[ale] introduction

[Ronald Chmara]

On Jan 29, 2004, at 11:28 PM, Joe Knapka wrote:
> "John Wells" <jb at devsea.com> writes:
>> Jerald, can't speak for the schooks,

*Worst* (50th) state in the nation for K-12. We have bad "skooks". :-)

On the brighter side, someone who gets a 600 (combined) on the SAT's, 
but has a B average, gets a state college scholarship. If that's a good 
or bad thing is up to you....

>>  but here's what to expect in Atlanta:
>> Work 24x7x365 and 55-65 hrs/wk.
>> Kids get up at 5am to be bussed all over town.
>> You get up at 4:30am to be able to make it to office by 7:30am 
>> (welcome to
>> Atlanta traffic).
> I found that in Atlanta, "get up at 8:30 to be able to make it to the
> office by 10am" was way less stressful.

I giggle a lot about Atlanta complaining about traffic. It doesn't even 
make the top 10 list.
http://mobility.tamu.edu/ums/news_release/

However, as someone coming from a state (AZ) where a 17-mile city (no 
freeways needed) drive takes about 45 minutes, I can't emphasize enough 
that calculating road distance here feels like following a drunken crow 
around. Commute time varies wildly for the same 5 mile distance, due to 
whacky roads, messed-up planning, and a total lack of a grid for most 
of the metro area. Best advice I got on moving here was living no more 
than 5 miles from where you work. That keeps the commute under 40 
minutes, each way.

As far as forced bussing, I lived in Tucson, which didn't even start 
deseg bussing until about '79. I'm not sure about here, but I'd assume 
ATL has a similar history to LA.

As far as governors and politics, GA seems borderline schizophrenic to 
me. *shrug*
"I want less taxes to pay for more school funding"
"I want less government to create more government police and military 
programs"

But hey, the republicrats are all mighty amusing to me right now. If 
you're more of a liberal, consider getting a place inside the perimiter 
(285 beltway), if you're more of a conservative, outside of the beltway 
may be more to your liking. In spite of insane taxation, public 
services range from spotty to mildly annoying, it depends on where you 
live.

-Bop