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I've Got to Start Somewhere |
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Written by Webmaster
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Well, I'll just jump into this with both feet and get the ball rolling. I have no idea if anyone is even going to read this but it will be a diary of sorts for me, so I'll write these blog entries for awhile and see how it goes.
I've got alot of different things going on and I'm not even sure where
to start. I'll hit some of the highlights and will probably expand on
some of the topics in later posts.
- TxDot widening the highway through Appleby.
This is not good. It's not good for me and it's not good for anyone in
Appleby. The state has decided to widen Appleby Sand Rd. from
Nacogdoches all the way to Hwy.59. They will be coming through old
"downtown" Appleby and widening the driving lanes 2 ft. as well as
adding 10 ft. shoulders on each side of the road. Never mind that there
are many very old houses, including mine very close to the road, never
mind the speed limit is 40 mph through downtown, never mind they will
be laying asphalt almost touching the last standing brick building from
old downtown Appleby. On the rest of the highway back to town, this is
not an issue and the widening project is actually not only a good idea,
it is welcomed by most property owners. No one lives anywhere near the
highway, so it's not an issue. Appleby is a different story though
because this is basically an old city street with many old houses still
very close to the road and a 44 ft. wide strip of asphalt in our front
yards isn't great. For those not familiar with the area, Appleby is
also on the very end of the highway before it dead ends into Hyw. 59,
it's not like Appleby is in the middle of the project.
To many people's surprise, Appleby is still an
incorporated city and we have a group of very fine city councilmen and
a mayor. They are currently attempting to set up meetings with TxDot to
request they stop the widening project at it's original termination
point, before it enters old Appleby. I'm praying that these discussions
will be positive and hopefully some compromise can be reached. Updates
coming......
- I joined the Appleby Fire Department.
Tim Hooper is the chief of the Appleby Fire Dept. and he and I have known each other for a long time. Tim is a super guy and awhile back he stumbled onto my website and emailed me to let me know how much he enjoyed the Appleby history I included here. Through our conversations we discovered the mutual interest we have in history and specifically the history around Appleby. Tim has known that photography is an interest of mine and after the annual Appleby Fire Dept. BBQ I emailed him a few photos I took at the event. Tim replied and ask me if I would consider joining the fire dept. as their "official photographer". I let him know that I would be honored to accept the position, however, he needed to understand I felt that he was using the words "official" and "photographer" waaaay too loosely in the same sentence with my name!!
So Monday night I joined the dept. as a support member to be their photographer. Tim also had me take their group photo for the year on Monday night....he doesn't give a guy long before he puts him to work! I really look forward to working with the Appleby Fire Dept. and the photo opportunities it will provide. I respect Tim and the other members for their unselfishness and the sacrifices they make to serve and protect the greater Appleby residents.
- My computer & tech support business is picking up.
Business hasn't come as quickly as I'd like but it's definitely getting better and the ball is starting to roll. Word of mouth seems to be getting my name out there among a lot of people and hopefully more and more people will hear about my business. I've got some new advertising that will be hitting the public soon and I'm hoping to get some good response from it. I really enjoy the work and the challenges it often brings my way. I pray that the Lord continues to bless my business and that I will get more and more work as time goes by.
Sorry for this being so long but I had alot of things to include this time and hopefully the updates will be shorter and broken up more in the future. I hope I didn't bore everyone to death.....if anyone is even reading this!
- Jason
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