Category Archives: WTF?!

Foggy Bottom, Talkin' Transit, WMATA, WTF?!
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Foggy Bottom Metro Escalator Mess

Big mess at Foggy Bottom this morning. Watch this video:

Foggy Bottom is the singularly worst-designed Metro station I’ve used in the system: only one exit, twin escalators going up together from platform to mezzanine, and just a single escalator going down to the platform, no stairs, traffic bottlenecks all over the place. The situation was made worse this morning when only one of three mezzanine-to-street-level escalators was working — going down. The middle escalator was closed for repairs, and the escalator going up was open but off, serving as stairs. I’ve seen it like that before, but throw in a rush hour crowd in a time of “high” fuel crisis ridership, and you get a foot traffic disaster.

I didn’t even bother joining the line; it was faster to go back in, double back to Farragut West, and walk from there. When I got back to Foggy Bottom to get some video of people emerging from the system, a few daring riders had resorted to running up against the down escalator — to cheers from the crowd, surprisingly.

WMATA, This is intolerable. You have reached a new level of EPIC ESCALATOR FAIL this morning — even worse than on epic multifail day.

Update: I was on TV today for this video: Fox 5 News Edge story, featuring a quick interview with me outside Foggy Bottom station this afternoon. Washington Post’s “Get There” blog also covers the story: No Way Up at Foggy Bottom, and Clearing Out Foggy Bottom.

Talkin' Transit, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Metro Computer Dies

metrofail.png

Somewhere, deep within the bowels of the Metro tunnels lives the supercomputer that runs the trains. It keeps them running without (often) hitting other trains, it keeps the schedule on pace, and it powers those fancy clocks on each platform.

Unfortunately, it took a shit in the middle of Rush Hour.

Meaning that all the signals for the entirety of the Metro system are currently offline. Meaning it’s tough to move trains.

Did I mention that it gets kinda hot down in those stations? And the platforms get kinda full? Take a cab, if you haven’t left work yet.

The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Feet Only a Fish Could Love

Fishy Feet

CNN is reporting that a spa in Alexandria is offering a “fish pedicure”. It’s easy really. Just stick your feet in a tub of water and watch a whole bunch of tiny fish swarm all over your feet, eating off the dead skin. Sound like fun?

One customer describes it as “the best pedicure I ever had”, adding “I’d been an athlete all my life, so I’ve always had calluses on my feet. This was the first time somebody got rid of my calluses completely.”

Another customer “admitted she was nervous as she prepared for her first fish pedicure. But her apprehension dissolved into laughter after she put her feet in the tank and the fish swarmed to her toes.”

How about you DC? Does this sound fishy to you, or have you made the trek out to Arlington to have your dead skin eaten off? Please let us know how your experience was. This could very well be the next big thing.

Crime & Punishment, The District, WTF?!
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Can we talk about guns?

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I was in a daze when I heard the story the first time. I hadn’t had my coffee yet. I was still kinda asleep after a night of tossing and turning. But then, I heard it again. The story was real.

Let’s get some stuff straight before I launch into what I suspect will be a tirade. I like guns. While I don’t own one myself, I think that the general population should be allowed to own firearms, especially for home protection. No, I’m not one of those “Hey, let’s all Open Carry!” guys, and it’s unlikely that I’d stand up and argue for a Concealed Carry Permit in the District. But I am for the individual’s right to bear arms for self-preservation, and that’s my belief no matter where you are in the United States.

So, along comes the new District gun law, which seems designed to be one-way ticket right back to the Supreme Court. Despite having been reviewed by actual lawyers, some of whom I believe may have failed basic reading comprehension tests, the law seems to fail the tests set up by Heller, which means the lawsuit’s coming just about any second now.

Of course, responding to City Council is Congressman Mark Souder (R-IN. Of course.) who wants to cram a law down the throats of the District at-large to override the law that is being proposed by the DC City Council. Specifically, he’s against the prohibition of Semi-Automatic Weapons, the provision for licensure of the weapons, and the only provision he should even open his mouth about, the storage requirements in the home.
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Food and Drink, Sports Fix, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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$7.50? You freakin’ kidding me?

Expensive beer

I had never seen beer this expensive before going to a Nationals game. Sure I had a good time, but that $7.50 beer stuck in my craw a little. I just got invited to go to another game and will likely go but will likely not buy a beer or even a bottle of water, since the water costs what a beer should cost.

What do you do to enjoy a cool drink at the ball game? Do you bend over and pay the $7.50? Drain a 12-pack on Metro on the way over? Smuggle a flask into the ballpark? I’d love to hear your solutions to this.

Foggy Bottom, The Daily Feed, The Great Outdoors, WTF?!
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Press Button, Receive Mud

It’s usually pretty simple to get across Rock Creek Parkway when walking between Washington Harbour and Foggy Bottom near the Watergate (map) — the button to get a WALK light is actually responsive, and vehicular traffic at that particular location is unusually generous to pedestrians for a DC intersection.

But when it rains, then comes the challenge: the button lies behind a muddy moat (okay, puddle) through which one must wade and risk the wetting of feet and pants legs to get a WALK light.

Muddy Crossing Button

And it gets worse in winter, when the puddle freezes over. Can someone get that paved, please?

Arlington, Food and Drink, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Peanuts in the Men’s Room

Peanuts in bathroom sink

I wish the title of this post were a metaphor for something instead of a real description. When I was at the Marymount University library yesterday, I found peanuts in the sink, on the lip of the sink and on the floor. They led in a haphazard way to one of the stalls, where apparently someone had been a bit hungry. Dear Toilet Muncher – bathroom eating is bad enough, but if you are going to snack in the loo, can you at least be clean about it?

Business and Money, Entertainment, WTF?!
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I’m sick of the iPhone, and I want one

That was the scene at the Pentagon Mall yesterday, with so many people waiting for the iPhone 3G that the line stretched from the Apple store three storefronts to the left all the way around the balcony.

At 8:15 in the evening.

I don’t want to belabor the point, since I am so sure that the media today is tripping all over itself to talk about this that I’m tired of it already and I haven’t even turned on the TV, but the scene was so jaw-dropping that I needed to share. The only news I’m really interested in about this is specific to Pentagon City mall, where I made a rough count of about 70 in that line. With Apple quoting about a 7-10 minute time to process a single sale – contracts, you know – I figure that one of two things happened:

  • They stayed open till around 1am to handle all those customers
  • The shut their doors at about 10pm, stranding 40+ people who then rioted, breaking and burning all around them before degenerating into savagery and bludgeoning each other to death with iBooks.

I figure it looks something like this there now.

screengrab from the Dawn of the Dead remake, if you wondered….

All Politics is Local, Crime & Punishment, Technology, The District, WTF?!
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Does the House Misunderstand Technology?

Dusk on the National Mall

The answer’s probably yes. I know, I know, traditionally it’s the Senate that is the home of the whackjobs like Ted Stevens who claim that the Internet is a series of tubes, and not a truck. But, here’s the deal. Representative John Culberson (R-TX) seems to think that the House has it out for Twitter and all of the various video services. Specifically, he’s pointing to a letter written by Chair of the House Franking Committee Rep. Michael Capuano (D-MA) which suggests that any member of the House who conducts anything related to official business be done only on the House.gov domain.

That means any member of the House who embeds YouTube, Blip.tv, Qik, or any other video on their website is doing so in violation of the regulations of the Committee on House Administration. That also means that microblogging via a service like Twitter (Hey, follow us!) But, the letter that Rep. Capuano has written is actually promoting the changes necessary to allow for such a service to be used, but in exposing the current regulations, he’s putting current House members in jeopardy of disciplinary action for using social networking technologies like YouTube, etc.

Nice work, guys. Nice work.

Dusk on the National Mall originally uploaded by spinfly.

Crime & Punishment, Downtown, The Daily Feed, The District, WTF?!
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How Can I Stop What Isn’t Going On?!

That’s the gist of what Judge Richard Leon is saying in response to the request from the Partnership for Civil Justice, who want the program that debuted DC’s Trinidad neighborhood from ever being used again. Specifically, he raised the concern that since there’s no current implementation of the “Neighborhood Safety Zones” plan, where exactly would he enjoin the MPD from operating?

Looks like we get to see this one played out only after the MPD tries to put the cordon up around another of DC’s neighborhoods.

Food and Drink, Fun & Games, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Montana State Society to Host Testyfest 08

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I remember being young and on one of my family’s frequent summer roadtrips across the Great American West, and wondering aloud to my family what the Rocky Mountain Oysters were on the menu at this little dive restaurant in Montana. After the laughter subsided, my Dad explained what they were. I ordered something else. But, if you’re interested in some tasty testes (a phrase I never dreamed of writing) then the Montana State Society has something for you.

Testyfest 08 will take place on Saturday July 12th at the American Legion in Virginia Square. Cost is $20 for an all-inclusive banquet featuring those lovely jewels of the west. That’s also inclusive of beer, bourbon and soda, so it sounds like it could be a pretty solid deal. The Wil Gravatt band will also be playing starting at 6pm.

If you think that’s strange? It’s the fifth straight year Montana ex-pats have been doing it. How awesome is that?

Testicle Festival 2008
American Legion
3445 Washington Boulevard
Virginia Square METRO
Arlington, Virginia

Sports Fix, The Daily Feed, WTF?!
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Welcome Kastles

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Tomorrow night, the DC area’s newest sports franchise takes to the court for the first time. The Washington Kastles (yes, with a K. Seriously, unless I found out that they’re sponsored by Kastle Key, I can’t explain the typo.) will take on the Boston Lobsters tomorrow night at the temporary facility at 11th & H, on the old Convention Center site.

Who’s on the team? Well, Serena Williams, for one. Tickets run upwards of $40 to $60, and premium seats are available for a good chunk of cash.