As is the case almost every day during the summer…a large chunk of the downtown region of the village lost power for about 25 minutes this evening. My guess is that the person who watches the local mule let it out of the power-generating mule-walking machine.
I ventured out to investigate the situation. Traffic lights were devoid of light, so no one was bothering to stop or even slow down at intersections. Three big Dominion Power trucks rolled by, and about five minutes after that the power reappeared. Maybe they had the spare mule.
“Traffic lights were devoid of light, so no one was bothering to stop or even slow down at intersections. ”
People were being very courteous at the intersection of Ridge/McIntyre and West Main both when we drove through and then walked by about 15 minutes later on our way downtown. I imagine getting on 250 was a different story, though.
In our wandering around, I noticed that Fellini’s didn’t lost power, while the traffic light right near them did. Hm.
I drove across town while the traffic lights were out and I had no trouble at all. People self regulated and were pretty courteous. I think the fear of an accident actually made people pay more attention than they usually do. Maybe they should just shut off all the lights all the time!
Your comment about the mule brings to mind the first power generating station in the village. It was before my time but I heard this story. The diesel generator was across the tracks from what was the C and O station. It had a 900 pound flywheel that flew apart one day. A chunk weighing about 300 pounds went through the metal roof of the shed the generator was in and crashed onto East Main Street about where the Monument to Juvenile Graffiti is now located. Nobody was hurt but the power station was moved out of town to the other side of the river where it still stands today, abandoned and neglected next to the railroad tracks.
OK Kevin, the flywheel sounds like an urban legend from here in town, but it is hilarious! It is so funny, I have a feeling it’s true
HA! You said “urban legend”! Not “village” but
“urban”! You could have said “folklore” but you used
“urban legend” instead. There’s nothing urban about a
village, including the local legends. A village simply
can’t have a legend that’s urban. You have
inadvertently acknowleged the true metropolitan,
sophisticated nature of our small city that you insist
on derisively calling “the village”. The truth is out!
It is clear that you know that Charlottesville is
urban and just as wonderful as New York or Paris.
ew – or perhaps it was simply a faux pas of the mouth – I have lived in C’ville – I would not classify it as ‘wonderful’ – the same goes for NYC or Paris – pseudo sophisticated snobs – but then you are certainly entitled to your opinion.
Ouch!
Palestar, my comment was supposed to be a joke, actually. I don’t think Charlottesville is wonderful. It’s okay but not wonderful. It is also kind of a pretend city that’s getting phonier and more contrived every day. It’s also rapidly getting too expensive for me to consider staying here after I retire. I wouldn’t mind staying but I’ll be happy to sell my house for an inflated price to someone who wants to live near the hysterical, I mean Historical Downtown Mall and go live somewhere else. Farmville looks nice.
I know – hence the
– it is too bad that places with potential get the idiots like ‘Crapshaw’ who overbuy and destroy – in Santa Fe we have a dude named Seret – owns half of Santa Fe. I do NOT own a home here – way out of my budget – I have been looking for a place to re-locate – but – hard with Lex Luther and his minions in DC – it affects us all – uh – oh – way of topic – we are. Sorry – where is Farmville??? Is there a Farmville or are you pulling my leg? 
There is a Farmville in Virginia. It’s about 60 miles south of Charlottesville and is a small town and “urban” center for the surrounding counties with about 6,000people living in the town. Longwood University and Hampden-Sydney College are there. It also is home to a mammoth discount furniture store, Green Front. I don’t think they have HDTV but they do have a TV station. I think Doc would probably hate Farmville even more than he hates The Village. Real estate isn’t overpriced there and so I am thinking of moving there with the cash I’ll get from selling my very overvalued house here. http://www.dailyprogress.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=CDP/MGArticle/CDP_BasicArticle&c=MGArticle&cid=1149188992366&path=
I live in Farmville, Va and belive me it’s just full of bells and whistles and a lot of college jerks who think they own this town! Now if you want to live out in the country part of it than it’s worth your time and effort of moving here.