The Native North Carolinian

So, I was in our Piggly Wiggly the other day, and I found saw a wine display with local wine. And by local, I mean 45 minutes or so from here. Close enough to drive to pick up the wine. I haven’t opened it yet, because I have to finish the Bald Head Red first, but when I do open it, if it’s any good, I’ll let you know. One has to go slowly, you know, to avoid having other folks enquire about one’s need for addiction treatment. But really, how did we get so many vineyards? And how can I not try them all?

Back in January, my beloved cousin introduced me to a line of wines from a local winery. He is a member there, and gets the wine by the case. I tried several that day, and they were all very good. I was at my favorite store the other night, and I happened to notice that they had several of the wines from Duplin Winery, so I picked up some Magnolia. Then my husband picked me up some Bald Head Red. Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner. Or winners, as the case may be. Case, haha. This is good stuff, folks.

I suggest you order some, and then maybe try to find the best buy on a wine rack. Or maybe two.

I talked yesterday about North Carolina’s stance on insurance, but I didn’t talk about how the computers communicate. I’m assuming it’s through an intranet software of some kind, since the different companies also seem to be able to access information from the state, but not necessarily from each other. That’s how they can quote your rate so accurately on the fly– they look up your driving record with the state.

Of course, I could be totally wrong, and they might do it the old fashioned way, via phone call. Or, you know, not.

This post has little to do with North Carolina, beyond the fact that my laptop sits on my desk that sits in my house that sits in my town that sits in my county that sits in my great state of North Carolina, kinda like the wart on a frog on a log in the hole in the bottom of the sea. This laptop needs memory, and I am having a hard time figuring out what kind without taking the computer apart. I’m narrowing it down though. I know I don’t need IBM memory. You’d think, being married to a computer tech, I could get a little bit further than that, right?

I saw a new website today that I thought might interest ya’ll. It’s called NC Weddings, and it’s a repository of all you need to know to get married here in North Carolina, from getting a marriage license to finding a venue. This site showcases our local businesses to help you plan a perfect day. Use them for weddings, yes, but you could also use the services and businesses on this site to pamper lost of other people. Think Golden Anniversaries and Prom Night, see. You’ll find limos and bands suitable for all sorts of celebrations!

I would really love the opportunity to focus on some of the fine businesses here in North Carolina. We have some wonderful small businesses here and I know we have them, but I can’t possibly track them all down myself. I’m talking about the little local businesses, like the boiled peanut stand I stopped at the other week, whose name I failed to write down, because………uh, no reason there, except I failed to do it.

I was excited, then, to see this link in my email: Jacksonville Locksmith. I thought, woohoo, that’s local, I can certainly talk about that! Well, no. No, it’s not local. I’m not quite sure which Jacksonville they are talking about on that page, but I can tell you that it is NOT Jacksonville NC. I can tell that because the site has a list of other area cities that they serve, and I don’t recognize any of them!

I’m laughing at myself about this because it just proves how locality-centric I am. In spite of the fact that our Jacksonville is one of the smallest, it’s the only one on my radar. And when I search for something in Wilmington, I still get aggravated when Google gives me results in Delaware.

I was browsing the Medical News site today, and found an article about the University of North Carolina Lineberger Cancer Center. Some students are biking across the US to raise funds for it. How cool is it that they would give up their summer vacation to help others, right here?

Also worth checking out is this article on BCBSNC, and their “Eat and Move” campaign. They are a major health care provider here in North Carolina and they are reaching out to the state’s children to help them develop lifetime good health habits. The campaign includes a scavenger hunt for parent and kids in Lowes Foods stores across the state.

The new site is very well organized, with a menu on the left to make navigation easy. You’ll find more articles on cancer, articles on physical therapy and many other topics. There is even a search box to aid in finding specific information– like what’s happening right here in the Old North State.

When you get car insurance from Insurance Doctor you can be sure that you’re being taken care of. I know that finding auto insurance here in North Carolina can be tricky, but woth Insurance Doctor you don’t have to worry about all of those pesky forms. They take care of everything for you, including your SR-22, so that you don’t have to worry about anything except driving your car.