Highlands County Talk

For the past 41 years I've managed to make it through life without a navigation system. We've relocated some 15 times and one relocation was from Germany to the US - never got lost - not once!

I have always relied on landmarks for navigation and my husband says I have a natural talent for it. I never leave the office or house without knowing where I'm going and how to get there. I use Google maps. I look at the route, I look at the landmarks and I get where I want to be. If the area is unfamiliar, I take printouts along. So what? There's nothing wrong with it! I'm also not afraid to ask directions. Nothing wrong with that either. Point is, I NEVER got lost!

In the past, my husband has taken along laptops with GPS systems installed. Can't stand the blabbering voice telling me I'm off route! The reason for being off route is that I know where the heck I'm going while the laptop doesn't! It's annoying, disruptive and just not handy to take along.

Last week, my husband bought a new navigation system by Garmin. Don't ask me model numbers etc. because I don't know which model it is, nor do I care. I'm not into tech specs but I like using that new "address finder". It can be attached either to the dash board or windshield and all you have to do is follow the pink route. A few times there was some disagreement as to whether there should be a road or not when the "address finder" suggested I take a turn. I was always right, there wasn't a road. Not even a dirt road! But that's okay! We all make mistakes.

It does save me some time when I get to the destination but am not sure if I should take a left or right turn at Duane Palmer Blvd and there are no homes close enough to determine in which directions the street numbers go up or down or are even or uneven. While it really only takes 2 minutes to find out and turn around, it's a lot easier to follow the pink route.

Then yesterday, my husband was going to put up a sign on a vacant lot we had just listed. Nope, Google maps wouldn't have helped finding the exact location of the lot in a sea of other vacant lots. So, hubby used the "address finder" (I know it's called a GPS) to locate the lot, put up the sign and drove home. But...........the adress finder, let's call it GPS, was wrong! We had to use the plat map to find the exact location of the lot. No big deal, I didn't expect the GPS (see, I'm learning) to pinpoint it without exact coordinates.

Overall, having a GPS system has saved us time and some arguments ("You missed a turn!", "No, did not!", "Did too!", "No, did not!"). It's fun to use and it doesn't distract me from driving and checking out landmarks so I know where I'm going!

Do you use GPS?

PS: It's called Garmin 205w

School Supply Drive - Lake Placid and Sebring

The Suncoast National Bank is hosting a school supply drive until August 21. All items can be dropped off at the bank, located at the corner of Tower Street and US 27 in Lake Placid from 9am to 4pm from Mondays through Friday.

Items most needed are binders, folders, notebook papers, pencils, pens, erasers, rulers, crayons, markers, index cards, glue, dividers and highlighters.

Edward Jones branch office at 17 Ryant Blvd in Sebring will be accepting school supplies for local children in need through The Guardian Ad Litem Program. Items can be dropped off at the office during regular business hours through August 21.

The Lake Placid Board of Realtors has collected

500 sheets of copy paper (1 package), 1,950 shhets notebook paper , (13 packs) 40 sheets of primary writing paper,  (1 pad) 40 sheets of construction paper,  (1 pad) 4 composition books, 3 spiral notebooks, 3 folders, 2 pencil cases, 2 rulers 68 pens  (5 packages), 150 no. 2 pencils  (10 packages, 8 individual), 10 mechanical pencils (1 package), 36 colored pencils  (3 packages), 20 markers (2 packages), 4 highlighters  (1 package), 704 crayons  (11 boxes of 24, 2 boxes of 64), 400 index cards  (4 packages), 3 glue sticks (1 package), 3 bottles of glue

and $177 to donate to Manna Ministries.

Please consider donating school supplies to the above, even the smallest donation makes a big difference.

This article was originally posted on Highlands County Talk Blog

ALDI is coming to Highlands County!

People in Highlands County have asked for it, and ALDI listened. ALDI, the German based grocery chain will build a store in Sebring at the corner of New Life Way and US 27. It will be located where Barnhill's and, more recently, Farmer's Market Buffet have operated restaurants.

The currently existing 10,540 square foot building will be torn down and replaced by a bigger 17,000 square foot building. The store is not expected to open until late 2010 or early 2011.

This will be very interesting to watch as the proposed Sam's Club will be pretty much right across the street on the corner of Bayview St. and US 27.




So, what is ALDI? This is what ALDI USA has to say about itself:

"The ALDI way of shopping has been continuously honed and refined since our first store opened in Southeastern Iowa in 1976. Committed to bringing food to customers at the lowest prices possible, our early stores set up shop in small spaces and introduced shoppers to the select-assortment concept, carrying only 500 select brand products. Compared with other supermarkets, our stores seemed tiny. But ALDI found a niche with Americans hungry for real value, and the chain grew rapidly.

Over time, more products were added, including more refrigerated and frozen foods. ALDI also began experimenting with Special Purchase items, to great success. More recently, Sunday hours were instituted, and ALDI began accepting debit cards.

Today, there are over 1,000 ALDI stores in 29 states, from Kansas to the East Coast. And today's ALDI store carries about 1,400 regularly-stocked items, including fresh meat, and, in certain locations, beer and wine. Though the original ALDI concept has been modified somewhat to accommodate our ever-changing tastes and preferences, the core concept remains: "Incredible Value Every Day."



ALDI is coming to Highlands County was originally posted at Floridatalk.net