Not long ago I finally took the plunge and purchased a new HDTV for my living room. Before this time I had been using an old tube TV for several years. But, when the tube TV finally stopped working, I decided to see what all the fuss was over this HDTV stuff.

First things first, though, I needed to dispose of the old TV which I considered too large to just put out on the front curb of my house. Even after living in the city for years I had no idea where to take and dispose large appliances in the Roanoke area.

I have always known to put modest piles of brush and other smaller items either in the garbage container or out on the front curb. But, what to do with big stuff that I want to get rid of? The answer is to take it to the Roanoke Valley Resource Authority which I learned about after inquiring with the City of Roanoke. (I suppose as a citizen I should have known about it already, but I honestly had no idea about the place.)

So, I called a friend to help and we loaded the TV and headed out to Hollins Road off of Route 460 to the RVRA. I went this past Saturday and there was a little line waiting to get in but things moved pretty quickly.

Entrance to Roanoke Valley Resource Authority

The whole process there was fairly easy. Just pull up, get in line, drive onto a scale, and then drive up and into a building where all of the stuff is dumped. We just drove inside the building and unloaded the TV and that was that. (I took pictures of everything but I thought it was awkward to post pictures of garbage!)

Roanoke Valley Resource Authority

Apparently trains run underneath the building and all of the stuff is dumped into them and then hauled away via these box cars.

Roanoke Valley Resource Authority

So, after bidding farewell to my old TV I was able to check out what it’s like to have HDTV in Roanoke. I’m going to talk about that in a future post.

Have a good weekend!

Well, the temperature is not much like summertime this week (as it was on Friday) so I needed to update with a new post. And, as it turns out would you believe this is the 200th post at Noke News?

When I started things back in early 2008 I really wasn’t sure if I would even make it to 50 posts. Nothing exciting ever happens in Roanoke, right? How on earth would I find anything interesting that was worth talking about?

Eventually, I stopped focusing on necessarily trying to find exciting and interesting topics and basically just started talking about stuff that I saw happening as I went about my regular life. I don’t talk politics or the economy that much because I really don’t find them to be interesting topics.

But, walking across and really exploring for the first time a bridge that I had driven across many times? I think that’s interesting.

It’s probably obvious that I like Roanoke and I like taking pictures, so those two ideas basically turned into Noke News. If I have an agenda it’s one that centers around being pro-Roanoke so I suppose I’m a little biased in that regard.

I’ll be the first to admit that Roanoke is not perfect by any means, but I think a lot of people could agree that there is no other place quite like it. The thing is, when I’m asked about what makes Roanoke unique I can’t always give a direct and specific answer on the spot.

So, as I go about my life I jot down a few words and snap a few photos of recent happenings in and around this area in Southwest Virginia. And several of my experiences I post online here. 

The things I write about and post are, for the most part, very simple and basic happenings that I experience as I go about living my life in Roanoke.  Nothing more, nothing less.

A late evening bicycle ride on a local greenway.

Going downtown during lunch to get a piece of fruit for a snack.

Watching the trees on Mill Mountain change colors with the seasons.

I consider this simple stuff, and when looked at individually each one of these experiences could apply to more places than just Roanoke. For example, Roanoke is hardly the only city in the country to have a downtown market or mountains nearby.

But, I think there are far fewer cities which can offer all of the above: a downtown market, a great view of surrounding mountains (seen from just about anywhere in town), and with multiple greenway paths to enjoy.

With each post that I add to Noke News I hope to add one more glimpse into what living in Roanoke is like. This site as a whole has basically turned into the best and only way I know how to explain a little bit of what it’s like to live in Roanoke.

To me, it’s all about the simple things.

I don’t know how to explain it other than to say that simple stuff like this is what has become increasingly important to me. So, that’s a majority of what I write about. Roanoke comfortably allows me to experience these simple things, but at the same time offering the benefits of what I consider a “medium-sized” city. If you live here you may know what I mean.

Thanks for stopping by, and for continuing to stop by. I’ve been busy with working a bunch the past few months and this has directly affected my blogging time. But, I’m still around and I’m going to continue to be around for a while if I have anything to say about it. My posting may be a bit sporadic for a little while, but I’ll definitely be around.

If you haven’t already I encourage you to subscribe to receive updates directly (either via email or a feed reader), that way you’ll be notified when I post something new.

Thanks again for reading and sharing with me my glimpses of Roanoke.

It’s September already. The summer isn’t officially over yet, but usually around the time that Labor Day arrives I consider that an unofficial end of summer.

How did you think this summer was in Roanoke, as far as temperature?

Actually, overall I thought it was punctuated with rather mild temperatures and adequate rains to keep things green and growing. I may even go so far as to say this was one of the more ideal Roanoke summers from recent memory.

There were some hot and humid days, but nothing too unbearable. I don’t believe there were any days when the temperature reached 100 degrees. And, there was no real dryspell like in the previous year. It seemed like at least once a week or so there was some rain, and sometimes multiple days of rain.

Of course this meant I was encouraged to mow the yard at least once every 2 weeks, and even once a week on a couple occassions. I actually mowed this past weekend and that just might be the last time for the year. I hope it is. As you can probably tell I don’t take much pride in a well manicured lawn, I just like to keep the grass to below my ankles or so.

By the 3rd or 4th week in August I was readying for some cooler temperatures, and once September rolled around that’s just what we got. Some of the mornings this week I would even classify as moderately brisk for this time of year. I’m talking temperatures in the upper 50s and low 60s which are basically on the borderline and leave me guessing whether or not to wear a jacket to work.

And, as it has turned out, I’ve worn my jacket each day this week because I tend to be a bit cold-natured. I don’t believe the A/C at home has run much this week if at all. In the late afternoon it may get a bit stuffy in the house but as soon as the sun sets things have cooled off outside rather quickly.

I honestly don’t know what has happened to 2009. Do you? I mean here it is Labor Day already. Pretty soon there will be color changing leaves, Thanksgiving, and then Christmas. And then the year will be over and things start again.

But, I don’t want to get too far ahead of myself. Right now at this moment in time I’m looking forward to the holiday weekend and some welcome time off. That’s all I’m focused on right now, just taking it easy. I’m going to do my best to put all the stresses of life on hold for just few days. That’s my goal, and I’ll worry about getting back into the grind on Tuesday morning.

Have a great holiday weekend.

Several days ago I was heading home to my house in the Virginia Heights neighborhood area. It was dark out but not real late, probably around 9PM or so. I turned from Brandon to Edgewood (at the intersection where there is a Family Dollar store) and made my way up and over the hill in the direction of my house.

Now, if you’re not familiar with this road, it’s only 25mph through this section but it’s one of those roads where it’s very easy to go faster than that. And perhaps even easier to want to go faster. But, it’s primarily a residential area and I think 25mph is appropriate.

Well, along the road before it runs into Memorial Avenue there is designated residential parallel parking on the both sides of the road. I have seen police set up with radar along here before, they pull in as if a regular car. I must say it’s a great spot. And given this was a Saturday night I was paying particularly close attention to my speed.

Sure enough, as I was driving past I could see the lights and reflectors of a police car pulling into one of those open spots along the sides of the road. They were just getting ready to set up radar I suppose.

This is where the story gets a little more interesting.

So, the windup is that I passed the officer and continued on my way. But, instead of going home I decided to make a loop and circle back around. I turned onto to Memorial Avenue, then turned to Grandin Avenue, and back to Brandon. Then, I came back and turned on to Edgewood again.

I proceeded back up the hill along Edgewood. The entire loop probably took about 5-10 mintues or so. But, this time there was no police car parked along the side of the road.

Can you already see where I’m going with this?

Just ahead as I again turned from Edgewood onto Memorial I saw the flashing lights, just behind a driver who’s night probably just got a bit worse. Just a few minutes of running radar and a speeder was pulled over.

And would you believe I have done this before on other occasions. I have seen police parked along this road in the past. So, I just circle around once or twice and they usually have a speeder pulled over. I find it quite entertaining for some reason, because so often when I obey the signs I’m in-turn tailgated when driving through there.

Why are people in such a hurry anyways?

Ever have one of those days when you had to work late?

Ok, we’ve all had our share of those. But, have you ever noticed how leaving work a little bit later can make the drive home much more enjoyable?

Traffic in Roanoke probably peaks around 5PM most days. But, there really is no rush hour in Roanoke, maybe a rush half-hour or so. Usually, I leave work at 4:30-4:45 so I’m apt to run into a little traffic on the way home.

Well, yesterday I didn’t leave work until about 6:15. And it really is amazing how much more laid back the short commute home is, if I just make it about an hour or an hour-and-a-half-later than usual.

So, with traffic light, temperatures mild, sunshine shining, and my camera snapping I make my way home from the downtown area.

Leaving downtown and traveling along Franklin Road in Roanoke.

Looking over at Mill Mountain and Rivers Edge Sports Complex. If you look extra close you can also see part of the Roanoke River Greenway.

Yellow flowers (tulips I think) in full bloom at the intersection of Franklin Road and Brandon Avenue.

As I’ve mentioned before I go bicycling at least 2 times a week. This is mostly because I’m too busy to have a gym membership and I’d rather be outside anyways. During the colder months I just ride around the neighborhood, but when it gets warmer I often head down to one of Roanoke’s greenways.

This past Sunday, the first Sunday of Spring, turned out to be a very beautiful day. Not too cool and not too hot. If there ever was a difference between a “Mostly Sunny” and “Partly Cloudy” weather forecast this was it. This day had to qualify as “Mostly Sunny”. Maybe even just regular “Sunny”.

Well, I didn’t have time to actually venture down to the Roanoke River Greenway. But, I did ride down from my house to the Wasena Bridge and wasn’t surprised to see that a few other citizens too had the idea of visiting the greenway and nearby park.

Here are some photos from my bicycle ride this past Sunday:

Looking over the edge of the Wasena Bridge at the Roanoke River Greenway (paved pathway). The Roanoke River is just to the right out of the view of the photograph.

An (old) white house along 13th Street SW.

Grape hyacinth manages to grow among some left over Fall leaves. This was taken along the roadside in the Virginia Heights area.

Well, I leave the blog for a few days and the next thing I know is that all the snow pictures I posted last week now look very much out of place. All signs of snowy weather around town are long gone by now.

Early last week a rather heavy winter jacket was mandatory, and by this past weekend shorts and short sleeves were more the norm around Roanoke. And I think I may have heard a lawnmower running in my neighborhood, but I can’t confirm nor deny such claim.

The heat of Saturday and Sunday really caught me off guard. I had seen the forecasts of temperatures near 80 but it didn’t really register in my mind. That is, until it actually reached 80. Then, I thought, this is hot!

Because of the unexpected rapid change in temperature over the past few days, I nearly broke down and turned on the A/C. But, by after dark in the evenings it started to cool off a bit.

I’m not a huge fan of the bitter cold, and likewise not of the heat, so hopefully we will have a good several weeks of the middle ground. We all know the middle ground, something like highs in the 60s and lows in the 40s. The kind of weather when I wear a light jacket to work in the morning, but by the afternoon I find myself carrying it instead.

And I actually don’t mind having to carry it in that instance.

In the meantime I’m still thinking about the crazy change in weather. That’s just the month of the March I suppose.

And that’s just Roanoke.

Since Sunday the temperatures have been quite cool around Roanoke. No, not sub-zero, but it has been sub-freezing which is cool enough.

On cold mornings like we’ve experienced recently, I always have that sinking feeling of having to wake and leave my warm bed. It’s not easy. When I hear the cold engine of my car briefly struggle to turn over, I quietly respond by saying, “Mr. Car, I don’t want to be getting out in this cold anymore than you, but let’s make the best of it.”

Anyways, despite the cold weather it has been rather sunny, so I took a few more pictures downtown earlier in the week.

View of downtown Roanoke looking from the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial Bridge.

Railroad Tracks in Downtown Roanoke, mountains in the distance.

State of Virginia Marker along the Railwalk in Downtown Roanoke.