Mmm, wine.

Finding Gems in the “Off” Vintages

Reading this site always makes me want to go buy wine.  And I do need to fill up our wine racks – currently we just have a few special bottles that we’re saving (Actually, that we’re scared to drink).  One of them is for our anniversary in August, and one of them is my favorite wine, a 2004 Gibson Wilfreda, that we bought on the honeymoon.  I think I’m afraid to drink it because I worry that it won’t be as good as I remember.

Anyway, one of these days reading Vinfolio might actually make me buy the wine, rather than just think about it.  I’m sure that would make them happy.  Maybe they can get me a deal on a case of Wilfreda . . .

I also have to give Mr. Moore credit for correctly using both “its” and “it’s” in the span of three words.  I’m always surprised at how often I see people get this wrong, and often in publications that should really know better.

OMG I have DC tags!

Finally.  My car is registered in DC, complete with tags, until 2009.  I’m so glad I don’t have to worry about that any more.

My experience at the Georgetown DMV was pretty good.  I was there at 8:07, and they open at 8:15.  The line was longer than 95 M St.  All the employees I dealt with were exceptionally friendly and helpful.  The woman giving out numbers actually joked with me.  A woman waiting also loaned me a pen, which I had forgotten to bring.  One bit of advice – the Georgetown DMV has a bunch of clipboards to write on, but about three pens, so bring your own.  They also don’t validate parking, which was no problem for me, since I rode the bus.  But it might be a problem for other people who relish the idea of driving into Georgetown at 8AM.

I got my number at 8:33AM, and walked out the door with my tags at precisely 9:00.  Well done, Georgetown DMV.

I have to say, my experience with the DC DMV has been entirely pleasant.  Dealing with Capital One to get my title was a hassle, and there is still the matter of the $100 failure to register ticket that I have to contest, but the DMV has been very good.

And, just to top off a fabulous day of working from home, a little later I’m going to fish a stool sample out of the litter box and take it to the vet so we can try and determine if the cat’s recent behavior issues are medical or (As we suspect) psychological.

It happened again

The disaster magnet once again worked its magic. I went out back yesterday to retreive the trash can before someone stole it, and I saw a note on the disaster magnet. I suppose I was being nosy in going to look, but I couldn’t help it.

Someone had hit the car. Parked in the driveway. Who gets their car rear-ended while it’s parked in the driveway? The person left a note, but seriously.

Even funnier, perhaps, is that I went out to retrieve the trash can after the salesman who was supposed to meet me to talk about installing garage doors at the back of the driveway stood me up. We want to put in doors because our driveway is currently the only one without them, which means that everyone turns around in our driveway. And sometimes hit the cars parked there.

Anyway, there wasn’t a lot of damage (And the car still hadn’t been repaired from last time, so he can get it all taken care of at once, that lucky guy).  But it’s enough to send you to Zipcar.

Whoa, there

What’s going on at Mount Vernon Square Metro?  I’ve been riding the Green line to there and picking up the Yellow line to get to Pentagon City since March.  Yesterday, the Green line train overshot its normal stopping point by about half a six-car train-length.  This wouldn’t have been such a big deal, except that I usually sit in one of the back two cars – they tend to be less crowded as everyone stuffs themselves into the middle few cars.

I refuse to run for a Metro (Which is probably a little silly, but I don’t care.), but I will walk briskly.  Which I did, and I made it before they closed the doors.

Then, this morning, the Green line train stopped at about that same spot, half a train-length past the normal spot.  The Yellow line picked up at the normal spot.

What is Metro trying to do?  I don’t appreciate it.  I’m a creature of habit, which includes standing in the same spot on the platform every day.  And I expect the train to cooperate.

Perhaps the biggest food surprise Ive had in a while

Salsa Walnut Meat recipe at Gone Raw

When served on a (non-raw, non-vegan) organic whole wheat tortilla, this “taco meat” is fantastic.  I figured it would be edible, but this was way beyond edible.  This was good enough to request again.

I’d like to find a substitute for the walnuts so my mom can try it.  No matter how good it is, her walnut allergies would probably prevent her from enjoying it.

Weekend bus trauma

Well, trauma is perhaps too strong a word. But I did have a few “incidents” on the bus over the weekend.

First, on Friday, I was taking the bus down to the DC Improv to meet the wife and some friends. The bus driver decided that the light at Connecticut and Florida just north of Dupont didn’t really apply to him. A few cars thought that maybe it did, and registered their disagreement with their horns. No one was injured.

Then, on the way home from the 10K, we were on the same bus line, the 42, going north on Connecticut.  We were at the Q St. stop, and a gentleman in a large Range Rover decided that he wanted to pass the bus before he missed the light.  Unfortunately, his Range Rover was wider than the space between the bus and the Jersey wall.  Oops.  So he hit us.  I actually didn’t notice the impact, but the bus driver had to stop and call it in and wait for her supervisor or something.  So we walked the rest of the way home.

I was a little disappointed in the reaction of the passengers on the bus, some of whom expressed a lot of anger at the bus driver.  It wasn’t her fault that she had been rear-ended, or that she had to wait for permission to move the bus.  But try telling that to the angry people on the bus.

Anyway, I think the bus driver handled the whole thing well.  She called it in right away, then told the bus passengers what was going on.  She apologized for the inconvenience.  Not much more she could have done.

And riding the bus still beats driving in the city.

Lawyers Have Heart 10K

Fistrock

I ran the Lawyers Have Heart 10K yesterday. It was much more miserably hot and humid than the weather forecast had suggested. But my time was 56:04, only a minute slower than my previous 10K, which I ran in much cooler weather.

This race was much more crowded than my other one. The first mile was tough – not only were we baking in the sun, but it was like driving in rush hour traffic. There was always a slower person in your way, or a faster person cutting you off. But it cleared up later on.

I wore my flag football jersey in honor of our end-of-the-season cookout later that day. You probably can’t read the back of the jersey, but the name is FISTROCK, which is a reference to the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode that lampooned the movie Space Mutiny. The jersey was cooler before BLASTBODY moved to San Fransisco. But it’s still cool. To me, at least.

Anyway, I had one moment during the race when I wasn’t sure I was going to finish. Have you ever had one of those where it’s quite clear that your internal temperature gauge is just about into the red? When your body sends a little message to your brain saying, “Hey, stupid, if you don’t cool us off pretty soon, we’re going to shut down.” I had less than a mile left, and I was again baking in the sun. But the feeling passed, and I finished the race. It helped that the last quarter mile was in the shade, downhill, with a breeze.

There are no hot moms here

In June, I have 30 hits from people who have Googled “hotmoms” and found this post. Okay, fine, I know people look on the internet for porn. NB: There is no porn here. There is plenty of porn on the internet, and I don’t feel the need to contribute any more.

_Edit: I can’t believe no one caught that I wrote “don’t feel the need to contribute anymore” instead of “any more”. I certainly am not claiming to have previously contributed to the vast collection of porn on the internet. I guess my mom and my wife must not have read this post yet.  Both of them would have caught that. _

Anyway, what I find strange is that Google Analytics tells me that, of those 30 visits, two are RETURN visits. Now, I suppose it’s possible that the two returning visits are people who have otherwise seen the site, happened to be searching for “hotmoms”, and decided to see what Complaint Hub had to offer on the subject.

But I prefer to speculate wildly and assume that two people have searched for “hotmoms”, found my site, and then searched for it again and returned. I’m sure they were disappointed both times.