Gas lines???

Here it is almost a month since my last post, where I was ranting about $4 per gallon gas. Last night I filled up for $2.19 a gallon!!! I never thought I'd see gas under $3 per gallon again. It is now cheaper than when I first came to Atlanta a year and a half ago.

Will it last? I doubt it, but if it stabilized somewhere under $3 per gallon, I'd be happy.

Next post, I hope to have pictures of me and Chandler's camping trip. Stay tuned!

Gas Lines!

This is the dumbest thing I've ever seen. We used to have some of the cheapest gas in the nation, and now we are paying $4 a gallon, more than just about everyone else. Plus we have to drive around looking for a place to buy gas. The amazing thing is, gas stations around here started running out the DAY AFTER Hurricane Ike hit the Texas Gulf coast. So I guess the tanker trucks must load up in Galveston and drive straight to Atlanta?

It makes you realize how fragile our gasoline supply infrastructure is. We don't have enough refinery capacity to keep the supply going to a major portion of the US after a storm hits the Gulf region. I am all for finding alternative fuels but in the meantime, we need to drill and refine as much of our own oil as possible.

The whole situation is very inconvenient. But it's also a little scary.

"No news is good news" or "Why I haven't blogged in awhile"

Well I did what I said I wouldn't do, which is to let this blog sit for 2 months without any updates. In the absence of any big news, I will just give you some updates on what has been going on and maybe a few random thoughts.

Well there is one piece of big news, and that is that Chandler started school a few weeks ago! Prior to this he had been homeschooled by his favorite teacher (and mine), his Mom. We were all very excited about his starting school, but I know both Chandler and Carol miss being together every day. But we all agree that this is the best thing for Chandler, and he is really enjoying it and doing very well in 2nd grade.

Chandler is attending Killian Hill Christian School (http://www.khcs.org/). It is a really great school and only a couple of miles from our house. Carol still drops him off and picks him up each day, and they are developing their own routine, like having an after school snack together, etc. So even though they don't spend ALL day together, they still have their special time.

Summer is drawing to a close which means the weather around here is getting NICE. The humidity has dropped and you can sit outside or open the windows and finally enjoy some cool air. We took Chandler to the Mountain Park Aquatic Center twice during the last weekend the water park was open. This is one of his favorite close-to-home activities. He LOVES being in the water and finally got the courage up to go down the big water slides. Now he can't get enough of it! The water park is now closed for the season, but the warm indoor pools are open all year long.

This weekend Chandler and I did some camping (sorry for the poor quality of the camera-phone pics). As you can see, it was a very scenic, wooded setting where we set up camp.

However, this trip was mainly to make sure all our gear was intact and functioning properly, so we didn't stray too far from home.

GOTCHA!!! Chandler is off school this week Wednesday through Friday, so we are planning a "real" camping trip for late this week. We will be sure to take plenty of photos. We are tentatively planning to visit one of the many beautiful state parks in the mountains of North Georgia.

PS - Check out the Highwaters on that kid! Can't keep him in pants these days.

I saved a life last Saturday

We were headed down the road in the Family Truckster, when suddenly from the backseat Chandler is yelling, "Stop Daddy! There's a turtle in the road, stop, STOP!!!".

So I stopped the car, hopped out and saved the life of this poor creature. He was pulled tight inside his shell and didn't come out for a couple of hours. As you can see by the picture, he isn't very big.

Chandler named him Franklin, and I spent a few HOURS online trying to figure out what he is and how (and if) we should care for him. I think he is a box tortoise, very common in this area. So we've got a basic setup in the house for him, and if everything works out we'll probably make a place in the yard for him too. Chandler is very excited and said, "Don't worry Daddy, I will really take care of this little guy." It was very sweet how he wanted to save him and "make a home" for him.

One thing I told Chandler was that Franklin appears to be a girl, but he didn't want to hear any of that.

Still fooling around with the layout

As you can see I'm still trying to make this thing look right. I didn't like the old layout so I chose a totally different template. I think this one is easier on the eyes.

Yesterday evening we had a totally awesome thunderstorm. In our county someone's garage burned down after being struck by lightning, and one of the guys who works for me called in because he had a tree sticking through his house. Some people will use any excuse to miss work.

Speaking of work, some of these people are really starting to irritate me. They keep coming in here when I'm trying to blog and interrupting me with work related problems and issues. So I guess I should probably do this in my off hours from now on.

Someone was giving me a hard time about my blog not having any photos, so I'll try to do better. Here's a recent photo of me:

Until next time.

What I miss about California

In keeping with the theme of my last post, these are the things I miss about California...

The Good and Bad of living in Atlanta

I've been living in the South for just a little over a year, after living my whole life in California. Now that we're "settled in", I can reflect on what I like and don't like about living here.

THE GOOD

• The cost of living is more reasonable. Gas is about 25 cents a gallon cheaper than California, and home prices are way better. Plus you get a lot more house for your money.
• Georgia has awesome thunderstorms!
• People here are generally friendly. Not as many "y'alls" and Gomer-speak as people usually think, but people do say "sir" and "ma'am" a lot more than in California.
• Lots of hills, trees and foliage. I enjoy driving through my neighborhood just to see the scenery.
• It is fun living somewhere totally different.

THE BAD

• The traffic here is famously TERRIBLE. Forbes.com recently rated Atlanta as the nation's worst commute (We're Number One!). In addition to just too many cars on the road, people don't know how to drive. I've commuted in the worst of California traffic, and people weren't crashing all the time like they do here.
• Giant roaches and killer mosquitos
• Humidity
• No In-N-Out Burger (but Five Guys is really good)
• It is totally retarded the way street names change without warning. For example, a major boulevard near our house is Indian Hill Road. Then at one intersection it turns into Killian Hill Road for no apparent reason. This happens everywhere around here.

On balance I really enjoy living in Georgia. Everything is new to us - we haven't even scratched the surface on all there is to see and do. Now if I could just eliminate my daily commute.

Oregon man is world's oldest living Goddard on his street.

Today is my Dad's birthday! Although he isn't sensitive about his age, I won't mention it except to say he is old enough to have reigned terror on the Japanese during WW2.

Dad later raised a family and worked for many years in the restaurant industry, both of which are probably just as hard as reigning terror on the Japanese.

He has been successful at many different things, but one of Dad's most interesting and rewarding jobs was producing radio programming for Family Radio in Oakland, CA. He even got some air time as "scary voice man" on one of the kid's shows.

Now retired, my dad continues his role as the Patriarch of the Goddard Dynasty, which reaches all across these United States.

We love you Dad, thank you for your service and for your love and guidance.

You can send a birthday greeting to Darrell Goddard at darbobbieg@comcast.net

Marketing Lesson

I'm experimenting with font size and color, let me know what you think.

Yesterday I bought gas for $3.89 a gallon. The posted price was $3.99 and average for the area is just over $4.00. How did I get ten cents a gallon off? I bought groceries AND gas at Kroger.

Kroger has a "Plus Card" that you scan whenever you buy gas or groceries. It gives you a discount price on many grocery items, and once you spend a certain amount on groceries, you get a certain amount off the gas price. I think the minimum is 3 cents, then it goes to 10 cents and then 15 cents.

Do you think I go out of my way to buy groceries at Kroger? Of course because if I don't, I miss out on savings on gas. Do you think I go out of my way to buy gas at Kroger? Of course - same reason.

Kroger is using gas as a loss-leader and using it to lock their customers in. I don't think Kroger is such a great store really, I might or might not shop there otherwise, but I can't ignore the savings on gas. And by the line I see at the pumps their plan is working. I admire their marketing savvy and I will happily let them lock me in as long as they're saving me money.

Why are we in Atlanta?

It's hard to believe it's been a year since we moved to Atlanta. As a lifelong Californian and having never even been to the South, a move to Atlanta wasn't even on my radar 18 months ago. Then the job that brought us here turned out to be just the worse "opportunity" ever imagined!

As time goes on it is becoming clearer to me why God brought us here. These might not be the only reasons, but I am convinced they are at least part of His plan:

First, he brought us here to teach us to rely totally on Him. A year ago we were about as far away from friends, family and familiar surroundings as you can get. And without getting into a lot of detail, we were going through some very hard times with career and finances. We really had no option but to turn to God to sustain us and help us through. It would not be accurate to say it has been "smooth sailing", but He did provide a much better job for me, and has met all our needs.

Second, I firmly believe God wanted me to hear Dr. Charles Stanley at First Baptist Church of Atlanta, where we have been attending since we moved here. Carol and I have always enjoyed hearing Dr. Stanley on the radio and TV, but I would only hear him occasionally. The last few Sundays especially, I am confident God wanted me in that particular church at that particular time.

Could it be these are the only two reasons the Goddards were brought to Atlanta? I don't know, but it has become crystal clear to me that these ARE at least some of the reasons we are here today.

Over and out for now.

Today is my Mom's birthday!

Happy Birthday Mom!!! I want all 3 people who read this to know how special my Mom is. Can you believe she is 93 today? Wow! OK, just kidding. I won't tell you how old she really is, but whatever the number she doesn't look or act her age. Happy Birthday Mom, I love you!

If anyone wants to send my mom a birthday greeting, her email address is darbobbieg@comcast.net. Make her day and at least say Hi.

In other news, I had a really easy commute this morning. I'm not sure why, but there was very little traffic, at least not enough to cause the usual slow-crawl bottlenecks. I drove the 38 miles in less than an hour, including a Starbucks stop. That has to be some kind of record! I have my fingers crossed for the drive home - it is the beginning of Memorial Day weekend, plus it's supposed to rain this afternoon. I might not be as lucky getting home.

No big plans for the weekend except to spend some time with Carol and Chandler. I took Tuesday off so with the holiday I have a 4-day weekend.

Someone asked me about the picture on this page. It is me and Chandler standing next to the Monster Truck "Stonecrusher". Someone in our office won a radio contest and we got to have the truck on display here at work. Everyone brought their kids and they got to climb up inside and check it out up close.

That's all for now. Hope everyone has a great weekend.

First Thoughts

Recently I've been shocked to discover how many of my friends, family and acquaintances have their own blog. Let's face it, most of these people have very little of interest to share with the world, but they like to write them and apparently somebody likes to read them. So I figured I might as well add to the cyber-clutter.

Those of you who know me will recognize my dry (some say sarcastic) sense of humor in the previous paragraph. On the other hand, if you think I'm a jerk just hang around for awhile. Maybe you'll change your mind.

I don't have a particular agenda, so I don't really know what I'm going to write about. On one hand it will be an opportunity for friends and family to stay up on what's happening with us. On the other it will be a chance for me to speak my mind about whatever catches my interest at the moment. I will write like I talk to my best friend, except I'll try to do it in a way that wouldn't embarrass my parents (but no promises).

So check back often and become enlightened.