January 2, 2010
Start of the house fire:

House caught on fire a second time:

Valdosta Daily Times video:

Valdosta Daily Times article:

Firefighters battled a house fire at 3814 Lillian Guest Circle north of Valdosta Saturday. Neighbors told authorities the homeowner was out of town, and no injuries were reported, said Paige Dukes, public information officer for Lowndes County. Firemen were dispatched at 7:01 p.m., according to authorities.

January 3, 2010

Yesterday I tried to get a burn permit. First I tried calling local fire departments hoping someone could point me in the right direction, but I couldn’t get anyone to pickup the phone. I finally called the Valdosta fire department and navigated through some automated menus only to get answering machines at every option I tried. Frustrated I called the Valdosta Police Department and they told me to look up “Fire Marshal” in the phone book, and they couldn’t give me the number. I looked up “Fire Marshal” in the phone book, and it was a number I had already tried. I tried it anyway and it was an automated menu which only gave me answering machines again. I kept trying and someone randomly picks up the phone. They told me I needed to call the Lowndes County fire department and not the Valdosta fire department. I looked up fire departments in Lowndes County and tried those numbers. I got answer machines and fax machines at every number I dialed. Finally I got an answering machine that told me I needed to dial (229) 333-5267 to get a burn permit. I dialed the number and the guy told me they don’t issue burn permits after 4:00 PM and I needed to call back tomorrow.

Today I called back (229) 333-5267. I was told I needed to call (877) 652-2876 (OK2-BURN). This number is an automated system that asks if I live in an “unincorporated area”. Do I live in an “unincorporated area”? I don’t know. So I select that I do not live in an “unincorporated area” and it tells me to call (229) 333-5267 (the number I just called). I call the number back and get someone else and they tell me I need to call (877) 652-2876 (the number I just called)! I tell the lady on the phone that the system told me to call her back because I selected that I do not live in an unincorporated area. She tells me just to select that I live in an unincorporated area. I ask, “how do I know if I live in an unincorporated area?” she tells me that it doesn’t matter, just select it anyway. I ask, “what is an unincorporated area?” and she tells me she doesn’t know. I argue a bit more with the lady on the phone and she insists that I will not be fined even if I am in an incorporated area and I tell the system that I am in an unincorporated area. What? I tell her that I’m having a hard time believing that she is telling me is true. She told me it would be fine, I just need to call back and tell the system I’m in an unincorporated area so I can get a permit (even if I live in an incorporated area). It took me two days to get to this point and I still feel like I’ll have angry firemen showing up at my house. I was going to update this post with information about burning in Valdosta, GA, but when I called (229) 333-5267 back and asked for information about burning in Valdosta, GA a guy told me burning anything inside the city limits is against the law. No one you can reach by telephone seems to know exactly what the laws are. Everyone who actually knows the law must be out educating citizens by writing them tickets and issuing fines.

I learned not to call anyone on the phone, because no one in Valdosta or Lowndes County seems to have even the slightest idea on how to obtain a burn permit. All I had to do was fill out a form online: Lowndes County Online Burn Permit and it turns out I can call (877) OK2-BURN and tell it I live in an “unincorporated area” (because I live outside the city limits). But it was not true that the permit would be good even if I lived inside the city limits because I found this on the website for the automated system: “The automated system applies only to fires to be burned outside city limits.”

Taqueria del SurEste is a new restaurant located on Oak Street Ext, right off Inner Perimeter in Valdosta, GA. The website describes it as a “southwest concept restaurant that focuses on authentic Mexican cuisine with American influence”. The owner is a ValWood graduate named Rick Coleman. According to ValWood’s website Rick has a B.B.A. in Hospitality Administration from Georgia State University.

My wife and I ate at the restaurant for the first time yesterday. The place looks really nice on the inside. We ordered a Chicken Quesadilla, Chicken Enchilada, Chicken Taco, and Georgian Taco (Beef Brisket). From the service to the food, nothing was good. The meat (white and dark mixed together) was flavorless and fatty. The owner took our order, and I thought he was rude. He asked to take my order, and then started doing something else (he did apologize). As soon as I paid for our food (while I’m still standing in front of him) he starts taking the order of the person behind me. I might be understanding if the restaurant was busy, but it was pretty dead. I found one review of the restaurant online: “I tried this place and was terribly disappointed in the food. I won’t be back.” I feel the exact same way, terribly disappointed.