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today’s news

In my formative years I remember walking to the street corner to buy the Post for 25 cents. One measly, non-statehood quarter.

The newsstand price is now 50 cents, up from 35 cents in 2007. And it hasn’t been 25 cents since 2001. The 7-11 on my way to work this morning charged me 75 cents (plus tax.) I was told by the shopkeeper that the 50% price increase is the standard Baltimore markup, and he pointed out that ”prices may vary in areas outside metropolitan Washington.” He claims to pay 70 cents for each paper, and thus only make 5 cents profit on each. 

I usually read it online for free, but that’s precisely the problem. Newsprint advertising just ain’t what it used to be.

cake theory

At work, it is commonplace to receive a company-wide email, informing us employees that there’s cake in the kitchen that’s up for grabs. We even have a monthly Cake Day to celebrate office birthdays, anniversaries, milestones, etc.

Today, I replied all with the following helpful graphic:

I doubt my message was well-received. Previously, I had emailed the ‘all employees’ distribution list, saying that there was a “special treat” in the kitchen. In fact, I was bored, waiting in an airport ~900 miles away, and was just trying to amuse myself. In my head, I had this ridiculous image of the entire company rushing to the kitchen, scouring it for whatever it is I could have left. And that’s exactly what happened.

the summer me

before	after

internet please entertain me

internet please entertain me

(EDIT: #2 hit on Google!)

tee vee, not TB

I spent almost the entire weekend recovering from the Worst Cold Ever. I started feeling ill last weekend and got progressively worse until I could barely function by Friday. Of course, I had already missed some work and had to go in, since the boss lady is going to Costa Rica for two weeks and I’m her backup. (My previous boss used the term ‘in charge’—as a noun—for that. It drove me absolutely insane…)

I left my apartment twice, both times to pop over to the corner store for provisions, e.g., cough medicine, canned soup. Walking back along Falls Road to my apartment on Saturday, someone tried to sell me pot. On Sunday, a vagrant tried to sell me Crest Whitestrips. Seriously. I took it as an affront to my oral hygiene. I immediately went home and brushed and flossed. Seriously.

After wrestling with the decision for weeks, I caved in and called Comcast on Saturday night to order Showtime. I watched the first season of Dexter on DVD with my former roommate a few months ago and after becoming addicted, I finally decided I couldn’t wait another three months to watch Season 2. I figured that as long as I spend less than ~$25 (the price of the DVDs), it would be worthwhile, since I probably wouldn’t watch more than once. I thought about downloading them, but they’re not available on Zune Marketplace, and I don’t have a TV out on my laptop. I’m not sure if the customer service rep. at Comcast felt bad for me, because I explained that I’m sick and bored and just want to watch a specific show on Showtime. Either way, she hooked me up with free HBO and Showtime! Bonus points, I can watch This American Life now too.

This recent development will surely exacerbate my new life as a shut in since becoming a DC émigré…

actual excerpt from an e-mail i sent today

I’m really starting to hate the new Baltimore me. He’s boring, doesn’t drink, tries to cozy up to [people] he doesn’t particularly like, and thinks he’s better than everyone else. The old me was not quite as boring, lushed it up with the best of them, was an asshole to people he didn’t like, and thought he was better than everyone else. God, how I miss him!

Before I know it, I’ll be 30, living in Suckville, a.k.a. Baltimore, drinking Natty Boh (not in a hip, ironic way), and clinging to the faded image of myself once being cool and popular, though even that’s a stretch.

Oh, woe.

Cheetoes are overrated.

a sad chronology

May 11, 2:30 PM, 65.3°F, 0.00″ rainfall

Excitement abounds. I slept thirteen hours last night due to allergies, lack of regular sleep from the week, and malaise. But now I am alert and well. I called my mom this morning and wished her a Happy Mother’s Day. She appreciated the flowers. I exit my apartment to meet my friend and his sister before going to catch the Radiohead show at Nissan Pavilion tonight. I’ve never seen them live before, and though I’m perhaps only a casual fan, I’m psyched.

May 11, 4:30 PM, 59.5°F, 0.06″ rainfall

I’m now in DC, heading to Target to meet friend. (Damn, I miss living and working next to Target!) I still make the trek down to DC about once a week or so. It’s getting tiring, especially on weekends, since the MARC train doesn’t run. I instead take the light rail to BWI and hop on the bus to the Greenbelt metro station. I did have the forethought to pop over to the store on my way and buy a new umbrella. Good move!

May 11, 7:30 PM, 54.7°F, 0.65″ rainfall

Yikes, the rain is coming down! Flip-flops were a poor choice. Meh, at least I don’t have lawn seats for the concert. “Rain or shine” my ticket says. Those poor saps! Traffic on I-66 W is a mess. The opening band The Liars takes the stage.

May 11, 8:30 PM, 54.1°F, 0.92″ rainfall

Intermission at the concert, but we’re still on the road. Bumper to bumper cars and torrential rain. It’s just miserable. One of Radiohead’s criteria for this tour was that the locations be ‘green,’ which includes public transportation to the venue. There is no public transportation to Nissan, and they even charge a mandatory $6 per ticket parking fee. The band’s website helpfully urges concert-goers to carpool instead. True enough, most cars seem have 2-3 passengers.

May 11, 9:30 PM, 53.5°F, 1.33″ rainfall

We’ve been traveling around circuitous detours near Nissan Pavilion, since flooding has closed off the major entryway to the parking lot. Still bumper to bumper, still pouring rain. The Bush administration should explore using this as torture; I’m ready to break. I feel really bad for my friend’s sister, who has been driving all this time and earlier in the day made the trip down from Philly.

May 11, 10 PM, 52.5°F, 1.67″ rainfall

It’s hopeless. Radiohead is already five songs into their set and we’re nowhere closer to gaining entrance. Even if we do make it in, we’re liable to only catch the last couple songs plus encores. Then we’d have to wait another several hours in traffic to get back to DC. Even after spending $72 for a ticket, it just doesn’t add up. Sodden and dejected, we turn around, but not before first stopping for directions and to fill up the tank. The gas station attendant tells us that a steady stream of cars have already passed through doing the same.

May 11, 11 PM, 51.8°F, 2.15″ rainfall

The concert ends just as we arrive back in DC. It only took an hour to get back, instead of the four to get down to within a mile of the venue. Radiohead and Live Nation, the concert promoters, should buy carbon offset credits for every ticketholder to assuage their eco-consciences.

May 12, 6 AM, 45.9°F. 3.13″ rainfall

I awake with a crimped neck from sleeping on a couch that’s a foot too short for my height. I did not sleep well. All told, I spent $100 and eight hours the day before and have nothing to show for it. I hold no hope for a refund, but I plan to call/write Nissan Pavilion anyway later today. In a few moments I must trudge back off into the rain and start my week.

wabash in the wild

(photo credit: Maureen)

The first in my series of interesting street meter box covers. Just kidding. I had noticed these water meter lids all over College Park/Hyattsville/Riverdale Park, Md. when I lived/worked there and always meant to snap a picture of one, but never did. Fortunately a loyal Wabasher finally did for me. Of course, I was born in Lafayette, Indiana—that’s right, I’m a Hoosier—down the Wabash River from the City of, uh, Wabash.

The Ford Meter Box Company, which produces them, is located in Indiana and was founded by Edwin Ford in 1895. After first failing to conquer glass manufacturing, Mr. Ford then tried his hand in the water meter box industry. He started making them in his basement in the spare time from his job as superintendent of the Hartford City, Ind. water works. And now he’s dead. Ambition sometimes kills.

Seriously, they have been the industry standard of curbside water meter boxes for over 100 years. They are the Microsoft of water meters. And there will never be an Apple of water meters. (Read more about him and the company here.)

I think I noticed another “Wabash” meter lid on my walk to the light rail station by my apartment the other day. Maybe I finally will snap my own picture and then compare the two. You know, because they’re so fascinating.

today was a good day

Apologies to Ice Cube. Why was it a good day, you ask? First off, I made it to my Monday morning staff meeting without incident, despite only sleeping for <4 hours last night. (I’ve been gripped by insomnia for a while now—more on that later.) It’s the only meeting on my work calendar that Google Calendar Outlook Sync refuses to sync properly, so I constantly forget about it. Are you reading this, Google Calendar Outlook Sync developers? You’re making me late to work and adversely affecting my job performance. Maybe if I write Google Calendar Outlook Sync one more time, the powers that be at the Outlook Sync division of Google will read this bjournal post once it’s indexed. I was finally told that my absence was “noted” by the head of my department. *grumble*

Anyway, today I even had time on my way to pop into Common Ground for coffee; it was delicious, but expensive at $2.35 a cup. The bakery down the street has slightly less delicious coffee for only $0.69 if you bring your own cup! I want to be able to tell someone decades from now the marginal truth that coffee was only 69 cents back in my day. But Common Ground does get bonus points for having Clap Your Hands Say Yeah as their ambient coffeeshop music this morning.

At dinner last night, I mentioned to my friend how I want to watch every Alfred Hitchcock movie. Coincidentally, the Charles Theatre is doing a Hitchcock revival series starting this week! I went and saw The Wrong Man this evening. It was odd from the start. Of course Hitchcock is famous for his literal walk-on cameos [YT, via kottke], but he actually addresses the audience directly at the start, complete with dramatic movie lighting and shadows. It’s supposedly based on a true story, another Hitchcock oddity despite his penchant for source material. Unfortunately, I didn’t find it particularly suspenseful or gripping, and nothing substantial happens during the movie. That is, the state of affairs at movie’s end is pretty much the same as it was at the beginning. It was a bit of a snoozer, but interesting enough I suppose. I’ll now have to do some internet research on why it’s actually a masterpiece and why I’m a dilettante for thinking otherwise. North by Northwest, one of my faves, is coming up in a couple weeks.

On a slightly tangential note, before a Clap Your Hands show way back in November 2007, a complete stranger with whom I chatted recommended local band and soon to be erstwhile indie music darling Jukebox the Ghost. (They violated my cardinal rule that a mention by NPR means they’re no longer cool.) I had never heard of them before, but I went to one of their shows and thought they were great. They’re akin to Ben Folds Five, and their singer has a Freddie Mercurian falsetto. They played in Baltimore twice last week—for free!—and their debut CD was just released. Check ‘em out.

Google Calendar Outlook Sync.

 

 Jukebox the Ghost - Good Day: Play Now

local ncaa tourney map

For the third time in four years, the Terps are out of the Tournament. However, three Maryland schools and three D.C. & beltway Virginia schools are in. Should keep the Post local beat sportswriters busy for the first round.