And once again, I’m on the receiving end of an Amtrak transaction, this time in Staunton, however…
4 minute read
December 31, 2008, 8:23 PM
Yay, Sis is here! Mom, Dad, and I met up with Chris’s mother, and we all went to greet Sis and her fiance Chris as they got off the train in Staunton. We took the Sable. They took the Cardinal from Chicago, and we were there to meet them. So we all got to the train station around 3 PM, and in came an Amtrak train. We thought it was us, but the conductor then announced that this train was going to Chicago, and thus not the train we were waiting for. So we went into the tiny little waiting room to wait. Interestingly enough, the Cardinal has to single-track through Staunton, as the station is only served by one track. Sis actually got caught up in the single-tracking, as they had to wait for the westbound Cardinal to clear the single-track area before they could proceed. Let me also comment that I will never take Union Station for granted again, since that station’s all nice and indoors and heated and has things to do while you wait. It was very cold and windy in Staunton today, and so waiting outside was not fun. And then waiting in the little waiting room is dull because there’s nothing to do. Just some benches.
Then Katie texted me. As it turns out, my cell phone’s text message chime, which is four bell rings (think the out-of-time bell on Wheel of Fortune), sounds exactly like the bell on the Amtrak trains when they make a station stop. Thus my text tone got everyone’s attention, thinking that the train had arrived. After it was brought to my attention that lots of people were reacting every time I got a text, I explained to everyone that it was my phone. But eventually, the eastbound Cardinal arrived.
First, a photo of the locomotive, for the railfan in me. I left without my real camera totally without thinking, unfortunately, and didn’t realize it until too late.
Continue reading…So the apartment is clean from top to bottom…
5 minute read
December 28, 2008, 2:09 AM
I just finished giving my apartment a thorough cleaning ahead of my trip to Stuarts Draft for a week. I did the rugs, I did the floors, I dusted, I completely cleaned the kitchen, and I completely cleaned the bathroom. It was a long ordeal, but the place looks great now!
Most bothersome, though, was cleaning the carpets. I had Mom’s shampooer, and I went the whole nine yards. I picked everything up, moved furniture around, and everything. I had my coffee table up-ended and in the kitchen, if that tells you anything. Bedroom, hallway, and then living room. The living room was perhaps the most challenging. First I had to make sure not to shampoo myself into a corner, but also what to do once the carpets were done.
\Determining what to do once the carpets were finished was actually pretty exciting. I grabbed my coat, my hat, my iPod, and my phone, and took to the Sable for a few hours late at night. Makes me glad that gas is cheaper again, because I finally got to explore a bit. It’s time to see what’s beyond Silver Spring. So I took a small late-night road trip. Previously, I’d only been on Georgia Avenue as far as Norbeck Road, which is not all that much further north than my street. Now, I followed Georgia Avenue a long way. I went through Olney, seeing roughly where Montgomery General Hospital is (the Y bus’s northern terminus), and continued, finding out that Georgia Avenue narrows down to two lanes once you clear Olney. Olney also appeared to be a lot smaller than I expected. I expected a larger town, but there you go. And then beyond Olney, Georgia Avenue reminded me a lot of various back roads in Augusta County, Virginia, where I used to live. Lots of curves, and two lanes. For the first time in a long time, I broke out the high beams.
I paid my last respects to the Infoshop last night…
2 minute read
December 7, 2008, 7:41 AM
I went into DC yesterday evening in order to pay my last respects to the Brian MacKenzie Infoshop, which is closing this month. It was kind of a bittersweet moment. On one hand, it’s a shame to see the Infoshop go, as it was more than just a bookstore, since even more so, it served as a social gathering place and meeting point for DC’s radical community. On the other hand, I’m happy that I got some closure to my four years of visiting the Infoshop. Recall that I first visited the Infoshop immediately following the Million Worker March in October 2004.
While at the Infoshop, I picked up a vegan cookbook for 25% off. That excites me, since I absolutely love vegan cooking, but never have taken the time to try it out. Maybe this will get me to actually do some real cooking, vs. preparing stuff in the microwave (which isn’t “cooking”, in my opinion).
I also found out that the reason the Infoshop was closing was due to its dwindling volunteer base, and loss of its lease. That’s a shame on both counts. I admit, however, that I had stopped going to the Infoshop a while back partly because of their hours changes, and even then, I would go down there only to discover that no one had showed up to open the place up, making the whole exercise a wasted endeavor. However, the location was amazingly Metro-accessible, being about three blocks from both Shaw and Mt. Vernon Square stations on the Green/Yellow Lines.
One group of people at the Infoshop at the time of my visit was optimistic, however, that there would be another Infoshop in the future. I hope that’s the case, since despite its basement location (no “storefront” and therefore no foot traffic) and its erratic hours, it did serve a purpose for the DC radical community, as a place to share information and as a gathering point, as well as a place to chat with similarly-minded individuals.
But for now, we must say “so long” to the Infoshop, and hopefully we’ll meet again one day in a new, rejuvenated form.
Categories: Activism, Washington DC
Gas went down eighteen cents in three days?
3 minute read
November 26, 2008, 8:25 PM
Yes, it’s true! If you look about two Journal entries back, you’ll see that gas at the Martin’s in Waynesboro was $1.59 per gallon on Sunday. Now, three days later, on Wednesday, look:
Categories: Charlottesville, Family, Retail
So Katie and I had fun yesterday…
5 minute read
November 26, 2008, 5:23 PM
Katie and I went out and about in Staunton and Waynesboro yesterday, and we had fun. I can’t believe it had been three months since last I saw Katie, but indeed that was the case. But of course, that doesn’t mean we had any less fun.
First thing we did was go over to the nTelos store, since it was just about time to upgrade Katie’s cell phone, and so we were seeing what the scene looked like. I think Katie’s going to get a really good phone this time around – one with an on-board camera, and one that can do all of the cool things that cell phones can do nowadays. And I demonstrated the picture feature on one of the demo phones:
Categories: Blue Ridge Parkway, Katie, Products, Staunton, Staunton Mall, Waynesboro
So maybe someone wants us to just believe that $4.00 per gallon was just a bad dream or something?
3 minute read
November 23, 2008, 7:50 PM
First of all, hello from my parents’ house in Stuarts Draft, where I’ll be for the better part of a week. I’ve set up a little Lappy workstation in the kitchen, which is where I write you today.
And with all the price speculation on oil having subsided with the economy in the dumper, look at these numbers:
Categories: Afton Mountain, Gas prices
My sister is at the big Obama event in Chicago!
< 1 minute read
November 4, 2008, 10:26 PM
My sister, Ann Schumin, and her fiance Chris, are at the big Obama event at Grant Park in Chicago. Take a look:
Meanwhile, about Sunday…
3 minute read
November 2, 2008, 9:57 PM
I had fun today, as I completed the field work for my Rosslyn photo set. I have followed 1815 North Fort Myer Drive from operating office building to hole in the ground. Today, I finished up with photos of the completed demolition. Basically, we went from this:
Categories: Arlington, Silver Spring
Car fire!
2 minute read
October 19, 2008, 2:36 PM
Just about 20 minutes ago, a car caught fire just down the street from my apartment complex. I noticed smoke and flames from my balcony door, and grabbed the Kodak to go down and see what I could see. By the time I got down there, the fire department had put the bulk of the fire out, and was working to make sure that it was completely extinguished before leaving. Check it out…
Spraying foam on the fire.
Categories: Silver Spring
Phew! The whole place smells like Sharpie…
3 minute read
September 8, 2008, 10:55 PM
Yes, I pulled out my Sharpies to hand-letter a few signs. I made three. This is the general gist of the message:
Categories: Arlington, Netculture
And they called her “Hanna”…
2 minute read
September 5, 2008, 8:41 PM
As of right now, Tropical Storm Hanna is expected to run up most of the eastern seaboard starting with the Carolinas and going up to New England. Per The Weather Channel, this is the projected path:
Image: The Weather Channel
Categories: Arlington, Tropical systems
Thursday was fun…
2 minute read
August 29, 2008, 9:11 AM
Thursday was fun. I spent much of it wandering along the strip, checking out the various stores and such. However, I only spent money at Flipper McCoy’s, which, unlike the visit on Tuesday night, was pretty quiet this time around. I had so much fun. I took both Pac-Man and Ms. Pac-Man for a number of spins, I played skee-ball, I played Spin-to-Win, and I got to see someone win 1500 tickets on the Deal Or No Deal machine.
Perhaps the most interesting was skee-ball. They have two different versions. One named along the lines of your typical skee-ball game and styled as such, and then the other was called “Ice Ball”. The gameplay between regular skee ball and Ice Ball was exactly the same, but the Ice Ball balls were white, and they felt ever so slightly heavier, which I preferred. In play, I somehow managed to hit every spot, including the 10,000 spot, except for 5,000. Why not 5,000? Dunno. Got 1K, 2K, 3K, and 4K no problem. Go figure. I also found that I scored better by changing my angle. I was initially playing like it was bowling. Underhanded roll, hitting the rolling surface fairly close to the edge. When I changed to a different style throw, aiming for it to start rolling along the track towards the back, I did a lot better. Go fig.
Categories: Travel, Video games, Virginia Beach
And while I’m on vacation, the Democrats put an end to the nomination fight once and for all…
3 minute read
August 28, 2008, 1:43 AM
Let me say that the fourth day in Virginia Beach was a lot of fun. It started with a walk down the beach. Recall that on Monday, I took Duckie into the water for a swim, and got those amazing wave photos. Today, I again took Duckie to the water, though this time I was mainly out to cover the beach. I got people making sandcastles, as well as completed sandcastles. Some people made forts for themselves, while one person dug a small tunnel system in the sand. Metro for the sand crabs, maybe? Looked as though he had just completed his system’s equivalent of Metro Center when I passed by. And most people, by and large, were very friendly, even offering to pose with their creations as they were building them. However, considering the style of photos I normally like to take, the phrase “act natural” became a fairly common phrase for me.
This, by the way, is the pièce de résistance when it comes to Virginia Beach sandcastles today:
Categories: National politics, Travel, Virginia Beach
Late start, but not bad.
3 minute read
August 27, 2008, 11:28 AM
I got a late start on Tuesday, owing to a sore foot. But the day definitely made up for the late start. I kind of explored around the city a bit by car, and it was certainly worth the time, as I got to see what kind of city Virginia Beach was in the “local” department, vs. the resort area. Not bad. I don’t think I’d want to ever live here, if nothing else but for the constant sound of jet noise due to the presence of the Oceana Naval Air Station in the town. You can hear those jets even when you’re driving in your car. Very disconcerting, because I’m thinking it’s something wrong with the car or something, and it’s the military flying jets overhead. And then a jet flew directly overhead – that’s ear-splittingly loud. Give me a Wheelock 7002T to the face any day, thank you.
Due to a strong wind blowing over the area, the ocean was a bit rougher than usual. The strong waves actually reshaped the beach somewhat – it was a smooth slope down to the ocean from the main beach on Monday, but today, there was a noticeable step down to the water, as the waves carved it out as they took sand out to sea. I went down to the water in the early evening, and got in this rough surf, and the waves were noticeably more forceful than the day before. And I got sand up my suit. No fun. But it was a good experience out there.
Categories: Travel, Virginia Beach
Cold water is COLD!
4 minute read
August 25, 2008, 10:24 PM
It’s Day 2 of vacation! And let me just say that the cold water in the ocean is as cold as longcat is long. I went swimming in the ocean today. And it was interesting how the temperatures turned out. I believe the majority of the water around here was quite cold. But as the waves crashed, the heat off of the beach would warm the water up, and then it would roll back in, it made a warm layer in the water. It was quite a weird feeling. But on a warm day, the cold water in the ocean was quite refreshing.
I also took Duckie out in the ocean today, and I had a great time. Duckie is a great in-the-water camera, and I had fun taking up-close photos of the waves. Check it out…
Big Mavica would certainly never have gotten this close to the ocean!
Categories: Travel, Virginia Beach