Jim Tatum's Columns

I can remember laughing at my niece and nephew not too many years ago. We had gathered for the holidays at my mother’s house in Camden. The kids were not quite in their teens, but already enjoyed overloaded social lives. This was a couple of years b ...  full story

It’s a loaded question, one that, if you live in the Carolinas, you ask yourself quite a bit as a matter of course.  Or maybe not, maybe I just ask myself such things as a matter of course because I’m one of those weirdoes who likes to talk to h ...  full story

So I was reading this article the other day about UFOs. It was pretty funny – obviously the writer is not a believer in flying saucers and crop circles – and he snarkily derided everything from the Roswell incident to the Hill kidnapping. But what I ...  full story

Ah, summer holidays! Time once again for that most holy of holies, the family vacation.I think the word vacation is derived from two ancient Etruscan words, “vay” – a long journey – and “cation” which, loosely translated, means, “to the far side of h ...  full story

Occasionally, there are times when one just runs out of things to say.That’s not necessarily a bad thing. After all, Confucius, or was it Mark Twain, said, “It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all do ...  full story

Remember that early 80s movie “Top Secret?” It was a sleeper, brought to us by the zany folks who made such masterpieces as “Airplane!” and “Kentucky Fried Movie.”Here was a classic line: He: “I’m not the first guy who fell in love with a woman ...  full story

I never thought I would ever see a man and woman arriving at and departing from the opera on bicycles. Yet there they were, he in a seersucker suit and tie, she in a long evening dress. They chained their bikes to a lamppost in front of the theater a ...  full story

I have a picture – probably my favorite of my parents – that sits on my desk in my office at home.  It was taken probably in 1960 or so, the evening of the West Point Founder’s Day Ball, and in it, my parents and their best friends – known to we ...  full story

Ah, late spring/early summer.The nights are still cool, the days heat up, the mosquitoes start to swarm and the flies provide untold hours of amusement for my dog.It’s time once again for that most cherished rite of warm weather: Grilling out.It’s no ...  full story

You just have to love the Social Security Administration.In these times of vociferous, vituperative complaining about government waste – and I am right there with those who want to throw all the bums out – along comes the SSA’s annual “Most Popular B ...  full story

One thing that’s kind of depressing about finding yourself a couple of decades out of college is the realization that spontaneity is more of an enemy than an adventure.Not too long ago a simple trip to the store –probably a beer run – more often than ...  full story

Next time someone tells me that, I’m going to reply ever so blithely, “I wish.”That’s because after seeing Nadia Petrova blast 120 mile per hour thunderbolt serves all afternoon at the Family Circle, I realize once again that there are quite a few wo ...  full story

Good for Phil Mickelson!The man turned in a flawless performance at the Masters, making the impossible look easy and the routine look reflexive. Congratulations, Mr. Mickelson for a fine performance, indeed.It occurs to me that I need to forget about ...  full story

Wow! What a change!After all of these long and frigid winter months it’s nice to see flowers in bloom, brilliant emerald grass, hardy weeds strangling those delicate bulbs you so carefully planted and fought squirrels away from last year, and the all ...  full story

Is it just me or are scam artists getting a lot more creative these days?Every day I run across yet another scheme to separate many desperate fools from their money. At first it’s amusing, then it’s sad, then it’s scary.You have to be somewhat amused ...  full story

Hi, there. I just want you all to know that I love you, each and every one of you. You are all like bits of sunshine and flowers and rainbows. You’re all so … beautiful!That’s because at the ripe middle age of 45, I just had my wisdom teeth out, and ...  full story

Yikes! It’s time for another family reunion. Among other things, this will mean numerous fruitless attempts to recognize children of people I haven’t seen in awhile.I’m starting to understand why my mother tends to call my brother and me several diff ...  full story

I remember my first time. It was just like yesterday.No, more like Thursday, actually.  That’s when it finally happened.It’s one of those things that gets built up in a man’s head for so long that eventually, he wonders if it is ever going to ha ...  full story

Whoever said money couldn’t buy happiness either never had it or just took it too seriously. With enough money, you can, in fact, buy a lot of happiness, or rather, peace of mind, which is a very clearly marked and well-paved route to happiness. You ...  full story

The story you are about to read is true. In fact, I’m astonished I’m still around to write about it. It’s funny how a passing decade turns a nightmare into a fond memory. Sort of…Mike cranked into a high octane riff, that Marshall JCM 800 stack screa ...  full story

One almost never sees a snowman standing next to a palm tree. So I am glad to report that I have, in fact, witnessed such a phenomenon. Even took a picture of it.Now that the snow is gone, however, I’m ready for this winter to be done. Global warming ...  full story

There’s something telling about a person who watches the Super Bowl largely for the commercials rather than the game. It’s probably not very flattering, though, so I’m not going to admit to that right here.Nonetheless, it is astounding how one sixty- ...  full story

As Dirty Harry once said, “Man’s got to know his limitations.”Mine appear to be plumbing and electrical work. And carpentry. And tile. And…No, that’s not quite true. I’ve managed to hang four ceiling fans and the front porch light without burning dow ...  full story

By the time you finish reading this, you may very well want to check into the nearest padded hotel, if not murder me in my sleep.It’s time once again to exorcize a few demons and the only way to do that is to write about them. Then I can go to sleep, ...  full story

Sitting in a battered, ancient blue shoebox rests a packet of letters, cards and notes from years I tend to relegate, like the box itself, to some corner shelf in some basement closet of my mind.Periodically, I run across that box, maybe during a spr ...  full story

• Santee Cooper approves 2010 bond sale
• Santee Cooper President and CEO Lonnie Carter assumes APPA chairmanship
• Santee Cooper hosts annual dinner
• Santee Cooper’s GOFER celebrates 20 years
• Well-placed trees can lead to energy savings
• 8 Ways to Turn Yourself Into a Green Gourmet
• Home Show 2010 to run on Santee Cooper Green Power
• EPA seeks applications for environmental community grants

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