Solar shed used to house and heat water in Round Hill home

Homeowner Bruce Lawton of Round Hill installed a solar shed that looks like any other garden shed. It looks like a garden shed because it really is a garden shed.

And the government will help the homeowner pay for it. The 8-by-8-foot shed in Lawton’s yard cost just less than $7,000 after the 30% ($2,000) tax credit from the federal government.

The shed circulates water in small pipes under the roof covering to pick up the heat energy from the sun. When the water is about 8 degrees hotter than the setting on the water heater in the basement 64 feet away, the water drains down from the roof and into a 10-gallon tank next to the water heater. It transfers its heat to the water heater, and – when the sun is out and the pump kicks in – heads back to the roof for another sunbath.

Hmmm… an interesting idea.

Helping Hungry Neighbors

As layoffs continue and the economy slows down more of our neighbors will find themselves in a tough spot. If you’re fortunate enough to have a steady job and a financial cushion you might consider donating to a local food bank. What I like about food banks is the money goes directly towards helping someone in our area deal with the most basic need there is… food.

To locate a food bank visit Feeding America (formerly named America’s Second Harvest). You can search for local food banks by entering in your zip code. The nearest one to us is the Blue Ridge Area Food Bank which serves some of the poorest families in Virginia. I was a little surprised to find that Loudoun County was already on their coverage map prior to the recent economic crunch. When all is said and done there very well could be more counties added to the list needing food banks.

A large percentage of American families live paycheck to paycheck and when a job is lost they need help with the most basic of needs. Please consider lending a helping hand.

Note: If you’re aware if any other local food related charities in our local area please send me a message and I’ll be sure to help spread the word.

9-11 Remembered 7 Years Later

My cousin Kenny and his wife Jennifer were flight attendants on Flight 77, the plane that was crashed into the Pentagon 7 years ago today, and the memory of that day is still raw. Despite the painful memories from that day and the aftermath I watched the memorial services and especially the dedication of the Pentagon 9-11 Memorial with appreciation and gratitude. Appreciation for the respect shown for the victims and their families who still grieve today as if it happened last week. And appreciation for the men and women who serve us all by serving in our military.

The memorial dedicated earlier this morning at the Pentagon will serve as a reminder to all that our loved ones are precious and irreplacable. That when someone harms them they harm all of us. That when someone harms our loved ones they must be held acccountable whatever the cost. Seven years after 9-11 I am grateful that our country has not forgotten and that we continue to hunt for those responsible and fight those who still mean us harm.

If you are in the Leesburg area be sure to attend the 9-11 Leesburg ceremony this evening at 7 p.m. on the Town Green. The ceremony will include remarks by the mayor and police chief. The ceremony will be held at the Freedom Memorial, at 101 Granada Circle and will be open today from 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Summertime Burnout

Just when the kids were growing bored of having nothing left to ramble about with their friends Fall semester of school starts to rescue them. Now they’ll have plenty to talk about!

School’s back in session just in the nick of time.

Mike Rayburn Rocked the House!

Mike Rayburn’s performance at Freedom High School was fantastic! He is one of the most talented guitarists I’ve even seen perform and his skills as a comedian are equally impressive. His performance was truly a special treat for us locals.

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In the scene below Mike becomes Michael Jackson. He won’t appreciate this pic, but it was hilarious!

As if the show wasn’t enough of a treat I had the opportunity to spend a few minutes with Mike’s dad as we left the performance. He’s a former teacher from this area and knew the teachers I had back in high school. He made it clear how proud he is of his son and I’m certain the feeling is mutual!

You can learn more about Mike and his extraordinary performances at this previous post on the performance last night at Freedom high school or at his Website: Mike Rayburn

I definitely recommend you catch his performance next time he performs in our area!

Find the Lowest Gas Prices in Our Area

Gas prices are finally moving in the right direction… DOWN! Did you ever think seeing gas prices close to $3.50 a gallon would be a good thing!?

I added a great new tool to the Resources section to help you find the best deal on gas in our area. Of course it can be used to find the best deals anywhere you happen to be traveling as well, but the report on GumSpringRoad.com will focus on prices in our immediate area. It’s updated frequently and should make it much easier to find the best bargains. Visit our Gas Prices page for the list.

If you want to help the rest of us out register at Gas Buddy and add a report when you spot a great deal in your area. It’s the largest site of it’s kind with thousands of stations in Virginia alone being reported* on every day. (* By “reported on” I mean the gas station’s prices are being updated)

Assistant Principal at Freedom Arrested

On Tuesday an Assistant Principal at Freedom High School, Ting-Yi Oei, was arrested at the school and charged with possession of child pornography.

According to reports a student sent a picture of a fellow student to Mr. Oei in March of this year. We asked one of our 2 sons that attends Freedom what he knew knew about Mr. Oei and he said of the incident in March, “everyone heard about it and shrugged it off as just a prank”. He added, “he is one of the strict guys at school and not likely to be involved in anything like this”.

The mistakes Mr. Oei apparently made that led to his arrest include; not reporting the original incident to police, not deleting the photograph off of his computer, and finally, not showing up for a recent court hearing.

We hope there’s nothing more to the story… we’ll keep you posted.

For more information visit Loudoun Extra.

Family Fest Loudoun August 23rd Dulles Town Center

Saturday August 23rd from 10 – 4pm at the Dulles Town Center

This full day event, features hands-on interactive stations, exhibits, demonstrations and live entertainment. The event focuses on family health & safety, nutrition, education, community awareness. It’s perfect for a family day of FUN!

Be one of the first 100 families and you’ll receive a free “goodie bag”.

For more information visit their site: Family Fest Loudoun

Yuck! Traffic Issues all Over the Area Today

This is a snapshot of the current traffic situation as depicted by the traffic.com tool used on the homepage. Friday August 15th at 3:15 pm.

I haven’t seen it this bad before today. It’s registering a 6.6 for 66 Westbound. Yuck!

Area Home Prices Are on the Rise

According to the IAS360 House Price Index home prices in Fairfax rose 4.9 percent over May and are down 6.7 percent from June of 2007, which is not as bad as the national decline of 11.5 percent. This should help drive more prospective buyers out of their holding pattern and into new homes.

Many Northern Virginia realtor’s claim this area is better suited to withstand economic downturns then most and this 4.9 percent increase, compared to an increase of 1.1 percent at the national level, further supports that claim.

Unless the US Government decides to relocate or goes out of business the DC are should continue to prosper over the years and decades ahead.

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