Posted by Josh Hallett on December 31, 2005 at 10:19 AM
The Lakeland Ledger reports on Crispers first restaurant closing in Sarasota, FL. It was the first closing in Crispers' history. According to the article, the Sarasota location faced a number of issues, one of them being parking. Although the Crispers web site still lists the location.
The last time I was in Sarasota I ate at the restaurant and had trouble parking. Not being familiar with that area it was difficult to determine where I needed to park. Also, since they shared a parking garage with a movie theater the lot was relatively full and I had to park far away. Then there was the whole validation thing.
Update: 01.18.06 I stand corrected. Crispers now offers wifi at select locations.
I used to eat at Crispers quite a bit, but since they do not offer free wifi I tend to choose Panera or Atlanta Bread if available. (Bonus...do a Google search for 'Crispers', my blog post about Crispers is now second).
Posted by Josh Hallett on December 13, 2005 at 03:10 PM
Some of the pictures I took of the new McDonald's in Winter Haven were featured on the McChronicles Blog. The pictures show the re-constructed restaurant at the corner of 9th ST SE and Cypress Gardens, BLVD getting 'arched'.
My son and I went a few days after the store opened. The design is the 'Speedy' concept featuring the original arches. The interior is quite nice and includes a player piano and a small gaming station for children.
Posted by Josh Hallett on December 11, 2005 at 09:37 PM
If you attended or visited the University of Florida then you know about the 'french fries' by the Marston Science Library.
In Lakeland, Florida there is a smaller version in front of the Polk Museum of Art by the same artist.
Posted by Josh Hallett on December 10, 2005 at 04:39 PM
A recent article in the Winter Haven News Chief article talked about a proposed Gene Leedy architecture tour. According to the article:
Main Street Winter Haven wants to showcase the architect's influence through self-guided tours of more than 25 Leedy-designed buildings around the city.
The tour will use printed maps and other materials to guide visitors. My main concern is that printed materials are dated as soon as the ink dries. Utilizing podcast audio and video tours would enable content to remain up-to-date and allow for an interactive tour. I'd love to hear/see Gene describe the buildings as I walk through them.
I wonder how many of the buildings will open themselves to interior inspection? Some of them are businesses, while many of them are homes (mostly on Drexel Avenue).
A few days after the article was printed I ran into Gene at Richard's Coffee Shop by the library. He was meeting with a representative from Main Street Winter Haven. I was able to tell the two of them my ideas for the tour. We'll see what comes of it.
I've known Gene since 1996 when I worked with his son Ingram. Gene is a tell-it-like-it-is guy, which is refereshing sometimes. I've worked in a few Gene Leedy buildings over the years and had I listened to Gene in 1998 bought a Leedy home.
Posted by Josh Hallett on December 6, 2005 at 10:16 AM
Feeling a bit electoral today. In honor of the Lakeland run-off (congrats to Edie Yates), I am posting a synopsis of my experiences as an election worker for the 2004 election:
(10.26.04) I attended a four hour training session today on general procedures and have a two hour session tomorrow for laptop training. The laptop's are issued to VIS's and contain a complete database of all voter registration information.
As I suspected, the majority of the people at training were much older than me. I noticed one woman who was younger than I was, otherwise I would think the median age was 60+
In the training we learned just about everything, including how to set-up and shut-down the voting machines. In Polk County we use the AccuVote OS system from Diebold. I feel these are superior to the Accu-Vote TS system which has received some bad reviews from election watchdog groups.
Continue reading "My Day as an Election Worker" »
