Photo by PoPville flickr user gerdaindc
You can talk about whatever is on your mind – quality of life issues, a beautiful tree you spotted, scuttlebutt, or any random questions/thoughts you may have. But please no personal attacks and no need to correct people’s grammar. This is a place to vent and/or rejoice about daily life in DC.
Rant: I wasted the three-day weekend. This awful weather makes me not feel like doing anything.
Rave: Getting into festival season!
Same rant: WTF did I do all weekend?! I think my recliner needs a vacation.
Rant: pink eye.
Revel: my sweet dog lying on my feet.
Rant: Trying to work after red-eye flight from LA. I’m pooped!
Rave: Had an awesome but too quick vacation in Santa Monica and Denver – spent yesterday on the beach, spent most days hiking and eating and hanging with awesome friends and family.
Rant: Husband has more vacation days than me, so he’s still on vacation until Thursday!
Rave: He really needed a vacation – hopefully he comes back refreshed. We had such a wonderful time!
Was it united flight 584 from LAX to IAD?
Nope! I flew out of Long Beach and into Dulles on Jet Blue.
That is the way to go. Chill airport, in flight TV.
Additional Rave: Saw the movie “the Intouchables” and it was incredible! Go see it. Next on my list is Sleepwalk with Me.
Oh my gosh, I LOVE this movie!
Rave: Fabulous weekend spent with friends
Rant: Got rained out from outdoor events twice.
Rave: 4 day work week!
Rant: I don’t know whether this is true or not, but PEPCO seems to be conducting “Brown Outs” every night around 3-4am where air conditioning doesn’t work in Petworth. The same thing happened in the places I’ve lived with window A/C units and Central A/C systems. I’ve been waking up sweating around this time at night wondering when the A/C will come back on despite lights and other electrical devices working. If they are doing this they should make a not to be more transparent with customers… It could also explain why the milk in my fridge goes bad quickly.
Rant: Went to a Nats game last weekend, first baseball game in over 15 years. Overall a great experience, and seating is quite nice, but a hot dog is now 6$ and a beer is now 8$ and parking was 30$… Geezus.
Rave: Fall is edging closer.
Check your thermostat, I would bet the actual temp in your place isn’t changing that much, it’s just that the A/C is cycling on less frequently overnight. Most systems have a set back that doesn’t actually turn the blowers on when it reaches a certain temp, it actually cycles a degree or two past that temp and then cools back down a degree or two below the desired temp. During the day the house heats up faster, the A/C cycles more frequently and air circulates more often. At night when it takes the house longer to run through a heat up/cool down cycle the air can stagnate and it seems a lot hotter than the actual air temperature is, especially when you factor in this humidity. Some systems will allow you to keep the fan running at all times and just run the compressor to generate cool air when temps rise, but that will obviously equal big $$$ on your electric bill.
Also, make sure that you don’t have a daily nighttime setting on by default (allowing the temp to get higher overnight and start cooling again in the morning).
I do not really know all the details but it may be the energy wise program, though I thought you had to opt in (and have central air) for that to happen. Are you a renter? maybe your landlord signed up?
https://energywiserewards.pepco.com/dc/index.php
Thanks guys, It’s not either of these because it’s happened on 2 places I’ve lived at recently, and with both window and central A/C units…
I started the utility plans and they’re always standard utility plans. If you live in Petworth, try staying up late one night and you’ll see, your A/C cuts off between 3 and 4am almost every night…
Jack, maybe you’re just having hot flashes. They are annoying but you’ll get through it. : )
Same thing has happened to me twice this summer. It started earlier, though, maybe around 10 pm, and lasted until about 2 am.
Phew! I was beginning to think I was the only one this happened to and that I was going through Man-O-Pause!
The first rule of imaginary Petworth brownouts is don’t talk about imaginary Petworth brownouts. Do you also have bruises or dirt on your shoes and you don’t know how it got there? Hmm…
Tomorrow is dollar dog night.
Take metro.
Beers are $5 at the scoreboard bar until first pitch.
Sweet, I got tix.
Rant: Back to work and back to school after a long 11 day vacation. Still not feeling very motivated to work.
Rave: Had a great week at the beach and couldn’t have asked for better weather.
Super RAVE: One year ago today I married the woman of my dreams. I am looking forward to many, many more wonderful, happy years together. Happy Anniversary to my wonderful wife!!
Congrats, Kam! I actually remember when you guys got married (I recall you posting a lot about stuff leading up to the wedding). I can’t believe it’s already been a year. Time flies!
Thank you Megan! Time does indeed fly, best enjoy it to the max while you can.
Rant: Had nightmares all night about terrorists kidnapping me. In 1 dream they used my phone to blow up Cleveland, OH. Not a restful night of sleep.
Rave: Had a fabulous weekend doing things that needed doing, being lazy, and visiting my country house.
Rave: My awesome sister made me Earl Grey tea ice cream.
Haha, don’t worry, there’s not much incentive for terrorists to blow up Cleveland: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZzgAjjuqZM Especially since Lebron left… hah.
In my dream I was less concerned about Cleveland than with getting blamed for the destruction since my phone was used. I begged them to use someone else’s phone (they had other hostages), but they wouldn’t, big meanies.
Haha… No one would blame you if Cleveland was wiped off the face of the earth! I’m not a psychic or anything but it’s usually symbolic to dream about something that represents something else going on in your life…
I had a recurring dream about 2 years ago in which a talking Dolphin just kept telling me that I need to “stop doing what I was doing” and it wouldn’t explain what it was that I did… I worked so hard trying to figure it out but I couldn’t, come to find out it was a metaphor for the crappy job I had at a law firm, I quit and the dreams went away. LOL.
You wanted them to use some other poor hostage’s phone instead? Not very heroic. You’re going to have to invent another ending before you pen the screenplay version, I’d say.
“Only one woman had the app that could stop the terrorists and protect Cleveland from utter destruction…”
The ending was worse. It turns out I was kidnapped and my phone used to blow up Cleveland because my parents’ friends’ kid was in on it. You see, in real life, this kid was part of my sister’s play group. They were all about 3-4. My sister scratched this kid’s face and left a tiny (invisible) scar that his mother still talked about up until our teen years (the last time I saw her). So this kid with the scar in my dream helped set up my kidnapping and they used my phone b/c of this damn scar my sister gave him in toddlerhood! Or that’s my theory. I never got to the reasons why in my dream.
Yes, the screenplay needs work.
I had a dream that I stumbled across a burglar in the kitchen and I full on soccer ball kicked him. Problem was, I actually kicked my wife. Good thing I couldn’t generate very much force from my sleeping position.
At least you didn’t “head butt” her! That could have ended your football career with the Dolphins!
Rave: The stewardess on my United flight from O’Hare to National on Sunday. My daughter was in the midst of an epic tantrum and NOTHING we were trying would calm her down. Tired from poor sleep and dealing with a cranky toddler, I got upset and worried we were going to be asked to get off the flight. Stewardess reassured me they had seen worse and sometimes nothing you try works and they just need to knock themselves out from the exhaustion.
Benadryl. Knock their asses out if they are throwing a tantrum.
Unless it doesn’t. Half of little kids get anxious and/or hyper on benadryl.
Dramamine always made me sleep as a little kiddo.
for what it’s worth, most passengers I’ve seen will be sympathetic to parents who are doing everything humanly possible to calm their toddler down. It happens to the best of us. I hope your fellow flyers weren’t giving you the side eye, which I reserve for parents who are actively IGNORING their kid kicking the back of the seat and throwing peanuts across the aisle.
Rant: It was DARK this morning when my alarm went off. One of the things I hate the most about having a 9-5. I get so depressed waking up when it’s still dark.
Rave: My last week of my 9-5. I’m sure it won’t be the last I ever have but I am at least giving myself a little time off to do something I actually love.
Rant: I’m not good at saying goodbye.
Even worse is walking to work when it’s still dark out. I don’t have to do that yet, except on the rare days I’m up early enough to work out, but in a couple months I will.
Getting to work in the dark, and getting off work when it’s dark = ultimate hell.
And worse than that is walking to AND from work in the dark!
I love the darkness, the only problem is that my fangs grow a little bit and then it’s hard to eat my cereal in the morning.
Working 9 to 5, what a way to make a living!
Rant: Walking out on our back deck yesterday afternoon to see that a neighbor had threw a large styrofoam cup full of human feces onto the top of our car in our driveway and splattered it all over the place, and also smeared it on the outside of our garage door (yes, this really happened). I happen to know with 99% certainty who did this and am pondering what the heck to do in response. Given that it was retaliation for my efforts to have his house condemned, I fear escalating further will only make things worse. But I hate letting it go unanswered .
Rave: After the above happened, I’ve got nothing. Except to say that I’m pretty sure this was the straw that broke the camel’s back for us and we will begin the process of selling the house and moving out of the city. If that can be a rave…
“thrown”
Okay, that’s worse than the presumably innocuous human turdpile I found in the doorway to my garage a couple weeks ago. Horrible.
But if you move, you’re letting the poopers win.
Just my experience, but it seems that juvenile crimes like this happen more frequently in the suburbs than the city. But good luck with whatever course of action you choose.
Not juvenile. If my suspicions are correct, he is a 60-something white guy who is a menace to his neighbors.
I bet you PoPers weren’t expecting that.
Don’t you mean “PooPers”?
why not? sounds like something some crotchety old man would do to me…
(nice try, race baiting troll.)
Definitely not. I almost wish he/she had not had said it so a few (quite a few) could have hung themselves on their assumptions and words.
Sadly not surprising. In my experience, age does not equal maturity. Some people never grow up.
The best response may be no response – jerks like this usually love attention – but I know how hard it is to do nothing. If you wanted to make a case you could DNA test it, but it’s probably pointless. What could the cops do to him anyway.
Rant: My mom had what amounts to a stroke this weekend. I talked with her for 2 minutes on Friday, which was probably the last conversation I’ll ever have with her.
Rave: So glad I decided to spend a week with her last month.
I sympathize–I have a family history of strokes, and it’s a scary thing. Sending hopes that things take a turn for the better.
I’m so sorry. I hope you and your family have (or find) a good support system. I imagine there are groups that assist families with the shock and stress when a loved one has a stroke.
Rant: My friend Gary was in a cab this morning that got hit by a woman driving a Suburban. Why are women driving Suburban’s always hitting cabs? ARRRGGH!
they hit pedestrians and bikers too
So do many other drivers who don’t drive suvs.
Hmmm…this brings up an interesting discussion. It seems we all agree that something (anything!) needs to be done about automobiles hitting both other automobiles and pedestrians. What measures might we or the city government institute?
Rave: Had a pretty great weekend! Took in a Nats game, saw The King & I at Wolf Trap (even though it rained for at least half of it), made salsa (midwestern style–no heat) and attended a friend’s BBQ. AND got to spend an entire day with the boyfriend! The last time that happened was July 4th.
Rave: Awesome roommates.
Rant: I just want to get married already! Let’s get this show on the road!
Rave/Rant: As of November I’ll have been at my job for one year, which means I can take classes for free (at Georgetown, nonetheless!). Unfortunately, there’s nothing here that I’m interested in pursuing.
Can you take random classes, like languages? I’d love to be able to do that at my workplace. The USDA ones are really good but too pricey.
It might be too late to get into the more popular classes, but the Global Language Network’s registration for the Fall semester just opened up and their classes are nearly free (you pay a $175 deposit but get $150 back when you complete the class).
Rave: Two excellent Blues festivals this weekend. The first one was free. The second one required $35 Tickets, but me and my friends were comped.
Rant: Rain started during the Holmes Brothers set and pretty much everyone left after a couple of songs.
Rant: I took a vacation day Friday so this is my first day back in the office. My boss dumps all of this shit on me as soon as I get in this morning. She was sending e-mails after work, all weekend, even during the holiday. I just do not understand that at all. Insanity. I’m sorry, I am not going to check my e-mail after work, or work on weekends or vacation days. That’s not how I want to live my life. Blah.
Rant: At work with a sinus infection. Feeling horrible. To quote my manager: “I’d rather have you here than healthy.” Awesome.
Rave: Short week.
Rant: Feeling so antsy – so much to do but I’m so overwhelmed by it all that I can barely get anything done.
Rave: Only four more days of work!
Rant: My roommate is turning into a total workaholic – was working every day this weekend (most days starting when he woke up). He seems to think it’ll ultimately be worth it, but he’s massively underpaid for what he’s doing, and I’ve seen others get themselves into this position where working evenings and weekends becomes the new norm and suddenly it’s not an exceptional good thing but just expected and *not* working those extra hours looks bad…
Co-sign
Amen! I’ve worked places (in the nonprofit field) where constant staying late, late-night e-mailing, etc. gradually becomes part of the office culture, and after a while, people start to lose perspective on what’s truly urgent vs. what can wait until normal business hours. I’m all for putting in 110% and going full tilt when it’s necessary (for instance, if a big important proposal absolutely must get done by a certain due date), but in my experience, many times when the workaholic mentality has taken over, people just end up working for its own sake (and to avoid standing out as the one “slacker” who wants to draw a work-life balance line).
Does he work for Deloitte by any chance? They really work their employees to death.
Nope, it’s a very small political consulting company. Great perks (100% covered health insurance, paid for a new smartphone and cover the entirety of the phone plan, etc) and sounds like he’s making an effort to go above and beyond what they currently expect (rather than them expecting him to be doing all this on evenings and weekends), but I still think it’s going to come back to bite him…
Minor Rant: I keep hearing stuff like “you can use 4 times LESS” in advertisements. Is that a mathematical possibility? I mean, if I use 10 of something, 4x that is 40; so how can I then use 40 less than 10?
Rave: I’m in the mood to thoroughly clean my condo today (and I don’t get in that mood very often
Rant: I’ve seen “CoHi” in a few posts today and it’s mildly annoying me at the moment. Sounds terrible, just use CH as an abbreviation.
Once folks start referring to Petworth as “PeWo” you won’t find “CoHi” quite as irritating.
So….would that be “Co-Hee” or “Co-High?” I assume the latter.
I call it Col Hgts (rhymes with Knights in Monty Python KA-NIG-ITS)
Rave: two days hiking in the GW forest (final countdown to Peru so rainy hiking was actually helpful!).
Rant: returned home to find basement flooded AGAIN
Rant: contractor had completed work on Thursday from prior flood
Anyone ever been successful in suing their former landlord over a security deposit?
I’d seriously considered it once, but I had a lot on my plate at the time and ended up letting it go. In retrospect I wish I’d done it. It’s infuriating to think that my landlord was able to steal nearly $800 from me and get away with it.
I have and was successful…but my situation was pretty cut and dry where the landlord was obviously at fault.
I’ve never sued, but have compiled my evidence in a thorough way, presented it to the landlord, and let them know I was willing to pursue the issue. Use official names of the agencies you would deal with, to show you’ve done your homework and know what the next step is. Landlords don’t want to deal with court, either, so this might be enough to get them to settle with you (if you really are in the right).
She kept over half my deposit to have the apartment professionally cleaned, even though there was no damage to the apartment and several other charges that are bogus. I have video taped evidence that this is not true which I’m glad now that I took.
Rave: I love my new apartment and I love love love living alone.
Waiting on pins and needles for biopsy results…need a distraction and have already looked at all the dog-shaming.com pix. Suggestions?
For more adorable pet pics, try: reddit.com/r/aww
It always puts a smile to my face
I could watch this beagle puppy video all day long.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fZht–MW2D0
someone mentioned textfromdog.tumblr.com once. it’s pretty funny, and there are lots of them. and there’s always dailymail.com, my favorite time-waster. Be sure to click on the UK News tab, for the really weird stuff.
Rave: Speaking of, does anyone know where to find one in DC???
Rave: New job started today. I’ve been unemployed since I got laid off last October.
Rant: New job started today.