DDOT doesn’t answer my question

An unacceptable response from DDOT:

There are 5 “Emergency No Parking” signs posted in 1400 block of Harvard Street, NW. The developers Eagle Bank have a valid permit that is valid until May 20, 2008. They will be taking up 5-feet on the north and south side of Harvard Street.

And another email in the chain, ostensibly from me but composed by the wife:

Thank you for getting back to me, but your reply is not responsive to my initial request. My concern was whether there is any oversight in doling out the “Emergency No Parking” signs. The signs were initially posted on May 6 (when I emailed originally), with an effective date of May 6. There should be a 72-hour notice period for residents, which means the signs should not have been effective until at least May 9. (I understand that they’re effective now, but that is because it took you a week to tell me that there were no parking signs on my street). That was my concern – not whether they contractors will have five-feet of space reserved on both the north and south side of Harvard, which incidentally is not what they have “reserved”. They have secured at least four car lengths on both sides of the street – which unless you’re driving a really small car far exceeds five feet. Your “response” therefore begs a further question – in addition to who is overseeing the proper posting of the “Emergency No Parking” signs, does anyone actually oversee whether those with a valid permit are using their permit validly? Forgive me if this sounds a little snippy – but we have been dealing with restricted parking on our street for over a year now with dumpsters and other “Emergency No Parking” signs and it is frustrating that no one seems to give a thought to those of us who live and park on that street. Just to be clear on what my request is – could you please let me know about any oversight that is in place and with whom I can raise any future issues regarding timely “Emergency No Parking” notifications or other concerns over similar parking restrictions on my street?

Guess who’s getting foot surgery

If you guessed this guy, you win! Your prize is that you get to come by and ice my foot for 48 hours after I have a bunion removed from the joint of my left big toe. No, my foot doesn’t look like the one on the Wikipedia page. Mine isn’t nearly that bad. The joint is just a little red and sticks out a little more than it should. I’ve been having some pain in my foot for a while. I thought it was related to running, but it turns out that running was just making it uncomfortable, not causing it. Bunions, it turns out, are hereditary. My sister had one removed maybe last year, and says the surgery wasn’t too bad. I’ll be off my feet for two days, then I get to wear some special shoe/sandal thing for 4-6 weeks, and then I’m fine. It doesn’t sound too terrible. And in the meantime, I’m free to do what I want on it – I can run and jump and dance and all that. Not that I do much dancing. But the only restrictions on what I can do before I have it removed are my own level of comfort, which is nice.

Wet socks

Sad in the rainAt the wife’s request, I did not take the bus this morning. She might not have made the request if she had, as I did, gone outside to take out the trash. If she had taken out the trash, she probably would have decided that it was raining too hard, and that we should take the bus. But she didn’t take out the trash, so we walked. For those of you not in or near DC, it’s been raining for a while now, and things are starting to flood. Not serious floods, but minor property damage and hydroplaning cars kind of floods. So, we bundled work clothes and lunch and whatnot into bags, put on our raincoats, and set off. It wasn’t as bad as I had feared. There weren’t that many people walking, so there weren’t too many umbrellas to avoid. Umbrellas and puddles are the scourge of the city rain walker. Especially those giant golf umbrellas that take up the entire sidewalk. So I arrived at work, slightly damp but okay otherwise. I changed my clothes, and realized that my backpack is not entirely waterproof. The two things that got wet – my laptop power supply (Although not badly – I wiped it off and it’s fine) and my brown socks. So now I’m wearing brown slacks, brown shoes, a brown belt, and little white athletic socks. Oops. Perhaps the brown socks will dry, or perhaps I will just wear these all day. Only time will tell.

This is what happens when you throw strikes, Cabrera

I didn’t see the game, but it’s quite clear from the box score that Daniel Cabrera is a tremendously effective pitcher when he’s throwing strikes. He threw 76 of them versus only 40 balls. The result? A 4-1 complete game victory over the (hapless, I know) Kansas City Royals. He struck out seven, allowing only three hits and a walk. Lucky for the Orioles that Nick Markakis had a good game, hitting three run homer and scoring on a wild pitch to account for all four of the Orioles runs. Losing a complete game shutout 1-0 is kind of a kick in the teeth. The game also pulled the Orioles a half-game ahead of Toronto into fourth place in the AL East.

Man, Trent’s going crazy

It’s only been two months since Trent Reznor released his last album, and now he’s got another one. This one, The Slip is a totally free download. I was listening to it for the first time this morning, and I was wondering if there was a mainstream single on it. He’s releasing one track as a single so far, Discipline, and I have no idea if it will be a hit. I like it, but I like just about every Nine Inch Nails song ever, so I’m hardly a good judge of what others might like. I was talking to a friend and fellow NIN fan about the lack of a single, and he said, “That’s what Trent said about The Downward Spiral, and then ‘I want to **** you like an animal’ became our high school anthem'”. So I guess we’ll just wait and see.

And there we are

And the Orioles have lost their fifth in a row to fall into last place. I think everyone saw this coming, but some of us held out hope it would come a little later in the season. It’s pretty clear what the problem is – they’ve now scored fewer runs than anyone in the AL except Kansas City. Their runs allowed are tolerable, they just can’t score. Still, they’re nearly a third of the way to their predicted win total, and we’re not even a quarter done with the season. So that’s encouraging.

Excessive parking restrictions on my block

Councilmember Graham – I’m writing to bring to your attention the need for some sort of oversight on emergency “no parking” signs. The construction crew at 1462 Harvard St NW has now claimed a good quarter of our block with these signs, totally ignoring the 72-hour notice period required by the DCPD. At approximately 6PM this evening, they put up signs on both sides of the street to accompany the signs on the south side that went up recently. I can’t say for sure, but I don’t believe the first signs were up 72 hours in advance, either. Our block has already had to park around the dumpster at 1463 Harvard for months now. I understand that construction crews need space to work, but taking fifteen or twenty spots from our street for the next two weeks is utterly unreasonable. I would appreciate your attention to this matter. I don’t think the construction crew should be entitled to so much restricted parking, and I’m certain that neither I nor my neighbors should be subject to ticketing or towing until the 72 hour notice has been satisfied. Thank you very much Complaint Hub