Day: April 18, 2005

From the TC Dispatcher:
Friday’s TC Happy Hour was fantastic. Over 30 people attended. It was great to
meet so many of you. If you couldn’t make it…don’t fret. Several locations
were discussed for another HH some time mid-May.

**

Donna B. suggested we re-attempt gathering pet owners in the park at First and
Florida, NW. With nice weather and daylight on our side…I say let’s do it!

Bring your dog, cat, ferret… whatever and let’s meet between 6 and 6:30ish.
Don’t have a pet? No worries. I got a couple to spare.

Truxton/Florida Park is centrally located to Bloomingdale, Eckington and Truxton
Circle…so PLEASE pass this on to your neighbors.

See you tonight.

Scott

New restaurants on P St.
Well Merkado has opened up on the 1400 block of P this weekend. I probably won’t venture in until later this month. It is owned by the same folks who brought you Logan Tavern, which really isn’t a tavern and is just a few door down. If anyone has been to it I’d love to hear your reviews. Also, on the same 1400 block a new (French?) bistro was supposed to open up as well. I didn’t check back at it’s proposed opening time, and passing by on Sunday it didn’t look open. It does have a nice looking menu.

Shaw Eco-Village workshops
This weekend I attended in one of hopefully many Shaw Eco Village workshops. This one was a rain barrel workshop where for $5 and a talk by the kids on the evils of a combined sewer system, I got a 50 gallon rainbarrel that I dragged home. The goal is to get the run off from the roofs and other impervious surfaces from going into the sewer system. Sadly, one would need 12 such barrels to catch all the rain that comes off a typical DC roof in a 1 inch rainstorm.

You know screaming woman is yelling at her kids too loudly when…
So I’m talking to B. from one side of my fence and he’s on the other side, and we are about 3 feet from each other and then Mxn, screaming woman, starts yelling at her kids. Mxn is across the alley from us. In her house. Yelling at kids in the house. And I can barely hear B. over Mxn. That is too loud.

updated to have Merkado’s actual website with menu

Sometimes you just need a car.
There are two car sharing companies operating in the DC metro area, Zipcar and Flexcar. I can’t speak about Zipcar as I am not a member and I don’t use their cars. However I have been a Flexcar member for about 3 years and can talk about them from experience.
The reason why I joined Flexcar boiled down to this, Flexcar ain’t afraid of the hood. At one point in the company’s history it had 2 cars for Truxton Circle residents. One at Rhode Island and New Jersey and another at Florida and Q St., both at cheapo cash-only gas stations, that I figure kicked Flexcar to the curb so that now the closest Flexcar sits at 7th and R St at the Shaw/Howard metro station. The closest Zip car is over on 14th St.
I typically use the Flexcar car for trips to Home Depot to pick up dirt, or something that is too heavy or awkward for the bus. It is a 1.5 hour trip for me and at Flexcar’s current rates that’s about $13.50 which includes gas and insurance. The price may seem steep but compared to owning a car, especially at current gas prices, it is a deal. Other errands with the Flexcar have included grabbing the Greenbelt hybrid for trips to IKEA and Behnke’s, the pickup truck at Columbia Heights for a furniture run, and the College Park car to harass friends and family.
I really miss the NJ and RI car. It served both Truxton and LeDroit park and it was just minutes from the house. Oh well.
As Flexcar doesn’t have a monthly fee it works for me as there will be a month or so when I’m not using the car. I use it more when it is cold and waiting for the bus or biking is not an option. The other good thing is that there are cars at many of the metro stations around the District so it can be a decent supplement to one’s metro trip.
If you have questions about Flexcar feel free to contact them at (202)296-1FLX (1359) or e-mail me (see right side panel).
Other Living in Shaw with no car posts:
Living in Shaw with no car: Walking
Living in Shaw with no car: Biking
Living in Shaw with no car: Metro