Letter to the Editor: Why Not Recycle Sand and Salt?
To the Editor: I was pleased to read Mr. Spiegel’s independent invention of recommended Action C1-2 in Chapter IV of the Little Hunting Creek Watershed Management Plan of 2004.
An Unexpected Present
Not that I minded it in the least (in fact, I appreciated it in the most), but I received my first senior discount the other day. I was fast-fooding at my local Roy Rogers restaurant when the unexpected kindness occurred. Considering that I’m not at the age yet when such discounts are typically available, I certainly did not (do not) presume that my appearance somehow reflects an age which I am not. In truth, I don’t believe it does. So even though I didn’t ask for the age-related discount, I was offered/given it nonetheless. As the cashier tallied my bill, she then spoke the price and adjusted it downward 10 percent for my surprise "senior" discount. On hearing the lower price and the reason for it, I immediately responded: "Oh, you’re giving senior discounts to people over 40?" To which she replied, while looking me directly in the eye: "No. Over 30." Laughing at her quick-thinking quip, I thanked her again for the discount and commended her on her excellent answer/customer service.
Commentary: Speak Up for Pollution Restrictions
Virginia is not immune to the dangers of climate change. In recent years, we have seen the damage sea level rise and storm surges have caused in our lowland areas. The science is clear that we must cut carbon to the levels scientists say are safe to address these issues.
Editorial: Pet Photos, Stories for Pet Connection
The Pet Connection, a bi-annual themed edition, will publish Feb. 26. We invite you to send us stories about your pets, photos of you and/or your family with your cats, dogs, hamsters, snakes, lizards, frogs, rabbits, or whatever other creatures share your home or yard with you.
Editorial: For Nonpartisan Redistricting
Virginia is a purple state, gerrymandered to bleed red.
Consider that in statewide elections, Virginia voters have chosen Democrats in the last two presidential elections, for U.S. Senate, for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Almost none of these elections was by a wide margin, but it’s clear that Virginia is a purple state leaning blue.
Editorial: Few Thoughts on General Assembly Action
Yes, allow homeschoolers access to programs in public school.
It’s possible that this is not the right bill exactly, and in general, we favor local control. But it is wrongheaded of public schools to force families into a take-it-or-leave-it position.
Letter: Need Help For Dog Fire Victims
To the Editor
Pet Photos, Stories for Pet Connection
The Pet Connection, a bi-annual themed edition, will publish Feb. 26. We invite you to send us stories about your pets, photos of you and/or your family with your cats, dogs, hamsters, snakes, lizards, frogs, rabbits, or whatever other creatures share your home or yard with you.
Piece of Mind
Today I was eating a Tootsie Roll, and while chewing it, felt something sharp against my gum. Knowing my candy, sharp I should not feel, so immediately I stopped chewing in hopes of locating the sensation; which I did. It turns out that I broke off the top half of a previously (years ago) installed dental crown. Fortunately, the crown was still in my mouth, so I was able to retrieve it. Upon closer examination of it and the now crown-less tooth, it appears that the crown and the tooth are completely intact (undamaged) and perhaps a simple re-cementing at the dentist’s office awaits, a repair achieved much less expensively than replacing the entire crown. (I can hope, can’t I? After all, I am a cancer patient; hope is what I do.)
Confused and then Infused
Since March 6, 2009, nearly five years now, save for nine months when I was taking an oral chemotherapy medication at home, every three weeks I have been infused with some sort of chemotherapy drug. In that time, I have certainly become familiar and fairly well-known to the various staff at The Infusion Center. What follows is the most recent exchange with the receptionist in Oncology, as best as I can recall it.
Letter: Bonuses for All County Employees
To the Editor
Letter: Restore and Destroy?
To the Editor
Letter: Where's School System's Focus?
To the Editor
Editorial: Extend Health Coverage in Virginia
Standing on what is essentially scorched earth, Republicans in the Virginia General Assembly have condemned hundreds of thousands of poor Virginians to living without health coverage even though it would be fully funded by Federal money for the next three years, and with Virginia paying 10 percent after five years.
Friends Forever
Since it had been more than a few months, today I summoned up the courage to Google my long-time friend and fellow stage IV lung cancer survivor, Suzanne. Suzanne and I had been years out of touch (for no real reason other than initiative and the geographic consideration that she lived in Barnstable, Ma. and I live in Burtonsville, Md.) and recently back in touch – due to our identical cancer diagnoses. I learned that she had succumbed to her disease back in October, 2013. We last had contact electronically back in the summer. She was extremely weak then, she said, too weak to talk, so e-mailing was best. In that e-mail, ultimately her last, she wrote that the most recent chemotherapy drug with which she was infused was no longer effective and that her oncologist had no other drugs left to recommend. Not that she said it in so many words, but at that point her prognosis was grim. She offered that her two boys were with her and from them she would gain great comfort. The news was very unsettling to me and I was afraid that this e-mail might be our last – and so it was.