News - Friday, November 25, 2011

When Dr. Robert Dooley was an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in the early ’80s, he didn’t know he’d someday become the dean of the school’s business college. As a Philosophy and Religion major, he literally never stepped foot on the side of the campus over which Fletcher Hall, which houses the business college, presides. He was more concerned about developing critical thinking skills than learning about business.

Miller & Martin attorney John Bode believes he’s figured out how to lure lawyers to his labor and employment seminar, which the Chattanooga Bar Association will host on December 8: free Cheerios and an open bar. Bode has placed the Cheerios on a chair across from his desk along with a tin of cookies and other assorted goodies.

Saturday, November 25

The election of Howard W. McCall, Jr., a member of a prominent Chattanooga family, as vice-chairman of Chemical Bank New York Trust Co., was announced Friday by Harold H. Helm, chairman. McCall is the son of Mrs. McCall of Lookout Mountain and the late Howard W. McCall.

Megabus launched service in Chattanooga on November 16. Megabus is an intercity express bus service with fares starting at one dollar. From Chattanooga, passengers can travel directly to Atlanta, Knoxville and Nashville. Passengers can continue on from Atlanta to several other Southeast U.S. cities, including:

December2: Bike2Work

Outdoor Chattanooga will host a monthly Bike2Work breakfast at Miller Plaza’s Waterhouse Pavilion from 7 to 8:30 a.m. Bicycle commuters are invited to enjoy Velo Coffee Roasters brew, Monkey Town Donuts, good fellowship and useful prizes from River City Bicycles. People who want to commute by bicycle are welcome. Hosted by Outdoor Chattanooga, Greenlife Grocery and the River City Company. To learn more, call Outdoor Chattanooga at (423) 643-6888.

It’s that holiday time of the year again. It’s been a very warm fall and I’m grateful for that. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it’s nice to be celebrating another one. You just assume the next turkey day will come, but as lawyers we’ve known slowly slip from view, it makes us think about the impressions they left us with and the space they leave behind.

Most of us are very good about wishing each other Happy Thanksgiving in the days leading up to the big feast.  Sometimes, we even discuss what our respective plans are for the week. The spirit of “Thanks” hangs in the air like the fog on a rainy morning. We say “Happy Thanksgiving” to just about anyone who will listen, but do we really say thanks?

Normally when kids make a mad rush for a Christmas tree, it’s to grab their presents.  But on November 18, local children hurried to be the first to place donated items of warmth, including mittens, gloves, scarves, hats and blankets, on a holiday tree at the Creative Discovery Museum. 

If I were casting the movie, John Krasinki (Jim on “The Office”) would play Robbie Case. Krasinsky’s cute, looks intelligent and could play a multimillionaire computer nerd who really isn’t. But I’m ahead of myself. Robbie’s the 35-year-old protagonist in “Shimmer,” a 2009 novel by Eric Barnes, a newspaper publisher in Memphis.

I’m a creature of habit. When I order an item at a restaurant that I really like, I’ll get it every time I go there. I ate the pork tacos at Petunia’s Silver Jalapeno so many times, the ladies there decided to offer it as a special and named it after me. It didn’t matter that they thought my name was Thomas; that was an honor.

Even though Parish and I have spent most of our earnings on airplane tickets, rental cars and matching Christmas sweaters, we still have a little left over for presents. The trip home to Colorado is a present in itself. I tried wrapping the plane one year, but TSA said no. I heard the same response when I tried handing out samples of my world famous eggnog. Fine.

I walked up Wabash Avenue to the Sun Times/Daily News Building, which looked like a snub-nosed ship on the bank of the Chicago River. – Roger Ebert, “Life Itself” Perhaps you’ll find yourself with time today, after the indigestion has passed and before the game in the swamp begins, to begin a new book. If that’s the case, I’ll recommend “Life Itself,” by Roger Ebert.

David Frum of CNN explained that the crisis in Europe is a global problem and could lead to a serious recession in 2012. Frum suggests that as the largest trading partner of Europe, and them being our biggest investor, we should be ready to lend them money if they need us to, and it appears they do.

Before Dr. Robert Dooley settled in as the new dean of the College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, a planning committee was already putting together a strategic plan for the future of the institution. Once Dooley had settled in, he looked at the goals and then added his “two cents worth” during meetings with key faculty.

When Realtor Andy Bond puts a plan in motion, things happen. For example, when he and his wife married in their early 20s, they decided to start a family while they were young, as they wanted be done raising children in time to enjoy their later years. “I’m an only child from my dad’s second marriage.

Hamilton Place completed the final touches of its recent major renovation by officially changing out all exterior signs that portray the original logo of the center with the new more modern, contemporary logo. Crews began installing the I-75 interstate sign at 10 a.m., Thursday, November 17.

AARP recently ran a pop-quiz on Social Security facts in one of their newsletters. My husband and I didn’t fare too well with the answers. Here is a shortened version of a few questions asked. See how you do. 1. How many Americans currently receive Social Security benefits? 14 million; 55 million; 121 million.

Well, the big Turkey Day is over, gobble-gobble. Hope you had a good time visiting with friends and relatives, watching football and/or the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Or, like so many wonderful folks around town, I really hope you enjoyed your afternoon working at the soup kitchen or food bank, dishing out servings of turkey and dressing to the less fortunate.

Reviewing the “Twilight” movies has been an onerous task, mainly because it’s the rare film series in which I feel like an outsider looking in. I’ve never read the books, I have no interest in “Twilight” mania, and the films seem to have been tailor-made for fans.

Your customer base is changing. You have been noticing it for the past few years: the face of your average client isn’t what it used to be, not surprisingly. These new customers are savvier, they’re men and women of all age groups, they’re smart about where they shop, and they look like they’re coming from around the world.

The other day, as I pulled in the long gravel driveway of Uncle Sid and Aunt Sadie’s farm, the winter wind was blowing to beat the band and the yellow glow of light coming from Aunt Sadie’s “Gone With the Wind” hurricane lamp in the window of their white frame house was surely a welcome sight on that dark, cloudy November day I made my visit.

As a listing agent, one of the first rules of real estate is that you have to get prospective buyers and other agents into the house. They won’t buy – or advise others to buy – it if they don’t step inside to see it. Real estate investors provide the only exception to this rule.