Boo on Metro...

So I love my commute...at least usually. Public transportation rules. Sure, every once and a while things are delayed or crowded, but man to not have to drive and be able to read my book. So. Worth. It.

However, the last two nights after work, I have left about the same time and been welcomed with a crowded, hot platform of already-disgruntled DC commuters. Last night was the worst, it was packed and no trains came for almost 15 minutes (I am not exagerating when I say that I usually wait about 2--the blessings of living on both the orange and blue line).

Then a train came and it did not stop. By this time, the once packed platform was now like a junior high dance mosh pit, and equally hot. I thought people were going to riot. Another train came a couple minutes later. It was essentially full, but like a clown car, they somehow fit more people. And then another train came, and again it did not stop. I have never experience this not stopping phenomenon before and apparently others hadn't either...again, I feared a riot. People peeled off to take cabs or the bus or whatever, but I was so hot and low-blood sugared at this point, that I was numb with indecision. I stood and waited...and then waited some more... Finally a few more trains came and I was able to get on, and after a few stops I actually finagled a seat, the crown jewel of the Metro commute. I felt like a queen compared to the groundling standers. :)

In other news, I ran into this guy at the grocery store last night who used to work with my dad in the early 70s in Minot at the TV station. Now if that is not a "small world" story; I don't know what is.

Exciting Celebrity Sighting (at least to me)!

I almost forgot that Ed and I saw Antony and Cleopatra at the Shakespeare Theater this weekend and saw none other than Dixie Carter and Reese (that was his name right?? who I guess is her real life husband). I do love Julia Sugarbaker...remember the episode where she kept running over the magazine stand that was selling smut? or the time she did the catwalk modeling with her skirt stuck in her pantyhose?

Speaking of seeing weekend theater, Cynthia also treated me to Measure for Pleasure at the Woolly Mammoth, which I had never been to before. It was a little lewd and slow at times, but at the end the story came together nicely and some of the actors were pretty hysterical. It was a fun girls night out!

elfa kicks our a** and other news from the homefront

We attempted to install the ridiculously overpriced, though highly functional elfa shelving from the Container Store. We picked out the shelves on Sat. am, went to the store and almost ordered them, but decided go home first to double check the measurements (a good thing because the ceiling was much shorter than we thought), and then went back to the store only to find that the bad thunderstorms had knocked the power out and ALL the stores in that area were closed. So we drove to the other Container Store (not very close) and got them. One weekend day spent getting shelving. Check.

Sunday, we woke up with delusions of hanging the shelves in about two hours. The sales people made it sound so easy, which it is if don't have a little hidden enemy known as concrete behind one of the walls. Well concrete fought hard, but we won after yet another trip to the CS, two trips to the hardware store, a broken drill bit and the purchasing of various screws and anchors. Finally, at about 6:00 p.m. all shelves were hung and we finally could start putting things away that had been living in boxes since we moved. The shelves are pretty incredible if you ever care to invest, but really, for what you pay they should install themselves...