Service Care Blog

Looks like they're going to do it again, many cities in Alabama to eliminate sales taxes August 7th through the 9th for back to school shoppers.

Read about the tax holiday here.

From the al.com blog entry:

"Some of the participants in the 2009 sales tax holiday, according to the Alabama Department of Revenue

Alabaster
Bessemer
Birmingham
Calera
Center Point
Chelsea
Columbiana
Fultondale
Gardendale
Helena
Homewood
Hoover
Hueytown
Irondale
Kimberly
Pelham
Springville
Tarrant
Trussville
Vestavia Hills
Warrior
Wilsonville
Shelby County
Jefferson County (will exempt the regular 1 percent sales tax but not the 1 percent education sales tax that took effect in 2005)"

Labels: Alabama, Alabaster, Bessemer, Birmingham, Center Point, Chelsea, Fultondale, Gardendale, Helena, Homewood, Hoover, Irondale, Jefferson County, Pelham, Shelby County, Trussville, Vestavia Hills

I'm embarrassed, a little bit.

I've lived in Alabama my whole life, and been in and out of Homewood a couple of kazillion times, and I've never been to, or up in, the Vulcan monument. (I've driven by it, practically under it, thousands of times).

Seriously, it's really close to me, and it's a least worth a trip, but it's never happened.

I should take a break some weekend, stop thinking about television repairs and whatnot, and schedule a trip to Homewood and visit ol' Vulcan and see what it's all about.

I found this info, which brought it into my mind, so I'm sharing it here:

Vulcan Park and Museum
(205)933-1409

Vulcan Park and Museum
1701 Valley View Dr
Birmingham, AL 35209

Visit the Vulcan website, too.

Labels: Alabama, Homewood, repairs, televisions, things to do

This news comes a little late, but it might save someone a trip to the post office. Most are open on Christmas Eve, but the majority are closing early. This should not come as a surprise, but you never know... after all, we're open until 6 pm. (But then we're practically always open).

Here are the hours posted:

Cahaba Heights 8:30 am - Noon
Center Point 8:30 am - Noon
Crestline Village 8:30 am - Noon
Homewood 8:30 am - Noon
South Highland 8:30 am - Noon
Eastlake 8:30 am - Noon
Ensley 8:30 am - Noon
Fairview 8:30 am - Noon
Forestdale 8:30 am - Noon
Greensprings Finance 8:30 am - Noon
Vestavia Hills Finance 8:30 am - Noon
Hoover 8:30 am - Noon
Bluff Park 8:30 am - Noon
Irondale 8:30 am - Noon
Meadowbrook 8:30 am - Noon
Midfield 8:30 am - Noon
Mountain Brook 8:30 am - Noon
Tarrant 8:30 am - Noon
North Birmingham 8:30 am - Noon
West End 8:30 am - Noon
Woodlawn 8:30 am - Noon
Main Post Office Window Unit 7:00 am – 1 pm

The Riverchase Galleria Post Office will be open until 6 pm for any late mailers out there!

Hope this helps!

Labels: Alabama, Bluff Park, Cahaba Heights, Crestline Village, Homewood, Hoover, Irondale, Mountain Brook, Vestavia Hills

On Friday, December 12th, eight Alabama authors will read their submissions to Christmas is a Season! 2008. This is a collection of stories about Christmas, most of which are from Alabama authors. I believe it's also printed in Alabama.

The Dec. 12th reading (and signing) will be at Jonathan Benton Booksellers in Mountain Brook Village. There's also another session scheduled from noon-1 p.m. at Little Professor bookstore in Homewood.

Labels: Alabama, events, Homewood, Mountain Brook, things to do

According to U.S. Census Bureau statistics, 77 percent of cities and towns with more than 20,000 people had income drops since 2000. Not so for Birmingham metro.

"None of the eight cities in metro Birmingham with populations of more than 20,000 had a decline. They saw increases between 9 percent and 26 percent, according to a Birmingham News analysis of the Census data, collected from 2005 to 2007. " These included Birmingham, Homewood, Hoover, Bessemer, Mountain Brook, Pelham and Vestavia Hills and others.

I think we're doing something right.

Labels: Alabama, Bessemer, Birmingham, Homewood, Hoover, Mountain Brook, Pelham, Vestavia Hills