The Counter-Inaugural…
17 minute read
January 21, 2005, 11:10 PM
On January 20, 2005, George W. Bush was inaugurated as President of the United States for a second term. While many were in Washington to cheer Bush on, others were in Washington to demonstrate against the Bush administration. I was with the latter group. We did not agree with the Bush Administration’s policies, and were out there voicing it.
I actually got up for this event at midnight. It turned January 20, and I was up and running. I left the house at 1 AM, and, after having to turn around a few miles out because I forgot some stuff, I was off again for real. I made it to the Sheetz in Mt. Jackson for breakfast at 2 AM, and, realizing that I was WAY further ahead than I anticipated, I decided to eat in rather than eating on the go, which I usually do. Not bad. And then we were off!
Next stop: Wal-Mart in Woodstock for some “protest supplies”. Namely, bottled water. So I bought a 12-pack of Aquafina for possible later use. And we continue, on to Vienna.
Continue reading…Categories: Anti-war, Black bloc, DC trips, WMATA
And now, on my way to Washington DC at this extremely insane hour…
< 1 minute read
January 19, 2005, 10:38 PM
If you can imagine this, I’m going to try to get to Washington a full four and a half hours earlier than usual today. The reason is because it’s Bush’s second inaugural, and I will be attending a few counter-demonstrations today. I call it the we-hate-Bush crowd.
I wonder if I’ll run into Mrs. Weekley, my high school government teacher (and GPOS 225 professor at JMU by virtue of AP credit) while I’m up there. She told me at Wal-Mart that she was going, and that is what sealed the deal for my going to the inaugural protests, even though we won’t be going together. I wonder if Mrs. Weekley’s planning on going to the ANSWER-sponsored events, or if she’s going to the march by DAWN. I don’t know, but I do know that ANSWER has fallen out of favor with a number of people, and even got booed at the Million Worker March. I’m going to the DAWN events.
I also wonder if Bush’s car will get nailed with eggs again this year, since that came up a few times in discussion with coworkers. Speaking of coworkers, I got “mixed reviews” on this demonstration, even from some of the we-hate-Bush crowd. I guess because it is the inauguration, and thus not just a “regular” demonstration such as J5 or the Million Worker March.
And the following Metro stations will be closed at various points in the day to “accommodate the security precautions related to the inauguration, the parade, and inaugural balls”: Smithsonian, Archives-Navy Memorial, and Mount Vernon Square/7th Street Convention Center. A railfan friend of mine was amazed that Federal Triangle was not also closing.
Today was a busy Saturday…
3 minute read
January 8, 2005, 7:28 PM
Yes, this was a busy day today. Though not nearly as bad as pre-Christmas, mind you. Still, this reinforces the point that I cannot stand the express lanes – the “20 items or less” lanes where every other customer comments about that “rule”, getting on my nerves in the process, and the fact that the customers put their items on the edge of the counter without fail. And the more delicate and breakable they are, the closer they put it to the edge. Then there are the debit reader machines. If you’ve ever paid with a card at Wal-Mart, you’ll know that when you’re finished, the machine displays “ask cashier to press debit key” or “ask cashier to press credit key”. And so I hear a hundred times a day from customers, “Press the credit key” or “You need to press the credit key”. I don’t think that they realize that I can see what method they’ve used without their interaction. I so wish Wal-Mart would change that message to something else, like “Thank you” so that I don’t have to be told by umpteen customers how to do my job like I’m an idiot.
Anyway, end of rant.
Meanwhile, I need to make an appointment with the doctor for a repetitive-stress injury that I got around Christmas that I had hoped would go away on its own. So it hurts in both wrists to scan some items. And unlike some people, I’m not out for blood. I’m just concerned about getting better. That’s all.
Pentagon City… explored!
5 minute read
January 5, 2005, 4:13 PM
Well, I went to Washington as planned on Tuesday. And I had fun! First of all, I accomplished my official goals for the trip. Those were to pay a visit to the Infoshop at 9th and P Streets NW, and explore Pentagon City. And those went well.
Now for the story.
I overslept this time! I’m just like, aw, crap! when I looked at the clock. True, I had no definite schedule, but still, parking can be tricky. But I still managed to snag a parking space in the North Garage at Vienna, on the top level like I like it. And I was somehow able to turn 90 minutes late into 60 minutes late. That takes talent.
Once I got onto the Metro, I rode in to Rosslyn, and caught my read of the Express. And then I caught Breda 4058 at Rosslyn, to head into Washington.
Roanoke and Lynchburg…
6 minute read
December 5, 2004, 1:43 AM
I just have to say what a trip it was… on my off day I traveled in a big loop. Traveled from Stuarts Draft over to Charlottesville, then down to Lynchburg, across to Roanoke, and back up to Stuarts Draft.
I started out taking a bit of a back way to I-64, which meant I took Route 610 from its origin about a mile or so away from my house to Mount Torrey Road in Sherando. This took me through Lyndhurst and on into Waynesboro (where it becomes Delphine Avenue), where I met up with I-64. So I took I-64 eastbound, to Exit 118A. This took me over the mountain, and to the first Charlottesville exit, which landed me on US 29 southbound. As you can see, Charlottesville was just a hub for me. The place where I changed direction.
Actually, I went too far east to be most efficient. The most direct route would have been to get off I-64 at Exit 99, which is Afton, at the top of Afton Mountain. Travel eastbound a few miles on US 250, and then take VA 6 down the mountain into Nelson County and meet US 29 at the end of VA 6. But this was a road trip, with the drive being half the fun.
So I took US 29 from I-64 near Charlottesville. Boy, that’s a lot of undeveloped space around there going south. Very scenic, though. Rode US 29 through Albemarle County, into Nelson County, and into Amherst County. I got to experience a traffic circle in Amherst. Funny thing about the Charlottesville-to-Amherst (as in Town of Amherst) leg of the trip was that you’d have lots of empty space, then all of a sudden, boom. A store. Then more open space. Then boom, a Food Lion in a full strip mall in what seemed like the middle of nowhere.
Categories: Charlottesville, Driving, Lynchburg, Retail, Roanoke, Toyota Previa
Happy Thanksgiving!
9 minute read
November 26, 2004, 12:32 AM
Hope that everyone’s Thanksgiving has gone well, and that everyone’s full with turkey, stuffing, and all kinds of other tasty foods. I am, that’s for sure.
On the day before Thanksgiving, however, I went to Washington DC, mainly to see the newest Metro station – New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U. Nice Metro station, by the way (we’ll be revisiting this point later).
Since it was the day before Thanksgiving, I took traffic into consideration. Traffic on I-81, which I take for roughly 79 miles from Staunton to Strasburg, was heavier than usual, but not bad. Mind you, I did try to counter heavier traffic to an extent by leaving more than an hour earlier than usual. On I-66, traffic got thicker earlier than usual on the way to Washington. Usually I hit two traffic bottlenecks around Exit 43 going eastbound, before I-66 widens into four lanes each direction. This time, traffic got heavy starting in Fauquier County, which is what I consider the last county before you officially enter “Northern Virginia” – in other words, Prince William County in this case. Then I hit the usual traffic bottlenecks around Exit 43 and made it to Vienna. Along the route, I saw no police on I-81, and three police cars on I-66. One was running a speed trap on the eastbound side in Fauquier County, and then two were running a speed trap on the westbound side in Prince William County. Interestingly enough, the two doing westbound speed traps were both in the same spot. I guess they were really going in for the kill.
Guess who’s home…
< 1 minute read
November 21, 2004, 8:28 PM
Sis is home! Yay! She’s home for about a week, too. So while I toil away at Wally World, including on the infamous “Black Friday” day after Thanksgiving, she’ll be at home doing like whatever. Fun.
Meanwhile, this is a phrase that turned a few heads at Wally World: “This is why they give us guns around here.”
You’re thinking: What in the heck?
I’m referring to our handheld scanner guns, which are handy for ringing stuff up (oh, by the way, I got off the Service Desk recently, having had more than my fill of it – I’m now a cashier). Those things are handy for items that are impractical to put on the belt.
Meanwhile, speaking of Black Friday, I’ve officially promised to wear all-black on that day, like I did last year in Staunton.
And then on Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving, guess where I’m going. You guessed it. Washington DC. Metro’s newest in-fill station, New York Avenue-Florida Avenue-Gallaudet U opened yesterday for the first time. I’m going there, since it’s the first of what I would consider Metro’s “second generation” stations. This is quite a bit different than your typical Metro station. Four escalators (up from two), two elevators (up from one), a redesigned canopy… it’s neat.
I’m also watching CNN. There’s a thing about an NBA player going totally off in the stands. I’m just like, wow. How violent.
Speechless…
2 minute read
November 3, 2004, 11:09 PM
You’ve seen my hundreds of WMATA photos on my Transit Center site before. This is one photo that had me somewhat speechless for a bit when I saw it:
Photo from The Washington Post
Categories: WMATA
The rest of Sunday…
6 minute read
October 20, 2004, 2:59 AM
Well! I told you about the Million Worker March that was held on Sunday, and all of my crazy adventures there. Now here’s what happened during the rest of that day, which was also somewhat interesting.
First of all, on my way up to DC on October 2, remember how the Vomit Fairy came to touch me with her star-ended wand? Well, when I got to that rest area again, I stopped to see whether my mess had killed the grass underneath it or not. Turned out that they had never cleaned the mess up, and it was still there. I nearly had a relapse right then and there. I will be checking there again next time I go to Washington on November 4. If it’s still there, I will be making a little fuss about it. Because then it will have been a month.
At Vienna, I ended up catching a train that, to say the least was interesting. The lead set was a Breda rehab consist, 3008 and 3009. I rode 3009, the lead car. The next two cars were regular Bredas, and the last two cars were CAFs. Talk about your odd consists. Rehab-Breda-CAF. Just as weird as the Rohr-CAF-Breda consist that I saw back in August at L’Enfant Plaza. One thing about this consist at Vienna, though, was the amount of wheel noise that was heard. From my vantage point at the head end of Breda 3009, I’d never heard so much wheel noise before. That was a surprise for me.
I went to Washington DC on Tuesday…
6 minute read
September 22, 2004, 8:28 PM
That was fun. I chose the date because of a picket event outside the US Treasury Building, in regards to third-world debt, sponsored by the Jubilee USA Network. It was an hour-long protest, going from noon to 1 PM. I attended the second half-hour of it. I got pictures of some of the speakers, and then got a bunch of photos of the people marching, carrying signs. This was a small event, carried out on the corner of 15th Street and New York Avenue NW. As such, “marching” basically meant all the people in attendance marched in a circle right there at the corner. It was still a spirited event, with all kinds of slogans being shouted. For instance:
“What do we want? Drop the debt! When do we want it? Now!”
“Medication for every nation! Drop the debt now!”
“Secretary Snow! The debt has got to go!”
“Don’t drop the ball! Cancel it all!”
All in all, it was a fun event. I also exchanged Email addresses with one of the Jubilee USA organizers, with the intent of sharing my photos. Maybe some of my photos will end up on there. We shall see. It would have been nice if they’d done it on a sunny street corner, because in the shade, it causes me to have to do some serious retouching to get the color right.
Categories: DC trips, Driving, WMATA, World Bank
I dropped a license plate and didn’t even realize it…
3 minute read
September 13, 2004, 12:27 AM
Seems that on Saturday, I dropped a license plate! When I left for work today, I noticed that my front bumper was bare. I look at it, and I’m thinking, oh, crap, no license plate. I’m also figuring out when I can go to DMV to get my missing license plate replaced. Then my thought process changed to figuring out when it fell away, and whereabouts it would be. I didn’t hear anything that sounded like a metallic object falling off the front of the car on my way home from work, though. And it would have had to have been at least then, since I had my license plate when I left on Saturday.
So being unsure of where my license plate fell away, and being pretty sure it wasn’t malice (I’d had to reattach the license plate once before), as I was driving to work, I was not only looking where I was going, but also scanning the sides of the road on the side I take for my return trip (US 340 is a divided highway most of the way to Waynesboro). I usually ride the left lane, so if it fell away on 340, it should be readily visible from the other lanes.
My assumptions for this quick search (object staying on the left side, and possibly being off the road after falling off of a moving vehicle at 55 mph) were probably wrong anyway, but regardless, the plate was not found, and as it turned out, I didn’t drop the plate on the road anyway. As it turned out, the plate had already fallen off by the time my van was in the area I looked in.
Categories: Toyota Previa
With all the rain we’ve been having…
4 minute read
September 9, 2004, 2:06 AM
I’m going to Washington DC today, and it’s probably going to be a soggy day, based on the looks of things.
Doesn’t bother me. Means I’ll get to see a lot of Mode 2 operation (Mode 2 is manual with speed protection).
Mom was concerned about all the rain. So I cited that strange dream I had back in February (according to this journal, February 19, entitled “Your assignment: Figure out where this dream came from”). It’s the one where I went Metro kayaking. I still think that’s one darn strange dream, and if I recall, at the time the people on SubTalk thought it was off-the-wall, too. And in that dream, if I recall, paddling a Breda down the water was for the less-experienced while rafting with a Rohr was the more challenging.
What’s odd, though, is how much that matches the actual trains. According to a few train operators I’ve spoken with, the Rohrs have some really weird quirks that make them more challenging to operate. Bredas are much less quirky.
Ah, well.
Categories: Television, Walmart, WMATA
“I don’t want to feel like a fish with no water!”
2 minute read
August 26, 2004, 8:04 AM
At work yesterday, we were actually discussing those public service ads that run on cable TV. Like the one where the fish tank slowly loses water talking about asthma, or the one where the guy walks into the store to buy a wallet and he gets a really tiny wallet for the really tiny money he’ll be making as a high school dropout.
And then there’s one ad that, among the people in our group, that kind of creeped us all out a little bit:
Nobody likes me. Nobody. Maybe it’s because I like to attack people. Men. Women. Kids. I can leave them as stammering, confused, scared imitations of their former selves. If they don’t stop me, I just might leave them that way for life. I am a stroke.
A little creepy, because he looks like a pretty rough character there, with the wrinkled face in the shadow. But still, it’s a very memorable way to get the message across. I think we’ll all understand the seriousness of a stroke now if we didn’t before.
Categories: Greta, Television, WMATA
This is what we call “hell”…
2 minute read
August 25, 2004, 11:30 PM
Remember how a little earlier in the day, I told you I had to vacate the house for the day while the guy did the stairs? Well, he stained the stairs, as planned. So the whole house smells like stain.
And tomorrow, it begins again. Thursday, the guy puts the polyurethane down on the stairs. What does that mean for me? It means I’m scheduled to work 2-11 again tomorrow like I did today, and so I have to waste about six hours before work. Maybe I’ll actually do something constructive tomorrow.
This is what I did today. Got up, got dressed, grabbed the newspaper off the kitchen table, and left the house. Went to the ATM, then went to McDonald’s for breakfast. From there, I hopped on I-81, and stopped at the rest area on I-81 north just beyond the Verona exit. There, I read the News-Virginian (Waynesboro paper). Got back on the freeway, and went out to Weyers Cave. There, I just turned around, and got back on the Interstate using the southbound ramp. Got off at the other rest area, across the freeway from the other rest area. There, I scrounged up 50¢ to get a copy of USA Today. Read it at that rest area. Then I went into Waynesboro. Went to the library. There, I got online. Wrote the previous journal entry, and then, after I ran out of time there (they limit you to an hour a day), I drove around Waynesboro and into Fishersville, and then finally arrived at Wally World to kill a final 30 minutes. I looked at the musical Christmas toys that they have at the Garden Center. Most amusing thing was the fact that they have a snowman that dances and sings, “Ice, ice, baby” with an LED-lit “bling-bling” around his neck that says “ICE” on it. Cute.
And it all begins again tomorrow, as I waste another few hours out of the house…
Categories: Driving, New porch and floors
This is a bit of a messed-up day…
2 minute read
August 25, 2004, 9:43 AM
If you want to talk about a day without a purpose, this is it. See, I found out a couple of hours after work yesterday that the guy would be coming today to put the finish on the new stairs.
Now note that when I say “new”, I mean that only because in the process of replacing the flooring, the floor people took out the old wood on the stairs, which was intended for carpeting, and thus had a lot of knots in it. And then they put new wood down, which, for the last week or so, we’ve been using bare. Now it’s going to get the finish and the runner on it, which will also finish the entire flooring job.
So as a result of the work being done on the stairs, and my room and such being upstairs, I had to vacate for the day, with the guy showing up at 7:30. So I had to be all ready for work and such by then, even though I don’t have to actually be at work until 2:00. And so I’m kind of wandering around doing whatever until then. I’m actually at the Waynesboro Public Library right now, which I’d not been to in ages. Still, I also drove out to Weyers Cave today.
Categories: Activism, DC trips, New porch and floors, WMATA