Bus to Silver Springs MD

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I don’t have a car, and even if I did, I would be hard-pressed to drive it, since I haven’t gotten behind the wheel for more than five years. It’s therefore imperative that I get acquainted with the local public transport. That’s why today was a bit of an adventure for me: my first time to take the S-bus all the way down 16th Street, clear out into the suburbs: Silver Spring, MD. I needed to raid the nearest Ross for clothes.

The fun part was that, with my AIM-enabled phone, I was able to chat with Jim, even while riding the bus. Kewl.

And now, with dinner finished and a light rain pattering outside, I can curl up on the couch with some warm milk to read Dickens’ Bleak House, while Bach’s Orchestral Suites play in the background. Aaaahh.

Weather Pixie

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The WeatherPixie

WeatherPixie brings you the weather from DC, and from other parts of the world, with a preset StorTrooper added for extra character. Cute and fun meme, but I think it might need a little more work. And the graphic is four pixels too wide for my thinnest blog column, so I can’t use it in my random layouts. Also check out the plain-text forecast.

(Link via Lia, who will be going to NYU this Fall.)

The Disciplinary Loaf

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If you are a naughty prisoner in Maryland Correctional, they feed you the Disciplinary Loaf. Be afraid.

Sort of a carrot-and stick approach to corrections, then. Except that the carrots in this case are finely grated and mixed with wheat bread, fake cheese, spinach, beans, raisins and other ingredients to create what Simon concludes “smells a little bit like the food they serve in the elephant cage at the National Zoo.”

Menu fixed

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Oh, and I got the menu fixed — updated and backed up, too.

Hey East Coasters, it sure was warm today, wasn’t it? Two days ago we had a freeze warning at dawn, but this afternoon was above 70, and I could walk around in just a t-shirt.

Cellphone!

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I got a Voicestream Prepaid 3390. Yes, yes, I’m well aware that a post-paid plan is far more cost-effective, but at this stage of transition I’m still not ready to deal with a regular monthly billing. Also, aside from text messaging, this phone is intended more for receiving calls rather than making them; I don’t plan to use very many minutes at all — only the minimum required to keep the prepaid line open, which will cost me far less than even the cheapest post-paid plan. For now, prepaid it is. But in the near future, I will be getting an income, and I will no doubt need the additional minutes and nationwide roaming of a post-paid subscription. That is when I will migrate to Voicestream’s 19.99 plan.

You know what’s really fun? The 3390 comes with AIM. My new AIM screen name is brownpaudotcom, but don’t expect me to be too available at all times; it costs 10 cents per message sent, just like SMS.

Sidebar Eaten

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I tried using MT to update my sidebar, and it got half-eaten. I should have saved a copy; gimme a few days to dig up an old backup. :P

(And, after seven years of use, my left rollerblade boot, which had already grown old and brittle, cracked wide open, rendering it unusable and unserviceable. I’ll need to buy a new pair. Some other time when I have money.)

Setting Crescent Moon

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Nope, no snow flurries overnight, but I was awakened at about 4am by the setting crescent moon hovering over the Capitol and shining in through my window from a clear night sky. Pretty. And with temperature climbing to the 50’s later today, maybe I’ll go out for a skate after all.

Daylight Saving Time! Have you set your clocks an hour forward yet?

Stargate and Snow Flurries

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I got to watch an episode of Stargate SG-1 today, and I actually enjoyed it. I even managed to forget McGyver for a few minutes.

Ooohh, temperature dropping to the upper 20’s, with a chance of light snow flurries. I don’t think I’ll be rollerblading tomorrow.

General Absolution

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Free Forgiveness for Catholics who go to confession and communion on April 7. Ah, so the confession and communion are requirements for forgiveness, and only on that specific day. How odd. I was under the impression that forgiveness of sin in confession is granted to a Catholic on any given day. ;)

How glad I am that the redemption of our souls by Jesus Christ is by His infinite grace and not the requirements of an earthly Law, else we would be powerless to save ourselves. That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.