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Old 05-29-2009, 08:09 AM
 
Location: Silver Spring,Maryland
884 posts, read 2,641,405 times
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Scran

Visit the Bay Bridge and take pics from the beach/park!. Also the National Harbour. Arlington National Cemetery.
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Old 05-29-2009, 09:31 AM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by car54 View Post
Yeah, one would have to be a masochist to take Rt 7 from Reston to Old Town!
No questioning my bedroom philosophies!
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Old 05-29-2009, 10:38 AM
 
187 posts, read 442,700 times
Reputation: 202
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
Well guess who the cold front blew in? LOL! I made the trek down here on Saturday morning in a three-vehicle caravan filled with friends and family commited to helping to make my transition relatively seamless, and already I feel like I "fit in." I've made several new friends already, my next-door neighbor, a fellow young single professional who also just moved in this weekend from California, is very friendly, and so far so good as far as the apartment is concerned. Believe it or not I also have a date lined up!

On Sunday we spent several hours exploring Old Town Alexandria, but we didn't stray far from King Street. I plan to return later on this week to present you all with the first of what will be MANY photo tours to come of NoVA! I am so sorry to say that I pre-judged this area, but I sure I'm most certainly not the first one to have done so. I went for an invigorating run on Monday morning shortly after my "troops" bid me a fond farewell, and even though there weren't sidewalks for a decent chunk of my route drivers were still very vigilant; I didn't have to worry about getting whacked with sideview mirros while running in the streets as I did up in Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, PA.

I really don't have many, if any, gripes right now. I had an unfortunate run-in with two VERY rude employees yesterday while exploring the Harris Teeter within walking distance of my new home near Reston Town Center, but now I know to walk even further to the Elden Street Safeway to give them a shot to boycott that Harris Teeter! I've already spent hundreds upon hundreds of dollars down here in Virginia from Best Buy to Clyde's to Silver Diner to Pei Wei to the Galleria at Tyson's and everywhere in between, and other than becoming slightly frustrated that so few people down here speak English well my shopping/dining experiences have been pleasant and enjoyable.

I'm sorry to everyone who bickered with me (i.e. Yankeesfan, Denton56, Normie, etc.) over the past few weeks, and at this point in time I'm looking to bury the old hatchets and start fresh. One positive thing to note is that I'm so happy to no longer feel like a "fish out of water" as a gay person, as I've already met SEVERAL here in NoVA, including, as I alluded to earlier, one whom I plan to take out on a date around midday tomorrow.

I'm just so euphoric right now! I'm totally stoked! I hope the people at the Sterling DMW are this nice when I go in soon to get my new Virginia tags (speaking of which, any ideas for a vanity plate slogan?!)

Scran,
Here is an idea for a plate:

NVAROX (nova rocks) !!!! Hehehe.

Not really, but you sure seem to think so!
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Old 05-29-2009, 12:41 PM
 
Location: Marshall-Shadeland, Pittsburgh, PA
32,616 posts, read 77,579,178 times
Reputation: 19101
Quote:
Originally Posted by busymommy3 View Post
Scran,
Here is an idea for a plate:

NVAROX (nova rocks) !!!! Hehehe.

Not really, but you sure seem to think so!
I'm coming back down to reality just a bit though, for what it's worth, off of my instant move-in euphoria. I was miffed today that out of the dozen or so people I passed today on my morning run along North Shore Drive, Wiehle Avenue, and Fairway Drive through Reston only two or three returned my "Good morning" greeting. I can see not wanting to be engaged in idle chit-chat or banter, but are people here "too good" to say "Hello" or "Good morning" to a passer-by?

On a positive note though while waiting for my new friend to arrive for lunch today at Reston Town Center I was standing against a column near the fountain. I was noticeably "checked out" by a few people, and it REALLY boosted my confidence. Just wait until I have my tan and six-pack abs back! It's so nice to have that "ego booster" down here whereas back in NEPA I never got a second glance from anyone, much less a compliment on my appearance.

I'm still giving NoVA so far an A-. If you people wouldn't be so stuck up so as not to be willing to say "Hello" or "Good morning" back to passers-by (or at least nod your head, smile, grunt, or something), then I'd be happier!
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Old 05-29-2009, 01:56 PM
 
187 posts, read 442,700 times
Reputation: 202
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
I'm coming back down to reality just a bit though, for what it's worth, off of my instant move-in euphoria. I was miffed today that out of the dozen or so people I passed today on my morning run along North Shore Drive, Wiehle Avenue, and Fairway Drive through Reston only two or three returned my "Good morning" greeting. I can see not wanting to be engaged in idle chit-chat or banter, but are people here "too good" to say "Hello" or "Good morning" to a passer-by?

On a positive note though while waiting for my new friend to arrive for lunch today at Reston Town Center I was standing against a column near the fountain. I was noticeably "checked out" by a few people, and it REALLY boosted my confidence. Just wait until I have my tan and six-pack abs back! It's so nice to have that "ego booster" down here whereas back in NEPA I never got a second glance from anyone, much less a compliment on my appearance.

I'm still giving NoVA so far an A-. If you people wouldn't be so stuck up so as not to be willing to say "Hello" or "Good morning" back to passers-by (or at least nod your head, smile, grunt, or something), then I'd be happier!
Yeah, it always amazes me how when walking my son to school, some people will walk right by and not even look up, much less exchange pleasantries. I always make the effort. Really, is it that much trouble to look up and say "good morning?" Whats the deal? I've been here almost a year, and its ehh...
BUT, you take the good with the bad and make the most of it.
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Old 05-29-2009, 02:08 PM
 
12,905 posts, read 15,650,359 times
Reputation: 9394
Quote:
Originally Posted by ScranBarre View Post
I'm still giving NoVA so far an A-. If you people wouldn't be so stuck up so as not to be willing to say "Hello" or "Good morning" back to passers-by (or at least nod your head, smile, grunt, or something), then I'd be happier!
It's really not a "stuck up" thing just being VERY preoccupied. FWIW, I *do* say "hey" when I'm on a walk and pass another walker but some of them seem to be off in iPod land and I'm okay with that!

I commute roughly 2 hours a day, work my butt off for the other 8 hours, come home to two teenagers who want to eat and when I go out for a walk/run, I sort of go off into my own world to decompress. I really don't want to see/talk/etc to another person. You might walk right past me and I'm so absorbed in my thoughts that I see you but I don't really see you if that makes sense. I just want a few minutes secluded from the world and that's very hard to do in NoVA. I try to compare it to Japan where it's massively crowded but people have a way of creating this bubble around themselves so as to have some form of privacy. At least that's how it is for me. When the weekend comes and I'm more relaxed I much more friendly.

Sometimes I think "Gee I'm one of those unfriendly people they talk about on the NOVA board!" I don't mean to be but it really is due to being busy. Yesterday I was at Wegman's and I just need to buy, real quick, 3 items. Of course, the express lane was anything but express with the woman and her toddler in line, the woman in front of me running to customer service so she could get her coupon for her free 99 cent bag, and so on. I just wanted to get out of there but the woman with the toddler decided she needed to tell all of us about how she was trying to switch her child from the bottle to the sippy cup and it just wasn't going well. The cashier stopped ringing her up to listen to the story. The woman in front of me was trying to coerce me to go to customer service and get my coupon for the free bag (no, really, I don't want one!). Then when I finally got to my turn, the cashier said "Would you like a free bag?" I said "Well, sure, I guess." She then tells me to walk over to the crate and get one, which I do. She then says "Now I need you to do one more thing for me. Please go over to customer service and get a coupon so I can give you the bag for free."

Needless to say, I almost flipped. I said "No thanks, I don't want to stand in another line, I just want to get my stuff and go." I put the bag back and the cashier look a little afraid.

So, while everyone else was more than friendly, I just wanted to get out of the store. Grrrrrrr....
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Old 05-29-2009, 02:26 PM
 
Location: Brambleton, VA
2,136 posts, read 5,308,494 times
Reputation: 1303
Quote:
Originally Posted by ChristineVA View Post
So, while everyone else was more than friendly, I just wanted to get out of the store. Grrrrrrr....
Wegmans desperately needs self-checkout lanes. I was there a few days ago, and the cashier didn't know what kale was. I spelled it for her, but she still couldn't find it on her lookup screen, mainly because she had accidentally landed in the Spanish version (she was not a Spanish speaker), and people behind me were huffing and puffing and rolling their eyes.

I generally like to minimize my service interactions unless I know the employees (like at my local Town Center shops - that's how I get the good neighborhood gossip!). Self-checkout at the grocery store, SmartPass at Exxon, kiosks whenever possible. You know the "Target Lady" character on Saturday Night Live? Those people really exist, and they seem to work the checkouts everywhere I go. I do not want them to comment on the stuff I'm buying, or ask me what I plan to do with something I'm buying, or even get mad at me for taking the last item on clearance (that actually happened at Target in Sterling - the cashier saw this bathroom knick-knack thing I was buying, and said her daughter would love it. I told her it was the last one on the shelf, and she got all snippy with me).
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Old 05-29-2009, 02:50 PM
 
Location: Town of Herndon/DC Metro
2,825 posts, read 6,889,151 times
Reputation: 1767
Quote:
Originally Posted by cdmurphy View Post
Wegmans desperately needs self-checkout lanes. .
That would not help. Have you seen the retired couples? Each take a cart so you'd have two carts and a fighting old couple in line ahead of you. Plus the lonely and isolated new mom who is in dire need of an adult to speak to..talking about potty training..
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Old 05-29-2009, 02:55 PM
 
12,905 posts, read 15,650,359 times
Reputation: 9394
Quote:
Originally Posted by leighland View Post
That would not help. Have you seen the retired couples? Each take a cart so you'd have two carts and a fighting old couple in line ahead of you. Plus the lonely and isolated new mom who is in dire need of an adult to speak to..talking about potty training..
Yes, I know. I had sippy cup mom yesterday. No kidding, she went on for 10 minutes to us. That's exactly what I thought--man, you must be bored and lonely. And I was desperately wanting a self-checkout lane. They are perfect me. I am super busy and I really don't have the time for slow, chatty lines. That's great if you want that and have the time for it but some people don't. We aren't unfriendly, just have things to do.
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Old 05-29-2009, 03:19 PM
 
2,688 posts, read 6,680,916 times
Reputation: 1291
Ha! I've never seen Target Lady on SNL but I can imagine! Today at CVS I was the sixth person in line for the one checkout clerk. Another clerk opened a new register and the very young woman in front of me (who was the fifth person in line) bolted over ahead of everyone who had been waiting longer than her. Now that was rude.
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