Opinion 

I first read about an Elio in an article that reported the purchase of a defunct General Motors factory in Shreveport, Louisiana. The factory had been closed after production of the Hummer ceased as Americans discovered just looking cool may not be reason to invest the price of a small home into a vehicle that guzzles gas like a sponge soaks up water.

I love restoration, repurposing, and reclamation. I also love technology and innovation. I am an early adopter, as evidenced by the number of products I purchase, usually at a premium price and often before the bugs are worked out. I trace that history back to a time when I bought one of the first digital watches for my husband as a gift. I paid an exorbitant price, only to follow that same watch for years as the price dropped lower and lower. Lots of other manufacturers began making digital watches, imports and knockoffs abounded and soon my exclusive gift was as common as icicle Christmas lights.

Many people hold off when a new product comes on the market. I try, but when I see something delightful like Leap Motion I can’t wait! I had to have that device, just like when Atari launched Pong in the early 1970s. (I sincerely hope the Leap device doesn’t join my Roomba in the closet of “I loved you briefly”)

So, I nearly understand the government when it comes to trying something new. America is behind in so many competitive markets because we test endlessly, launch expansive and expensive studies and often base decisions on outdated or no longer relevant data.

That pretty much sums up the way I feel about the Bi-County Parkway. I watched the Board of County Supervisors meeting and I heard the Virginia Secretary of Transportation as he explained how long this project has been on the books. I’ve read a zillion blog posts. I’m on an email list both for the “Say No to the Bi-County Parkway” and the NVTA.

I have to say I am opposed to the highway, not for any of the numerous, legitimate reasons I’ve heard or read. I oppose the Parkway exactly because the idea has been around so many years. I’m really tired of government basing decisions on outdated concepts.

What has happened to our ability to innovate and think creatively instead of modeling our future on the past? How do we keep planning roads, parking, schools and housing without including innovations or at least possible innovations like Hyper-Loop? What if instead of more cars on the roads, there are actually less? What if we are not commuting at all?

When you first saw a Smart Car did you really think anyone would drive them?

Perhaps not all innovations are keepers, but did anyone really suspect in 1986 (27 years ago) that a small company, (Cisco) with four employees, would be the vanguard of all routers in the world today? (FYI, I typed this on Word 2013 loaded on my Windows 8 touch screen, on an HP Envy 23 that I bought last year.)

PRINCE WILLIAM COUNTY, Va. --  Prince William Trails and Streams Coaliton (pwtsc.org) recently hosted an inaugural Tour of the Towns -- Tour of Prince William Century Ride. 

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Opinion 

A couple of weeks ago, I watched a very nice man and his wife approach the lectern at a Prince William County Board of County Supervisors meeting  (Click the link, then advance the video to about the 45:00 mark, or use the slide bar to drag down to citizens time.)

The Ormsbys came to talk about changing the ordinance to allow them to have chickens in their yard. I don’t know if the Ormsbys were familiar with how recently the local ordinances were amended, but in April of 2011 there was a major overhaul that really got a lot of feathers ruffled! This zoning text amendment was a huge document. Staff labored to craft the best solution for all parties.

I felt very sympathetic to the Ormsbys. It was their first foray into the way Prince William’s Government works. I believe they thought that after Supervisor John Jenkins got their letter requesting an overhaul of the ordinance, it would be forthcoming. The Ormsbys were sincere in their desire to raise chickens and have even created a Facebook page, titled CLUCK.

I am also sympathetic to the idea of raising your own food because I am relatively certain we are all being poisoned by the additives, chemicals, antibiotics and hormones in our food.

I also have a number of friends who think the county should stop making life “difficult” for residents and allow folks to live any way they choose on their own property. Unfortunately, my sympathy ends right about there.

There are endless problems in a non-HOA neighborhood. Your grass or weeds grow through the fence into my neatly kept lawn. Your dogs lift their leg and urinate on my flowers, killing them. Your dog barks. Your dog is supposed to be on a leash. Your dog left feces on my lawn.

Your cat thinks my herb garden is a big litter box. You cat is killing the birds. Your tree is hanging over my house, car, or driveway. It’s dropping apples or helicopters or sweet gum balls.

Your teenager is playing music too loud. You’re taking up every parking space with all your vehicles. Your yard looks like a dump heap. Your kids’ toys are in the street. Your kids are in the street. You haven’t mowed the grass. You left grass clippings on the walk or in the street.

You’re running a business, parking commercial vehicles, have too many people, or are working on cars in the street.

I really don’t know if chickens are a bad idea in a residential neighborhood. I haven’t been around them much since I was a kid, visiting my uncle’s farm. What I do know is it took a lot of time and effort to create that ordinance. We spent quite a few tax dollars to get that right.

More than that, I know we already have enough problems in our older neighborhoods. It’s difficult and expensive to get ordinances amended and odds are good if you please one neighbor, you offend two more. Why, the next thing you know, someone will want to grow corn in their front yard!

For further reading, try these links: Chicken Sanctuary, Pet Chickens, and Abandoned Chickens

Opinion 

Are You Afraid to Die?

In all the intervening years, I’ve never become afraid of dying. I am afraid of pain or a long suffering illness. My biggest fear about dying is not actually dying, it’s about living my last days dependent on others. So many things about the end of life are not about dying, but actually are about living poorly.

I’m adding this video so you can meet a friend of mine, Kathie Conn. Kathie has begun a movement here in Prince William County that has already achieved popularity elsewhere. It’s called a Death Café, and if that sounds morbid to you, I assure you it is not. It is simply an opportunity to talk about death in a way that won’t freak you out or make you say, “e-w-w-w-w”!

When it comes to the question of being afraid to die, I must have asked that question 20 times while walking with my Grandpa. We often “Went for a Walk.” When he asked me if I wanted to go for a walk, I thought in capital letters, like it was the title of a book.

My Grandpa was one of the smartest people I knew. He wasn’t book smart. I don’t think he even finished high school because he was born in 1899 and enlisted in the Army during World War I. I think he may have lied about his age because he fought in that war, was shot and captured and spent time in a prison camp before returning to Jeffersonville, Ind.

He had several shrapnel and bullet wounds and the scars in his shoulder and leg were rough and the edges were jagged, as you can imagine from surgery in a prison camp. He didn’t talk about that much, although I peppered him with questions, especially after we would watch a war movie on television. He always just told me, “When it’s time for you to go, you’ll be ready.”

On our walks, we often traveled through the cemetery because Grandpa knew lots of people there. Some of the stones were beautiful, especially in the Catholic section.  I never had the creepy feeling that kids often experience. I didn’t shriek or “e-w-w-w” if I accidentally stepped on a grave. I think my Grandpa made me understand there was nothing there beneath my feet. Just a box in the ground and the person whose bones were still there no longer existed.

Catholic school had Mass every morning, and of course I went on Sundays, too. The sisters and priests painted a different picture, filling my imagination with people in heaven, seated near Jesus, dressed in white robes, looking healthy and happy. I had a pretty hard time understanding how they could look like that in heaven if their bones were still here on earth. Still, the clergy didn’t scare me about dying, either. I thought it may be pretty cool to live in the clouds, with or without a harp.

Opinion 

So, what is a donation drop box?

It’s possible, depending on where you live in Prince William County, you may not have encountered one. Here, in the Neabsco District, we appear to be inordinately blessed by a profusion of such boxes.

These donation boxes are dropped in parking lots, at  malls, at gas stations and in stub outs for unfinished streets. You may have seen the yellow Planet Aid boxes and considered donating. I don’t recommend you do that and neither does the Institute for Philanthropy. Most of the boxes you see parked all over the community have stories similar to the one in the link.

There are three very frustrating factors at work here:

1. When you donate through one of these boxes, it’s possible you are being misled about the benefit.

2. People see them as an opportunity to dump ALL their junk. (See photos)

3. You may be missing a great opportunity to really provide a benefit to a great organization.

If you think you are donating books to children that have none of their own to read, you may be surprised to learn that most of the books donated are not fit to share, but are simply pulped for paper.

Think for a minute! If you are tossing your books into a box that is merely a small painted dumpster, do you suppose they are landing in there neatly stacked? OK. Face facts. That is just not likely. They sit in those metal boxes in high temperatures.

(heat indicies this week reached 107 degrees…how hot was it in that metal box?)

What happens to papers stored in your attic?

If you have good used furniture, Habitat for Humanity, Prince William, Manassas and Manassas Park is a great place to donate. If you call The Restore, they will come pick up your furniture, as well as any usable construction materials.

If you are remodeling and your appliances or fixtures are still in good shape, they’ll be happy to take those items and if possible, use them in their programs. If not needed, those items will be sold and the profit goes back to Habitat.

There are many other great ways and places to donate your used items including ACTS or the Salvation Army in Woodbridge or Manassas. You can even take your items to the Donation Place at the Prince William County Landfill

One last thing: Prince William County has numerous ordinances regarding these drop boxes. It’s been a long time coming, but enforcement appears to be on the horizon. These boxes are required to be permitted. No box can be placed within 500 feet of another box. Boxes that contain clothing have to be sanitized regularly. 

You can view the regulations at this location and here and view the permit form.

If you see these eyesores, please call Neighborhood Services at 703-792-7018 and be ready to give them the exact location of the donation drop box you are reporting. You can also report via email and add photos.

Opinion 

I recently had the opportunity to interview a very bright young woman, Julia Burks. She is a freshman at Battlefield High School and a Senior Girl Scout working on her Gold Award Project.

Burks had discovered something that many people are not aware of:  There are hungry children, even in the most affluent areas.

This interview heightened my awareness of something that had only been on my radar peripherally: Hunger in America. Julia’s idea, as you’ll learn from the interview, was to solicit help, organize and distribute lunches to students who were recipients of free breakfast and lunch during the school year, but had no options during summer vacation.

This concept is exactly the type of project I think works best: A problem is recognized, solutions identified and action taken at the local level.

I understand when a problem is larger than can be handled by a small group, additional resources must be identified and drawn into the pool. When I read a recent Washington Post article about a bus to deliver food to rural Tennessee, I learned the Department of Agriculture had allocated $400 million to feed children during the summer.

That money pales in comparison to the $15 billion Congress has allocated each year to feed 21 million low-income children in their schools, and that doesn’t count the $80 milli0n on SNAP. Those numbers were so staggering, I didn’t go on to find how much more we spend on other entitlement programs, like housing assistance and medical care.

So, I find myself seriously conflicted about this issue. In fact, I am often conflicted about many issues. That does not mean I am wishy-washy, it means I don’t just opine, but I try to see all sides of a problem.

Ultimately, my opinion revolves around the thought process to determine what makes the most sense to me. So my decisions are not based on what political party I favor, what church I attend, or what I am spoon fed by the media.

On the one hand, I absolutely agree, no child should go hungry in a nation as wealthy as ours. On the other hand is the solid belief that America simply cannot continue to amass debt. One of the best graphic sites I frequent is the US National Debt Clock. Watching those numbers rack up stirs a fright more powerful than a Stephen King novel.

The sequester has been all about reducing expenses. I understand that and as a good U.S. citizen, I am willing to sacrifice for my country, but as we approach the 6-month mark of unemployment, I am wondering what benefit has been achieved.

More and more money is required to feed and house the poor in America. We’ve always been a contributor to that process.

Now, we are not. I don’t think we are destined to wind up as recipients of those entitlement programs, but I certainly never thought we’d remain unemployed for six months either.

“To help people at all times” is part of the Girl Scout promise. It’s always been our promise too.

Connie Moser lives in Dale City, is the president of the Neabsco Action Alliance, and is active in several community organizations in Prince William County.

Editor’s Note: Connie Moser brings her neighborhood perspective to Potomac Local News in her debut column. Moser lives in Dale City, is active in several community organizations, and will pen a weekly Sunday column that will appear in this space.

Opinion 

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