So on my way home yesterday I checked my SmarTrip Card balance using one of the farecard readers....

Balance of $6.75. So the problem from Thursday wasn't a demagnetized card or any other card problem. It was that the technology SmarTrip uses isn't advanced enough to tell me that my balance was too low.... I only got a generic Card Error message!

YAY!

Passed this sign yesterday. Potbelly now has online ordering! The Potbelly near my office always has a huge line after 11:45am so this could help. Quiznos "secret" salad/soup line may now have some competition in the contest to get the fastest service after noon!

Sent from my BlackBerry

so I drove to New Carrollton and tried to pay for my parking after happy hour, with my newly purchased SmarTrip card... Denied! i had to pay with a credit card :P


It's probably demagnetized :P

Lunch for today!

Sent from my BlackBerry

I just got this lovely email:


Dear MARC “Ticket-By-Mail” Customer:

Effective November 1, 2008, MARC will discontinue the CSX “Ticket-by-Mail” program. CONSEQUENTLY, THE NOVEMBER MONTHLY TICKETS PURCHASED IN OCTOBER WILL BE THE LAST SOLD THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.

Fortunately, other programs are now available that allow for MARC monthly ticket purchases and that also offer more flexible payment options, including the acceptance of credit cards and Electronic Smart Benefits as payment.

Please consider these following program options:

1.CommuterDirect.com - Commuter Direct offers one-time MARC ticket purchases as well as renewable orders. Commuter Direct sells all ticket types including Monthly passes, Transit Link Card (TLC), one-way, and Ten-trip tickets. Credit Card, Commuter Choice Vouchers, Metrocheks and Electronic Smart Benefits are accepted at Commuter Direct. BWI riders who have a free parking account through the current CSX Ticket-By-Mail program may set up this benefit through Commuter Direct. Registration is now open and is very easy to do on-line at www.commuterdirect.com , or by calling 703-228-RIDE.

2.Ticket Vending Machines (TVM’s) - These machines are operational at select stations. Additional machines will be installed over the next several months. Only credit and debit cards can be used to purchase fare media from the TVM’s, and they will not accept Metrochek benefits.

3.Staffed Ticket Offices - Several MARC stations and Amtrak locations will continue to sell monthly tickets. MARC stations will accept Metrocheks, Commuter Choice Vouchers, cash, and Visa or Master Card. Amtrak locations accept all major credit cards. Go to the MTA web site at www.mtamaryland.com for hours and locations of staffed stations.

MARC highly recommends that current CSX Ticket-By-Mail riders change their purchase method before the November deadline to insure a seamless transition to another program.

Sincerely,
John Hovatter
Director
MARC Train and Commuter Bus Services


Not sure if I am happy about this or not. on the plus side they accept payment using SmartBenefits, but the company I currently work for doesn't offer that.
Minus side - I hate wating in lines so I am not looking forward to buying these tickets at any station.

The last option CommuterDirect sounds good in theory, but I had bad luck with them when I purchased my first MARC ticket over 2.5 years ago (they sent me the wrong month, and it was a huge hassle to get a ticket for the correct month.).

I did this yesterday! You can pick them up at GIANT for $25. $15 is available immediately to use going through tolls, once you register, the remaining $10 is available. The it automatically reloads when the balance gets to $10.

w00t! no more sitting in the slow/cash only lanes!

Just what my Addictive Personality needs :D

(and I can access it on my BlackBerry!)

This is what it would look like :)

By now I am sure you had heard about Barack Obama's plan to announce his VP nominee via text message, and if you signed up you would be the first to know! ( After Obama and the actual choice... I guess :P)

I of course signed up!

Here is how it all unfolded for me this past Friday (when speculation reached a fever pitch that the txt would go out sometime Friday, prior to the scheduled press conference on Saturday).

5pm-ish In AC, after long day on Boardwalk relaxing for a few in the hotel room prior to dinner, etc. CNN comes on Wolf and other pundits are speculating. Based on the live camera shots of homes of Biden, Warner, Other guy, and an airplane I thought the announcement was immenint. I checked the BlackBerry. No txt from Obama.

We left for dinner sometime around 7 I think and I maybe checked the BB a few times between then and 9. Still no txt. Off to play craps. I guess we played craps till around 1:30am? Then off to a BlackJack table.

Somewhere around 2am I checked the BB again and saw a txt from CNN (dated 12:49am)... Yep... Breaking News Obama has picked Biden.

My txt from Obama arrived at 3:13am !

Then WTOP thought they would get in on the fun, and they sent me a Breaking News txt at 10:30am.

I know its impossible for all SMS texts to be delivered at the same time, but a difference of 2.5 hours!?

WOW! I guess I know why I am signed up for those CNN news alerts! :D

I went to Atlantic City this week for a girls weekend and managed to conquer this task in style!

Prior to trip -- I watched a few YouTube tutorials



Read the Craps Wiki

Luckily I have a good friend that knows how to play very well :) so I followed her lead.. and soon thanks to nice "dealers" I was able to make Come and Place bets by myself, even when friend left the table for a restroom break!

w00t!

Playing Craps (especially this past Friday night/Sat Morning) has been the most fun in a casino I ever had!

Now that I know basically what to do... this is my game of choice!

See more details of my Craps tale/AC trip in a followup post!

If something interesting happens (or I win big!) I will blog or tweet as long as my friends do not hide my BlackBerry ;)

Since I drove to New Carrollton this morning instead of taking the MARC, I had to buy a SmartTrip Card in order to get out of the garage! So this afternoon I get to New Carrollton and and proceed to try and buy my SmartTrip card. As I exit the fare gate I cross the way to the row of pass/farecards and farecards machines. I figured Pass = SmartTrip card and proceed to enter my cash. Um no.... luckily I didn't purchase it. I look around thinking I am going to need to ask for help :P station managers are all tied up with tourists trying to get kids through the fare gates correctly!

Then I notice 2 machines over by the ATMs... mosey over. yep SmartTrip . and they only deal in $10! I need $13.25 ( 5 base for the card and $8.25 (according to wmata.com) to pay for parking), so I purchase my card and wait for a receipt... no receipt comes out, keep hitting # nothing. Then I think maybe it wants my PIN, so I try that... nope...then I decide well I need to go back to the other machines and load up some more money and I can check if it has the $5 fare. It did ... I add $10 more and off I go! (and actually only $6.25 was deducted for parking)

The drive home was actually pretty good... so now I guess it is good that I have the SmarTrip card so when I go to happy hour in DC, I won't need to wait for a MARC late in the evening ( after 6:30/7pm... they only run about 1 per hour so it really sucks if you miss the train you are aiming for)... I can just drive in!

So I woke up this morning, got ready and planned on taking a train that leaves 20 minutes later than what I normally take. As I was ready to head out I checked my BlackBerry and found an email from the MTA that PENN line service was suspended due to a fatality. So off I went to New Carrollton. Traffic was not bad and I actually made good time (I arrived before I would have if I had taken the later MARC train I was aiming for)...

This explains why a helicopter was hovering over the station.

PENN service has resumed.

I can't wait to see how much its costs me to park! ( I don't have a SmarTrip card because my monthly MARC pass includes unlimited Metro trips)

you are cooking dinner, and go to grab the Pam to spray the baking sheet, but inadvertently pick up Pam for Baking instead?

Chicken wings with a hint of flour ....its interesting! ( oh I have done it with Fish also !)

Can't decide if Madison was using it as a pillow or really didn't want me to change the channel. :P

Sent from my BlackBerry

I liked the black/yellow/blue original scheme based on another site that I go to every once in a while, but everyday it started getting hard to read (I also think the black/yellow/blue looks really good on my macbook pro, but not so much on my Windows based machine. So I changed it! I have a few things to still play around with, but I think the grey/blue-ish/pink is better at least on the windows machine. (though in attempt to match it to my Flickr Badge it may be overkill and too Flickr-ish... I am sure it will be green before the week is over :P)

(also as a note I think Blogger is greatly superior to the Yahoo 360 Blog environment I migrated from (Number one best feature is the ability to add HTML/Java widgets, and move them around - which I do alot :-))

But there is one thing that Yahoo excelled at and that was the embedded poll that you could use in each blog post. at Blogger its a sidebar feature so its hard to tie it to a specific post.

So after the show my friend (here after referred to as C) and I both said the word to describe the whole event was "surreal". and really it was.

But let's rewind.

After the Pearl Jam East Coast tour earlier this summer, speculation was high that Vedder would announce an East Coast solo tour (he did a west coast version in the spring). And at the beginning of July it was announced. Alas , C and I got shutout on both 10Club presales and the TicketMaster sales about a week later. C assured me that tickets are released closer to day of show (based on his spring tour), and so we kept checking back and we scored orchestra seats Thursday.

We met for dinner at Elephant & Castle (along with what appeared to be 100 other 10club members, LOL).

I have never been to the Warner Theater. So this was a total new experience for me. It is tiny but beautiful inside. Liam Finn opened, he was OK as far as openers go.

Vedder came out and I immediately went into picture taking mode (and was immediately accosted by a security guard - no photos allowed ...he wanted me to check my camera but I managed to talk him into letting me keep it and just put it away (I knew if I checked it I would most probably leave without it). So no more pictures... for a while ;)

Setlist was great (mix of Pearl Jam, Vedder solo stuff, and covers), he played for about 3 hours....they were filming for what was suspected to be an upcoming DVD. But it was just weird... after the opening song Vedder asked everyone to sit down....then people started screaming out songs along with many men screaming out "I love You Eddie!!" then other people would loudly shush them. Lots of political talk, and also some very funny schtick... yes ladies and gentlemen Eddie Vedder is a comedian!

After the first encore started it was like camera watch was over, and they started on pot watch, so cameras were broken out again..but it was still a bit stealth until the final encore, which is why my pics suck so bad :-/

I am glad I went, but one Vedder solo show is enough for me, I came, I saw, I bought the T-shirt :D . C is going back tonight for the second show... she pulled Row A at the last minute yesterday from Ticketmaster.

(oh - and for those keeping track... Vedder did not play Better Man of which I was quite happy because that is my least favorite PJ song - so much so that when they play it at shows I am at I sit down in protest... obviously this would not have worked at Warner... C and I discussed and I probably would have had to stand up and face the back of teh venue to protest :-P)

I work at a semi-secure building in downtown DC. Multiple tenants, some floors are more secure then others (one tenant on another floor even has their own security team... and when I was walking around the floor looking for the Suite where the Notary that I was referred to by the concierge sat I was approached and semi-nicely asked "Are you lost?"). You need a FOB to get into the building and to use the elevator to get to your floor (after hours), and all of the stairwell doors are locked from inside the hallway, so you can get into the stairwell from your floor to go all the way to the ground floor ( ie in case of fire! or like the guy I encountered a few months ago who was walking fast up and down the steps for exercise :P) but you cannot use the stairs to go between floors (ie between 4 & 5).

Except for the person on my floor that does this "pencil as a doorstop" manuever. We know who it is, and they do not work for my agency. My co-workers and I have started talking and we want to remove the pencil the next time we see it! Someone even had the great to remove it and then tape it inside the stairwell with a note ( ie "Is this yours?"; "Does this belong here?").

What would you do!?
Vote in the poll!

Sent from my BlackBerry

Woot ! My friend just emailed me to say she finally scored tickets to Eddie Vedder's Saturday show at the Warner Theater :D

And the fun continues...

I knew the HOA meeting last month went too smoothly. It was actually the best one ever!
Anyway aside from BOD members (of which I am still one:P) 4 owners showed, including resigned BOD member (hereafter referred to as B). She was actually quiet throughout most of the meeting as we did our business. Then at open forum time, she walked up to the BOD table and presented a list of 2 car license plat numbers that she said always parked in the same spot, she indicated 1 had expired plates and one had out-of-state plates (i guess in her mind it is a crime to have out of state plates !?) Anyway the Property manager indicated that she had Parking violation notices that she would give us and we could take care of this ourselves.

BOD member indicated she knew the owners of one of the cars and that she would followup, and the next day I figured out which car with out of state plates was being targeted, and indicated that the car does get driven, and I knew which building the owner lived in (so it was not a BOD issue anymore).

FF to this morning... the outside buzzer to my unit starts ringing at 5:20 am! ( I did not answer ... I was up but was no where near ready to head out and was on a tight schedule to catch my MARC.)

BOD member caught up to me at MARC station a bout a half hour later....and indicates the following...

She was walking her dog this morning and noticed a towing notice on one of the cars (the one for the owners that she knows, not out-of-state plates)! She asked me if I put it there. I said no. She said it must have been B. I said well it could have been B's friend. BOD member said no, B's friend does not have a printer... this was a printed notice (as opposed to a professional form).

So now we need to go around and put out notices that these actions are not being taken by the BOD and are not approved by us! The property manger is sending the towing company an auth form which indicates who exactly can contact them about HOA related towing.

B is a complete B*tch and total hypocrite. She resigned from the BOD in March with the statement that she is too busy to be on the BOD, but she is walking around scoping out license plates and picking up used condoms! Oh and the best part... she doesn't even live in the community. She used to , but moved about 4 years ago. Her and her husband do own a unit (not the one they lived in) where her elderly Aunt lives. B likes to go around making crap up so that she can send out violation letters... she wanted to send someone a letter because they keep their blinds pulled up all the way to the top, a few residents wanted to put stepping stones in as a path to their front units.. B was forcibly opposed and it was ultimately denied. Guess who ended up putting stepping stones in that led to her back unit ? Yep B! When I questioned it she said grass wasn't growing there and the (old )Management Company gave her permission... well the Mgmt company is not the one who gives permission for stuff like that... its the BOD.

Fallout from this should be fun!

Not your mother's boring movie advertisement campaign!

So if you have been following my list for my 1001 day project you know that #44 is to appear on a reality show. With the news that DC is getting its own "Hills-type" show, I may be one step closer! I even have my own semi-Heidi in the form of a former backstabbing co-worker (maybe an upcoming blog post!) that I would love to tell "I don't forgive you and I want to forget you." (If you know anything about me ... I rarely forgive... and in this case I do not).

Maybe I can pop-up in the background? Does DC have a club that is similiar to Les Deux?! I kinda suspect they will not be shooting on the Metro or at The Black Cat... LOL!

LOL Bush!

Today we are talking razors... specifically the Gillette Venus Breeze!

My old Mach 3 (originally recommended to me by some magazine, probably Jane (old Jane, before it turned Seventeen/Teen clone)) into to a was dying a slow death (handle part wouldn't keep the razor part attached), so the next time I went to Sam's Club, I picked up the Venus Breeze. Huge mistake! This razor does not give a close shave at all, it is terrible. Once I use up all the razor refills I am going back to a men's razor, probably back to the Mach 3 Turbo!

Sent from my BlackBerry

An update to this post.

Looks like the plan to get weekend MARC service up and running has hit some roadblocks.

Why are you running an interview with GWB during prime time Olympic coverage?

This is not a political event!

Unacceptable!

I sold my old printer! Woot! I usually sell stuff I don't need anymore on eBay, but I knew for the printer I didn't want to deal with the hassle of estimating the shipping costs (and they would probably be crazy high!) ( For comparison purposes I checked eBay, and the last printer like mine that sold had a shipping cost of $25!).

So I was considering CraigsList, but first decided to list it on my community Yahoo! group...which I did yesterday morning... and It was just picked up!

Yay!

... now I just need to setup my new printer :)

So about 2 weeks ago I tweeted this (It was Sunday, I was cooking dinner, and was letting my DVR record BigBrother while I cooked, so I could start watching about 20 minutes into the show in order to FF thru all commericals... I had another channel on while it recorded... and noticed the feed from the cable box was frozen... so I went to Channel 9... all broken up... MTV ... same ... all channels frozen!) Then I went into another room and turned on a TV that I have hooked up directly to the cable outlet (no box) picture was grainy, but watchable) . So I missed about 20 minutes of BB... and my relaxing dinner/BB plan was scrapped). The cable eventually came back somtime after 9pm I think....

Then the next morning I noticed I had a direct reply from some person with Comcast in there user name, asking how he could help! I mentioned it to some co-workers, who are aware of my recent Twitter-addiction... and we all thought it was funny.

This morning I was reading this story from the Washington Post, where they mentioned that "Comcast scans Twitter for user gripes". I wonder which other companies are searching Twitter?

Video of her from one of Pearl Jam's 2008 MSG shows;

I went to see the new movie this past Sunday with two friends. It was not terrible, but I thought the first movie was better. It did have some high points (I gave a little cheer at something near the end - if you want to know ask in comments and I'll post it there... so as not to spoil anyone). It really stayed away from aliens and conspiricy (Mulder's sister was mentioned.. as was William).

I couldn't remember what happened to William at the end of the TV servies, admittedly once Duchovony left I only sporadically watched, but in case you are wondering William was adopted.

A few months ago I picked up the complete DVD box set (when Amazon had a 50% off sale) and will watch the entire thing from beginning to end, once I finish Buffy the Vampire Slayer (2 more seasons to go)!



and it WAS weird to see Scully with long hair...

Specifically the pink and blue. (The green azalea is real :P). This is what I came home to yesterday. Up until that time, we had normal colored pansies (thought they were looking a bit dry... but not dead). Upon further inspection all the pansies at all 4 of the buildings in my condo subdivision had been removed, but my building was the only one to receive this "fake flower" treatment. (Oh, and its worse today... more fake flowers added!).

I suspect persons not happy with the HOA/Mgmt company situation are responsible (because one of them was complaining about the lawn not being cut a few weeks ago, even though the lawn has been mowed and edged better than it ever was under the old contract!)

Stay tuned for an update if I can discover the TRUTH!!

... and you can then get any iced Grande beverage for $2 in the afternoon.

thru Sept 2

:)

So I had the family over for my Mom's birthday, and one of the things I made was an Asparagus Tart. It turned out well!

It is made with asparagus, goat cheese, puff pastry, and lemon zest.

I originally found the recipe in Real Simple (April 2004).
Leave a comment if you want the actual recipe or email me using the Email me link in my profile. (Robin ... its on the way!)

Mark your calendars and make sure Tivo is set!

But did they answer my question? Um no!


----Original Message------
From: blue-orangeline@wmata.com

Subject: RE: Wednesday Blue Orange Delays JUly 30 - pm
Sent: Aug 1, 2008 3:35 PM

Dear Ms. XXXXXX:

Metro¿s Blue-Orange Line Team received your email regarding delays encountered on the Orange Line the evening of Wednesday, July 30. I apologize for your inconvenience caused by a mechanical problem with a train at our Clarendon Station, which impacted both directions. Trains shared the same track between Foggy Bottom and Clarendon.

Metro strives to restore service as quickly and safely as possible. We appreciate your patience during this service interruption.

Sincerely,
XXXXXXX
Customer Service Representative
Blue-Orange Line Team
Case number 424092

To speak to a Blue-Orange Line Customer Service Representative for Comments, Complaints, Suggestions, or Concerns, please call 301 562-4606 weekdays between the hours of 8:00 am - 5:00pm or email us at blue-orangeline @wmata.com.

Please call 202-637-7000 for trip schedules, fare information, general information and customer assistance between the hours of 6 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Friday and 7 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.

**** DISCLAIMER **** "This e-mail and any attachments thereto may contain information which is confidential and/or protected by intellectual property rights and are intended for the sole use of the recipient(s) named above. Any use of the information contained herein (including, but not limited to, total or partial reproduction, communication or distribution in any form) by persons other than the designated recipient(s) is prohibited. If you have received this e-mail in error, please notify the sender either by telephone or by e-mail and delete the material from any computer. Thank you for your cooperation."

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
on 2008-07-30-19.01.46.000000

My original email

I would like to know why the decision was made to off- load a blue and an orange (both headed to Vienna/Franconia) at Federal Center SW, then with the doors closed on the orange one
they changed the destination from Vienna to New Carrollton (without
TELLING anyone) and sent it in that direction. The platform was packed, and was only getting worse and would be worse for the next orange train that made it through ( which was at least 15 minutes later). If I had been
able to be on that train, I could have caught my usual MARC train ( as could a bunh of other people trying to catch connections).

Thanks
Michelle XXXXXX

{ See Attached File: Attachment }

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
When responding to this email, please include the following ID number: "[THREAD_ID:390697]" . This will help us serve you better.

Sent from my BlackBerry

Read this first.