Posted by Jon Renaut
Tue, 15 May 2007 13:23:00 GMT
I called Capital One again today to make sure someone got the fax. Apparently the company that deals with titling for Capital One is on the West Coast, and no one is answering the phone yet. The CSR I spoke to was a little snotty with me. It's not my fault that, while the first person I spoke to two weeks ago said the title would be mailed in 72 hours, this one told me that Capital One doesn't even have a record of my request for 72 hours, and the whole process takes three weeks. So, even if I had started this process the day we moved, I'd barely have enough time to register the car in DC within the 30-day period that DC requires.
It's more trouble than it's worth to refinance my car loan through someone else, but this is likely the last time I deal with Capital One. The process to get the Blank Check loan was great, and they gave me a better rate than the dealership could, but once they had the loan, they haven't been terribly helpful.
Posted in Incompetence, Cars, DC government | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Tue, 15 May 2007 01:24:00 GMT
Capital One is stupid. Because the DC DMV is totally insane and requires that the original title to a car be sent to them before they will allow you to register it, I called Capital One, who hold the lein on my car. I asked them to send the title to the DC DMV. They said, "Sure. We'll send it within 72 hours." I thought, "Great. Now I can register my car and not get a ticket."
It wasn't great. About a week and a half goes by, and the DMV still doesn't have my title. I called Capital One again. I got a very different story this time. "Oh, you have an electronic title, you have to fax us the form from the DMV."
What?
I love when some CSR tells you, "Oh, you are in this situation, therefore you have to jump through this hoop", as if it was the most natural thing in the world, and aren't you stupid for not knowing. Even better is that they didn't bother to tell me that they weren't going to send the title without the faxed form. Never mind that they have contact information for me - they sure find me when they want to try and sell me something. They just figured that I'd notice eventually.
So I'm waiting some more. Hopefully my wife will be able to bat her eyelashes at the nice police officers down at the station on V St. and get me another temporary parking permit. I have faith in her. And I'm going to call Capital One tomorrow and make sure they got my fax. I asked them to expedite it because they already screwed it up. I can't imagine that they'll listen, but there's always hope.
Posted in Incompetence, Cars, DC government | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Thu, 10 May 2007 12:22:00 GMT
I just realized that the movie script version of National Novel Writing Month is kicking off its inaugural session in 21 days.
Since last year's Nano ended, I've moved from Northern Virginia to DC, which means that have a whole new group of fellow participants to not go out and meet.
Is there an active group of Columbia Heights (and nearby areas) Nanoers who plan to do Script Frenzy?
Posted in Things to do, Community, Writing | 2 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Thu, 10 May 2007 00:58:00 GMT
I don't like to throw away food. I mean, who does? But sometimes you're left with some kind of random stuff in the fridge, and you don't feel like going to the store, but you really would like some dinner. What do you do?
Well, if you're me, today, you order pizza.
Actually, I'm just kidding. What you'd do, if you were me this evening, is go to Hi Market and buy a six-pack of Sierra Nevada, two Vitamin Water XXX's (Because you've never seen that flavor - it's all rich in antioxidants and stuff), and some corn tortillas. Then you come home and wait for your wife to get home from happy hour. Late, as usual. And her cell phone died over the weekend, and you haven't replaced it yet, so she couldn't let you know. It's okay, though. You just naturally assumed that she'd be late, and it didn't bother you that much.
Next, you take the leftover onions and green pepper from making veggie burgers the other night. You saute them in some organic canola oil because you just ran out of organic olive oil over the weekend. Then you add some Quorn fake chicken, the spicy black bean salsa you made last week to serve with fish, and serve in the tortillas with some rice.
Your wife might then have to add the tail ends of two bottles of store-bought salsa and a bottle of picante sauce because it's a little dry, but luckily that's not enough to give her credit for cooking, so she still has to clean up.
You might later have to do some work, because you've been spending a lot of the work day checking your site traffic after not one but two links from Wonkette this week (A slow week, you guess. You swear you're not paying anyone on staff there. Really.).
Anyway, that's what you'd do if you were me.
Posted in Life, Food | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Mon, 07 May 2007 23:17:00 GMT
Who steals a trash can? My wife tells me they're kind of pricey, but seriously. I'm still hoping that someone in the building will offer an explanation, but I really can't imagine what explanation there could be. I put the cans out at the end of the driveway last night around 10pm. At 6pm today, they were gone. I don't know what happened in the meantime. Perhaps one of the building residents who parks out back can tell me the last time they were seen, but they haven't responded to my email yet.
What can we do about this? I don't think there's any way to secure the cans and still leave them free enough for the garbage men to pick them up. We can put our address in big numbers on the side, but I don't think that will be terribly effective.
To whoever has our trash cans: I hope you enjoy them. I hope, very soon, you accidentally place something very dear to you in one of them. I hope you then realize that you've done this about an hour after the bins are picked up. To quote my 6th grade math teacher in a moment near nervous breakdown (It wasn't my fault, it was Lucas'), "Karate Kid says, 'What goes around comes around'." I'm not sure he really said that, but it's true nevertheless.
Posted in Thievery | 6 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Mon, 07 May 2007 11:52:00 GMT
The Metro was empty this morning. Is there some holiday I don't know about?
It still amazes me how different a city neighborhood is from a suburb neighborhood. I lived in my condo in Falls Church, VA, for two years. The only neighbor I spoke to more than once was the guy two doors down who signed for my vaccuum cleaner, and the women one floor down because the seal on my toilet broke and started leaking into their ceiling.
Now, I've been in the city for about two months. I've met a few of the people next door. Someone who lives down the street contacted me through Flickr to welcome me to the neighborhood. And I know everyone in my building, although that's partly because of the condo association meetings.
I find myself feeling very smug about moving into the city. Walking to the neighborhood market, hopping on the bus to meet the wife for happy hour, listening to people talk through the open screen to the cat sitting in the windowsill . . .
In any event, I'm very happy with our decision to move. I'm glad we decided that we couldn't afford anything we liked in Ballston and Clarendon.
I realize that this is a little rambling, and I'm not sure I ever really had a point. Maybe I'm just confused because it's Monday morning and I'm not actually in a terrible mood. There's probably a full moon or something tomorrow.
Posted in Life, Community, Getting around | 2 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Wed, 02 May 2007 19:30:00 GMT
I've heard many, many horror stories about the DC DMV. In fact, I've heard nothing good about it. So imagine my surprise when I got to the DMV on M St SW this morning, just as they opened, and got my brand new DC driver's license in about a half an hour.
The metal detectors at the door were a little unexpected, but the rest of the experience was totally pleasant. The staff was, without exception, pleasant and efficient. I have had equivalently nice DMV experiences in Maryland and Virginia, but never better than what I had this morning.
So, kudos to you, M St SW DMV. You exceeded all my expectations this morning, and I appreciate it.
The real test will be when I get back from my friends' wedding this weekend and try to get my car registered in DC. I'll be at the Georgetown DMV for that one, because I've heard it's the nicest. I'll report back after that experience.
Posted in Life, Cars, DC government | 3 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Mon, 30 Apr 2007 14:32:00 GMT
Washington Post: Eastern Market: What We've Lost
It's all over the news, so you've likely heard, but Eastern Market burned down last night. I'm very glad that I finally made it out there for the first time a few weeks ago. I don't think I could hope to retain my DC resident status, parking tickets notwithstanding, if I had never been to Eastern Market.
My fear now is that it won't be rebuilt without some kind of "anchor store", like a chain grocery or a Starbucks. That would certainly ruin some of the feel of the market. I can't claim to be a regular visitor, or claim any nostalgia at the market being part of my life, so it's hard for me to talk about the feel of the market. But even my one visit was nice, and I can't imagine it being reborn as something like Dean and Delucca in Georgetown.
Posted in Things to do, Life, Community, Shopping | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Fri, 27 Apr 2007 13:17:00 GMT
The Rorschach Theatre Blog: Political
This is not a show about two people fighting for two hours. There are very real laughs and tears. There is sex and hunger and all the colors of the human condition.
I think that does a pretty good job of summing up the play we saw last night as part of my birthday presents from my wife. References to Salvador Dali Make Me Hot was written by the guy who wrote the screenplay for The Motorcycle Diaries. And The Rorschach Theatre is literally right around the corner from our place, tucked inside a little church. I would describe the theater itself as "very intimate". There are two rows of folding chairs on either side of the stage, room for maybe 70 people.
I was pleasantly surprised by the production quality and the acting. I thought it might tend to the amateurish side, since this is a funky little theater in a church. Yes, I know I'm switching between "theater" and "theatre". The proper name has the "re", but I don't spell the word like that.
Anyway, the acting was anything but amateurish. It's a very emotional and sexually-charged play, typical of Spanish magic realism, and I thought the acting was great. The set was cool. They did a nice job of working with the space limitations and the lack of a curtain.
Now, the play itself. The story is about a soldier returning to his wife, who is bored and alone in the desert. She desperately wants his companionship, to connect with someone on a meaningful level, after spending a lot of time with her cat and the boy next door who is in love with her. He desperately wants to take his boots off and take her to bed.
I'm no theater critic, but this is a pretty good way to spend two hours. The wife and I will definitely go back to see another play.
Posted in Things to do, Community | 3 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Wed, 25 Apr 2007 00:36:00 GMT
My grandmother died last night. She had not been well for a while, and they couldn't really figure out what was wrong.
I think she was ready to go. She had been in a rehabilitation center for a while, and then staying with my dad. She hasn't been able to walk for months, and she wasn't responding in any long-term sense to the treatment.
I last saw her the weekend before last. She didn't really want company, but I went anyway, and I'm glad I did. Our last conversation wasn't very good. She was upset, and wasn't terribly pleasant. I'm sad that the last time we talked ended with her upset with me, but I know she didn't really mean it. We've always had a good relationship. I used to spend the night with her and my grandfather when I was very little. She loves to tell the story of how I asked for toasted cheese one night for dinner. She cooked me a grilled cheese. Now, I don't know about anyone else, but in our house when I was little, "toasted cheese" was really just a piece of bread with sliced cheese stuck in the toaster oven until the cheese melted and the bread browned a little bit. I'm not sure I'd ever had a grilled cheese at that point, and there was NO WAY I was eating it. I was a pretty picky eater until sometime in high school. My grandfather apparently made me sit in my chair for quite some time, staring at the grilled cheese.
"You asked your grandmother for this, and now you're going to eat it." He said.
"No." I said. Allegedly. I was probably three years old. I deny this ever happened. I certainly don't remember it.
I out-waited him, though. She never told me how the story ended, except that I never did eat the grilled cheese. It's too bad - I probably would have liked it.
In college, I lived about 20 minutes from her, and I used to take her to the grocery store a few times a month. She never drove, and my grandfather died in 1986. Kind of amazing that she lived in the suburbs of Baltimore for 20 years without a driver in the house.
Anyway, I knew exactly where everything she ever bought was in the Pikesville Giant. She would always buy me a sandwich for lunch, and serve something for dessert. Often it was Ben and Jerry's Coffee Heath Bar Crunch. Occasionally it was something she made. She was a great cook, and her specialty was old-fashioned New England desserts. Her Christmas cookies were fantastic, too, but I think that may be partly nostalgia.
So, my recommendation to all of you is to go and spend time with the people you care about. Some of them may be difficult sometimes, as I know my grandmother could be. But it's funny how quickly you can forget the little difficulties.
Posted in Life | 2 comments
