Now that gasoline prices are low again, where are the politicians? In the summer when we were up around $4 a gallon they blamed the speculators and wanted to punish them. Do they want to punish the speculators now, when they’re driving prices down? How about the explanation that oil companies were being greedy back in the summer? What suddenly made them generous now?

Or maybe the politicians will get it straight — that market forces set oil prices, not greed — and that they need to keep their big fat hands off of voluntary transactions between informed adults.

Loyal followers of Bridgewater Buzz: It’s back! The snow contest returns, thanks to the generosity of Ford’s Wintergreens. Ford’s will be providing a fresh holiday wreath for the winner of the First Snowfall Prediction Contest. Here are the rules from the elusive treeman:

• Each participant can choose a single date. The date that you select must be  December 20 or earlier.
• The person coming closest to the date wins. Once your date passes, you are out of the contest.
• You must predict your date at least 5 days in advance of the snowfall.
• The snow fall must be at least 1 inch in Bridgewater… just a skiff don’t count.

To enter your prediction, just “leave a reply” on this post using your Bridgewater Buzz username. But you don’t have to have a username to enter. Just enter a comment anyway, using “guest@bridgewaterva.com” as your email. Be sure, though, to label your prediction with a screen name (no real names, please).

If you have questions, post them as comments to this thread and I’ll answer as best I can.

Thanks again to Ford’s Wintergreens from your volunteer webmaster!

Bridgewater remains to be a very safe place to live, however theft seems to still be a problem.  When I was younger, I remember my skate board being stolen from our backyard one year and my mom has had stuff stolen from our front porch.  Now, just last weekend, a neighbor had his moped stolen from his driveway.  This moped is his only means of going to and from work and I think it’s despicable that someone would go into someone’s driveway and steal another’s property.  The police were called and a report was filed, but it has not yet been found or returned.  The moped probably didn’t have much of a resale value because it wasn’t top of the line, but it served it’s purpose of transportation and has really put a hardship on this gentleman on getting to work each day.  He has to depend on friends to take him back and forth.  I hope whoever stole it had a very good reason and needed it much worse than he did.

I have been busy the past week and now that I’ve finally got some extra time I wanted to share some excitement with my fellow “buzzers”…

Last Friday, November 7, I became a proud 1st time grandma…at 8:25 am, a beautiful girl…6 lbs. 12.6 oz, then at 9 am I saw a friend graduate from boot camp on Parris Island, SC, and he is now a Marine! I am so proud of both :))

Does anyone know when the new stop light will be operational.  It looks like they’ve been done for a while now, but they haven’t turned them on yet.  It’s not that I like stop lights, but trying to get out of there onto main street in the morning is a nightmare and this stop light will make it much easier.  Bridgewater traffic has become increasingly more congested over the years.  In the morning between 7:30 and 8:15, it’s almost impossible to make a left onto main street.  I don’t know what the solution would be to reduce this traffic, but I hope something happens soon.  What happened to the bypass around bridgewater for thru traffic??

What do you think the effect of Barack Obama’s election as U.S. president will be on us here in Bridgewater? Vote in the poll at the right and post your reply to the Buzz! (Click on the title “Local effect of Obama’s election” and post your response. You don’t have to be a registered user; where it asks for email, just enter guest@bridgewaterva.com.)

So, did we have a big turnout on Election Day in Bridgewater or not? I drove by early this morning and saw the long lines, but later heard there had been a machine problem. Later in the day, the wait was about 10 minutes and the line moved rather quickly. At 11:15 a.m. when I voted, the total count on the paper ballot scanner hit 1000. Still don’t know whether that indicates a big turnout, though.

The Christmas shop was open and it was wall-to-wall Christmas music at Walmart this morning (November 1). I know they’re worried about selling enough stuff this holiday season, but do we have to bulldoze Veteran’s Day and Thanksgiving in the process?

do you get many trick or treaters in your neighborhood. we do not get very many at all. about half the number we would get five years ago. it may just be that our neighborhood got gray. not as many kids. or is going around getting free candy somehow less fun than it was.

I have seen several dogs outside, hooked to a chain, and it really angers me. Especially with cold weather coming. How they survive the winter is beyond my comprehension. We, (most of us), as people, complain about the cold, so why should anyone expect an animal to live in it when we don’t go out in it ourselves unless we have to? Why would anyone keep a dog outside chained to a tree or something else? What’s the point of having a dog if you’re going to keep it outside? I find it ironic when I hear of an animal dying; the owner will say he/she was “my 2nd kid”, etc. yet they are chained outside. To those people I say…Do you make your kids live outside??  No, you feed them, keep them inside with you, all warm and protected from the harshness of winter, and give them plenty of love, each and every day. So, could you please explain to me how, then, that animal was your “kid”?