Zionist scum poster, stolen shopping cart, sleeping in at #OccupyDC

Sleeping bag in tent

Food lying on ground

Large rat trap and destroyed lawn

Well, I thought the squatters would have been cleared out of Farragut Square by now given the bill this lot is ringing up for us -- $300K in damaged public park land that no one else can use, out of control rats and other public health hazards -- but no, it seems to  be drawing ever more irrational aspects. Not only did I see a Wikileaks van driver communicating loudly from her van window with someone at the site, but also a guy holding a poster saying "expel all 5th column zionist agent scum and indict traitor US politicians."  Then I espied a "borrowed" shopping cart used by one of the squatters and despite this site purportedly being "a 24 hour vigil" which means it is NOT a campground where people are allowed to sleep overnight, it's clear there are sleeping bags in the tents and people are living in this park.  Living, not vigiling, that is, squatting now for months.  And the rats are still there too. Lots of large rat traps scattered about -- although I didn't see any rats today.  Although I did see lots of muddy torn up ground and food lying about that I am sure the rats will find tasty. I heard a passerby attempting to converse with another sign-holding man who whined "I have a Ph.D. in Psychology and I can't get a job, man," and when asked "Why don't you get another job or drive a cab or something?" he just answered "But I can't do that" and had a lot of excuses for why he wasn't going to take up anyone's suggestions for how to earn a living. A couple of hours later I passed the sight again and saw an unorganized crowd of people gathered at the doors of the nearby Sheraton hotel holding some hand-made signs.  A pedestrian informed me "they are from the park, you know, they are protesting something" and "the police said they had no permit and should stay on the sidewalk area but they keep crowding the front door area."  They were blocking the exit doors and looking it and it wasn't clear why they were there at all and I wouldn't be surprised to learn of some arrests.

Note shopping cart

Daffodils in January in BloomingdaleDC

DAFFODILS!

It's so astounding to see daffodils in the middle of January.  There were two clumps of them blazing yellowly in the cold windy air of this unusually warm winter month over on First Street, NW in Bloomingdale. Often by now we have had snow or rain or used at least two tankfuls of oil to heat the house. But it's been so warm we've had the windows open even, during the best part of the day. And we've got daffodils sprouting and blooming. Totally amazing!

Kennedy Center : Interesting Views and Tasty Lunch

View from rooftop terrace to the Watergate

Hall of Flags is the full height of the building

One of my son's favorite activities when he is home from Pennsylvania is to take the Route 80 bus downtown to the Kennedy Center. Amazingly, we are on a direct bus line that goes right past our street and all the way to this International Style building. There are great views of the infamous Watergate building from the rooftop terrace as well as opportunities to watch planes fly into National Airport and boats going by on the Potomac. The Hall of Flags is also kind of interesting, although in need of a carpet cleaning, INMHO. We also go there for lunch in the KC Cafe on the top floor where you can have very good and interesting sandwiches, snacks and dinner food, and drinks (beer and wine), at very interesting high prices. The staff at the KC Cafe are notorious for their lack of friendliness but we never let that get in the way of a delicious lunch in a quiet restaurant with great views. Also, the site is wheelchair accessible, although I understand the theaters are not as good.

Amazing Amaryllis Flowers Again in BloomingdaleDC House!

Amaryllis blooms again, maybe slightly smaller

I was stunned to see yet another flower stem starting from my $9.99 Walmart amaryllis bulb after it had previously flowered. We'd enjoyed a blaze of color during Advent and once the flowers died I cut all the stalks down. But Lo and Behold, this giant bulb shot out another stalk and this week, the first week of January 2012, I am enjoying yet another lovely blazing red blooming of amaryllis. I did not know these bulbs could generate two heads of flowers in one season. All I'm giving it is water and a lot of light and it's giving us glory. Hmm.... Wonderful! Amazing! Lovely!

One of the Big Friezes in Washington DC

Typical doorway at National Building Museum

The frieze traverses the entire building.

I nearly always have to stop and stare at the National Building Museum every time I go by there as it is just so ornate.  Each doorway is decorated with interesting red brick work, roman arch, reclining figures and mythic-looking heads. Then there's the big frieze that goes around the entire building -- which is the size of a city block. I'm sure there's whole books written about the civil war figures and carts and munitions depicted but suffice to say, the detail is staggeringly visible even if you do have to crane your neck to look up at it.  I've been to half a dozen events inside the building from annual dinners, to a college graduation to a political ball.  And the inside is just as interesting and wonderful.  Apparently, it was built first as the Pension Building where civil servants sat row upon row processing pensions for civil war and other veterans.  I seem to recall a great exhibit about this in one room on the second floor and which includes photos of the construction as it occurred.  This building is truly a marvelous feat and something not to miss seeing if you happen to be near Judiciary Square or have the time to walk up from the Nauseum, whoops, I meant Newseum.

There Goes that Elusive Verizon FiOs Truck!

Sometime in the past month I actually for the first time ever saw a FiOs truck go by me here in DC. Big and white and shiny with a picture of a giant TV with blue ribbons tailing along the side of the van, it surely looked like something new in town as I sat at the bus stop watching the traffic go by.  You have to realize that in my neighborhood no-one has Verizon FiOs as they haven't laid the fiber cable yet here and I've heard it will be years before it will happen. While there's some diehard over-the-air free TV types, most either have cable or satellite TV and most get Internet either via DSL or a bundled cable TV package. Some spring for 4G wireless but that really adds to the bill.  As a DirecTV subscriber AND a Verizon DSL subscriber, we'd like to lower the costs of all our electronic communications so we keep hoping FiOs will come to our neighborhood soon.  We receive Comcast promotion cards in the mail all the time, trying to persuade us to switch back to cable TV in a bundled package with their phone and Internet. We also see Comcast trucks a lot.  And I have a neighbor who works for Comcast and he says it's a great company.  Somehow, though, we've come to really like our satellite TV service as the service people are extraordinarily nice when you talk to them about adding a TV channel or two or otherwise adjusting the bill. But, there I was at the bus stop and there went that elusive FiOs truck and I started to imagine having all my communications service on one bill, and a really fast and strong connection and maybe even a bit cheaper than all the different providers we have now.......hmm....

We Want Our Park Back! Obamaville Has Gotta Go!

Trash bins at OccupyDC site

Rat hole at OccupyDC Site

It's not clear why this is misspelt

I don't know why the mainstream media makes so much of the squatters who call themselves OccupyDC as if they are heroes fighting for liberty or something. I just don't get a clear sense of what they are for, or what they are against.  I wandered past their tent village at McPherson Square a couple of times and snapped a few photos to try and get a sense of what they are about.  They were either all absent or maybe sleeping. It was about noon time and a few came out of tents scratching their heads and looking like they were just waking up.  During my meander, at least two people on the street nearby talked to me about how the tent people have ruined the grass and plantings in this park. McPherson Square was re-lawned and repaired last year for about $300K of "stimulus" money (which means we still owe the money!).  Today, of course, there's no grass due to the tents. And it looks like some of the plants have disappeared. It's clear the rats are having a feast of it. I saw at least one large rat skipping along merrily among the tents and then dive into his rat-hole when I got nearer. He'd bypassed the rat trap quite effectively on his way back from the the food tent.  I heard some news yesterday via another blog that the food tent had been closed down due to the rat problem.  Apparently, there's some legal case going on with the squatters and the National Park Service who has jurisdiction over the square and on January 17 there could be legal action taken by the feds in regard to the "camping" going on. INMHO, it's time to shut this Obamaville down.