Mama Carol

Years ago we took our kids, and our dog, to the beach. We rode down the coast and went through Port St. Joe. When we got close to the mill, one of the girls said "I think the dog went to the bathroom back here". He hadn't. It was the mill. That paper mill smell smells like money to us. We did very, very well working in the mills.

Some people aren't college material EVER. Some aren't college material right out of high school but are later in life. Our youngest went to college for one quarter following high school and it wasn't for her. Not necessarily the college itself but the having to live with her roommates who were lifelong friends and who felt like she had invaded their space (and treated her as though that was true). Now, she's looking at going back to college as she has the desire and knows what she wants to study. In the years since high school she has worked a variety of jobs--in a pawnshop, as a server,

Metro Garage Door in Winston.

Down here, we have farms that are hundreds of acres. It is really fascinating to see the farmers planting cotton or peanuts. Harvest time is really cool, too. A salesman at the local car dealer told my husband that they have customers who have some of the large farms north of town and they trade trucks every year. Always with low miles and in excellent shape, too.

We live in a county with a lot of huge farms. Those guys make damn good money!

I think Mead makes kraft paper there. It's been several years since he went there and I have simply forgotten. I used to know the types of paper all the mills he went to produced because I had to wash the clothes differently depending on the type of paper stock he worked with. And Mead Mahrt is in Alabama. My hubby almost died at Cedar Springs. He suffered from heat exhaustion, really to the point he should have been hospitalized. He has been unable to tolerate high heat and humidity since which is quite detrimental if you work in a paper mill . Cedar Springs is in Georgia but barely

Brown paper manufacturing definitely smells worse than newsprint or white (copier type) paper. I had to use Borateem on my hubby's work clothes when he would go to a kraft mill. Just a washing with regular detergent would handle it if he went to a newsprint or tissue mill. BIG difference in the smell of the stock. Cedar Springs? Mead Mahrt in Cottonton? Had to one of those two. Hubby usually stayed in Dothan when he went to either of those two. I remember going there always screwed up his time because he stayed in the central time zone but worked in the eastern time zone. I be

I haven't met her (that I know of) but I have met you. The woman is a SAINT. Hold on to her. Thought for a second on Monday that I had met up with you again. Stopped at the Georgia rest stop on I-85 north just inside the Georgia line and met up with a guy who sold industrial scales. Then I realized you didn't sell scales. Looked a lot like you except for the Arkansas tag on his car.

Like the song says, you have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything. Glad your wife has strong beliefs, even if they aren't the right ones. She did get one thing right. She married you. My hubby and I don't always agree either. Generally he sees pretty quickly that my opinion is the right one. He learned that lesson a couple of times this week (poor man). I refuse to say to him "told you so". Hope you (or your wife) are the same way.

Most of them don't smell bad inside. Depends on what type of paper they produce. Kraft paper smells. Newsprint, not so much.

One of the highest paying skilled trade has to do with paper and pulp mills and basically anything in there! Those guys make on average over $25 an hour in wages, plus benefits. Many of them start out doing menial labor and work their way up to machine superintendent and many of those guys make six figures easily. My hubby has said for the past 20 years that if he had any idea paper mills paid that much, he would have started out there instead of in a machine shop (but that was good money, too). So many people don't want to work in a paper mill because of the smell. To us, that smell is t

I was sure mine had quit. It was TOTALLY out of ink. And yeah, I could have bought a new printer cheaper than I bought ink.

Very well stated. I had a real nemesis back years ago on a forum. We couldn't post without there being a full-fledged attack, usually coming from her (she did that to everyone not just to me). But by the time I left that forum, she and I had some good heart to heart e-mails. She gave me good insights into things and was there when I needed a friend. I counted her as a friend. Her online persona was just that--an online persona. There have been a few on here who remind me of her.

I haven't read the thread in question as I've been up to my neck in problems of my own and have had very, very limited time online this week but I do like how TabbyCat doesn't pull any punches. With my current mood, this is all I better say about anything. Maybe tomorrow. Maybe not. Now, y'all got me worried about Pubby.

That feels like how long this week has been for me.

It must have started about the same thing "bring" began to be used instead of the accurate word of "take" such as "we will take it to the beach with us" is now "we will bring it to the beach with us". Drives me nuts (and anyone who knows me, knows that's a short drive).

Or the girl who couldn't read cursive could have called for him if he was afraid or even if she was afraid for him.

Get your facts straight about this. This woman LEFT the house where she was being threatened, went to a garage to retrieve a weapon and then fired into the house after which her ex called the police. AFTER she was released from jail on bond she violated that bond by going to HER ASSAILANTS HOME (yes, he is an ex-something) and got into an altercation with him at HIS place of residence. She committed the crime, though personally I do not agree with the charge nor the sentence. Had she left the house and not returned and had SHE been the one to call 911 about him being there and threateni

C'mon Pubby. You're a smart man. Admit that if there had been a case, he would have been charged without the outside pressure to do so. This isn't a lily white town. The one whose race is in the minority in Sanford is Zimmerman. He's Hispanic, remember? Only 20% of the population of Sanford is Hispanic (which is really low considering the part of Florida the town is located in). It wasn't that it couldn't be proven beyond a reasonable doubt to THAT jury. Any rational, halfway intelligent person would have seen it the same way. The jury did what they were supposed to do--look at t

Hey now!! I'm far from a Yankee. I agree about the sentence being too harsh. I really hate mandatory sentences for anything. Each case should be evaluated on its own merit

Prosecutor is a female so likely she had sympathy for the woman even though the evidence ruled against self defense, as would returning to the home after retrieving the firearm. Oh, let's not forget that once she got out, she went to HIS HOUSE!!! Obviously, she didn't remain trapped if she was in the house. I didn't read anything that suggested he had a weapon of any kind. Hard to claim self defense if the alleged attacker is unarmed.

But those, like my daughter, who aren't fleecing the government and the taxpayers get lumped into the group that does. I so loathe stereotypes of any kind.

Exactly. She did exactly that--leave, retrieve a gun, shoot at (or near) him and then claimed self defense. Ah, according to the story I read she had NO marks on her that night. Only after she went back to HIS house several months later did she have any marks on her.

Here's part of the story left out of the one in the original post. This from the Huffington Post On Aug. 1, 2010, a fight between Alexander and her husband, Rico Gray, 36, left her cornered in the couple's home. She fled into the garage to escape but was trapped behind a jammed door, she stated in court documents. She said she grabbed the gun she kept in the garage, returned to the house and, when Gray threatened to kill her, fired a single shot to ward him off. Gray ran out of the house with his two sons and called the police. Alexander was arrested and charged. She unsuccessfully in