumably under the same program. Work had already been approved, and is presumably now to start, on Pearl streets. These are all being done under the guise of improving access to Union Station (which I absolutely and enthusiastically support!).

The details of the resurfacing program are as follows: The contractor is Superior Asphalt. As Woodrow Wilson is an important corridor, the work will be done to minimize disruption. The work will take place on one lane at a time, mostly at night. There will not be any work undertaken during Jackson State or JPS football games at Memorial Stadium or Newell Field, respectively. The work should start “in a week or so” and be done within three months. It is the undersanding of the Mayor that the work will take only 60 working days.

Three news cameras showed for the “turning dirt”: Fox 40, Wlbt 3 and Wapt 16. The Mayor was joined by a representative from Superior Asphalt, the City Council President, a doctor from the hospital across the street and probably somebody else. I think he mentioned that an MDOT representative could not make it.

While the photo op was going on I got to talking with an Officer Brister (im pretty sure thats his name). After opening with the standard “who are you with” we got to talking about the road and pedestrian access. We both had noticed that many people working for the hospital cross the road to get to their cars parked near Murrah. He asked me how the crossing was and said that he thought it looked scary – fast traffic on and off the interstate. I suggested a crosswalk with a warning light was needed but he said it would only make people speed up. We decided that the best option would be a pedestrian controlled red light. He encouraged me to ask the Mayor about any pedestrian accommodation they may have made.

Johnson said that there would be work done on sidewalks and crosswalks along the road. I am not sure if this is new or existing sidewalks. He did indicate that pedestrian facilities were important to development. I overheard him talking to one news man about a new development coming to Jackson. He spoke of a mixed use development where people could “work play and stay in one place” which was the trend of developments nowadays. I think this is fairly exciting for an American city, but i did not catch where this would be. He said that it would bring an estimated $2 million in tax revenue to the City when fully developed. This would be land that did not generate any tax revenue currently. Hopefully this is on a brownfield site, rehabilitating abandoned buildings is far better than paving over valuable, if unruly, greenspace.

Then he got to my real curiosity. I was wondering what sort of study was done on life cycle costs of road surfaces. A resurfacing is just a temporary solution to bad roads. I asked about different paving methods or materials and if they were studied to see if they could extend the life and value of the road. Johnson replied that they are not done on a case by case basis – suggesting alternatives to merely paving were not studied at all – but from an overall standard based on the type of road. He did mention that some alternative road materials (recycled glass or rubber) are used sometimes, but necessarily being used in this case. He did say that the standards they applied were designed to get the most bang for their buck. Without looking more deeply into the issue or studying alternatives more carefully, we may not know if we could get more bang out of that buck.

So. Speaking of road surfaces. I went to the grocery store. I got, among other things, eggs (and was told to wash them by the cashier – not necessary due to USDA regulations on egg producers). I rode my bike home. On these rough streets, my bike and I can absorb most of the smaller bumps, but the larger ones – not so much. Thankfully my eggs all remained intact – but it did get me thinking about the importance of smooth roads. Having less traffic on residential streets would certainly help slow the onset of potholes and ruts. This is one of the further, gestalt issues that should be looked at.

Improving sidewalks is important for pedestrians. Sidewalks, especially along busier roads give people a safe place to walk (ok, you knew that). In my neighborhood, in the evening, it is generally lovely and traffic free, so people walk in the streets everywhere (we also have very few sidewalks). Cyclists should not ride on sidewalks. This is dangerous for pedestrians and does not help raise visibility of cyclists on streets – which is what should be done. The most effective cycling improvements that I have noticed are cycling only streets (cut off to cars) and cycling catches at stop lights – allowing cyclists to filter out of the stopped traffic and get ahead of the cars. Motorists don’t notice cyclists amongst the cars, and its a horrible place to sit in between two cars with engines running. Cycling catches make sure the motorists see the bikes and get to the other side of the lane once the cyclist gets going.

I am a bit torn about bike lanes. They are great when they are respected – cyclists can easily fly through stopped traffic and not worry about a lane changing car not noticing them. the problem, however, is when they are not respected. People park in them, walk in them and drive in them. This is not safe for the cyclist. Additionally, merging back into traffic tends to be harder from a cycle lane than from within traffic. For example: a cycle lane on the right side of a four lane road is very difficult to move from when you need to turn left – if you were in the right lane, this maneuver would only require you to shift to the other side of the lane before changing – but without constant signaling and looking backwards (both unsafe to that extent), this is not easy to do from a bike lane. Integrating with traffic is difficult from segregated lanes. Cyclists need to move with the traffic – no salmoning! Riding on the side of the lane usually allows room for a motorist to squeeze through, and spaces between stopped cars allows the cyclist to race to the head of the queue at a stop light. Its all about maintaining smooth efficient traffic flow.

Perhaps instead of bike lanes, safe routes should be marked. Signs indicating that a road is also a key bike throughway may help. A wavy line of green paint in the lane (where it won’t get worn down by cars) with the occasional bike stencil could indicate to cyclists as well as motorists that that road is ideal for cyclists, and cars should be wary. It is the visibility of cycling that needs to be raised.

I will tag this post ‘local’

There is a battle going on over what ‘local’ really means. I figured that it would be rather good fun to jump into the fray. So here I go.

I was informed of the rising storm on the fourth of August, sometime in the evening. A twitterific update by one of the JFP’s self referential accounts indicated that ShopLocal had ‘declared war’ and linked to this JFP article with the details. This is what had happened.

A JFP article criticized ShopLocal, the Clarion Ledger and the parent company of both, Gannet, for the misleading use of the word local. ShopLocal responded in a post which tried to belittle the JFP and claim that ShopLocal itself was local. This then led to the twitter post and article which came to my attention.

Its a bit odd, the ShopLocal post. The title asserts that they are local (it actually says that explicitly, “ShopLocal IS Local” you can tell they are serious because even the ‘is’ is capitalised), but their article provides absolutely no support for it. Their article is dedicated to saying that national chains can actually in some sense be considered local (more on that later). They end on the surprisingly weak point that they “support” local retailers. By this, presumably, they mean that they take local retailers money in exchange for advertisement. Support really isn’t the right word, they provide a service, for which they get paid; they are not investing in local businesses, they are quite literally taking their money. I will allow them this massive discrepancy and focus on their two separate claims.

The claim that ShopLocal supports local businesses rests heavily on their definition of local. By clarifying the definitions as they are used in daily parlance, I will disprove both main claims made by ShopLocal. The three definitions of local they provide are absurd. The presence of a business is the only factor in determining if it is local:

National-local: These are stores that have a national footprint, but still on a granular form have local market presences across many communities and cities.
Local-local: These are stores that are only found in one region. Examples include a small up & coming chain or a successful multi-location family business.
Hyper-local: These are stores that are only found in one (1) and only one town. Typically, these are referred to as mom & pop type operations.

It is easy to see that the only consideration is the distance from a certain town in discerning if it is local or not. So presumably this makes every Wal-Mart a local store, because, they are, after all, located in only one place. Actually, this makes every business a local business wherever it is located. Toyota becomes local – they have a dealership here, Nissan even has a plant nearby! This is kind of like HSBC’s marketing slogan “The world’s local bank.” Even though it is based in London, every HSBC branch is a local business, according to ShopLocal. Furthermore, if you have internet banking, HSBC has a presence wherever your computer is. The ‘local’ locations are endless! This means that while I was in Bristol, England, Trustmark National Bank (based in Jackson, MS) had a local presence in England – making it both local and international at the same time!

To define “local” we must look at what people mean when they use the word. The meaning is easily multifaceted. There are considerations like the distance of a business from the reference point (community, city, etc) which ShopLocal understands. People refer to places as local when the management has a local presence, understands the clientele and can respond to community needs and wants. This is roughly having not only local management, but also locally autonomous management. Lastly, the local business model that many people cite comes from a more economic standpoint – a local business is one that invests in the community in which it is based.

In Bristol, my Local (pub) was about a 90 second walk from my house. This is clearly very local in the grand scheme of things. The problem is, there were four other licensed establishments (excluding the restaurants!) which I had to pass in order to reach my Local. Did this make The Cat and Wheel less local than the others? While distance and location play a role, its not the whole story. While being a local business implies that the business is located in the locale in question, the implication is not an equivalence: merely existing in the locale in question does not imply that the business is local.

Pretty much any store, no matter how large the chain, has locally based management. When Brookshires grocery store opened in Jackson, they imported some managers from Texas to run the individual stores. The managers lived and worked in Jackson from that point on. When people talk about a business being locally operated, what they really are talking about is where the autonomy of management lies. Local management can react to the communities needs, desires and tastes; this generally means a management more responsive and dedicated to the community it serves. With a large corporate chain such as Wal-Mart, there is little autonomy of management at the local level. Each store looks the same and sells the same products. Local management is a matter of corporate paperwork, shift scheduling and signing off on deliveries from the corporate truck fleet. Local Wal-Mart management cannot actually manage the store in a way that reflects the community around it. Local products and local tastes are not found in Wal-Mart stores. Sure, they sell Mississippi Blueberries in some stores but that took negotiations by the state Agriculture Commissioner to achieve. On the other end of the management spectrum there are chain stores which really only carry the brand. In the Shell station in Macon, MS, the local management is fairly autonomous from Royal Dutch Shell corporate headquarters in The Hague (click here to listen to that in Dutch). Sure, the station carries only Shell gasoline, and pushes Shell credit cards on you, but they also have a deli which serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner for the town. Besides the branding, the stations management is free to shape the store to local taste, and adapt to feedback from local customers (and yes, I do realize that the management probably does not even live in Macon, and probably manages many other stations, but my point remains). Even with locally responsive/autonomous management, nobody would mistake the Macon Shell for a local chain. If you ask for something at CVS, the management will have to get permission from higher management to carry the item; if you ask for something from Deville, they will pick up the phone and place an order without having to ask permission.

Investment in local communities is what motivates many people to patronize local businesses. Somewhere on the interwebs there is more exact information on the topic, but the general idea is as follows. For every dollar in revenue, a locally owned and operated business will make a larger contribution to the local economy than an out of town chain. Take this example of two fairly identical stores, one a locally owned drug store, the other being an out of town chain. Since each is about the same, their taxes and utilities will be roughly the same. So for a dollar spent in each business, say, ten cents goes to taxes and utilities. We can now ignore that ten cents. Another fifty cents may go to covering the wholesale cost of the product bought – so that goes to the product maker/distributer. Chain stores can often lower this cost as they own distributers or can negotiate better prices from the maker, but thats pretty much irrelevant in this simplistic example. Say another ten cents goes to pay wages of the workers. The remaining thirty cents is profit, this goes to the owner of the company. With a chain, this goes to headquarters, way out of town (or to shareholders worldwide). With a locally owned business, this stays in town, with the owner returning that money to the local economy when they shop, eat out, and donate to charity. So thats the idea, when you shop locally, the local economy does better. Instead of acting like a drain for local dollars, local businesses act as a fountain, supporting businesses all around them. The idea is, this is a good thing. As a bonus, if a business uses local suppliers, those suppliers support the community even more. Why politicians spend their time trying to attract companies to open branches locally is a mystery – encouraging local entrepreneurship would grow the economy and boost tax revenue much faster.

The other day, I used an online service provided by a company called Google. I used this service to find the website of Deville Camera and Video, a locally owned business. So, I guess that ShopLocal would say that Google is supporting local businesses. We cannot really, on anyones definition, debate that Deville is a local company (they even have a big sign when you go in the store that says they are, with proof, and thanks the people who support them – the ones who give them money in exchange for goods). Google has done pretty much what ShopLocal would do: provide me with information on this establishment, including a list of all services they provide. If you aren’t convinced, Google even has the power to suggest local businesses that I have not even heard of when I only know the business type and location (just type in something like “camera shop in jackson, ms”) thus encouraging me to patronize these businesses. Google has done this without taking money from Deville though, so I guess they are just more altruistic in their support of local business. Should we call Google a local business? (What about local.google.com? Its got local in the URL!)

Google is not based in my house, it does not invest in my house and I do not have a say in the searching algorithm. Google is not local. ShopLocal is based in Chicago, the owners and operators are in Chicago and they do not actually support the Jackson community. ShopLocal is in no way local to Jackson. It doesn’t even appear that one could say that the retailers who advertise on their site (see below) could even be considered to be local businesses. There is a difference between having a local address and being a local business.

**UPDATE** Time has an nice article on the buy local point. This is besides all of the stuff in the JFP.
http://www.time.com/time/business/article/0,8599,1903632,00.html

Dr. Cooley buys me coffee

After the first transition team meeting at City Hall, I met two gentlemen (about my age) who had an enticing proposition. They figured me the type who would enjoy attending another public forum, one with a little more discussion. There was a regular public forum, they told me, held at Koinonia Coffee House. I did not really get how to spell this when he said it, and i did not get how to pronounce it when i saw it. But that is not important, as it is big, yellow, and from Jackson Metro Parkway, it looks like this:

Every friday morning at Koinonia Coffee House there is a public forum. Dr. Cooley, the facilitator of the transition team public meeting appears to be behind this somewhat, as rumor had it that he was picking up our coffee tab. While I am on the topic, I will give a word about Koinonia Coffee House. It is big, it is yellow, it is a house, they sell coffee. Those are the important details. It is just off the Metro Parkway, details on website. I had a reasonably priced double Espresso, $1.50. The beans were not the freshest, and were midway between being sweet and bitter. The flavor was rich and refreshing. I couldn’t complain as they didn’t ask me for money. This is not the usual case, or else they would not really do well as a business; Dr. Cooley was paying for everyone at the forum. Considering that it is not easy to get truly fresh coffee, I wouldn’t have complained even if they charged a bit more and I paid for it (I ended up tipping $2, about 133%). It looks like they have a fairly comprehensive coffee place menu, pretty much covering expected coffee based drinks. They had a slightly sad batch of muffins out, but some deliciously huge cookies as well. As I stood listening to the speaker, I saw a number of people enjoying excellent looking toasted croissants with ham and melted cheese. The sitting area itself was lovely. Freshly done, in a colorful yet minimal style. High ceilings and bright windows lent a pleasant open ambiance to the room, even the burglar bars were a bit artsy and nice. Thats just the front room, i didn’t even explore! Its not the type of place to go for a questionable coffee, but a nice light meal and smoothie would fit well. If they expand the breakfast selection (add some fruit or granola or yogurts) it would be absolutely delightful on a sunny morning. Unfortunately, their food menu is limited to bread based foods that are traditionally found alongside coffee.

Now, seriously. The forum. I arrived a few minutes late and was pleased to see Mr. Anderson leaning against the back wall. I sidled up to the till and got myself some coffee before settling in leant against the back wall. George Flaggs Jr., state representative from Warren county, was speaking at the front. As I did not have any note taking utensils with me at the time, what follows is a rough sketch of the flow of conversation.

Representative Flaggs was talking about a recent Medicaid bill In the Mississippi State House of Representatives. He had the bill read out, because people were complaining that it was a long bill, over 80 pages, and they did not have enough time to read it. He said to us that the length of bills was just because the issues were complex. People complaining about the length needed to appreciate the complexity of the issue at hand. This reminded me of a similar note in a recent post on the economist dot com which I mysteriously cannot find again! It is important that bills be understandable, easy to read. They do not have to be short to be readable; they do not have to be difficult to read when covering a complex issue. At least provide some complete, accurate simple english summary of the bill.

Education, Rep. Flaggs believed, was key to economic growth. Take care of people and educate them, and htey will prosper. Education should provide people with the tools to make it on their own. I have to agree with Flaggs on this one. Education is one of the most important aspects of economic development that the government can work on. Noting the large amount of predatory lending in the area, he mentioned that he hoped to integrate more financial education into our school system. Giving children the financial (and other!) skills to succeed in life is important. Right now, people don’t understand the uses of debt, how to use credit wisely or what all of the consequences of various financial dealings are until they are trapped in a paycheck to paycheck debt repayment cycle.

I had a few ideas on this topic, and many ideas were bounced around at the forum. People addressed the extortionate rates of paycheck loans, and the lack of availability of other financial instruments in many communities. Providing more data on such lending, not only terms of the loans themselves, but where this lending is taking place, would be important in getting people out of crippling debt. Financial education in schools could include providing children with savings accounts, and help taking a role in family budgeting. The City could encourage small affordable loans, and guarantee some of the capital based upon the borrowers completion of City sponsored financial education classes.

A local restauranteur encouraged people to support local businesses, emphasizing that local businesses can invest more in local communities than out of town operations. Pastors were urged to get more involved in the community. Energizing congregations and leading them in revitalizing their communities. Churches could provide education, financial and otherwise, helping people get out of debt or providing mentors for local schools.

A Dr. Perkins ended the discussion with a well thought out statement about how some senators support businesses in their districts, while some only support social programs. He lamented the fact that some people are only taught to act as victims, while some people are encouraged and supported in entrepreneurial endeavors. People should be taught and encouraged to stand on their on feet instead of leaning on state support. Certainly this is an area which can be helped by education as well…

In all, the forum at Koinonia Coffee House was excellent. Representative Flaggs was clearly a passionate man who truly cared about health care, education and the Capitol city. The discussion was informed and informative. I did not try to contribute anything to the discussion, but i will certainly be in attendance in the future. So remember, 9 am, every friday at Koinonia Coffee House off Metro Parkway. Be there.

sharing ideas with the public works transition team

What happened: Mayor Harvey Johnson’s transition team for public works is preparing a report for him, this was the public’s chance to give input. Our words would be recorded and the team plans to use our input and data to form their report. They will need more data than they got today. The meeting took place in city hall. The transition team was introduced, with Mr. Matt Thomas at the helm. Other team members flanked him, including the Reverend Damuel Boyd, Tommy Darnell, Calvin Dean, Ruthania Hudson and Waddell Nejam. The event was facilitated by Dr. Bill Cooley. Mr. Thomas opened thanking people for showing, and saying how important it was that people give their input. The public works department operates on a 62 million dollar budget and consists of the road and infrastructure maintenance side as well as the water billing department.

I saw the notification of this series of forums by chance on the Jackson Free Press website. Granted, it was a very high chance that I would have seen it, as I have their RSS feed in my browser, but a chance nonetheless. It did not seem well advertised, as this was only announced sometime the morning of the 29th, with the meeting on the 30th. When I arrived at the meeting, my suspicions were confirmed. There was one news van outside, and the room was sparsely populated.

Originally I thought that there would be more discussion with the transition team. I also thought that the Mr. Johnson would be there, to share ideas and take criticism. This was not the case. Dr. Cooley stood at front with the microphone and invited audience members to the front to pitch their ideas at how to improve public works in Jackson. This felt a bit awkward at first, as I had no idea what sort of thing to say to a transition team, not knowing their background, expertise, or authority on implementing these ideas.

The first speaker was a city worker who bemoaned the shape of the roads where she lived. No sidewalks and terrible condition of streets coupled with irregular, and unreliable garbage pick up made the area a horrible place to live. The transition team looked on in somber silence. This was a good point about garbage collection which was reflected later in comments by an out of towner who commented on the large amounts of sometimes unnecessary waste which the city is paying to have dumped. Perhaps we should deal with our waste more efficiently. Although it was not mentioned explicitly in the meeting, recycling, lawn/tree waste and possibly compost material could be removed from our waste system more effectively, saving, and possibly generating money for the City of Jackson.

A young Mr. Upkins praised the Jackson Metro Parkway as an excellent roadway which was well maintained. He then turned to voice concerns over the long term prospects, wanting to know if regular maintenance, mowing, street sweeping would be taken care of. He felt that the area could do with more beautification, moving utilities underground and adding public green space. Improvements such as these would promote the social improvement and economic growth of the area, he hinted.

Another gentleman stood up to speak. Instead of bringing the hopeful tones of the previous speaker, he came down to criticize the department for their inaction. He brought up past arguments with the department including a burst water main that took three months to be completely resolved, an overflowing creek flooding his and neighborhood properties that took over a year to be seen to. He noted that foreclosures in the area meant that yards were left strewn with the insides of homes and only attention from the news brought any action. He recalled an episode in which “the worst road crew in the world” was brought in to re-pave a road, when they had finished, the road looked “about the same” as when they had started. It was his luck to live in Ward 1, where things actually did get done, he said. He later lamented that he had been told that homeowners were responsible for maintaining their own gutters, but could not believe that he was the person to fix all 35 feet of his crumbling gutter. He highlighted communication and inactivity problems which have characterized the department of Public Works in the past.

Mr. Anderson (von Anderson?) took the floor with three key points. While he was appreciative of the pothole reporting hotline (601-960-POTH) he said more use of online reporting could be made. I would like to point out that there is an awkward comments form that can be used for just that but his idea can be taken further with mapping and response capabilities. Perhaps the online form could map complaints as well as be updated whenever crews fill potholes in. Noting that Jackson was the capital of a rural state, and we have a lot of old trees, he introduced his idea that the Public Works department invest in wood-chipping machines. This goes back to what appears to be a theme of the night on dealing with waste effectively and efficiently. The department could certainly use some new methods, systems and ideas in that area. Finally he proposed rolling dumpster days. Making more regularly scheduled days for a dumpster to be placed in an area for the residents to use. It used to be the case that people could dump off extra waste and recycling at fire stations, but as far as I know, that was discontinued long ago. Rolling dumpsters allow residents to dispose of extra large items more conveniently, as well as promote general cleanliness of neighborhoods. If these were organized more regularly, people could participate more effectively. He also noted that communication problems between citizens, the government and fellow citizens should be addressed in order to make these solutions more viable.

It was here (at 18:18) that we were pleasantly interrupted by Mr. Harvey Johnson himself. In between meetings, the incoming executive stopped by to thank everyone for attending. He promised a more transparent supportive government which would not be a “black box”, opaque to its citizens.

After yielding the floor to Mr. Johnson, I appealed to the committee to work to ensure that this citizen input would continue throughout the administration. Citizen input as well as feedback from all sides of the issue is important to ensure effective operation of the Public Works department. I asked how far the new department would go to solve problems of an increasingly dilapidated infrastructure and possibly shrinking budgets. I would like to see radical steps taken, thinking out of the box and trying solutions which may not have been tried before. It is not easy to tell a crowd of older Mississippians that we must try new solutions, but I tried to go delicately.

There were further ideas thrown about, including a desire to have online water bills. One man called for more transparency and review to contract bids. One suggestion was that department heads piggyback on the COPS community meetings and engage with the citizenry on a monthly basis alongside the police force. The facilitator, Dr. Cooley, amusingly announced that he “Just recieved a tweet! Well, actually it was a handwritten sheet.” Someone wanted discussion on whether or not there should be a rating system on which streets should be attended to first. A slight discussion ensued. Two people speaking expressed partial support for a rating system, but that it should have factors other than citizen voting. I agree, some objective importance of roads should be assessed, in terms of use, economic development, and emergency situation use. There should be more science of traffic control employed.

I again returned to the floor to address the need for proper investment in out infrastructure. I proposed a somewhat modular system for infrastructure, an “infrastructure for infrastructure.” The idea I had was that while water and sewer mains were upgraded, space could be left for fiber optic lines, traffic control devices and the like. Upgrading the infrastructure in such a way as to expand its capability would make Jackson a more appealing location for businesses (especially with improved fiber optic networks). Proper investment is needed to provide quality roads and infrastructure which will not need to be replaced often and will be easily upgradable and pay off in the long run – a time span difficult for the average politician to comprehend.

Mr. Matt Thomas ended with a promise that our input would not fall on deaf ears. The meeting was recorded and notes were taken. The information that we provided would be reviewed as the committee crafted its report for Mr. Johnson. He said that he was “in the book” and we should look him up and get in touch. He would be pleased to meet with anyone. Unfortunately, I was unable to decide who he was in “the book” there being a Mat, Matt and Matthew Thomas, of Jackson, Clinton and Madison, respectively. If anyone does manage to get in touch with him, please, don’t ask him for a job, there are vacancies which you may apply for, but don’t ask him for a job. Also, do not ask who he is hiring or firing, as that is not his remit.

In all, it was a decent public forum. I would have appreciated more input from the transition team, and maybe some substantiation of the idea that citizen input would be appreciated throughout the administration. I didn’t propose any specific ideas in the meeting, but may in a later post.

good Polish Portions at good Polish Prices

Sometime over easter holiday, there appeared a new restaurant around the corner on Gloucester Road. EasyJet orange chairs, paintings of the Beatles on the wall, and a sign that beckons you to come in and enjoy “Delicions Fresh Polish Food.” The delightful misspellings and half-translations don’t stop there. Really, it is part of the appeal that not everything has been translated properly into english. It adds a new dimension of authenticity of the experience. As I have learned, it is fun to go into a restaurant in a foreign country where you don’t know anything on the menu. In your home country (or at least one which shares its language with you) you would expect to be able to read menus clearly. Chopin provides the perfect balance of the experiences.

This is, by the way, a review. As far as I can tell, this is the second review of Chopin to hit the interwebs. A not so thorough search on the googles indicates that a Mark Taylor beat me to it.

So. My first experience was probably within a few weeks of the restaurant being opened. M and I headed there for a cheeky “Beef Stroganow” before dinner. We got it takeaway and it took about 10 minutes, what one might expect for a takeaway. Nothing to be surprised about here. We got home and opened the box, delighted to find a massive load of meat and gravy. This was definitely the hearty fare that we expected. The two of us split the tab, which was £4. Very cheap for a large main course, even if it didn’t have any vegetables with it – though, if we had sat down to eat it, it would have come with bread.

The next visit had ulterior motives. We had just booked tickets to Poland and needed a hostel to stay in. The only hostel in Rzeszow required phone booking. M, A and I headed to Chopin for lunch. We dined on massive baked potatoes and hearty soups before lectures. The waitress/hostess/lady who works there, was very sweet and tended to the table probably the perfect amount – she made sure that we had everything we needed without being pesky. This is when we learned that she doesn’t speak much english. Generally fine as the menu is numbered, but when we asked if she could make a phone call for us, she stalled. She got the chef out to handle us. Very nice chap as far as we can tell, was amused to fine we were going to Rzeszow, and said we should go to Warsaw instead.

I came to frequent the restaurant more, hitting it three days in a row at one point. The food is hearty, fresh and served in large portions. The prices are pretty much as low as possible. Side dishes are all 99p, but these can easily be a starter for their size. I personally love the fried beetroot and the cabbage. Every day has a special deal on, which I have taken advantage of twice. Once was a free starter of bread, pate and lard, which is surprisingly nice. Not a big fan of pate, but this one was nice, and the lard mixed in was an interesting substitute to butter on bread. Sunday is pork chop schabowy day, and their fried pork chop (comes with cabbage and chips) is only £5.20, a decent discount from the usual. At one point, there were six of us having dinner there. each of us had two or three courses and a pint. The total was less than £60. At least two of us eked out three courses on a tenner.

This is my review of the pork chop. One review (yes, that only other review), doesn’t rate it highly, claiming that the flattened pork chop schabowy could have been anything, chicken, veal, pork, cork or a shoe insole. The author is certainly right, it could have been anything, but for those who would prefer to ignore skepticism, this is not a relevant point. I would like to add that while it could have been anything, it tasted like a fried pork chop. People are less likely to confuse tastes, such as pork, chicken, and insoles, if they know how to tell the difference between the items. So, if one thinks that the pork chop schabowy it could have been chicken or veal, it is probably an indication that all of the chicken, veal and insoles they have had actually taste of pork. I have been fortunate to have good quality and diverse foods in my life, and I am inclined to say that it tasted of pork. I am not an authority on how insoles taste, so I do not speak with the authority Mr. Taylor has. One housemate even gave a good rating to their burger, not what I would have thought to have at a Polish restaurant, but well done nonetheless. Bigos, which is described on the menu simply as “Bigos” is delicious, various smoked meats in cabbage. Potato thug pie was enthusiastically recommended by the waitress, and it turned out to be some sort of large potato pancake folded over a meaty gravy-y filling. For £7.20, this is a cracking deal for hungry people who don’t want to be hungry anymore. Or even for those who just like the rich taste of good meat in a tasty gravy. You cannot lose.

I have eaten many other things there, and sampled off other peoples plates as well. These things I found to be good. My main complaint was that the chicken soup with noodles was very hot, and the layer of oil on top (its the same in Poland, I found) keeps the soup from cooling off. So, it was a bit hot. There are times (about half the time I have been) when they run out of things in the kitchen. They always come up with an acceptable substitute, as far as I can tell.

So, to summarize:
Large portions.
Hearty food.
Meat.
Very cheap.
Really, really cheap – £10 for three courses and a pint.
They find it jokes when you tip in Zloty.
Excellent rail links: walking distance of Redland station and Montpelier station.

This is where it is.

Really, cracking resteraunt. I don’t think they know anything about profit margins, and seem to be having a hard time drawing in customers. It is very nice inside and the staff are about as lovely as they come. The ad hoc substitutions and minimal english make the experience exciting and authentic in a whole new way. Go there. Its delicions.

This is the part where I load the post with keywords in the hopes that it will be picked up by the great algorithm by which we search the interweaves: Chopin Bristol Gloucester road arches fresh Polish food takeaway take away eat cheap good Chopin restaurant.

Ah, and here is the address/phone number:
217 Cheltenham Road
Bristol BS6 5QP
0117 904 3573

sewing machines

Recently i walked into a charity shop up the road and was greeted by a foot pedal powered Singer sewing machine:

For only £95 you could be the proud owner of a classic foot powered sewing machine. For the anyone too lazy to pump their feet, an electric motor had been installed also. That could be removed, and a band put on to make it fully functional again. The drawers were already stocked with brightly colored thread:

I remember we always used to have a broken Singer table on our deck. The foot pedal was cracked. The top had been replaced with a few 2×6’s. It was always a bit of a mystery to me, but the crank turning the flywheel was always fascinating. Ingenious.

Moving on to today. Another charity shop (they are in fierce competition around here) is selling a hand cranked sewing machine. Much more compact and practical i should say:

For £40, this one just needs a little oil and love. Only comes with black thread, which is a bit of a drawback.

If anyone is interested in getting one, let me know and ill see if its still there!

today i overheard that blackbeard was from bristol

yes, i know these posts are coming a bit fast right now, so, there are three from the past couple of days if you wanted to read them in the right order.
i went up to cabot tower again today, as it was beautifully clear, and i knew that it would be open. and wow, the view from up there is simply amazing with no fog, i might go back to watch the sunset if its still open…
i got a 360 degree picture while i was up there, its quite large, and flickr made it quite small, so just click the link below for the full size image. dont mind that some buildings fit together really strangely, its the concept that i was going for.
http://jrtaff.files.wordpress.com/2006/11/city-360.jpg
the gardens on brandon hill are some of the most pretty gardens i have seen. this is the water garden that spills out from the tower and treks down part of the hill. the hill slopes down into the rest of the city below it.

there are more pictures on flickr, including what is said to be the longest crescent in europe, wills memorial building with the scaffolding coming down, and a better picture of the college green. that was quite nice, and ill add something onto this if i end up getting back up there for sunset, if its open is suppose.

location location location location location

Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of going to school here in Bristol is, well, Bristol. Being an old English town, the buildings are old, the streets are a maze, and there is always a fascinating bit of history right around the corner.
Buildings with names like Royal Fort House, Gate House, Wills Memorial Building, and even my home at Clifton Hill House look like what you might expect in a history book, or just a picture book of things that are wonderfully British. While Wills Memorial Building is currently under wrapped scaffolding for cleaning, the scaffolding is slowly coming down, revealing a majestic building that has inspired dreams of going to school at Hogwarts for some students. My own hall of residence is a eighteenth century paladian mansion, with two old sections filled with large and interesting rooms, and two modern wings (South wing, and Fry, which i live in). The view south down Clifton Hill from my room is filled with rows of old apartments separated with lines of chimneys, just like you could imagine in a Dickins novel. Classrooms and tutorials might be tucked away in a modernized room in a stately old building. It is easy to see how the uses of the buildings have changed over time. One of my tutorials was held in a gate house, the last remaining part of a wall surrounding the Royal Fort Lodge. The tutorial was actually on the upper part of the split level first floor (not to be confused with the American first floor, which is the ground floor here) which is directly over the actual arch. The historical marker outside tells of the time when this was a guard house, and the sinks installed in each room hint at a five room residence with a kitchen in the first room, but now rooms are available for tutors to reserve time in. Some buildings are a conglomeration of original buildings, annexes, and modern wings. Staircases leading all over to floors with no consistent plan to them.
The layout of the city is even more fun to explore. Any path from point B to point B might consist of roads along a hill ridge with a view of the whole city as well as small tree covered lanes for pedestrian traffic only. Alleys and paths that cut in between buildings and snake along behind them are just as prevalent as major roads where you have to watch out for bicycle traffic more urgently than other vehicles. The pavement (sidewalks) along roads are just as useful as park paths in the quest to reach the elusive point B. The green space in this city rivals that of home, as parks are practically on every other block, trees hang over every road, and courtyards peak out of every rise of apartments. Roads and lanes and paths don’t follow any coherent plan. No straight wide streets as can be found in most modern cities are found here. Cars fly through intersections if they are clear, as there is not much use of stop signs, i only know of one or two in the city. That is not to say that they are dangerous streets, as driver test study books are massive and driver education seems to be required, but drivers are extremely defensive in the fast and frightening traffic loads that the city hosts.
All of this encompasses a city brimming with history and historical landmarks. Just a few meters behind Clifton Hill House is the site of a church destroyed during World War Two. A tree lined lane lets you walk through the cemetery to a marker noting the spot. Down closer to the river out of my window is the city cathedral, and a separate part of that which is now the main city library. Cabot tower is a one hundred foot high monument high on a hill overlooking the entire city, just a bit on the left of the view out of my window.

950 miles from rome, 120 from london.

There are two points in the world that are 950 miles from Rome, and 120 miles from London. One of them is quite an exceptional place.
Cabot tower, on Brandon hill.

I went for a walk today, not having much else to do, and wandered into the Brandon hill park. I found the door to the tower opened, and went inside. A long spiral staircase of brick and concrete leads to the first platform, maybe two thirds of the way up, the winds whipped around and the view was impressive. A narrower staircase leads up to the top platform, 100 feet total, 334 feet above sea level. Engravings note distances to major cities and local landmarks from the top. The view was incredible, and i learned that the far hills (the horizon that i can see when its not quite so foggy) are only four miles away.
I didnt have my camera, but i could imagine a huge amalgamation of photographs might work for a massive 360 degree view…
And i noticed, even Banksy had to have a go at the tower with a “Caution: Giraffe” stencil inside at the top.

Ill go sometime with a camera. It is quite a beautiful park, and i have a few pictures of it (the one at the top of this post) but there is so much more to see there. Quite an amazing place, and it is so quiet and friendly in the middle of the loud happenings of Bristol.