Michigan Accent » Virginia

no txt’ing and driving

bcp — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:39:16 +0000

Starting today, our great Commonwealth is putting a halt to texting while driving. Those of you that I’ve seen eating fast food, reading books, changing radio stations, putting on make-up, spanking your kids in the back seat, taking pictures, reading the newspaper with both hands, fighting with your GPS, searching for songs on your MP3 player, and picking your nose while driving, rest assured you can continue doing so legally.

VDOT not to blame

bcp — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 01:59:57 +0000

Last summer I wrote a rather direct post about Virginia’s Department of Transportation (VDOT) displaying Ozone Alert messages on traffic signs along the highway. As a result of those messages, traffic is invariably congested (to put it mildly) as people try to figure out how to read and drive at the same time.

I recently learned, however, that VDOT is not to blame. As it turns out, they are legally required to broadcast the Ozone Alert messages. (They do, however, choose to broadcast Amber Alerts, which I fully appreciate.) I was also pleased to know that VDOT is aware of the traffic issues caused by messages displayed on the traffic signs (“everyone … slows down substantially to read it”).

I’m assuming it’s a state law, but I haven’t yet been able to track it down. (Ir)regardless, I owe VDOT an apology. My frustrations were misplaced, and I will no longer curse VDOT for their sign usage as I’m stuck in traffic on Ozone Alert days.

waving wipers

bcp — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 02:02:09 +0000

There was snow in the forecast for today. True to form, all school districts were closed before the first flake formed. We got an inch or two during the day, so clearly the closures were justified.

While I enjoy giving the VA natives a hard time about the snow paranoia, there is one custom I have yet to understand. For some reason people extend the windshield wipers on their cars whenever snow is predicted. It’s quite humorous to see commuter lots full of cars with their windshield wipers sticking straight up in the air.

I’m assuming the thought is that it will keep the wipers from being frozen to the windshield. However, the windshield still gets frozen over and allows the wipers to become coated with snow and/or freezing rain on all sides. Surely there’s a logical explanation. Perhaps one day all of us MI transplants here will get to the bottom of the waving wiper strategy.

slithering surprise

bcp — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 17:12:16 +0000

I need help identifying some wildlife here in VA. I was letting Moby out the other night when I almost stepped on a snake by the doormat. The sliding door where we let the dog out is in our basement, and is at the bottom of a set of cement stairs coming down from the back yard. In other words, the snake was surrounded by cement on three sides and the door to our house on the fourth. There was no good option for encouraging it up the stairs. By my measurements, it was a good 12-13″ in diameter. Did I say diameter? I meant length.

I have a bad case of Ophidiophobia, to be sure. For the next hour, I procrastinated by making a couple desparation phone calls for assistance, and assessing the best method for removing the threat. At Rachel’s suggestion, I put on some snow boots (to protect me feet and ankles, of course) and headed out with a garden hoe.

It was not at all an enjoyable experience, and it’s taken me a good week to want to go back and look at the pictures. Now I really want to know what type of snake it was. Can anyone help me out?