Interesting that CNN’s headline refers to Essex as a “rural” Vermont town. It’s actually very suburban and one of the most densely populated communities in Vermont -just outside of Burlington. This is where IBM’s Vermont chip mfg plat is. Rich was at our dentist in Essex Jct when this was beginning to unfold about a mile away. Nobody ever expects things like to happen in their back yard. But they happen everywhere.
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I was completely shocked to see the news tonight. Compared to where i live now, 40 minutes from Philly, Essex *is* rural.Essex Junction, however, is just a small town. 😉
Funny this is, we just got running water last week in Essex Junction.Still have to use the outhouse though … Yeah, yeah, so how am I typing this then?Believe it or not, they brought in high-speed internet before running water.Go figure.=)All jokes, aside, this happened just up the road from me … 3 minutes or so.Regardless of where you live or how densely populated it is, this sort of thing still gives you chills … He most certainly could have run through my back yard while I was letting my dog out.What gets me is that CNN will only cover things like murder and weathervane thefts up this way. Have the pipe bomb teenagers who set off some 11 bombs in a week made it to national news level yet?That’s almost even scarier than this.At least they called us a state.In talking with sales people on the phone before I’ve gotten things like "What country is Vermont in?"I wonder where _they_ were calling from.=)
I finally realized which school it was. I kept picture the one on 117 which is Essex Junction. This morning "128 and 15" finally clicked. I used to drive by that little school all the time when I lived in Fairfax.
Yeah, that’s the one.The one on Rt117 would have been even scarier.That’s right across from IBM and in front of that huge housing development up on the hill and literally 500 ft down the road from the town swimming pool and park.That interection of 128 / 15 is very busy most of the day too … Knowing how impatient we all can get trying to navigate without the Circ (unfinished interstate road), I can only imagine how crazy it was while they shut the whole area down while he was still on foot.Just wish it was something a little more positive that put this area on the national map.I can see it now in meetings … "So Tom, where do you live these days?"… "Essex Junction, VT" … "Wait, isn’t that that rural town in Vermont where that guy shot two people and then tried …. "The horror!=)