Owner: Live From Allied Drive URL:http://allieddrive.blogspot.com Join Date: Mon, 22 Oct 2007 00:11:49 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: An account of personal experiences and thoughts as a resident on Allied Drive in Madison, WI. Site statistics:Click here
WTF? How About Some Clear Direction? 2007-10-27 02:16:00 So across the street from where I live, on the 2400 block of Allied, these signs just recently propped up. The first thing I thought of when I saw the signs is the City. You know, when people say things that they have heard about Allied, especially the city-owned properties that I live in, they will often say, "The city says ..." I know from serving on two city commissions and somewhat following the actions on one or two other city bodies, it is very important to know who in the city is being referred to, and what role do they play in the actions being claimed? We are all subject to very mixed information on Allied Drive. Some time ago, the big news was that the city was going to put out all the city residents after they bought our buildings out. Then the word was that the city was going to give us all 30-day notices sometime before the end of the year. Then some people were saying that they are moving all of us to Avalon Village and giving us $300 if we stay. The truth of the Read more:Clear
, Direction
Earn Money And Support Your Community 2007-10-27 01:42:00 A great way to earn extra money if you have a blog is through payperpost. There are many interesting services on the Web and through PayPerPost, you not only get to know some unique services that are out there, but you also get paid to review them on your blog. I am definitely not a full time blogger, but I do spend time regularly writing and publishing. Recently, I started looking at ways to generate revenues from this blog with the commitment to contribute the money I earn to the non-profit I serve on the board of directors: The Allied Wellness Center. There are many non-profits out here that are struggling and funding is stretched so thin. I have seen the Allied Wellness Center really utilize their funding properly with full open disclosure on what they have and where it is going. As with any relationship, with a little nurturing, prospects grow. There are bloggers on Payperpost that earn over $2000 per month! That is a lot of money that could benefit the Allied Drive commun Read more:Money
, Support
Let Allied Drive's Hungry Eat Chinese Food! 2007-10-21 18:15:00 Ordering food on Allied Drive has been a pet peeve of mine as you can read in my previous post "Hungry
On Allied Drive" ... I found a place that will deliver to Allied Drive and I was so thrilled! I was hungry today, we did not have any food in the house, and I did not feel like going out, and I am burned out on Dominos Pizza ... so needless to say, I was thrilled when I found out Grand China Buffet at 2705 Beltline Highway will go where no typical delivery man dares to go. So if you are hungry, and you live on Allied Drive, call Grand China Buffet at 608-276-8833. They have great service, timely delivery and good food!...........
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Finally Cleaned Up The Mess! 2007-10-21 18:02:00 It seemed like our apartment was destined to be a mess since we moved in, however during special occasions, we were able to get the place presentable for family coming over a couple times. Well, once again family was over for an Indian holiday that passed this weekend, and though we have been working on uphauling the whole place with new storage solutions and new shelving, and new filing systems for all our paper clutter, it was always a work in progress void of being presentable to the outside world ... until this weekend! Though our battle against clutter is still a work in progress, I can happily say that our place, as of yesterday, is presentable to the outside world. We still have a LOT of paper clutter stashed in boxes in closets from all the things we are involved with in our community and beyond (serving on boards and bringing work home bring in a lot of extra paperwork to our house). Our pantry closet still looks like a tornado whizzed through it and we are looking for new Read more:Finally
Hungry on Allied Drive 2007-10-13 00:15:00 There is a lyric to a track that I have heard about 2,000 times in the last 5 days (because it is on the Need for Speed soundtrack). This track found a way to adhere to my brain and I find myself humming it at work, mainly because it is so characteristic of Allied Drive. Here is an excerpt:So if ya hit, the ambulance, it don't come around hereNow ya stuck, not even cabs, they don't run around hereIf ya hungry, pizza man, he don't come around hereThe last line there is key because that is one thing I find so aggravating about this community. It is not possible to get a pizza delivered on Allied Drive because Madison's pizza joints are "uncomfortable" with our community. That does not stop me from trying. I call the pizza places every couple months (usually when I am on my period) and and the conversation goes something like this:Lina: Hi, I was wondering if you deliver and how far you go?Stan the Pizza Man (in uppity cheerful voice): We sure do! Where do you live?Lina: I'm ov Read more:Hungry
Staying Connected 2007-10-12 21:13:00 When homeless, there are a lot of basic needs that people become disconnected to. The two biggest ones I can think of are transportation and communication. When you think about it, making phone calls are necessary to get pretty much anything done. To get an apartment, to get a job, to coordinate transportation. Among all the basic needs, there is also the need to stay connected with family and be able to communicate with loved ones. I remember when a calling card was my main means of communicating, I would get so mad at the surcharges calling cards would charge per call, or especially for pay phone calls. I learned pretty quickly that it is necessary to read the fine print in order to understand all the charges involved with making calling card calls. Well, now, Pingo makes the whole process easier with special rates on international phone calls. Pingo is offering five hours of free international calls with every prepaid calling card which means a $25 prepaid calling card Read more:Connected
Police Calls: Plug and Play, Click and Drag 2007-10-11 01:41:00 The Wisconsin State Journal has this great interactive map that will show all the areas of Madison and the total police calls that were made from the various areas of the city. The Allied Drive area was way ahead of many of the other city's areas with 288 calls in 2006, however we were not number one ... the University area had 431 calls. These numbers encompassed calls for aggravated battery, attempted murder, battery, homicide, burglary, arson, armed robbery and sexual assault. So there it is ... now when people automatically bring up Allied Drive in discussions about crime in Madison, let's talk about the University first. After all, they are number 1! http://www.madison.com/wsj/projects/crime_maps/serious/index.htmlIn related news, WSJ covers the new Allied Plan:http://www.madison.com/tct/news//index.php?ntid=248310The bantering over the perfect solution for Allied Drive continues ..............
Live From Allied Drive
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, Click
Ways To Save Money for Holiday Madness 2007-10-11 00:11:00 One thing that makes me not look forward to the holidays is the expense related to gifts, travel and all the little things that come with the holidays (like ingredients for cookies, cards and postage, it never ends ...). In my own situation, I am on the verge of getting caught up on most of my pertinent bills (paving the way to work on the less pertinent ones!), and November and December seems so unappealing right now. One of my passions, however, is finding ways to save money (usually so I can spend it somewhere else, but I am working on that). My partner typically rolls his eyes when I clip UPC codes for rebates or walk up and down aisles at the store to find a specific brand that I have a coupon for ... but it works! Recently, I started transferring the money I save on coupons to a savings account linked to my checking account online. It was a little hard getting motivated to transfer 25 cents at a time, but within a month, I have saved roughly $25 that I would have otherwise s Read more:Holiday
, Money
, Madness
Prisoners of our own homes? 2007-10-08 14:01:00 I keep hearing a lot of talk about streets opening up the Allied area so that through the middle of Allied Drive, there would be another street that goes through our neighborhood creating a pathway between our neighborhood and the rest of the Dunn's Marsh community. Many individuals are vehemently against this road, and following is a summary of reasons I have heard at various neighborhood association and public city meetings:1 - The streets are already very narrow and the open pathway would increase traffic and residents don't want any more cars coming through their quiet street.2 - It would be so expensive and as city tax payers, many individuals feel they have the right to say no on the grounds that it would just seemingly be irresponsible use of tax dollars, and that there are better things to spend money on.3 - The individuals that tend to speed and race down Allied are thought to potentially speed down the newly open street as well, and who would want that?4 - And lastly, perh Read more:Prisoners
Payday Loan Store Alternatives 2007-10-07 19:36:00 Following is a link to an article that just ran in the Wisconsin State Journal on payday loan stores ... very timely after my rant on these stores in my last post!http://www.madison.com/wsj/topstories/index.php?ntid=250197&ntpid=1...........
Live From Allied Drive
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, Store
, Alternatives
, Payday Loan
Survival of the Fittest on Allied Drive? 2007-09-27 21:54:00 I participated in an Employment and Training Open House today at the Boys and Girls Club, and it is always nice to do the work that I do in the community that I am connected to. As the appointed MC for the event, I navigated the various training programs available to residents in the community while making my best effort to keep the attendees engaged. All but one attendee was from the Allied Drive community and all but three attendees had been out of work for at least 90 days. One of the comments that consistently came forward was the need for a job now, today, yesterday. Rent is backed up, lights are about to be turned off, a baby is on the way. The question we were confronted with was how can we expect anyone to go to school for even as little as 3 weeks without pay? “What kind of job do you want” was not even a question to ask. Many in this room were willing to do absolutely anything at all that would offer a paycheck. How does that get anyone ahead? We cited success stories of
Power of One a Success 2007-09-16 19:32:00 The Power of One campaign came to a close and was deemed a success! Something like $8,000 was raised for the MAP program - congratulations!...........
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It's Black and White on Allied Drive 2007-09-09 18:29:00 Someone commented recently that kids, black, white, Latino and Asian, do not play together. I've always known that not to be true, at least out here. Today, I walked out of my apartment, and these kids were playing "ninja" right outside my door. My camera let me take one picture before dying on me - though I can't say that kids do not see color, I can say that I don't think that they understand differences based on color until we teach that to them. My fiance and I were recently at a party with a lot of kids, and one of the young girls referred to my fiance as a "man with dark skin." Kids don't understand anything beyond that - just different color skin. When we first moved out here, a young Latina girl came up to my fiance and asked him if there are any kids in our family that she could play with. She didn't care what we looked like - she just wanted someone to play with. It's too bad as we get older we build all these biases toward one another. Allied Drive certainly p Read more:Black
, White
Allied Drive Unsafe For Children? 2007-09-05 23:25:00 At a recent Madison city council meeting, an elected official was witnessed commenting within a public city meeting that Allied Drive is not a place anyone would want to bring their kids on the weekend. Such a snide comment reflecting snippets of news commentary of alleged violence within events in our community very likely influences others to believe that Allied Drive is inappropriate for children. Despite the little pieces of Allied Drive that is revealed on the news, any Allied Drive resident would concur that our children drive our community. We have a lot of kids here. Some think that our kids are neglected. Don’t pass judgments strictly through surface observations. Poverty brings forth very complex factors. Some think our neighborhood is violent. I wonder if the recent murders and abductions on State Street have resulted in similarly vehement remarks about State Street not being a place anyone would want to bring their children. Especially considering State Street Read more:Children
Allied Drive = Political Exhaustion 2007-09-04 23:31:00 On top of living on Allied Drive, my job in part involves employment on Allied Drive. Add to that, being on the board of a non-profit that serves Allied Drive, serving on two city commissions that devote a good chunk of time "dealing with Allied Drive" and writing for the neighborhood paper, Voices. In between all of that, I try to keep up with community events and this blog – at the end of the day, I am often tired of Allied Drive myself. Needless to say, if I see anything involving Allied Drive running in circles, I really don’t want too much to do with it. This whole CDA thing, to me, feels like a big semi-truck coming at us 90 miles-per-hour. We can stand out in the street with our hands out gesturing for it to stop and hope for the best. Or we can pick up our prized belongings and get the hell out of the way, and hope there will not be a whole lot of damage at the end of it all. I have heard the pro-CDA and anti-CDA arguments, and from my observation, there really is no Read more:Exhaustion
Move Forward and Move Out 2007-08-24 14:01:00 Yesterday was this big Allied Task Force meeting where I was hoping to catch the unveiling of the newest proposed plan for what they will be doing with the buildings I live in. I have been trying to keep up with the development plans so that I can guage what my living plans will be, as I hate having to move under the gun, as do most poeple. Anyway, while waiting for the unveiling of these big plans, there was this circus that took place within the Task Force surrounding alders and Task Force members battling over resolutions calling for RFPs and master developer negotiations. One resolution was drafted by the alder that represents our district that called for the city to begin negotiations with CDA to be the master developer of the properties I live within. Some say that the CDA will gentrify the neighborhood and screen people out. Maybe the tactic of the city is to draw this whole thing out until residents get so tired of hearing about all these strategies and just let happen wha Read more:Forward
Katrina's Two Year Anniversary 2007-08-16 00:59:00 As Katrina
's anniversary approaches, let's serve a reminder............
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Allied Flip Squad, Part 2 2007-08-09 20:20:00 Here is another picture of the Allied Flip Squad
..............
Live From Allied Drive
http://allieddrive.blogspot.com
Allied Flip Squad 2007-08-09 20:12:00 Several kids last summer called themselves the Allied Flip Squad
and I found these pictures online and had to share them - these pictures were taken by Sassy who captured the essence of this group of kids that found something to do where there really is nothing to do. One thing that disturbed me that summer is that many referred to these kids as "bad" when these are the kids who found something to keep them busy and actually organized a group. I remember I referred to one of the kids as part of the Flip Squad and I was quickly corrected that he was not part of the squad, but he just hung out with the group. Was there an application process to get into the group? I don't know. One thing I do know is that all these mattresses in the neighborhood were being disposed because of an infestation of bed bugs down here. Yuck!...........
Live From Allied Drive
http://allieddrive.blogspot.com
Living on Allied Drive is like OD'ing on Barbiturates 2007-08-03 23:01:00 I swear sometimes it feels like coming home is a complete downer. I have been an over-achiever all my life and it is typical for me to hold down 2 or 3 jobs, run a small business or two, keep up with eBay making money online and maintain a semi-professional writing career. However for the first time in my life, I feel like doing absolutely nothing. I've wondered if I am slowing down. I am getting older ... however every time I leave Madison for any period of time, I am so invigorated and active. I evaluated everything in my life, my partner, my job, my friends, my past-times ... I really think that living on Allied Drive is a downer and de-motivates people from wanting to do anything. My partner once pointed out that altitude-wise, Allied Drive is the lowest point in Madison. If you walk outside my apartment and face Allied Drive, you can turn in any direction and from all 360 degrees, you will look up towards the surrounding areas. I live in a pit! Something in this environm Read more:Living
Blast to the Past 2007-07-28 20:43:00 Here is an old site I found about Allied Drive from, back in 2004:http://www.thescoop.org/archives/2004/04/30/madisons-allied-drive/...........
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The Pit We Live In 2007-07-23 01:18:00 I took this picture as I was walking around the back of the courtyard of my Allied Drive apartment building. It appeared so representative of what life is like here. Right up on the horizon are these manicured houses, yet where I stood was all this debris and trash. I know, my photography is just so deep............
Live From Allied Drive
http://allieddrive.blogspot.com
Hang Out With The Latinos and Get Schooled 2007-07-22 12:25:00 Little Lola who lives next door just turned six and when my other half and I were invited to her birthday party, I would have never in a million years guessed that it was going to be a kegger party! We had so much fun. The furniture was all moved aside for the dancers and I learned a few moves from one of my elder Latino neighbors who kept having to stop every few minutes because of arthritis in his leg. The food was incredible and it was a lesson in how parties are supposed to be. I learned some new Spanish and I can't wait for the next little kid to have a birthday! I know little Lorenzo will be having a party in October - but I am hoping someone has a birthday in in August or September ... After the party, we went down the block over to Elisha's to play some spades and school Rob again, but of course, they were too scared to open the door............
Live From Allied Drive
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The Grand Oak Tree 2007-07-19 19:13:00 Here is a picture of the landmark weeping willow tree many community residents voiced requests to avoid cutting down within the city's redevelopment plans. It truly is a beautiful tree ... if you're into trees ..............
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Interactive Reading Good For Kids 2007-10-31 02:45:00 The few times I have read to children, I have made a conscious effort to be deliberate in my interaction with the kids I was reading to. I made sure I talked to the kids about what was happening in the story every few pages, or asked questions that would prompt them to re-tell what I read in their own words, or simply ask them what they think is going to happen next. I picked up on the fact that many of the kids in my neighborhood who I would visit or spend time with would ask me to read, not because they wanted to hear the same story read to them for the 20th time, but I think they just wanted the undivided attention away from the "grown folks" where the focus was on them. Just when I thought that I was so brilliantly insightful in the child's psyche, I saw a group of kids reading at the Allied Wellness Center open house last weekend, and would you believe that the kids you see in the picture reading was on to the same conclusions? She was totally asking the other kids what they Read more:Reading
Online Interactive Tutors for Kids 2007-10-31 02:01:00 The Allied Drive Clean and Freshies are a group of 14 and 15-year-olds that obtain a part time job and develop workplace skills, as well as homework skills within the program. One thing that was highlighted in my direct and indirect exposure to the children in Youth Services of Southern Wisconsin’s program is the literacy rate of the kids. Many of them had trouble writing a paragraph. How can you go through life without being able to write concisely? It scares me, but to know that there are resources out there that parents can turn to for help makes me feel better. Many resources, such as an Innovative Tutor, are available online. And no one says the tutors are only for children. Take a look - there may be an online resource to help your need!...........
Live From Allied Drive
http://allieddrive.blogspot.com
The Madness of Holiday Shopping 2007-10-28 04:45:00 Shopping can be a crazy experience between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Between lines and crowds and parking spaces, it can all be a very stressful experience. Though I heard all the ads on television about stores opening at 5am or having moonlight madness sales starting at midnight, I never thought that people actually left their house after Thanksgiving dinner to stand in line at a store, until one year when my cousin asked me after Thanksgiving dinner if I wanted to go out to Best Buy. “For what?” I asked. He told me about all these deals that they have and how people stand in line for hours just to get in the store. I guess he picked up a laptop for just a couple hundred bucks - I am sorry, but that is nuts. I like deals, and a new laptop for a couple hundred dollars sounds nice, but I still can’t imagine camping out in a cold parking lot after Thanksgiving dinner! There is a Black Friday Web site where you can get access to all the Friday-after-thanksgiving deals onlin Read more:Madness
, Holiday
, Shopping
Halloween Brings Out The Nasty 2007-10-27 01:50:00 What is up with Halloween
candy? I remember trick-or-treating and eating Snickers and Kit Kats and Reese's peanut butter cups. I was at a neighborhood event and this girl was eating gummy worms and gummy cockroaches. I remember gummy worms, but I remember them being hot pink. It is so gross - do they really have to look so realistic? I probably egged the girls on to be really sick with it by telling them how nasty they were. Halloween is cool and all, but I don't know about gummy cockroaches. Yuck!...........
Live From Allied Drive
http://allieddrive.blogspot.com
Halloween on Allied Drive vs. State Street 2007-11-08 21:45:00 I found Halloween
to be unbelievably quiet out here - I remember it was like that last year too. There were a few costumes here and there, not a lot of people out on the streets, and all around, the aura was not consistent with children's frenzy and excitement. It was fine for me because I was not all that up for going out or dressing up this year anyway. An interesting conversation I had with a neighbor who was going out to StateStreet
for the first time ever, revealed that she was actually scared to go out to State Street. She said that she is petite, and she has heard it was crazy out there and she just does not know about the whole plan. Ironic, because I hear that all the time about people being scared to come out to Allied Drive. Last holiday season, I was was selling really heavy on eBay where all my spare time in November and December involved making my share of 4th quarter retail profits. During those two months, it made sense to hire someone to do some light housekee
Ready For A Good Steven King Style Scare? 2007-11-08 21:17:00 There are many scary movies that come to mind that would be perfect to watch on Halloween. Steven
King’s “The Shining” and “IT” are up there in my top picks. Adults all over are still scared of “IT” and will refuse to watch it. I didn’t even know how many people were scared of clowns until I actually started watching “IT” at slumber parties as a child. Than after seeing the movie, I was like, oh, yea, I see how people can be scared of clowns! And there are hotels owned within my family, and one of my dream projects has been to work with one of my family members to produce a haunted hotel for Halloween modeled after “The Shining” – wouldn’t that be crazy? If you are the creative type, you’ll relate to the dream project – to have a whole hotel to recreate into a live experience that is modeled after “The Shining”. I’ve always loved “The Shining” as well – it is the first scary book I have ever read and I never thought a book could leave Read more:Style
, Scare
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