Totally unrelated to this bizarre-o picture that Matt took, but I did set a new land-speed world record today in the category of my bike-to-work commute from Woodley Park to Silver Bling–first time on the new bike– at 33 minutes and 17 seconds. Usually takes me 38-42 minutes depending on how many cars/dump trucks/homeless people/squirrels get in my way up 16th Street. Thank you very much to my new bike!
Someone made donuts in this parking lot. I bet it was fun.
But as with any issue that involves change and money, there has been opposition from both riders and cabbies to either system. The drivers argue that they will be making much less $ with the new meters. The Washington Post even created a taxi fare estimator under the new and old systems, so you can calculate your routes to see if you will save money or have to fork over more. I guess in the next few weeks it will be interesting to see how many taxi cabs are complying with the new law. By June 1st, the city is supposed to start fining those cabs that are non-compliant — $1,000 bucks for no meter.
The main point here is that every taxi that passes will continue to HONK at me and every other pedestrian as they drive by, as if we are all simultaneously unaware of both their presence and our own needs for a taxi at that exact moment. uh- Hello! That’s why people put their hands up if they need to flag you down. One hand up and waving in your direction–I think that’s universal for “I need a taxi.” Walking down the sidewalk and not looking at you–well that’s just called being a live person with legs. The greatest comedian ever Mitch Hedberg said this best: “I think we should only get 3 honks a month on the car horn, because people honk the car horn too much… 3 honks, that’s the limit. And then someone cuts you off, you press your horn, nothing happens. You’re like, “crap, I wish I wouldn’t have seen Ricky on the sidewalk” “
And so the same would go for taxis, only 3 honks a months and the city would be a little quieter.
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C’mon spring time.
Now, I know Mr. Gore has good points and his so called “scientific evidence” points to some pretty troubling things in the future, but come on, how nice is 70 degrees in the middle of January?? I’m sure his tree-hugging heart was broken when he checked out the weather report from his mega-mansion and saw that it was going to be a genuinely beautiful day. I know for me it made my early morning stroll across the bridge a whole heck of a lot more pleasant, so what if a couple more polar bears need to learn how to swim? Swimming is good exercise anyway– it’ll help burn off all that extra insulation they won’t be needing with the raising temperatures. Lazy polar bears.
I am of course kidding. I’m a LEED Accredited Professional for chrissake! The USGBC would have my ass for thinking any of that. Cars are the very incarnation of Beelzebub himself! Everyone should take mass transit….or better yet run or bike to work. That way you can have no carbon footprint at all and with this unseasonable weather that actually sounds like a viable alternative.
Weather.com has us back down to freezing within the week, so I guess the Earth will cool off a bit. No doubt thanks to Al. My hats off to you, Mr. Gore!!
Also, just in case you have been living under a rock today: Joe Gibbs has retired (again).
