One of the things I love about living in DC is that I can go over to the Watergate just about any day of the week — yeah, that Watergate — and do my groceries at “Senior Safeway” (also known around this time of year as the “Student Safeway”), a relatively mundane grocery experience in the shadow of historic intrigue and infamy.

Now, however, a new Watergate shopping experience is open to Washington:

It’s a massive liquidation sale! While the hotel closes up for renovation till 2009, they’re getting rid of surplus desks, chairs, chests, armoires, sinks, tubs, toilets, cutlery, glasses, plates, pillows, four-poster beds and more, all worth anywhere from singles to thousands of dollars, heavily used by hundreds of guests, going for bargain prices. The sale runs every day of the week, Mon-Sat 10-7 and Sun 12-5, and there’s a $10 entrance fee to deter non-buying gawkers, but hey, isn’t it worth a Hamilton for the chance to get a piece of history? Or maybe a used desk for cheap? I saw a bunch of people carting off armchairs from there just this afternoon. Word is the bargains aren’t so great, but hey, Watergate!

Go for it! I know I will. Anyone been there yet? Score anything good?

More on this from WaPo, DCist, and DCBlogs.

Speaking of lining up in Trader Joe’s, I’m really wondering what’s up with this laminated printout stapled to their “Artisan Breads” sign, where people in line can read it as they shuffle down the queue. It’s the full text of a New York Times article entitled A Long Line for a Shorter Wait at the Supermarket, praising Whole Foods stores in Manhattan for their single-queue system, and at the same time disparaging Trader Joe’s.

Now, here in DC we know that the Foggy Bottom TJ’s uses the single-queue system, and last I checked, the Whole Foods stores in Tenleytown and Clarendon do not, so why post this competition-lauding story for TJ’s customers to read? Is it there to prove the author Michael Barbaro wrong? Or just to prove that the single queue system is superior regardless of what store it’s applied in? Or to highlight some kind of contrast between Trader Joe’s stores in DC and NYC? Or did some disgruntled shopper pin it to the back of the sign where the cashiers wouldn’t notice it?

Someone ask the cashiers at TJ’s about that, because I forgot to yesterday.

Loose something?

Walking my Betrothed Butterbean to work this morning, I found a note on the sidewalk. A note that seems like it might be important to someone.

Do these scribbles look familiar to you? Like maybe from a Women in Government meeting? Were you so engaged in “leadership through education” that you dropped your to-do list?

If so, or you know who did, please drop a note in the comments section. Give me an identifying scribble or action item, and I send a scan of the whole long-ass list to you asap.

I only want to know why you need to get dance lessons to figure out when the next meeting will be (Aug 27 or 28??).

Saw this heartbreaking sight on my way to the Foggy Bottom Trader Joe’s yesterday afternoon. There isn’t even a note on the windshield, so whoever snagged onto this poor guy’s bumper must have run off. Our deepest condolences.

Whoever lives in this house near 26th and Eye NW in Foggy Bottom is moving out, and he’s been carting out tons of free stuff over the past few weeks: everything from dust busters and Christmas ornaments to plywood and baskets. So far I’ve scored a little basket and a red bunny. Thanks, Foggy Bottom Free Dude! (Watch out for the dog though.)

(Above, left) I just want to say “Thanks” and “Hugz” to the Foggy Bottom Garden Club for the awesome short-barrel garden planters on the residential sidewalks between Rock Creek Parkway and GWU. They make my walk to work every morning a bit nicer. (Above, right) And another “Thanks” and “Hugz” to whoever was having that yard sale on Eye St yesterday with the box of free stuff. As you can see, Mr. Red Ceramic Bun Bun is liking his new home on my desk with Mr. Blue Beanie Rat and the plushie Oscar Mayer wiener mobile.

Are you moving? Do you want to use U-Haul, “your moving and storage resource” for a DC zip code change? Before you type in http://www.uhaul.com to make a moving truck reservation, go local.

Go Google Maps for UHaul.

Why? Because if you go to the main UHaul site, they will charge you a $5 service fee to tell the local U-Haul to call you back. Essentially $5 for the U-Haul website to give you a local telephone number.

I just realized this after I called the 1-800 number listed on the U-Hall website and tried to make a reservation for a moving van. They couldn’t guarantee me a reservation for my in-town move, saying they would have to call me back.

As I am in Egypt this week, gazing at pyramids on Giza Plateau, I asked for their number instead.

A $5 “nonrefundable reservation fee” later, they gave me the phone number of the U-Haul on U Street. Nice. Next time, if there is ever a next time with my half-million dollar mortgage, I’ll save the $5 and call the local U-Haul Company directly.

Before then, you can save $5 and have a better customer service experience. Just call your local U-Haul dealership directly and skip the scam website.

George Washington University has the dubious honor of being the most expensive college in all of the United States, according to a study quoted on tonight’s All Things Considered. You can listen to Robert Siegel’s interview with GW’s President Stephen Joel Trachtenberg. Noted for me is the weaselly sound of justification for their exhorbitant tuition. Personally, I don’t think any amount of education can possibly be worth $200,000 of debt racked up over a four year degree. More so, I think many high school kids would do well to catch Accepted, and think about the process of higher education as a whole. Hell, GW’s tuition on an annual basis is higher than the median household income in the United States.

So, GW alums, what do you think? $50k a year? Too Much? Too Little? Ridiculous? It seems to me that Fifty K a year ought to come with, ahem, some other benefits.

Perhaps if Wayan’s couch guest is still looking for a place to stay, he should take a gander at HotPads.com. HotPads appears to be a mash-up between google maps and wikipedia, offering a user-friendly at-a-glance look at available housing options inside the beltway.

Users can customize their search requirements by zip code, city, county or state, using a variety of variables. A quick Georgetown search turned up not a whole lot, whereas a quick search of my home zip code turned up two rental possibilities.

Looking for a roommate? You apparently can use that feature too, although it turned up zilch for me. This appears to be a great tool for relocation professionals who know naught about the new city they’ll call home. Doing a quick search of cities such as Seattle and Boston turned up a whole lot of useful information.

These three Notre Dame former college roommates moved to the D.C. area and created HotPads in early ’05, relaunching the site last month. The best thing about HotPads? It’s totally free.

Between HotPads and The D.C. Crime Map newcomers to D.C. can learn much more about prospective neighbours before they even put down a deposit. Say ‘sayonara’ to moving in sight unseen, suckers.

Photo by DC Metroblogger

There is a nice patio at Circle Bistro, just off Washington Circle. It used to be full of fun and happy people.

Now it is empty. Unused, unloved, a wasted space.

Why? Because the neighbours, in their love of quiet, hatred of fun, need for vigilance, made the hotel close this great little patio.

Now I look longingly at seats in the sun, the last rays of summer warmth, wasted.

Thanks neighbours!