Le Slum Historique has a lovely list of what’s going on in the ‘hood to bring in 2007. Since none of them involve swing dancing (Peaches O’Dell at the Black Cat don’t count as I doubt the dance space), I will be in Glenn Echo enjoying the best dancespace brought to you by the US Park Service. But this is a great that there are so many opportunities to celebrate close to home.
Month: December 2006
Goals for 2007
I don’t really do resolutions. They are too apt to fail. I save that for Lent, which has clear start and end dates and breaks on Sunday. No. I will have a few goals. Two little In Shaw goals:
1. Renovate house. I hope to have a final list of what I want done by late January or February. Then maybe, depending on the contractor, start as soon as possible. Which is whenever.
2. Get more food out of my garden. The 2006 tomato season was horrid. I would have done better by taking the green tomatoes off the vine earlier in the season and sitting them in the window, and getting my tomatoes slowly that way. I wound up giving a lot of the green golf balls away. Also I had several tomato plants that gave me nothing. My yard likes Chard. I will grow more chard and maybe more arugula. Arugula is easy. Throw seed on wet ground. Kick a little dirt over it. Forget about it.
I would have had a third goal but goal #1 determines a lot of what I can and cannot do in 2007. So I can’t make hosting more dinner parties a goal, if I don’t have a house where I can host people.
Progress but still not open
Christmas has come and gone and alas we have no cafe at 1st & R. But last I passed by it, it was progressing along nicely. The new windows look cool and the upstairs was lit and people were working on it. New Year’s is too soon, maybe it will open before Valentine’s Day?
Blagden X-mas party
|—————————————-|
| This is not a drill! |
| |
| Annual Christmas Party |
| at |
| The Space |
| 903 N Street, NW |
| THURSDAY, December 28, 2006 |
| 7:00-10:00 pm |
|—————————————-|
Yes, it’s the annual (potluck) Christmas Party.
The newsletter/announcement (with a fewe new details) has the details
at
http://www.pro-messenger.com/Blagden/Monthly%20Pages/2006%20Monthly%20Pages/BAN_2006_12_P1.html
If you are going to illegally dump, don’t leave your calling card
Hot young Kris Kringle (aka Jimbo) knows when you’ve been dumping. He’s ticked and reporting you.
Yes, you on the 900 block of T Street, NW and Westminster. On the off-chance ‘someone’ grabbed your boxes that you put out for recycling… did you break the boxes down? People if you are recycling boxes, you need to break them down.
Renovation 2007: Ruba dub dub, I still wanna tub
Problem: I gotta small house.
Problem #2: I want a nice little soaking tub for the occasional soak.
I’ve looked at the tubs out there. If I lived in the UK this would be easier because the tubs over there I swear are more bathing friendly. Also I found some tubs that would be the right side and the right depth on the wrong side of the pond. This project will not involve US Customs.
I made a chart of the different bathtubs that I liked. I listed their price, length, width, outside depth and soaking depth. Then played out various scenarios with having a soaking tub upstairs, a soaking tub and shower upstairs, or a soaking tub downstairs and a shower or tub shower combo upstairs. Then trying to fit the various tubs in those scenarios. And please, no comments about what is needed for resale value. I’ve got so much friggin equity in this house, I could trash it and still make a profit. Besides, this is for me, not the next set of owners. My only obligation to them is to maintain the house so it may continue to stand.
Then the other thing I have to consider is that I MUST move my upstairs bathroom. The waste pipe for the upper bathroom currently blocks the front door from opening all the way. I know. My house was designed by crackheads. And this is the same bathroom with the toilet encased in the floor.
Right now I’ve got a lot of options, but I don’t know if any of them will work.
Sameness, is that a selling point?
So we’re driving to see the relatives in Laurel in some townhouse development. But before you can get to that townhouse development, you have to drive past a few other developments. I was struck with the sameness of it all. A good curve of large pointy roofed buildings close in the same repeating neutral colors, and there were so many of them. And I thought, even on college campuses, where you have to house a number of students (who have to take what you give anyway), there wasn’t that level of sameness.
Merry Christmas
Blog is closed. Like the stores. Come back tomorrow bright and early and I’ll have something for ya.
How fair to make fair housing?
A few days ago Kris Hammond the ANC-elect wrote on the Eckington Listserv:
Of particular interest is that the Council voted to prohibit discrimination in employment and housing based upon a person’s criminal record. It appears that, for example, an apartment complex could not refuse to rent to a convict, but there may be some limitations to that prohibition. Criminal background checks might also be illegal, unless the purpose is to determine whether the person is a sex offender (a class excluded from the law protections). The bill number is B16-909, but the text of the new law is not available right now.
Considering what was needed to deal with problem HUD subsidized houses and other rentals where there were problem residents tearing down the ‘hood 5 years ago, this seems to take a tool away from residents. The criminal records, arrests made at a residence was what neighbors could try to use to deal with problem houses. Also this city has very renter friendly laws, this is worrisome if you are a landlord.
However I’d need to see the language of B16-909 because I do make a difference between recent criminal activity and past criminal activity. Recent seems to say someone may still be a part of the criminal scene and possibly could prey on their neighbors. Past, as in years past and nothing new since, seems to show that they have left that part of their life behind and are now productive positive citizens. I wonder if the law makes that difference?
When Historic Preservation Attacks!: Old people
As reported in the Washington Post.
On one side elderly people, aged 88 & 86.
On the other Historic District, age 19 years protecting house aged 74.
Does medicare cover preservation approved accessiblity options? And doesn’t the Americans with Disabilities Act trump historic preservation? As I understand it, residential buildings do not have to comply with ADA but what if the owners want it to be ADA accessible, can it trump historic preservation?