The Ocean is Pretty

Hola, readers. I'm writing from the basement in my lakeside estate. Yes, I'm still in my pajamas. It should go without saying that I am having a wonderful time away from the grind of Washington. It's been four days since I've seen a laniard attached to a Congressional ID. For that, I am thankful. In fact, I'm in such a good mood that I can't bring myself to complain about Washington. Instead, I'll list a few things about DC that are in fact superior to Yarmouth, MA.

1. Public transportation. My home in Friendship Heights is less than a mile from two Metro stops. My office is less than a mile from three Metro stops. There's no reason for me to own a car. On Cape, things are a bit more difficult. Waiting for your little brother to get back from work so you can take his station wagon is a bit inconvenient. And when you can finally get a ride and go out, you end up stuck as the designated driver. Man, I miss the Metro. (Although the taxis here don't use a retarded zone system. That's a plus.)

2. Newspapers. Let's be honest here, The Washington Post is a great newspaper. The Cape Cod Times is not. Worst paper ever. It seems like they put a picture of a duck on every front page. Today's front-page story involved the destruction of a tugboat. Wicked boring. I would almost rather read The Washington Times. Almost.

3. Airport Tunnel Deaths. This happened in Boston, not Cape Cod, but major props to Washington for not killing anyone recently. It is God-damned impossible to drive to or from Logan Airport since the little Big Dig whoopsie. Driving to National was no problem. On that note, here's a handy resource for the different levels of tragedy:

Tragedy: A woman is killed when concrete falls from the ceiling of a tunnel and crushes her car.

TRAGEDY: The aforementioned death inconveniences me and forces me to take the T (Boston subway) to Braintree instead of getting a lift from a family member.

4. Coffee. I can't believe I'm writing this, but I miss Starbucks. I have spent my life bitching and moaning to anyone who would listen that Dunkin Donuts French Vanilla coffee is the greatest thing in the world. But D+D went corporate and stopped brewing flavored beans. Instead, they take the regular blend and add syrups. It's absolutely disgusting. The regular blend is bad enough, but adding marshmallow flavor shots really pushed D+D into the next tier of grossness. So, it's come to the point where I actually miss Starbucks. Ach. Admitting this publicly makes me hate myself a little.

So, I came up with four areas in which Washington is better than Yarmouth. Of course, all four are immediately cancelled out by the fact that I live a mile from this:

Guess where I'll be next sunset.