I don’t pour over the stats of my website often, but it appears some of you are looking for more information on Bartow’s subdivisions. Since I’ve been looking at houses in many different subdivisions around the county, I’ll try to take some time and go over a few of them in upcoming posts.

Don’t want to wait? Click the “Contact” link above to send me a question.

This morning I got up at 4am (3am if you count rolling around in bed until you realize you’re up for the day) and decided to get a head start on some of the things I wanted to get done. First on the list, wash my car.

Car Wash #1

So, I drove to the nearest car wash, which was more expensive than the rest, but accepted debit cards. It’s about 7ish and NOBODY is around. I get the basic $7 wash and the machine says “Please wait, the car wash is currently in use.” Ok…unless Wonder Woman parked her invisible jet in there, there isn’t anybody using the wash. After punching the refund button a dozen times and not getting any results I speed off.

Car Wash #2

Another car wash, just a few miles away, also accepts credit/debit cards. Normally, I wouldn’t stop at this particular car wash at all, but the sign out front says $3 for the basic wash, so I pull in. There’s another car already getting washed as I round the corner. At the pay window, suddenly the price is now $6 for the basic wash. Maybe I was willing to pay $7 at the previous location, but advertising one price and charging another just pisses me off. So, I back out and go to the car wash on the other side of town. It’s always worked in the past.

Car Wash #3

Having been to Car Wash #3 on many occasions, I know to go ahead and get $3 in change to put in the machine. I pull up to it to deposit the quarters…and it just keeps returning them to me. Apparently, there coin acceptor is broken. Great, I was wanting to carry three dollars in quarters around all day. The only thing that would feel better right now is if a vicious weasel sang Linkin Park’s new album in pig latin as I drive to the next…car wash.

Car Wash #4

Yep, this is all still in one morning. That weasel showed up by the way, but I had to toss him out ’cause he was cramping my style.

I drive all the way down to Acworth because, by now, the really nice drive-thru car wash is bound to be open. And, it is. $3 and 3 minutes later, I’ve got a spic an span car wash.

To the other three businesses, thanks for wasting my time.

Using PHPMailer, creating a simple PHP class to send emails was extremely easy. It took me less than 30mins to get that working. However, the addition of more advanced mailing features is going to take longer.

• Create Sublists – Aside from just creating one large list, users will want to be able to break their main list into various groupings (e.g. Atlanta Emails, Savannah Emails, etc.).
• Dynamic Variables – Customers will want to be able to personalize each email with the recipients name, city, or other store information.
• Bounce-backs – The application will need to be able to respond to the various different bounce-backs (hard vs. soft bounces) as well as be able to integrate the various feedback loops available from corporations such as AOL.
• Message Throttling – I can’t have one customer’s mailings clogging the pipes with an oversized email, so a message priority will have to be used.
• Online Viewing – Most email applications block images, as well as filter out much of the html from html emails. So, the addition of a feature to view the emails online will be a necessity.
• Automatic Unsubscribe – The system will have to allow members to automatically unsubscribe. I believe this is a legal requirement as well, so no system user will be allowed to circumvent this.

There are undoubtedly more things that I’m not thinking of at the moment. Regardless, it’s going to take quite a bit of programming and finessing.

According to Wikipedia, the median income for a household in Bartow County is ~$43k (~$49k for families). Taking that into consideration, it bothers me that we consistently have new subdivisions being built that start around $180k+. Just take a look at some of the new subdivisions being built in Cartersville: (Prices, though fairly accurate, are approximations)

• The Retreat at Pumpkinvine – $600k+
• Carter Grove Plantation – $200k+
• The Reserve at Petit Creek – $300k+
• Grove Park – $200k
• Brookstone – $600k+
• Mountainbrook – $300k+
• Ferguson Fields – $160k+
• Shaw Woods – $300k+
• Hamilton Crossing – $160k+
• Lenox Park – $149+
• Cassville Commons – $149+
• The Cottages at Cassville Commons – $120k+
• etc. etc.

My current job puts me around the median and yet I don’t make enough to live in most of those subdivisions listed above. Even the subdivisions that aren’t new construction are quite pricey (Westgate, Foxfire, Misty Forest, Woodvine, etc. etc.). If I were to buy one, I’d be house poor. I wouldn’t be able to afford anything else, all my money would be going towards the house.

More Bartow Rants

For those considering Bartow Co as their place of residence, you’ll pleased to hear of these offerings:

• Cartersville – Home of the Wildcats and massive bumper-to-bumper delays on Highway 113. If you can’t get enough of I75, then you’ll love west Cartersville in the afternoons. Constructions delays, train tracks, and over-crowding make 10mile drives take at least 30mins!
• Kingston – Sure, it’ll take the DOT about 6 months to a year to redo the various ramps on I75, but in Kingston it will take two years to finish the rennovation of Hardin Bridge. Awesome! Go-go government efficiency!
• Stilesboro/Taylorsville – Yeah, you know that backed up traffic on 113 in Cartersville? It doesn’t get any better in S/T. However, while you wait for traffic to move forward in the afternoons, you can enjoy looking at the wide-open fields as the rising temperatures bring your slight unease to a boiling rage.
• Euharlee – although not home to many traffic annoyances, you can expect occasions(read: weeks) when nobody turns off the “25mph” flashers at the Euharlee Middle/Elementary school and thus every moron in front of you will piddle through.
• Cassville – If you love surprises, you’ll love Cassville! It’s one of the few places that will let you drive all the way down a road, just to find out it’s…..dum…dum…dum…CLOSED!
• Emerson – Ah Emerson, there’s nothing like crawling through there at the near speed of light rate of…35mph. It’s just as well though, trains frequently come through and park on the tracks, blocking roads throughout the city. Don’t like it? Go talk to the engineer, he’s probably sitting in Doug’s Place.