Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

Metro Goes Green

On my way home from work tonight, I missed my Yellow line train at Metro’s Gallery Place-Chinatown station by about 30 seconds. It’s not the first time, nor will it be the last, that the southbound train headed for Huntington left the lower platform just as the Red line was arriving up above.

I wouldn’t have been so upset had the next train arrived a few minutes later. But what made tonight’s ride home particularly painful was the next Yellow line train didn’t come for 20 minutes. In fact, I watched five Green line trains pass before seeing the first Yellow. While it is not usually this bad — except on Nationals game days — there are routinely two Green line trains headed for Branch Avenue for every Yellow line train going to Huntington.

Why? Unless a large number of Green line riders are getting on somewhere down the line, the numbers at Gallery Place-Chinatown hardly seem to justify the 2-for-1 system.

I’ve had the same commute for nearly four years, and in that time, Metro seems to be increasingly moving more Green line trains. That means Yellow line passengers are asked to pay rush-hour prices (in my case $3.25) for service that’s comparable to Saturday schedules.

After years of complaints from Green line customers, the tables have certainly turned. It’s time for Yellow line riders to start speaking up, especially as more people in Northern Virginia turn to mass transit to avoid higher gas prices. The opening of a huge new parking garage at Huntington is likely to encourage even more people to park and ride.

If you’re a fellow Yellow line rider, you start by contacting Metro’s Yellow/Green Line Manager Rita Davis at yellow-greenline@wmata.com or (301) 562-4607.

UPDATE — July 8, 11:42 p.m.: Today’s ride home wasn’t nearly as bad, but it was still rather annoying to watch three Green line trains pass before the first Yellow line arrived. Instead of waiting 20 minutes like yesterday, at least I was only stuck on the platform for 10.

The New Hampshire Primary on Google Maps

Hat tip to Patrick Ruffini for passing along the link to this New Hampshire primary breakdown on Google Maps. I’m displaying the Republican results above, but you can also see the Democrat race, which is much more colorful. Patrick has a comparison to the 2000 and 2004 races on his Flickr page.

A ‘Fair’ Review

Missy and I spent Friday night at the Kennedy Center to see “My Fair Lady,” a Christmas gift that made for an enjoyable evening (except, of course, for the downpour that drenched us afterward). Although we knew little about the show beforehand, we both enjoyed the story, music and actors.

The Washington Post has a review in today’s paper. I generally agree with Peter Marks’ commentary, particularly that the Opera House wasn’t the best location for the musical; it was difficult to see facial expressions from our seats. My bigger complaint, however, was the length. At nearly three hours, it was a tad too long.

It’s always nice watching a show at the Kennedy Center, so as long as you don’t mind long musicals, this one would be worth it.

Stop the E-mail!

I stayed home from work today because I’m sick with a cold. It’s a rotten time of year to be ill, but I’m hoping I can recover before heading home for Christmas. If not, my family is going to have to put up with a sniffling and sneezing son.

Even though I wasn’t supposed to be working, I actually found today to be quite productive in my peaceful and quiet home. I wrote my weekly column about cutbacks in the Office of Labor Management Standards budget, posted a few items to Heritage’s Omnibusting blog and spent the rest of day trying to empty my overflowing inbox.

No matter how hard I tried, however, the darn thing kept filling back up. It’s partly the fault of the omnibus listserv I joined this week, but the larger problem seems to be that several of my colleagues can’t stop themselves from hitting the “Reply All” button or forwarding me messages that I’ve already received at least three times.

What’s even worse is the abuse of the “All Staff” e-mail at Heritage. Fortunately, I’m not the only one who is annoyed by e-mail abuse. An message with the subject line, “Stop the all staff emails!” arrived in my inbox at 5:58 p.m. The sender shall remain nameless, but the message was perfect:

This is an all staff email to all staff to ask you to stop sending so many all staff emails!! I know this picks up during holiday season and you “must” share it, but if your box is anything like mine, it is getting flooded and it is getting difficult to find the important things in the clutter.

I don’t know about you, but I’m close to following in the footsteps of Fred Wilson, the venture capitalist who was profiled in the Washington Post earlier this year after declaring e-mail “bankruptcy.”

This is nothing new, of course. I’ve always had trouble getting a handle on my inbox. Things improved for a time after I read “Bit Literacy” by Mark Hurst. And while I now do a much better job of filing messages in folders, I have a hard time keeping the inbox empty for more than a week’s worth of time. (Keep in mind I’m referring only to my Heritage e-mail account. My Gmail, which is where most of my readers send me e-mail, is easier to manage because of great organizational features, but just as cluttered.)

Here’s a New Year’s resolution for compulsive e-mailers (excluding my family and close personal friends, of course): Before you hit “Reply All” or click “Forward,” think again. Do you really need to send it?

Look Who I Met at the White House

While my two Ithaca College friends were performing beautiful Christmas songs at the White House this afternoon, I was hanging around taking pictures. So when I saw Barney (or is it Miss Beazley?) coming in from a walk, I couldn’t resist having my picture taken.

What Happens After You Eat Your Turkey?

There are few days when you’ll probably have more to eat than on Thanksgiving. But do you know what happens to all that food after you eat it? The Washington Post had an excellent diagram in its Health section on Tuesday that explains the human digestive system. I wish I had a copy of it back when I was taking biology in high school.

Is McCain a Flip-Flopper?

The Republican candidate most often associate with the “flip-flopper” label is Mitt Romney, but in today’s Washington Times, reporter Stephen Dinan explores whether John McCain deserves to be called one as well.

Sen. John McCain has quietly been piling up flip-flops, including ditching his long-held support for the Law of the Sea convention and telling bloggers he now opposes the DREAM Act to legalize illegal alien students.

The sea treaty has become the latest litmus test for the 2008 Republican presidential field, and after a decade-long record of public support for it, Mr. McCain has pivoted to bring himself in line with the rest of the candidates.

I was a participant on the blogger call that Dinan references, and I’m quoted in his story because I asked McCain the question about the Law of the Sea Treaty. McCain’s answer — that he would oppose LOST in its current form — apparently contrasts with his previous statements on the treaty.

Every candidate running for president is going to face the charge of being a flip-flopper. I personally don’t mind as long as they take the right position. In this case, McCain is acting like a savvy politician and aligning with his base.

Starring in My Own JibJab

Yes, that’s Lindsay Lohan as my co-star. I tried to get Missy to play that role, but she turned me down.

Looking Down on Old Town

Ask anyone who has flown into Reagan National Airport and they’ll tell you the views are amazing. If you’re arriving from the north, you have a great view of the nation’s capital. Come up from the south and you get to see the beautiful landscape of Virginia.

Today on my way back from Atlanta, I pulled out my camera and snapped a few shots as we began our descent. The photo above is a view of Old Town Alexandria. At the top of the picture you’ll see the George Washington Masonic Memorial.

There are a few other shots on my Flickr page, including this one of Fort Washington, another of Fort Belvoir and Mount Vernon and this one of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge. My apologies that they didn’t come out better; my window was kind of dirty.

The Changing Typeface of Street Signs

Erick Erickson recommends a fascinating article in the New York Times about a new font that’s growing in popularity on highways and streets across America. It’s called Clearview (pictured above) and it’s replacing the traditional Highway Gothic font.

We’ve noticed the changing typeface our way through Pennsylvania on Interstate 81. My wife, the graphic designer in the family, doesn’t like the new look. I can’t say I’m thrilled with it either, but it could certainly be worse.