Watts Consulting

More than you ever wanted to know about Alabama native Joe Watts

joewatts

Early Alaska Photos

by

My Uncle Edward and Aunt Gladys Waddell (my father’s sister) lived in Alaska before there was a road that took you there. They really used dog sleds as transportation in the winter, and caught salmon during the summer salmon runs to feed the dogs during the long, cold winters. One of my cousins (Kathy Miller–the daughter of my father’s brother, Bill Watts) made a valiant effort several years ago and scanned in tray after tray of old slides. I now have the slides, along with a copy of the images digitally. (My intent is to scan those slides in at higher resolution that I really want.)

These are just a few of the many photos Uncle Edward took. I got his photography bug. Ann’s been scanning in old photos of her family and I got to thinking about these.

This SlideShowPro photo gallery requires the Flash Player plugin and a web browser with JavaScript enabled.


What a Week

by

This has been one of those non-stop weeks. Can’t believe Monday was Memorial Day. I’ve worked all week on a website for the Alabama’s Front Porches website I’ve been working on for the last 3 months for Southwest Alabama Tourism with the University of Alabama Economic Development Institute. www.alabamafrontporches.com.

I just got back from a long day in Thomasville meeting about the website. So far, so good. More later!

First Daylily Bloom Ever

by

Don’t worry, this won’t be an extended version like my obsession with irises–mainly because I just don’t have that many day lilies. These came, as many of my bulbs and rhizomes, from Mama’s house in Octagon, Alabama. These were dug about 2 years ago–the ones in the backyard, that probably won’t bloom this year–came just a year ago.

Styling 1970’s

by

 

Not sure whether I should just be happy I had a shirt on in the first picture–apparently in addition to loving hats, I hated shirts as a child (something that hasn’t carried forward as evidenced by my farmer’s tan now). Oh, if we only still had the clothes in the photo at left! (Photo at left is from left to right–Margaret, Madeline, Cynthia, Julia and of course there I am in the center!)

A Nice Note from a Cousin

by

Last Friday night, I got what was one of the nicest emails I’ve received in quite a while. A cousin I see with less frequency than I’d like sent this. Makes me very pleased to have such a strong family! (And I did ask permission to put this out, so don’t fear sending emails to me!)

Nollie told Lillian about your blog, then Lillian told me.  What a blessing you have created!  I love Octagon, too.  I wish gasoline weren’t one thousand dollars a gallon (slight exaggeration) and I weren’t so busy so I could go “home” every weekend.

As I have gotten older, I am mortified that I was not prouder of my parents and my upbringing when I was younger.  We really did have idyllic childhoods in Octagon–roaming the woods, playing in the catch-pens, riding Ida’s wagon-of-death down a 90- degree hill, and jumping off the chicken- house roof.  ( You were not born when we used to do that.  Be very grateful.)  Then there was running from Daddy’s schizophrenic red bull. And the time Nollie stuffed feed corn kernels in my ears and up my nose.  And the time we Hinson children agreed to let Daddy sell our pet baby bull, (which we had named Bull-ette and which we had hand-fed with a calf bottle since his birth) so we could buy Hoola-Hoops. And the sad Christmas children we were at Aunt Sadie Lou’s house because we had to wear Sunday clothes and sit and be polite and use good manners. And leave our new toys at home.

Your Mother’s Day tribute to your Mama was lovely.  Your mother was a remarkable woman.  I am so grateful that she was my aunt.  I wanted to contact all of her children on the anniversary of her tragic death, but I couldn’t find the words.  There are no words.  But Aunt Sis was brilliant and wise and warm and lovely and genteel and kind and wonderful.  I think of her and miss her every day, as I do Mama and Daddy.

Your mother and father; Mammy and Papa; my Mama and Daddy; Uncle Clifford; Aunt Sadie Lou and Uncle Larry; your Uncle Edward and Aunt Gladys–they all influenced the adults whom all 17 of us Hinson first- cousins would become.  I am sure I would be a better person if I had paid more attention to the advice and love they gave when I was a child and adolescent.  I like to think that I absorbed some of their wisdom through osmosis, if not through minding them and taking their instruction to heart.

Although I was nearly grown when you were born, I remember you well as a little boy.  You always wore hats and you usually wore boots and carried a gun.  Your parents were so proud of you.  A son at last!

Cousin Deborah Hinson Kelly

(Well, I couldn’t find photos of myself with a hat, boots AND a gun, but I managed to find a good collection of hats and one with a great toy gun! I really did love a good hat–the captain’s hat was my all-time favorite, though. I think I need another.)

 

Alabama Outdoors–an update to my customer service problem

by

Final Update: read the entry located here. *the story ended with what I asked for in the first place.

UPDATE:

Well, this is just an update to my earlier complaint about Alabama
Oudoors, the Birmingham, Alabama based outdoor sporting goods store.
Alabama Outdoors has not responded to my website submission to their
website alabamaoutdoors.com, or to an email sent to
info@alabamaoutdoors.com. I’m very displeased with their performance.
Sorry to take away from my otherwise pretty positive blog. This is more
of a test than anything else just to see how much of an impact
mentioning Alabama Outdoors in a negative context along with saying
things such as Alabama Outdoors provides a negative customer service
experience in Birmingham, Alabama has. I’m really curious to see what
sort of an impact I can have in the search engines by mentioning my
displeasure with Alabama Outdoors in some repeated fashion–all the
while obeying the cardinal rule of making sure that any mention of
Alabama Outdoors really makes an important reference to Alabama
Outdoors as an Alabama based outdoor clothing company selling products
in Birmingham, Alabama.

I’m hopeful that, as my previous post
did accomplish, a search for Alabama Outdoors in google or some other
search engine will pull my blog post about my experience with Alabama
Outdoors will show up. Right now, Alabama Outdoors complaint shows up
pretty well, but Alabama Outdoors by itself isn’t quite there yet.
Hopefully this post about Alabama Outdoors, a Birmingham, Alabama based
outdoor clothing and outdoor gear store, will help bring Alabama
Outdoors to the forefront for complaints!

I’m planning to add to this post about Alabama Outdoors for the next
week or so, but for now I just wanted something out there that
expressed my distaste for the Birmingham, Alabama based outdoor
clothing and hiking gear store Alabama Outdoors. I have been shopping
at Alabama Outdoors for most of the last twenty years. I can’t recall
the very first thing I bought there, but distinctly remember buying a
nice tent from Alabama Outdors, several pairs of boots, several
backpacks, camping stoves, jackets, lanterns, socks, shoes, sandals and
no telling how many pairs of pants, shirts and shorts. Oh, and that
doesn’t include the shoes, boots, expensive jackets, clothes and more
Ann has bought at Alabama Outdoors over the years.

Well, I
bought two pair of shorts from Alabama Outdoors (AO) last week and wore
each pair one time–I’ve owned the brand for years (grammici’s) and
have always loved them (always bought them from Alabama Outdoors, too).
The belt buckle on both of these new ones frayed and came apart–on one
it happened shortly after I put them on. I took them back with receipt
in hand with a desire to simply exchange them for new, undamaged goods.
I was told that they couldn’t do that but would send them in for
repair. I told them that I wouldn’t be shopping there again. That
didn’t seem to make an impact on them. (It was a young, inexperienced
boy who said he, I think,he was the manager.) I’m really upset by this
lack of customer care and consider this a strong complaint against
Alabama Outdoors. I’m not a big complainer, but feel that this bad
experience with Alabama Outdoors requires a complaint. I have emailed
Alabama Outdoors customer service and sent them an online message
through their customer care online for (at alabamaoutdoors.com)
and plan to call them on Monday. I am a strong proponent of buying
locally whenever possible. I will try the other store in town (Mountain
High), but if that doesn’t work out, I’ll be shifting my purchases
online and I surely won’t be going to Alabama Outdoors to experience
their lack of customer care again.

Alabama Outdoors has lost a
customer and I’ll do everything I can to make sure that my complaint is
heard as loudly as possible (mainly by mentioning Alabama Outdoors and
complaint in this post and possible future posts as many times as I can
mention Alabama Outdoors and the word complaint–you’d be surprised at
how much mentioning a name like Alabama Outdoors in conjunction with a
couple of key words like complaint and problem and upset can have on
search engine rankings. Just give it a few days and hopefully, anyone
searching for Alabama Outdoors and  complaint will find my post about
complaining about Alabama Outdoors and the poor customer service they
provided me yesterday. We’ll see.