I was so glad that it was not snowing this time around…
7 minute read
January 31, 2011, 9:28 PM
This past Saturday, January 29, was the date of Plungefest, the 15th annual Maryland State Police Polar Bear Plunge. This was the third polar bear plunge that I had attended overall, and the second time at the Maryland event specifically.
Compared to last year, the basic event was structured the same way, but there were a number of details that differed significantly from last year. While the main sponsor tent was in the same location, the back end was different. Last year, the back of the tent featured live entertainment. Not so this year, as carnival games and multiple moon bounces filled that space. They also had one of those inflatable dancing men dancing up a storm back there:
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Categories: Events
Wednesday’s commute home was perhaps one of the most challenging driving experiences I’ve ever had…
9 minute read
January 28, 2011, 9:09 PM
It was also the most unpleasant, for that matter. Wednesday, January 26, you see, the DC area was hit by a fairly large snowstorm. I think the area got about eight inches of snow, which, by last winter’s standards would be just a dusting, but by this year’s standards so far was a major snowstorm.
I think my biggest mistake was that since I had the car with me (due to work-related errands that I needed to run), I decided to wait to leave until it was likely too late. So I ended up getting a six-hour snow tour around Washington DC, watching transformer explosions light up the sky and testing every nerve in my body in the process. And both the car and I came out just fine, thank you.
I left the office around 5:30 on Wednesday, sending a tweet to announce my departure:
I’m outta here: LSMFT @capitalweather: Heavy snow overspreading entire region http://wapo.st/gp0zP2
January 26 5:27 PM
It was in the early stages of being dark, and I figured I was doing fairly well. Traffic was heavy, but moving, albeit slowly.
Categories: Commuting, Driving, Some people, Winter weather
And if all goes well, we will have a freezing cold Potomac in winter for many years to come…
5 minute read
January 23, 2011, 10:53 PM
So Saturday was fun. Katy, a coworker of mine, and her roommate Ryan were going to be participating in a polar bear plunge at the National Harbor. It was sponsored by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN), a grassroots group that works to fight global warming.
Of course, the group would pick the coldest weekend of the season thus far to have the plunge. But at least it wasn’t snowing like it was for the Maryland plunge last year. The sky was clear. It was just really cold. But “really cold” is something I can handle, when you consider that I was wearing about three layers, plus warm boots and gloves.
For an event that opposes climate change, though, it’s kind of ironic to have it at National Harbor. It’s not very transit-accessible (only one bus route serves it), and as a result, from what I could tell, most people drove there. I suppose a better place might have been the Tidal Basin in DC, being closer to Metro. But the National Harbor seemed to work.
Categories: Events
This morning’s commute was a time that I would have liked to have been Luigi.
3 minute read
January 18, 2011, 11:08 PM
Yes, that Luigi.
You have to realize, you see, that when it comes to Mario games, I am in the minority on which one I like best. My favorite of the early Mario games is Super Mario 2, which, based on what I see on the Internet, most people don’t like. So when I say that today would have been a good Luigi day, I’m thinking of that version of Luigi. I’m talking about the one who kicks his legs when he jumps way further and higher than everyone else.
See, coming to work today, it was icy, being on the heels of a bout of sleet, snow, and freezing rain (in that order) overnight. And so getting to the bus and then to the office were both a little treacherous this morning. So if I were Luigi, you see, I would look like this going to the bus on a morning like this morning:
Categories: Commuting, Video games, Winter weather
My hand is now forced on a little bit of computer rehab…
< 1 minute read
January 16, 2011, 10:23 AM
And it’s off to Best Buy for me today. I’m doing a clean install of Windows 7 on my regular computer (the Netbook already has 7 on it), and so I’m taking this as an opportunity to archive stuff. However, when I went to start burning stuff to disc, my DVD-RW drive was so far gone that it won’t burn anymore.
I’d been having issues with both of the optical drives on this computer for a while, and now that I really need them, they won’t work. One drive doesn’t like to stay closed, and so you have to hold it closed to make it stay closed. And sometimes it doesn’t want to open, either. The other drive doesn’t want to open, meaning that in order to open it, you have to use the pinhole override. Then in opening, it makes some really strange noises before finally deciding to open. And it won’t burn anything. So both of them are a waste of time if they won’t do what I need them to do.
Thankfully, though, this isn’t something I hadn’t planned for. I was planning to replace the drives anyway for exactly this reason, and so this just forces the timeline.
Now, though, is when I wish Best Buy in Wheaton was already open. They do not open until 11:00 on Sundays…
Categories: Computer
So why don’t you just tell us what you really think?
2 minute read
January 11, 2011, 10:02 PM
So I drove to work today, and then going home, I put the phone in my GPS mount and did a Video Journal entry from the driver’s seat. And here it is:
Categories: Driving, Middle school, Video Journal, Wikipedia, Winter weather, WMATA
No better day for a Metro ride… without pants.
4 minute read
January 10, 2011, 11:30 PM
Yes, you heard that correctly. Without pants. See, Sunday was the day that Capitol Improv did its annual “No Pants Metro Ride”. It’s the exact same idea as Improv Everywhere‘s No Pants Subway Ride in New York City, but this was in DC, on our subway.
The group met up at Hancock Park in DC, which is on the next block from the north entrance to L’Enfant Plaza station. As demonstrated in this photo, we had a good amount of people participating:
