Southbound on U.S. 29 at Forest Lakes, I read the VDOT warning signs from the Proffit Road’s light stopped position.

The tandem warning devices are there to give drivers—especially bikers—a heads up that two slabs of steel make up a small portion of the righthand land across from the Dips and Sips Ice Cream establishment. Steel slabs are slippery when wet and slick as spit when damp and can cause great consternation, pain and suffering if wrongly traversed.

Single-track, two-wheeled vehicles coming up on the steel should slow and then pull in their clutches, coasting over the slick surface straight up and down with no lean and no brake and no power. If you don’t believe me, ask yourself why VDOT, not known for its creativity, would write such highway haiku as that displayed on their warning signs:

Caution Caution Caution (Steel Plate Ahead)
Steel Plate Ahead (Caution Caution Caution)
Drive Safely (Drive Safely)

Ever Forward Monticello Guard.

They’re there and they’re safe; a little hot and tired and all bused out, perhaps, but safe.

In case you didn’t hear—and phone and e-mail time has been limited due to so much going on—members of Company A, 3rd Battalion, 116th Infantry based in the Avon Street Extended armory are at Camp Shelby in Mississippi.

The troops are being briefed, going through medical screenings and a variety of gotta-dos before the training begins, but they say they’ve already noticed the heat. For some, it’s no surprise because some members of Company A had mobilized shortly after Katrina and were at Camp Shelby before being sent to Gulfport and Biloxi.

They’ll be issued some equipment soon and get into the training regimen. When I hear more I’ll fill you in.

I was hanging outside of the Charlottesville Armory just prior to the deployment of Co. A, 3-Bat., 116 Inf., 29 Inf. Division, and I noticed a whole bunch of scoots parked just outside the door.

“Yeah, we ride a lot around here,” said one tall National Guardsman who got away before I could snatch his name. “There’s a bunch of guys who bring their bikes to drill weekends. There’s some great roads and great rides around here.”

The mounts varied from an ivory V-Rod with silver flames to an older Ninja 500 and a 1600 Yammie Warrior with a couple of sporties and Sportsters thrown in.

The Guardsman, who had recently returned from a deployment and is not heading out on this trip, said some of the guys would leave their bikes for fellow company members to protect.

“They’ll be safe until they get back,” he said. “We’ll take care of them while they’re gone.”

Hey, if any of them need to be taken for a ride, you know, to keep the engines running and all, I’m available.

“Thanks. That means a lot,” he laughed. “I think we can handle it, but I’ll give you a call if we need you.”

It has finally arrived.
“Evan Almighty” is on big screens across the country. Good, bad or indifferent, I will always be grateful for the opportunity to have taken part in movie. I have always been fascinated with how it is all put together. Maybe when I grow up, I’ll run away to Hollywood and help build sets. I love the behind the scenes stuff.
I also loved the opportunity to meet so many new people. The L.A. people were so kind, especially the caterers. But I also got to meet some pretty darn nice people from right here in Central Virginia ... Leslie, Monique, Neil, Jon, Carol, Mary, Lou, Sarah, Jimmy ... I sure hope we can keep in touch. Let’s make a point of it.
Now, however, it’s time for me to focus on my other obsession ... running.
The Women’s Four Miler Training Program kicked off last Saturday with nearly 1,000 women of all ages, sizes and shapes. I even cut my vacation to the Outer Banks short just so I could be there on the first day. There were balloons and music and food and water and plenty of friends.
I think that must be a thing with me. I love the friendships.
It’s not like a movie set. I love, love, love movies.
But running ... frankly, I don’t like to run at all. But I love running with my buddies and every year I meet more and more future buddies.
If you are around in the morning, come on by the UVa track. We meet at 7:45.
I will have on a pink shirt ... and long black pants. 

You know it’s bad when the Catholic Church wants you to slow down, chill out, hang up and be nice while driving.

You’ve probably read or heard the mocking or tongue-in-cheek news reports about the Vatican releasing 10 Commandments for road users. Sure, it’s cute, that a religious organization as Byzantine as the Catholic Church would get involved in driver improvement, but the Church studied up on the issue long and hard and they are dead on.

Go ahead. Read the full text of the Vatican announcement. See for yourself.

If you’ve driven U.S. 29 on a Friday, you probably agree with this statement from the Vatican: “The domination instinct, or the feeling of arrogance, impels people to seek power in order to assert themselves. Driving a car provides an easy opportunity to dominate others. Indeed, by identifying themselves with their car, drivers enormously increase their own power. The free availability of speed, being able to accelerate at will, setting out to conquer time and space, overtaking, and almost “subjugating” other drivers, turn into sources of satisfaction that derive from domination.”

Domination and damnation as the doms flip fingers and hurl curses at the subs: “Unbalanced behavior varies according to individuals and circumstances, and may include impoliteness, rude gestures, cursing, blasphemy, loss of sense of responsibility, or deliberate infringement of the Highway Code. For some drivers, the unbalanced behavior is expressed in insignificant ways, whilst in others it may produce serious excesses that depend on character, level of education, an incapacity for self-control and the lack of a sense of responsibility”

The Vatican doesn’t blame society. It doesn’t blame bad roadways or laws or those pesky police. It places the blame where it belongs, behind the wheel: “The moral responsibility of road users, both drivers and pedestrians, derives from the obligation to respect the Fifth and Seventh Commandments: “Thou shalt not kill” and “Thou shalt not steal”. The gravest sins against human life, deriving from the Fifth Commandment, are suicide and murder, but this commandment also requires respect for one’s own and other people’s physical and mental wellbeing.”

Being a road jerk is a Commandment violation in the Vatican’s eyes: “Careless absent-mindedness and negligence are acts that go against such commandments, and their degree of moral seriousness is measured in terms of how foreseeable, or to some extent intentional, they are. This means that, beyond the prohibition of directly killing, wounding or maiming, the Lord’s commandment forbids any act that might bring about such harm indirectly. The same goes for any damage caused to one’s neighbor’s goods.”

You and I are responsible for the stupid things we do in anger and in rage, the Vatican reminds us. It’s up to us to remain calm and cool behind the wheel and to think of each other.

“Pope Pius XII told drivers in 1956: Do not forget to respect other road users, be courteous and fair with other drivers and pedestrians and show them your obliging nature. Pride yourselves in being able to master an often natural impatience, in sometimes sacrificing a little of your sense of honour so that the courteousness that is a sign of true charity may prevail. Not only will you thus be able to avoid unpleasant accidents, but you will also help to make the car a more useful tool for yourselves and others that is capable of giving you a more genuine pleasure”

Oh, and stay off the cell phone: “Another virtue that may not be overlooked is prudence. This calls for a suitable margin of precaution to deal with the unforeseen events that may occur at any time. Obviously, someone who allows their attention to be diverted whilst driving by a mobile phone or television is not behaving in accordance with prudence.”

And some good advice in general: “Road users should not drive too fast, and should calculate a wide margin of time, which is theoretically and psychologically necessary to brake. They should not overestimate their own abilities and quickness, and should constantly monitor their attention and conversation. In this regard, traveling companions should also be aware of their responsibility”.

There’s more, but you can read it for yourself. Here are the Vatican’s 10 Road Commandments, just in case you haven’t seen them lately:

1. You shall not kill.
2. The road shall be for you a means of communion between people and not of mortal harm.
3. Courtesy, uprightness and prudence will help you deal with unforeseen events.
4. Be charitable and help your neighbor in need, especially victims of accidents.
5. Cars shall not be for you an expression of power and domination, and an occasion of sin.
6. Charitably convince the young and not so young not to drive when they are not in a fitting condition to do so.
7. Support the families of accident victims.
8. Bring guilty motorists and their victims together, at the appropriate time, so that they can undergo the liberating experience of forgiveness.
9. On the road, protect the more vulnerable party.
10. Feel responsible toward others.

Unlike others who have no solution to road rage and piggish behavior, the Vatican at least offers some advice: