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monsoon

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I am seriously in love with Blackhawk Hardware. Woke up to no heat,no hot water. And an unresponsive landlord. Rolled out of bed in two coats and hot mess bedhead to BHWK. I wanted to get a bigger space heater besides my small emergency one. The only good one in stock was $100 which I really could not afford but was going to buy anyway. They only charged me $40 for it. How awesome is that?! I now have two heaters going and still trying to track down my landlord. But I am a blackhawk loyalist for life.

I try to be a good citizen and support Lowe's since it's right across the street from me in South End and because it's a local company. I was never a fan of the Home Depot. Though, I do find myself going to that Blackhawk Hardware every now and again. The customer service there is very personable and knowledgeable. Plus, for whatever reason Lowe's can't get my spare keys made correctly when I need them to. Blackhawk never has a problem.

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In my ideal world alll utilities would be free, it's about basic humane treatment. At least make heat,AC, and power government run and adjust rates according to a sliding scale dependent upon income.

I am going to stick with my portable space heaters thoughout this cold snap and just ration the warmth in my apt. PNG was too bloody expensive last year and I am not going to pay it again.

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I had a frightening experience with a space heater last year and have sworn them off. I turned it on when I got out of bed in the morning, went to brush my teeth, and when I came back out the knobs were melting and the living room smelled of burning plastic. I actually reported it to the CPSC, but to my knowledge that model was never recalled.

This year, I invested in some heavy insulated curtains and a programmable thermostat. Both have helped tremendously. I can't believe I didn't get a better thermostat years ago - best $35 spent ever.

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^ They can be risky I agree. The two I have are newer and self contained. I never use an extension cord. They both automatically shut off and restart after long heating cycles. Never had an issue with them. Perspective wise, this degree of cold is not normal for the area. I like a cooler home and this time of year can usually get away with just bundling into bed and sparingly using the heaters if at all during the winter. They sure have been getting a workout this week. Hope we can go back to normal ASAP.

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For goodness sakes can we please get a Sheetz gas station?!? They have them everywhere I'm the triad and VA. Very clean and neat convenient stores and you can actually order a customized burger on a touch screen with fries!! And to top it all off, they actually play modern music and not that 60's and 70's crap you'll hear at texaco and shell places....

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For goodness sakes can we please get a Sheetz gas station?!? They have them everywhere I'm the triad and VA. Very clean and neat convenient stores and you can actually order a customized burger on a touch screen with fries!! And to top it all off, they actually play modern music and not that 60's and 70's crap you'll hear at texaco and shell places....

I totally agree!!!! The closest one is in Statesville on I-40

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i asked one of the employees at Mortimer's Coffee in the Epicentre (formerly PJ's) if they would be bringing their hookahs back when the weather warms up, since under the smoking ban they are only able to offer them outside. he replied that even though most hookah bars in the state have been forced to all but shut-down (since they can't offer hookahs in the same room as food and alcohol), there is a bill set to make ALL public hookah smoking illegal in the state in March. the reasoning being that it is "too easy to sip illegal substances into one"...yeah right. if this is true, i guarantee it is because of a shallow prejudice against the way it looks. as a frequent patron of hookah bars prior to this year, i can assure you that nobody goes to a hookah bar to smoke anything other than the sheesha provided.

even as a non-cigarette-smoker i have been vehemently against the smoking ban, but this is just lunacy. so, has anyone else heard about this? i don't have any details beyond hearsay, but if true, what does everyone think about the state-wide annihilation of a vibrant niche business?

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Does anyone know if there is a Charlotte St. Baldrick's event? I just searched the St. Baldrick's organization website and the closest I can find is in Raleigh.

I also looked in the Observer archives and can find no mention of previous events. I can't believe Charlotte doesn't hold one. Maybe it's just not advertised?!?

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Just a quick note -- Park & Rec has approved the installation of a frisbee golf course in Eastway Park (near Eastway and The Plaza). This park (land) was previously mentioned on the "Seen from Google Maps" thread here on UP, due to the still-visible harness racing track at that site. Completion/opening of this course may be as early as mid-Spring.

Charlotte is hosting a combined Pro and Am World Championships for frisbee golf (okay, Disc Golf) in 2012. So the local club is busy trying to get some more courses in the ground. They just opened 2 new courses in November -- one in Nevin park (near exit 16) and one on the far far south side at Elon park (it is the 2nd course at Elon).

Charmeck Park & Rec actually produced a reasonably cool video (well, as far as frisbee golf goes):

for their Disc Golf page here:

http://www.charmeck.org/Departments/Park+and+Rec/Activities/Athletics/DiscGolf.htm

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I have been grumpy all day about having issues with my Blackberry and waiting on a Paypal deposit for a project. I just dragged out the trash cans for my quad and then sat on the porch to clear the mind. A homeless person walked right over and pulled out a jumbled mess of stuff I dumped out, to use for I don't know what.....

This visual definitely served as a good dose of slap upside the head perspective sleep.gif

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Found this interesting article in the New York Times that talks about the revival of Oklahoma City. Reading through it, it has a lot of parallels to Charlotte in terms of building a downtown and booming off primarily a single industry. To be honest, I didn't know much about OKC other than the bombing attack in the mid-90s by Timothy McVay (sp?). This city could potentially be one of the next boomtowns, although they seem to be a little more conservative. They have an area called Bricktown which is a booming entertainment district (includes a AAA ballpark that is highly renowned in minor league baseball). They also will be building a large "central park" in downtown, via a publicly financed program called MAPS. It will also address things such as schools and public transportation. I knew about the OKC Thunder, who play in the Ford Center and are one the leagues best draws (much like the Hornets used to be). Anyways, interesting info...

Edited by dbull75
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I've spent a good amount of time in OKC. I would agree that it is similar to Charlotte in composition. Bricktown has been strong for a while (with help from AAA Baseball, and if you look closely you will see OKC payed homage to hometown boys The Flaming Lips with a street). OKC feels as landlocked as Charlotte, but the canal in Bricktown helps you get away from that.

The radius of the roads/highways in OKC are similar. The center city is a proud place, well maintained with good upgrades in infrastructure, but the outskirts of the city are much like Charlotte's - you can see where the money goes, and where it doesn't.

OKC also has the relocated Seattle Supersonics (as the Thunder) which is worth a lot - think how much pride Charlotte felt when we got our first pro-team. The OKC Federal Building bombing memorial site is a great example of turning a bad thing into a community-building endeavor. They also have an EXCELLENT bio-dome/botanical park right in downtown. It's a wonderful natural area in the city. The universities are located outside of OKC (in Norman) which is a very cool town. Many of my friends in Norman felt a personal connection with OKC, but Norman offered enough for them on a daily basis.

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^OKC does sounds a good city to check out if you have the chance. The music scene definitely seems to have a good vibe as well. I may potentially get a new work assignment out there sometime this year, so I will definitely have to check it out. Surprisingly though, the airport doesn't get a lot direct service there. Atlanta and NY are the only east coast cities that has a non-stop flight. US Airways doesn't even serve their airport.

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The snow, and more the resulting icing definitely made my dog sitting appts nervewracking. Have no all wheel drive but definitely had both hands on the wheel of my old but trusty 01 Civic. Slipped and slided a little yesterday but today was much better.

That aside, the general slowdown that occurs here during a snowstorm is a nice opportunity to dial it back a bit and reflect. Instead of going back home on Saturday I crashed at Amelies with my laptop and pigged out for hours in between dog walks. It was a lot of fun. If this town had more places that have the vibe of Amelies and Common Market ................well then we would be Portland laugh.gif Not having too many of these options makes what we do have even more special and important to support.

I am as guilty as everyone else as sometimes being in too much of a rush. It would be great to maintain the same courtesy during the normal routine that we have during disruptions.

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Charlottesgotalot.com is an amazing website but I just want to know why they heavily advertise the Billy Graham library so much. dontknow.gif Is it really that great of an attraction? I mean. I'm Christian and all so I'm not hating. I just don't know why it's one of the featured attractions on Charlottesgotalot.com so much... Is it worth checking out?

This is what the website says:

The Billy Graham Library is an innovative, family friendly facility that combines multimedia technology and fascinating memorabilia to transport visitors into the life and faith of this beloved evangelist. A gift shop, café and Graham’s childhood home complete this not to be missed experience.

That just doesn't sound... very touristy in my opinion. You know. Compared to Carowinds and such.

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^^^ I'm arguably not very religious myself, but I wouldn't underestimate the significant tourist draw of the library. I often see (in the warm weather months) Christian tour buses in Uptown and I remember reading somewhere once some impressive numbers of tourists including those who come to Charlotte specifically for the Library.

I sincerely doubt I would visit myself as it is not my thing, but I am all for promoting anything that is a draw to this city and adds tourists!

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Now off topic in the off topic forum:

Is there a Ballantyne thread here? I couldn't find one quickly, and search didn't help me find any recent posts.

I'm curious about chatter and opinions here about low income housing coming to Ballantyne, or not, depending on the will of city council and zoning people, with petition 2010 021 at Providence Road West and Johnston Road. Looks like some folks are trying to scatter Section 8 or low income housing more fairly throughout the city, but the neighbors aren't very excited about the idea.

Thoughts? Or which thread should I take this to?

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