Winging It

Argh! No A/C is an evil that should not be visited upon people in climates like this who don’t have houses built around the concept of no A/C.

Boooooooooo.

Thumbs down.

Shocking, isn’t it.

So the apartment complex has pest control people come through every 3 months or so. Fine, whatever, I don’t care. I don’t have any problems and they’re coming through doesn’t impact me what-so-ever.

Until this time.

This time they decided that everyone has to take everything out of their kitchen. Everything. In the Kitchen.

Out.

!@##$#@&^@#$@#

Some days a house sure does look like something someone might want. Of course, that only lasts a few moments. Then I remember how much upkeep those require and everything’s better.

Ok, for those people who like to take cold showers; you’re out of your mind.

I had no hot water this morning, making the shower more like pouring the water out of the Brita pitcher in my refrigerator. NOT FUN.

Woodrow Wilson Bridge Project

I tire of it [the bridge] causing backups and delays, especially since the construction to fix that problem is currently making the problem worse.

Where is affordable, useful mass-transit? I live 5 miles from work and it takes me at least half an hour to get there these days (for awhile I was doing better at about 20 minutes) and it could easily be getting worse (everyone thank the project again). I’d love to take the bus or metro if it we [DC metro area] did mass-transit right. Of course, we don’t. The actual metro (subway for thsoe not from around here) is far more expensive to take for me than the drive. That doesn’t make any sense to me at all.

Here are the problems as I see ‘em:

1. Public Transit Capacity
   The system doesn’t have the physical capacity to carry enough people to make a dent in the car-based commute.
2. Cost
   Because the capacity doesn’t exist, prices are high. This does two things: 1) discourage users (thus staying within capacity) and 2) helping to defray the cost some due to having too few users.
3. Parking
   Or the "pre-commute" commute. Let’s face it, commuting to get to the train presents many of the same problems, just at outlying way-stations.

So how would I fix it? I’d make it cost-effective for the city/district to run effecient mass-transit PLUS I’d make it cost-effective for the commuters and convenient. "Ok," I hear you say, "but how?"

Honestly, I’m not entirely sure, but here are the things I’ve considered:

1. Drastically decrease the reasons to drive to work or to the train (convenience and comfort are two of the big ones, I think) by increasing the number of buses and bus stops and the staff to keep them clean. Using the transit system cannot be a "miss one bus/train and you’re going to be late" type of affair and the walking distance to the bus must be modest.
2. Partion the roads so that in multi-lane roads, one lane is reserved for buses (maybe only during rush hours?). Make the fines huge for being in them with a personal vehicle during any restricted hours.
3. Pay for the additional buses and staff by reducing the road maintenance budget. With fewer individual cars using the roads all the time, the roads will last a lot longer and you won’t have to increase the road capacity.
4. Increase the metro capacity and drastically reduce the price to use it. It must be cheaper than driving in to be effective. Again, I bet the cost for this could be made up through cuts to the road budgets. Roads get a LOT of money and it wouldn’t be needed if less people used them all day, every day.
5. Only after the public transit capacity has been raised, apply "stop and think about it" sized tolls/fines/taxes to rush hour driving on major roads (such as the DC beltway and other major "arteries") in personal vehicles; offer discounts based on ride-sharing that increase with the number of people. It would be nice if it were non-linear, meaning that the discount for taking each extra person grows (so, like $10 for 1 passenger, $25 for 2, etc.). There’s no need to penalize cargo/freight vehicles or mass transit vehicles (e.g. buses) and some people are going to have to drive in no matter what changes are made, so try and convince them to share that ride.

If buses could be made comfortable for the people riding (cleanliness would be the #1 request, I think, followed by room), there were enough of them, and they made enough stops, then I think they could be a big help. As it is, if you take the bus you’re stuck with the same abysmal wait in traffic on a loud machine that may be dirty, crowded and noisey. Why would you want to take that?!

How about this, put wifi access on the buses so that business people can connect to the ‘net while commuting. Maybe bring back the trolley.

Anyway, just some rambling thoughts about the sucky nature of mass-transit.

I’d like a show of hands for the people who drive in rush hour traffic.

…

Ok, this one is for all of you. Why, please dear God tell me why, do some people insist on driving 10 mph under the speed limit, slow down as they approach the green light and then, as the light turns yellow, they gun it and leave you sitting there going "What the hell was that?". They are also the people who might grow old and die before they complete a left-hand turn.

I’m also a wild fan of the people who perform similar antics while blocking alternate lanes of traffic. Please, moron, get over.

GameCenter: Recap - SuperBowl.com - Official website of Super Bowl XXXIX

That was so… depressing.

sigh

WHFS Changes Its Tune to Spanish (washingtonpost.com)

If you dont’ have a Washingtonpost.com login, you may have to sign up for one. Here’s a quote to help it make sense:

WHFS-FM, the Washington area radio station that was a pioneering purveyor of alternative rock to generations of young music fans, did a programming U-turn yesterday by ditching the genre for a Spanish-language, pop-music format that transforms it into the largest Spanish-language station on the local dial.
Washingtonpost.com

It was quite the (rude!) shock on the way home last night. I think the decision that the FCC made a few years ago that led to ClearChannel and Infinity owning most of the radio stations, in a word, sucks. And sucks badly.

The above move is a result of that. For some background, WHFS had been one of (if not the) rock/alternative-rock station for the last 36 years. They’ve been a big force, even if they’ve slipped for (apparently) the last decade. I have two really big complaints, one I think just suddenly switching formats (it just flipped over at noon) is a slap in the face to all the people who’ve supported you in the past and two, it’s going to make a huge impact on the scene in DC. WHFS organized a TON of music events that someone else is going to have to step in and fill.

Blah. God I hate ClearChannel and Infinity (Infinity owns 99.1 which was WHFS).

Oh this day has not started well.

Pulling into the Meridian parking garage I scraped the rear passenger side wheel-well against a pylon. Son of a ….. ##*$)(#*!!

Now I’m going to have to find a place to get that fixed at (it is just paint) and find out how much it will cost.

I’m not stressed about it, but #%@#$@# I don’t want to pay to get it fixed nor take the time to find a place to get it repaired. sigh

Oh, and I bought a drink this morning and opened the cap — which promptly bubbled over. I think I ought to "call in" with bad luck and go home.

Oh it is so painful!

Ok, so on the 19th of every month those pesky people at UCI (which I think is really just part of Mt. Vernon Hospital) (Useless! and Things I Really Hate) call to bug me and make sure it’s ok to charge my account.

Because they’d be really understanding if I said “No.”

Anyhow, as I’m sure you’re all aware, I’ve moved jobs and now work at PBS. Which of course means the number they need to call to contact me is not the same (because heaven forbid that they call my cell). So I leave a message with my account rep (who never actually answers the phone, but I think that’s policy) saying “Go ahead and debit my account. Call XYZ if you need to talk to me to confirm it.” You’d think that’d be a good start.

You’d be wrong. So today, the 23rd or 4 days after they wanted to debit my account, they try calling my old work number. “Why?” you ask, why because the person who was handling my account no longer works there and no one thought that “Hey, maybe we should check her voice mail.”

Ok, that’s it. This is fucking ridiculous. I asked the new rep how I can go about getting them to just automatically do this every month without me having to confirm it every single time. And of course, now I have to fax in something. Ok, I think, I’m never going to remember what it is that she wants me to fax. so I ask, “Could you e-mail me the information you want me to fax you?”

I’m sure you’ve all heard a pregnant pause before, but when have you heard a pregnant pause when asking about e-mail in an office environment? Good God, they’re morons over there!

So she called and left a message detailing what she wants me to fax. This is absurd. Don’t they have a damn form that they can at least mail to me with all the information that they want? Geezus, this is… it’s beyond ridiculous.