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This site is a member of WebRing. To browse visit here. Sunday, May 06, 2007 Learning experience I learned a lot during this last trip. The first thing is that I can indeed drive to many of the neighborhoods I need to visit in DC. I've driven in DC many times, in fact, but it was usually in the evenings when everyone was home and few parking spaces were to be had. I think I will still probably use public transportation for most of my work, but it was good to know that I don't have to rule out driving. Only one of the stores I worked this week was in an area where parking was simply impossible.The second thing I learned is that while it's aggravating to have Clarence along with me, it may be worse to come home to find the silverware drawer empty, the knife rack empty (and every one of my carbon steel wooden-handled knives soaking in dish water), every plate, bowl and drinking glass dirty, and food and ants everywhere. It took a couple of hours this morning to clean up the kitchen before I could fix breakfast.I can't be too critical of Nick. He's a sixteen-year-old boy. I should be grateful that he was willing to stay with Clarence at all, and I am. But I don't want to come home to this again.The third thing I learned is that McDonald's, of all places, now has wireless internet access, at least in the DC area. I sat in a McDonald's yesterday morning after leaving Kate's and uploaded all my work except for the two inspections I had to do in Norfolk on the way back. You have to pay for it, roughly $1.50 an hour, but if I organize my work carefully, I can have everything finished that doesn't require internet access, and then upload it all pretty fast. The fourth thing I learned is that while I don't exactly enjoy Clarence's company, we do like the same food, listen to the same music, and have pretty much the same political views. We're both baseball fans and root for the same teams, and both wait impatiently for baseball season and the first afternoon game each day on satellite radio. I found to my surprise that I didn't enjoy being by myself as much as I had expected. So I guess I'm going to figure out how to deal with both Clarence and the DC inspections, especially since the truly incredible traffic prevented me from doing the entire batch of them on this trip. I'll be going back up there for at least two days this week, depending on how much work comes in between now and then. Speaking of traffic, it appears that I'm going to have roughly a 10am to 3pm window in which to work in northern Virginia and southern Maryland. The traffic precludes getting to anything before and after that time. I finished a store in Chantilly at about 3pm, and got on I-495 to do the next store in Takoma Park, Maryland, roughly twelve miles away. I finally made it there at 6:00. I'd have been there faster if I had stayed on the interstate instead of bailing out and trying the city streets, but not much faster. That's ridiculous. So when I go back, we'll stay as far out of town as possible. If there is work all around DC, I'll set aside one day for everything west of the Wilson Bridge (the Woodrow Wilson bridge over the Potomac) and west of the I-495 split (where I-95 splits off to head north to Baltimore), and another day for everything east of there, changing hotels if necessary to put me in the appropriate half of the area. I don't see any other reasonable way to manage it.Now I still have to upload the stores I inspected yesterday, and then go inspect four or five more today. Knitting? What's that? posted by Liz @ 7:23 AM | The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section RSS Feed PERSONAL Send email toliz at life-as-a-spectator-sport.com Home I'm a mother, grandmother, a computer professional, Democrat, Christian. I welcome politely worded comments and email, my spam filter throws the rest away, so don't bother to flame me WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT' "If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart. THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3 KNITTING BLOGS Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits FINISHED PROJECTS -------FINISHED IN 2006------- Peruvian Cap Tutti-Frutti Socks Shelley's Socks Carol's Socks -------FINISHED IN 2007------- Chain Link Socks Baby Surprise Jacket Valerie & Friend Baby Bonnet Rainbow Baby Socks Girls Pixie Hood Mitred Square Heart Red & White Socks Coffee Cup Pot Holder Nubbins Dishcloth Garterlac Dishcloth Suede Booties Kate's Socks Norwegian Sweet Baby Cap Half Thumbless Mittens Red Mittens for Akkol -------FINISHED IN 2008------- SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE -- Blogs and websites -- Causubon's Book Club Orlov Food Storage Made Easy From the Wilderness In the Wake Listening to Katrina Survival Topics The Modern Homestead The Oil Drum Notes from a Hillside Farm -- Mailing Lists -- 12vdc Power Living on the Land Rainwater Refrigeration Alternatives Old Ways of Living POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES The political sites have moved BOOKS I'M READING How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising ARCHIVES February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002 Feedjit Live Blog Stats
I learned a lot during this last trip. The first thing is that I can indeed drive to many of the neighborhoods I need to visit in DC. I've driven in DC many times, in fact, but it was usually in the evenings when everyone was home and few parking spaces were to be had. I think I will still probably use public transportation for most of my work, but it was good to know that I don't have to rule out driving. Only one of the stores I worked this week was in an area where parking was simply impossible.The second thing I learned is that while it's aggravating to have Clarence along with me, it may be worse to come home to find the silverware drawer empty, the knife rack empty (and every one of my carbon steel wooden-handled knives soaking in dish water), every plate, bowl and drinking glass dirty, and food and ants everywhere. It took a couple of hours this morning to clean up the kitchen before I could fix breakfast.I can't be too critical of Nick. He's a sixteen-year-old boy. I should be grateful that he was willing to stay with Clarence at all, and I am. But I don't want to come home to this again.The third thing I learned is that McDonald's, of all places, now has wireless internet access, at least in the DC area. I sat in a McDonald's yesterday morning after leaving Kate's and uploaded all my work except for the two inspections I had to do in Norfolk on the way back. You have to pay for it, roughly $1.50 an hour, but if I organize my work carefully, I can have everything finished that doesn't require internet access, and then upload it all pretty fast. The fourth thing I learned is that while I don't exactly enjoy Clarence's company, we do like the same food, listen to the same music, and have pretty much the same political views. We're both baseball fans and root for the same teams, and both wait impatiently for baseball season and the first afternoon game each day on satellite radio. I found to my surprise that I didn't enjoy being by myself as much as I had expected. So I guess I'm going to figure out how to deal with both Clarence and the DC inspections, especially since the truly incredible traffic prevented me from doing the entire batch of them on this trip. I'll be going back up there for at least two days this week, depending on how much work comes in between now and then. Speaking of traffic, it appears that I'm going to have roughly a 10am to 3pm window in which to work in northern Virginia and southern Maryland. The traffic precludes getting to anything before and after that time. I finished a store in Chantilly at about 3pm, and got on I-495 to do the next store in Takoma Park, Maryland, roughly twelve miles away. I finally made it there at 6:00. I'd have been there faster if I had stayed on the interstate instead of bailing out and trying the city streets, but not much faster. That's ridiculous. So when I go back, we'll stay as far out of town as possible. If there is work all around DC, I'll set aside one day for everything west of the Wilson Bridge (the Woodrow Wilson bridge over the Potomac) and west of the I-495 split (where I-95 splits off to head north to Baltimore), and another day for everything east of there, changing hotels if necessary to put me in the appropriate half of the area. I don't see any other reasonable way to manage it.Now I still have to upload the stores I inspected yesterday, and then go inspect four or five more today. Knitting? What's that?
The template is set to display 10 posts. To see all the posts for this month, click on the month name in the Archive section
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PERSONAL
WHY 'LIFE AS A SPECTATOR SPORT'
"If you're lucky not to live in the gutters of a slum, but still can't afford to take vacations in the Alps, you're part of that enormous middle class who lives life through the medium of the television, further separated from "real" life by air conditioner, by automobile, by dishwasher, microwave and ice-in-the-door refrigerator, by automatic washer and dryer, and all the other appliances and conveniences that make it possible for America to live life at second hand. I'm not sure why Americans decided that televised drama was better than the real thing, that cardboard microwave food containers were an adequate substitute for real dishes, and their contents for real food, or that cooking, dishwashing and face-to-face conversation wasn't worth the effort and time it required. Someone fed this nation a plastic crate of out-of-season tomatoes and told us it was life and we took them at their word, and we're so much the poorer for it that it's hard to know where to start to list the shortcomings." I wrote this a couple of years ago, but I have to admit it's much less amusing than I thought it would be to see the artifical construct falling apart.
THE NON-ELECTRIC HOME
Cleaning, 1 Cleaning, 2 Cleaning, 3
KNITTING BLOGS
Extravayarnza Knitting Heretic Mind of Winter Pie Knits Persistent Illusion See Eunny Knit The Keyboard Biologist Taleweaver's Ramblings TECHnitting Wendy Knits
FINISHED PROJECTS
SELF-RELIANCE AND THE FUTURE
POLITICAL BLOGS and SITES
BOOKS I'M READING
How to Grow More Vegetables, etc. Small Scale Grain Raising
ARCHIVES
February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 August 2008 July 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 July 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004 January 2004 December 2003 November 2003 October 2003 September 2003 August 2003 July 2003 June 2003 May 2003 April 2003 March 2003 February 2003 January 2003 December 2002 November 2002 October 2002 September 2002 August 2002 July 2002 June 2002 May 2002 April 2002 March 2002 February 2002
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