When things go so well, you wonder where in the ointment that we’ll finally find the fly…
7 minute read
June 23, 2005, 10:37 PM
As anyone who read my away message on Wednesday saw, I was in the DC area. And things went smoothly. Very smoothly. The kind of so-smoothly that makes you start to wonder where the kinks are going to show up. I got up right on time before my alarm clock (unlike the late start I got last time), and got out without a hitch. My cruise control held up for the entire trip (it’s been known to cut out from time to time), and I encountered no major traffic jams on eastbound I-66 coming in. Usually I encounter traffic at around milepost 41 (just past the Haymarket exit), and it usually doesn’t clear until milepost 46 (just before the Manassas exit). Clear sailing right on in. Traffic only really got thick right around the Nutley Street exit, which is the one I take to access the Metro station. Beyond Nutley Street, and approaching the Beltway, however, was where the traffic was. I’ve often contemplated skipping Vienna and driving a few miles further to park at West Falls Church (where I noticed the new parking garage was underutilized), but all that traffic kept me at Vienna.
By the way, I currently am comfortable in driving to two Metro stations: Vienna and Franconia-Springfield. Vienna of course is my Metro station of choice. I always start at Vienna. Out of all my trips to DC, I’ve only not originated at Vienna twice (and one of those is only half a non-originate at Vienna). Once was my first trip ever to DC, back in 1994 at the age of 13. Our family went with friends, and we stayed over at another friend’s house. We ended up driving around to Pentagon City in Arlington, interestingly enough, and parked at the parking garage at Pentagon City Mall. That’s how I learned of Pentagon City Mall’s existence, and I still go there all the time, as I love Pentagon City, though for differing reasons over the years. I used to actually seriously shop there, but now the mall is more like a hangout, where I spend about $5 there to get something quick to eat and get a newspaper and then park myself somewhere to enjoy it all. I have no idea how to get to Pentagon City by car (I wasn’t driving), but could probably figure it out.
Continue reading…A very hot day in DC!
7 minute read
June 9, 2005, 9:28 PM
What a hot day it was on Wednesday. But it was a fun day, though I tried to spend as little time as possible in the sun, and outside for that matter. A good day to go railfanning for most of the day, as Metro’s air-conditioned in and out, with varying degrees of effectiveness.
But first, some outdoor photography, with an emphasis on vertical photos, so that they would be easy to use in the photo feature on the main page. I spent a little time downtown, since I wanted some new urban photography for use on the Web site. I was successful here, and so I got off at Farragut West and walked down to Murrow Park, across the street from the World Bank. Last time I was down that way was for A16, when Sis and I went to a big demonstration.
This particular day, it was, as expected, normal. I got a few pictures, and then slipped into the Starbucks across the street from the World Bank. Now you want to know what was downright bizarre? Wherever there was a fire alarm strobe, there was not one, but two. A Gentex strobe was to the left, and a Wheelock strobe to the right. Like this:
I can’t believe it’s been a year…
3 minute read
June 5, 2005, 8:09 PM
I can’t believe it’s been a year since the June 5 anti-war demonstration sponsored by ANSWER Coalition. I can’t get over that it’s been that long.
Goodness… I remember that day like it was yesterday. I remember being excited, but a little bit nervous, since it would be my first time as a true participant, vs. the previous one where I’d stayed on the sidelines the whole time.
I wrote about the June 5 demonstration in the Journal back in June 2004, and it’s good reading. I still regret packing Big Mavica for that demonstration, as all the photos I took were taken with my cell phone. It was a good day temperature-wise, as the rain that fell that day cooled things off a bit.
After the march, I found myself near the Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan station. I visited a nearby McDonald’s, where other participants in the march went afterwards, and I also helped out a girl who was in tears because she was stranded by her boyfriend in DC, hundreds of miles from home (she was from the Virginia Beach area). I provided comfort, and help. She was nice. I hope things worked out for her in the end.
Categories: Activism, DC trips, Driving, Video games, Walmart
My adventure in College Park…
9 minute read
May 26, 2005, 7:51 PM
I went up to the DC area today, and, in an unusual twist of things, spent NO time above ground in downtown Washington DC.
Arriving at Vienna, one thing I quickly noticed in the North Garage was that the contractor had completed work on the first section of the garage to undergo rehabilitation, and had moved to the second section. I’m not quite sure what they did in rehabilitating it, since it looked exactly the same as it did before. Who knows. On the top level, a pickup truck was parked so badly in its space so as to make the opening for the space next to it a little too close for comfort. Thus there was this very attractive looking empty space, but it was a little too tight of a squeeze to get in there. I ended up having to wait for the guaranteed spaces to open up at 10:00, and then parked on the third level.
Getting on the train at Vienna, I rode a mixed consist of Breda 4000-series cars and CAF cars. Leaving the station, the 4000s were in front, and the four CAFs followed behind. The operator out of Vienna knew me from a previous trip.
Categories: College Park, DC trips, Friends, Howard Johnson's, WMATA
I finally settled my conscience in regards to a March 16 incident…
2 minute read
May 23, 2005, 10:50 PM
I finally settled my conscience regarding a run-in with Metro’s contractor on March 16 at Stadium-Armory. You may know that Metro has Lunchtalk Online chats twice a month. Last Friday’s chat was with Richard White, Metro’s General Manager/CEO, as well as the two new Red Line managers, BJ Jones and Bob Hester, on improving the Metro system.
So I posted a message entitled Safety practices of Metro canopy construction contractor, where I discussed what happened on that day. Mr. White responded that they would follow up with the contractor, which made me feel much better about the whole incident.
By the way, I originally wrote about this incident in my Journal, in the entry dated March 17, 2005 at 5:37 PM, entitled “All in all, it was a good trip to Washington!”
Categories: WMATA
There was some unexpected excitement when I went to Washington DC this time…
9 minute read
May 12, 2005, 10:10 PM
Yeah, this was not your average Washington DC trip on Wednesday, though not like I noticed anything different aside from the buzz of the people throughout the city.
Normal start, though. Get up, go on up to DC, and find a parking space at Vienna. This time, I actually found a pretty good one, though. As luck would have it, a woman was leaving the parking garage as I was hunting, and so I got a parking space on the top level of the garage, no more than fifty feet from the elevator. Very nice parking. I saw her walking towards the cars, and I said, “Where are you heading?” She pointed to the car, and I positioned myself to get into place. She pulls her car out, and mine goes in.
Then from there, I did my usual Rosslyn thing, and then went back into the Metro right around noon or so.
Meanwhile, in DC, the fun began, as air controllers noticed a small Cessna plane flying into restricted air space over the White House and such. This led to evacuations of the Capitol, the White House, the Supreme Court, and a few other government buildings.
Categories: DC trips, Photography, Washington DC, WMATA
Chucks, Metro, and Home Depot
6 minute read
April 29, 2005, 3:05 AM
First of all, on Monday, my off-day, I managed to get a lot accomplished. I went to the bank, to the Toyota dealership to get windshield wiper inserts (you can only get them there since the front wipers are so large), and also to Staunton Mall for shoes. I had said before that I was going to make my Airwalks last through A16 before I replaced them. A16 was about nine days past when I went shoe shopping.
Now do you remember a few weeks ago, in the April 15 Journal entry, which is six entries above this one (if you’re reading this on the archived page) or below this one (if you’re reading this on the Journal main page), when I tried on the Chucks while I was down in Blacksburg? Well, I looked at the photo that I took with the cell phone from that time, and decided to give the Chucks another try-on. So I tried them, and what do you know – I liked them! I ended up getting myself a pair, though I didn’t like that I couldn’t lace them all the way up.
So this led me on a bit of a wild goose-chase around Staunton. In pursuit of long enough shoelaces (the Chucks came with 63″ laces, which only left an inch on each end when laced to the top – I needed 72″ laces), I went to Super Shoes, Wal-Mart, Athletic Annex, Hibbett Sporting Goods, A&N, and even Claire’s (it was a long-shot). After all of them, I came up empty handed. So I had my too-short laces, and figured out how to make them work for now. I looked at a file photo from the Million Worker March of a person wearing Chucks, and laced them that way. I ultimately found the long laces I needed online, at a place called The ChucksConnection. They are currently in transit. Once they show up, I’ll lace all the way up.
Categories: DC trips, Driving, Retail, Shoes, Toyota Previa
I still don’t understand…
< 1 minute read
April 21, 2005, 4:51 PM
I still don’t understand how I managed to get a screw lodged in my tire on Tuesday. I must have run over it somewhere between Wal-Mart and home on Tuesday, since the tire was in good shape when I went to work on Tuesday, and it was in good shape when I left work on Tuesday. And I had no problems on the ride home. Then on Wednesday morning leaving for work, the tire was deflated.
So we ended up rearranging the cars in the driveway, and I took Sis’s car to work. Her car has air conditioning. My car, you see, had air conditioning at one time. It no longer works, along with a whole bunch of other things on that car. Once I find a real job in DC, getting a new, smaller car is on my list of priorities.
Still, on my lunch break today, I took the car around to Tire and Lube Express (TLE), and I picked it up after work. I got a new tire on it, and so now the car is happy again. It was also nice to not have to walk practically halfway across town to get to my car after work, which is where associates normally park for work. I just paid for my tire and then slipped out through TLE.
Meanwhile, one of my coworkers told me on Tuesday that I was driving slowly coming to work. And this on a day when I was pushing it on speed. Thus now we have nicknames for each other. I say, “Hey, speedy!” and they say, “Hey, slowpoke!” I’m just tickled by the whole thing, since I was in a hurry that particular morning that I got told I was driving slowly.
So all in all, life is interesting.
Categories: Driving, Toyota Previa, Walmart
Amazing what bad press will do…
< 1 minute read
April 17, 2005, 10:50 PM
Seems that after the Washington Nationals got some bad press due to their decision not to pay for extra Metro service, the DC Sports Commission stepped up to the plate and agreed to keep Metro running. And a spokesman for the DC Sports Commission, according to the article, “insists there will be a deal in which the Nationals agree to cover any costs.”
I learned about this just moments after putting out the Journal entry about A16, where I discussed, among other things, “corporate welfare”. As long as the Nationals actually pay for the extra service that their events require, I’m satisfied. Though that will evaporate if the Nationals don’t pony up the funds, since all that this move does is take the cost of extra service out of Metro’s hands and move it to the DC Sports Commission, which is also a governmental agency – an independent agency under the DC government, but a government agency nonetheless. And I’m not particularly fond of tax dollars going to subsidize professional sports.
I’m all for the Nationals, as long as DC doesn’t sell its soul for them.
A16… and what a day it was!
13 minute read
April 17, 2005, 10:15 PM
April 16, 2005 was definitely an interesting day for all involved. It was on this day that a large demonstration against the World Bank and International Monetary Fund was planned. As is the usual case with days that I go to big demonstrations, I fit the trip into the framework of my regular trips to Washington DC that I make every two weeks or so. The big difference on this trip, though, was that I took my sister with me. I normally don’t take anyone with me when I go on my DC trips. It’s just me. Last time I took anyone to DC with me was when Mom and Sis and I went to Washington DC on August 9, 2003, when we did my A Day in DC photo set. Since then, I’d met both Dad and Mom on trips to Washington DC in April 2004 and July 2004 respectively, but since our agendas were so different, each made their way up to DC separately.
So at the early hour of 5 AM, Sis and I set off for Washington DC, but not before the car gave us trouble starting up. Don’t know what caused that, since it was working fine the day before, and also worked fine on the rest of the trip. So who knows. On the way up, we made my usual stops – one at the Sheetz in Mt. Jackson, and once at Wal-Mart in Manassas. Sis got to give the self-checkouts in Manassas a whirl, and we got a shot of that:
Categories: Black bloc, DC trips, Friends, WMATA, World Bank
Stand to the right!
2 minute read
April 11, 2005, 11:55 PM
Interestingly enough, a post made on Metroriders made me think about something that I noticed when Katie and I went to Lynchburg and Roanoke last Wednesday.
First of all, the post is here.
Now… so you know the background information, the unwritten rule of etiquette on Metro escalators is to stand to the right, and walk to the left. Tourists in DC are the biggest violators of this bit of Metro etiquette, though we will cut them a little (very little) bit of slack for being from out of town and not knowing DC Metro etiquette. But if you ride Metro, if you’re just riding the escalators, stand on the right side so that those walking the escalators can pass you.
I realized that I had internalized the unwritten “stand to the right” rule when Katie and I were at Valley View Mall in Roanoke. Valley View Mall is a two-story mall, and several sets of escalators link the two levels. I got on the escalator first, and immediately found the right side of the escalator without even thinking about it. Katie, on the other hand, kind of stood wherever. She’s never ridden the Metro before, so she’s never needed to put “stand to the right” into practice. Still, when I saw Katie standing in the middle-to-left part of the escalator, I encouraged her to stand to the right because that’s what you’re supposed to do on the escalator. Then I realized where I was. I wasn’t in Washington. I was in Roanoke, and more than 300 miles from a Metro station.
Still, I stood to the right nonetheless. It made me feel better.
And remember – if ever you go to Washington DC, stand to the right and walk to the left on the escalators, or you’ll leave some very aggravated Metro riders in your wake.
Today was a Monday, and there was no mistaking it for anything else but a Monday.
2 minute read
April 11, 2005, 9:45 PM
Now I know why Garfield hates Mondays so much. This particular Monday seemed out to get me. Two significant occurrences happened today.
The first was my shoes. Now, since it’s gotten warmer out, I’ve switched from the Airwalks to some Faded Glory sandals, which I normally wear with socks. Today, I was wearing the sandals. And a piece that holds the top of the sandal together near the toe gave out as I was going to my break. Thankfully, that had an easy quick fix, and an easy permanent solution. The quick fix was to borrow some tape from the bike assemblers. My coworkers suggested duct tape to fix it. I couldn’t find any. So I used masking tape. It held until my lunch break, when I could make a permanent fix. On my lunch, I got another pair exactly like them off the shelf and exchanged them. Problem solved. Hopefully that first pair was just a fluke, and that these will go the distance.
The second thing to go wrong involved the bag spinners at the cash registers and a gallon of milk. I guesstimated how much space I had on top of my spinner, and was wrong. Thus I accidentally shoved a gallon of milk off the top of it, where it bounced off the bottom of the spinner, and then hit the floor. There, the container was compromised, sending milk all over the floor. Thankfully, it was a slow day, plus it spilled into an open area, and so no one was hurt, and nothing was damaged aside from the milk container. Still, I had no idea that a gallon of milk could go so far. But three of us managed to get the spill under control.
Categories: Shoes, Toyota Previa, Walmart
All in all, it was a good trip to Washington!
7 minute read
March 17, 2005, 5:37 PM
My first DC trip since the operation went very well, aside from the two incidents that happened that I told you about in that post I made from the Infoshop.
As I’ve said on here before, timing during the week is a balancing act, and it also takes a bit of luck. The reason that timing is important is twofold. First off, I can’t use an all-day pass before 9:30 during the week. So if I arrive way before that time, if I want to go anywhere, I have to use my SmarTrip and pay full fare. Secondly, there’s parking. I like parking in the North Garage at Vienna because it’s close to the station, and considering that I usually arrive at Vienna right around when Metro is closing for the evening, I feel more comfortable being closer in. But with it being choice parking, it fills up quickly. So if all the regular parking spaces fill up, I can’t park until 10:00 when the reserved spaces open to the public. There have been times when I can slip right into a space. There have been other times when I end up having to circle the garage for 20 minutes waiting for the reserved spaces to open up, since by the time I get there, once you’re in the lot or garage, you can’t leave without paying by SmarTrip.
On this particular day, Metro had posted a sign outside the North Garage saying that all regular spaces were full, and only reserved parking was available. To me, that’s a sign that is really saying to come back at 10:00 for parking.
As you can tell, there was no DC for me today…
3 minute read
February 24, 2005, 11:34 AM
If 2005 is the year of bad luck in the DC category, I’m going to be really mad. Out of a total of five planned visits to Washington, I’ve made a total of three, and one of them had a problem.
For the first DC trip of 2005, I overslept. As a result, I was 90 minutes behind where I wanted to be. Somehow, though, I managed to shorten that from a 90-minute delay to a 60-minute delay, mostly through shortening and elimination of my pit stops on the way up. Other than that, it was a good day.
Then the next trip was J20. Except for encountering some snow on the way home (and I was expecting this), that trip was absolutely flawless beyond my wildest dreams.
My third trip, as I mentioned in this venue in late January, was supposed to be with my friend Katie from work. There is a good reason why I discussed it, the day of the event came, and then you never heard about it again. Reason is that we didn’t go. That trip was cancelled due to my having an emergency come up.
Categories: Charlottesville, Computer, DC trips, Transit
What would you say if it was me behind the wheel of your transit bus?
4 minute read
February 21, 2005, 1:42 AM
What would you say? Well, I can’t say you’ll be seeing me driving a bus any time soon, but I did get someone to take a picture of me behind the wheel of a Harrisonburg Transit bus on Friday. That will be my cover photo for March on the site.
Otherwise, though, photographing in Blacksburg on Wednesday turned out to be quite successful. I got a whole load of bus photos, and also various other non-bus photos. Plus I got to eat dinner with my sister, which was nice.
I also discovered that Coca-Cola is coming out with a new flavor – Coca-Cola with lime. This is regular Coke, with the lime flavoring. This is NOT a diet soda! This is regular Coke. I tried it. It’s got a good flavor. It’s not like Pepsi Twist. This is like Vanilla Coke – it’s there, but it’s not obnoxious, and you’d think that the two had been together for ages. Pepsi Twist honestly tasted like Pepsi with some strange-tasting lemon flavor in it. Only place I’ve found the new Coca-Cola with lime so far is the Wal-Mart in Salem, where I stopped to make a pit stop on my way down. I’m sure it will be around elsewhere before too long.
Otherwise, I have confirmed that my sister is coming with me to DC on April 16! Though it might be more appropriate to say “A16”, considering what we’re going to a big demonstration on third-world debt. This will be my sister’s first big DC demonstration! Awwww…
Categories: Black bloc, Food and drink, Harrisonburg, JMU, Retail, Transit