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The Cellar: a friendly neighborhood coffee shop, with no coffee and no shop. Established 1990.

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1/19/2021 7:25 am  #1


Hey Glatt / HM

What's the scene around DC?


If you would only recognize that life is hard, things would be so much easier for you. - Louis Brandeis
 

1/19/2021 8:19 am  #2


Re: Hey Glatt / HM

Fairly normal in my corner of the beltway.  VIP government helicopter traffic seems to be down.  (they normally fly in circles over my neighborhood while they are on standby to pick somebody up and take them somewhere)

Yesterday, my daughter drove us to a rock climbing gym near one of the bridges into DC, and the highway ramp system there is extremely confusing, and I was slightly concerned that she might take a wrong turn and we would wind up in the District where we would never get out, with all the street closures.  But she knew what she was doing.  Today you can't make such a wrong turn because I understand all the bridges are closed.

I'm working remotely from home during the pandemic, with the option to voluntarily go into the office (downtown)  if I want to.  But this week, the downtown office if boarded up with plywood, and that option isn't being offered.  Can't get to the building anyway because it's inside the secure zone.

 

1/19/2021 8:22 am  #3


Re: Hey Glatt / HM

Incidentally, during the capital building coup, I heard a steady stream of sirens heading the direction of DC on the highway a block from my house.  That was after they got into the building.  Those sirens would have been coming from the outer suburbs and heading to DC.

 

1/19/2021 1:24 pm  #4


Re: Hey Glatt / HM

Not out and about from my immediate neighborhood, so everything looks pretty much normal.  I wouldn't want to go downtown, but I seldom do anyway.


 _______________
|_______________| We live in the nick of times.
|  Len 17, Wid 3      |
|_______________|[pics]
 

1/19/2021 5:49 pm  #5


Re: Hey Glatt / HM

One means of doing security is to not stop trains at some stations.  What Metro stations are no longer in service?
 

 

1/19/2021 6:29 pm  #6


Re: Hey Glatt / HM

https://www.wmata.com/about/news/2021-Inauguration-Service-Adjustments.cfm


  • Stations closed:
  • * Red Line:  Farragut North, Judiciary Square, Union Station
    * Yellow Line/Green Line: Archives
    * Blue Line: Arlington Cemetery
    * Blue Line/Orange Line/Silver Line: Farragut West, McPherson Square, Federal Center SW, Capitol South, Smithsonian, Federal Triangle

Last edited by Happy Monkey (1/19/2021 6:30 pm)


 _______________
|_______________| We live in the nick of times.
|  Len 17, Wid 3      |
|_______________|[pics]
 

1/21/2021 9:49 am  #7


Re: Hey Glatt / HM

Inauguration day and the day before, the VIP helicopter traffic was non-existent over my neighborhood.  I suppose all the VIPs had left town or stopped working for the most part.  This morning, the Marine One helicopter is doing lazy circles over my neighborhood while it presumably waits for the call to come pick somebody important up.

Yesterday was kind cool though, while there were no empty VIP helicopters flying overhead like Ubers prowling for a fare, the Coast Guard had their fast little orange helicopter zipping around keeping an eye on the whole area all day long.  I don't know what it is about helicopters.  I'm drawn to them like a dog would be, craning my neck at the window to see who's flying over my house.  Sort of like watching fire trucks going by, I guess.

In the evening, during the televised inaugural celebration, I heard somebody's fireworks going off a block or two away, so I went to an upstairs window to watch them. But they had stopped by then.   So I looked over in the direction of downtown DC, which is about 5 miles away.  You could easily see the 400,000 covid dead memorial light shining up into the sky.  There were basically no clouds, so it didn't remind me strongly of the bat signal, the way it did the cloudy evening before.  Last night, there was a single helicopter (probably that zippy orange Coast Guard one) and a small fixed wing aircraft flying circles over downtown DC.  I watched for a while as they circled downtown DC at different speeds.  and then I went downstairs to watch tv some more.

Katy Perry sang, and they did some fireworks.  So I went back to the window, where I could see the tops of the fireworks peeking up over some nearby buildings.  It was cool to see the delay between the live performance and the TV broadcast.  The fireworks ended in real life, and then they ended on TV about 15-20 seconds later.

 

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