A room with a view

So yesterday I went with Karyn to see her new office which is located in Crystal City, Virginia. At first I was so sad to hear that her office was moving because she was only 3 blocks away from me at work which was nice for commuting and lunch. Now Karyn is across the river in the confederacy but the good news is that she is closer to the airport. But I underestimated how close she really was....

Wow! I went to her office on the 8th floor and there was a huge window overlooking National Airport which was so dangerous! I would have absolutely no productivity if I worked in this setting. It would actually probably be negative productivity because as many people know, I have a way of getting others excited about airplanes. So I probably would have meetings in the board room to look at planes!

Below are two pictures for your enjoyment from Karyn's new office. I now know where I will be bringing my laptop when I am "working from home!"....

Side note: Pretty awesome that the NBC Today Show chose the Boeing Factory in Everett, WA for its first location on "Where in the World is Matt Lauer?"

Don't make me go all intermodal on you!

This morning I woke up refreshed after a great evening with my grandparents attending a book signing at the School of Advanced International Studies of Johns Hopkins in downtown Washington. The book was titled Untapped: The Scramble for Africa's Oil. It looks to be a great book (only 35 pages in...) about how our world's dependence on oil is leading to more and more involvement in Africa. New offshore opportunities in places like Angola, Equatorial Guinea, etc. will lead to many opportunities for development but also for corruption. I have always been interested in reading about Colonialism and this seems to be a modern version of what happened in the late 19th century land grab for African colonies. But I digress.....

As I walked to metro and went through the turnstiles and up the escalator, I ran into a huge group of people with a train waiting at the platform. Any subway commuter can tell you that is not a good sign. It turned out Fort Totten Station was closed for power outages due to the rain. So I walked right out of the station and jumped on the S2 bus and was downtown at my office in 30 minutes. This journey made me realize that our country needs more intermodal transport in order to lessen the burden on our environment and our hunger for oil.

A successful intermodal program would develop a network where rail, bus, airport and car are linked together to provide the maximum benefit for the movement of people. Of course we need highways and cars, I am not trying to preach that. But we need increased access to move greater numbers of people across all modes of transportation. Cities in Europe are light years ahead of the U.S. And Washington is much more of an intermodal region than other cities in this country.

Here are a couple of examples that have me thinking:

• A new Silver Spring Transit Center is planned to open in 2009 which will link road, bus, taxi, commuter train and metro all together. This will help continue Silver Spring's development as an urban close in suburb and in the process will alleviate traffic for those commuters coming from farther out points in NE Montgomery County and Howard County. But what I love about this transit center is that it will benefit all socio-economic classes of our area's population. Regardless of what mode you rely on.
  
• The new Chicago 2016 Olympic bid will include many projects that will upgrade the transportation infrastructure exponentially. If Chicago's transportation infrastructure isn't developed in a strategic multi-year vision soon, another city could overtake them as a midwestern hub (much like Chicago did to St. Louis at the turn of the century). While it's sad that an Olympic bid really fast-tracks some of these projects, it's a unique opportunity that shouldn't be passed up! Ask Barcelona and Vancouver....
  
• The Intercounty Connector project in Montgomery County is an extremely controversial project in our region as residents feel that the road, which would cross over our county to increase access between I-270 and I-95, would lead to uncontrolled growth therefore just increasing traffic around the region. Of course, a significant environmental impact has been discussed at length as well. My thoughts are this, how healthy is it for our environment when Washington commuters spend an average of 70 minutes a day in their car for a one-way commute? Not good at all. What our region needs is a smart, realistic and collaborative vision for transportation growth - the ICC should be a limited access highway with controlled growth around those 3 exits. If we don't get it right now, we are going to dig ourselves into a deeper whole.
  
• Washington National Airport has the highest percentage of passengers that use rail for access among U.S. airports. This is a great story of intermodal planning. The Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority recently struck a deal with the Virginia state government to take over the operation of the Dulles Toll/Access Road to fastrack funding for a Metro extension (Silver Line) to Washington Dulles. And now who wants a piece? The State of Maryland, which operates BWI, is also pushing for the Green Line to be extended to BWI. Rail access becomes a huge competitive advantage of getting passengers between the downtown and airports.
  
• Light Rail or Heavy Rail? Years ago, leaders from Montgomery and Prince Georges county worked together to decide what type of rail line should the Purple Line be? This is the new line that will run from New Carrolton to Bethesda with hopes of laying out a foundation for a circular route for the Washington area. Light rail would divert traffic among the poorer populations from the bus to light rail and would have a minimal impact. Of course it would lead to economic development around stops and would increase access. But not to the level of heavy rail which of course is more expensive. Heavy rail would link New Carrolton to Greenbelt to Wheaton to Grosvenor and would actually alleviate traffic on roads. It would mean workers from NE Washington, Olney, etc. at Marriott headquarters (rich, poor, middle class) could take rail back and forth to work. But unfortunately a smaller scale Light Rail system was agreed to. The success story of the Washington metro area can be directly attributed to our first class metro system. By having a vision of an intermodal world for all cities of the world, the increased movement of people can be achieved.

Ok, that is my Friday rant on intermodal transportation! I have always said that if I went to graduate school, I would be interested in transportation planning.... Who knows, maybe my ideas would make sense one day. A day when gas costs $6 a gallon?

Feel free to add to the debate!

Survival of the most anxious

So a couple of weeks ago I was on a business trip and on the second night, I ended up walking back to my hotel alone at around 8:30pm after a dinner with an industry colleague. I was walking through a very very safe neighborhood but in order to pass the time, I ended up calling Karyn to say hello before she went to bed. She kept telling me "Be aware of your surroundings, Howard, make sure you are looking around for anything suspicious. - Seriously, are you looking - don't joke about this - you better be careful - Call me when you back to your hotel room" I of course, reiterated to Karyn that it was indeed a safe area and that she was over-reacting.

But I have to say, with all the weird things that happen in this world, it's not that odd that Karyn, or anyone else has those worries. Especially for a woman walking alone in some parts of this world. But after watching Planet Earth (yes, still my favorite show), I have realized that Karyn would be perfect in these situations....

She would totally be looking over her shoulder seeing if there was a lion or she would be peeking her head around a corner underwater very slowly - just to be safe. Then she wouldn't be like the monkey last night in the "Seasonal Forests" episode who just thought, "Hey, I know everyone else is hanging out over here so I am going to go in the middle of the grass where I am completely vulnerable." And of course, he got his head clamped down on and was eaten.

Should've been more observant of your surrroundings silly monkey....

So I guess Karyn has a balance of being prepared not only for the Washington metro, but for walking around a new city and the forests of Madagascar. I knew I married the right girl !

When book titles steer you wrong

Currently I am reading a book called "King of the Jews: The Greatest Mob Story Never Told". It is a biography of famed gangster Arnold Rothstein, who was actually the model for characters in The Great Gatsby and Guys and Dolls. Plus I love watching movies about the mob and mob behavior (i.e. Casino, Goodfellas, the mob with torches in Beauty and the Beast, etc.).

So the book is about 350 pages and for the first 70 pages I noticed that the book alternated narrative styles between an introduction to biblical history and an overview of the days after Rothstein was shot. But still I stuck with it because, after all, it was only 70 pages....Then it was 140 pages and they are telling me about the first Jews in America and how Rothstein's grandfather had a hat company in 1860. Now I am about 3/4ths of the way done and I have to say, I keep flipping to the back of the bookjacket to read the blurb to see if the story is actually about Rothstein's grandfather and father. No joke, Arnold is 18 and the book is almost over!

It's weird when book titles become vessels for false marketing. I keep reading the book because the book is indeed interesting. The only problem is that about 25% of the book has been about Arnold Rothstein.

I would rename it "A History of 19th Century Jewish Settlement in New York City". Perhaps that wouldn't have sold as well?

When the last bean falls

For the past two weeks I have been participating in Caribou Coffee's national sweepstakes to win a trip to Costa Rica. The contest involves either getting a scratchoff piece in the store or playing a game on the web that involves dropping a bean (in a very "a la Plinko" fashion) into a sack at the bottom of the screen. As sad as it is, I have been playing five times a day (limit) each day for the past two weeks because I really think I can win this!

These are the same gut emotions when I am standing at the craps table or sitting at the card table with family and friends before a game. I really think to myself, "Hey, I can do this!". These same emotions took over with this promotion for a free trip to Costa Rica. I was so convinced that Karyn and I would be spending a free vacation I was about to start charging the digital camera battery and looking for the best connecting flights to San Jose. And surely I was the only one who "really" wanted this free trip so I should get it. Just like when I signed up for promotions with National Geographic, United Airlines, Incredible India!, etc.

So, last night after trying and trying, (as I was watching Planet Earth of course of the DVR) I let the second try at the daily bean go and sure enough it went in. I think Karyn was a little surprised when I exclaimed "Oh my lord, my bean finally went into the sack! I wonder what I won?" So will baited breath I clicked on the link to find out what my prize was, briefly hoping that I could find the right sun tan lotion in the neighborhood store before we jet off on our adventure....

I clicked on the link and I won a set of 4 espresso cups. Ah crap! Back to the drawing board. I guess the closest I will get is making one normal cup of Costa Rican blend and then dividing it into four little cups to savor the feeling.

Today, it was back to the bean....

Make sure you all click below and play to win!












*Click on the link to receive the general code

Coffee and a history lesson - all at the same stop

This morning, Karyn and I were driving into work and we decided to stop at a neighborhood coffee joint called "Kefa Cafe". I went in by myself and was greeted by an incredibly friendly Ethiopian woman. She was so friendly and had pictures of her relatives and kids and their life in America on the wall.

This reinforced my interest in learning about ethnic populations in the world's cities.

For those of who don't know, the Washington DC area is home to the largest Ethiopian population in the world outside of Ethiopian (and of course the largest Eritrean population as well, but that Civil War can be another post). So what led me to be interested in learning about these unique ethnic migrations where so many of one group settle in a far off place? The answer surprise surprise is in my aviation interest. For years I have looked at route networks of international carriers and there have always been reasons to question why a certain airline flies a certain route? Ethiopian Airlines will serve Washington Dulles six times weekly this summer from Addis Ababa (stops in Rome)

By analyzing airline maps and learning more about the world, I have learned the following:

• Sao Paulo - The largest Japanese community outside of Japan (estimated to be 1 million of direct or indirect Japanese descendants) and the largest Lebanese population outside of Lebanon (estimated at 850,000 but over 7 million are of Lebanese descent). Japan Air Lines serves Sao Paulo over New York and Emirates recently announced service to Sao Paulo to help connect the Middle Eastern population.
• Melbourne - Due to an influx in immigration from the Mediterranean after World War II, Melbourne has become home to the largest Greek population outside of Greece. Olympic Airways used to fly Athens - Bangkok - Melbourne - Sydney.
• Detroit - Dearborn, Michigan currently has the largest percentage of Arab-Americans of any American city (30,000 out of 98,000 - New York has 70,000 out of 8 million). Royal Jordanian Airlines flies twice weekly nonstop between Detroit and Amman to cater to this population.

I have many more examples but here are a few to start with - I guess it's something new to learn over a cup of your morning coffee.

Where is Aretha when you need her?

This past weekend I went with Karyn and our friend Jen to see a movie. It was a pg13 horror movie on a Saturday night at 8pm and it was quite easily the worst movie experience of my life (yes surpassing previous disasters that included the 13 year old girl sucking a straw behind me for 2 straight hours and when we saw a movie with a woman waving her fan over her head -although that last one came with the best joke "um, I think she thought she was in memoirs of a geisha"). There were two crying babies and a child who was 3 years old walking around the middle of the theatre as people were dying in the horror/thriller movie. Also the kids were loud beyond belief.

So why was it so bad? Because I left shocked at the state of our world. The fact is that most of the people in this world lack respect for other people. Perhaps what we need is a giant social propgram where Aretha teaches that magical word to us all? R-E-S-P-E-C-T! People just don't care (Rich, poor, middle class - it's everyone). People shoving to get places, people taking an extra seat for their bag on a crowded train, Talking loudly on your cell phone when you know people are trying to enjoy their peace and quiet. Even my almost five year old niece Lucy has better behavior than 80% of the kids in this theatre. This type of behavior drives people farther and farther apart and creates more barriers in the world. I am proud to say that I do not live my life as a part of the "me" generation.

As a side note, after watching the horrors of the Virginia Tech massacre, I realize that again, more programs are needed for our world that help deal with social issues - mental health awareness, respect for your fellow man, etc. Even though I know elements of this tragedy are unexplainable, I feel like something can be done to help further improve the progress of our society.

Respect for your fellow man should not be a pipe dream - it should be a reality.

The Youth of America: sexually active but high scores in SAT verbal

This weekend, Karyn and I were in Border's with some of our friends and we noticed the following display on one of the tables. This picture (taken by my cell phone camera) explains it all:

Risky Bid-ness

After reading my friend Josh's blog about his analysis of the Chicago 2014 Olympic bid campaign, I got rejuvenated about the whole Olympic bid process. For years, I have been following a website called GamesBids.com, which tracks the news about upcoming Olympic bids and selection processes.

For everyone's knowledge, every two years an Olympic host is selected, 7 years prior to the start of the selected Olympics. This July, 3 cities will duke it out for the honor of hosting the 2014 Winter Olympics. It's a huge jockeying event of local support, continents against continents, financial strength and national pride.

The candidates for 2014 have been shortlisted to the following cities:


South Korea vs. Austria vs. Russia. Who will win?

And also tomorrow here in Washington (should I go and crash the decision?), the U.S. Olympic Committee has to decide if its candidate city for 2016 Summer will be Chicago or Los Angeles. Frankly I think Chicago deserves it more and would do a good job. But in reality I love both O'Hare and LAX!

The fact of the matter is that I love everything about the Olympics. I am a fiend for it when they are on every two years and what's even more fun is watching the videos of the candidate city selection annoucement. The head of the IOC (now Belgian, Jacques Rogge) reads a letter as three groups of candidate city groups (mayors, financiers, chambers, sponsoring athletes, etc.) wait with baited breath. As the winning city is read, one crowd jumps for joy as other dreams are shattered. Kind of a mini-Olympics?

Here are some recent bid announcements:
London 2012 (Official Video & clip from Trafalgar Square)
Vancouver 2010 (Official Video - go to 2:20 in clip)
Harrisburg 2008 (Got ya!)

So stay tuned - July 4, 2007, the place is Guatemala City - find out where Matt Lauer (who will be completely bald by then) and Meredith Vieira are going to be setting up shop...

Coming to a crosswalk near you: The Daytona 500

The world is full of many new inventions that have brought great efficiencies to all of our lifestyles: the Tivo/DVR, the iPOD, the spray salad dressing, Mr. Clean wall eraser, etc. Another new invention however, has caused me to look like an idiot and compromise my safety.

The count down crosswalk signal.

They are all over the place now - on the way to work and on the way home. True, I am all in favor of more information but it seems that all it does is cause you to frantically run across the street instead of focusing on the surrounding cars whizzing by. And now you have to make an all important judgement about when you are still close enough to make it across. Are you taunting the driving traffic when you see it down to 5, 4, 3.... and you still cross. Of course. We have all been in the car trying to make a left and have wanted to shout "Look lady, there are only 4 seconds left, if you don't vamoose I ain't getting across" (of course the window is up and no one can hear you). In the mornings, I tend to keep it cool and not rush. Afterall, who wants to rush to work? But in the afternoon, as soon as I get close enough to see the numbers (which is usually in front of a crowded bar, The Fourth Estate), I begin to think that I am running for the gold at Beijing 2008. With khaki pants, a jacket and a side satchel bag w/computer I end up looking like this weird waddling yuppie trying to get to the metro platform in time. I am sure the people in the bar think I am an idiot.

And my wife and I have a new type of communication as we walk home from the metro together up Wayne Avenue. It's usually walking having a conversation and then one of us interrupts "Are you running, are we staying, what do you want to do, GO GO GO!".

So all over the city, I guess all over the world, you now see people doing these frantic mini-dashes across crosswalks.......just to get to the next crosswalk where you have to do the same thing....

Winter, Let us go from your Kung Fu Grip!

Ok, I was the first to admit it in January when I was wearing a T-shirt and was enjoying the seasonal blip in mother nature's weather pattern that a little cold weather would be nice. And I knew we all deserved the 32 straight mornings of below freezing temps but it is now April 11th people! I have shorts and t-shirts (long sleeve is even fine) to be worn. This weekend I woke up and there was a dusting of snow. Now come on, that's ridiculous. And going to the mall this weekend was just a tease as all of the spring and summer clothes are there and out for us all to see. Baseball games are too cold to attend which stinks and April/May is the prime tennis playing season amongst my friends. I know our poor friends in the Midwest are suffering through more snowstorms this week.

Hopefully warmer weather is on the horizon because the real inconvenient truth is the fact that I can't really manage my trips to the dry cleaners since I have to keep sweaters at the ready.

I'm sure I be complaining in July that is too hot. So is life...

(Side note - in March, I realized that the coldest place on this planet is Ottawa, Canada. I had a business trip there and it was -40 degrees fahrenheit. I only had to walk 2 minutes outside after my meeting before I started feeling pains in my ears. Silly me, I figured for a trip less than 24 hours, who needs a hat?)

What do you do with a tilted soapdish?

As some of you know, my wife and I recently became homeowners of a spacious 850 sq ft condo. Everything is brand new and we love it. Of course, now that I am not a renter anymore, I can't call someone to come and fix my appliances. I now have to call someone and then pay them to come and fix things. Ugh!

Since our place is "new construction", one would think everything would be perfect, shiny, new, useful, etc. But it seems that we have inherited a tilted soapdish. We have one in our shower that just does not want to hold any soap - not if it's placed gently, thrown on it - perhaps with double sided tape maybe? Of course, that could really rationalize the nice smooth dove feeling on the skin.

How does a soapdish become untitled? Unfortunately, I don't think there is any Bob Dole sponsored product out there for this soapdish? Perhaps our plumber didn't have his (or her) V8 before installation? Perhaps I could make a makeshift gate to rest at the end of the soapdish? Of course, we didn't go on our walkthrough with the developer and demand that we test out the capture angle of the shower soapdish. But for those out there who are about to buy property, let this be a lesson to you.

I guess the shower soapdish is like the human appendix of our condo - it truly is a vestigial soapdish.

My new obsession: Earth

I am sitting here watching Planet Earth on the Discovery Channel and have decided that it is the best television show in the world. I have now watched hour long descriptions of animals of the Great Plains, Ice Worlds, Mountains, etc. Each footage that is shown leaves me with a question of "Holy moly, how did a camera catch this image?"

I have now realized that I am happy for the following things in being a human:

1.) I don't live 2 miles below the sea where nasty animals such a 3 foot crabs, sea snakes and 1 ft. long sea lice scavenge along the ocean floor. (Seriously, a lot more people wouldn't snorkel if those animals were closer to humans)

2.) I am glad that I don't have some weird crazy-long appendage like some animals on this program - like huge horns, long necks, a hard shell sticking out of my head, completely flat tails that are 2 feet long, etc.. (overall it seems like a huge impediment - evolution rocks!)

3.) Sure we all wish we could see in all directions, but after watching some of our earth's creatures, I am least thankful that I can see forward. The poor snail that they showed in the ocean episode swims forwards with eyes facing backwards. It kept bumping into everything. Oy! I mean, how many times could you say "Excuse me" in Snail?

4.) Usually when I am in a big group, I tend to enjoy a leadership role - i.e. figuring out where the group will go for dinner, how will the group pay the check, taking up the role of lead car in a caravan - but these animals that travel in herds of 2 million - canadian geese, caribou, seals in south africa. Frankly, that would make me too anxious.

If you haven't seen this program, go and check it out! It is incredible! Here is the link: Planet Earth

Welcome to my Blog!

Greetings everyone! I have decided, per my wife's suggestion, to start blogging. I have entirely too many random thoughts to keep to myself. So enjoy my new blog and feel free to contribute!

Howard:-)