Holidays: I hope none of you had to travel I-95 over the holidays. The highest speed you could make was about 20 miles per hour in bumper-to-bumper traffic both ways. I didn’t get a new truck from Santa and the Energy Assistance people played Scrooge once again. Mother Nature delivered the rain Gov. Purdue prayed for and gradually everything that was green in my yard a month ago, is now brown. I also asked Santa to please bring the city of Hinesville several truckloads of asphalt so they can finish paving Frank Cochran Drive, but alas he must not have gotten my message. Here’s hoping you stay healthy in 2008 and that Publisher’s Clearing House comes knocking at your door.
Give us a break: If the people in Florida and Tennessee don’t have to pay income taxes and the people in South Carolina don’t pay taxes on groceries and drugs, then why are we still living in the dark ages? House Speaker Glenn Richardson is fighting a one-man battle to give us a tax break and even the governor is fighting against him. Under a revision to the tax overhaul, the taxable value of a homestead would not rise more than one percent per year. In addition, education property taxes on homes would be abolished while all taxes on motor vehicles would be repealed. Hey Congressmen and legislators, are you listening? The budget growth of local governments also would be capped. Garden City, Springfield and Rincon residents are exempt from property taxes altogether. Maybe some of our officials here in Liberty County need to pay the mayors of those three cities a visit and see how they did it. Taxes here are gradually taking away our homes because of the outlandish tax structure here in this county. We, that are over 62 and are millionaires, now get a break by not having to pay school taxes. But what about the rest of the people, struggling to keep their homes up and pay several thousand dollars in taxes? They need a break, too.
Credit card abuse: I couldn’t help but laugh when I read a recent article stating government employees are being scrutinized for using their state-issued credit cards for such things as tattoos, concert tickets, vacations, pawn shops, spas, salons, iTunes and other crazy things. Well, I’m here to tell you, as a former county employee, these credit cards issued to county employees are also being abused. Someone from Atlanta needs to come down here and investigate what is being done with these county issued cards.
Eyesore of the week: I recently spotted another eyesore here in Lake George. It is at 64 4th Street. Speaking of eyesores, I filled out three complaint logs in October noting three different “eyesores” that need to be cleaned up and absolutely nothing has been done about any of them. What’s going on in our zoning office? I thought when you filled out one of these complaint logs and turned it in, that immediate action is taken to notify the owners. Apparently not.
Time to toss: According to Consumer’s Report, they advise not to over pack your fridge. Cold air must have room to circulate around foods. Here are some storage times they published recently:
Butter can be stored up to three months in the fridge, up to nine months in the freezer. Chicken or turkey parts can be kept in the fridge for no longer than two days or nine months in the freezer, whereas a whole chicken or turkey can be stored in the freezer up to a year. Eggs can last up to five weeks in the fridge, but can’t be frozen. Raw fish can last in the freezer up to six months. Hamburger or stew meat can only be kept in the fridge up to two days but will last in the freezer up to four months. Milk can last up to seven days in the fridge, but can be stored in the freezer for three months. Shrimp will only last two days if kept in the fridge, but frozen they will last up to six months. Lunchmeats will last up to two months in the freezer. The best rule when it comes to food is “when in doubt, toss it out.”
Radon in our homes: Not to alarm anyone, but there has been a lot of publicity recently about radon being found in our homes. We all have smoke alarms and carbon monoxide detectors, but recently when I inquired at our local Lowes store about a radon detector, all they had was this kit that you have to mail for somewhere out west. I passed on it, determined to do some surfing and investigating about this “gas.” Now even Realtors are being asked to test homes for radon before selling them. Radon can cause lung cancer and it has been found that a lot of people who have died from lung cancer, never smoked. I promise to thoroughly research this before publishing an article about it. All I know about it at this time is that radon comes from the soil. If you have a computer, do some research on your own. You’ll agree, I think, this is something to be concerned about.
Don’t forget: Don’t let the time slip up on you and miss out on getting tickets to the Bamboo Farms Wild Game Supper on Feb. 29. You won’t want to miss this.