Gwinnett Hospital Says No to Employees Who Smoke
July 8th, 2010 Categories: Local Business
Gwinnett Medical Center just announced that it will no longer hire new employees that smoke. This story has received a ton of press coverage since it was announced just yesterday. Existing employee/smokers will be grandfathered in under the old policy and those employees will be encouraged to quit and offered smoking cessation help, etc.
This seems kind of logical – doesn’t it?
There’s already a smoke-free policy in place for all facilities of Gwinnett Medical Center. So, I guess this is the natural progression toward being fully smoke-free. After all, smokers smell smokey – even if they are not smoking in your presence or on the job.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually love the smell of smoke. I smoked for 15+ years until my wife and I quit on New Years Eve many years ago. I can’t remember what year it was but it was in the late 90’s.
So, I’m not anti-smoking or anti-smokers. Let’s be clear on that point.
But, it does just seem to make sense that this move would come from the hospital? Duh!
At this point everyone in the whole world knows that smoking is incredibly bad for your health. How could it be any other way?(at the hospital).
What do you think?
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Gwinnett Hospital Bans New Hires That Smoke
July 8th, 2010 Categories: Local Business
Gwinnett Medical Center just announced that it will no longer hire new employees that smoke. This story has received a ton of press coverage since it was announced just yesterday. Existing employee/smokers will be grandfathered in under the old policy and those employees will be encouraged to quit and offered smoking cessation help, etc.
This seems kind of logical – doesn’t it?
There’s already a smoke-free policy in place for all facilities of Gwinnett Medical Center. So, I guess this is the natural progression toward being fully smoke-free. After all, smokers smell smokey – even if they are not smoking in your presence or on the job.
Don’t get me wrong, I actually love the smell of smoke. I smoked for 15+ years until my wife and I quit on New Years Eve many years ago. I can’t remember what year it was but it was in the late 90’s.
So, I’m not anti-smoking or anti-smokers. Let’s be clear on that point.
But, it does just seem to make sense that this move would come from the hospital? Duh!
At this point everyone in the whole world knows that smoking is incredibly bad for your health. How could it be any other way?(at the hospital).
What do you think?
(this was originally posted on GwinnettDwellings.com)
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1991 Regalview Drive, Dacula, Ga. 30019
July 4th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
Diamond Dwellings announces 1991 Regalview Drive in Hamilton Mill. New to the market and (as of this writing) listed at $664,000 (recently reduced to $650,000 ) For updated pricing, check out the full listing by clicking here.
Here’s some more details…
This gorgeous 2 Story Home is in the prestigious Coventry section of Hamilton Mill. Finished terrace level also has storage, full kitchen, pool table / pool room, exercise/fitness room and more. Kitchen has granite counters, tile backsplash, stainless appliances and is open to vaulted keeping room. Master bedroom has a sitting room with fireplace and giant closet – even enough room for his clothes! 
Pebbletech saline pool with infinity/disappearing edge with spa. Covered patio and covered deck. Don’t forget the deep view of the #3 fairway on Hamilton Mill golf club. (memberships are available at a discount)
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Diamond Dwellings on FourSquare
June 24th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
Have you checked out Foursquare.com? It’s the fun new, location-based game that everyone’s playing on their iPhones (it works on blackberry and other phones too).
Check out Diamond Dwellings profile page and join in the fun.
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Ade For Al… Enjoy some Lemonade and Help a Family
June 18th, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
Many of you might have heard about Al Real. He is 8 years old, and a student at Arcado Elementary School here in Lilburn. On June 7th, while playing with a friend, Al received 3rd degree burns over 80% of his body. He was rushed to Grady’s Burn Unit, and from there sent to the Shriner’s Hospital’s Burn Unit in Cincinnati, OH. That is supposed to be one of the best burn specialists for children in the world. At best, he faces a long and arduous journey back to health… And that journey has begun with skin grafts and surgeries.
As a parent, I can’t begin to understand the pain that Al’s parents are going through. Knowing that there isn’t anything that we can do to make the hurt go away HAS to be difficult. The thought of my child being in that situation scares me to death.
Al’s mom, Angela, was my older child’s Pre-K teacher. She was also his teacher for summer camp a couple of years ago, and I saw her regularly through this school year as my younger child was at the pre-school in which she taught. So, this isn’t about some stranger to me… this is about a friend.
Ade For Al
On Friday, June 18th, the Arcado Elementary PTA will have a Lemonade Stand at the Lilburn Farmer’s Market at Lilburn City Park. The Farmer’s Market runs from 4-8pm. This is to help the family defray some of the costs they are experiencing as they care for Al in Ohio. Al’s father still has to remain in Lilburn most of the time to work, while Angela and their 8 month old are in Ohio with a few other family members.
We’d love for you to come out and enjoy a glass of lemonade while helping out the Reals.
Here is a link to the above video if the embed doesn’t work.
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Reel Mower Services Near Hamilton Mill / Gwinnett
May 19th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
I’ve been cutting my lawn with a reel mower for 4 or 5 years now. It’s amazing the “look” you can get just by cutting with a reel – regardless of anything else you do to your lawn, like fertilizer, etc. I’ve found a great company called ReelWorks that deals exclusively in service (and some sales) of reel mowers and they are right near Hamilton Mill & Chateau Elan, on Thompson Mill Road (here’s a map). They’ve been working on my reel mower since I started using one. The service has been great.
Sanding and lime are also critical elements for getting that putting green look with Atlanta’s soil conditions (I’m specifically talking about the prevelant Bermuda grasses). Sanding is a very serious job and requires great equipment to do a large lawn properly (and get the desired result). Call The Sandman to get more info on that. Usually mid-summer is the best time to sand your yard.
Lime is actually the secret weapon for kick ass bermuda lawns in Atlanta. It cuts the acidity of the nasty red clay soil (it comes back too so you have to keep up the liming once or twice per year). Lime is just the simplest thing ever to find & apply. You can get it at Home Depot (or anywhere) and you almost can’t apply it too heavily. Within a week or so (with water) you’ll see the lawn actually “soften” in addition to a deeper green.
By the way, if you are going to sell your home in Gwinnett, nothing adds perceived value and curb appeal like that putting green lawn!
If you decide to try out these companies, please tell them I sent you
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Thank you Ms. Curtis… Arcado has great teachers!
May 18th, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
My oldest son is getting ready to graduate Kindergarten. And he has been loving it. Much of that credit needs to go to his teacher, Ms. Curtis, at Arcado Elementary School in Lilburn, GA…
The class that he is in is a ‘multi-age’ class that includes Kindergartners and First Graders. It is called a CLE class, or Continuous Learning Environment. And for my son, it has been a marvelous experience. Each Kindergartner is paired up with a First Grader. They work as a team, with the First Grader mentoring the Kindergarten student. Read the rest of this entry »
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What is a Community Improvement District?
May 13th, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
Here in Lilburn, GA, in the heart of Gwinnett County, we are on the path to getting our second Community Improvement District (CID).
But what does that mean?
The basis of a CID is a geographically defined area, with businesses choosing to install a special tax on themselves in order to improve the area… and their businesses. The property owners, representing at least 75% of the property value in the area, agree to tax themselves, and then elect a board to oversee how the money is used. Read the rest of this entry »
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Lilburn Market Report – March, 2010
May 9th, 2010 Categories: Lilburn
Market stats for Lilburn, GA March, 2010, indicate that there are 419 properties on the market (as of March 31st). Overall, there is about a 15.3 month supply of properties, with a slowing in sales since December. That is fairly normal for the winter season. March sales were up compared to 2009, though. Read the rest of this entry »
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Hamilton Mill Bike Shops
April 20th, 2010 Categories: Fun Stuff
Lately I’ve become excited about biking. In fact, I’ve been riding a LOT. I first caught the bug doing the indoor kind called spinning. That’s where you lock yourself in a room with 20 other people and jam some really loud music for about an hour — while riding a funny looking stationary bike. Anyway, that’s what got me into it.
I recently bought a mountain bike (pictured) AND a road bike (cuz I wanted to do both). My road bike is what they call a hybrid. It sorta looks like a mountain bike with skinny tires. And, I also bought a mountain bike for my son so we could ride the trails together.
As it turned out, I bought all three bikes from three different shops in the Hamilton Mill area so I thought I’d write this post to share my experiences and give some links to those shops. Since I had great experiences with all three shops, I can really recommend all of them! Each is slightly different depending on what you want, but all of them passed inspection with me
My hybrid bike is pictured below. I had to steal this picture off the KHS website (can’t believe I don’t have a good picture of it yet myself). I bought it from Addicitive Cycles up in Hoschton. I went there before any other shops because a reliable source told me that “all the real serious bikers go there”. Based on what I saw going on there, I guess I could imagine that to be true. Since I’m just a total newbie to biking, I can’t really confirm or deny that for sure. You can judge for yourself. BUT, I can say that Cody and his team up there were awesome, friendly and made me feel very welcome even though they obviously deal with a pretty “serious biker” clientele.
I only had my hybrid for about a week when I realized that I really wanted a mountain bike too (for the trails) and the hybrid for the roads and the paved trails in Mulberry Park. My mountain bike (top photo) is a Specialized (that’s the brand) and I bought from Outback Bikes located in the Hamilton Mill Publix shopping center. I LOVE that bike. It’s super cool (I think). Outback Bikes is a great little shop. They actually have two locations. They had good inventory also. Great service (not just saying that either). By the way, if you want to start mountain biking in Gwinnett, Ft Yargo is a great trail to start on.
I bought my son’s bike over at Knight Bikes & Skateboards. As you can tell from the name, they have bikes and boards. It’s a bigger shop so they have pretty good inventory of both. I think they had a few more “middle-of-the-road” bikes and bikes for kids, etc. It might be the family bike shop of the three (although Outback certainly fits that bill too).
Are you into biking too? Please let me know in the comments here.
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