This is the Shrine of the Sacred Heart Catholic Church tonight in Mt Pleasant: a Good Friday procession right out of the Old Country.

Be it anywhere in South America or South Italy, the procession was the same. There was a walking cross, a Jesus Christ laid to rest, the Virgin Mary, and even Roman soldiers all prepared for Easter Sunday..

Best of all, music right from the Godfather blaring loud and ominous over the crowd as it slowly staggered across 16th Street and down Mt. Pleasant Avenue.

Now that I am almost a homeowner in Petworth with my half-million dollar mortgage, I am going to miss these moments of Catholic culture in Columbia Heights.

Yes, traffic will flow faster on Easter, but the sounds of Latin mass (in Spanish, Vietnamese, French, and Haitian Creole) will be less.

Pfeiffer’s Hardware

Have you been in Mt Pleasant when you needed a key made or maybe a wing nut? Then you know what a lifesaver, what a destination Pfeiffer’s Hardware is.

With a great selection and better service, it’s the cornerstone of D.I.Y in my neighbourhood. And now that’s about to change.

Todd Pfeiffer, the owner of Pfeiffer’s Hardware, has put the hardware business up for sale:

Our best-case dream scenario is that we sell our business to someone (or someones) in the community who cares as deeply about the area as we do.

Maybe a cooperative of interested buyers, maybe a consortium of friends or relatives, maybe just the right individual. Who knows? But if anywhere on earth there is the drive, acumen, talent, and vision to structure a unique deal, it’s gotta’ be within this one square mile.

So…this is an open call for proposals. We are open to any ideas. Be creative. Ever flirt with the idea of running your own business? This may be opportunity knocking. A hardware store is a vital part of a vital community. We are looking to sell to someone who truly understands that.

So whatcha say DC wanna-be hardware store owner? You ready to pick up where Todd is leaving off? Just be forewarned: Todd was one of the most friendly and well organized shopkeepers in the District. You’ll have mighty big shoes to fill.

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

Today on Mt Pleasant Street is Fiesta DC, a celebration of Hispanic culture.

Food, fun, even concerts will be happening all day.

I will be digging into the tasty street foods that remind me of family vacations as soon as finish a calorie burning run.

When will you stop by?

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Well look what I found on the corner of 16th and Irving Streets NW: a DC MPD surveillance camera. That would be in addition to the red light camera on 16th Street facing the Irving Street intersection.

Why should we care about another MPD CCTV? Because this camera would’ve seen the red light runner who caused a DC bus kiss and a 16th Street parking lot last week.

It also sees more than traffic incidents, perched in the middle of the 15th, 16th, and Irving intersection. It sees you walking along the street, and me taking its photo. Now lets see if it does what its supposed to.

Lets see if this camera saw who caused the Metro buses to collide.

Photo by DC Metroblogger

Do you spend hours looking for a parking space in DC neighborhoods? Say when you are driving home late at night and do not want the long, lonely walk back to your place?

Or when you are late for a date, and know she’s looking at her watch dismissively, counting every second of you tardiness?

Do you ever see moving boxes like these taking up valuable parking space? Are they there for days too? This set was on Mt Pleasant Avenue for a week straight.

If you were looking for a parking space late, did you ever think about torching these boxes? Or at least ramming them with your car?

I wanna know who is obnoxious enough to ask for these shipping boxes to be left on the street. How self-important do you have to be to take up this much parking space for a week? Do pray tell!

Photo by DC Metroblogger

“Dave, remember that pothole we made two weeks ago?”

“Do you mean the one in front of the Mt Pleasant Library? Where we dug into a freshly paved street to find our ‘P. Tel Co’ manhole?”

“Yeah, that one. Didn’t we forget something?”

“Um, to repair the hole?”

“No, fool, we forgot to take our traffic cone.”

“Oh. Wait, you mean I should go back and get it? Bob, if I take the cone, people will hit that pothole and damage their cars.”

“So? We need that cone; we gotta make more potholes today. We are the pothole making crew!“

It is early, pre-dawn even, quiet and clear
Into this life, into my sleep, a buzzing comes to my ear
What is that sound, that obnoxious call?
Why it’s the fire alarms calling from down the hall

Wake up it calls to me impatiently
Is there smoke to smell or see?
No, no, there is not even a hint of fire,
Whoever pulled the alarm is a liar

The pillow I pull over my head
Sleep I need, I feel like the dead
Damn, what is that new and louder sound?
Its fire trucks coming from across town

Will they go door to door?
Making me leave my once quiet floor
No, they know this is a false alarm
Where the instigator will come to great harm

I know if I find the assholian perpetrator
I will beat him senseless with a refrigerator
Who would pull an alarm at 5 in the morning?
Is his life that worthless and boring?

No matter, sleep will not return to me
So evil and sick thoughts I think of he
Or if many, the whole gaggle of jerks
But at least we know the new fire alarm works

Let’s say it was a long day, maybe one where you were playing kickball on the National Mall and then flip-cupping Grandma, and needed a good bubble bath to relax. Now say it’s already 9pm and you’re in Mt. Pleasant.

Where might you find bubble bath for your long ache-ending soak at this late hour?

You could think CVS, but why deal with that extra annoyance? Better yet, pop into the nearby Super Save Market on Mt. Pleasant Avenue, where the staff, speaking English, Spanish, & Korean, can assist you in your quest.

After a short explanation of what you’re looking for, they will magically produce the perfect product for you: Mr. Bubble Original Bubble Bath.

Super Save Market to the rescue again!

Today I found out that I’m gonna represent 2,500 Americans in the US Census’ Current Population Survey.

Wow! I feel honored with the responsibility of representation, representation I wish I could have in more than just the US Census, like oh, I don’t know, maybe the US Congress!

Politics aside, the Census interview was pretty cool. Quizzed on my employment, income, and oddly, healthcare, I had the interviewer laughing as she hen-peck typed my answers on her laptop.

As we ran through the questions, I peeked over her shoulder and noticed that the US Department of Commerce is being a little cheap with software upgrades. The census taker was using an old-school MS DOS interface to record my answers.

The census taker also had an interesting sticker on her laptop: Sworn for Life to Protect Confidentiality. The US Government doesn’t mess around!