DC living...

Hey, everybody. I thought I'd post this picture because I think it's pretty funny. This is the sign you see when you walk onto "the Highest Court in the Land." That's what everyone at the Supreme Court calls the basketball court located above the real highest court in the land. Yes, the Supreme Court has a basketball court. It also has a gym and a weight room. Since the b-ball court is located literally directly above the court court, this sign is necessary. Apparently somebody started bouncing the ball, 9 justices and everybody below listening to oral arguments heard it, and marshals swarmed upstairs to stop the unauthorized playing. I would've hated to be that guy! This post is going to be some random musings about what it's like living in the Nation's Capitol for those of you living in suburbia. It really hard to describe exactly what living in a large city is like if you've never done it, but I thought I'd try. It's really the daily things that are different. I think it all boils down to resources being more scarce, things like parking, and land, and everything else, and having a ton more people using them. That's probably the thing that defines all the little things that are different. You have to accomodate the most people with the resources you have, so that means that nothing is quite as easy for any one individual person. For example, our apartment complex has three 17-story buildings. There are thousands of people living here. So where do all those people park? They park in a huge parking lot behind the building, and they're thrilled to always have a guaranteed space, even if it means they have to walk a couple of blocks through the parking lot to get to their building if they get back late and all the close spaces are full. This is in contrast to apartments in Birmingham or Greensboro, where you could park your car right outside the front door to your building. You might have to walk 20 feet to get to your own front door. The parking situation necessitates something you might never have thought of: the need for a good way to get your groceries across a couple of blocks of parking lot, down a long corridor, and up an elevator to your apartment without collapsing or having to make multiple trips. Enter the foldable metal cart! This is an essential tool of city living here. David and I looked around a lot to make sure that we found the perfect one, big enough for all the weekly groceries at once, able to roll laundry down to the laundry room in one trip, small enough to fold up and fit in our hall closet. After much searching, we got the perfect one at Bed Bath and Beyond, and it's been a lifesaver ever since. You may think that wheeling this thing around would make you look like a bag lady, and it sort of does, but everybody else looks like a bag lady, too, so you can all look homeless together. We haven't minded downsizing to fit all our things into this smaller apartment. At this point, it really doesn't look crowded, and we have a fabulous view. We've also found that we can live with a lot less stuff than we thought we could, and it's nice to simplify from time to time. The only problem with our little place is the steep price for living 40 minutes by Metro from downtown DC. It costs a lot to live here in this one-bedroom apartment, significantly more than what most of you are paying on your mortgage for a 3-bedroom, 2 bath house. If we stay in this area, we wouldn't make this a long term solution to housing. But where do you go in a city where housing prices are through the roof? For example, we know of a townhouse in Arlington about 10 minutes from us that recently sold for $450,000. A normal house, nothing fancy, with a small yard would probably sell for close to a million dollars. Living where we are now is not affordable long term on one income, so we'd have to go further out. A lot of people in our church live further out, and if they work in DC, it may take them over an hour to get to work, one way. On the plus side, DC living is never dull. So many interesting people live here that it's easy to meet up with others that share your quirky interests. They've come here to do really neat things, like work at the Justice Department or do contract work for the Pentagon or be a lawyer for the Patent Office. A lot of them love to talk about politics more than they love to talk about sports, and that's a huge plus for David. =) It's a town full of people who love to converse about interesting ideas, political, social, and economic ideas. There is always something going on, and a lot of times, it's free. You can go to hear any of the Armed Forces bands, visit any of the Smithsonians, wander around any of the Memorials, take in any of the numerous festivals on the National Mall, and it won't cost you a penny. That's good, because you may not have many pennies left over after you pay your rent and groceries, but you might not notice because there's always something new to discover. =) Oh, and if you like ethnic food, this is the place to be. Birmingham seemed to have more good, cheap Mexican restaurants, but you can easily find good Indian, Thai, Chinese, Ethiopian, Mongolian, Cuban, Persian, Lebanese, Vietnamese, Korean, etc., etc., food here everywhere for about what it would cost you to go to Applebees. David and I don't eat out much, but when we do, we know we'll find something neat to try. I hope maybe that gave you some small idea of what it's like to live in this area. If you want a better idea of it, come and visit! The couch bed is open, and we'll put a mint on your pillow.