High Brow/Low Brow

[ehowton]

I've returned from DC, once again with a tale to tell. The last time I was here, I was afforded a stay at the monumental Washington Hilton, where President Ronald Reagan was shot in an attempted assassination. This time, I was not afforded such affluence, ending up in the hotel in which crack-smoking Mayor Marion Barry was arrested with a prostitute in the very seedy hood of South Capitol. The KFC/Taco Bell establishment next door had a counter completely surrounded by bullet-proof glass, and food was served through a similarly configured safety box. Most unsettling. And unlike most cities where the North/South, East/West demarcation lines are other, usually primary roadway, this street was divided by the Capitol itself, a logistical nightmare to navigate. Next time, I'm staying at the George, across the street from the Hall of the States, where I worked. The good news was that I saved myself a four-hour round trip to the VP's house in Mclean, but Friday was no wash either as I was there much later than I had anticipated.

I had mentioned to photogoot that not only was I planning on doing very little over the weekend, I also reminded him that I didn't expect him to entertain me 24 hours a day while I was there. It turns out he took my request to heart and ignored me Friday and Saturday, spending most of his day napping in front of the television. But seriously, we had dinner at a Tex-Mex & Authentic Spanish restaurant which was quite nice, replete with the left-over Asian wall art of the Chinese Take-Out place it replaced six months ago. The place was packed. Later, we shopped for Scotch. We visited the same friendly Indian gentlemen from my first visit there and found a Dalmore Cigar Malt. I've been wanting to try the Dalmore, but I'd never before seen the Cigar Malt variant. Though it struck me as gimmicky, it had quite the bold and unique taste, and yes, we had it with an Arturo Fuente. However, since this was an unknown variable, so photogoot chose to also purchase a Glendfiddich. How very awesome of him! I'd wanted to try the Glenfiddich 15-year (Solera Reserve) recommended by bsdcat, alas, they did not carry it.

During our extended lounging period at the house, and for reasons I cannot recall, I chose to change the colors on my site. The current scheme was initially created to emulate a VT100 green terminal console. That's why, when it came time to create the links color, I chose amber, the only other VT100 terminal color. I don't remember why (and it was no doubt due to photogoot's persistence) I swapped my colors, creating an amber site with green links. No one liked it.



At one point Friday, I was trying to download drivers from Sprint's web page. I couldn't find any. Perplexed, I made a few calls. Four of them in fact, all to Sprint. And was transferred no less than six times. Most of the people I spoke to didn't know what a device driver was. I explained, "You sell equipment which requires operating system drivers in order for them to work. There is no link to these drivers on your page." Finally, I reached a salesman who gave me the following link: http://sprint.com/downloads. "Thank you," I began." "This solves all of my issues but one. Why do you not link them to Sprint's webpage?"
"I don't know." He responded.

Sunday we took a drive out to Solomon Island where we didn't just talk the talk, we walked the walk. It was the perfect end to a perfect visit. Thank you.


photogoot

Comments

[galinda822.livejournal.com]

Glad you had a good time with photogoot. Sorry you only get to do it when there's also work involved.

I'm extremely glad that neither of you got accosted in the ghetto! :)

Welcome back!

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

The Goot soothes the savage beast.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

So does the green on your page. Thanks for changing it back. Now I'm not so angry!!!

[photogoot.livejournal.com]

I guess I was the one fan of the amber. I found it soothing and complimentary to the skin tones of your portrait avatars. The green makes me angry (he he).


Great visit. Thanks again for the photographs. My mom was impressed. She may even forgive you for bumping her weekend here.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Nice avatar! Your mom's a tough nut to crack!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

I never said I didn't like the amber. In fact, I am sad to see it go so quickly. What I wasn't prepared for was the change without warning both times.

Glad you had a good time with photogoot. It's amazing that our nation's capital is so dangerous a place to be; in fact, it borders on ironic.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

I live in the nation's most dangerous city, so it was easy to remember the rule: Get to safety before nightfall!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

I thought the most dangerous city was somewhere in New Jersey or is that just the highest per capita murders?

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Yes, it used to be Camden, NJ. Until last year. Now it's Saint Louis. I heard the mayor of Camden cheered when she heard the news. Fuck her.

"Most dangerous city" is based on crime statistics in six categories: murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault, burglary, and auto theft. I call it, "Home."

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

Fuck her
I'm really a bad influence on you, especially here of late.

I call it, "Home.
Nice. I'll visit you in Texas.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Yes, Texas is where all the good citizens that vote carry concealed handgun permits.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Excuse me, I meant vote for the Republican party!!!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

You actually have to have a permit in Texas? I thought it was your God-given right in that State.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

No, No, the permit is for honest citizens that can vote. Everyone else that carries a pistol and gets caught has a straight ticket to jail if not the chair!!!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

That's right! Other states are eliminating the death penalty but your State is putting in an express lane.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Isn't that GREAT!!!!!!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

I would move to your State if I could put Alabama inside of it.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Sorry, but we would not want Alabama here!!!!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

Damned Texans!

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Don't you mean DAMED GOOD TEXANS!!!!

[schpydurx.livejournal.com]

No. For the most part Alabama is full of good people. There are a few hicks. The rest are assholes in our legislature who just voted themselves a 62% pay increase. I wished I had that kind of power. All my troubles would be over.

[celtmanx.livejournal.com]

Gee, Fort Worth has one of the lowest crime rates but I hear some small towns east of Dallas have incredibly high crime rates!!!

[wardlejew.livejournal.com]

I liked the amber! Who is everybody? I guess I didn't read the comments that day. Change can cause an initial lash out reaction for some.

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Reactionaries! The whole lot of 'em. Oh, and Astro told me to tell you, "Hi." I called him when I was in Maryland, but alas, I had missed him :(

[irulan-amy.livejournal.com]

It's been this long since I've read my flist?! Bad me!

This is delayed I realize, but it sounds like a nice trip. Not too much running around anyway. I always enjoy hearing about you and photogoot's adventures. :D

Bulletproof glass at the KFC eh? Nice.

Flood of comments from me to come, you've been warned. ;)

[ehowton.livejournal.com]

Delayed? Never! I myself have been absent from my normally fun-filled blogging days at work here recently. Sometimes r/l just seems to get in the way. Oh, and thanks for the warning ;) As always, I look forward to it.