Category Archives: customer service

cedar hollow inn ….new year’s eve

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We forgot about New Year’s Eve again this year and made last minute reservations through Open Table at The Cedar Hollow Inn in Malvern. I was very glad they had a reservation but my experience has left me with some reservations.
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We got there and there was ample parking, and we were actually able to park right in front. That was terrific on a cold night. But the hostess seated us in restaurant Siberia.

Our romantic date night New Year’s Eve dinner was at the last deuce before the kitchen and the bathrooms, and if you went the other direction you headed towards the bar.

For what we paid for dinner, and considering the fact that there were ample tables available in the dining room away from the kitchen door, bathrooms, and pathway to the bar I don’t understand why we were seated there. We were not the last table to be seated for dinner, but we were the last the last reservation for two people.

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The photo above was taken just before the last group was seated for dinner. It was not packed, so one would have thought there were a couple more choices for tables where you weren’t marooned in the center of the room or stuck in Siberia like we were.

The waitstaff was very pleasant, and the service was decent. I liked that they did not hover over you.

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The inn is known for quite the selection of craft beers, and their wine list wasn’t half bad either. I had a perfectly acceptable Gewurztraminer. I can’t drink red wine, so I am always on the hunt for a decent white by the glass that isn’t Chardonnay. Chardonnays are fine but they’re a little boring when there are so many other varietals available.

My sweet man had the lobster bisque soup as his first course. He enjoyed it very much although he said it was a little heavy on the Cayanne pepper.

I had a spinach salad which was off the charts terrific. I love a good spinach salad and so few places make them anymore. And it wasn’t swimming and dressing which I really was grateful for.

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The entrées were served very quickly (almost too quickly) after the first course. He had the salmon, which didn’t look like salmon to me but I didn’t taste it and I had the venison.

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My sweet man liked his fish okay, but again somebody in the kitchen had a heavy hand with spice. There was some kind of a quinoa that that the fish sat on and it was too heavy with whatever hot pepper they used.

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I must say that I loved the venison. Venison is something a lot of restaurants do not get right, and they did a very respectable job with it. It wasn’t tough it wasn’t undercooked or overcooked, it was just right and it wasn’t too salty.

The venison (two delicate chops) was served on thinly sliced potatoes that were described as frites on the menu but really weren’t, but that was okay. They were also served with roasted brussels sprouts which is one of my most favorite things as far as a winter vegetable.

2014/12/img_9903.jpg The desert was a chocolate cake with some kind of a raspberry filling. It was very prettily displayed and served with a tiny dollop of whipped cream, a few fresh raspberries and spun sugar ornament. It was a very decadent dessert and so rich that it wasn’t finished. A smaller slice probably would’ve been better, and they should have let the cake sit out about 15 minutes before serving because it was just too cold. A cake like that should be firm and the chocolate not melting, but it shouldn’t be ice cold.

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The Cedar Hollow Inn appears to have a very loyal following for the bar. There were a lot of people in that area of the place and they were setting up for music and New Year’s Eve festivities once dinner service was complete.

Another thing I noticed is they started to clean up from the dinner service and convert the dining room to an extension of the bar area before everyone was even finished dinner.

And again, the menu prices were not inexpensive, and as a diner I really would prefer that a restaurant wait until the diners are finished before they break down and change up a room. If the bar was so packed to overflowing when we were finishing dinner I would’ve understood it, but they weren’t. And given our close proximity of our table to the bathrooms and the kitchen we got to see everyone in the bar as they went past the entire time we were there. I think when I was about 25 I would’ve loved that, but not on my romantic New Year’s Eve dinner as a bit more of a grownup. It was like eating dinner on a subway platform in a way.

I don’t want you to think that I did not enjoy my experience there, there were just aspects of the experience that I found lacking. I enjoyed my dinner tremendously, but I am not sure how much my sweet man enjoyed his. My dinner in as far as the meal was just terrific and his was just okay. If you’re going to get dressed up and go out for New Year’s Eve dinner you want it to be more than just okay for the guy who is treating you to a nice dress up occasion, right?

The Cedar Hollow Inn I am sure has suffered greatly with all the hot mess construction around it and highway construction nonsense over the past few years. But I don’t think they are doing things as well as they could. They have a truly decent kitchen I think, it just needs a little tweaking. They don’t have a large menu which I like, but I think they need to be more consistent all across the board. And if you’re going to make delicate shellfish and seafood flavors pop you have to be careful about how you spice.

The place is very clean and neat on the inside, but the dining room is kind of bland and the tavern/bar part a little dated. I think both the tavern/bar section and the dining room need to meld together decor wise a little more.

Don’t misunderstand me, I think the place should retain its country charm, I just think the charm should be displayed differently and with less beer mirrors. Truthfully, they should go around and study the decor of other country inns in Chester County. I am glad they aren’t all gingham and plaid curtains, however. Or overly heavy Victorian in decor with really cheap scented candles burning outside the bathrooms.

I am still very glad I went this evening. And I really did enjoy my dinner and I did enjoy my date night. And I am glad I finally have the opportunity to dine at the Cedar Hollow Inn. I hope 2015 is their year! I saw potential this evening.

Happy New Year’s Eve!

a little visit to kimberton whole foods malvern

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Yes….I had been avoiding it. I love the original Kimberton Whole Foods and I knew I would get myself into trouble once I walked through the doors!

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Yes….in no time at all my cart was filled with things I could not possibly live without today.

The new Malvern store took a long time getting here and it is a jewel of a store. It is on the small side, but given how overwhelming I find Wegmans, I am good with the size. The staff of the store is incredibly nice and helpful. The only thing I couldn’t find that I wanted today was Bulgur Wheat for Tabouli.

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I spent a ridiculous amount of time going through the store but it is just so clean and lovely. Every shelf is gleaming, and the produce is spectacularly beautiful. The prices are not for the faint of heart, so it is easy to rack up a high dollar check out without much effort —-but you know what you are paying for here. I am really glad they are open and look forward to warmer weather and local produce.

If you haven’t been to the Malvern store, go check it out. It is on the end of the Eastside Flats development on King St. in Malvern in a stand alone building. There is ample parking too.

Thanks for stopping by!

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chim chim-in-ey, chim chim-in-ey chim chim cher-ee!

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Very true and we have an awesome gentleman who took tremendous care of us so I thought I would recommend him —- John Wisnewski of Let There Be Light Chimney Sweep. I am posting his card.

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I will note that I am not being compensated for this review. We are happy customers. If he checks your chimney flue, have him check the one for your heating system as well.

Thanks to him and his honesty, we avoided a potential issue with not much fuss. You see, we learned the hard way that heating companies might do a great job cleaning and servicing the heater, but that doesn’t necessarily mean they get into the flue for the heating system and really check. We haven’t been in this current house for that many years yet, and well, when he removed the pipe to the flue in the basement there were years and years worth of debris in the base of the flue…very much preceding our tenure in the house and the two heating companies that we knew of who had serviced the heater had not cleaned this out either.

Let Their Be Light Chimney Sweep is also Angie’s List rated. Now he is also Chester County Ramblings Rated 🙂

home eclective is open in downingtown

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They are open! Vintage fun and
imaginative repurposing ! If you love Garage Sale Chic Chester County and fun new businesses like Vintage Chicken this is a business you are going to want to get to know!

This group of local artisans travel around Chester County looking for treasures to reimagine, repurpose, and gussy up for your home!

It’s so much fun!

And…even better is they will be doing demonstrations and little “how to” classes too!

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If you like vintage fun like you can find at Brooklyn Flea or Clover Market, you will enjoy this business tremendously!

Home Eclective
236 J Brandywine Ave
Downingtown, PA

484-888-5460

They are open until 6 pm today! Contact them directly for hours and other information – and you can “like” them on Facebook!

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dining al fresco in west chester

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I love dining al fresco before the summer gets too muggy, and tonight was a perfect night for it. So off we went to West Chester to Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House on Gay Street.

It’s a super cute place with the right look and truly terrific waitstaff.

But.

At the top of the list of “buts” we will start with the table of slightly inebriated or more women behind us. Super loud and unattractively so, they should probably practice taking selfies before they go out as a group again along with modulating their voices after a few cocktails. I am all for having a good time, but those ladies were slightly sloppy. One was drinking wine on ice cubes out of a straw, but I digress.

That table wasn’t the fault of the restaurant, although it would’ve been nice had to take the initiative to do something about them because they were disturbing all sorts of diners around them. When they left it was such a relief because you could actually speak to the people you were dining with as the volume had so decreased.

The fish was quite fresh that I had, but the meal other than the seafood was somewhat tasteless. No herbs, not really any spices, no pizzazz. Also for the prices they charge per plate on both their entrées and their appetizers, there could’ve been better greens, and a little more fish. For my dinner I had an entrée salad, and the greens were less than impressive. I could’ve found better at ACME.

They have this summer sangria with mango that I ordered. I had two glasses of it, about 5 1/2 ounces each glass. Both times the sangria was not chilled and I had to ask for ice. The second time the bartender sent my drink out missing a key ingredient because they were out of it. Did not care for that presumption on the part of the bartender.

What the bartender should have done is send my waitress out to say they were missing ingredients would I mind having it without a key ingredient or would I like something else. I did not send either drink back, because it wasn’t the waitress’s fault. But the bar staff should have known better.

Doc Magrogan’s Oyster House is a veritable institution in downtown West Chester and I would like to give it another try sometime as I have heard great things. But tonight I was underwhelmed at best. Except for the waitstaff. Again, I want to say how nice the waiters and waitresses were.

Tonight’s meal was a far cry from the excellent meal we had at Philadelphia’s farm to table called Russet last week. It was however, a beautiful night to eat outside. The town of West Chester does sidewalk dining very right.

Thanks for stopping by

driver vs. utility pole in west whiteland

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On Friday evening, May 23 at the start of the Memorial Day Weekend many residents in East and West Whiteland Townships experienced a major power surge and subsequent outage and damage due to a case of driver vs. PECO Energy Utility pole.

This driver and their accident has caused damage to many residences and businesses in at least two townships: East Whiteland and West Whiteland are the ones I know about.

The accident reportedly occurred off of King Road near Phoenixville Pike as per my sources. A police report is pending, and apparently the Patrol Sergeant who took the call is off shift until Wednesday or Thursday evening.

I have checked the Daily Local to see if they have anything about this and see nothing.

If you were affected by this power surge and outage, and have damaged property as a result, call PECO Customer Service at 1-800-494-4000 to open a claim. The e-mail I find listed for Claims is pecoclaims@exeloncorp.com and their fax is listed as 215-841-4919.

I am further told that if you experienced loss as a result of this driver taking out the utility pole that you can request a copy of the police report from West Whiteland Police Department.

Save all of your receipts for any repair work or replacement costs you experience as a result of this driver taking down PECO’s utility pole. You will need receipts to file any sort of claim.

If I hear anything else about this I will post it.

thinking about belfor again

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daffsLook at that photo. Not one of my best as I can’t hoist my camera again quite yet, but I took this with my cell phone.

Daffodils. Is their anything better to see after the winter we had? Are you like me and did you wonder if we would even see them in our gardens again when we were looking at snow, ice, and more snow and ice?

As everyone knows, we were among the many, many people who sustained serious damage during the ice storm February 5th that rocked the east coast and buried Chester County for a while.

Like a lot of other people (as in close to one million or whatever the crazy number was), we had to suck it up and just survive. We had a long power outage, an even longer outage of phone, Internet, and television.

Because we are on a well, when we suffered our extended power outage we were also without a well pump.  We heated with our woodstove and were fortunate enough to save our pipes.  We kept our refrigerator and freezer items outside in the freezing cold on the front porch in coolers.

It was like Little House on the Prairie. And I love it here in Chester County, but I don’t want a repeat of the winter of 2014 any time soon!

The best part of this entire experience occurred when we called Belfor. Yes I know I sound like an ad, but seriously? They were nothing short of amazing from the call center people to the actual workers that Belfor dispatched.

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The guys that came from Belfor were not only really nice and polite and just kind .  They patched and super tarped our roof after they removed the tree from leaning on the house and penetrating our building envelope (that is the correct term, right?)

In plain English a giant tree was IN and ON  our house.  Truthfully had the angle been different only so slightly and I would not have had a house left for Belfor to shore up during an emergency services call.

The guys did such a good job and a careful job pulling the tree back that our arborist thought we had hired another arborist before him. But no, those were just the Belfor guys.

They patched and tarped the roof, they patched the holes the tree also punched in the upper story of  our home.  They were amazing.  And I think they took maybe a 15 or 20 minute break when they were here. Yes, that’s it, and they were here for hours.

These Belfor guys even came back to double-check on us a couple of days later after they had completed the job.  Who does that today?  The answer is not many people.

That is why I wrote my first post. That was at the end of February. My friends have teased me about it to because apparently the man who owns the company who we see on their commercials – Sheldon Yellen – was on the TV show “Undercover Boss”. I never knew until after Belfor was at our home as that is not a show I watch much.

Why am I writing today?  Well I am still recuperating from my surgery, so I was cruising around on Facebook and pulled up Belfor’s page. I was curious if they had anything about those deadly mudslides which occurred recently in Washington State.

What caught my eye instead was a flurry of posts by this woman from Ohio.  Apparently from her postings it looks like Belfor was hired to do some sort of emergency work at her apartment building.  It seems she owns the building based on what I found listed for her in the property records for Lorain, Ohio.   If she does own this building she is concerned about, I don’t get what it is they didn’t do.

All I do know is emergency restoration and regular contracting work are two different things. We hired Belfor for emergency work. That is what they did. They came, they helped us clean up, they made sure we were safe.  That is what we asked them to do, those are the services we contracted with them for. And they completed their tasks with perfection.

The guys who came to our home were very helpful and their work has held as we wait our turn for our roofing company to start.

Look, I am the consumer from hell. I have no problem complaining if I think something is wrong. It’s just that I don’t get this woman. She just posted all these posts (not all the same day) and I find it hard to believe they haven’t contacted her or resolved whatever it is that actually happened.   I got really speedy calls back whenever I called from the moment we provided them with our contact information. And I am no one special.

So I thought I would revisit my Belfor experience.  Which was amazing, and again, I am exacting.

I realize not everyone is going to have the exact same experience with a company, but still……

For the record: I have absolutely no problem referring Belfor to anyone.  I don’t say that very often.

I hope this woman gets her stuff straightened out and I know the feeling when your home is a mess (after all I did have part of a tree in my dining room not so long ago), but my opinion as someone who has no horse in this race, is that I can’t really tell what she is actually blaming them for.  If she is a property owner, surely she is responsible for her property and long-term maintenance issues isn’t she?   Isn’t there a difference between emergency restoration, regular contracting, and long-term maintenance issues?   I had a landlord once upon who was not so great with long-term maintenance.

This woman says she wants to meet Sheldon Yellen. Well on that we can agree.

I’d like to meet Mr. Yellen too….TO SAY THANK YOU. Belfor saved my home. They gave me peace of mind. They did good work and were just nice.

So Mr. Yellen if you are out there reading this, know that you are appreciated and so is your team.

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usps they deliver for who?

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We have an awesome mail carrier. But I think the actual post office he is out of has issues. Frazer, PA in the shopping center to be precise.

We have had packages opened and resealed when they ended up being boring things like the vitamins I sometimes have to get delivered by mail because as a breast cancer survivor of a hormone driven breast cancer I need to take vitamins that don’t contain soy or other phytoestrogens and it is hard to find them at chain drugstores regularly. We have had things just not get delivered. We got a Christmas card written shortly after Thanksgiving the first weekend in March.

When something is damaged our delivery guy makes sure he speaks with us and doesn’t just leave it. Again, he is awesome and conscientious. But when we have to call Frazer and speak with Cranky the office manager it’s a different story.

Cranky is the perfect civil service type. He has his little fiefdom there and extends himself to no one, especially women. I used to think my difficult experiences were just me, except if you call the Malvern Post Office to see if they can help you and avoid Cranky they laugh almost…even they get it.

The first time I had to deal with this Cranky on a misdirected package, the first thing out of his mouth was not how can he help but rather did I try the USPS.com website. And every time I have to call, he is the only one who ever answers the phone and he always says the same thing, or occasionally he says something borderline rude or even sexist. Bottom line? He never goes out of his way. If you can get to the actual postmaster you can get help when you need it and he is very nice, but this Cranky is just perpetually cranky.

I find that frustrating. My old post office wasn’t perfect, but they actually attempted customer service at the post office branch level. Face it , after you try to either get a live person if you call the toll free number of the United States Postal Service or attempt via their convoluted website how to send an e-mail if you have a problem, you would naturally think it would be so much simpler to just call your local post office, right? Face it, most of us operate under the delusion that the postal service is still that folksy place where people who live in your neighborhood work.

Wrong.

They lose and mutilate mail. Stuff gets pinched and when you have the temerity to actually call them, you get attitude. It’s not just things that come through Frazer Post Office, it happens all over. I don’t get how we can have nice actual mail carriers and the office people aren’t . They aren’t out in the elements, they are in the offices. They aren’t the one delivering mail when the rain is beating down.

Today I realized something I had ordered had not arrived. So I tracked the package. The tracking said it had been delivered March 13, only I was home and I never received it. So where was it? And guess what happened when I called the post office actual office and got Cranky for a change? He asked me if I had used the website to track my package!

I had had enough today so today I pushed back. Yes I was snippity because I had checked the website and THAT is why I called. You know to see if I could file a lost package report or something?

So I just have to ask: when the United States Postal Service runs their multi-million dollar advertising campaigns stressing customer service and that slogan “We Deliver for You” I always think it should be “USPS, They Deliver for Who?”

And again, I want to make it abundantly clear that our regular letter carrier is awesome. It is the office Cranky and the problems with packages and mail I am less than enthused with.

I don’t order much. I don’t order super expensive or frivolous things. I think I should get what I pay to have delivered and also get packages that are un-opened.

…and we called belfor

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This has been the winter that has tried the patience and good will of many and I am no exception. But in my defense, having a few thousand pounds of tree land on the back of the house like a 747 and then to be days and days without power, running water, and so on will do that to you.

We are lucky even in this mess, as it could have been much worse than it was. Especially since where the tree punched through the wall was about six inches from where my sweet man lays his head on his pillow. And that tree hit the house hard and racked it. It also hit hard enough that when the tree punched the wall it popped the solid slats of a hardwood headboard. And pieces of giant tree in the house aren’t much fun, either.

I would not trade my Chester County existence for anything. I love it here. But this winter has been like an endurance test, and I will admit I just have days where I am done with it.

Yesterday was one of those days. Yesterday was when the main roof started to leak.

We had felt another tree part hit the top of the roof during the ice storm but couldn’t get anyone up in all the snow to check. You see, all the snow after the ice storm and the temperatures has made the beginnings of restoration work for a lot of people just slow down exponentially because well, it’s dangerous. But until yesterday the main part of the roof held.

First we woke up to what looked like magic crop circles on the ceiling. By late afternoon we saw the sheen of moisture on the ceiling and the ceiling dry wall starting to freckle then bubble. All in an attractive brown color, of course .

With flooding rains expected later today we called Belfor. They are the best amongst their peers at dealing with post-storm nonsense. And they have an office around Exton.

When we called their 800 number last night we spoke with a woman named Anna. She was hands down the best customer service-type person I have ever spoken with. Then after we gave her our information, a man named John called. He said his crew would be out at 7 a.m. I will admit after a couple of weeks of NO ONE storm related showing up when they said they would post-storm I didn’t believe him.

Well shut my mouth at 7:01 a.m. this morning here they were!!

I can’t even explain what it feels like, other than I am both happy and grateful. This is our home and I love it, and it is such a relief to know they are here.

I must say RIP to the original patio table glass, table, and umbrella however. A branch got it all this morning. The chairs might be on life support too, I am not sure.

For the first time in days I can see other than TREE out the back of our house . Fingers crossed that all continues to go well.

I need it to stop raining in the house.

Thanks Belfor. You are so far more than living up to your advertisements on TV. Seriously? Those ads aren’t hype. These guys are working hard.

Next up: tree guys for the really big stuff but not today….

Sign me grateful.

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lincoln court shopping center in frazer

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lc1They say photos are worth a thousand words.

Nothing like a shopping center slum lord in the snow, right? Has anyone else been to Lincoln Court Shopping Center recently as in during or after any of the recent weather???

That lot is challenging on a good day with clear weather, now it is so bad that personal injury lawyers should just hang out in the parking lot every day.

lc3Yes I know it is a challenge to keep anything clean in this weather, but these commercial property owners are supposed to try to make it safe for business owners and their employees and their customers, aren’t they?  And here even the handicap spots aren’t even properly cleared and aren’t they supposed to be by law?

And someone told me this is the same property owner that owns over where Frazer Post Office and Peppridge Farm is too?

Most municipalities do have rules that commercial properties must abide by so does East Whiteland ever look into stuff like this? Anyway, be careful especially in Lincoln Court.

lc5I know many people who own chunks of commercial properties in the Northeast as well as small businesses struggling in this weather, and I know they are all having issues of clearing snow and finding places to put it. But can’t this Lincoln Court property owner get snow hauled off and say ask other property owners that own large stretches of field near there if they can pay them to put the extra snow there? Or ask East Whiteland if they have any places extra snow can go? There has to be a solution, right? Or is it this commercial property owner only cares about collecting the rents?

This winter has been brutal, God knows but people should be able to navigate safely in this lot and right now they can’t.  Businesses need business from customers to pay the rent. But if customers and employees can’t navigate safely  how the heck are all these businesses supposed to generate the income to pay the rent?

And is it true that according to East Whitelnd’s own code this  center should have nearly 900 spaces?  Someone told me that as per property management site  (which I have not seen because I don’t know who it is…yet) there are approximately 592 parking spaces? (Except some City Feet listing I found says 771 parking spaces?)  This is probably all grand-fathered, right? But aren’t all lots with 60 or more spaces  supposed to have a pedestrian path or walkway from one side to the other?

Whatever, I am totally confused as to how many spaces a shopping center of this size should have.  That is for East Whiteland to figure out.  All I know is the parking lot conditions could be considered hazardous to the average citizen, and well it is the site of our local Drivers License Center, grocery store, QVC outlet and so on. It is always busy except for now because it is ridiculous. SO why isn’t it cleaned up better???

East Whiteland is a municipality where there is a LOT of commercial property compared to residential and the news that does eeek out from the non-televised and non-recorded meetings indicate they are always courting more commercial projects, so why not have the older shopping centers like this look better, feel better and be better too? Mind you, I am not blaming East Whiteland for this parking lot debacle in the sense of it is not really cleaned up safely or properly, that is all on the property owner whomever they are, right? Just food for thought as more commercial sites grow, right?

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