Posted by Jon Renaut
Mon, 23 Apr 2007 11:40:00 GMT
Washingtonpost.com: High School Senior Killed in Northwest
An 18-year-old kid who lives on my street was shot about three blocks from my house late Saturday night. Maybe it was gang-related, but they don't seem to have much in the way of details.
When we moved into the city, some people thought we were crazy. Why would we move from the nice, safe suburbs into the scary, busy city? People wondered about Columbia Heights, too. It's not the most dangerous place in the city, but it's also not Georgetown (Thankfully. I don't want to live in Georgetown. It's a nice place to go shopping if you have too much money on your hands, but I don't like the feel of the area. Not quite sure why.). But this is the first major crime I'm aware of in the area since we moved.
I have not yet felt unsafe at any time in Columbia Heights. Sure, I've passed some people talking loudly to themselves, and I've been asked for money. But I've never had to cross the street because I felt threatened or anything like that.
We were out at a bar on P St Saturday night, and we were just walking home shortly before this happened. I guess that makes this a bigger deal. I've probably scared my mom and my mother-in-law by now. But I've talked to my wife, and we think we're going to be more inclined to take a cab home if we're out late. I still don't feel unsafe, but that doesn't mean we shouldn't be careful.
Posted in Life, Community, Safety | 6 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:20:00 GMT
What a beautiful morning. It's sunny and warm and all the windows are open. My wife is cooking me breakfast. There's a huge pile of my mother-in-law's chocolate chip cookies on the counter (I wanted to empty the box they were shipped in so the cat could play in it). This afternoon, the wife and I are going to take a little walk, and my family is coming over later for dinner.
Last night, we went to Merkado for dinner. It was quite good. I had the special, which was halibut over a black bean and mango salsa. I highly recommend it. The fried banana dessert was also great.
This is especially relevant to residents of Columbia Heights because the company that runs Merkado, as well as Grillfish and Logan Tavern, is opening a new restaurant in June or July right at the Columbia Heights Metro stop. They're going to call it Logan @ The Heights, which I think is a dumb name. Maybe they think that Columbia Heights can't stand up on its own, and they have to associate Logan Circle with us so we know their restaurant is cool.
In any event, I'll try the new place when it opens.
I also need to try the Intercambios at Dos Gringos in Mount Pleasant. It seems like a cool idea - it's a semi-structured informal conversation designed to meet new people and brush up on your language skills. I've been saying that I'd like to brush up on my Spanish, so I should actually do something about it.
Posted in Things to do, Life, Community, Food | 1 comment
Posted by Jon Renaut
Sat, 21 Apr 2007 14:17:00 GMT
This morning, I checked my traffic for yesterday and found that it was about five times normal on Friday. Looks like my previous post got a mention on DC Blogs. That's pretty cool. It appears to have been overshadowed by a somewhat heated discussion on some on- and off-line drama, but that's okay.
As a follow up, the reason they blocked off the street became apparent this morning as I was woken by the sound of a large construction machine tearing up the street right in front of the house. They removed a chunk of pavement about ten feet by twenty feet, put down some metal screens, and then repaved. Not sure what that accomplished, but they seem pretty efficient at getting it done.
It is also a beautiful day, and we have flag football in a few hours. This is only my second game of the season, and the team's third, due mostly to rain.
Also, tomorrow is my birthday. Looks like a pretty good weekend.
Posted in Weather, Life, Parking, Exercise | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:58:00 GMT
This morning, I got my first parking ticket since I moved to the city. They have emergency - no parking signs up in front of my house, and I thought that meant no parking between the signs. Apparently it means no parking just beyond the signs, either.
My initial reaction was, "I'm selling my stupid car. I do most of my driving these days when I have to move it for street cleaning. I can use the Zipcars right down the street". But then I got some Sierra Nevada from Hi Market and talked to my wife, and I feel a little better about it.
Still, the thought of getting rid of the car is getting stronger. Already I think about it as a nuisance more often than I think about it as a convenience. I don't really want to give it up, though. If Zipcars had manual transmissions, it would be easier. I know, I'm being ridiculous if I keep my car just because I want a manual transmission. But that's my right, I think.
I've also been given a "you have 15 days to get your car registered in DC, clown" notice. Maybe I'll go park it at my grandmother's house in Virginia for a few weeks until I can get that taken care of. This is a huge pain. I don't really have time to go to the DMV and get all this taken care of. I hear all sorts of horror stories about the DMV. I don't want to subject myself to that.
However, one $50 ticket and fear of the DMV is probably not a good reason to sell my car, though. We do still use it about once a week. I don't think I'm really prepared to get rid of it yet.
Posted in Parking | 2 comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Sat, 14 Apr 2007 15:28:00 GMT
I'm back from the race. Official results posted here. I was 140th of 216 men. I was 30/47 in my age group, but my age group is 25-29, which is pretty competitive. Five of the top ten, including the top three, were in my age group. I finished in 55:04, first place was 31:27.
So, I'm pretty happy. I would do it again. My toe didn't bother me. The dregs of my cold didn't bother me.
Biggest bother of the day, actually, was the crowds of people for the cherry blossoms. It took us forever to get back home because of all the streets that were closed. If Metro opened a little earlier, I would have done that, but it was cutting it a bit close.
And now the Bay Bridge Run monkey is off my back. A few years ago, some friends and I planned to run it, and we never made it. We started training, and then gave up. But now I've officially done a 10k. Maybe next year I'll be in town for the Bay Bridge Run, and I can do that one. I think it's a tougher run - this one is all flat, but the bridge slopes a lot. Next year.
Posted in Things to do | 1 comment
Posted by Jon Renaut
Sat, 14 Apr 2007 01:33:00 GMT
My race starts in about ten and a half hours. I'm honestly a little nervous. I've just had a weird 24 hour cold. I banged my foot on the door yesterday, and now have a cut on the top of my big toe. I'm not quite sure how this whole thing works.
But I can't imagine it's that difficult. I mean, you show up, you get a number and a little sensor on your shoes, you line up, someone says go, and you run. I'm really curious as to what it will be like. I imagine adrenaline kicks in when you're surrounded by all those people. There are 793 participants, but many of them are doing the walk, not the run.
According to the participant list at the website, I'll be number 360. That's a pretty sweet number. So, if you're going to be near West Potomac Park tomorrow morning at 8AM, you can come cheer us on.
Now I think I'm going to bed. Don't want to be tired in the morning.
Posted in Things to do, Community, Exercise | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Thu, 12 Apr 2007 19:02:00 GMT
Perhaps the only good thing to come of this cold I'm coming down with is that it has given me the opportunity to sit in the sun and do some work at home, rather than at my desk at the office. I sometimes feel that our lovely sunroom is underused, as we spend much of the sunny part of the day at work and not at home. Not today, however.
Drawbacks include the fact that my 10K on Saturday will not wait for me to stop sniffling.
Edited to add: Very shortly after I posted this, the sun went away. Now it's raining. Such is life.
Posted in Weather, Life | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Wed, 11 Apr 2007 21:36:00 GMT
Fresh on the heels of The Assassin's Gate: America in Iraq, a new book arrived today from Seashell books via AbeBooks. While reading The Assassin's Gate, I realized that it would be much easier to understand what has been and still is going on in Iraq if I had a better understanding of Islam. And, perhaps, of the happy fairy world where George Bush and his band of lunatics live. But I don't think anyone has yet written a book on that.
So, I wanted a book on Islam. My sometimes-moustached brother-in-law recommended The History of Islam.
It has a nice inscription in the front.
Too bad I'm not Pop. But I hope he enjoyed the book.
Anyway, I have another book to read before I get to this one, but I'm looking forward to reading it and understanding a little more about the religion and the culture behind it.
Posted in Life, Education | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Sat, 07 Apr 2007 00:06:00 GMT
I am so glad I made the three block walk down to Hi Market at the corner of Fuller and 15th NW. It may not look like much, but they have a great beer selection, and they have Vitamin Water. What more can you ask for from your local market?
They have the wife's favorite, Sierra Nevada. They have Red Stripe (Hooray, beer). They have Magic Hat #9. And they have some other cool stuff. Awesome.
Posted in Community, Shopping | no comments
Posted by Jon Renaut
Mon, 26 Mar 2007 01:46:00 GMT
International Race to Stop the Silence
I'm really getting into this running thing, apparently. Three weeks from today, I'm going to do my first 10K race. I've never actually run that far, so this should be interesting. And the race fights child sexual abuse. I'm opposed to child sexual abuse. I imagine most people are.
My wife is actually not looking at me like I'm insane as I do this, so that's a good sign. I mean, 10K is not all that far. 6.2 miles. I ran 4.1 today. I can do 6.2. I don't think I'm going to finish at the top of my age group, but I don't think I'm going to embarrass myself.
Anyway, it should be fun. And I'll even have a few hours afterwards before flag football.
Posted in Things to do, Community, Exercise | 2 comments
