Though not as much as of party as our Easter festivities, our latest postcard from the edge from Putnam County has me scratching my head about a few passages.
April 20th, 2009: A “Manic Monday” brings more excessive traffic noise (The Bangles called. Stop soiling their good name). Around noon, our son’s nap is rudely interrupted by a continuous car horn coming from Walmart’s parking lot (I’m gonna go Vegas odds here and say that it was probably you raving around the house like a wayward mental patient who just ate his last checker than a car horn. Who’s with me?). It lasts about 5-10 unacceptable minutes (as opposed to acceptable minutes?) and is joined (unnecessarily) by fire truck sirens (I don’t know … In my experience, you don’t get much capricious siren use on fire trucks.), including one truck that (also unnecessarily) uses the access road directly in front of our home! (I wasn’t there, but I’m going to trust the fire department to know the best way to the scene of a dispatch. I’m clearly not an expert on transportation or emergency services, Mark, but I’m just going with my feelings.) Obviously, this is an accident (WHAT is an accident? The siren? The horn? Your kid waking up? Burning your Swanson Hungry Man platter?), however, had Walmart not built next to homes, the noise from the horn would not be a problem! (A few more: If ‘ifs’ and ‘buts’ were candy and nuts, it’d be Christmas year ’round. If a frog had wings, he wouldn’t bump his ass when he hopped. If wishes were ponies, we’d all be knee-deep in poo.) When I call Walmart’s Manager, Lloyd Atkinson to lodge a legitimate complaint (as opposed to an illegitmate one? Are you admitting that the other times you call, they’re not legitimate complaints?), he rudely hangs up the phone! More abuse from Walmart!!! (Yeah, ’cause God forbid the man actually be allowed to do his job in peace without having to listen to you bitch about the same thing you’ve been bitching about since the doors opened.)
You know what this reminds me of, actually?
You remember back in school how every class had a pain in the ass problem child? The one that constantly disrupted the class if he felt he wasn’t getting enough attention? That’s this guy in a nutshell. I realize the irony of pointing this out is I’m giving him the kind of attention he craves so desperately, but it’s kind of funny to me.
It’s almost 11 p.m. and I hear traffic noise outside my house. Five minutes ago, I heard a car alarm from the apartment complex parking lot. It didn’t prompt any sort of outburst, nor did I feel that the apartment complex, the city of College Park, Prince George’s County, the state of Maryland or, well, let’s just say the United States of America wronged me in any way. Maybe I don’t think like that because, by most accounts, I’m pretty stable.
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::chuckles:: I can go to bed now.
So I’m heading to the WV for a long weekend, leaving here tomorrow. While my flight lands in Huntington, I’ll be staying in Charleston. Since Hurricane is smack dab in the middle, I was going to go scope out the locations for the new Sheetz that are coming to town. Perhaps, I will make a drive-by of the new Wal-Mart. I just hope I remember to check the horn on the rental car to ensure it’s working before I take off.
Honk, sister. Honk.
I feel a need to visit the the Hurricane Wal-Mart.
The horn is your friend. And the gas pedal.
Here’s today’s gem:
April 21st, 2009: The constant invasive noise of excessive traffic is the soundtrack t our Tuesday. Day and night, we are inundated with the roar of cars and trucks. Walmart continues to disrespect our neighborhood!
… Jesus. Now you’re not even trying.
You know what I find particularly interesting in this whole mess … The angry fella is griping about how he wants to move but developers won’t pay what he’s asking and realtors are appraising his property too low … Well, here’s a thought … when you publish a blog about how your neighborhood has been destroyed and your water gets cut off and lights shine in your windows at night and crazy people exhibit road rage daily and car alarms are always going off and son, so forth … these things aren’t exactly marketing tools that scream, “Buy my house!” It’s like when someone orders food that ends up being gross and they say, “Eww, this tastes bad. Here, taste it,” as the thrust their food-filled fork in your direction. Not a ringing endorsement that makes me want to give it a try. If developers won’t buy your house for demolition, son, and you want to sell it to another homebuyer, I suggest you lay up on talking about how atrocious things are!
Oops … the first “son” in my above post should be “so on.” The second is directed to angry Wal-Mart man.
Today’s “Common Sense Moment” is brought to you by JoAnn in Real Life, available at joanninreallife.wordpress.com.
My apartment I shared with my ex was close enough to the fire department that also shared the building with the local EMS. I’d hear siren’s all hours of the day. But I knew it was an EMERGENCY. We only go class 1 (i.e. lights and sirens) for things deemed a true emergency by the 911 dispatcher. I would always say a prayer for whoever they were going out to help. So Mr. Dunlop (as in his gut dun lops over his belt) should consider himself fortunate that he’s not the one in need of emergency care. I could only hope that when he calls 911 it’s dispatched as a Class 3 (take your damn sweet time, stop at red lights, go the speed limit, stop for little old ladies crossing at the corner) or even better, Class 4 (D.O.A., take your time, he ain’t goin’ anywhere!). What an asshole!
Actually, it’s jirl.wordpress.com … but who’s keeping track
And I agree with Draven … I don’t care what methods or roads an emergency vehicle uses to get to an emergency so long as they get there. If they’re using flashing lights, sirens, the road in front of my house or my driveway, just do what you have to do to get there. And to top it off, I don’t know this for sure, but my guess is the Hurricane FD is staffed by volunteers. VOLUNTEERS who are trying to help people … Angry Wal-Mart guy can be mad all he wants, but when he starts picking at those tying to help people and save lives, that’s just insanity.
Sorry … getting all worked up on my soapbox.
OH CRAP.
Boo for me. The ref takes one of my “cool points” away. I’m behind Bob Barker AGAIN. Dammit!!!!!
No, that’s a good point. Sirens aren’t something you just do because it seems like a good idea at the time. Hurricane’s FD is volunteer. They have a paid police department, but the FD (I’m almost 100 percent sure) is all volunteer.
So, until Polly Pissypants wants to get off his ample ass and volunteer to do good for someone other than himself, criticizing people for doing just that only serve to reinforce the “I’m a giant douchebag” he wears like an Olympic gold medal.
Hurricane’s daytime fire staff is paid. And there are two access roads to Wal-Mart. The closest one to the accident was not in front of the homes. I was there. No one was injured. There wasn’t a fire. There was no need to roll fire vehicles. Here’s the story that Girl of Words doesn’t tell: The Mayor that F—-d up and blew down a hillside and destroyed two neighborhoods to put in his Wally World is one of the volunteer firefighters. I am told he ordered the staff firefighters to roll one truck in front of Halbrug’s house just to piss him off. And if a fire truck and horn wake my baby during a nap for no reason, I would be pissed off to. They are trying to drive us out of our homes so that we will sell for little money and so that the city can get more revenue. None of us have had ANY offers, and none of us are stupid, like the mayor and his mistress, Girl of Words.
Again, Mark. You’re not fooling anybody.
I know full well that Scott Edwards is a volunteer firefighter. Mostly because I’m literate and I’ve read those things in the past. I also figure that the Mayor has more to do than harass you, Mark. What’s sad is you’re truly a nobody in Putnam County, but you have to keep creating ways to make yourself relevant.
Oh, and I’m not anybody’s mistress, actually. You throw that dig in on Scott Edwards because you’re not anywhere near articulate enough to have a reasoned debate about this without acting like a 12-year-old fat kid on the school playground.
WOW! Dude – this whole mess is crazy. John *cough* Mark get a life. GirlOfWords kicks your ass in so many ways. Especially at life. I LOVE WALMART! It’s my favorite place to go EVER! It’s a ONE STOP SHOP! I hope they build another one around the block. And by the way – are you medicated? Heavily? Thought so….
GOW – you rock. Don’t listen to this douchebag.
This was NOT an EMERGENCY accident. It was a parking lot fenderbender. Nothing more. Sending TWO fire trucks was OVERKILL. They weren’t saving lives, they were disrupting a baby. Of course, if you were HERE you would have seen that. But from Maryland and wherever else, you are simply taking lame pot shots from the Peanut Gallery! And with each of them, you are digging a deeper hole on your funny farm!
Mark, New Martinsville, WV is at the base of the northern panhandle. The Walmart is located right in the middle of our town. On the west side is a Church of Christ. On the south side is the Church of God. Also on the south side, right beside the parking lot is the New Martinsville Health Care Center. On the north side of Walmart, directly north, is Lang Drive. There were a few well deserved complaints from the people of Lang Drive when the store was being built. In the ten years since its opening, Walmart has co-existed peacefully with the people of the neighborhood. Please come north and take a look.
Your entire agenda has been to force the sale of your home at some inflated price. Money is your driving force. Let me tell you, sir, Lang Drive has the same residents as before Walmart was built, except for the elderly who have perished. They live much closer than you. The nursing home residents live much closer than you. I just don’t buy it.
Girl of Words has nailed you. I am reminded of the quote from “The Knight’s Tale”: “You have been weighed. You have been measured. And you have been found lacking. In what world could you ever beat me?” In this case, Girl of Words has won.
This is NOT a contest. This is a situation where a store is acting irresponsibly in a neighborhood. This is a situation where a mayor that heavily promoted the Walmart (and now DENIES this) is allowing the store to do what it wishes.
I am glad that the people in New Martinsville are not negatively affected by the Walmart. However, I suspect, like many, that they know that complaining would do no good. Walmart in West Virginia is the state’s largest private employer. No one wants to tell the 800-pound guerilla that it is out of control. No one. Except me. Someone has to do the right thing!
May 12th, 2009 at 6:14 pm 529
I just learned about this dialoge, AKA “Trash Talk.”
I worked with Mark at Cingular. He was a great guy. We carpooled for months after my truck was totalled in an accident. (Because I couldn’t afford a new truck for months). He rarely let me pay for gas from Barboursville. He said he was going that way anyway. I know Mark wasn’t fired from Cingular because I saw him write his resignation letter and give notice. He left for PRC.
I don’t read Putnamlive.com often because I live in South Charleston. But I have been to Mark’s house during the Wal-Mart construction. It was a Sunday afternoon and we couldn’t hold a conversation on his front yard because of the heavy equipment. Inside it wasn’t much better. We ended up leaving for lunch across town.
You may not like Mark’s views about Wal-Mart. That’s OK. But you are trashing a great guy. And that isn’t cool.
Hey GOW. Your arrow covers the entrance in front of Mark’s “Crib.” He doesn’t care where the store’s doors are. It’s the noise directly in front of his house that pisses him off. Why don’t you show an arrow from that to his bedroom window?
Dave, again, spamming will not help your cause, here.