From a listing in the Craigslist Free Stuff section:

Baby Donkey for to good home (sic)

Can you resist this little guy? I wonder how long I could hide him from my lovely wife. I think he would be a fine house pet except for the whole crapping everywhere thing.

Have you ever owned a donkey? How do you care for one? Will he eat my cat?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Taxi Meter

Originally uploaded by gr33ndata.

Forgive the dreadful pun, but it seems apt in the face of the DC Taxicab Commission’s decision not to make a recommendation to Mayor Adrian Fenty with regard to choosing between the meters and the zone system.

Personally, I think Meters are the only way to go. I want to be charged for how far I go, not some cockamamie map system that divides DC into arbitrary distances from the Capitol that only really exist to exist to benefit the congresscritters. Of course, the compromise seems to be to have all cabs fitted with GPS Meters that work within the zone system, but even that is a bullshit copout.

The Post quotes a cabbie: “We have here a commission that’s very confused, and it’s very sad,” said Abdulkarin Ahmad, a cabdriver.

Well, it’s good to know that the commission is just as confused as most of the cabbies.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Some people try to forget the tragic day of September 11, 2001 while others will always remember. No matter who you are or what you believe in, you will no doubt have a memory of that day etched in your mind. More than anything, it was a day that defined many things in our world.

In the days and months after the attack, our country pulled together and became united as one. Bickering subsided and people embraced each other as fellow Americans. Patriotism was reborn, and I remember people selling American flags on the street corners of L.A. for $10 showing that capitalism runs deep. George W. Bush stood with firefighters at Ground Zero showing strength and courage, perhaps the pinnacle of his career as president. People wore FDNY hats and t-shirts and donated millions to show support for those who lost their lives. America was reminiscent of times past.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading →

It’s September 11th, again. It kinda snuck up on me. I didn’t think about it all yesterday, it was just another day. I think we’re getting to the point where we can commemorate the events of September 11th, 2001, without having to spend all day dwelling on it. As my friend Jeff wrote this morning:

Eventually we’re going to have to get over 9/11.

Now, don’t get me wrong here. I’m not telling you to get over 9/11 the event. If you’re one of those people who’s still recovering from the trauma of that day, then man, you’ve got my support. Really. I was hit awfully hard by 9/11 even though I didn’t lose anybody close to me. I can only imagine how much worse it would be if I’d known somebody who died, or if I’d witnessed the tragedy with my own eyes. I’m the last person to trivialize the emotional impact of an event like that.

But sooner or later, we’re going to have to get over 9/11 the day. Sooner or later, it’s going to have to go back to being just another day.

We are going to have to get past the day, in order to heal. The lives that were lost that day were significant, they were folks just like you or me, going to their jobs and about their lives, and they were plucked from us by selfish bastards who felt their (admittedly bullshit) cause was more important than those lives. But we have to move on. We cannot dwell in sorrow, but rather we must push forward in their memory.

I’ll be glad when the 11th day in September is a just like the 10th or like the 12th.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I often wonder about the last moments of the passengers on Flight 93, diverted from San Francisco by hijackers aiming for Washington DC six years ago today.

I wonder in quiet moments before each of my flights, or in quiet panic whenever we make abrupt course changes, mid-flight. I wonder about all the “ifs” of that day that are unique yet common fears to anyone who flies.

But when I saw this headstone in Santa Clara, I started to wonder about a whole other set of people’s moments: the families of Flight 93.

To be David and Cathy, who buried their daughter Nicole just as she turned 21. To have that unimaginable pain and loss in such a public forum. The most personal and devastating mourning, a parent losing a child, now a national remembrance.

And now a personal one too. I cried when I saw her grave. I cry now typing this. I will cry again when I read this live.

For Nicole. For David and Cathy. For every 9/11 family.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s DC Photos

Good luck this morning if your commute involves 19th Street downtown.

The DC fire department has closed off the street due to what is rumoured to be a gas leak at a restaurant between L and M streets.

A moment of humor came to the traffic jam when the Fire Chief tried to get to the scene via 19th street southbound but was blocked by total gridlock.

Of course you might not find that funny if you are on the 19th street parking lot right about now.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

I was going to let it go. I wasn’t going to dignify the purchase of a butt-ass ugly purse for an ungodly sum of money with a blog post. But the more I think about it, the more I have to wonder who the hell spends more than I make in a year on a purse that’s not even attractive, but which is made of leftover scraps of other (mostly) butt-ass ugly purses?

Some woman in DC with more money than brains, that’s who.

At least the bag is pretty big, so there’s no mistaking it as this anonymous burner-of-cash carries it around. Be sure to point and laugh.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

No, I’m not a Redskins Fan riding high on an overtime victory, I’m a 49ers fan trying to figure out if my boys have a shot at a return to former glory. Chances are, we’ll just go 8-8, and maybe make the playoffs, but my barber back home in California seems to think they may find themselves in the playoffs. Me, I just wonder where I can catch a game in a friendly environment. Seems to me that since I kicked DirecTV to the curb last year, I get my rare Monday night game and the occasional game out of market. So, where’s the 49ers bar in DC? I know Grevey’s in Falls Church is the Bills Bar for DC. The Pour House on Capitol Hill is the Steelers Nation home in DC. But where can my Red and Gold get their game face on?

In related news, it turns out, DC is low on the tailgating list, probably thanks to some asinine tailgating policies at FedEx field. We barely outranked Green Bay, WI, whose outside tailgating temperature is probably barely above 20°F most Sundays after the middle of October. Instead, we’re left in the shadow of Charm City to the north, laughing at DC’s paltry 12th rank, while they took home the number 1. What is it about the Baltimore Ravens that just makes them a Tailgating Wonder? Well, according to the study, it’s income spent on TV products, so maybe I’m okay with all of that…

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

So last Friday over lunch I dropped by the Watergate Hotel Liquidation to see for myself what it would be like, and maybe snag some nice table lamps for the apartment. I walked over to the hotel, and with some directions from security, found the way up to the entrance, which was graced by an hour-long line of eager bargain hunters and Watergate gawkers. They were letting in buyers in groups of fifty, at irregular intervals depending on how many people were in the hotel at the time.

At the entrance I had to pay a $10 fee, but word is that the entrance fee was just crowd control for the first few days of the sale; from today onwards entrance is [supposedly] free. From there the group was directed to the lobby, where sample items like chairs, desks, armoires, beds, and other standard hotel room furnishings were on display, each with a tag showing a code number and price. Buyers were given order sheets, then were told to take note of what standard items they wished to purchase and in what quantities, that only a certain range of floors was open to the public, one-of-a-kind items would be individually marked, and payment could be made by cash or card at the concierge. Fixtures attached to the walls like bathroom vanities, toilets, chandeliers, and such were not to be removed, and could be ordered by code number and delivered later.

Floors 8-14 were open that day, but there were only two tiny elevators (and a service elevator which doesn’t go to the lobby) to serve the group of fifty, so I ducked into a back hallway, looked for an EXIT sign, and found the stairs. Broken light bulbs littered several steps, probably from past unfortunate buyers with hard-to-carry lamps. On the eighth floor I emerged into a dimly lit hallway, mostly empty but for the occasional buyer drifting from suite to suite, and a couple of delivery men bringing a large table to the service elevator.

About half of the rooms had been cleaned out of lamps and other small, easily-carried items. Most of the lamps lacked finials, but did all still have light bulbs. Very few armchairs were left. In one room a woman sat in an armchair and spoke quite loudly into her cellphone, “Honey, guess where I am? No. No. I’m AT THE WATERGATE HOTEL!! Yes! It’s great!”

After admiring the view from a few of the rooms, I finally found two working blue porcelain ginger jar lamps with shades — one with a finial and one without — and hauled them back down the stairs. They were not too heavy at first, but were rather bulky and difficult to carry, seeming to grow heavier and heavier as I descended. Back in the lobby, there was a bit of a queue for the concierge, but nowhere near as long as the entry line. The cashier was even nice enough to give me a spare finial. Price: $25 each lamp. These go for anywhere from $60 to $300+ each brand new.

After a long walk and a stopover at the office, the lamps are finally in our bedroom, making it much more home-like as compared to the old BB&B plastic desk lamps we used to have — as evidenced by this photo from my wife:

Thanks, Watergate Hotel Liquidation Sale!

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s DC Photos

Are you a nervous flier, one with white-knuckle grips on the seat rest during takeoff? Are you also religious?

Then the Dulles Airport Chapel is for you.

Honoring all faith traditions and open 24 hours a day for meditation, its the perfect place to reconnect with your gods before a long flight. It also has prayer sessions on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday for those in need of leader in religious rites.

Being an atheist, I don’t frequent the chapel’s multiple services, but if I were a believer, I would be in there praying to make 26 hours of flights without delay or disaster.

What would you pray for?

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

This photo doesn’t have much to do with Washington, but the second I saw it I was impressed. Flickr user krisetya captured a unique view of something that we see in our every day lives, turning the mundane into magic. The composition of this photo is great with the majority of the frame filled with a sea of Ikea shopping carts. The nondescript man in the middle is just what the shot needed to be complete. I find the lettering on the wall distracting and would have cloned it out, but to each photographer their own. I can’t tell if the color in this photo was changed in post processing, if the camera’s white balance was thrown off, or if that’s actually what the lighting looks like in the store. My other question is, who takes their DSLR to Ikea?! Regardless, it’s a job well done.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s DC Photos

This is the top of the only open Petworth Metro entrance this morning. The usual two escalators now just one with the left one under repair.

Up and down traffic has to squeeze past on one set of stairs to make morning destinations and the escalator repairmen have no timeline for fixing the situation.

And just what would be the situation if something happened in the Metrorail station at rush hour with only one escalator in one exit open for use?

I only hope we never need to find out.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

One of the things I love about living in DC is that I can go over to the Watergate just about any day of the week — yeah, that Watergate — and do my groceries at “Senior Safeway” (also known around this time of year as the “Student Safeway”), a relatively mundane grocery experience in the shadow of historic intrigue and infamy.

Now, however, a new Watergate shopping experience is open to Washington:

It’s a massive liquidation sale! While the hotel closes up for renovation till 2009, they’re getting rid of surplus desks, chairs, chests, armoires, sinks, tubs, toilets, cutlery, glasses, plates, pillows, four-poster beds and more, all worth anywhere from singles to thousands of dollars, heavily used by hundreds of guests, going for bargain prices. The sale runs every day of the week, Mon-Sat 10-7 and Sun 12-5, and there’s a $10 entrance fee to deter non-buying gawkers, but hey, isn’t it worth a Hamilton for the chance to get a piece of history? Or maybe a used desk for cheap? I saw a bunch of people carting off armchairs from there just this afternoon. Word is the bargains aren’t so great, but hey, Watergate!

Go for it! I know I will. Anyone been there yet? Score anything good?

More on this from WaPo, DCist, and DCBlogs.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

It’s that time of year again, or maybe it’s been that time of year for a while now and I’m just now noticing how many f*#!ing mosquitoes have been out lately. I’ll step outside for a 10 minute dog walk and come back bitten by about 5 of those little bastards. It’s too warm to wear jeans, and I’m not a big fan of bug spray, so what am I to do? Set my leg hair on fire? That trick only works once a year. I just hope I don’t die of the West Nile Virus.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Next Sunday is the last Sunday I’ll ever get to wake up to Stained-glass Bluegrass on WAMU. It’s been my morning routine for at least a year, and my morning tradition for far longer than that (I eschewed an alarm clock on sunday for a while), but no more. WAMU is changing their lineup to take advantage of the HD subchannels available to them. 88.5-1 will now be much as it is, talk radio with local shows by Kojo Nnamdi and Diane Rehm, as well as PRI and NPR programming. 88.5-2 will now be all-bluegrass, all-the-time, and 88.5-3 will be a BBC-based news station.

So, for those of us who haven’t yet found the $250 for the HD Clock Radio, Stained-glass Bluegrass is unreachable except via Internet Radio.

I applaud WAMU for taking the initiative to go HD, but it’s frustrating to be unable to receive the full depth of the programming that we once could receive.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Instead of complying with a judge’s order to make their controversial day-laborer center open to all who might need employ, the town is shuttering the center on the 14th. That’s right, soon, all those workers who were no longer hanging out in the parking lot of the 7-11, making a general wreck of the place, will be back at that same parking lot.

Closing the center does nothing to stop the underlying issue in all of this, it won’t lead to more arrests and deportations for illegal immigration, it won’t stop businesses from needing construction labor on a day-to-day basis, and it certainly does nothing for the town of Herndon itself.

The whole thing just pisses me off, honestly. Instead of coming to an amicable compromise, the city is doing the equivalent of gathering up its marbles, and shouting at the top of their lungs on the playground that you’re a cheater, cheater, pumpkin eater, and they’re taking their marbles and going HOME, dammit.

Who wins? No one. Who loses? Everyone. I fear that this is symbolic of the coming political campaigns from all the various camps running candidates for various offices, and that in search of total victory for one side, we will all end up losing in the long run.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s DC Photos

If you’re in downtown Washington DC, say at the corner of 18th and K Streets NW, take a moment and look up.

There you will see this banner on a building corner that tastefully and apolitically honors and mourns the American military personnel wounded or killed in the Iraq War.

More than any Code Pink fast, this very simple and somber symbol brings the war’s terrible cost to my conscious thought. Today’s count: 27,405 wounded and 3,706 killed.

Thank you, building owners of 1799 K Street NW, for your respect of those who are giving their blood, their lives, for their country. May you be lucky enough not to have family in either count.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Wayan’s DC Photos

Now I am not usually one to call anyone else out on spelling mistakes. Without spellcheck, my typing can be close to illegible. But I do have enough class to fix my mistakes when educated on things like “loose” vs. “lose”.

Not so with Malaysia Kopitiam at 1827 M Street NW. There a handwritten in ink sign says:

We need experience server (with knowledge of Asian or Malaysian Food). Apply within. Thank you

A sign corrected in pencil to read “experienced” by a passerby at least one rainy day ago, yet still left unchanged by the restaurant management.

I don’t know about you, but any restaurant too lazy to fix a simple sign doesn’t inspire my confidence in its attention to details like service. Or sanitation.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs

Here’s something you don’t see everyday on the C&O Canal in Georgetown: Lock 3 empty and the Canal Boat Georgetown on dry dock in Lock 2:

There’s a sign on the board by the visitor center citing towpath repairs as the reason for not having any canal boat tours for a bit. This, by the way, confirms McMullan’s canal tour conjecture as to what that ribbed structure is. I imagine the Blue Heron of Lock 2 isn’t too happy about this development; I haven’t seen him (her?) around there since the boat took over.

This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs