Potpourri

No big complaints, just four little ones.

1. Metro still sucks. On a Sunday afternoon trip from Columbia Heights to Gallery Place, our driver had the peculiar habit of closing the train doors after five seconds, tops. Although it was amusing to see person after person getting stuck between the doors, I'm sure that this practice is neither safe nor particularly customer friendly. I'm sure having a leg stuck in a train door is a frightening experience.

I just felt bad for the people who had to wait an extra ten minutes for the next Green Line train. That's how bad it was. The trip from platform to Metro car was impossible for people to make at busy stops. Shameful.

2. Tonic still sucks. I like the idea of having a neighborhood bar and brunch spot that's only a block from my girlfriend's apartment. I like their tots. I like their omelettes. I really like their Bloody Maries. But it's getting to the point where their atrocious service is really becoming a deal breaker. They're always understaffed, leading to unacceptable wait times just to get a table. The male host is consistently rude and unfriendly. The wait staff borders on incompetent. How our two coffees and one orange juice became four coffees and two orange juices, I will never know. (And yes we were charged for the extra coffee.) As noted in the previous link, their cups have a habit of being unsanitary. The water is clearly from the tap.

Fuck them. Go to Don Jaime's. The service is friendly and fast and the prices are easy on the wallet. Are tots really worth the extra effort and expense?

3. Burglaries are on the rise. Normally this would elicit a "whatever" from me. Unfortunately, the city's response is a little, uh, interesting:

[Commander Joel Maupin] also has increased foot patrols in alleys and instructed his officers to stop anyone walking down a street with electronics to confirm that the goods aren't stolen.

What!? This is what it's coming to? Anyone with electronics in the 7th District is facing a presumption of guilt? What are they trying to accomplish here? Will police officers be demanding receipts? If so, that's a horrible intrusion on civil liberties. If not, this is fucking useless since THIEVES WILL LIE! It's not like they have some kind of honor code where they refuse to lie to the police.

The police seem really keen on bothering people for no reason. Whether it's bothering people with electronics or trying to go door-to-door without warrants looking for guns, Chief Lanier's tenure has been marked by a stunning disregard for civil liberties. Shameful.

4. Cabbies will probably get a meter extension. Unfortunate, but fair. Cab drivers hadn't been installing meters since they're expensive and it wasn't clear if the courts would intervene and prevent the city from their nefarious plans to have people charged a fair amount for a cab ride. Thankfully, the courts made the right decision and we'll have our meters soon enough.

Remember that once the meter deadline comes and goes (it's currently set at May 1), it's a $1,000 fine to any driver without a meter. So if you get into a cab with a zone map, please enjoy the visceral thrill of refusing to pay and knowing that the driver can't do a damn thing about it.