Wednesday, April 30, 2008

you need a working smoke detector

Captain Rick Genest, Commander of Fire Station 10 in Rosslyn, spoke at the RAFOM Civic Association meeting yesterday. He mentioned that his father was a fire fighter in Arlington, so we've got a second-generation Arlington fire fighter commanding our Rosslyn station.

Capt. Genest emphasized the importance of smoke detectors. If you don't have one, buy one. They're cheap. If you can't afford one, you can call Arlington County at 703 228-4659 and they will come and install one for you free of charge.

Extension cords are a major fire risk. In general, don't use them on a permanent basis. If you have an extension cord running under a rug, you've got a serious risk of fire.

If you've got a fire extinguisher that's been sitting around for over a decade, you should replace it. They don't last forever, and can go bad even while showing a "charged" reading.

Arlington has set up a program for registering persons, such as bed-ridden and disabled persons, who need assistance in evacuating in an emergency. See the I sticker program information.

Final note: The RAFOM annual meeting is June 11 at Top of the Town.

Bike to Work Day is May 16

With rising gas prices, there's never been a better time to get some exercise and enjoy the outdoors by riding your bike to work. Bike to Work Day is Friday, May 16. There's a meeting point (pit stop) right here in Rosslyn at the Gateway Park. The pit stop will offer music, snacks, and a chance to meet with other bike commuters. Here's a video of last year's action at the Rosslyn pit stop. Just do it -- sign up now!

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

Westmoreland Terrace Condo Annual Meeting

At the Condominium Association's annual meeting on April 28, Clayton Taylor was newly elected to the Board, and Condo Association President Jose Calvo was re-elected to a new 3-year term on the Board.

The Board noted the 5% condo fee increase, described the financial situation as healthy, and outlined plans for roof and facade repairs in the coming year. Roof repair will start with the 1336 building.

The Zalco after-hours emergency number is 301 585-0088, and is listed on the front door of the Manager's Office.

Residents expressed an interest in having the opportunity to receive electronically minutes from Condo Association meetings. I offered to post on this blog minutes emailed to me. I also offered to set up a group to distribute the minutes by email to interested residents. A Board member suggested that meeting announcements could include an indication of what was to be discussed in the meeting, which might help attracted more residents to meeting. I also offered to distribute such meeting announcements through the email group. The Board seemed lukewarm about this proposal, for reasons that are not clear. Helping to keep residents informed should be an important goal of the Board. Moreover, these proposals require very little work to implement.

Installation of Fios is not imminent, but a contract is under consideration. The Board still does not know whether the proposed contract provides an exclusive right to Verizon to install optical fiber (which is different from coax cable) in Westmoreland Terrace buildings. Dennis Freeman, the property manager, said that he would check into this.

Meeting attendance: 3 Board members, 7 other residents.

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Lotus sports car

If you're into Lotus hardware, check out the Lotus Europa Twin Cam in the front parking lot of Arlington Motor Car Service. It appears to be a 1973 Europa Twin Cam John Player Special. According to the Wikipedia entry on the Lotus Europa:
The car's handling prompted automotive writers to describe the Europa as the nearest thing to a Formula [racing] car for the road.





A Lotus Europa was the Farr family runabout car for a few years. Hmm, I wonder what the Farr family used when they really needed to get somewhere quickly.

Sunday, April 20, 2008

wonderfully good neighbor

This past Saturday afternoon in Colmar Manor (northeast of DC, in Prince George County, just over the DC line) I was trying to figure out how I had gone wrong on my way to the National Arboretum. The woman in the glass-enclosed cashier booth at the gas station didn't sell maps, but she passed under the window a map that she had in the booth. Unfortunately, it wasn't detailed enough to help.

So I asked a woman walking up to pay for gas if she knew how to get to the National Arboretum. She gave me detailed directions. They didn't involve streets I knew, had been on, or remembered from the directions I had (poorly) read to get to the Arboretum. I told her that I was following directions and figured I had just made one wrong turn. I asked her if she was sure she knew where the National Arboretum was. She told me that she had lived in the area for twenty years and knew where the National Arboretum is. She wasn't even offended by my question.

She asked if would I like her to lead me there. She explained that she was going home to sleep, because she had to work that evening, and that she had time to take me there. I felt very bad. I said that I didn't want to take away from the time she had to sleep. She said that she wasn't going to be able to go to sleep until her sons came home from work, so she had time to take me there. She then led me in her car a couple miles back to the National Arboretum.

The National Arboretum was beautiful on that sunny Saturday afternoon. But not as beautiful as the tired, hard-working woman who led me there.

Sunday, April 6, 2008

great dentist

Here at the Ode Street Tribune, I want to bring you good news. My dentist is Steven R. Johnson. If you need to go to the dentist, I highly recommend him. His dental practice is good news.

What I like about Dr. Johnson and his practice:

1. I have complete confidence in Dr. Johnson's integrity in diagnosing and treating my dental situation in light of my treatment preferences. The friend who recommended Dr. Johnson to me went to Dr. Johnson after having been subject at his previous dentist to what he judged to be unnecessary dental work. I came to Dr. Johnson seeking a second opinion after being told by another dentist that I needed four "caps" (four dental crowns; cost, about $5000). From Dr. Johnson's evaluation, I learned that four caps was a reasonable treatment approach for my situation. However, I prefer a "if it's not broke don't fix it" approach to dental work. Dr. Johnson clearly and factually communicated to me the trade-offs in doing two caps and two fillings rather than four caps. I decided to go with the former option. I am happy to have had the opportunity to make an informed, reasonable treatment choice, and I'm happy with the treatment results.

2. Dr. Johnson is smart and up-to-date with dental technology and knowledge. He mentioned to me that he had bought an expensive CAD/CAM machine for in-office milling of ceramic crowns, but he never used it in practice because he wasn't satisfied with its precision. That indicates to me that he not only is aware of new dental developments, but critically evaluates them with respect to their benefits to his patients. His office is newly renovated (and includes fun gaming consoles for kids in the waiting room), and all his equipment looks new. Of course looks are a crude way of evaluating equipment. But I remember going to a dentist in the early nineties and receiving a full-jaw x-ray from a machine that looked like it was twenty-years old. I credit those x-rays for all the fine thinking I've done since then. But, all in all, I would prefer to have a newer machine aiming x-rays at my head.

3. The dental assistants at Dr. Johnson's office are friendly, sympathetic, professional, and do good work. When you're gagging on an upper jaw mold, it's good to know that the person making the mold is keeping an eye on you and will not let you suffocate. You count on dental assistants to get a lot of tasks right. You can count on Dr. Johnson's team to work as a team and get things right.

4. Dr. Johnson's office is exceptionally well run. You actually see the doctor at your appointment time; you don't spend a half-hour or more after the appointment time waiting in the waiting room. Of course, a big problem for doctors in scheduling is probably that many patients show up late, at the wrong time, or not at all. Dr. Johnson's office calls me a few days before an appointment to remind me of the appointment and to ask me to confirm the appointment. I would guess that they do that for all their patients. I also guess that these reminders help to explain why their appointment schedule seems to work so well.

5. Dr. Johnson's office handles insurance claims efficiently. I've got general health insurance, dental insurance, and a health expenditure savings account. It's a potential paperwork nightmare. Dr. Johnson's office has always accurately reviewed my coverage to tell me what's covered and correctly submitted claims.

Having Dr. Johnson as a dentist is good news. I'm sure there's a lot of other good news around Arlington, northern Virginia, the DC area, the U.S., and the whole world. Let's start hearing more of it!