The Bridgeport WV weather has been promoted ahead of the Reston VA forecast in the sidebar.
tbbs-land will be ready when I begin typing this drollery from Almost Heaven.
Though the heavenward direction starts with my seeing Northern Virginia recede in my rear view mirror.
A beautiful sight, to be topped only by Wild, Wonderful West Virginia.
Start your engines!
-k-
The first Search For America Tour for 2008 has reached its conclusion. My little bride and I arrived home, happy but tired, yesterday afternoon. We quickly scooped our gear out of our rental Cadillac STS, and headed to the airport to return our beautiful Capitalistic Rental Car. It was an awesome ride, V8 powered so it had some balls, but got an incredible 27 mpg highway.
The biggest mistake I made was choosing the “bring it back empty” fuel option, for a princely $71.00. It cost us $55 at our most costly fill-up, and we left about 100 miles of petrol still in the tank. The bring it back empty option results in some sphincter-tightening moments when you see the LOW FUEL light, and fervently hope that
So next time, we’ll stop by the overpriced Exxon station right by the Avis return.
And, as if to welcome us back home, a Ford Excursion showed considerable reluctance to let us merge onto the Dulles Toll Road on the trip back from the airport. My little bride was driving, and gave the Ford driver a gesture expressing her undying gratitude for his behind-the-wheel courtesy. I trust no diagrams are needed to convey the essence of the gesture.
But the Ford driver actually did us a favor; his self-centered rudeness proved that we are back where we came from, and not with the friendly Midwesterners with whom we spent the last several days.
-k-
Man, what a round of storms we had here yesterday. I think it even made the national news. 70+ tornado warnings, 4 or 5 on the ground, torrential rain, large hail, and intense straight-line winds. I’d never seen anything like this here, and only rarely back in Kansas.
One death, caused by a tree and power lines falling on a vehicle. The passenger in the SUV was killed. It seems that almost any storm with strong wind, tornadic or not, causes at least one such fatality every year. Some places around here have large numbers of huge trees along the roads, and with all the concrete in roads, sidewalks, and the like, maybe the trees aren’t as deeply rooted as they would be otherwise.
Outside tbbs World HQ, there are a few trees down, some limbs of varying sizes scattered about, but that’s about it, damage-wise.
Immediately after the storm, there was north of 260,000 power outages in the area. That number has decreased throughout the day today; it will still be Saturday before everyone is back on the power grid. We were fortunate in our little place; not even a flicker of the lights.
As easy as it is to say with all one’s utilities functioning, those without must be patient. I can appreciate their frustration, but it is in the power companies’ best interest to get them back on the grid, and start those meters whirling again. And they are working on it.
With temperatures climbing into the 90′s, and humidity racing to hit that number, I salute the linemen from the PowerCos of Northern Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, as they work their 12-hour shifts to restore service. They are earning every nickel.
More info here.
-k-
I just got back from some banking1 and beer-cooler stocking errands. There’s a 7-11 Express around the corner that stocks our everyday beer of choice2; this store is located in a strip mall3 that is also home to a Home Depot. On arrival at the 7-11, I was greeted with what I thought was a primo parking spot right in front of the store.
The operative word here is thought. The empty parking spot was occupied by an abandoned cart from the Home Depot; I can only surmise it was left there by an arrogant, selfish, type-A yuppie douchebag, whose time was far too valuable to take the cart back to the HD, a mere 25 yards away. The inconvenience to their fellow citizens of such loutish behavior is lost on these types.
This is only one more example of life in this Yuppie Hell called Northern Virginia.
Man, I wish I lived somewhere else.
-k
[stags]NorthernVirginia[/stags]
I see by the WordPress Dashboard, that WP 2.2.3 is out. The upgrade will commence shortly. I’m gonna script the upgrade this time, to cut down on the hand-to-server combat that previous upgrades have entailed.
See y’all on the other side!
-k-
[tags]wordpress[/tags]
SWMBO and I are safely ensconced back at tbbs World HQ, following the drive from Conway SC back to Northern Virginia. The trip was routine, except for a real “flat rock” rain that happened just north of Richmond. A little time in a nearby Walgreen’s parking lot, along with the munching of a few Cheetos while the rain subsided, and we were rolling again.
We’re tired, but happy. And our faithful cat was delighted to see us again. The feeling was mutual.
-k-
Back home, and catching up on news, I see that there were several fireworks accidents here in NoVA last night.
The one that will get the most press is the one on the National Mall; second will be the one in Vienna VA, where SWMBO and I spent many memorable Fourths, before our gracious host and hostess moved to West Virginia, as detailed here.
I wonder how many draconian regulations will issue from these two accidents, probably from the Federal level1. Just wait until next July 4, when we’ll be treated with computer simulations of fireworks on the JumboTron.
Happy Cyber-Birthday, America.
-k-
[tags]july4[/tags]
1
The West Virginia trip was a 100% authenticated blast. Our host and hostess are about as laid back as we are; we were shown our room, bathroom, location of such things as coffee, etc, and told to make ourselves at home. And we did.
Last night, we had the traditional beer drinking, grilling, bocce ball playing, fireworks watching experience. SWMBO and I left for the trip back to NoVA around noon or so today, and were one turn from our homestead when work butted in intervened. So I got a half-day vacation, my phone assistance to coworkers counting as an official time at bat and all.
We also broke in our new GPS device, to see how it behaved in semi-familiar territory. The digitized female GPS voice has been named Diana. I didn’t heed her U-turn advice where there was no place nor need to execute such a maneuver, but other than that, she did a stand up job.
-k-
But quiet, blog-wise. The home renovation rolls on; it will be great when it’s over, but what a royal PITA on the way there.
Then, I promised SWMBO that she and her best girlfriend could go shopping for “accessories” when the work is done.
The price of home improvement has escalated.
-k-
SWMBO and I got back about 4PM local time, after 2100+ miles, 6 nights, and three states. In the 2 hours we’ve been home, I’ve witnessed more instances of dumbass driving and other general A-type yuppie rudeness than in the entire 2100 miles and six days combined.
I miss the South already. NoVA (Northern Virginia) most assuredly is not South; RoVA(Rest of Virginia)1 is definitely South.
-k-
1 – RoVA may be found South of I-64 here in the Commonwealth.