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6 . 2 7 . 0 6 End of June and I find myself in the middle of the DC flood of 2006. The newspapers are talking about record rainfall over the weekend and picture after picture of flooded basements and trashed cars in creeks and riverbeds. it was so bad on monday that they had to shut down some metro stops downtown and close a couple of the smithsonians. Then there is all this talk about flood insurance following Hurricane Katrina, interestingly enough I sat in on a hearing discussing the future role of FEMA in emergency/disaster response. Was a little worried about the basement apartment getting flooded, I was minding my own business sunday evening when I just happened to think about checking the drain outside my door. just in time, the water was creeping up to the step and was about to run into the apartment. I jumped into ankle-deep water just in time and started digging out the debris and leaves to clear the drain. Meanwhile I looked up and saw literally a waterfall of water cascading down the steps at my feet. after clearing the drain and making sure there was suction, I grabbed the door mat and made a makeshift dam at the top of the stairs, realizing that the ground was so saturated with water it created a steady river of water rushing from the front yard right down in my direction. after a while I saw a whirlpool start to appear in front of my door and eventually it started draining ok. hate to think of what might've happened if I was out of town on travel or something. I might've been interviewed on TV the next day or something. It seems that the nature of outdoor basement drains in the city is to get clogged in heavy summer rains. Same thing happened back when I was subletting a 2bd basement apartment in dupont circle back in 2003 luckily the room I was staying in was ok, but my roomate's place was totally flooded. Ended up spending many weeknights watching TV with the constant hum of a dehumidifier and industrial carpet fan blasting all night, come to think of it, that was pretty bad, but then again I was still in my college-grad school mindset and it didn't bother me much. Plus I was having enough fun exploring the city and the time spent in that transition summer. Speaking of that summer I thought I'd mention some observations I had about the city that I vowed to test out quasi-emperically if I ended up moving out here for a longer term. one in particular was the observations I had on seeing all these katonk chicks in general walking around town, more often while riding on the metro when one actually has a chance to look around and people watch. generally I noticed that DC katonks fall into one of 4 categories - 1) really tired looking, like life has treated them like hell, bald eyebrows painted in, stretched out skin, funny hair dyes/perms, often sleeping during the morning train, been-out-here-too-long-from-wherever-I-am-originally-from; 2) FOB/JOJ-ish, ranging from the over-cutsy kogal-look to the kind of out-of-place chinese exchange student, or stylish OL embassy employee; 3) haole wannabee, sometimes with bleached hair, wearing a tight green "brazil" shirt with matching slippers, punk rocker look, or just clinging to the arm of a east coast frat boy 4) just really fucking pissed off. All four of these types would generally lack in the looks department, with the vibes of 3/4 rendering them pretty much unapproachable if I was in the mood to go mack or something. And of course there are the hybrid crossovers, usually #1/#4 mostly. Once I had made this observation I couldn't help but smile to myself when I saw another "category #1, #2, #3, or #4" walk on or off the train. Often I'd be riding to work and there would be a bunch of category #2 rush on, if they were Japanese I could make out some of what they were saying to each other, comforted by the fact that the majority of the people around them could not understand the language they were speaking in. Then sometimes the #3s would show up with their haole b/f, usually underclassman college-age at GW or AU or something, scoping out the train and eventually glancing at me the sole minority/asian-looking guy on the train - I couldnt' help but wonder if she would be almost flaunting or gloating or something, making eye contact or just staring at me - ignorant to the fact that even my most psychotic and/or ugliest ex-girlfriend from HS was much prettier than she could ever be. I especially got a kick out of it if it was a #4 scowling out the window for a reason that I would not care or want to know about. Another time a #1 saw me smiling and creaked out a smile back in my direction, either out of reflex or interest I'm not sure, I hope that maybe seeing a young shit like me just surviving the city and enjoying himself may have brightened her otherwise shitty and hard workday a little more. Or not, maybe she was smirking at the ignorance of my youth. Just as well. I can say that now, after a couple years living in the city, that the categories haven't changed all too much. I guess I have just gotten used to seeing them all. 6 . 2 1 . 0 6 Been a little vague in the posting lately, part self-censorship, part lack of time - for some reason I think Yvonne would've gotten a kick out of the comment, don't know why exactly. so far I'm enjoying my evening summer class, and new assignment at work. It has been a bit of an adjustment not having to go to class 4 days a week and reading dozens of cases every week for class, but it has been a nice change of pace for sure. been ducking the heatwave more or less at work and at the gym, I've been trying to get back into shape and cut off some of the 0.75L flab that stuck to my sides. The weight isn't as much of a factor, but worth mentioning, i gained back about 16 pounds from the start of school, but haven't really noticed it, which makes me think that at least part of it is muscle mass besides I'm still about 15lb lighter than when I first moved out here two years ago. Went to the client's office buildings today to meet with staff and go through some documents and make some copies for our future work. Ended up running into a classic lesson in organizational bureacracy and the tendancy for the least important individuals in the chain of command to feel the need to exert their miniscule and limited authority. I'll probably elaborate more on this later, it drew a lot of observations to say the least. I couldn't help but get a chuckle out of it despite my irritation. Did I mention it was fucking hot as hell today? Got my grades for the first year of night school, looks like I survived but of course would like to do better next semester. I ended up having better estimate on how I did on each class relative to each other. In retrospect I can say that I learned a tonne, I just wish the grades were more reflective of that. Either way I'm planning on sticking it out, which would mean committing to about 3 or 4 more years now depending on what bar I take. Been thinking about buying a house in the district, been a little tempted by the for sale signs popping up in the neighborhood, I found a 2 story, 2 bedroom townhome on craigslist going for 900K - amazing, especially thinking about the $1.3M 3 bedroom that was sold last year before the market started to tank. I think I'll wait up for a while more. Been observing and somewhat participating in the rise of internet media movements by way of the video age - You Tube, google video, and a number of online video-clip post site. I spent several hours watching clips of Okinawan music and sipping awamori, then checking out random commentary by web denizens that all have very important things to say. Later on I read an article about a growing concern of fight clubs broadcasting their bouts on the internet. I couldn't help but notice that that observation has to be pretty outdated by now. I remember watching clips a couple of years ago even of kids getting into some pretty mean scraps on the schoolyard, skater vs. security guard fights, gang fights, chick fights, and one of the meanest, this big black dude named Kimbo or something kicking the shit out of guy after guy. Another random observation, these hot summer nights I seem to keep end up watching replays of the perverted justice series on MSNBC, the one where they entice perverts chatting online to come to some house wired up with dozens of cameras, a pissed off reporter and a couple squads of cops waiting outside. I think they're on part IV or V or something by now. While its a pretty good thing they're doing overall, I kind of wonder what exactly is the point they're trying to make after all these episodes. I mean there are some sick and disturbed people out there on the street and roaming the internet, just outing them on national TV isn't going to much to combat the substantive problem. It just suceeds in disgusting the viewers and making us more paranoid about society in general. First of all there's the media smugness factor - of the things I've noticed in all the episodes is this implication that the cops in the jurisdiction haven't been doing their job, the only way they could catch these creeps was with the help of a plucky reporter with a mic. After a few cases the self-rightousness of the reporter starts to irk me. So you catch a bunch of perverts being perverts online, and you egg them on with a seemingly willing and able victim behind a keyboard. You invite him over to a house promising him his paraphiclic drug - sex with a young girl/boy, even if he shows his concern and hesitations, you egg him on, give him directions to a house and tell him that the kid is both wiling and able to act out any or all of the pervert's fantasies, the kid's parents aren't home - and then act surprised when the sick fuck actually shows up on the doorstep? And of course the cost-based analysis - after they get booked and charged with the media hype of the TV show theres no way in hell that the judge is going to do anything with the cameras rolling but lock the pricks up in prison, and give the max sentence for the max crime regardless of any mitigating factors that were conviniently omitted from the TV broadcast. Afterall, all of these guys are guilty and beyond any hope of rehabilitation in the court of public opinion, they are scum of society, lock them up and throw away the key. A very flashy and sexy message from the TV point of view, makes good headlines and gets the reporter exposure (no pun intended) but meanwhile since these guys have to get locked up in prison the taxpayer then has to foot the bill for the housing and warehousing costs (instead of rehabilitation, since this kind of reporting laughs in the fact of any prison rehabilitative program). As I've said before in previous posts and converstations, being tough on crime is fine as a political platform, but like any other social service that society expects government to provide, costs money. lots of money, I think something like $40,000 a year now for medium/max security prison. civil committment (which I think might be even more effective) try something like $100,000 a year. I'm sure this point would evoke the comment of implementing capital punishment for all sex offenders, which I hear a lot when people talk about this subject. I think hearing about a child rapist getting 60 days prison and another child violator getting 10 years probation for being too short only fans the angry flames more. But it doesn't make sense to start killing people for every outrageous crime. I thought we were supposed to fiar and just country, a people of laws and higher morals, not of emotions. social deviants have and always will exist. I would hate to live in a society that is so quick to just kill each of their members who are disturbingly different just when they pop their heads up. I'd be more for social ostracization and branding before captial punishment. One more observation is that the whole thing really does pushes the line between vigilante justice and legitimite law enforcement, although it is good to see perverts caught and locked up. maybe its my overall distrust of the media advocating their own part in the mix of things, the ones holding the camera and telling the story will look the best no matter what. Also some of the dialogue that the "decoy" uses seems too alluring, as a non-deputized law enforcement I'm curious to what level of immunity they're given. Bottom line I think this sort of operation should be limited to law enforcement, mainly for legal and safety reasons - god forbid if any of these perverts they catch is a really bad dude that shows up at the house armed and dangerous. Meanwhile the other type of character that I seem to keep on running into is the poor and unfortunate panhandler with an elaborate but somewhat believeable story. I hope that braddah who needed to get to Manassass, VA go there OK with my spare change and couple bucks change I got from the post office. otherwise I'm just a fool to fund someone'w forty appreciation fest. 6 . 1 2 . 0 6 Back to work, school, sleep, eat. Got a grill pan from Linen n things, it'll serve as my replacement hibachi until I get a place backyard of my own. tried it out with some steak and shrimp, so far so good. the thick pork chops on sale from whole foods were pretty good too. Lots of interesting and symbolic dreams lately. more on this later. Becoming more and more of a fan of zipcar, decided to splurge and rent the new $1.50/hr more fees-car about 5 blocks up the street from, it was either a volvo or an audi, was pretty amazed at the horsepower and steering control that it had. not having a car in DC has been pretty nice so far, being that the metro gets me pretty much wherever I need to go most of the time, I save a bundle on insurance, parking, maintainance, and of course gas. plus I've been able to test drive 3 or 4 different makes of cars, all brand new. Got staffed to a new job, got a small raise in my salary based on my period performance review. I'm not raking it in, but still am doing pretty good considering my tuition payments and living expenses. I'd say that I'm definitely living comfortably at the moment, so far so good. we'll see how this next year comes and goes. |