Alachua Together

I got some before and after pictures that I took just five hours ago. My son and I did this house in Colony park. The cost of this power washing job was $115. It was a single story house with a screen porch. The ceiling in that porch was a bit moldy, too, but we got it all cleaned up.

At first glance, you might think this needs painted. You might, but it’s better to find out for sure. Since you have to clean it before you paint it, anyway, let a good power washing reveal the truth!

It’s also tempting to think that dark stuff under your eaves is dirt, but it’s not. It’s mold! It’s alive, and it’s growing. And it is a form of plant that puts off spores to reproduce. These can also be inhaled and cause health problems.

Mold spores need a damp place to grow, and here in Florida we have that covered in the form of humidity. That means that wet things don’t dry very quickly. So, if you have a sprinkler system that is hitting your house, this is one of the friendliest habitats for these stains.

But enough about mold. Let’s see what we’ve done!

Shazzam! It’s amazing what a little chlorine can do. It kills the mold and removes the stain. Makes stuff look new!

Cleaned, not painted! Think about how much money got saved here. The owner told me that the house had never been power washed before. It had only been repainted. Ouch! No need to paint this time. This paint has been saved from the deteriorating power of mold. And it looks better, too!

Same window as above. Only the mold is missing.

Don’t waste time letting mold make time with your paint! Call Marsh Window Cleaning now: 352-870-8808.

This Saturday I went to the Haile Village Farmers market, in Haile Plantation. Haile Village is the commercial section of the sprawling housing development, near the corner of SW 46th Avenue and SW 91 Street. It is open from 8:30am until noon every Saturday, rain or shine. Vendors have a really sweet deal here. They tell me it is only $10 per week to set up a table here, and it’s an extra $5 to rent a canopy. That means I am applying for a space for my business, Marsh Window Cleaning!

Jewelers, candle makers, and various services may also participate, although edible creations are in the majority. All along one of Haile Village’s interior streets, in front of a conveniently placed cafe, you can find fruits, vegetables, plants, biscotti, sea food, prepared food, and other worthwhile subjects to investigate.

Most things I saw, and tasted, were locally grown, with the exception of the fish that cannot be found this far inland. One man was showing off the biggest shrimp I have ever seen. He boasted that he is there every week, and that there are regular customers who travel from across town to get his meaty catches.

Not all of my pictures came out well, so you will have to come out to see everything. Some of the regular participants include:

• Custom Designs and Alterations by Ida Lawrence
• Bee Sweet Apiaries, Inc. Producers of Florida Honey
• The Green Mango, 100% Indian and Vegetarian foods
• Embros Orchestra, Greek American Entertainers
• Mobil Seafood Depot, Fresh Seafood
• In The Beginning Jewelry
• John Brothers, Guitar Lessons
• Verna Groger, RD, Registered Dietitian

With any luck at all, I will get some of these people to write here on the blog, so they can share their expertise with you, and let you know when they are available outside of the Farmers Market.

Thanks to a free Wordpress Plugin called Mippen, you can now get this site in an agreeable format on your iPhone, Blackberry, Palm Device, or other Smartphones and other mobile devices. It’s all a part of my ongoing effort to reach as many people as possible in a manner that is convenient for them.

Don Marsh

Good thing he is behind a fence!

Some enterprising person with a lot of time on his or her hands created this festive holiday monster for the amusement of drivers on Millhopper Road. He can be spotted on the left if you are going west, and past the Interstate. I wonder if this is what those people wanted to “Save Millhopper Road” from?

I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday, and I hope some of you will participate in this blog in the coming New Year. It’s free. People do come here. and more people will come here via Google searches if there are more things to find in different categories. This is a very busy time for me, so I am not able to go about taking pictures of all local businesses and writing about them. I really need them to do it themselves. It’s more convenient for me, more certain for them that they will get some benefit, and it is FREE. These are hard times right now, and the idea that a local business would just blow off this free local venue is hard for me to fathom.

This is how you get started. Register by clicking on the “Register” button. Fill out the fields that are required. Wait until I send you an email letting you know you have Author permissions so that you CAN blog here. (I have set up this cumbersome step to keep out Viagara and fake Rolex spammers, among others.) After that, you come to the site, click on “Login”, use your username and password, and choose to write a Post. When you are done, click “Publish”. That is how it gets on the site.

Good luck!

Don Marsh

I met Tom a few months ago at a meeting of my local Leads Club. I had never heard of Neurofeedback, but I honestly thought of it as one of those squishy sciences somewhere in the realm of hypnosis. But, I do try to be open minded, and I am in this group of local business people who are dedicated to promoting one another. So I felt like I had a duty to learn more about neurofeedback, and a part of that was letting Tom hook me up to his electrodes and tweak my neurons.

I didn’t enter into this lightly. I had gone online to learn more about it, and I had heard Tom give brief presentations about it, but I was still fuzzy about what he actually did. So, I went to his office at his home and talked with him about his work, and let him literally hook me up to a computer that ran a neurofeedback program while another screen showed me a video game in which my brain waves drove the action. Tom told me to relax and let my brain learn new tricks in the background.

Well, it was after lunch, and I was pretty comfortable in that chair, so I found myself fighting drowsiness. I thought it would be unfair to Tom if I conked out and started snoring, perhaps invalidating whatever my brain was learning. But toward the end I suddenly felt very alert and awake and engaged with the video. When we were finished, Tom showed me some graphs on another screen that showed where the various types of brain waves were interacting with the program. He pointed at the graph at the end where it showed that I was suddenly very alert. I hadn’t told him this, so I was intrigued.

Later I also watched a DVD that cleared up some of my other understanding gaps. Neurofeedback therapists can actually exercise different parts of your brain by placing the electrodes on different parts of your head. We know a lot about brain activity now, and where various functions live, so that makes the brain more trainable than we have previously realized.

This seems to be a therapy that is as non-intrusive as regular exercise, but without the sweat. There are no drugs, no effort, and a lot of people have gotten help for a vast array of problems, from ADHD and Autism to Post-traumatic Stress, Pain Management, and Peak Performance for athletes. Below is a video on YouTube that is excerpted from the DVD I saw.

The rest of the videos can be found at this link.

Tom Swisshelm can be reached at 352-327-3689, and he is willing to give you a free evaluation! If you are stressed, depressed, in pain, overwhelmed, or have given up on other therapies, give Tom a call! Or reach him through his website.

Do you need more business referrals?  Wish you had others out prospecting for you and bringing you qualified leads? If so, then attend our OPEN HOUSE Monday, 12/8, to meet the Alachua County Professionals Chapter of Lassen’s LEADS Club!  We have spots available in our group for people who are looking to grow their business.  We invite you to attend & learn more about our opportunity & meet our members. The FL Executive Director will also be visiting ~ for an overview visit www.leadsFL.com.

The open house will be at Pomodoro’s Cafe in the Publix shopping center on 39th Ave. by the Interstate. If you would like to receive an invitiation, just drop me a line at dmarsh@donaldmarsh.com.

Someone has donated a hat collection!

This week I want to call attention to our local waste collection centers. I am surprised how many people don’t know about these places, so I thought I would share them and their usefulness with you.

Besides being a good place to haul your excess trash and hazardous waste, you can find things that people have brought in to share. You never know what you  are going to find there. Sometimes there is furniture, appliances, old machinery. There is almost always a coffee maker that someone is giving away.

You used to be able to bring construction waste, but they no longer take it. You can bring all kinds of recyclables, like flattened cardboard, old phone books, magazines, and plastic. You can also bring old paint, computers, monitors, and used motor oil.

The junk you don't want in the landfill

Below is information taken directly from the Alachua County Public Works section of their web site:

The five Rural Collection Centers are rural, regional facilities for the collection of recycling, solid waste, yard trash, bulk items and household hazardous waste. These facilities are for residential use. The centers are staffed by Waste Collection employees during all operating hours.

Commercial entities are not allowed to use these centers.

Collection Centers’ Locations

Viewable/printable map

Alachua / High Springs – (386) 454-2563
- Midway between Alachua and High Springs on U.S. 441

North Central – (352) 334-3875
- 2 miles north of FL Highway Patrol Station on St. Rd. 121 (Lake Butler Road)

Fairbanks – (352) 334-3873
- 6 miles north of Gainesville on State Road 24 (Waldo Road)

Phifer – (352) 334-3874
- 6 miles east of Gainesville on State Road 20 (Hawthorne Road)

Archer – (352) 495-3257
- 2 miles west of Archer on State Road 24

The Leash-Free Zone!

I used to take my dog, Samson, to this park a few years ago, when we lived much closer to it. Samson was a 100 pound beast who could hold his own, and he enjoyed romping around in this park with 50 other dogs. The animals were well-behaved, the people were polite, and the space was vast. There were bags for people to pick up dog poop and a can to throw it in.

Location of Squirrel Ridge Park

Fast forward to 2008, and Samson is no longer with us. I now own a chihuahua named Plato, and I fully expected him to boss all the other dogs around. He has a big attitude, but he was a bit overwhelmed. He seemed to enjoy the idea of being with all these dogs, but then they started to chase him. He did not like being “the toy” one little bit, and he was soon snarling and baring his teeth at any dog that came near.

There was a fenced off area for smaller dogs, but not everyone observes this, and there is no oversight. One of the regulars, who told us that our dog might be happier in there, was the same person who let in a couple of huge dogs right in front of us.

I also noticed that some owners do not observe the self-policing aspect of dog poop. Changing this would require that the regulars create a culture of accountability. So, if you have a burning desire to be the poop police, you are needed here. If you have a live and let live attitude toward poop, it would still be appreciated if you were one of the thoughtful people. And you might want to bring your own bags, just in case.

Until other people figure out what this is all about, I will write about the places I visit here in Gainesville.

Satchel's

My wife and I were on our way back from the launch of the Endeavor and I was in a picture taking mood. We stopped at Satchel’s Pizza, and it was my very first time. I’ve heard all about it, and I’ve seen the bumper stickers everywhere. For an anti-corporate pizza place, it is incredibly well branded.

I had read about the Satchel’s Salad in the Gainesville Sun, and it sounded like my kind of thing: lots of nuts, seeds, apple slices and crumbled cheese. We got that and a slice of pepperoni pizza for each of us. The pizza had an unidentifiable herbal flavor and the crust was thin and very crispy around the edges. The slices were large and satisfying, and were $3.50 each. Plenty of salad for two was about $6.95.

But the draw for me to come back is the funky decor and the attached gift shop, which could almost get it own posting, but they are too much alike. The walls of the dining room are covered with art and framed photos for sale by local talent. The ceiling is festooned (and there is no better place to use this word) with mobiles and wind chimes. The tables all have a number except for two. Mine was one of them, and its name was “Waldo”. All the tables are also lit with unmatched lamps that were liberated from yard sales, as were the dishes, presumably.

The Dining Car

Then it gets weird. The music playing is someone’s eclectic playlist that is made up of obscure tunes by less obscure artists. When we came in, I believe that was Jim Reeves singing, “The Old Rugged Cross”. That was followed by a Van Morrison song which I could not identify.

The gift shop next store is also part junk museum. Some people have lent their personal collections to the store as some sort of public service. I saw two separate collections of antique Thermos bottles, and a stunning collection of Pez candy dispensers.

Satchel’s appears to be Gainsville’s answer to “South of the Border”. It’s got good food, kitchy decorating, unique gifts and an atmosphere that transports you to a time and place you forgot because you were stoned at the time. There are bands in the evening when they can get them, art works in progress, a kiddie playground, and a small bocce ball court. You can find this gem at 1800 NE 23rd Ave., just before Waldo Road.

The sign, seen from the west

The gift shop and band flyers on the left

A feast for the senses

If the owners want to blog here and tell us what bands are playing and when, all they have to do is sign up.

Here is a list of locations where you can find FREE wi-fi in Gainesville. I found this list at this site, and it is updated as often as people submit locations:

2nd Street Bakery – 1511 NW 2nd St – 352-505-5039
Digital Downtown – Downtown Community Plaza, Courthouse, City Hall, downtown restaurants and main library
Coffee Culture – 2020 NW 13th Street
Kraft Motorcars – 3525 NW 97th Blvd. – 352-332-7571
Mellow Mushroom – 1209 West University – (352) 367-0012
Gumby’s Pizza – Archer Road/2104 SW 34th St – 352.374.8629
Crispers – 3102 SW 34th St -(352) 335-6150
TGI Friday’s – 3598 SW Archer Rd
Planet Smoothie – 3841 SW Archer Rd, Ste E – 352 224 5341
Krystal – 7700 W Newberry Rd – 352-332-8584
David’s BBQ – 5121 NW 39th Ave # A – (352) 373-2002
Phoenix Laundry – 2320 SW 31st Place – 352-371-2763
Oaks Mall Food Court – 6419 Newberry Rd – 352-331-4411
Alachua County Headquarters Library – 401 East University Avenue – (352) 334-3900
Millhopper Library – 3145 N.W. 43rd Street – (352) 334-1272
Tower Road Library – 3020 S.W. 75th Street – (352) 333-2840

So, I say to these places, “Good on you! Thank you for sharing your wi-fi access and going the extra mile to attract new customers!”

Now it is time for the rant.

I have a Palm Pilot, and I like to be able to get my email while I am on the road in town. It’s really convenient to be able to get back to people right away when they fill out a web form or email me. So, from time to time I go cruising for unprotected wireless routers, scanning with my Palm Pilot in the upscale neighborhoods where I work. This can be time consuming, so it’s nice to know that just around the corner, there may be free public wi-fi at some forward-thinking place of business. What is a big disappointment it is when you come to a place that advertises wi-fi, only to discover that they charge for it!

This seems to be big corporation thinking. I’m talking about Starbucks and McDonald’s. You can tell that the bean counters at HQ came up with this bright idea: x number of dollars times 365 days times the number of locations equals a butt-load of money! But what about the turn-off factor? I will NOT use Starbucks wi-fi. It’s one less reason to choose Starbucks, as far as I am concerned. I wonder how many lattes times 365 days times the number of locations they are NOT SELLING because people can drive past Starbucks and pull into the library parking lot to check their email?

It’s a thought. If I have a small eatery or coffee shop, I will offer wi-fi for FREE so people will come and buy coffee. Or eat lunch. Or buy stuff. Wi-fi is a pretty cheap service to offer as an inducement to increase traffic. Creating hoops for people to jump through hinders traffic, especially if those hoops mean paying a toll.