snoverkill

[jazzfish]

It's kinda windy out there.

Sideways snow is impressive. Snow that's falling up is just scary.

There's about an inch of accumulation on the porch right now. The covered porch.

The snowman that someone built a week ago, when the snow was wet enough to stick to itself, is now hip-deep. He also has a pointy hat.

So far today I have had cinnamon rolls for breakfast and attempted to sell my shoes for a good cause (helptheproject; check it out). Later today I shall provide feedback on someone else's story, and attempt to find some semblance of plot in my own. These seem like reasonable tasks for a day when going outside is potentially punishable by death.

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Snow-blind: "I realize there are lots of problems that cannot be solved just by throwing money at them, but snow removal is not one of them." Can be extrapolated to other basic infrastructure requirements. This is exactly why I say that taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilised society.

The evolution of Metrorail, 1976-2010: an absolutely fascinating slideshow, demonstrating (among other things) that Metro service during Snowpocalypse is on par with Metro service circa 1982. I had no idea Van Dorn was such a recent addition. This also explains why my hindbrain is firmly convinced that the correct conclusion to "Blue line train to" is "Addison" and not "Largo." (These matter because in high school it was equally (in)convenient to drive to either Dunn Loring or Van Dorn to go into the District.)

How to report the news.

Comments

[thanate.livejournal.com]

My mother tells me that for years after we moved up here she had to drive in to Ballston to park & get on the metro (usually to go to the zoo or museums with a small kid or two.)

I thought Addison road was one of those alternate endpoints where half the trains stop there anyway, but perhaps I'm delusional? Either way, I'm still entirely thrown for a loop by the fact that green line is now the closest to get to, so I'm not automatically coming from West Falls Church as I have been since it opened. I find that I know small bits of the metro system extremely well, and the rest of it barely at all, which leads to confusion.

Good luck in the plot search! I have baked cookies, but should be doing some of that writing thing myself.

[jazzfish]

Hm, maybe it is a rush-hour endpoint. I ride Blue Line pretty rarely these days.

I haven't found any plot but at least I know why: it's because my main character is frustratingly opaque to me. It's okay for her to have these huge walls around herself from the rest of the world, but I kinda have to know who she is to be able to tell her story.

[vvalkyri.livejournal.com]

Largo is pretty recent. Within the last 5 or 6 years it was still 'blue line train to addison road'

[jazzfish]

My metro experience consists of: 83-86, during which time I have a vague recollection of once riding the yellow line from end to end (the ends were a lot closer); 91-95; occasional trips between 95 and 06; and 06-present. Anything more recent than 95 is Brand-New (this includes Largo and the connected Green Line); anything older than 91 has Always Been There (this includes Van Dorn). O, the life of a transient.

[zaph.livejournal.com]

Snow-blind: "I realize there are lots of problems that cannot be solved just by throwing money at them, but snow removal is not one of them." Can be extrapolated to other basic infrastructure requirements. This is exactly why I say that taxes are the price we pay to live in a civilised society.

Note to self: do not read the comments on articles like this. no good can ever come of it.

I'm all for higher taxes if we get more out of it. And I would count not having to be stuck at home for most of a week as getting something out of it.

The evolution of Metrorail, 1976-2010: an absolutely fascinating slideshow

I didn't realise the Green Line was such a recent addition entirely. I knew it was finished later, but I always thought I remembered seeing open Green Line stations on the map in the 80s. I guess not.

[selki.livejournal.com]

Sometimes they put the stations on long before they appear in the physical world.

[jazzfish]

Yeah, my memory of Franconia-Springfield is mostly of a fuzzy line extending off of Van Dorn.

[jazzfish]

Oh, jeez. First rule of the internet: never, ever read the comments. (Second rule of the internet: never, ever, reply to comments, or else you run the risk of invoking xkcd386.)

I would dearly love to live in a socialist hellhole and pay a 40% tax rate plus a Vague Additional Tax on goods and services. I would take that over feeling /lucky/ to have four weeks' paid vacation plus five sick days plus a health insurance policy that runs me another 4-5% out of my paycheck any day.

[zaph.livejournal.com]

First rule of the internet: never, ever read the comments.

But they're so shiny! :)

I've actually realised that the real reason not to read them isn't that almost everyone is a moron (though most are) so much as the fact that there are no moderate opinions. People who are basically indifferent to the outcome aren't going to post that they don't care, so all that's left are the extremes.

I mean, really, if anyone wants to talk about a 'silent majority' it should be moderates, because the supporters of the most reasonable, broadly appealing policy don't tend to talk much about their opinions.