Bad drivers from Maryland and other places

Almost late for an orthopedist’s appointment Thursday because of a train of cars jammed up behind an extremely slow maroon Chevy SUV in the lead.

The driver of the SUV would slow suddenly to as low as 10 mph on some of the turns on Bent Mountain and the accordion effect of cars trying to avoid hitting the rolling road block came dangerously slow to more than one rear-end collision.

By the time we got to where U.S. 221 turned into four-lanes, the line of cars swished by the SUV in quick succession. When we got close, I saw the reason: Maryland plates. The driver gripped the steering wheel in abject fear and stared straight ahead.

During our 23 years in Washington, we learned to fear Maryland drivers. They would drive 20 miles per hour below the speed limit in the passing lanes of the Beltway or whip in and our traffic without signaling their intent. They seldom signaled for turns. There were the butt of jokes in The Washington Post and generally considered the worst drivers in the National Capital Region.

In our four years back here, I’ve lost track of the times we have inched down Bent Mountain on the way to Roanoke or along Rte. 8 between Floyd and Christiansburg because the winding roads appeared to terrify drivers with Maryland plates on their cars.

To be fair, not all bad drivers we encounter are from Maryland. A young girl in a Honda with Virginia plates blew through a stop sign between Floyd and Check Thursday, She was so busy on yapping on her cellphone that she didn’t even look to see if traffic was coming. I had to hit the brakes hard to avoid turning her Honda into a hood ornament on our Jeep Liberty.

She was so preoccupied with her cell phone conversation that her car swerved over the center line several times in the face of oncoming traffic and her speed varied from 35 to 50 mph.

May 30, 20083 CommentsRead More

Pain? Maybe a little bit

"OK," the orthopedist said. "You may experience some pain."

Of course there would be some pain. Pain, I was once told, is only the beginning. So pumping cortisone directly into a bone spur in my right shoulder is expected to hurt.

It didn’t hurt all that much. I’ve had worse.

"You must be used to pain," he said.

The bone spur rips its way through the rotator cuff muscles in my shoulder and the cortisone might break it up and allow me to avoid shoulder surgery for the time being, although the orthopedist says the day will come when avoiding surgery is not an option.

Until then, I will try to let the steroid reduce the spur and will also avoid raising my arm above the shoulder.

We’ll keep working on it.

May 29, 2008Comments OffRead More

Reflecting on those who serve

I’ve covered many stories centered around the two national holidays that honor the men and women who serve our country in war and peace.

This story was first written in 2000 while covering Veteran’s Day ceremonies in Washington. It seems appropriate for Memorial Day eight years later:

Veterans Day on the National Mall in Washington and I was shooting an assignment at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.

The shiny black surface of the memorial is highly reflective and I captured many photos of visitors as they paid tribute to those who fell in the war.

Then I noticed a young girl searching the wall for a name. She moved methodically from panel to panel, running her fingers along the names.

Then she stopped and stared at one name. She stood silently for a while, then reached into her pocket, pulled out a flower and pressed it to the wall just above the name.

I raised my camera and fired one shot. It was all I needed.

May 26, 2008Comments OffRead More

When anger replaces reason and hate replaces debate

Jon Ratner, owner of the popular Floyd County in View web site, took his communiy forum and other pages down this week and replaced them with a one-page apology that reads, in part:

Once I realized there were comments on this forum that were not political or issues for debate, and were specific about private individuals and businesses, I removed the forum from the website.

Other commentary based on input from residents and concerned individuals was not written to disparage nor attack any, but was included to provide general and alternative information in response.

Any statements made in the forum did not issue from nor represent the opinions of either Floyd County In View nor me.

The comment forum has been permanently removed as it is not possible for me to moderate it in a manner which has become obvious that it requires. The entries were like spam that we cannot control nor keep from our own email inboxes in that entries were made that were not solicited nor warranted.

The hopes for creating that forum was to provide the Floyd public an opportunity to express their views and opinions in a location and manner where other Floyd residents could be aware of them and then respond or reply to them in the spirit of public debate.

The purpose of this website for nearly 10 years has been  both as a public forum and as a  community service to and for the  people of Floyd County where information and news and public expression might have their free and open venue. Again, I am very sorry for any hurt these messages may have caused.

It’s a shame Jon felt the need to shut down his comment forum but his move is understandable. We recently had to change the comments sections of Blue Ridge Muse from an unmoderated to a moderated forum because too many people with too many private agendas tried to take over the discussions and fill them with hate, false information, invective and diversion.

Running a community news web site is like dancing barefoot on barbed wire. No matter how hard you try to avoid it, you will get end up bloodied. Unfortunately, we live in a fractous society where anger replaces reason and hate replaces debate. The Internet makes it too easy for people with false agendas, fake names and free email addresses to misrepresent themselves and the truth.

We hope Jon gets Floyd County in View back up and running soon. It was, and should remain, a valuable community resource.

May 25, 2008Comments OffRead More