You Know You're From Northern Virginia If...

I recently received an email entitled, “You Know You’re From Northern Virginia If…” There were fifty-two items on the list I received which I’ve distilled down to the more significant thirty before adding two. Enjoy.

 

You’re from Northern Virginia if,

1.           You know two teens who have no idea what their parents do because whatever they do its “top secret” government work.

2.           You never tell someone that you are from “Virginia” without putting “northern” in front of it.

3.           Despite Virginia having succeeded from the Union and fought for the Confederacy, not under ANY circumstance are you a “southerner.”

4.          When people from other states or countries ask where you are from you’re from, you tell them Washington DC because it’s simpler to explain.

5.          You know that no matter where you walk, shop or drive, a good part of your journey is recorded across a range of governmental and private surveillance cameras.  

6.          Speed limits are taken as just suggestions.

7.         You measure trips to shop, visit friends or work not by distance traveled, but by travel time.

8.          It frequently takes you 30 minutes to drive five miles during non-rush hours.

9.          You dread going to the DMV and when you do so, you take the day as a personal or vacation day.

10.       It’s not actually tailgating unless your bumper is touching the car in front of you.

11.       You actually know what the black boxes at stoplights are for.

12.       Someone in your family drives 30 miles or more each way to work.

13.       When you’re driving on the beltway or interstate highway at 2:00 a.m. on a Tuesday you still expect traffic.

14.       A slow driver is someone who is not going at least 10 mph over the speed limit.

15.       You not only know what is a Smart Tag but either you or someone in your family has one.

16.       At least 50% of your graduating class went to either Mason, JMU, UVA or Tech.

17.       Your local news is part of the national news.

18.       You do a good part of your Christmas shopping online because the shopping malls are like parking lots.

19.       You know that each high school in the region has its own corresponding McDonald’s.

20.       You know at least three people who drive a Mercedes, BMW, Lexus, Audi, etc.

21.       The values of the cars in the local high school’s student parking lot are worth three times those in the teacher’s parking lot.

22.       You are amused by friends and family who are actually excited to see Washington DC.

23.       There are at least 6 Starbucks within two miles of your house and work.

24.       When you get an inch of snow, you miss three days of work.

25.       When you book a flight you have choice of three airports.

26.       You call something “ghetto” even though that thing in most of the rest of the country it would be viewed as high class.

27.       You understand the meaning of “If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.”

28.       Subway is a fast food place. The public transportation system is known as Metro, and only Metro.

29.       If you can easily name more than twelve law enforcement agencies, excluding the various Sheriff’s departments, operating within twelve miles of the White House.

30.       Military helicopters, F-15s and other military aircraft flying over your neighborhood are common occurrences.

31.       For the cost of your home you could buy a small town in Iowa.

32.       You are amazed when you travel out of town and the people at McDonalds speak English.

A March Contrast

Before Evie and I stepped of the aircraft in Winnipeg this past Friday afternoon I remarked that it was the first time I had seen snow on the ground in the second week of March since 1996. Spending a few days in Winnipeg brought into a greater relief that spring has arrived in the Washington DC/northern Virginia area. Here are just some differences I am noting.

In the DC area, the crews and sculls have been out on the Potomac for more than three weeks whereas in Winnipeg there is no open water on rivers or lakes evidenced.

In the DC area, the grass is starting to green whereas in Winnipeg the grass still rests under a good layer of snow that is only now starting to melt.

In the DC area, a fill of a car’s washer fluid will last you well into the summer whereas in Winnipeg you still keep a bottle in your trunk for a weekly refill.

In the DC area, street sweepers and roadside garbage collection is well underway whereas in Winnipeg, thick layers of sand cover the roads, and side streets continue to be snow roads.

In the DC area, people are walking the streets without winter coats and even in shorts, whereas in Winnipeg winter coats, hats and gloves are still required for venturing outside for more than ten minutes.

In DC our dogs are quickly shedding their winter coats and eager to sit outside whereas in Winnipeg they would still be doing their business and rushing to get back inside.

In DC the first trees and bushes coming into flower, and the daffodils are up whereas in Winnipeg the trees and bushes are not close to stirring.

In the DC area, ball field fences are being inspected with lights have been turned on at night to test and allow the community use the fields whereas in Winnipeg, community center fields still have snow from the ice arena dumped onto them.

In the DC area, the tourist lines are getting longer whereas in Winnipeg the tourist animal is still hard to find.

In the DC area we are seeing fishing boats, and small yachts that have been pulled from winter storage being hauled to the rivers and their summer docks, and RVs are being inspected for spring and summer trips where as in Winnipeg boats and RVs are still nestled under their tarps.

In the DC area, language has shifted from talking of a week’s trip south as a winter escape to a spring beach trip whereas in Winnipeg they still speak of their trip as escaping winter for a week.

In the DC area cars are getting a good cleaning inside and out whereas in Winnipeg the cleaning inside and out of cursory as sand will still be back inside and in the car will be covered in salt after fifteen minutes on the road.

Evie is now driving with her sunroof open most days and we are now seeing people driving convertables often having their tops down whereas in Winnipeg, there are few convertables around town even in summer.

In the DC area exterior seasonal lights are long removed whereas in Winnipeg, most homes still have them up, albeit not turned on at night.

In DC we also know spring has arrived when the bracketology game is underway and people are starting to talk about how the Nats will look this year.


The list is just some of what could be noted. The full force of spring is still four or so weeks away in Winnipeg while in the Washington DC area it has been is well underway for more than a week. While Evie and i do not miss the long winters, we remember our seven years there with deep fondness. Like Iowa City and St. Mary’s ON, Winnipeg is still held warmly is a place we love in many ways and regretted leaving.

Message: Lets Not Dirty Ourselves

Last Monday, 2 March 2010, the Archdiocese of Washington DC announced that it will no longer be extending medical benefits to the spouses of employees. Those currently covered are grandfathered in but as of the 2nd of March, new enrollments can take place.

This move was taken in response to a new law that is going into effect in Washington that permits same sex couples to marry. The Church does not want to provide medical benefits to gay couples because they argue, it legitimized gay marriage, and the church does not want to recognize gay marriage in any form.

This situation goes to the heart of a fundamental flaw with the health system in the United States. Medical coverage is employer based. Employers at a whim can and make dramatic changes to what they will cover, the extent of the coverage, who they will cover, or even if they will provide coverage at all. Good performing employees who have given long service can suddenly find themselves forced out because the employer drops medical coverage or even worse, lays them off or finds a way to fire them to help reduce healthcare premiums the firm is paying.

Healthcare is the greatest social justice issue facing the majority of the nation. The Washington Archdiocese has demonstrated that the Roman Catholic Church is not that significant issue. It cries that it is not willing to fight for significant healthcare reform.

The Archdiocese in San Francisco took a different approach. It allows employees to pay for the medical premiums and add any adult in their home to their medical plan. Employees can add parents, adult children, grandparents, a friend as long as they reside in the home of the employee. They broadened who will be added at the employee’s cost.

As for legitimizing gay marriages by providing coverage, providing coverage does not legitimize gay marriage any more than providing treatment and care to alcoholics legitimizes alcoholism, or supporting and ministering to a sex offender legitimizes sexual abuse.

The Roman Catholic Church has the right to do what it has done but in my eyes it is contrary to the Jesus’ message of loving one’s neighbor. Like the self-righteous conservative Pharisees who criticized Jesus for visiting and sharing a meal with a publican, the Roman Catholic Church has left the banquet table rather than be “tarnished” by sharing a meal with the publican.

And the Crowd Kept Coming

Charter bus after charter bus streamed down the closed highways, every hotel filled for 75 miles, the ebbing crowds came on and on filling the federal downtown to overflowing and then some this morning. People were walking four or more miles to make their way down to the capital area as all roads and bridges coming into the downtown area are closed. Though temperatures would dip to the mid teens, tens of thousands anticipating the massive crowds elected to arrive early and spend the night on the Mall.

The mass transit authorities announced that by 9 AM 318,000 people had already entered through its turnstiles from when they opened that morning. Hundreds of thousands were still pouring in. From the pictures the crowds were packed from the steps of Capitol Hill to the Washington Monument. That area was closed at 9 AM (three hours before the inauguration) as it was already full and people were filling the area beyond the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, though not tightly packed, the crowd was still solid.

To give the Canadian members of the family a sense of the crowds; imagine a crowd extending down University Avenue in Toronto from the steps of Queens Park to King Street, and now double the breadth of the avenue, that is the space between Capitol Hill and the Washington Monument. Now extend a solid crowd down to Queens Quay and a quarter of a mile beyond to get to the steps of Lincoln Monument that was filled with people.

In addition to the crowds along the National Mall, there were over a hundred of thousands already lined up along Pennsylvania Ave securing the position along the parade route. There are about 20,000 law enforcement officers over 58 agencies handling security matters. In support are 10,000 members of the National Guard deployed and 20,000 deployed in the area on standby if there was an emergency. Along the roof tops there are over 20 sniper teams watching the crowds and ready to respond to a threat.

In a way I would have loved to attend the inauguration. Knowing the area, and not willing to start camping out yesterday morning with a sleeping bag, and then spend many hours getting home, I thought I would stay home and watch it on television. Besides, I have never been a great crowd person.

The Obama Cell Makeover

Following is a picture that is part of the Obama cell phone makeover. Ahead of the Inauguration Weekend and event cell companies and civil authorities are upgrading the quality and number of cell phone towers in Washington DC's federal downtown and around party sites.

During 9-11 the cell system crashed due to the traffic of several hundreds of thousands of people calling each other at the same time. Following 9-11 cell phone towers were added to the level that in Washington they are able to handle nearly the whole residential and working population on their cells at the same time. Though the system is robust authorities realize that with millions coming into the city for the Inauguration taking pictures and videos from their cell phones and other such devices that the system would be overwhelmed. Hence, new towers are being added and exisiting towers enhanced, and a host of temporary towers errected like the ones pictured here.

White Christmas

Thank you Cathy for your comment on my prior post which gave me the idea for this post.

Many people dream of a white Christmas. If you want a 100% chance of having a white Christmas, without going to Alaska, the place to be in the United States is Stampede Pass, Washington is the place to be: it has the greatest statistical probability in the lower 48 states for having at least 5 inches of snow on December 25 (a 100 percent chance) and also the greatest chances for being snowed-in with at least 10 inches (a 96 percent chance).

There are other extreme places in the mountains, including in the mountains of Arizona where you will have snow each year at Christmas.

Without going to extreme mountain heights, other safe bets of a white Christmas in the United States include, any major town in Alaska, Marquette and Sault Saint Marie in Michigan; and Hibbing and International Falls and Minnesota. Each has a 100 percent statistical chance of having at least one inch on snow on the ground Christmas day.

Interestingly Flagstaff Arizona has a higher chance of snow (56%) than either Denver (50%) or Chicago (40%). The chances of us having snow on the ground for Christmas in Washington DC stands at 13%. When we lived in Iowa City we had a 50% chance. Louisville Kentucky has a 13% chance of snow which is about what it would be for Lexington and Wilmore.

In Canada, almost all of northern Canada can count on a white Christmas every year. This would include Nunavut, the Yukon, the Northwest Territories, as well as the northern portions of Quebec, Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia. Quebec City is one city where the chances of a white Christmas is 100%.

As for regions, southern Ontario, six to eight of 10 Christmas are white. There is a 40 percent chance along the Atlantic Coast of Nova Scotia of a white Christmas and less than the 20 percent chance in the southwestern mainland of British Columbia and on Vancouver Island.

Those dreaming of a white Christmas might consider not only moving to Quebec City but also Thunder Bay where there is a 100 percent chance that the ground will be white during the holidays. Those two cities have had a perfect record for the past thirty years.

Winnipeg and Saskatoon have a 98 percent chance of having at least one inch of snow on the ground Christmas day. Ottawa has a 83% chance, Calgary has a 59% chance, Montreal 80% and Toronto is at 57%.

Of all our expended family is currently living, Denise and Erma in Portland have the highest chance of having a white Christmas year over year. Their chance of having a White Christmas is 83%.