One of my secret guilty pleasures about DC is the hot dogs – specifically, the vendor carts out on every appreciable corner where tourists walk. It never fails – when out with Mysterious M doing a photo jaunt or museum run, I *have* to stop to get a hot dog. Or, if my stomach hankers, a brat.

There’s just something very American-y about hot dogs and vendors: be it at a ballpark or sporting event, on the streets surrounding the Mall, or on a backyard grill, they’re like kryptonite to me. And you can talk all you want about what’s in them and how much fat and calories they have – I’ll just put my hands over my ears and ‘lalalalalalala’ you. They taste good (especially with dill pickle, French’s mustard and a nice bit of sauerkraut) and that’s all I need to enter gastric heaven.

So when I saw this article in today’s online express, I immediately began lobbying for our building to have one. Despite the fact we have no vending machines whatsoever, nor are they “allowed” by building management.

I suppose I’ll make it a point to suggest some weekend activities in town, conveniently near one of these contraptions. Anyone want to help me out and let me know where they’re located in the District? My wife doesn’t read this, so you can put it in the comments section.

It’ll be our little secret.

This weekend, as part of the Super Flush, I got an excellent tour of the new stadium under construction. Nationals Park (which I hope it remains) is truly a wonder to behold. The concrete and glass exterior was the part I was most concerned about when the initial HOK designs were released. I was worried that it wouldn’t look as good as Oriole Park in its red-brick, or any of the other new stadiums that have been built over the past couple years, as when I think cast concrete, I think of any of the various ugly ass buildings downtown that have all the personality of a washed-up tax accountant. Nationals Park has found a way, though, to make concrete sexy in a way that I didn’t think was possible.

We were led around the insides of the stadium, and the aura is of a still unfinished construction site, with building materials crowding the halls and various craftsmen hard at work on all the details. The seats are in place, the main structures complete and the scoreboard up and lit for all to see. The dugouts and locker rooms are very near completion, and the stadium’s plumbing is, as of this weekend greenlit. The beer lines are in and all lead down to the two condo-sized beer coolers that will pipe icy-cold deliciousness to taps throughout the stadium. And, as of this afternoon, you can enjoy a nice half-smoke from the Ben’s Chili Bowl stand that’s going into the stadium. No word on which labels will be on the tap handles just yet, though.
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Yeah, the jury didn’t find Washington’s story any more compelling than any of the news accounts have made it look, and found him guilty of six counts related to the shootings that took place in his home. According to WTOP, Washington faces up to 70 years in jail for his crimes.

Wayan’s DC Photos

Check out this parking sign madness on Upshur Street in Petworth – 2 hour parking allowed in a Metro bus zone.

I wonder which one the parking attendant will notice as they write you a ticket? Or which one the judge will agree with if you contest it?

That reminds me – have you contested a parking ticket recently? The last time I did, using a clear photo of parking sign madness like this one, I never heard back from the DMV. The ticket just disappeared.

Anyway, as this sign is right before an actual bus stop, with a bus shelter and everything, do the neighbourhood a favor if you’re parking outside Domku: Find a clearly legal spot.

Imagine my surprise at browsing the National Post last week while in Toronto and finding an article about a school in Alexandria. Episcopal High School is more fleshed out as an institution in this article, and John McCain’s youth at the school. It turns out, for example, that the school is much more than just the birthplace of McCain’s “Smokes for Kids” program.

From the article:

It was to this same campus, nearly 60 years ago, that a reckless, rootless Navy brat was consigned by his admiral father. You still can see the 14-year-old’s photo on the wall of the gymnasium, wiry and dark-haired and forced to sit still for the camera with the rest of the wrestlers: John S. McCain III, Episcopal High School Class of 1954, known to his friends, faculty, and enemies here as “the Punk.”

Check out the whole thing here.

Post-modern Deconstruction

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

The old building at the corner of Wilson and Highland is all but gone, torn down by a monster claw on a hydraulic arm that looks straight out of a horror movie. It was creepy to watch this evil-looking beastie rip away brick and concrete like so much cottony covering. As I stood waiting for the light to change, it took out two more window frames and about 30 square feet of brick facade like it was nothing.

I walked off the metro at Navy Yard this weekend and saw these ads throughout the station. They didn’t make any sense to me. Fire Mary Peters? Who’s Mary Peters? Why do these make any sense here at all?

Then I went up the escalators and saw the Department of Transportation. Mary Peters is Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters. Then I realized just how much it would suck to come to work every day on the Metro to see ads that you should be fired. Only in DC does stuff like that happen. I suppose it could be worse, it could’ve been a whole big billboard thing. That really would’ve sucked.

<img src=”http://farm1.static.flickr.com/222/444895419_12ea4679a2_m.jpg”
alt=”Ruff & Deadly?”>
photo courtesy of IntangibleArts

In the next few months, my wife and I will be wandering (deliberately) into the Virginia housing morass of a market.

We’re no strangers to home ownership. We had a very nice place in Pennsylvania for many years before we relocated down here. However, the cost differential between Western PA and the MD/VA/DC area was quite a staggering shock to my own financial sensibilities. The home we moved from could be found down here – for nearly five times the price.

Needless to say, we went back to renting. That was three years ago.

We’re now desperate for our own piece of land again.

There’s something to be said about owning your own piece of America – much less, the planet – and once you start, it’s hell to take four steps back and rent. I look forward to having our own space again, unrestricted in how we use it, what we paint it, how it’s decorated.

“Buy a house? Now? Are you crazy?”

That’s the common refrain we’ve heard from a lot of friends and relatives – most of whom don’t live in the area, by the way. But to us, it’s a good move.

Our debt is minimal – we don’t owe the evil credit card companies a cent over our Netflix and gym memberships that come monthly – our bills are always paid on time and in full, and the only loan currently out is on my ‘new’ car, bought last summer.

There is a lot of financial info to cover, however. Fixed rates are creeping up again, Freddie Mac had a recent policy change, and Congress has some plans in the works that might shake things up further. Still, for a couple like us, testing the housing waters right now makes the most sense. After all, what do we really have to lose? The worst outcome is re-signing our lease for another year, which isn’t a bad fallback plan anyway.

So after meeting our Realtor last week and doing some preliminary talks – meaning, “what we want, what we’ll settle for, and what we think is absolutely crazy” – we’ll be taking our first real steps in house hunting this coming weekend. We’ve got seven months until our lease is up; I’m sure we can find something.

Stay tuned.

Sure it’s grey right now, but the sun’s coming, I can promise you that. This afternoon is expected to be sunny and 50ish, bringing some spring cheer to February’s drear.

Two Planes Clip Wings at IAD

A 737 and an Embraer jet clipped wings last night on the tarmac at Dulles. While no one was injured, it did wreak general chaos on the traffic at the airport while they pried the planes apart, after offloading all the passengers. No word on who had the right of way, or whether ground traffic control was negligent in the event.

When You Blow It, Call Disney

Walter Reed Hospital has brought in the service experts from Disney to talk to their management and staff and help reform the Hospital after a poor service record was brought to light last year. The Mouse House has a strong reputation for service…at amusement parks. I suspect that hospitals aren’t quite like rollercoasters and Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, but maybe I’m wrong.

Short news break this morning due to bandwidth and connectivity issues!

Flusher’s Creed

Originally uploaded by tbridge.

The Nationals new stadium cleared an important hurdle today, successfully flushing all of the toilets in the new stadium from top to bottom. Each commode was given a number of flushes on 10-15 second intervals to simulate the 7th inning stretch. More pictures to come and a report on the ballpark tour!