THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, July 14, 1996 TAG: 9607120162
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 03 EDITION: FINAL
LENGTH: 118 lines
Saturday, June 29
6:10 p.m. - A house for sale in a middle-class subdivision.
Two couples are being shown a four-bedroom house by an agent. The outside looks promising: it's attractive, the lot is bigger than others on the street, the grass is sodded and there's a nice view of a lake. They eagerly enter the home and start walking around. Their enthusiasm quickly turns to disgust.
Ink stains and ground-in dirt have damaged the carpet in every room. Bugs crawl across the kitchen floor. The walls need to be painted and the carpeting obviously requires replacement.
One of the women turns toward the agent, who is watching their reaction with a straight face.
``Why on earth would anyone put a house on the market in this poor condition?'' she asks. ``Did they have to leave right away and didn't have time to do anything?''
The agent shrugs her shoulders and grins wryly.
``You'd be surprised at how many people put their houses up for sale in this kind of condition,'' she says. ``Some sellers don't want to do any work. Then they wonder why their house doesn't sell.''
- Pam Starr
Monday, July 1
5 p.m. - Feeder road near 57th Street.
A gentleman, whose hair has recently gone silver, passes by a woman friend who is walking.
``I really like your hair that way,'' she says.
Without missing a beat, the man smiles and says, ``Thanks. It was really tough getting all the roots gray.''
- Gary Edwards
7:50 p.m. - Atlantic Avenue near A.R.E.
The license plate frame is blunt.
It reads: Get In. Sit Down. Shut Up. Hang On.
The personalized license itself is kinder and gentler: Pslm 25.
- Gary Edwards
Friday, July 5
7 a.m. - North End Recycling Center.
Yesterday, the shiny new white paper recycling bin was full of newspapers, magazines and flattened boxes. Stacks of papers were on the ground all around the bin.
This morning, it's a different story. Fourth of July vandalism has turned the shiny new bin into a sooty charred mess. Puddles of stained water and bits of burned paper are all that remain of the reams of paper that were stashed there to be recycled.
- Mary Reid Barrow
Saturday, July 6
8:30 p.m. - Virginia Beach Amphitheater.
Walter Becker of Steely Dan is introducing the members of this summer's touring version of the reconstituted 1970s legend of a rock band when he stops and directly addresses a member of the audience, illegally videotaping the show from one of the expensive seats down front.
``If you're going to record us,'' Becker says sardonically into the dark where the crowd sits, ``cover the telltale little red `recording' light on your camera with tape.
``It's part of the intelligence test,'' Becker deadpans as the crowd chuckles. Without further pause, he continues introducing the band.
- Matthew Bowers
Sunday, July 7
1 p.m. - Parkway Shopping Center.
The frame shop inside the Old America Store has some serious equipment: Table-sized razor mat cutters. Doorway-sized glass cutters. Pliers for breaking off cut glass. A bin for discarded glass shards.
Along with all the sharp tools and pieces of glass something else is within easy reach of the work table - an economy-size box of adhesive bandages.
- Matthew Bowers
Thursday, July 4
9 a.m. - South Plaza Trail.
Two enterprising youngsters are up early. Sitting in a lawn chair beside a table, a boy with freckles holds a cardboard sign as his lookalike younger sister, wearing red, white and blue, yells ``LEMONADE FOR SALE'' to passing motorists.
One car stops and orders two cups.
``That'll be 10 cents,'' says the boy, as he hands over two small Dixie cups full of lemonade.
``How's business today?'' the driver asks.
``This is our first sale today,'' answers the girl. ``But yesterday we made $5.25!''
A quick calculation reveals that the young duo sold some 105 cups of the sweet drink the day before.
The driver smiles, hands the duo a buck, instructs them to keep the change and drives away.
- Lori A. Denney
Wednesday, July 10
8 p.m. - Gas station and convenience store on Indian River Road.
An 18-wheeler pauses briefly and two young men carrying back packs jump down from the cab. They thank the driver, then scan the customers at the pumps.
Both are neatly dressed but tired looking. One approaches the driver of a pickup truck who has just finished fueling his vehicle. ``Pardon me, sir,'' the hitchhiker says, ``but I see you have Carolina plates. Are you heading in that direction and, if so, could we get a ride?''
``Nah,'' the pickup driver replies brusquely. ``I'm heading in the other direction.''
The young man apologizes for bothering him, then joins his traveling companion on the sidewalk in front of the store.
They watch as the Carolina driver guns his motor and leaves. His bumper stickers read: ``Protected by Smith and Wesson,'' and ``My other car was stolen.''
- Jo-Ann Clegg ILLUSTRATION: Staff photo by D. KEVIN ELLIOTT
Calm before the storm
While Bertha was still churning down below Florida, Erica Mullins,
7, and her sister, Brittany, 3, enjoyed the surf at the Oceanfront
Wednesday afternoon. The two girls were at the beach on vacation
with their parents Kim and Mark Mullins of Burlington, Ky. by CNB