Sunday, December 26, 2010

Will It Start In The Morning?

When you think you have it bad it doesn't take much looking to see that some of the worst days of our lives are merely everyday occurrences to a lot of people.

When I started looking at these pictures it was hard for me to stop so below is a collage of various vehicles stuck in a little snow.

Which one do you think will start in the morning?



^^^I can tell you with 100% certainty that this one ^^^^ will not start in the morning.^^^ 















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Not Even ONE Deputy On Duty??

As I was making my rounds today helping people out and enjoying the drive in the snow I came across a vehicle that was blocking a side road and not one soul was around.

Well I don't know about anyone else but when I find a vehicle that has been abandon right smack-dab in the middle of a roadway I wonder, did this vehicle breakdown and the occupants try to walk somewhere in this weather? If they did, did they make it to their destination?

Being where this vehicle was abandon and the conditions I called the Somerset County Sheriffs Department and guess what? The SCSO dispatch said that they had NO ONE ON DUTY. HUH?? That's right the SCSO had not one officer on duty while under the state of emergency.

This is not hearsay or second hand information, this came directly from the SCSO dispatcher on duty.I was told to call the MSP for assistance.

Snow Storm of 12/26/2010

While I was out and about today my son snapped a few pictures of the whiteout conditions that occurred at different times and places during my travels.

 If you notice in the picture below you can barely see the hood of my truck





















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By 3:00 PM 11 Inches of Snow Or More Have Fallen


BELLE HAVEN -- Unofficial totals show 11 inches of snow have fallen in the mid-Va. Shore area by 3 p.m. Sunday.


As much as 14 inches are expected.


The winter storm warning for Northampton and Accomack counties expires at 5 a.m. Monday.

www.delmarvanow.com

Blizzard conditions have just been announced. Please use good judgement and good sense and stay where you are. The police and emergency people are having a rough time out in this weather. Don't jeopardise your life or theirs!

Heavy Snowing To Continue


The heavy snow that started early Sunday morning continues to fall as it begins to pile up.


As of noon, almost 6 inches had fallen and we may see as much as 4 to6 inches more before it all ends overnight.


VDOT is working the main roads including Rt. 13, The Chincoteague Road and the roads leading into the main towns on the Eastern Shore.


The back roads however are unplowed and increasing winds this afternoon and evening as the low pressure moves past could result in serious drifting before morning.


Therefore Winter Storm Warnings remain in effect until 5 AM Monday. Church services were cancelled both Sunday and Sunday evening as motorists were advised to stay off the roads as much as possible.

The Dialysis Center in Nassawadox has closed for the day and they're advising their patients to call Monday morning at 7:30 for a treatment time. They're also asking individuals with big trucks willint to transport patients to and from the Dialysis center to call 442-4966.

Closings for Monday include Mosher Physical, both offices, Accomack Convenience Centers closed til noon, and Cardiac Rehab in Onley and Nassawadox, closed.

Saturday, December 25, 2010


Issued by The National Weather Service
Wakefield, VA
7:22 pm EST, Sat., Dec. 25, 2010

... WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 5 AM SUNDAY TO 5 AM EST MONDAY...

A WINTER STORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 5 AM SUNDAY TO 5 AM EST MONDAY.

* AREAS AFFECTED: THE EASTERN SHORE OF VIRGINIA... AND THE LOWER MARYLAND EASTERN SHORE.

* PRECIPITATION TYPES: SNOW.

* ACCUMULATION: 8 TO 12 INCHES OF SNOW IS EXPECTED ACROSS THE WARNED AREA.

* TIMING: ACCUMULATING SNOW IS EXPECTED... MAINLY SUNDAY AND SUNDAY NIGHT. THE HEAVIEST SNOW IS EXPECTED SUNDAY... FROM LATE MORNING THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS.

* IMPACTS: HAZARDOUS TRAVEL CONDITIONS.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A WINTER STORM WARNING FOR HEAVY SNOW MEANS SEVERE WINTER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED OR OCCURRING. SIGNIFICANT AMOUNTS OF SNOW ARE FORECAST THAT WILL MAKE TRAVEL DANGEROUS. ONLY TRAVEL IN AN EMERGENCY. IF YOU MUST TRAVEL... KEEP AN EXTRA FLASHLIGHT... FOOD... AND WATER IN YOUR VEHICLE IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY.

MERRY CHRISTMAS

From all us here at The PPE we wish you a very Merry Christmas
 CLICK HERE>>> For our Christmas greetings to all our readers. 
Merry Christmas

Friday, December 24, 2010

(UPDATE) 'He's Here' Track Santa VIA: NORAD

Update; Santa is here and working, check out the new screen-shot (the first below) Next stop; Baltimore Md. yippee



It's becoming to be that time of evening, fresh cookies and milk waiting for the jolly'ol feller and the little ones all snuggled in yet looking and listening for the pitter-patter of Santa's Reindeer on the rooftop hoping to sneak a peak of Saint Nick and restless while looking forward to an early morning with gifts abound.

So for the all the little ones that do happen to be awake, and for the big kids like myself lets do a little Santa tracking.

Follow THIS LINK>> to track Santa's whereabouts, see just when the Jolly'ol feller finds his way right to your house.

(Update) The Last Day Before Christmas, Christmas Is Canceled

ut-oh looks like we might have a bit of a problem

ATTENTION ALL DRIVERS!! IMPORTANT LAW CHANGE -EFFECTIVE JANUARY 1, 2011

Don't get caught by the speed traps




If you receive a traffic citation in Maryland, a new law has changed what you are required to do in response to that citation.  The new law requires that you must:

1- Request a trial date at the date, time and place established by the District Court; or

2-Request a hearing regarding sentencing and disposition in lieu of a trial, (meaning you do not dispute the truth of the facts as alleged in the citation, but you wish to be heard regarding sentencing); or

3- Pay the full amount of the preset fine.

The law requires that you make one of these three choices and notify the District Court within 30 days of receiving the traffic citation.  (Instructions are printed on your copy of the citation.)  If not, the MD Motor Vehicle Administration will be notified and may take action to suspend your driver’s license.  

The law does not apply to traffic citations for ‘must appear’ offenses.  The Court will automatically notify you of a trial date. 
For further information, visit www.mdcourts.gov/district or call 1-800-492-2656.


NEW MARYLAND TRAFFIC TICKET PROCESS BEGINS JANUARY 1, 2011 

^^^CLICK IMAGE TO ENLARGE^^^


There’s a new law in Maryland starting Jan. 1, 2011. If you get a payable traffic ticket, you must do one of the following within 30 days...

Pay the full fine
  • Pay in person at your local District Court
  • Pay by mail – send to:
    District Court Traffic Processing Center
    P. O. Box 6676
    Annapolis, MD 21401-0676
  • Pay online at www.paymentchek.com/MD/MarylandCourt/
  • Pay by telephone, 1-800-492-2656
OR
Ask for a waiver hearing to plead guilty with an explanation
  • Check the “Request a Waiver Hearing” box on the ticket
  • Sign and date the ticket
  • Mail the ticket to the District Court Traffic Processing Center
OR
Ask for a trial
  • Check the “Request a Trial” box on the ticket
  • Sign and date the ticket
  • Mail the ticket to the District Court Traffic Processing Center 
  •  
     
    If you don’t respond within 30 days, the District Court notifies the Motor Vehicle Administration to begin the driver's license suspension process.
    GO HERE>> FOR MORE INFO  Then click on the links in the traffic light.
    Fact SheetHandwritten TicketElectronic Ticket
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    Merry Christmas!

    Dear Editor: I am 8 years old. Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus. Papa says, "If you see it in The Sun, it's so." Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?

    -- Virginia O'Hanlon

    115 W. Ninety-fifth Street

    New York, N.Y.

    Virginia, your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except (what) they see. They think that nothing can be which is not comprehensible by their little minds. All minds, Virginia, whether they be men's or children's, are little. In this great universe of ours man is a mere insect, an ant, in his intellect, as compared with the boundless world about him, as measured by the intelligence capable of grasping the whole of truth and knowledge.

    Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus. He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy. Alas! how dreary would be the world if there were no Santa Claus. It would be as dreary as if there were no Virginias. There would be no childlike faith then, no poetry, no romance to make tolerable this existence. We should have no enjoyment, except in sense and sight. The eternal light with which childhood fills the world would be extinguished.

    Not believe in Santa Claus! You might as well not believe in fairies! You might get your papa to hire men to watch in all the chimneys on Christmas Eve to catch Santa Claus, but even if they did not see Santa Claus coming down, what would that prove? Nobody sees Santa Claus, but that is no sign that there is no Santa Claus. The most real things in the world are those that neither children nor men can see. Did you ever see fairies dancing on the lawn? Of course not, but that's no proof that they are not there. Nobody can conceive or imagine all the wonders there are unseen and unseeable in the world.

    You may tear apart the baby's rattle and see what makes the noise inside, but there is a veil covering the unseen world which not the strongest man, nor even the united strength of all the strongest men that ever lived, could tear apart. Only faith, fancy, poetry, love, romance, can push aside that curtain and view and picture the supernal beauty and glory beyond. Is it all real? Ah, Virginia, in all this world there is nothing else real and abiding.

    No Santa Claus! Thank God he lives, and he lives forever. A thousand years from now, Virginia, nay, 10 times 10,000 years from now, he will continue to make glad the heart of childhood.

    -- Originally printed on Sept. 21, 1897

    The (New York) Sun

    PARKSLEY -- Becky Bloxom's family is planning a quiet Christmas this year.

    They already received one of the greatest gifts possible -- the chance to celebrate the holiday together -- after a Dec. 13 return to Virginia's Eastern Shore by their older daughter, Courtney, 19, who has been a patient at several hospitals after being seriously injured in a May 23 car accident.

    After Bloxom's husband, William, gets home from his shift at Perdue Farms, the couple and their other two children will open gifts together at their Hallwood home on Christmas morning.

    Then they will take Courtney's presents to Shore LifeCare at Parksley, where she is staying in a room filled with the typical trappings of a teenage girl's life -- her senior portrait and prom pictures, a menagerie of stuffed animals, music coming from a small CD player and a small glittering, rotating Christmas tree.

    It is all crowded in a strange juxtaposition to the medical equipment more commonplace in a nursing home.

    They might watch William's favorite Christmas movie, "A Christmas Story," and maybe have dinner later -- but the details don't matter.

    "It's not important. Just being together, that's what's important," Bloxom said.

    That night

    On the night of May 23, Becky Bloxom had spoken on the telephone with her daughter not long before she received a second call, this one from Courtney's boyfriend.

    It was the phone call no parent wants to get, saying Courtney had been in a bad accident while driving home from her boyfriend's house.

    The Arcadia High School senior, whose activities included cheerleading, chorus and an after-school job at St. Paul's on the Shore day care, had attended Arcadia's prom the week before and was preparing for her high school graduation.

    The only visible signs of injury from the crash were a cut on her pinkie and a black eye, but she was seriously wounded internally.

    But Courtney suffered a severe brain injury in the single-vehicle accident and has since been treated at four facilities: Peninsula Regional Medical Center, Retreat Doctors' Hospital in Richmond, Cumberland Children's Hospital in New Kent, Va., and most recently, Shore LifeCare.

    She was in a coma for about six weeks and during that time missed a major milestone in her life: her June 9 graduation from Arcadia High, where her sister, Ashlin, 16, accepted Courtney's advanced studies diploma in an emotional ceremony.


    "It was a bittersweet day. Before the accident, we were preparing for graduation. The cap and gown were hanging up at our house," said her mother.

    A move home

    In the days since the accident, milestones are measured in very different ways, such as the ability to focus her eyes on an object or to make a sound.

    "We were never told it would be short," Bloxom said of her daughter's progress. "The doctor's exact words were, 'It's going to take a long time.'

    At Shore LifeCare, Courtney receives three hours daily of speech, occupational and physical therapy in an effort to recover skills. The move to the facility, although welcomed because it is close to home, did not come easily for her mother.

    "It was a little scary because no one ever wants to put their child in a nursing home," she said, adding that the staff there have been "wonderful; they love her."

    Bloxom went on, reflecting on another benefit of the move: "Traumatic brain injury is a long journey. I'm excited about bringing her home and letting the community be a part of it."

    Bloxom took leave from her job with First Med to care for Courtney and has remained by her bedside six to eight hours a day in the seven months since the accident. Her husband has held down the fort at home, working at his job while trying to maintain a normal home life for Ashlin and the couple's 12-year-old son, Josh.

    After emerging from the coma into what is considered a minimally conscious state, Courtney continues to show some signs of progress.

    "We know she is seeing; we know she is hearing," said her mother.

    The family is thankful for the hundreds of Shore residents who have helped since the accident.

    "Our heartfelt thanks to the community for everything they've done," Bloxom said.

    Courtney's classmates, friends and others have spearheaded many charity events -- including haircut-a-thons, car washes, a dance, a motorcycle poker run and the sale of bumper stickers and bracelets -- to help alleviate the financial strain that comes with long-term medical needs.

    Churches around the Shore continue to pray for Courtney's recovery and more than 3,600 people have joined the Facebook site "Prayers for Courtney Bloxom," where her mother posts regular updates on her progress.

    Becky Bloxom's greatest fear is that as time goes by the community will move on, even while Courtney continues her slow struggle for recovery.

    "Our family's fear is she'll be forgotten. So come by and visit her; tell her to keep fighting," Bloxom said to all who have shown their support to the family.

    And turning to Courtney, she says with a hug, "My dream of you walking across that stage -- I don't know what stage it is, but it's going to happen. You've got a lot to offer, a lot to share.

    www.delmarvanow.com

    So many of us have watched and read about the daily sactifices this Mother and this family has made. Courtney's road to recovery has not been an easy one for her nor her family and friends. I wish all of you in the Bloxom family a very Merry Christmas. Courtney is proof that wonderful things do happen with prayer and with the attitude to never give up.

    Keep up the good work Courtney. A Merry Christmas to you. jmmb


    Bernie Madoff vs The Government

    Why did Bernie Madoff go to prison? 

    To make it simple, he talked people  into investing with him.  Trouble was, he didn't invest their money. 

    As  time rolled on he simply took the money from the new investors to pay off the old investors. Finally there were too many old investors and not enough money from new investors coming in to keep the payments going. Sound familiar? Lets take a look.

     Next thing you know Madoff is one of the most hated men in America and he is off to jail. Some of you know this. But not enough of you. 

    Madoff did to his investors what the government has been doing to us for over 70 years with Social Security. There is no meaningful difference between the two schemes, except that one was operated by a private individual who is now in jail, and the other is operated by politicians who enjoy perks, privileges and status in spite of their actions.

    Do you need a side-by-side comparison here?  Well here's a nifty little comparison.


     BERNIE MADOFF vs SOCIAL SECURITY

    Madoff) Takes money from investors with the promise that the money will be invested and made available to them later.

    Government) Takes money from wage earners with the promise that the money will be invested in a "Trust Fund" and made available later.

    Madoff) Instead of investing the money Madoff spends it on nice homes in the Hamptons and yachts.

    Government) Instead of depositing money in a Trust Fund the politicians use it for general spending and vote buying.

    Madoff) When the time comes to pay the investors back, Madoff simply uses some of  the new funds from newer investors to pay back the older investors.

    Government) When benefits for older investors become due the politicians pay them with money taken from younger and newer wage earners to pay the new beneficiary.

    Madoff) When Madoff's scheme is discovered all hell breaks loose.  New investors won't give him any more cash.

    Government) When Social Security runs out of money they simply force the taxpayers to send them some more.

    Bernie Madoff is in jail. 

    Politicians remain in  Washington ...and in office








    "The taxpayer: That's someone who works for the federal government but doesn't have to take the civil service examination." [Ronald Reagan]

    "If you put the federal government in charge of the Sahara Desert , in five years there'd be a shortage of sand." [Milton Friedman]

    Lighten Up On Hussein Obama

    I think people should start to lighten-up on the POTUS Hussein Obama.

    It's been a long 2 years for him I'm sure. The man gets more death threats per day then most POTUS's have in some of their complete terms.

    He keeps telling us all the things that he's done since he took office so I'm not going to compile a list of the things he said [roll eyes] he has done because it's irrelevant to the point I'm about to make.

    The one and most important point thing is; The stimulus must be working.

    Why you ask? Well..... just one month ago he got jobs for 63 republicans. 

    Thursday, December 23, 2010

    Could You Drive This Car?

    Are we too old to DRIVE this Car?

    No joke! Scary, but true?

    Scroll down


    Presenting the New Mercedes Benz SCL600

    Pretty, isn't it?

    So?

    What's different about this car? 
    Not this...

    ????

    Here is the real difference 
     

    WHOA ! 

    No Steering Wheel 

    No Pedals either 


    You drive this car with a joystick

    Do you think that you
    can drive with a joystick?

    Your kids and grandkids can. 


    The influence of video games in our lives
    has really arrived, wouldn't you say?

    But there is more!

    The SCARY THOUGHT is:
    NOW a 3-YEAR-OLD can STEAL your car
    AND DRIVE IT BETTER
    THAN YOU CAN !

    Yep - looks like I better start checking the senior bus schedule!!!!
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    A GIGGLE with the GOATS Jingle Bells Holiday Performance

    This was sent in by an astute reader, it's great!


    Hat Tip; Mrs M.

    Christmas Lights

    Lets see your Christmas lights.

    As the story goes, the guy that owns this house lives north of Cincinnati , Ohio.  Police were constantly being called for traffic jams and accidents in the neighborhood so they asked him to shut it down during certain hours.  Instead he started charging by the car load to  pay off-duty police to be there..  The guy is supposedly a real computer GEEK, and obviously a great decorator!

    If you'd like to take some pictures and want to show them off send them to Brenda and/or myself at the email address' on the right hand column of the page we sure would be glad to publish them for you and for all to see.

    Are your lights better than your neighbor's? Lets see'em

    1 Day Before Christmas

    Oh my!

    Level One Restrictions On Bridge Tunnel

    Chesapeake Bay Bridge tunnel has placed level one restrictions on it's use.

    This means that the following types of vehicles will not be allowed to cross the bridge ... large pick-up's with campers ... towed camping trailers ... house trailers ... anything being towed ... automobiles with car top carriers, luggage racks etc.