Up in the Monuments

RAC'in up Monuments
This weekend RAC came for a visit up to good ole DC so I wanted to have a good trip. We decided that Saturday was going to be a Monument(al) day! We got up fairly early so that we could catch the metro to downtown to get in line for tickets to go up into the Washington Monument, you know that tall pencil looking thing. We waited in line and had to endure the "all knowing" knowledge of wanna-be locals who kept rattling off stats on the various monuments on the Mall.

After we got our tickets (you can book online weeks in advance here ) we headed to hit the rest of the sites. We went to the WWII









Vietnam, Lincoln, Korean, Jefferson and then to a few Smithsonian locations.








Finally we got to head to the top of the Washington Monument. Simple elevator ride to the top and you are presented with some wonderful views of the DC area. I highly recommend it if you ever get the chance. Below is one of the pictures from the top...

Marion Jones

Do the Crime, Serve the Time...
It has come to light recently that former track star Marion Jones is asking President Bush for a pardon for her crimes in using steroids and check fraud. She is but one of many people who are requesting a pardon from Bush before he is out the door in January. I am deeply troubled by this, yet another high profile person using their fame/money to get preferential treatment that you or I would never have the chance of obtaining.

Marion Jones was the darling of the Olympics, looked up to by many young people and an inspiration. Her smile could lighten up a room and she had talent too. But she cheated, by her own admission (though lied to a federal grand jury) and with that, she is serving a 6-month prison sentence. Do the crime, do the time. That is why, after her tearful admission in January, I am astonished and upset that she would seek a pardon from the President. This just makes me feel like she has more to tell, more to admit to. If not, those tears back in January were obviously faked...

'Kickin it' at the Mall.

Today, I officially became initiated into the wonderful sport of DC Kickball. I first talked about this in May, but I was only a spectator then. Now, I am a full fledged member of the HumpDay Allstars!

Before the game started, a ritual that I will most likely never get tired of, progressed down Constitution in front of the WWII Memorial...Motorcades!!! I am pretty certain that GW was not in this motorcade as it was fairly large, but not nearly as burly as (what others tell me) GW rolls with, but still...what a way to roll home.

It always starts with you noticing that cops are stopping traffic on certain streets, kind of odd, but you don't think anything of it. Then, all of a sudden you hear them...the sirens and the motorbike police. They coming flying down the roads and you have the black SUV's (totally pimp looking) come screaming by, followed by the limos. Trailing is the "gunship" which are the boys you would not like to mess with. All windows and back hatch are wide up and automatic rifles are visible. It happens a lot, but its a spectacle every time.

Oh...and we lost kickball...3-1. No biggie, bunch of newbies (Myself included) so it took awhile for the team to mesh. We beat the rains, and all in all a great day!
Cheers

Dolly...

Not just a country singer...
Dolly has hit the Texas/Mexican border packing poorly sung tunes and a Category Five bust(i.e. chest)...wait...I mean. Ok, not that Dolly. The Hurricane Dolly hit as a Category 2 hurricane and looks more impressive on radar. The outer cloud/rain belts stretch clear to the south central coast of Louisiana. At least Dolly will not cause as much damage as Dean did last year...I hope.


One thing though, when anytime something like this hits the US, we can count on one thing...Jim Cantoree from the Weather Channel will be there! This guy is a manimal and loves to be in the thick of 100mph winds. Gotta love this guy! So the motto of the day is:
"Three things are certian life: Death, Taxes, and Hurricanes with Jim Cantore.

Turnin the Mocha lites off...

Store closing list announced
Earlier this month Starbucks announced that approximately 600 of its locations would be closed by early next year to help it return to profitability. With the 'credit crunch' (really a reality check in my opinion), rising fuel prices (that 100 mile commute), and rising food prices (sorry, no name brands for you) have all squeezed consumers disposable incomes and hurt sales.

The list of the stores has just been released (here) and I was surprised to see that a few of the stores I used to frequent in "The Rouge" are getting axed. In particular are a couple that are less than 'across the street' from each other, which was obviously not good for sales. The loss of jobs and the empty buildings will be just another casualty of this latest spate of bad economic news.

Beijing dream popped...

Amputee Denied Olympic Dream
Oscar Pistorius, the double amputee from South Africa will not be competing in Beijing after failing to reach the required A standard time and was not invited to the 4x400m relay. This particular topic has been one of mixed emotions for me and in a sense its a relief and a disappointment that Pistorius did not make the Olympics.

I am relieved because one of the biggest negatives of NBC's Olympic coverage is their over-the-top in depth personal stories that they fill in between starts of the 100m dash. I do not mind them, but a lot of times they go over the top and it gets old. I would rather see more of the athletes competing than standing around posing for their personal interest stories. We know, that if Pistorius had made the Olympics they would have talked about his struggles (which are legit) and the controversy surrounding the use of his carbon-fiber blades. Personaly I could do with out...

I am mixed, because it is hard to quantify the advantage Pistorius gets from his blades. There is, in my opinion (which doesn't mean much) an advantage from a material standpoint as the blades will return a significant amount of energy, but since Pistorius has been a double amputee for almost his entire life, there is simply no way to quantify his advantage. Either way, at least for Beijing, the dispute has been settled where it should have been...on the track. Accourding to Pistorius's agent, he had a slower time than the top 6 South African 400m runners times, therefore not deserving a place on the team. This case is far from over however and it will soon be back before us as London 2012 nears closer. Only 16 more day!!!

Where is Zachawii...?

I apologize to all of the fans of the Daily Dose, life has been hectic since the trip to DC. First, there was the delay of my personal belonging arriving 7 days late, then the subsequent painting of my multi-colored walled room, the unpack, and repack of the stuff I would not need, and then...the dying of the laptop.

I believe that the motherboard is fried, but luckily I was under warranty still by 7 DAYS! Whew. I was not happy and it has been very disappointing working with HP customer service. The box to ship the product to the company has not arrived (supposed to be overnight...hum??) but is supposed to be there tommorow. So, I will try my best to get back to the daily dose and be a better blogger than I have been the past couple of weeks. Please keep checking back, I hope the second half of the year is just as good as the first!

Zachawii