outskirts: life and times in charlottesville

Nothing quite like starting the day by running 10 miles. As I said, I had only done two runs over 6 miles this year (last Sunday and Wednesday), and they were both rather slow. I’m feeling in pretty good shape, but not ready for 10 miles.

My fingers (and the rest of my parts) are already getting tired now that I’m on the couch at home, so I’ll cut this short for now.

Last year I was a few seconds over 75 minutes. This year I beat that by just a bit….74 minutes and 39 seconds.

More to follow once I’ve laid motionless for a day or two There will even be some pictures of me running like a fool past the C-Ville courthouse, and blood shooting out of my toe after the race!

Tomorrow morning I’ll be getting up far earlier than humans are supposed to, just so I can go out and run 10 miles with a few thousand other people.

Something is clearly wrong with me.

I’ll be sure to let all you loyal readers know how it goes. I’m hoping for 76 minutes…but just don’t feel in great shape this year, and I’ve only done two casual jogs over 6 miles so far this year (and those were both in the past week).

The week started off with a few packages shutting down local elementary and middle schools, and yesterday a few young students got arrested. As The Hook points out…didn’t this just happen last year?

The fun part of the story is the anarchy symbol that was taped up for the incident. Are the super intelligent C-Ville students predicting the plague that will soon hit the village (locals have been saying “It isn’t IF the plague will hit, it is WHEN it will hit…be prepared” lately) in which anarchy will be the result. Maybe this is the symbol the students meant to leave on their fake pipe bombs. Would the police be charging them with a different crime? Perhaps something more God-almighty religious in nature….terror will reign down from the sky? Or perhaps the students get to go to the zoo and see some monkeys. Is it all a big misunderstanding? I guess we’ll have to wait until the future to find out. I’m sure Bruce Willis will help us understand the situation.

La Cucina has shut down. A pity. It will now sit empty for years and years as we wait for a developer to get approval to put a nine story building on that spot.

Cozy Italian trattoria. Serving exemplory regional dishes at affordable prices. Venture off the mall to try our homemade sausage and tiramisu. Mangiamo!

Anyone willing to bet the new building won’t go up until 2015 or later? Yet another languishing location on the “historic” downtown “pedestrian” mall. Note: Anything in quotes is indicative of C-Ville craptitude.

I always hear that the students here in the village are smarter than any other place in the United States, and it appears to be true! Police had to disrupt packages (there has to be a joke in there somewhere) in front of the elementary and middle school here in town.

Schools got closed. Water cannons got used. Apparently some poker got played in the process. Were students behind this brilliant scheme for getting out of class? Based on what parent say around here, I would have to say yes. Go students, build packages.

Looks like Webb (the non-macaca guy who pulled a massive upset) gave his aide a gun the other day. It is always good to carry weapons here in Virginia. A cigarette is a great example…proven carcinogen. Gun…not as deadly.

A few shots from around the bus station (since I can’t actually get IN the bus station, and don’t feel like sitting on a bench with smokers).

Drop by my Flickr page for more photos.

The new and improved bus station has opened up today, so you can ride around on CTS for free (all nine people that use it). A pity you can’t go inside quite yet. A pity they couldn’t build a nice one that was suggested years ago. A pity the bathrooms cost an estimated 1 million dollars each.

Water Street is still closed. Construction is still rampant. The upper level is still surrounded by barricades. But if you want to sit on a bench that is protected from rain, life if good. And feel free to jump on a bus…or just walk…it usually takes less time to get to where you want to be.

Pictures later today…

Is this the third robbery in Belmont in the past month? “I’ll kill you if you call the police.” I guess the police got called.

I hope the robber doesn’t use the ‘dismember and burn to ashes on your home barbecue’ approach that this guy used. Ouch.

Monday is supposed to be the grand opening of the new downtown bus station. Will the bus service shut down for the day to celebrate? I remember shut down one day about two years ago when someone passed away.

I really wonder if it makes any sense to put the main city bus station on a small road, but very little that this village does is logical - so why change now?

Will this road really open on Monday?