The Crier is the Newsletter of the Westbriar Civic Association, Vienna VA

I-95 Express Lanes Opening

12/19/14

With the I-95 Express Lanes project ahead of schedule, DOT opened the lanes and new ramps last Sunday, December 14th. The current rush hour HOV rules will be in effect until December 29th when tolling will start, but you will be able to try the lanes out for free in non-peak times before the 29th. These lanes will be similar to the I-495 Express Lanes, and will be free to use for buses, motorcycles, and HOV-3 vehicles. Please remember to use these lanes as an HOV-3 vehicle you will need an EZ-Pass Flex. All commuters should familiarize themselves with the new lanes by viewing this short video. For full details visit HERE.

Power Substation
in the works
12/5/14

The 234,000 volt power lines marching across Westbriar between Fairway and Westwood Drives is the Tysons' extension cord. To meet future demand, a new substation is needed which will draw power from these lines.

Virginia Electric Power Company has just filed a Development Plan with Fairfax County to build and operate a new substation located at the north edge of the Spring Branch woods. The present substation located on Tyco Road will continue to operate.

"Hello, this is
Microsoft calling....
Your computer has a
Problem and we are
here to help you"
12/1/14

Great! Except that none of it is true. He is not from Microsoft, your computer is fine, and his intention is to harm you.

Nobody from Microsoft, or any legimate company would ever place a call like that. It is a scam. It is a very lucrative scam that is being reported widely on the evening news and in the newspapers. Six Westbriar members have reported it to us in the last month.

If you play along a bit, he will have you hold the Windows key down and press the R key. This will bring up a dialog box, into which he will tell you what to type. This will take you to an error log, which will typically show many low level harmless self-correcting errors that your computer logs daily. This is to gain your trust, and convince you that your computer is malfuctioning.

Then, he will direct you to a web page where you will download software which gives him remote access to your entire computer, so he can "fix things." He will guide you through the steps to marry your computers together. Then, he politely says "Good bye." He will at leisure browse all your communications, banking, and everything else. You shouldn't store your passwords on your computer, but we all do that, and he knows it. He can and will go into your on-line bank accounts and clean them out.

When Microsoft calls,
HANG UP!

Fairfax Bond Issue Passes 11/5/14

The Transportation Bond Question passed yesterday. In our Hunter Mill District, 73.3% voted Yes, compared to 71.8% overall in Fairfax County. A number of civic organizations in the greater Vienna and Reston areas, including Westbriar, have been working on trail issues, especially into the Tysons area. Dan Benson, who is the Transportation Advisor at The Trails at Wolftrap HOA, thanks you all for the support.

Bicycles make a lot of sense, especially in an urban area. Compare two commuters going ten miles to work. One exhales perhaps a bathtub-full of CO2 into the atmosphere, over and above what he would exhale at rest. The other is the sole passenger in an SUV which exhales a garage-full of CO2 plus other green house gasses and soot over the same distance. The bicyclist is better for our environment, and is keeping fit. They both the share the roads for the most part. But this is not ideal. Sometimes motorists become impatient behind the slower bicycle. When there is contact, the bicyclist always pays the price. A comprehensive pedestrian and bicycle trail system is a vital part of the Tysons plan.

MAC PASSES
10/21/14

The Maple Avenue Corridor initiative officially became part of Vienna Town Code last night. MAC is a framework of zoning refinements, recommendations, and other incentives which will encourage compact, pedestrian-oriented development, consistent with preserving Vienna's unique small-town identity. The adoption of MAC is the culmination of years of work by various groups, and input over the summer from Vienna citizens.

Green Dot Scam:
Still Going Strong

We have covered this topic before, but this week's Vienna Police Reports shows no let up in this vicious scam. A Westbriar resident on St. Andrews Drive was a target, but fortunately he did not fall for it.

Ring! A telephone caller, who represents himself as being from the IRS, claims you owe back taxes. He directs you to go to a drug store and purchase a Green Dot MoneyPak card, usually for several hundred dollars. Once you do that, he directs you to read the numbers from the card. At that point he has the money, and you have nothing but a hole in your bank account.

A Rite-Aid employee called the police after a customer bought several thousand dollars worth of cards, and was actually talking to the scammer on his cell phone. The responding officer was able to intervene.

No legitimate government or utility company demands payment with these cards. A number of other ruses are used, such as your relative has been arrested in a foreign country and needs to be bailed out of jail. Or, you have won a huge prize. The variations are endless. If you receive any call of this nature, hang up and call the police.

Why do we bother with spelling?

Unlike chess, in spelling the middle game is irrelevant. All that matters is the right choice at the beginning and the end. The middle letters, which must be the correct set of letters, can be completely jumbled and the reader will not be confused. For example:

Arocdnicg to rsceearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pcale. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit pobelrm. Tihs is buseace the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

How can this little known God-given ability of the human brain be exercised to simplify, and perhaps improve, our lives?

Make the Ordinary Come Alive

Do not ask your children to strive for extraordinary lives. Such striving may seem admirable, but it is a way of foolishness. Help them instead to find the wonder and the marvel of an ordinary life. Show them the joy of tasting tomatoes, apples, and pears. Show them how to cry when pets and people die. Show them the infinite pleasure in the touch of a hand. And make the ordinary come alive for them. The extraordinary will take care of itself.

By William Martin