Crawled into my Jeep Wrangler this morning to find a "12" staring back at me from the Virginia Vehicle Inspection Sticker. The inspection expired at midnight tonight.

Time to check out the new owners of our local Jeep dealer, which is now called "Harveys Chrysler-Dodge-Jeep."  No problem. They took the Wrangler right away. I knew a right rear tire was getting thin of tread and told them to replace it with the spare hanging on the rear deck.  Turns out the front brake pads were also thin so they needed to be replaced as well.

So I walked down the hill to meet Bernie Coveney for breakfast at Blue Ridge Restaurant. An hour later, the Wrangler was ready, good to go for another year. Cost? Far less than most dealerships.

Looks like the names may change on the sign but most of the crew at the dealer are the same faces we’ve known for years and the excellent service continues.

Looked up a web page on my Verizon LG Voyager phone today and noticed something different: The page snapped into place with surprising speed. Then I saw the "EV" legend at the top of the screen.

EV-DO is the name of Verizon’s high-speed, broadband service. We had it on our Verizon phones in Washington but the high speed wireless service was not available in this area.

Until now. Verizon turned on a new high speed data switch in Roanoke Thursday and EV-DO service came to Roanoke, the New River Valley and Floyd. Both my Voyager and Blackberry now benefit from the faster service. Email loads quickly and web pages pop up quickly.

EV-DO runs at data speeds from about 640kps to 1.4mbs — about the same speed as basic DSL service. I’ll have to check with Citizens to see if this means their wireless phones can utilize the new speeds. Citizens’ wireless service is actually rebranded from Verizon but the company does not yet offer the smartphones and wireless data devices that can benefit from the higher speeds (although Citizens does market its own high-speed wireless service in Christiansburg and Blacksburg but not — alas — its home county of Floyd).

The marquee sign for Blue Ridge Muse went up Wednesday — the first one signifying the various businesses in The Village Green.  Others are slated for installation Thursday.

Owners of the Village Green concept too often faced a recalcitrant — and some might say backward thinking — Floyd Town Council reluctant to approve the designs for the project. Some council members say they fear the town will become a tourist destination (my God…imagine that). After much haggling, approval finally came but progress seldom comes easy as each step forward appears to require two steps back.

Slow in Floyd today. A few people wander in to Cafe del Sol for coffee as I write this but, for the most part, the streets downtown are deserted. At the Floyd Country Store, owners Woody and Jackie Crenshaw gave the employees the day off and are manning the shop themselves. At lunchtime, a steady crowd came through.

Didn’t expect much activity on the day after Christmas. For many, this is just another work day. Schools remain closed for the week but most working stiffs are back on the job.

At the malls in Roanoke and Christiansburg, retailers hope for a strong post-Christmas shopping spree to make up for the lackluster sales before Dec. 25.

It many ways, it seems like the entire area, if not the nation, is holding its breath.

This photo, from Floyd’s Dickens of a Night celebration two years ago, combines the illusion and reality of the season.

From Amy and I, our best wishes for a Merry Christmas and a happy holiday.