Today’s Number: 4

Though I am away from my home in the Old Free Colony (my nickname for the Virginia-Maryland-District tri-state area), I like to keep tabs on the old homestead every once in a while.

Yes, it was fascinated to hear stories about the earthquake that rattled the nation’s capital and the rest of the East Coast. As a former inhabitant of Southern California, I am glad that I missed that 5.9 tremor because that’s the type of strong quake that’ll make you wish you had built that emergency preparedness kit.

However, moving on, I wanted to write today because of the news I read recently, courtesy of the Cable News Network (known to all other people as CNN) that a small little town near where I live in Loudoun County was ranked as on the Top 100 Best Places to Live 2011 (Small City edition).

Ranked at Number 4 (there’s your number for the day) is Leesburg, Virginia, which just missed out on being the top spot which was taken by Louisville, Colorado.

Congratulations to Leesburg as CNN may rank this town as a great place to live, but as I’ve noted before, don’t volunteer if you do decide to live there.

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What Type of Person Are You : A Quiz

Here’s an easy way to determine what type of person you are.

Read the snippet below from this article…

A Leesburg, Virginia couple was charged April 29, after a Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office investigation revealed the two were conducting unlicensed dentistry from their home.

During the course of a separate investigation by the Loudoun County Sheriff’s Office Gang Intelligence Unit investigators learned of the operation that apparently catered to the Latino community. A search warrant conducted on April 29 at their home…revealed what appeared to be a full-service dental office and examination room in the basement of the home. The area included a receptionist desk, a waiting room, and a dental chair that was situated in a separate room.

If your reaction to reading this was:

a) “Good for the authorities. All law-breakers must be punished” – – you are a law-and-order type.

b) “How horrible that because it was a Latino couple, the authorities assumed they needed the Gang Intelligence Unit” – – you are a politically correct, diversity-loving person.

c) “I wonder what type of out-of-date magazine they had in their faux-waiting room?” – – you are a comedian.

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An Education in Irony

I have been humored this week to hear that my first-grade daughter, Ophelia, has been watching episodes of Bill Nye The Science Guy in class to learn about science.

The irony, to me, is that – according to Loudoun County Public Schools – this week had been designated as “Screen Free Week“, the time to get kids to turn off all screens (computers, iPods, televisions, etc.).

I guess the schools don’t count.

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Connect the Dots

Honest to goodness and cross my heart and hope to die, these were the two side-by-side headlines from the front page of my latest (April 6) edition of the Loudoun Times-Mirror:

Tax Rate Cut for 2012 Budget

and

Schools Face $7.7 million in Budget Cuts

Hmmm…Property taxes go down and the schools face budget cuts.

I do so love living in a country that fully expects to have its cake and eat it also.

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Where is this Hotline to The Washington Post?

Dear Blog-O-Sphere Inhabitants,

I’m a parent.

I’m a parent with three children who all attend public schools in the Loudoun County area.

I have concerns as a parent with three children who all attend public schools in the Loudoun County area.

When I have concerns, I often wonder who to call to voice these concerns to.

Apparently, I did not get the memo that The Washington Post has established a hotline that parents can call when they have issues and concerns and then can see their issues in subsequent editions of the paper.

Think I’m kidding…Here are stories just from the last 30 days or so.

A parent in Prince George’s County (Maryland) is annoyed at receiving a robocall at 4:00am informing him that his children’s school has been closed for the day. He gets his story published.

A parent in Arlington County (Virginia) is upset her child is suspended from a Montessori school because her 3-year-old was not sufficiently potty-trained. She gets her story published.

A parent in Anne Arundel County (Maryland) is upset that his children were placed on the wrong bus. He gets his story published.

I’m not too pleased at times at how my children’s school is being run.

Will someone please let me know what special number the Post is handing out to disgruntled parents.

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Nolan M.

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Old Dominion Election News

Months away from November and the news is a’flying with announcements regarding who’s in and who’s out on the ballot.

Starting off with the news that a rematch of the 2006 Virginia Senate election could be in the offing as Republican George Allen has announced that he is a candidate for the seat he lost to Jim Webb, the Democrat who currently holds one of the two Senate seats from the Old Dominion.

For his part in this play, Senator Webb has stated that he will make a go/no-go decision by the end of March.

+++++++++++
February 10, 2011 Update
Senator Webb announces he will be retiring and will not seek re-election.

We now return you to your regularly scheduling blogging.
+++++++++++

As a Virginian for the past twelve years, I am curious to see if anyone else locally of the GOP persuasion steps in to challenge Allen.

Zooming in to my local area, comes the news that Stevens Miller has announced that he will not seek re-election to the Loudoun County Board of Supervisors. Miller’s decision makes him the fourth Supervisor, along with Lori Waters, Susan Klimek Buckley, and Sally Kurtz to announce they will not try for their current position come the November elections of this year.

This election promises to be quite interesting since all nine positions on the Board are up for election and, just to make things even spicier, it’s time for the decennial task of redrwaing the election districts.

Grab the popcorn…these elections promise fun.

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Among the Obscenely Rich

I have attained a lifelong dream of living in an obscenely rich neighborhood.

According to Forbes magazine, the county where I live, Loudoun County, is the richest in America with the highest median income ($110,643 for those of you keeping score of such things).

In addition, another website artice proclaims that Ashburn, Virginia, (which is located within the confines of the already mentioned affluent Loudoun County) is the most obscene city in America.

I swear it’s true.

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And S(n)o(w) It Begins…

With less than a week to go until the official start of winter, we here in the Old Dominion are going through our first snowfall for the 2010-2011 season.

First Snow for Loudoun County

Now I grant you that our area’s first dusting of the white stuff is nowhere near the Snowmegeddon amounts we received last season, but is enough to coat the roads and other assorted items.

Just a bit of a dusting

So now it is time to bring out some old friends.

Please welcome your Snow Day Opening Roster

And now please excuse me as I have a snowball fight engagement with with my children.

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What I’m Thankful For

As the family and I were away last week (courtesy of the week off provided by the Loudoun County School Board and its two-day furlough of teachers and other assorted school-related workers along with the traditional three days off for the day before, the day of, and the day after Thanksgiving), I was going to take this blog space and gripe about all the things that went wrong on our 5-day cruise around the Western Caribbean aboard the Carnival Destiny including:

• having to miss our port of call in Ocho Rios, Jamacia due to high swells;
• the lack of quick service during the breakfast dining time;
• the odd arrangement of activities for the children (really…a Harry Potter quiz for the 6-year olds?);
• and the poor scheduling of the nighttime activities (really…the big time song-and-dance shows had to be on the same night as the headlining comedians?), but then….

…I realized the following…

I am truly blessed that:

• The family and I were all healthy enough to take such a trip;
• The wife and I are gainfully employed enough to afford such a trip;
• and I live in a country that is not nearly completely economically dependent on cruise ship traffic

So, all in all, I will gratefully hold my tongue, close my eyes, bow my head, and give thanks.

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My Son the Pedantic

I have written before about my middle child, Jared, comparing him to Cordelia, the youngest daughter in William Shakespeare’s King Lear and in comparing him to a kamikazee. I now offer my third installment about my 10-year old boy and his pedantic nature.

Last year, in third grade, Jared learned about the Greeks, Spartans, and Romans. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing because every time we drive by one of our local high schools, Broad Run High School, he comments on how the logo of their mascot, a Spartan, is not correct. He keeps complaining that the helmet on the Broad Run logo is in a Roman style, and not that of a Spartan. So, I did some research…

Logo of the Broad Run HS Spartans

This is the logo for the Broad Run High School. Notice that while there is a plume on the top, there is nothing of the helmet that falls in front of the face. Looking at one of the more famous logos of a team that is a Spartan…

Logo of Michigan State Spartans

…the logo for the Michigan State Spartans shows a helmet that also has a plume, but there is some feature of the helmet that drops in front of the wearer’s face. I hopped around Google to find other examples of Spartan versus Roman helmets and found that…

Spartan Helment - Nose Guard

Roman Helmet - No Nose Guard

…my boy is right. Helmets of Spartans seem to sport some sort of feature that guards part or all of the face (and most notably the nose). Roman helmets do not have this feature. Now all Jared has to do is to petition the School Board to change the logo.

It’s no wonder where this tendency of his comes from as I have been known to quibble over what the name of the federal holiday that falls in February is called.

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