Life in the Maryland Suburbs of D.C.

Re-tweet from capitalweather

2009-12-17T19:09:51Z

Recent tweet from capitalweather: "Snow storm threat for the weekend is major. Some of the latest model data we're looking at suggest a crippling, historic storm." For D.C., that means we will probably get an inch of snow. I predict mass hysteria beginning tonight. I am worried about the college students in the area. A lot of them have a final exam Saturday morning and are planning to go home Saturday afternoon. Ugh!

Public Hearings re: Tolls for the ICC

2009-10-26T14:09:26Z

There are two public hearing this week regarding tolls on the Intercounty Connector. Wednesday's hearing is scheduled for 6 to 9 p.m. at High Point High School, 3601 Powder Mill Rd., Beltsville. Thursday's hearing is set for 6 to 9 p.m. at Shady Grove Middle School, 8100 Midcounty Hwy., Gaithersburg.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/24/AR2009102401894.html

Weather & Photography

2009-10-01T02:16:37Z

Beltsville is about to get very photogenic. Fall is a wonderful season in Maryland and on the DelMarVa peninsula.

There is a blog hosted at WashingtonPost.com called the Capital Weather Gang. There was an interesting entry today about using the weather forecast to predict when there is going to be a particularly beautiful sunrise. Saturday morning was full of awesomeness and the blog has pictures to prove it.

You have to register to read articles on the web site, but registration is free.

In honor of a 365 photo blogger

2009-09-29T02:51:25Z

I had a great time in Roseville/St. Paul/ Minneapolis, MN last week.

Here is a photo in honor of a great photo-blogger I know. Cheers to good health and a bright future!

The National Harbor

2009-06-24T02:28:10Z

I got to visit the National Harbor over the weekend. I had spent a very fun, yet long day visiting Smithsonian museums , so I was tired when we got there. The good news is that the harbor is easy to get to from the beltway and there is plenty of parking. The bad news is that there is a flat-rate of $11 for parking after 6 p.m. We found a place and made our way over to McCormick & Schmick's. I called earlier in the day to get a reservation, only to find that they were booked for the night. We wanted to try out luck with finding a seat on the first-come-first-served patio or the bar seating (I can hear you laughing at my foolishness!). It was a beautiful night and the place was totally packed. We went a block off the river and ate at Ketchup (beware: web site has music). There was a forty-five minute wait, but luck was with us and we got a table at the bar, next to the front window of the restaurant. We had a decent view of the river and we were looking right at the metal eagle sculptures. The restaurant was ok, but it was loud, we had several problems with the service, and they were out of two of the things we tried to order. Our young waitress looked extremely overwhelmed. The bright side is that we all agreed the food was excellent. I got fish and chips, my cousin got grilled shrimp, and our friend got a pork chop and mashed potatoes.

I thought we would walk down to the waterfront to see The Awakening sculpture after dinner, but I was fading fast and I had an hour of driving ahead of me. We could see one hand of the sculpture reaching out in to the sky, but I just didn't feel up to walking back over to the river. When we got back to the garage, much to my surprise, there were four youngsters, two on each side, holding the handles of my car and ducking down. They were laughing and giggling. My first impression was that they were playing hide and seek or trying to jump out and surprise their parents or friends. I didn't see anyone else, though. One young man appeared to be 16 - 18, there was a girl who might have been 15, and then there were a boy and a girl who were under the age of 10. I began to wonder if they were checking out the "availability" of the cars or the stuff in the cars. They strolled away, but I was giving them the evil eye. I didn't know what to do. I grabbed my cell phone and pretended to dial it as we got in to the car. We drove down to the exit and hailed an attendant to tell him what we had seen. The guy didn't have a cell phone or a walkie-talkie and he looked thoroughly flummoxed. He probably was under strict orders not to leave his post. There wasn't another attendant anywhere in sight. We were holding up traffic, so we gave up and drove off. I'll never know if those youths were just kids-being-kids or if they were up to something.

I will certainly return to the National Harbor sometime in the future, but I'll do things differently next time. First, I'll print a map of the development and have it with me when I go. Second, I'll research parking and transportation options and put The Club on my car when I do park. Third, I'll probably buy a hot dog from the vendor on the sidewalk around the corner from Ketchup (CK's Hot Dogs, in a somewhat permanent looking little wooden shed-type thing) and sit on a park bench next to the river to eat dinner. Sometimes simpler really is better.

Berries, fresh berries, sweet berries

2009-06-16T13:29:42Z

We went to Larriland Farm on Sunday to pick strawberries and spinach. We got six pounds of strawberries and one pound of spinach. We used two pounds of berries to make strawberry freezer jam, two pounds for frozen whole berries, and two pounds left to eat fresh. The spinach is going to go in to a quiche tonight. We were lucky that there was a bit of a breeze and the temperature was around 78, so the time out in the field wasn't bad. It was a nice way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

Paths

2009-06-08T01:31:15Z

The vicious cold I had last week is slowly starting to go away. Despite feeling very weak, I was determined to enjoy the gorgeous day today. We started the day with peanut butter and banana crepes, and then went for a walk in Fairland Recreational Park. Lunch was popcorn while seeing Star Trek at the AMC Lowes Centerpark 8. We had a nice dinner at home consisting of orange roughy topped with Trader Joe's smokey peach salsa, a side of rice pilaf, and a green salad. We just watched the Simpsons, I am posting this, and then I'm going to bed.

I might not have been walking fast, but it was good to be outside for a while. I highly recommend the Fairland trails, both on the PG side and the MoCo side.

Take another little piece of my....

2009-05-30T20:27:19Z

If you ever kind of need to go to an emergency room, but don't want to go to an emergency room, I highly recommend Secure Medical Care in Beltsville.

I'm rather ashamed to write that I cut my thumb in the kitchen Wednesday morning. I was slicing an onion and slipped. I knew as soon as I did it that I wanted to go to a doctor. It was 7:20 a.m. Our family doctor's office opens at 9 a.m. and I didn't want to go to Laurel Regional Hospital (to me, hospital ERs should be for life threatening emergencies). I thought of the emergency medical center on US1 in Beltsville, which opens at 8 a.m. I asked my husband to drive me over there. We arrived at 7:40 a.m. I hadn't eaten any breakfast, so I waited in the car while he walked down to Raulin's Bakery to get a couple croissants and some juice. I managed to eat a little, despite having to hold a towel against my thumb quite continuously to try to stop the bleeding. We started standing at the door at 7:55 a.m. The receptionist opened the door, asked if I was cut and still bleeding, and then opened the door to the back area and took me straight to a room. A medical assistant was with me a moment later. She was very gentle as she took away my towel to have a look at the wound. Sadly, the wound is such that it couldn't be stitched. Dr. Warren came in to have a look at it. He was fantastic. He was very reassuring that the wound will heal well. The spot was continuing to bleed, so he used an elastic band as a tourniquet around the base of my thumb. That gave them enough time to clean the wound, put some bacitracin on it, and bandage it nicely. The medical assistant used a nifty tool specifically for bandaging fingers: a tube gauze applicator. She was so quick and the bandage looked totally smooth and professional. I got a tetanus shot and was on my way by 9 a.m.

I talked to a co-worker of mine and it turns out that she has been to Secure Medical five time over the years as her kids have grown up. She said she has been impressed every time.

Going to the doctor is never fun, but it's nice to have a good experience when you do have to go.

Reminder: Huge community yard sale tomorrow (weather permitting!)

2009-05-02T02:05:01Z

I thought I would offer a friendly reminder that I will have a table at the Hammond Elementary School PTA yard sale tomorrow. I have sites 51 and 52. Information about the sale, including rain delay information, is available at http://sites.google.com/site/hespta2009yardsale/

I hope the weather is good!!!

Beltsville Day

2009-05-01T12:23:56Z

Mark your calendars!

Beltsville Day

Date: Sunday, May 17, 2009
Time: 12 noon-5 pm
Location:

Beltsville Community Center
3900 Sellman Road,
Beltsville, MD 20705

Event Description: Enjoy food, games, entertainment, rides and lots of fun. All ages welcome.
Cost:     FREE
Contact:     301-937-6613; TTY 301-445-4512

She's a brick house

2009-04-28T01:58:23Z

Here is an interesting article about The Brickyard industrial center which is being built near the Beltsville/Laurel border, essentially across from the Department of Motor Vehicles Administration building. It briefly mentions a 7.5 acre park that will be part of the development.

http://www.acppubs.com/article/CA6651276.html?industryid=48591

The park is going to be developed around the fact that some dinosaur fossils were found on the site. The dinosaur park is a small fraction of the total acreage of the area, so I have mixed feeling about it. Part of me is glad they are setting aside any green space at all. Another part of me wonders, "Isn't your average dinosaur about an acre in size?" If you found one buried there, don't you think you would find another one buried in the acres adjacent to it? What's up with that?

Guess what came in the mail today

2009-04-25T00:31:48Z

The United States District Court for the district of Maryland summons you to appear for jury duty beginning on the date, time, and place show below:

Location: 6500 Cherrywood Lane, Greenbelt, MD 20770
Date: The month of June (five days were listed as check-in days), 8:30 a.m.
Length of service: One month or one trial

One of the check-in days is my birthday. Joy.

Truth be known, I don't mind jury duty. But, I must admit, when I looked at the unopened letter, I thought, "Oh, Lord! What is it now?"

Has anyone else out there in Readerland been called for federal jury duty?

Upcoming events

2009-04-20T13:43:57Z

Good morning! I thought I would take a moment to share some information about affordable upcoming events. Enjoy!

Maryland Day - Saturday, April 25, 2009, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. University of Maryland, College Park. FREE. Rain or Shine. This is basically an all-campus open house. I will be volunteering all day in the greenhouse behind the Comcast Center. Come visit!
Hammond Elementary School PTA Yard Sale - Saturday, May 2, 2009, 9 a.m. - 1 p.m. 8110 Alladin Drive, Laurel, MD 20723. For those of you who are familiar with Laurel, I'll point out that the school is on the west side of Laurel, close to Rt. 216 and Rt. 29. This will be the first time I have had a table at this yard sale and only the second time in my life I have participated in a yard sale. I know several people who went to this last year and they said the event is huge. They also said the things available for sale were all high quality. I know I'm selling some things that are in fantastic condition, I just don't use them for one reason or another, so it's time for them to find a new home. I'll probably also have a box of free stuff that is still useful, but needs some TLC.
If a yard sale doesn't interest you, then I highly recommend Passport DC, Saturday, May 2, 2009, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. FREE. 30+ embassies will be having open houses. I did this last year and had a fantastic time. There are related events on different days, April 30 through May 9, so read the web site carefully to find out about all the events. For example, I think I saw that the embassy of Nepal is going to have an open house on Sunday, May 3, instead of the 2nd. I bet they have an interesting embassy.
Joint Services Open House Air Show - Friday through Sunday, May 15, 16, & 17, 2009. Andrews Air Force Base. FREE. It's been a few years since I attended this air show, but I am planning on trying to go this year. The feeling of standing under an F18 when it flies over you is amazing. According to the schedule, there are going to be F22 demos this year, as well. If you go, remember to wear sunscreen and a hat. They don't allow you to take in beverages, but the last time I went they did have several places to get water for free. I assume it would be ok to take in an empty container of some sort, such as a Nalgene bottle.

“I did know thee in the wilderness, in the land of great drought.”

2009-04-14T02:57:22Z

I am writing this with a couple of big time disclaimers in mind.

First, I do not really know what the subject line I chose means. To be honest, I Googled for drought quotes (knowing that this area is not heinously drought-stricken) and that was the first one that struck my fancy. Am I being sacrilegious? I hope not. Much like a geek who use Cliff Notes as bona fide study aids, I did spend a bit of time studying the quote. I understand that it is packed full of all kinds of meaning. I simply took a walk with my husband the day before Easter and it happened to be around a water reservoir that was pitifully low. Despite the low water level, we saw a lot of beauty and enjoyed our time together.

Second, the photo I am about to include was not taken by me. I took my camera to Brighton Dam and foolishly left it in the car. The photo below was taken by someone I have never met who graciously tagged his photos in Flickr. I think his photography is fantastic. His Flickr profile is listed as J. Daniel Ashton. He just got some free advertising out of me.

If you would like to learn more about the Triadelphia Reservoir, I recommend you visit the WSSC Watershed Recreational User Program web site.

London calling

2009-04-10T23:23:00Z

I miss blogging. I would like to start writing again, so I am just going to jump in and do it. I will still try to focus on living life in Beltsville, MD. I will also continue to write about taking breaks from "gorgeous Prince George's" every once in a while.

You might recall me praising Baltimore Washington International Airport before and I'll do it again. We recently took a non-stop flight from Baltimore to London and had a lovely two week vacation in England. I thought I would pass along the links to our travel photos and my travelogues:

Despite my lack of new blog entries, I have been lurking and reading my friends list blogs. You all are great and I will try to be better about commenting.

Take care and have a nice holiday weekend!

Kale and collard greens are $0.39 per pound

2008-11-23T22:39:36Z

Autumn in the mid-Atlantic region means cheap and plentiful kale and collard greens.

That means it's time for Portuguese-style soup. I use the recipe from Cooking Light magazine. I have made it with kale or collards and it's good both ways. I made it with cannellini beans, because that's what I had available. I used Salvadoran style chorizo from the Bestway at the corner of Riggs Rd. and Adelphi Rd. I thought it was very mild. I bet the Super Grand in Laurel also carries a variety of chorizo. I believe the Mexican style chorizo is much spicier. My husband likes his food spicier than I do, so we have at least a dozen hot sauces to choose from at any given time. So, adding heat was not a problem.

When "I" is a computer, aka "Utility Bills, Part 2"

2008-11-20T01:09:22Z

I just received a letter, via the U.S. Postal Service, from Washington Gas. The first paragraph noted, "I am writing to let you know that we have removed you from the Automated Payment Plan for the following reason: Customer Request." It went on to give instructions on how to respond if the removal was not correct and how to re-apply for the automated payment plan. It was boilerplate. There was no signature, even in "fake" ink. I'm sure it was generated by an automated system.

I had to chuckle when my husband showed me the letter and said, "Computers are first person singular now."

Fun with economics

2008-11-19T13:36:11Z

Everyone seems interested in economists these days. I happened to be acquainted with one or two (or something like a hundred) of them, so I thought I would share a link to an economics blog I like.

I was amused by Monday's post. Just last week I was talking to some investment advisers and the common refrain was, "People still need to eat." Well, it's a good thing I kind of like Spam.

Customer service at its finest

2008-11-13T19:22:49Z

In Beltsville, MD, our utilities are provided by Pepco for electricity, Washington Gas, WSSC for water, and we get our phone, tv service, and Internet from Verizon. I pay all my bills with automatic payment plans, so the companies take the money right out of my checking account. I realize some people don't feel comfortable with payment programs like that, but it works for me. Well, I recently opened a new checking account and I need to switch all the payments so they are withdrawn from the new account. So far, I've gone to the Pepco and the Washington Gas web sites and patiently looked through to find the procedures for changing the bank account associated with the bill. Both times, I have come to the conclusion that I had to call and talk to a human. The Washington Gas web site specifically noted that to change the payment arrangements I have to call and speak to a representative. I called Pepco yesterday. I got a woman who said, "Ummm.... I don't think I can help you with that. We don't have access to bank account information. I think you have to make the change on the web site." I went back and methodically looked at every page and couldn't find clear instructions, so I called back and got a different customer service representative. That person confidently said, "The procedure for that is...." and told me what to do. I called Washington Gas today. Guess what happened? The first person I got was clueless, so I said goodbye to her, called back immediately and got a different person who knew exactly what to do. Funny stuff. Next up is WSSC. Maybe I'll get lucky this time and talk to a well trained customer service rep on the first try.

Update: WSSC had clear instructions on the web site, so I don't have to call. Yay!

Three free events in one day

2008-11-09T01:09:16Z

We spent a few hours this afternoon on the campus of the University of Maryland, College Park. There were several free events going on and we attended three of them. To read about my day and to learn more about how to find a calendar of free events on campus, (as ruralrob would write....) do that clicky thing.

Today was a great day in "gorgeous Prince George's" (I think that's the silliest tagline, but it was true today). The picture above is of a brick, wrought iron, and gas lamp archway donated by the senior class of 1910. It's over a sidewalk that goes from US Rt. 1 up in to campus.

A great web site that lists a lot of free events on campus has the memorable address http://freestuff.umd.edu. Two of the three events we attended are listed on the web site.

Our first stop of the day was a Native American pow-wow. We watched a couple of dance routines, including an amazing grass dancer. (video is 2:46)

There are two possible descriptions of the grass dance. Some people believe it was a ceremonial dance done when Indians needed to mat down a grassy field to have an event or camp or whatever. Other people believe it is simply a dance form in which the performer is trying to imitate grass swaying in the wind, both with his movements and through his regalia. Either way, it's really cool.

The second event was the College Park blues festival, in Richie Coliseum. It was a family-oriented event that had face painting for kids, and instrument "petting zoo," lots of live music, and bar-b-que for sale. We were there when a youth band was playing and they were excellent. I was very impressed.

On the way back to our car, we noticed that there was some kind of event going on in the Reckord Armory. We saw what looked like dance teams walking around and I thought it was a step dancing competition. I was a bit shy about going in to the building, but my husband knew of a side entrance, so we went to check out the scene. It turned out to be a college expo for Historically Black Colleges and Universities. We saw where performances were going to be, but no one was performing at that time. We just walked around the booths for a while. There were school representatives from all over the U.S. Oddly, there were also some corporate vendors with booths. For some unkown reason, Success/Minute Rice had a booth there. College=success, I suppose. The booth had a wheel to spin for prizes. My husband and I walked up at the same time as another lady and the company rep started talking to us very directly. She handed my husband a box of instant brown rice, me a box of instant white rice, and the other lady a package of several containers of pre-cooked brown rice. She jumped in front of us, so the company banner was behind us all, and said, "Hold up the products and smile!" It all happened very quickly. I just chuckled and said, "Free advertising, eh?" She giggled and said, "The products are yours! Thanks for visiting!" It seemed so strange. But, that wasn't the oddest thing. I think the strangest thing was the 12 foot tall inflated bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicken that was on the front porch of the Armory. I couldn't make up that story if I tried, but in case you don't believe me, I have proof:

I took a picture a picture of my 6'1" husband standing right next to the gigantic Colonel Sanders, but that just seems wrong somehow. At least it wasn't really 12 cubic feet of fried chicken. I love fried chicken, but, um, eww.

Okay. Enough out of me.

How is your weekend going? I hope all is well!

Yo voté

2008-11-04T19:00:03Z

I had to wait for one hour and 25 minutes, starting at 10:30 a.m. My parents had to wait 20 minutes, starting around 9 a.m. My polling place had something like 15 or 20 machines. My parents said their polling place had six machines. We live three miles apart.

Strange stuff.

The Beltsville public library and one of its needier patrons

2008-10-08T12:52:51Z

What would you do if a woman approached you in a public library and started to lift up her skirt?

My husband and I recently had a chat with a woman who was either homeless or mentally disturbed or a combination of the two.

The story begins when we went to the Beltsville public library one day after work to drop off some books that were due. My husband went in to look at the new arrivals shelves and I looked at the music cds. I had noticed the woman out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't think much about her and I didn't look straight at her. I saw her set down a Dr. Pepper and a bag of pretzels against the wall, just inside the entrance to the library. When my husband came and rejoined me and we started to leave, she began to follow us down the hall to the door. She quietly and hoarsely called out, "Excuse me, sir?" We turned around to look at her. She started to lift up her skirt and for a split second I thought we were in for trouble. She lifted her skirt up to her knees to reveal her ankles and shins. It looked like she walked straight through a briar patch. She began to explain that she had been "in the forest for five days." She was wearing dirty tennis shoes without socks or laces. She had a slight accent of some sort, but I couldn't really place what her ethnic background might have been (eastern European, perhaps). She started to ramble about how she was walking everywhere, still speaking to my husband and not looking at me. My husband calmly said, "Ma'am, what is it that you want from me?" She replied, "I need someone to take me to a place to sleep. Maybe for five days. Maybe something to eat." The Beltsville public library is immediately adjacent to a police station, so my husband said, "The police station is right next door and I bet they have information about where you can go. An officer would probably be willing to take you somewhere." I have no doubt that someone who is homeless is going to be very leery of police, but her response left us dumbfounded. She clearly said, "I tried to go there, but they are all black." There was a pause as my husband looked at me and I shook my head slightly in disbelief. He basically said he was sorry, but he tries not to see the color of a person's skin, that going there was his best suggestion, and he had to be going. She didn't say another thing or make any particular facial expression. She just turned around and walked back in to the library.

We talked a lot throughout the evening, wondering if we should have given her money or the phone number of a church that we know does some homeless outreach, or something like that. In retrospect, there were so many different responses we could have given. I'm going to go ahead and assume she had already asked the librarians for suggestions, but who knows? We don't see homeless people in Beltsville too often, but they are certainly around. There are, in fact, some pretty big stretches of woods and creeks in Beltsville where one could set up a lean-to and get by with living off the grid. Plus, there is good public transportation, so if you know what you're doing, you can get in to downtown D.C. by public bus easily. Anyway, the bottom line is that I didn't know the answer to the woman's question. I don't know of any homeless services for women in Beltsville. I know that St. John's Episcopal offers meals (and I think shelter sometimes) for homeless men. I know there is a "soup kitchen" called Community Place Café at the First United Methodist church in Hyattsville four days a week. Today, I spent some time searching the web and I found out that there is a Prince George's County Homeless Hotline (with a toll-free phone number) that coordinates all shelter placements to Prince George's County shelters. It's interesting that one of the qualification criteria is that the person must not have resided in a county shelter within the past year. Maybe I'll carry around that toll-free number with me now.

I think the best I can do for that woman at this point is pray that she gets the help she needs. Maybe I'll give more than usual to the next Community Place Café collection organized at the church I attend.

Input needed re: US1 improvements @ Cherry Hill Rd. intersection

2008-08-29T13:05:10Z

I was surprised that I received an e-mail on Wednesday from county councilman Tom Dernoga. I assume it went out to a large mailing list, but I don't have any idea how many people are on such a list. I don't even remember how I got on the list. Anyway, it was a call for advice and suggestions regarding a document called the Approved College Park US 1 Corridor Sector Plan and Sectional Map Amendment. If you're interested in such things, I'll explain a bit more....

The Maryland National Park and Planning Commission has been assigned the challenging task of updating that Sector Plan. There is going to be a community meeting about it in mid-September (I don't know when), then the official start date for the editing of the document is going to be the beginning of October. The MNCPPC then has 18 months to complete the new version of the document.

Councilman Dernoga is asking for input, to be sent to him as soon as possible. I would like to encourage anyone who is interested to read through the 2002 Sector Plan, including the PowerPoint presentation from the Nov. 2007 community forum, then send along your comments.

lavidamd @ 2008-08-20T08:57:00

2008-08-20T13:04:13Z

I just read about mosquito ringtones. The article links to a hearing test, so I took it. I made sure the volume was all the way up, I used headphones, and I sat alone in a really quiet room. I was disappointed that I couldn't hear 17 khz and above.

My Friend's Closet

2008-08-20T01:09:11Z

You know you live in a major metropolitan area when you can be picky about your thrift stores.

I know I have written about My Friend's Closet before, but I thought I would mention it again. It's a thrift store that donates most of its profit to charity.

I had to go to a store across the street from there over the weekend, so I decided to stop by to look around. It's a small thrift store, but it is always exceedingly well organized. For the fashionistas out there, I'll note that there is pair of size 8 and a pair of size 10 Talbots capris on the rack and they were in perfect shape. Both were marked at about $6.

There are a million words I could type about the fact that the exact same pair of pants that costs $60 at Columbia Mall costs $6 at My Friends Closet. Yes, some woman you don't know wore them a few times. But, um, really.... I just trust that washing stuff adequately gets out the cooties.

I have paid full price for a pair a pants and a dress from Talbots and I still wear those pieces (fashionably, I believe) many years after I bought them. So, I do believe that "you get what you pay for." But, the power of branding never ceases to amaze me. At a thrift store, a pair of pants from Croft and Barrow is going to cost the same price as a pair of pants from Talbots. It's just a roll of the dice regarding whether or not you're going to drop your dinner on your lap and ruin the pants with pasta sauce stains. Furthermore, what does branding mean?

I have one word for you: Jordache

Okay. I'll get off my soapbox now.