Photo by PoPville flickr user Jeffrey Morris
“Dear PoPville,
I’m looking for hypnosis/hypnotherapy recommendations to treat an anxiety-induced nail biting habit.
Has anyone had experience with a reputable hypnotherapy provider in the area? Thank you!”
Photo by PoPville flickr user laurabl
“Dear PoPville,
I’ve lived in an apartment building in Logan Circle for a little over one year. The front door to the building is secured with a deadbolt, and my apartment is secured with a deadbolt and doorknob lock (different key from the building front door).
I came home Sunday night after being gone for 48 hours to find my apartment totally ransacked—-every drawer was turned inside out; sheets ripped off my bed; mattress flipped; boxes of personal notes, photos, etc. turned over. Incredibly, nothing was taken except my work laptop and an old iPad. At this time it’s a mystery as to how someone unlocked my apartment, turned it inside out, and neglected to take any other visible valuables (jewelry, electronics, medication, personal macbook, TV, etc. were not touched)…and then the thief locked the door on their way out.
The police made a report and recommended that I change the locks, and they’re following up with the management company for security footage.
Here’s the catch: (more…)
Photo by PoPville flickr user Mark Andre
“Dear PoPville,
I had a really bothersome experience. I was out walking my dog in the navy yard area, the part where all the row houses are. I noticed about 4 teenager-ish kids hanging out at corner and they began to disperse as I was walking up the block. I wasn’t paying attention and had my earphones in, and I didn’t hear them say anything to me until I was past them, and so when I finally noticed that one of them had said excuse me and was trying to get my attention. At this point all four – two on a bike and two on foot – had come back to talk to me (they had made it like halfway across the street. I took my earphones out and this is the story they told me:
They said they saw a car hit a dog, stop, pick up the dog and put it in the public trash can on the corner of the block. They said they got the guys tag numbers and that some lady had already reported it and that they were trying to find out whose dog it was. They asked if I lived around here and said that I should look and see if I know the dog. (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
I found this letter today in my mailbox (lower Petworth) without an envelope. I assume the whole street/block has received the same, since my home doesn’t exactly look special in any way, but I haven’t asked around yet. Maybe I’ve just heard about too many DC scams, but my first thought was definitely “yep, they want to burgle me.” Setting aside the @icloud email address and the lack of official letterhead, it’s already October, and I would think scouting privately owned locations and preparing them for shooting would take longer than less than one month?”
1827 Adams Mill Road, NW
And the people are not pleased. Holy smokes thanks to all for messaging us about One Medical:
“We want you to know about some important changes regarding your CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield coverage.
Beginning December 18, 2017, One Medical will no longer be an in-network provider through CareFirst. Please contact us at 202.204.7440 or [email protected] for additional details. We’re here to help you understand what these changes may mean for you and to offer options that allow you to continue your care with One Medical.
Sincerely,
The One Medical Team”
Update: Another reader writes:
This is where people can complain!”
Photo by PoPville flickr user Miki J.
“Dear PoPville,
Odd question. What’s the etiquette when a neighbor repeatedly knocks on your back door to ask for money?
Longtime DC resident/renter, but my wife and I just bought a small row home on a mixed income, mixed age, mixed race, mixed family, block in Columbia Heights earlier this year. Within our first couple months in the new house some young neighbors that we had not previously met, but share an alley with, began coming through our back patio gate unannounced (the fence and gate are chest height and easily jumped over, so we don’t bother locking it), knocking on our back door, and asking for money (for diapers, auto repairs etc.).
My wife obliged and gave them a little money once or twice, but declined the third time. (more…)
“Dear PoPville,
I recently learned that my car is part of the Takata airbag recall, and the estimate for the dealership to receive parts and perform the fix is Spring 2018. While working with the dealer to get a loaner for the interim, I’m trying to foresee any additional issues and take care of them.
In looking at the information available from the DMV, a ROSA exemption doesn’t seem like exactly what I need. A rental car parking permit is an option, but visiting the DMV to renew every 15 days for the next six months seems like the basis for a Dante-esque sitcom.
Has anyone successfully dealt with a similar situation or have any insight into how to work with the DMV on this?
Thanks for any insights!!”
“Dear PoPville,
Found this by my house entrance. Anyone else in the neighborhood getting these? I’m at Girard and 13th! Was wondering if there’s a pattern and others are getting crazy notes too.”
And in Glover Park, Cortney tweets us and shares on a listserve:
“This morning I found a flyer filled with antisemitism on my front steps. It looked like the conspiracy theories of someone who had spent lot of time thinking about this. The tin hat variety. But it’s not a joke. We have a mezuzah on our door. Anyone can see that Jews live here. I took the flyer to the local police precinct, and we are now a reported hate incident.
This is not an isolated incident. The police officer who took my report said, “We’ve been getting a lot of these lately.” I didn’t have to ask her whether she meant hate against Jews or against all groups; we’ve all read the news. This is not okay.
If you see something, report it. If you saw someone distributing flyers like this in the neighborhood, please report it. If you know who did this, please report it. If you yourself are the recipient of hate, please report it. The police said you can call them if you don’t want to go to the precinct, and they will come to you. Acts of hate need to be reported and counted, and the police say that they do investigate these incidents.”
“Dear PoPville,
The attached photo is along the back side of Raymond Elementary as seen from Rock Creek Church Rd & 9th St NW. The speed limit sign in the picture warns that “children are present” …are they hiding in the 5′ tall weeds/grass??! What makes it worse is the mowing crew was out Thursday night around 8pm and didn’t bother to take care of it – any idea who can be contacted to fix this?“
“Dear PoPville,
Here’s an update from my ongoing battle with the DMV bureaucracy. There are some real issues here having to do with good government, transparency and due process.”
Dear Councilmember Allen,
Thank you again for your attention to my ongoing issue with the DMV. I hope you and your colleagues will continue to pursue a legislative fix to end the DMV’s abuse of its authority. It’s unconscionable that individuals have no recourse, due to the DMV’s lack of transparency and due process, to challenge the validity of alleged outstanding, decade-old parking tickets. I wanted to let you know the latest on my situation to inform your efforts to provide better oversight and improve the DMV’s processes going forward.
After DMV Director Babers was unhelpful in response to your outreach on my behalf, I pursued the only other avenue I had left. I followed up with my bank again to further pursue the possibility of accessing my old records in hopes of finding the proof of my payment to the DMV for the parking tickets 10 years ago. The bank again informed me that they do not keep such records beyond 7 years. I was told by the branch manager at my bank that 7 years is the industry standard for preserving such records, as prescribed by government regulation. Thus, there is absolutely no way for me, or others caught in this DMV catch-22 trap, to provide proof of payment to the DMV without locating my original receipt.
As I’ve previously discussed with you and your staff, it is onerous and unreasonable to expect someone to be able to provide a receipt from 10 years ago. It’s even more unreasonable in a circumstance such as mine, where I had every reason to believe that the matter of the old parking tickets was resolved for good, given my initial registration of the vehicle the tickets were issued to (the Ford Ranger) when I moved from Virginia to DC, followed by repeated successful vehicle registrations over the past 10 years.
Again, I find Director Babers’ explanation that the DMV had no way of knowing that there were outstanding tickets on my vehicle when I registered it in the District to be disingenuous. Since I had to provide my VA license, former address, and vehicle information to DC DMV at the time of registration, the tickets on my Ford Ranger were identified and paid at the time of initial registration of the vehicle. Assertions by the Director that the only way the DMV agents would have been able to identify outstanding tickets on my vehicle was if I volunteered the information contradicts the experience of anyone who has registered a vehicle and owed back tickets, impugns the competence of frontline DMV employees, and does not pass the straight-face test.
TEN YEARS. I think it’s important to put this in perspective. In the intervening 10 years, I have moved multiple times and successfully registered two different vehicles in DC. Yet after all these years, I’m suddenly being presumed guilty of owing this debt, without any means of recourse. For crying out loud, people commit criminal felonies in DC for which the statute of limitations is less than 10 years. The IRS doesn’t even require people to keep their tax records for 10 years. As you noted, there is no adjudication process with the DMV after 60 days have passed. Furthermore, I’m not seeking to adjudicate the validity of the original tickets at this point. My issue is that I already paid the tickets. Yet, I’m now suddenly being required to prove my innocence of this alleged debt by providing a 10-year-old receipt. This is an example of inept, oppressive government bureaucracy at its worst. It’s Kafkaesque. (more…)