By Don
While I’m impressed someone managed to get this plate I think it would be more fun if it was being ironic, like on a minivan or something. As it is I think it’s more a contribution from The Department of Redundancy Department.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Carl Weaver
A coworker was recently conducting an interview and I couldn’t help overhearing the candidate using language I sure wouldn’t use when trying to make a good impression on someone. Yes, I go to an actual office a few days each week. Get off my case. It’s part of my socialization plan developed by Wayan, who thinks I should be getting some discipline and doing something with my life.
Last year I was in an interview and the person who was trying to recruit me cussed like a broke sailor at a cash-only liquor store. I was shocked but others I talked to later on seemed to take it as normal.
I know DC isn’t part of the polite South that I grew up in, but for crying out loud, shouldn’t we have some decency in formal settings? I would especially refrain from swearing during a job interview unless I really did not want the job. On the other hand, I once laughed out loud at something a prospective boss said, thinking it was so ridiculous that it must be a joke. Turned out he was just full of bad ideas.
So what’s up, DC? Is it part of the culture here to use such foul language during interviews?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
That is what these nannies screamed at me when I tried to take a photo of their very cool four-kid stroller, on 19th Street: “Photography is against our polices!”
What they, and many others fail to realize is people (including children) on a public street have been found by the courts not to have an expectation of privacy and their photograph can be taken and even published without their consent. Using such images of the public for purposes of general commentary and criticism is also well established, and supersedes any “policy” these nannies or their company has.
So no matter how much or how loudly they yelled, even pulling out the race card at one point, when on a public street they can’t stop me, or you, from taking a photograph of them or anyone else.
And this yet another example of when photography is NOT a crime and why you should join Metroblogging DC in our Silver Spring Photo Walk – a declaration of photographic freedom on the perfect day: July 4th.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Tom Bridge
When we got back from Chicago tonight, we weren’t the only folks flying into DCA tonight. However, the four flights that came into Terminal A in a short span of time ended up all sharing one luggage carousel, leading to a form of Lord of the Flies that I thought would not be possible in our civil society. Pushing, shoving, all manner of jostling of the persons in order to jockey for position closest to the maw of the carousel.
Ah yes, welcome home to DC.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Carl Weaver
It’s generally a really good or really bad thing to know a lot of police officers. For instance, I knew quite a number of officers in Durham, NC when I sold computers to the City of Durham a number of years back. I could go visit them, shoot the breeze, make a sale or two and know with some certainty that, should I need it, I had friends in the Durham PD who could vouch for me. That was good.
On the other hand, when I taught GED classes in Worcester, MA, my students were mostly kids who were constantly on the wrong side of the law and knew lots of cops from having been arrested multiple times. That was bad, at least for them, if good for society that they came into contact with the po-po on a frequent basis.
Since I have been in Arlington I have yet to meet any of the local police, although I have made friends at other law enforcement agencies. If I did know any of Arlington’s Finest, I would gladly buy them a beer, after reading this news story. After hours, of course.
From the Arlington County Web site:
The Arlington County Police Department tied for first place in a national traffic safety competition. The results of the 2006 National Law Enforcement Challenge were announced late last week. The ACPD tied with the Tallahassee, Florida Police Department for top honors among similar sized agencies (251-500 officers). Arlington was entered in the national competition after it won the Virginia competition in its size category.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading
By Wayan
Would you ever want to live here? These condos are right at the I-395 terminus at New York Avenue in DC.Right where a few thousand cars a day would drive by, or worse, idle. All that exhaust, heat, car tire soot.
I know I would not. And I know from experience. I used to live on 16th Street.
It was convenient. Yet noisy, dusty, and dirty. Nothing like the clean tranquility of Petworth.
But someone will buy one, someone will live here. Will that someone be you?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Continuing the musical Mt Pleasant theme, we now have a second band playing tonight.
Over at Rebecca’s its Boxy and the Movers kicking up old school rock and roll.
Too bad that Don isn’t here because dancing is about to start and he really cuts the rug. Now I have to bust a move and with my white boy shuffle complete with overbite, its gonna get messy.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Are you in need of a musical retreat today? Maybe a little latin flavor to your Saturday?
Then be in Mt Pleasant Square around 6pm as there is going to be a live band cranking out traditional Cuban music.
Just be sure you can dance. The Mt Pleasant crew can and will be there with swiveling hips and quick steps.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Max
If you’re fond of speeding or other traffic violations and you’re a Virginia resident, you’d best get your kicks before July 1st. According to a recent Washington Post article, not only will you be charged with the usual couple of hundred dollar ticket and fee, you’ll also be raped tagged with a “civil remedial fee” for all misdemeanor and felony traffic violations.
According to the Post:
“Say you are driving 78 mph on the Capital Beltway and a state trooper tickets you for “reckless driving — speeding 20 mph over.” You will probably be fined $200 by the judge. But then you will receive a new, additional $1,050 fine from the Old Dominion, payable in three convenient installments. So convenient that you must pay the first one immediately, at the courthouse.”
Ruh roh.
This new legislation is projected to bring in an additional $65 to $120 million to, among other things, “cover costs of snow removal, pothole repair and grass-mowing.” If that’s how much they’re paying people to mow grass, I’d gladly become the next Forest Gump.
So beware Virginians. It’s time to clean up your driving act. If you really want to speed or break some major traffic laws, get your DC resident friend to do it for you.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Carl Weaver
Even a poor pylon couldn’t escape the slipperiness from a recent rain. This poor little guy was at the Bethesda Metro stop, struggling to stand erect, like a turtle flipped on its back. At least its mission was not in vain, showing that even such a harbinger as it is subject to going ass over teakettle from time to time.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Back in mid-May I was wandering Metrorail and found a random odd device. I took this photo of it, what turned out to be a Metrorail air tester, and I was promptly stopped by a Metrorail station manager.
She asked what I was doing and when I politely explained my interest in all things mass transit, that I am a transit foamer, she laughed and let me go about my WMATA photographing ways.
Just the other day, Chip Py was not so lucky. He was harassed when trying to take photos of downtown Silver Spring. Remembering my Metrorail photography moment, I now realize how close I was to an incident and how lucky I was to be stopped by a sane Metro manager.
If you wander DC with a camera like I do, then you’ve had your share of close calls too.
And its time you share your desire to keep photographing this great city by joining Metroblogging DC in a declaration of photographic freedom, a Silver Spring Photo Walk to remind Washingtonians that photography is NOT a crime.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
If you’re trying to drive crosstown right about now, good luck.
There are at least five fire trucks converged on 19th and L Streets NW, completely blocking the intersection.
I didn’t see any smoke and the firefighters were not in too much a rush, so its probably a false alarm or low-level issue.
No matter, drivers will be issuing a few curses in the ensuing traffic jam.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Carl Weaver
Nor is it humus, for that matter. Tastes more like a bowl full of choking hazards. And none of this stuff sticks well to pita bread.
Seen at the Bethesda Farmers Market on Tuesday.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Walking down 19th Street this morning, I see we have a change in the passport office block of frustration. We now have crowd control lines reminiscent of the airport:
Just like premium passengers at Dulles, there are separate classes of passport applicants.
On the left are proletariat who are flying soon and yet have to wait over two hours to apply. On the right are bourgeoisie, with letters from their Congressmen and a few minutes wait for passport services.
Don’t expect those lines to get any shorter anytime soon. Even though Congress postponed new passport rules for at least six months yesterday, the WashPost reports that the State Department is still buried under applications:
Although the State Department has taken steps to improve passport services, it will be playing catch-up for the next few months. Officials do not think they will get back to the regular processing time of six weeks until the end of the year.
Oh and good luck calling in or emailing with questions. As I found with three weeks of busy or dropped calls, the State Department can’t even answer its phones its so overloaded:
The number of daily calls has varied greatly in the past month, ranging from 330,000 to 880,000, officials said. Because of the volume, the department estimates that 46 to 80 percent of callers may be unable to speak with a customer-service representative.
Or in other words, “Welcome to the madness, have a nice day!”
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Wayan
Do you, like I find automated glitches at Home Depot when you use the self check-out lines? Yet do you hate to wait in the regular lines?
Then this man is your savior.
He runs an automated checkout cart down the line of folks waiting to leave, tallying up your hardware buy while you are in line to pay. When done he gives you a card which you give to the cashier.
With that card, she then concentrates on getting your money, not ringing up your goods. Specialization & automation that speeds the line.
Don’t know about you, but I like this Home Depot automation.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Amélie
For the beer snobs in the audience, or just folks who think they need an adult popsicle for the summer, Rustico in Alexandria is now in hot water with the Virginia ABC over their Beersicle creations. Although known by patrons, it recently gained a wider attention due to coverage by AP, which was the reason for ABC coming down on them.
The local “beer lists” have been in a tizzy over the events, and possible review of the archaic liquor laws in Virginia in regards to dispensing of alcoholic beverages:
The company put out a press release, and an Associated Press reporter placed a call to the Virginia Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control, asking whether a frozen beer would pose any regulatory problems.
Philip Disharoon, special agent in charge of the Alexandria division of the Virginia ABC, said beer must be served in its original container, or served immediately to a customer once it is poured from its original container.
“If we’re talking about taking a beer and pouring it from a bottle or a keg into some sort of mold and freezing it, then that product is not legal,” Disharoon said. He planned to send an agent to investigate.
I wonder if this also puts the kibosh on sauces that are reductions of wine and other libations? This is almost as bad as the law preventing you from carrying “concealed” ice cream in your pocket in Alabama, West Virginia and Kentucky, and in Kansas, illegal as a topping on cherry pie…
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Carl Weaver
Does anyone else think it’s funny that those West Virginia banners are there at Metro Center? At first, I thought it was a bit weird but a pretty efficient use of space and a good idea to leverage all the bare wall space possible for ads. After all, we don’t get bombarded enough with ads while riding the Metro.
I went to the advertised website and the after half a minute of loading, the site played a video of some half-naked guy shaving in the bathroom and then mysteriously appearing in the wilderness. That’s a little scary. I don’t want that to happen to me. No thanks, WV.
The funny part is that their slogan is “Answer the Call.” I have heard that phrase used numerous times to refer to using the toilet. I wonder if they thought about this before adopting the phrase. No doubt, some junior guy will get fired over this and some senior guy, who indeed approved the message, will owe someone a favor for that.
In the meantime, it’s a little ironic that WV wants us to answer the call and at the same time yanks that guy out of a place where he can comfortably do it.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Don
It’s pretty obvious that kd lang likes what she does. She walked out onto the stage with a bounce in her step and a grin on her face that I might be able to replicate if – and my apologies to my darling girlfriend on this one – you told me I’d won the lottery and never had to work again, and hey, by the way, Drew Barrymore is waiting outside in a limo to take you off for a long weekend in Bermuda and ****REDACTED****.
Sorry.
Anyway, lang clearly is tickled pink by what she does and it comes through in her performance. She sung a little over a half-dozen songs and interspersed them with some brief patter and a fair amount of playful dancing. That’s not to say she doesn’t move well, but there was a definite sense of whimsy in it.
In five years of seeing Lyle Lovett’s annual show at Wolf Trap this is the first time he’s had an opening act, but I’d say she was a good lead in. My only disappointment is that they didn’t do a song together.
That grin, by the way? Just as big and as firmly in place when she walked off at the end as when she came on. We all should be so thrilled by what we do.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
By Don
…since there were no shortage of you out last night for Lyle & kd lang.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
So there I was, contemplating what to post about now that our server is back… I thought I’d write about the Walter Reed security guard who fired his gun… at the OTHER guard this morning, but then realized that there was no news about why he did it. That’s not nearly as entertaining as I hoped. But then I found something better…
Nathaniel Rabinowitz, age 60, of Logan Circle, has a two-story ladder attached to his house. Which wouldn’t be newsworthy, except apparently burglars have been using Mr. Rabinowitz’ ladder to climb up onto his roof, follow the roof to the neighboring units, and break into his neighbors’ houses through the skylights and steal their stuff- two of his neighbors have been robbed just this month. And yet, Mr. Rabinowitz refuses to remove the ladder, because he likes to climb up onto his roof and feed birds.
Oh wait, it gets better.
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs Continue reading
By