Access Atlanta > The Newcomer > Archives > 2008 > May > 09 > Entry
Newcomer Q&A, v. 2.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Thanks, everybody, for pitching in with answers last week. I’m now confident that my dress won’t fall down sometime mid-wedding.
Here are a few questions and answers that popped up this week. (We’ve solved The Mystery of the Over-abundant Phone Book.)
This week’s Q &A is stunted due to a mid-week accident that kept me out of the office, but, if you’ve got a question for next week, leave it in the comments or e-mail me at jgumbrecht@ajc.com. This is open to newbies, and to long-time Atlanta dwellers looking for a new perspective.
Question from a bunch of you: How do you get a phone book? And moreso, how do you stop getting a phone book?
- From AT & T corporate communications: “In Georgia, the primary way we receive orders for directories for customers with new service or current customers requesting additional directories is via service orders generated by the AT&T business office or the business offices of other phone companies that provide service in our service areas. For example, if a new mover sets up landline phone service, we are notified and send the newcomer a phone book. The overwhelming majority of orders come in this way. People can also call our distribution vendor at 800-422-1955 to order a telephone directory free of charge as long as they live within the geographic scope of the directory. For customers looking for alternatives to the actual book, AT&T also provides electronic options such as yellowpages.com, realpageslive.com and our directory information on CD-ROM. Folks can call our distribution vendor at 800-422-1955 to opt out of receiving a print directory if they would like, though requests not to receive our books are rare. Because it’s free and generally seen as an important tool to have in the house for finding the businesses and neighbors you need.”
Question from reader Joisey Boi: What’s a grit? Why is the iced tea so sweet? (P.S. You asked a lot of lingo questions; don’t worry…we’ll get to them.)
Grits are coarsely ground corn which can be made into a porridge somewhere between polenta and farina. I think I accidentally stumbled into a minefield by asking how people cook them. The savory-versus-sweet debate rages on. For gooier grit info, look here.
For an answer on why the tea is so sweet, I turned to Marty Kushner, an Atlantan tea expert. It’s another regional food custom, like grits, but especially sweet here because of the preparation. “The custom in the South has been, for as long as I know, sweet tea. It’s the table wine of the south,” he said. “The big difference that in the North, when they sweeten ice tea, the sugar never really melts completely because of the ice. The liquid is cold. Sweet tea in the South is made by brewing the tea and sweetening while the tea is still very hot so it completely dissolves.” When I lived in Lexington, Kentucky, sweet tea was a special request. Seems to be the standard down here. But Kushner pointed out that some restaurants have gone to providing a tumbler of tea and a small pitcher of simple syrup, so tea drinkers can sweeten to their own tastes. For more on the topic, I highly recommend a story the AJC ran in September, 2007 by Southern foodie John T. Edge, Sweet Tea: A Southern Icon. He goes into the modern take on tea, but also its history. The reason the standard tea here is sweet, he writes, is a result of cost, religion and readily available ice. It started in the mid-1800s, when the market was flooded with black tea from India and sweetener was readily available. “For Southerners, who have traditionally raised the majority of the nation’s cane crop, the conjunction of ingredients seemed preordained.”
Drink up!
Question from reader Constance: “Does anybody know where to get a good helmet that doesn’t look dumb? Maybe one that actually breathes? I totally hate mine.”
- Help her out, folks. I’ll report back next week.
Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment | Categories: Questions & Answers, Yum!
Comments
By Jeff
May 9, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this
Constance:
If you’re talking about bicycle helmets, I’ve honestly never had a problem with either Target or Walmart. They sell quite a few models that worked well for this small-time recreational biker.
Other than that, try the various bike shops. The only two that I know exactly where they are are in Canton and Macon though. The one in Canton is on Riverside Parkway off 575, in one of the strip malls near the Home Depot. The exact location is on part of the shopping center that is perpendicular to Riverside, but I haven’t been there in so long - more than a year - that I don’t remember the exact restaurant it is behind. (Either an Applebees or Red Lobster. Between that and the perpendicular information, you should be able to find it.)
The one in Macon is on Vineville Avenue. Easiest way to get to it is to get off on 164, turn right, and stay straight until you see it on the right about 3 miles off the interstate. (If you get to the OReilly’s Auto Parts - also on the right - you’ve gone about a quarter mile too far.) This one I know more precisely, as I work in the area and frequently ride right by it.