Peter and I have been discussing an idea for a few months and wanted some feedback. We're thinking about possibly opening a bakery in Batavia. We'd like for it to be on main street, so it is available to people who drive and/or walk around.

I have a few questions for all of you local Batavians and those in Genesee County:

1) Would you utilize a local bakery instead of using Walmart and Top's baked goods?

2) What kind of goods would you like to see from a local bakery?

3) What features would you want in a bakery (ex: coffee, a cafe/eating area, etc)?

4) During what hours (and times) would you most likely visit a bakery (ex: morning, afternoon/lunch, holidays, etc)?

5) Would you utilize a specialty cake service?

Thanks for your input!

Next summer the state has proposed that Ellicott St will go down to 1-lane for each direction, have a turning lane, and parking on both sides. They will supposedly mill it down 2.5 inches, and re-fill it 2 inches.

However, this morning they are working outside of our house, jackhammering and making all sorts of noise. I'm not impressed.

I just got back from walking Daisy, our new dog. We got her about a week ago from the Batavia Animal Shelter (who were fantastic, by the way). Anyway, our walk took us down Ellicott to Liberty to Main St down to Chambers, then we turned around.

We're working on walking Daisy, and socializing her, so I figured a 2pm walk would mean that we would run into a bunch of different people in different circumstances. And, we did meet some people, but not more than 10. Daisy barks at most men, wagging her tail and sniffing the whole time, but I think she's just intimidated by them, so I'd like her to be socialized with both people and dogs. Are there places and times in Batavia that would provide a nice environment for Daisy to get to know people?

There are a lot of problems posed in this well-written article about the problems with the proposed health care reforms: 

“There are serious questions that are associated with policy aspects of the health care reform bills that we’re seeing,” said Gail Wilensky, a veteran health care expert

Dr. Scott Gottlieb...his critique is based on related fears that the plans being discussed would inevitably lead to increased government involvement in personal medical decisions and eventually affect vital services.

But, starting out with a general distrust of government solutions, even conservatives who agree that tens of billions of dollars are wasted annually are dubious about the government’s ability to find significant savings without eventually affecting care negatively.

In the meantime, Mr. Goodman said he hoped his side could do a better job at making clear it had genuine misgivings about Mr. Obama’s proposals.

“I think the critics have approached this in the wrong way; saying there’s going to be a death panel is not the right way,” he said. “The right way to approach it is to put the burden of proof on the administration — tell us how you’re going to do that without denying care to people who are really in need.”

So someone explain to me how problems will cease to exist when the government takes over? Money needs to come from somewhere and then choices need to be made on whom and what to spend that money on. That means some people will not get the medications and treatment that they need, and may end up dying because the government chooses to not fund their treatment. In the current proposed reforms this question is not and has not been answered.

Here is an article from the New York Times that I really like. It's not political or an opinion piece about something political. It's about life, love, and happiness.

But wait. This isn’t the divorce story you think it is. Neither is it a begging-him-to-stay story. It’s a story about hearing your husband say “I don’t love you anymore” and deciding not to believe him. And what can happen as a result.

You see, I’d recently committed to a non-negotiable understanding with myself. I’d committed to “The End of Suffering.” I’d finally managed to exile the voices in my head that told me my personal happiness was only as good as my outward success, rooted in things that were often outside my control. I’d seen the insanity of that equation and decided to take responsibility for my own happiness. And I mean all of it.

I bought an old steamer trunk from the Batavia Flea Market down at the county fair grounds back in June. I've started to clean it up, and I've found a baby picture. Does anyone know the Tyler family that used to live on Morton street? I don't rememer the name of the baby, but it's a picture of a 3-week-old, I don't want to throw it away, but I'm not sure where/who to send/give it to. Your help is greatly appreciated :)

On another note, while I've started to clean it up with Murphy's Oil Soap, and it's looking fantastic. Once I try to get some of the other marks and scuffs off of it, I'll post some pictures. It was built by a trunk company in Rochester and has shipping stickers on it from Ann Arbor. It's a pretty cool buy for $10!

So I'm pretty new to Batavia and the whole Muckdogs thing... if I wanted signatures from the team or an opposing team, how would I go about doing it?

For example, my dad LOVES the Yankees, and so he really wants to see the three games in Batavia against the Staten Island Yankees, how would I get signatures for him from the team?

I work for a college, it'll remain unnamed. In the office where I work our students are primarily adults. We offer different degree options, and full-time status so that our students qualify for financial aid. On top of my normal office duties, I also tutor students in writing.

I attended a traditional (private) four-year instutition in New York State. I have a BA and I consider myself pretty intelligent. I could probably teach some social studies courses and have a healthy experience teaching high school, if I so desired.

I'm attending graduate school to get my Master's in Educational Leadership, I want to work with college students, specifically (eventually) adult students at a traditional 4-year institution.

Through these experiences I am always amazed at the lack of reading and writing comprhension. Even at the Master-level, students do not read or comprehend the reading. They do not engage with the reading. They have no questions or comments about the reading. It's sad. The students I work with have no idea how to form an academic argument or even write the traditional 5-paragraph essays.

Here on the boards I'm amazed at what is considered fact and reliable. It's not that there are "bad" sources out there (well, there are, but pretend for a moment there aren't any) but what we use to back up our arguments here on the internet (all over the internet) would never be accepted academically. They wouldn't be accepted in the high school curriculum in NYS. But, my main point is, here on the internet are "real" people, those that actually exist in this world without the help of an academic sitting on their shoulder. It amazes me how our education system has failed so many people.

Here's an article that really sums up my feelings, and frustrations, as a student and educational leader (you may or may not be able to read the whole thing, I'm at work so I'm not sure what's private on the site). http://chronicle.com/jobs/news/2009/06/2009063001c.htm (and I realize this post might make me sound high-and-mighty, but it's really just about observations I've had through my experiences)