Odds and Ends
May. 7th, 2008 07:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
fauxkloreRather than a bunch of spotty little entries, I put all of these together.
1) There was an earthquake in Northern Virginia yesterday. Epicenter was Annandale. Since it was a whopping 1.8 on the Richter scale, I doubt anybody not right there noticed it. I didn't really need 3 emails from our security and safety folks about this.
2) Everyone comments on how the seats right behind home plate at the Nationals' ballpark are always empty and how bad it looks on TV. I explained to someone that the problem is that those seats cost $325. And they asked why lobbyists aren't giving them away. It turns out that the law was changed after the 2005 season and it's illegal. Before that, they used to give away tickets to staffers all the time.
3) At staff meeting today, one of my colleagues referred to an organization objecting to something by saying, "they claim that if we don't do this, dogs and cats will sleep together."
Our boss replied, "What's wrong with that? They can't breed."
4) Not that you care, but the Whole Foods in Vienna, Virginia may have the least efficient checkout clerks in the known universe. Uh, if something doesn't scan, why do you insist on waiting until you have rung up everything else before asking for a price check?
5) Speaking of annoyances, if you are riding the metro and don't get a seat, you get one hand to hold onto the pole. If the ride is really jerky (as tends to happen on 8 car trains), I will grant you the use of a second hand. However, there are no circumstances under which it is remotely acceptable to lean your entire back against the pole, crushing the hands of other people who are trying to hold on.
6) I am continually amazed that there are able-bodied people who work in my building who will wait for an elevator to go down one floor. It's bad enough that people wait to go up one floor. At least have the decency to affect a limp or complain about your knees or something so we'll think you're not just the laziest creature on the planet.
7) As I was walking out of the metro, I overheard the best cell phone conversation I have ever overheard. This woman was snarling into her phone, "You're a cockroach. You're worse than a cockroach." Obviously, Gregor Samsa's girlfriend takes the Orange Line, too.
1) There was an earthquake in Northern Virginia yesterday. Epicenter was Annandale. Since it was a whopping 1.8 on the Richter scale, I doubt anybody not right there noticed it. I didn't really need 3 emails from our security and safety folks about this.
2) Everyone comments on how the seats right behind home plate at the Nationals' ballpark are always empty and how bad it looks on TV. I explained to someone that the problem is that those seats cost $325. And they asked why lobbyists aren't giving them away. It turns out that the law was changed after the 2005 season and it's illegal. Before that, they used to give away tickets to staffers all the time.
3) At staff meeting today, one of my colleagues referred to an organization objecting to something by saying, "they claim that if we don't do this, dogs and cats will sleep together."
Our boss replied, "What's wrong with that? They can't breed."
4) Not that you care, but the Whole Foods in Vienna, Virginia may have the least efficient checkout clerks in the known universe. Uh, if something doesn't scan, why do you insist on waiting until you have rung up everything else before asking for a price check?
5) Speaking of annoyances, if you are riding the metro and don't get a seat, you get one hand to hold onto the pole. If the ride is really jerky (as tends to happen on 8 car trains), I will grant you the use of a second hand. However, there are no circumstances under which it is remotely acceptable to lean your entire back against the pole, crushing the hands of other people who are trying to hold on.
6) I am continually amazed that there are able-bodied people who work in my building who will wait for an elevator to go down one floor. It's bad enough that people wait to go up one floor. At least have the decency to affect a limp or complain about your knees or something so we'll think you're not just the laziest creature on the planet.
7) As I was walking out of the metro, I overheard the best cell phone conversation I have ever overheard. This woman was snarling into her phone, "You're a cockroach. You're worse than a cockroach." Obviously, Gregor Samsa's girlfriend takes the Orange Line, too.
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no subject
Date: 2008-05-08 01:03 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-08 10:01 am (UTC)My experience has been that the people who have a legitimate need tend to apologize for doing this.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-08 10:54 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-05-08 03:18 pm (UTC)On returning to the deck a week later I goosed up my SmartCard, picked up the car and exited the parking facility. When I swiped the SmartCard it took a whole $4.50 off the value. In DC, that's a bargain.
Still, I agree with you about people's behavior on the Metro. In New York on the subway people always gave up their seats for my 81-year-old father, without asking. In DC we had to actively roust a youngun from their seat.
no subject
Date: 2008-05-08 04:59 pm (UTC)