The question is, should Charlottesville pay a cool mill to start a new ambulance service?

The answer is no.

We’re lucky to have one of the best-trained, best-equipped emergency/rescue teams in the state right here in our fair city and right downtown where they can get pretty much anywhere pretty quickly. We’ve also got trained EMTs and paramedics riding nearly every fire engine as an escort and to make sure time is no problem. Charlottesville-Albemarle Rescue Squad (CARS) has everything it needs to provide top notch service AND FOR FREE.

That’s right, FOR FREE.

Funded by private donations and Albemarle County (gee, CARS serves the city but there’s no city funds in its budget. Hmmm, I wonder where that cool mill should go?) the rescue squad DOES NOT CHARGE for an ambulance ride. Cut your finger off in a jig saw accident but don’t have insurance?

Free ride!

Having my baby and we’re busted?

Free ride!

We’re talking Foghat city here, folks. Where else can you get great service and a free ride to the hospital? Where else do you have doctors, lawyers, teachers and a stray federal prosecutor rubber-gloved and waiting to serve you FOR FREE?

If the city sets up 24-hour service it will not be free. It will also be a from-scratch set up with new equipment, new people, new rules, new regulations and, of course, new fees.

If we need more staff and we need better service, feed the funds to the people who have proved for decades that they know what they’re doing. Give the money to CARS and take a free ride when you need it most. 

We have called to order the latest meeting of the running-swimming-biking-eating-drinking-kayaking-sumo wrestling-book club.

(I will have to fill you in on the sumo wrestling in the next installment, but it is a true story.)

This weekend’s outdoor adventure, however, started several months ago when someone suggested that our cult, I mean club, should run in the Marine Corps 10K—the 6.2-mile fun run associated with the annual Marine Corps Marathon.

Since we are so open to suggestion, Rocket, Fast Kathy, 6.2, Devil Woman, Trish, Cindy, Anne, Adelle, and I, said “Oh, OK.”

So we emptied out bank accounts and headed to D.C.

The fun thing about our diverse group is that different people take charge at different times. Rocket secured our accommodations at the ever-so cool Melrose Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue. Fast Kathy planned out the events, drove the lead car and navigated us through the nation’s capitol. Devil Woman spotted a Trader Joe’s within walking distance, and Nurse Adelle kept us healthy along our travels with her handy dandy disinfectant.

I must let you in on a secret. If you are looking for a place to eat, La Ristorante La Perla on the edge of Georgetown had the best pasta I had ever eaten. And I have eaten a lot of pasta. The charming owner and chef Vittoria Testa came to our table and offered some very good racing advice. Patting his chest, he said, and I paraphrase ever so slightly, “If the ticker starts to hurt, stop running.”

Well, my ticker didn’t hurt but just about everything else did. We seemed to be a band of walking wounded, Rocket with her toe, Fast and Anne with their pulled muscles, me with my knee.

But then the race started. Two men competing in the marathon powered past us in their wheelchairs. I ran along side a Marine with one leg. I saw Hokies running in honor of students killed at Virginia Tech. I saw Team Travis—men, women and a young girl—running to keep alive the memory of their fallen hero.
The sore toes and knees and muscles didn’t matter. Neither did the breeze and uphill finish.

At the end of the day, we had our medals, our large, ugly, non-performance brown shirts and most importantly, we had each other ... once again.

Oh, and congratulations, Cindy.

She won third place in her age division.

We will have to bag the last N.C. State TD for now. ... Virginia quarterback Jameel Sewell was injured. The signal caller appeared to roll his ankle. He was in serious pain on the field. Peter Lalich, who was in for two plays and a false start last week, was thrown into action for a third-down play. His arm was hit as he tried to release the ball and it looked like a wounded duck. ... Virginia was forced to punt and punter Ryan Weigand was forced to make a tackle. Virginia’s coverage units are horrible - and that might be giving them too much credit. ... Virginia will need another dose of magic to get this one. ... Virginia defensive end Chris Long just got his first sack - he gets one for forcing intentional grounding. ... Virginia and Lalich will get the ball back with just under 5 minutes left. Do you believe? Better yet, do you have a pacemaker?

The “Cardiac Cavs” are at it again. Just when it looked like the offense could not muster a pulse .. Boom! Virginia scores (and gets scored on). It was amazing (and I don’t really believe it). How can one team - win or lose - play games in this fashion over and over and over again? ... Give the coaching staff some credit. To go for it on 4th-and-1 was huge. Jameel Sewell also earned some garbage yardage on the play once it was apparent that he was going to get the first down. Mikell Simpson took over from there. ... Ras-I Dowling made the TD look even better when he recorded an interception on the ensuing drive. Is Mike Parker looking to transfer? Not yet. Dowling was beat on back-to-back pass plays, including an N.C. State TD pass. More on that drive in a few, but it showed how young Dowling is and brought back flashbacks of Philip Brown against Miami a few years ago. 

Ras-I Dowling, a true freshman, tied a school record in the third quarter. The cornerback broke up his fifth pass of the game. That tied Jason Wallace (1989 vs. Virginia Tech) and Joe Crocker (1995 vs. Clemson). I told you Dowling would be good. ... Is it just me or does this ref really like showing off the fact that he has a mic?