October 16, 2013

There were 4 posts published on October 16, 2013 (this is page 1 of 1).

Construction begins on Oakwood North

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One of the last undeveloped, 10 acre plots of land inside the Beltline heard the rumble of bulldozers this week as construction began on the Oakwood North subdivision. The KB Home neighborhood promises 29 39 new homes within a mere two miles of downtown Raleigh.

The project is expected to follow this rough timeline:

October 2013 – construction begins
Fall 2013 – Brick or stone neighborhood sign erected near Tonsler and State
April 2014 – first home built (model) near Tonsler and State
September 2014 – Extension of Tonsler to State complete
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911 slowly gets smart phone-savvy

My friend Tarus thought that using smartphones to summon emergency services would be a good idea. AT&T apparently thinks otherwise (hint: follow the money).

Durham County is among a handful of emergency dispatch centers in the state that will soon be capable of receiving 911 emergency calls as text messages or streaming video.

Dispatchers across the state are updating their local emergency networks to be compatible with smart phones, but there’s no guarantee that the public will be able to send text or images to 911 dispatch centers anytime soon.

via 911 slowly gets smart phone-savvy | Technology | NewsObserver.com.

Cheap Thoughts: laundry list

Where did we get the phrase “laundry list,” and how did this phrase gain the meaning of “a long and often tedious list of items?” I mean, I know what a laundry list literally is, but there were other lists long before before laundry lists. How did a list of laundry become the go-to list when trying to describe a long list? Is it the alliteration?

Doesn’t it seem weird to be at the office and referring to laundry when describing a list of items, especially when most people wash their own laundry?

Shutdown leaves poor hungry

Yesterday, Ligon Middle School’s PTA sent an email to parents titled “Donations needed:”

About 40 of our students who receive free lunch have fallen through a Federal crack and have lost their lunches for about a week. If anyone would like to donate, Mrs. Avery in student services is collecting money to cover their lunch.

Out of all the train wrecks this federal shutdown has caused, it’s this one that makes me the angriest. The morons in charge of the House of Representatives are playing a political game while kids who depend on the government for their lunches are going hungry. Oh, and the NSA contractors are still getting their $200k salaries, drone strikes are continuing, and some of our … uh, enlightened Congressional representatives refuse to give up their pay.

Real people are being hurt by this stunt and many more real people will be hurt if those who have held our government hostage succeed in pushing the United States to default. Voters will not forget this. I know I won’t.

Update 10:26: Ligon parents have done what House Republicans can’t do and paid for the kids’ lunches. Hooray!

We would like to thank everyone for their generous contributions to the lunch money fund. Ligon families are the best. We currently have enough money to cover the needed lunches.