Suzy's Blog

November 15th 1989

2009-11-15T16:30:00.049-06:00

Well today it was 20 years ago that the F4 Hit Huntsville on Airport Rd. I was not in Huntsville during this time. I was away at college just south of Birmingham in Shelby County. My account of the events that unfolded are from the perspective of a college freshman away from home. We were under tornado warnings that day as well in the college town where I went to school. I remember when all the aftermath was unfolding in Huntsville I had just sat down in the cafeteria with some friends for dinner when the tornado siren went off. We were all told to go to the nearest safe building which was the dorm I lived in. We sat packed in the 1st floor of the dorm hall for a couple of hours until the all clear was given that we could go to our rooms. I was a pledge in a sorority at the time and it was our meeting time. Just before our pledge meeting was to start we learned that Huntsville had been hit. After my pledge meeting I tried to contact my family and was unable to get through because the phone lines were tied up. I finally did get through that night about 5 hours after the tornado had hit. My family was uninjured thank goodness. At the time I did not know where my family was or if they were okay. I would later learn that my dad was away from the office and was told there was a Tornado on the ground at Haysland Square. He looked outside and said no not at Haysland it is north of there so he then drove north on the parkway back to his office on Lily Flagg to send his staff home. His office was just south of the area damaged.

The local paper had asked for stories from survivors of the tornado for the 20th anniversary. I know a number of people who were affected by the tornado.

Another friend of mine has posted his account of those events here. One of those people is my best friend from high school and if it were not for her experience I would have never met my husband. She would also serve as my Matron of Honor in 1992 when I got married. Her account of the events are not in the paper. So in a round about way the tornado is responsible for me meeting and marrying my husband. I was introduced to him a number of months after the tornado happened.

Disclosure Policy

2009-09-16T12:12:00.006-05:00

This policy is valid from 16 September 2009

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. For questions about this blog, please contact sl.metcalf@gmail.com.

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Link From Blog

2009-09-10T20:23:00.001-05:00

Another company has entered the paid to blog community it is called Link From Blog. I have always liked the idea of paid blogging. Link from blog is similar to other paid blogging companies in that you bid for jobs and the advertisers will look at the bids and determine who they want to write the reviews.

Tigers love to tug on purple ducks

2009-09-08T19:55:00.000-05:00

Tigers love to tug on purple ducks

Table with Folding Handles

2009-09-06T10:44:00.000-05:00

For the last year I have been on the lookout for a folding table with handles. Something that I can carry with me to craft shows. Last year I borrowed one from a family friend and loved it. I know at one time they had them at Sam's club but they are $85 and could not justify spending that much money on a table that I use only about half a dozen times a year. This morning after breakfast I was speaking with a friend and she said they had what I was looking for at Lowe's and they were on sale for $40 so I told her I was running out the door to get one as we spoke. Well I get to Lowe's and find them only you cannot see that they have handles on them. So after a few minutes I get some help and the tables turn out to be exactly what I was looking for. So now I am prepared for my next outdoor craft show with a table. Now if I could only get some more pieces made and photographed.

Blog Anniversary Milestone

2009-08-26T20:53:00.022-05:00

It is hard to believe that I have had this blog for the last 7 years. I never thought that I would continue to do it for this long. I have taken breaks here and there but I always come back and post something. Sometimes it is a few weeks or months. I have gone as long as a year but I always come back. Looking through my archives I found how short my posts were and how few and far between they are in some spots as well. When my husband and I set up our blogs all those years ago not many people knew what blogs were. Now everyone has one. Okay, well maybe not everyone my parents do not have one nor do I see either of them getting one anytime soon. It is amazing to see what people blog about. I read a long list of blogs religiously but have never been able to blog what I would call consistently. As much as I enjoy it it seems a lot of people get tired of it after a while, but not me. So for reasons unkown to me I still will ocassionally post something I think is of interest. It may not be daily but based on my patterns from the past something will be posted. For giggles I thought that I would link to my very first blog post.

Technology

2009-07-31T20:15:00.001-05:00

Well where do I begin with this one. It seems like technology has not been my friend this week. I wanted to make some updates to my handmade jewelry store, but the internet had other things in mind for me. Yesterday when our internet connection seemed to be working in my favor I set out to do the updates that I mentioned. Well that did not happen. The network storage device that we have for backup was not accessible all day long. Last night after Art woke up he finally got the device working again. Needless to say we just backed up the device with a portable usb hard drive. I didn?t know everything had to be so redundant. So this morning was spent making updates to my site and getting blog going for my handmade jewelry store. Everything store related will be posted here. I will occasionally mention it on this one but any changes I make or products I add will be posted on my jewelry blog.

Ticket for going too slow

2009-07-23T21:42:00.001-05:00

How does this happen? I have heard of some crazy things but this takes the cake. I can see a ticket for going over the speed limit but under. From reading the article it does not sound like the driver was endangering anyone by driving slower than the 65mph that the cop claims is the posted limit in that area. Also a stretch of that road is marked as 55mph and according to the article the ticket was given before you get to the posted 65mph limit sign.

Social Networking Automated

2009-07-21T14:31:00.002-05:00

I have spent the past few days looking to make myself more productive with my social networking. I have always wondered how people update Twitter, Facebook and MySpace without spending all day on the computer. I have known for a while that you can schedule your blog postings so why not schedule your social network updates. I discovered a little tool called HootSuite it supports multiple twitter accounts. I have been playing around with this tool and find it a very handy tool. Up until today I only had one twitter account but decided that it might be best to separate my personal tweets from my business related tweets. Now that I have played around with this application I wished that I had discovered it long before I did. Now if only I can make a habit of scheduling some sort of content regularly on my blog. I have been doing well scheduling content on my food blog but need to do so with my handmadejewelry blog as well.

Concert in the Park and Dinner

2009-07-06T21:58:00.002-05:00

So we had a good time at the concert in the park. Headed out to a new Greek Place in Huntsville called Taziki?s. Will absolutely be going back again. It is fast food Greek Style. The first group that performed was called Ashleigh Marie and the High Tech Rednecks. I was amazed to find out she is only 13 but very talented.

Concerts In the Park

2009-07-06T11:12:00.001-05:00

Well today is Monday so that means this is going on tonight. Of course any decisions about cancellations or relocations due to weather are made between 5:30 and 6:00pm so listen to your local news or radio to find out if there are any changes. My husband and I really enjoy going to these when we can. I like to go when it is not so humid because sitting outside when there is high humidity is not one of my favorite things to do.

Harmony Park Safari

2009-06-23T21:36:00.000-05:00

So this past weekend we went to the Harmony Park Safari. My husband posted about it a few days ago. I grew up in Huntsville and did not even know the place it existed. Of course you probably would not want to go in a luxury vehicle since the animals do have a tendency to bump up against your vehicle. It was a fun experience and my best friends kids seemed to enjoy it. They had a blast. If you live in the Huntsville area it is worth the drive to the south end of town to check it out.

Trying something new

2009-06-19T12:43:00.000-05:00

I am trying something new over at my recipe and food related blog. As I was sitting here thinking of something to post on my personal blog I came up with the idea of posting some of my favorite cooking websites and having the readers send in their favorite recipes and or websites and I will post them on the recipe blog.

20th High School Reunion

2009-06-17T12:22:00.000-05:00

Has it really been that long since I posted something? I guess it has. I really have not had that much to say lately. Hopefully that will change soon. Summer is here and it is hot already. Guess I will try harder to keep this thing updated. Just recently had my 20th High School Reunion. It was a lot of fun. I still have a hard time believing it has been that long.

Networking and Craft Fairs

2008-10-21T19:46:00.000-05:00

Well I had a good showing at the Madison Street Festival earlier this month. I had quiet a few custom orders and I am currently working on two more as we speak. I also have an opportunity to do a craft show this weekend. It was a last minute thing but I am so glad to be able to get into it on Saturday. It is called Holiday House and is held at a local church. A friend of my mothers told me about it. So please come see me on Saturday at Southwood Presbyterian church on Carl T Jones dr in Huntsville. On another note I have found a relatively new social networking site dedicated to beaders. I think it is awesome that someone would create a social networking site just for beaders. It is like myspace combined with ebay. You can sell your Jewelry for free on there. Another social networking site for crafters same concept. Social networking and you can sell your Jewelry for free again. I am still trying to find my way around both sites as they are relatively new.

Where has September gone?

2008-09-26T10:55:00.000-05:00

I was just looking at the Calendar the other day and realized just how close we are to some major holidays. I have been working on getting some stock for my store and also for the Madison Street Festival next weekend. I will most likely be working from now until friday. I will also have some Christmas themed jewelry out as well. If I don't update much between now and the street festival that is why.

It is a crafty weekend

2008-09-20T22:34:00.000-05:00

Today the hubby and I went to the Monte Sano Art Show. I had never been before. It was nice to see something different. It was a nice weekend to do that. I also walked around to the Jewelry booths so I could see what kind of pieces the artists were showing. All of the jewelry I saw was different and Unique. Tomorrow is also the last day for the NEACA craft show. This is one the larger craft shows that we have in the area. I plan to go tomorrow to see some more jewelry. Last summer I picked up beading and making my own jewelry. I am also in preparation for my first craft show in two weeks. I will have a booth at the Madison Street Festival. I am looking forward to it with anticipation.

Chris Pirillo's tips on good blogging

2008-09-08T11:09:00.001-05:00

So I have been following Chris Pirillo for a few years now since we attended his Gnomedex Conference in Des Moines Iowa in 2002. In fact we went to 3 of his Gnomedex Conferences 2 were in Iowa which was really nice because we only lived 3 hours away. The thrid one we attended was in Lake Tahoe which was a lot of fun. Anyway, back to my point. Chris has been blogging for years and has always had some good tips for his readers and this one is no exception. I think he is does a good job of finding new content to post on a daily basis. I really wonder how he does it. I have been blogging on and off since 2002 and find myself having a hard time finding something worthy to blog about. I love blogging just have trouble finding content.

Webgrits is Back

2008-08-16T11:50:00.003-05:00

Well I know it has been awhile since I have posted something. This summer has been a quick one. A few weeks ago we spent a long weekend out at the beach in Fort Walton with some friends. They had to go for work and had some extra room and invited us down. I should say that the friends we went with are like family to us. My best friend from High School and her husband introduced me to my husband 18 years ago. Anyway, we had a great time at the beach. After breakfast this morning we came home and I was checking out my blog feeds on my yahoo and noticed that an old blogger is back. I really enjoyed reading her up until Dec of 2005 when she took a break from blogging. I was excited to see in my blog feed she had a new post up. Welcome back Webgrits we missed you. I look forward to reading more of your entries.

Social Spark The Social network Paid to Blog Service

2008-06-13T09:47:00.012-05:00

Are you looking to make some extra money and make friends? SocialSpark is a social network and paid to blog service. What I like about it is that you can network and get paid to blog at the same time. Most paid to blog services do not have the social aspect built into it. SocialSpark code of ethics include 100 % disclosure that means putting a piece of code at the end of your post to show that you are being paid for the opportunity. The other aspect of their code of ethics is 100% transparency that means that every participant in Social Spark is viewable to the public. If that is not something that you want then I would rethink joining.
You get real opinions from people who own the product being talked about. Depending on the agreement with the advertiser you can write anything you want about the product. SocialSpark does not have any restrictions on what you post. It is your responsibility to pick opportunities that best suit you and your blog.
And last but not least it is 100% search engine friendly.
It is a great place to blog and meet new people.

An institution that will never be the same

2008-04-22T11:45:00.001-05:00

Growing up in Huntsville I always thought it was weird that only one Mcdonalds had the single arch. Now as an adult I am kind of sad to see it go. It was only one of two signs left and now it will be in a museum. I guess all good things must come to an end. It will be kind of odd driving by and not seeing the single arch anymore.

Panoply Arts Festival

2008-04-05T21:59:00.000-05:00

Well it is almost that time of year again. Panoply festival of the Arts is April 25th to 27th. If you have never been I highly recommend it. They always have local talent which is always nice to see the local people perform. When I was in High School our Choir performed at Panoply. It was fun to be a part of it mostly because you could get out of school early to practice for shows like that. I remember the first year that they had the Arts Festival I was 5th grade. I had broken my toe and had it in a cast and boy was it warm that spring. I spent the better part of the summer that year with the cast on. We went to the Knoxville Worlds Fair and I still had that thing on. Anyway, enough down memory lane here. If you have not been to Panoply or are new to the area you should check it out.

Starbucks Standing By Tip Policy

2008-04-03T21:58:00.002-05:00

I am a fan of Starbucks coffee and like to drink their White Chocolate Mocha on occasion. However, recently they have been ordered to pay 100 million in tips back to their employees in California. Other states have also filed suit regarding this. I do not agree with their policy that they should be sharing tips with the shift supervisors. I think that this policy is wrong and it makes me want to avoid the chain for treating employees in this manner. The Baristas are the ones that earn the tips by making your cappuccino's and lattes not the shift supervisors. Starbucks defends this policy saying that shift supervisors are not management. I think that after they wind up paying all these back tips that they are going to be in a worse position than they are currently in. They are already closing non profitable stores and also scaling back how many new stores they open. I hope that Starbucks changes their minds on their tip policy because it currently is not fair to their employees.

Dept of Public Health Restaurant Ratings

2008-03-29T11:51:00.003-05:00

I think it is great that the Alabama Dept of Health has established a website where you can access scores for restaurants. However while searching the website for places that we eat at frequently I discovered that some of the ratings are outdated. One restaurant that we go to very often with my mother in law shows their old rating of 83 when I know that the restaurant was recently inspected and raised their score from an 83 to an 86. The 83 is from their January Inspection. According the Alabama Dept of Public health scores that fall between 70 and 84 require a reinspection within 60 days. If a restaurant fails meaning that it does not make a grade of 85 then why not reinspect in 30 to 45 days versus 60 days. It seems to me that having an inspection more frequently will make sure that the restaurant is complying. I also feel that if an establishment is truly complying with the standards then the subsequent 30 day inspection will show more than a 3 point improvement on the score. 60 days give the establishment time to correct the score but only enough to pass the inspection. What about the next routine inspection? It may or may not be passing because the management of the establishment has gotten lazy and back into their old way of doing things. I feel that some places have an attitude of well I made an 85 so I am back on routine inspection versus every 60 days. Another thought would be why not if you do not pass two subsequent inspections then stay on reinspection every 30 days until you get a passing score. Even though most of this post has been critical of the process I think that the website is a great tool when you eat out and can help you choose if you really want to eat there. Having the website is better than walking into a place and finding out that they did not pass inspection. It sure beats calling all the places you want to eat to ask about the latest health inspection. I just think that non passing establishments should be inspected on a more frequent basis than they currently are.

Singulair Users at Greater Risk for Suicidal Thoughts

2008-03-27T21:29:00.003-05:00

I find this article very interesting. I have been given this drug before for allergies. I have not taken it long term so I cannot speak for the side effects. I did not feel that it did anything for my allergies and wound up taking something else. I wonder at some point if I may get it prescribed again since I have asthma also.