Betty Crocker, II

Part 1
The shopping mall has been blockaded by the snow. All of them, inaccessible. Except for DCUSA, but that's not like a real, real mall. I mean, it's STACKED! As for Pentagon City, all approaches from the north are cut off because both lines cross above ground sections, which were impassable by train. Bus service has been restored in places, but not to a mall it goes.White Flint, cut off too, Bethesda and the Mazza, isolated by the infrequent underground train service left in the storm's path. Tysons, Montgomery mall not on a metro line at all. As for driving, the car is a foot deep in snow and loses traction in 1 inch of slush. Thus, for us and millions of other Americans, we were kept away from the mall on the busiest shopping days of the year. I can just image years from now struggling retailers blaming the weather. (We did not buy the XC Volvo yet.)
Bright side: Strong day-after xmas sales (pls don't read as bargain hunting!) and a Roaring Christmas shopping season next year after 3 dismal years?

Part 2
It took twice as long as usual to get to church. Expecting absences, I signed the serving log. And indeed the Rector had a job for me. It was multiple jobs, usually served by a complement. At the Offertory, having never played this role before, I almost botched the most important part of the mass. The emcee (in this case, the person who tells people where what and when they need to do something) was absent and his/her role was played by the, uh, spotlight of the mass. The complementary acolyte arrived T -3 minutes, in wet sneakers. He too had to fill the roles of about 5. The congregation at this well-attended service sat in the small choirstalls, and most of those who arrived either lived in the neighborhood or were dedicated and able to take limited Metro from Bethesda or North Arlington. There was no formal fellowship,and I assumed that Sunday group was cancelled. The organist was present and serving as usual, although without the choir. Money from the offertory ostensibly was left under the chalice table during the final hymn.

Part 3
Although all precepts should have indicated normal Sunday subway service, this was not the case. When I heard that bus service was reinstated There were eager beavers wanting to get places. Mother rode the Red Bus Circulator to "Chinatown". She reports that it was loaded. I wondered if Ride-On was really still running. If so, a two-seat ride (Red line to RO 46) to White Flint or the Maxim Oriental Grocery in Rockville, MD, could have been adventurous possibilities. In lieu of that, we turned the kitchen into a bakery. For recreation, trips to nearby supermarkets. Oatmeal raisin cookies, white bread, walnut brownies, an adventure, came from the G.E. electric oven.

Part 4
I feel relieved of duty. A term that had fallen out of my vocabulary, "Free Reading", became an ever-present, ominous thought. What had been a waste of time last week became the best use of time today. For that matter, I could do anything I wanted. I had not felt this way before; during previous breaks, even on the first day, I let time loose. But I was booked and cooked. If there was not a big natural incident, right now I would have been a soloist at a concert in Rockville, MD. I would have, beforehand, explored the NCTM National Capitol Trolley Museum(dctrolley.org) on Bonifant Road. Yesterday, I would had a violin lesson. I still have the book of matches from church in my pocket. I hope they had enough for the day. WHAT I had thought throughout December was that my vacation starts on Monday. Like the delayed test, I was given a reprieve. Let's hope I make good use of tomorrow, and pray the Wall Street Hymn regarding access to the shopping malls:

Let the rivers run
Let all the dreamers
wake the nation
Come, the New Jerusalem

Silver Cities Rise
the morning lights
the streets that meet them
and sirens call them on
with a song...
(Carly Simon)

It's allegorical and metaphoric.

NOAA's Arc

I knew it was supposed to come, either this winter season or the next. By the past predictaments, it was bound to happen. But in December for Christmas? Nor after exams? This predictament of a storm is unprecedented. Take, for example, the foretaste of a storm on Dec. 5. It was a Saturday. This time too, the storm blows an a Saturday. What a fine coincidence. Now with a snowy December, does this imply more big storms THis snow's a 7-year event. No future storm this season will match this one's greatness nor impact(wink).

That Wasn't Falafel?

"You see, if we go to the nearest Waffle House now, we'll be back in time for class". "Where is the nearest one?" "I think that would be in Frederick (town in the mountains 40 miles from Washington)" (Group chuckle). "Yeah you get it". "I think there's something like that in Ballston (a transit-oriented development community 5 miles from Washington)" "That must be an IHOP" (More laughter).

Upon my quest for finding Waffle House jokes, I came across a legitimate (I think) company document. Waffle House Restaurants Now Accepting Credit Cards. What year? a 1986 doc that found its way to the internet? No, Feb 15, 2006.

“We wanted to make sure credit cards were here to stay before we started
accepting them,” said a VEEP.
Welcome to the future.

http://www.wafflehouse.com/Press%20Releases/credit%20cards.pdf

Half Day Wonders

Ah, it's exam time again. Yes, I go to a pre-Christmas exam holdout. The last day of the semester was uneventful, even stressful. It wasn't until 3:05pm that we realized what had happened- We were in exam mode.

It comes to a matter of Christmas parties or a merry Christmas.

The first two days are relatively school-like; 2 tests separated by an hour period, but after that, it becomes a one-test affair. Leave school at 10am, home by 11am to watch some daytime TV. Quite comical, since a lot of us on;y study for up to 5 hours on the night before an exam

TRON, Road Test Version

In real life, things work perfectly so often that one doesn't know what to do when things don't go as expected. Simulators are meant to serve this purpose, when creating a real situation is out of the question. Of course, you can have a simulator that reflects the perfect world. THis is often used in the math and science worlds.

"You failed your drivers test!?"
"If you call it that"
"You know, I can't speak to you anymore"
"Well, you..."
"What did I say!?"
"start with a construction zone, and the
test inspector tells you you should have ignored..."
"You liar! There's no construction on the test course!"
"I took it in DC"
"City driving?"
"They would"

I was going somewhere new in Maryland recently, and passed by the Gaithersburg road test course. I suspected that it had to do something with bad drivers... I did hear though, that the test is routine, safe, quick and failproof. Maybe fail resistant. I even doubt that part of the test includes interaction with other bad drivers (that would look cool in a movie, when the staff coordinate over walkie-talkie to pesker the new driver) .

The grass is greener on the other side...

Who Me? Parks Department Chief?

The local papers have been running stories about the life and dirty laundry of potential heads of the Parks and Rec Department. I must say, my resume looks pretty good to take over the agency.

I get along with people (more so than a lot of city call centers)
I know the culture, the area, the people (I've lived in the area all my life; many positionseekers are from far, far away)
I have a lot of experience with the local government (22 weeks, or about 6 months of total experience)
I have a decent amount of experience in recreation
I'm most qualified on the ancillary part of the resume.
I'd have the potential for a long tenure (the pension plan would kick in at 46!)
I have a clean record regarding contracts and benefits and accountablility.
I'm a dreamer (Robert Moses, I'm taking your lead!)

(I'd be more specific if I knew that this was permissable by my DPR contract).

Name Switchers

Have you ever seen that show, Potomac 20854. Chances are, you have.

90210 is actually based in the Beverly Hills of the East, 10 miles northwest of Washington in Potomac, MD. The school is modeled off of Churchill High, a nationally top-raking public high school, and some references will be familiar to the Washingtonian.

When some movie website did a Brand Recognition survey of Potomac 20854, at least one person thought the show was about a vacuum cleaner. No, it's just the real-life 90210. Often, screenwriters (like myself) avoid using real palcenames for fear of legal retribution. So sending the title 2500 miles to the other side of America would help achieve this goal. Anyway, people recognize the Beverly Hill brand. You know, the one that's full of people with out-of-place mansions, luxury suv's and plenty of Botox to go around. I'm sure there are real people there like the ones in BH of the East.

The problem is that 20854 didn't seem to run smoothly off the tongue of the screenwriters. What about
20054 (two double-o fifty-four), the original zip code
DC 54 (In homage of the pre-zip system
River Road (in homage to the street that sees many luxury car accidents)

Sidenote:
NCIS didn't come of as a runaway success, except in the DC area market, where the plot takes place.