New Clarendon Cycles piece up at the Clarendon Patch about getting to National airport on your bike. It really is a fantastic way to get there for weekend/quick trips. And so long as your return flight doesn’t drop you back at DCA in the middle of rush hour, you can always punk out and return via Metro if you find yourself not really feeling like riding home.
It started out early last year. A friend suggested that I think about joining him (and a couple other guys) in an attempt to ascend Kilimanjaro. Getting a view of Africa from 5,895 metres/19,336 feet? Who *wouldn’t* want to do that? As exciting as the idea was, though, I just couldn’t make it work in the planned timeframe. So it was with no small amount of jealousy that I followed along with the planning as I helped out with some of the provisioning over the year (they’re based in Dubai, which is sadly short of excellent stores like Casual Adventure and REI).
Then in October, one of the original crew fell ill and the trip got pushed off to February. I let it roll around in my head for a while, and by the time we were in December, I knew I couldn’t skip this. So I signed on, and from there the trip snowballed. What started out as an in-and-out summit attempt with a few people turned into a six person Kilimanjaro expedition. Then (assuming no one died or otherwise did something inconvenient), we’d head to Zanzibar – adding a few more adults and children – for some rest and recovery. And since it was on the way home, why not hit Addis Ababa for a few days?
So that was the plan for my February. Interested in how it worked out? The first of several installments is on the other side of the jump.
A few months ago, I decided to join a very good friend’s long-planned attempt to ascend Kilimanjaro. A few days ago, I got back from that attempt. So now I’m going to try and tell the story.
Not that there’s been much action here lately, but there’s going to be something of a gap. I’m hoping I can occaisionally update via phone from the road. If not, back in a few weeks …
Back in December of 2007, I posted about a proposed settlement for the Credit Card Foreign Transaction Fee class action suit. Members of the class had three options for recovery:
Despite having have spent a substantial amount via credit cards in foreign currency over the years, I ended up just going for option 2. It just involved flipping through my passport and copying over the dates onto the claim form. As I noted in the comments to the original post, it had to be worth something, right? Well, almost 4 years later, I got my check.
$18.04.
I should have gone with Option A, eh?
(Also, if you submitted a claim? Watch your mail closely. It doesn’t look like a check at all. I nearly threw this one out.)
Talvin Singh, again:
I came to Talvin Singh via Flight IC408.
It’s a staple, now.
I was terribly annoyed with Facebook, the other day, when it rejected my description for “Hometown” (Western Hemisphere, if you’re wondering). If I had to fill in one place, Fulda would compete for that spot:
Really a wonderful little town. Went back in 2002. And will again.
As part of an oversight hearing in which the TSA was (quite properly) criticized for a wide array of wrong steps and misguided policies, Sen. Leahy (D-VT) revealed himself as someone who appreciates the right to take photos:
Leahy, an amateur photographer, also faulted TSA workers for telling travelers they can’t photograph checkpoints—including when they see a well-known senator being put through the process.
“I do provide amusement for people taking cell phone pictures of me until the TSA agent tells them there’s a law against taking photographs [of checkpoints]. Of course, there is no such law,” groused Leahy, who as Judiciary Committee chairman ought to know. “Maybe you’ll miss your plane because they’re annoyed that you want to protect your rights.”
Keep at it, Sen. Leahy.
