ResQgeek

It started with Snowmaggedon the weekend before Christmas. It continued last weekend with the Snowpocalypse, and culminated with the Snowverkill yesterday. Unless you're living in a complete media vacuum, you've probably heard that Washington, DC has been buried in more snow than ever recorded for an entire winter season. I grew up with snow of this magnitude...the Great Lakes can generate snowfalls of truly epic proportions. But the regions around the Great Lakes also have the equipment and skills to cope with such snow. Here in the South, they struggle to plow residential streets with pickup trucks, and I'd be surprised if any of the plow operators has ever even heard of a wing plow.

The federal government closed early on Friday, and has yet to officially reopen. After spending the bulk of four days shoveling snow (I actually was able to take a break on Tuesday!), I decided to go to the Office today anyway. I have work that needs to be completed this week (though I'm now in a holding pattern, waiting for a response from an attorney in Seattle). Besides, it was nice to get out of the house for a while. I might come in again tomorrow, at least for a while, even if the government makes a full week of it.

The good news is that all the shoveling has been good for me. Yes, my arms, shoulders and back ache. But I've noticed that my pants have become increasingly loose around the waist. I pulled out the scale to confirm it...I've lost almost 15 pounds since I last weighed myself before we left for Steamboat Springs, CO! Now, if I can just manage to keep it off...

I've long told people that I miss having a "real" winter here in the DC area. I missed having real snow and real cold. I always thought that I'd really like to have a week or two of it every year, just to get my fix. Well, I've got my fix for this year. Unfortunately, the forecasts seem to indicate that we are going to continue in our current pattern for a while. In fact, I'm hearing that there may be more snow coming early next week. At some point, it will warm up, and the snow will melt. The question then will be how fast will the melt off be? If it warms up quickly, and especially if it rains at the same time, we may well have some serious flooding problems...

Meanwhile, the Winter Olympics begin tomorrow in Vancouver, and they don't have enough snow, and the temperatures are above freezing so they haven't been able to make any. I wonder if we could load up a train with some of our snow and ship it west...

The week after the Inauguration, President Obama made a bit of a splash in the DC area news by making some critical remarks about the inability of this region to cope with winter weather. As someone who grew up in Western New York, I can sympathize with what the President was saying, but I've lived here long enough now to recognize that that it simply is unreasonable to expect this area to cope as well as areas that deal with this weather on a more frequent basis. The local governments cannot afford to invest the same kind of money into snow removal that local governments further north do, when it might be used only three or four times a year. That simply isn't money well spent. So I try not to be critical.

However, I still find the responses to snow events in this area amusing. We have something like six inches of snow on the ground now, which has accumulated since yesterday evening. Pretty much all the area schools are closed, and the Federal Gov't is excusing up to two hours of late arrivals and allowing people to stay home without having prior approval for leave. But I made it to the Office at my usual time, walking through the snow to my bus stop, where my bus was pretty much right on time. No real hardship involved. Listening to others, you'd think that my arrival that early was some sort of amazing feat. Hmmph.

I also found the coverage on The Weather Channel last night annoying, so much so that I changed the channel after only about five minutes. They were hyping this as the "East Coast Mega-Storm" or something similar. Mega-Storm? To me that conjures up images of the Superstorm of March 1993. I was visiting a friend in Syracuse when that storm hit. Syracuse recorded 43 inches of snow in that storm, and it was truly massive in scale. By comparison, today's snow doesn't amount to much. This need to over-hype stories (which is probably driven by the chase for higher ratings and the corresponding increase in advertising revenue) is one of the things that annoys me most about the modern media, especially television news. It causes people to over-react and inspires a level of panic way out of proportion to events.

Okay, so six inches of snow in the Washington area does cause problems. I understand that it will take longer to plow and treat the roads, and that not all our drivers have the necessary experience to drive safely and comfortably in these conditions. But why do we have to act like its the end of the world every time it happens? I mean, really, just deal with it folks.

After a long afternoon of promoting books at the Kensington Day of the Book Festival and a relaxing evening meal at Panera Bread, it was time for everyone to go their separate ways. I had to honor of hosting teotakuu for the night, and so after making sure all her luggage was successfully transfered to my van, we set of for what would be her fifth different state for the day. We crossed the Potomac River into Virginia and drove down the George Washington Parkway towards the heart of the nation's capital. We crossed the river again at the Memorial Bridge, admiring the views of the Kennedy Center, the Lincoln Memorial and the Washington Monument as we drove. I found a parking space on Constitution Avenue, right next to the Vietnam War Memorial, and we got out for a stroll.

The night was damp and chilly, with a bit of wind, but even so, there were still a number of tour groups moving among the monuments as we payed our respects to those who served in Vietnam and in Korea. As we walked, we talked at length about these conflicts, and the histories of our countries, and it was clear that she found these monuments quite moving. We also walked up to the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, but the climb was simply too daunting after such a long day, so we decided to take a pass on a closer look at old Abe. We did pause and admire the view down the National Mall at the Washington Monument and the Capitol dome, though, before heading back to the van.

The rest of the tour was conducted from the vehicle, as I drove past the White House and the Jefferson Memorial, before returning to the Virginia side of the river. We drove within an easy stone's throw of the Pentagon before heading down into Old Town Alexandria, where I think teotakuu was a bit surprised to find street names, such as King, Duke, and Royal, that are clear holdovers from our colonial days. Finally, we arrived at my house, where my wife was waiting up for us to return. We sat and talked for a spell, but eventually we all needed to get some sleep.

Monday morning started with the usual bustle of getting the girls up and ready for school. I don't know if teotakuu managed to sleep through all the ruckus, but she (perhaps wisely) stayed out of the way until the girls were on their way. She had some tea and toast and checked her e-mail and such, while we waited for crrcookie and her son to join us from Maryland for the trip to Manassas to meet buffra and futurecatnz. The steady, soaking rain made any detailed sightseeing at the battlefield an unpleasant prospect, so we limited ourselves to the views from the visitor's center and a quick glance through the small museum.

We then headed for lunch, after which we said our good-byes. It was lovely to meet both travelers from New Zealand, even if it was only for such a brief period. I hope they enjoyed their brief time here, and I look forward to reading about the remainder of their travels in the coming days.

[cross posted in bcxchange]

Anyone who has ever tried to get around the Washington, DC, metropolitan area on a regular basis understands how bad our traffic has gotten. We hear a lot of debate about how to solve the problem, with proposals for road improvements and smarter development flying around as thick as the mosquitoes in July. But one thing you don't hear a lot about is the Potomac River, except that it presents a barrier to efficient traffic movement. But what if we were to use the river itself to move people? In today's Washington Post, columnist Steven Pearlstein discusses this very concept. I doubt it would be a magic solution to our traffic woes all by itself, but it makes a lot of sense to consider it as an integral part of a comprehensive transportation plan for the region (yeah, like that's ever going to happen...).

Steve Pearlstein's column from today's Washington Post.

An article in the Metro section of today's Washington Post includes a list of 22 pedestrians that have been killed by vehicles in the Washington, DC area since January 1. Some of these are the pedestrians own fault (six of the incidents are listed as including jaywalking or pedestrians crossing against the signals), but what about the others? It appears to me that motorist here are not looking for pedestrians, or respecting pedestrians right-of-way. In an incident on Feb. 16, a woman was struck and killed by a car, and then run over by a second car! At what point did we decide that pedestrians are invisible?

This is an issue that I take quite personally. Except for long trips, I drive very little any more...just the odd errand on the weekends, mostly. I haven't driven to work regularly in almost ten years. Instead, I walk to the nearest bus stop and catch a public bus to the office. Along the way, I have to cross one residential street at a stop sign, an exit ramp from the Capital Beltway (I-495) at a traffic signal and an entrance ramp to the Beltway (at a crosswalk with no traffic control devices). On the way home, I also have to cross Eisenhower Ave., a four lane commercial street, at an intersection with a traffic signal. I have had close encounters with vehicles at every single one of these crossings. People regularly fail to stop at the stop sign in my neighborhood, and turning traffic (which doesn't have a stop sign) rarely slows down as it whips around the corner. Seldom do I get through a week without watching a number of cars run red lights at the two traffic signals. And the entrance ramp to the beltway can be a nightmare to cross during evening rush hour as the commuters stream past me, intent only on getting home, and most unwilling to pause long enough to allow me to cross.

It doesn't make any difference to these drivers, but it has caused me to become very aware of my behavior as a pedestrian. I wait for signals to change, even when there isn't traffic. I generally avoid jaywalking. Part of this is me trying to feel superior, but I also want to believe that if pedestrians were better at obeying the rules, perhaps the drivers would be more willing to yield to us when we have the right-of-way. I'm just tired of drivers giving me a hard time when they are the ones breaking the rules (that means you, the guy running the red light after I get my "walk" signal...).

So, next time you're in your car, please try and be aware of the pedestrians and remember, we have rights too.

Fliers have recently appeared at bus stops along some of Washington, DC's most heavily used bus routes offering free bus passes for individuals who report buses that fall behind their schedule. The fliers look official, and include the Metro's big "M" logo on them. The problem is, its all a hoax, as the few people who have actually called Metro have found out. While I can understand the frustration of relying on chronically late buses to get around, but I'm not really sure what this hoax was meant to accomplish. It has created some attention, but was it worth the effort of conceiving and implementing the hoax?

[from The Washington Post]

My parents arrived yesterday afternoon to take our daughters to visit them for a few days. I mentioned that I'd been thinking about taking the girls to see the Marine Corps' Sunset Parade at the Marine Corps War Memorial (aka the Iwo Jima Memorial), and my parents indicated that they'd never seen it either. I would have sworn I had taken them before, but I guess not. So we drove up to Arlington and found a place to sit on the lawn under the trees.

The parade starts with a performance by "The Commandant's Own," the Marines Drum and Bugle Corps (once lead by a Marine named Sousa). After they finish, two companies of Marines march onto the field, and one of the platoons performs a silent drill. Not only do they execute their drill without verbal cadence or command, they do so with fixed bayonets! The platoon then lines up for inspection, which is also a detailed drill involving the sergeant and an individual Marine. One of the Marines dropped his rifle, and had to repeat his entire drill! The peformance ends with a 21-gun salute and the playing of "Taps" in memory of all the Marines who have fallen in defense of the country.

I've seen the Parade several times, and it never fails to impress me. The marching, music and drilling are all so crisp and polished. If you are ever in the DC area in the summer, I highly recommend looking into attending one of these weekly performances.

In the Style section of today's Washington Post, there was an article about the gala celebration at the Smithsonian's American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery. This building has been closed for renovations for the last seven years, and is scheduled to reopen to the public on July 1. The neighborhood around this building has undergone a dramatic revitalization during the closure. The MCI Arena (home to the NHL Washington Capitals and NBA Washington Wizards) has drawn large numbers of people to the area and a number of upscale retail establishments have opened in the vicinity to serve these crowds. The International Spy Museum is across the street as well.

I've never visited the American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery, but I definitely want to. The portrait collection includes portraits of all the US Presidents, and the American Art collection should be interesting as well. But beyond the art collections, I'm drawn by the building itself. This museum and gallery occupies the original Patent Office Building, a Greek revival structure built in the 1830's. It was home to the agency I work for until 1932, which makes me curious about the building itself, and its history. By all accounts, it is a remarkably beautiful building.

I went into Washington, DC this evening to play with my camera some more. I got some pretty nice shots, including this one for bookczuk:
( Picture )
I find it interesting that Virginia and South Carolina are right next to each other at the World War II Memorial! Is there a deeper meaning??