The WMATA is complaining again. I read in the Express this morning that the Metro is short over $400 million dollars to make necessary repairs. How can this be? Didn’t they just hike fares to help cover costs like this? (Seems to me they did. My train fare now costs $1.95 each way during rush hour as opposed to the former $1.65 each way.)

I love that one of the projects is replacing or repairing infrastructure damaged by water. Now, of course I can’t say where they are talking about specifically. But I’ve been around the Metro, and I can tell you that the Rosslyn station leaks constantly. Heck, last week, in the underground portion of the station, there was a major waterfall leaking from the ceiling. Now I laugh at this, because Metro will do what they always do – replace the floor tiles that are all cracked and broken from water getting underneath them, and replace the ceiling. Instead of repairing or replacing the infrastrucuture damaged by the water, how about figuring out why and how the water is getting there in the first place? Then, fix the water issue, and you want HAVE to replace tiles and ceilings on a monthly basis.

So this morning, after 45 minute long, 3 train commute, I got off the escalator and saw it. A sign. And I wondered for the hundredth time why the DC Metro posts signs saying that eating and drinking are not allowed on the Metro or in stations (with a fine of $100). I’ve never once seen the rule enforced, though I’ve seen hundreds of violations.

I looked into it a bit more, and found a PDF from the WMATA stating that it’s hard to enforce minor violations. It is? These violations are worth $100 a pop; the metro is hard up for cash and has plenty of repairs that need to be made. You mean that the five Metro employees I see on any given afternoon loitering the platform at Gallery Place or Metro Center can’t carry a little notebook with them and issue citations? Because really, that’s at least $1000 an hour. I’m sure THAT could help with little repairs here or there. (No disrespect to the Metro employees that actually DO their jobs).

Seems to me if you’re going to make a rule, then you ought to enforce it if you’re going to spend thousands of dollars printing the posters reminding people not to do it.

It seems that there is waste and mismanagement all around. Might be time to wipe the slate clean and start over.

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I am thankful to say as I sit here waiting for my delayed flight that BWI finally has laptop stations. Being as my phone is full, I can not take any pictures, but there are two or three of them at each gate, and they look like bars, complete with round spinning stools.

There are plenty of outlets, as well as USB power sources.

This excited me, because I was getting pretty sick of searching multiple gates to find one outlet, unpacking my latop, and then sitting on the floor while trying to work waiting for my flight.

My flight is delayed due to snowstorms out west, and I’ve been using FlightStats to track it. They’ve told us it would be ten more minutes before it lands, but I know better. I am watching the plane on my little map circle the airport. It will clearly be more than 10 more minutes before it lands. This is fun.

And I could be at a blogger Happy Hour.

After an invite from Asian Mistress, this past Saturday night I went down to the Lincoln Theater on U Street and caught a one night only performance featuring singer Julia Nixon. Julia was promoting the release of her new album, Keepin’ on Track.

For those of you who don’t know, Julia at one point starred as Effie in Dreamgirls on Broadway.

I arrived a few minutes early for the performance, and was able to spend a few minutes at the reception beforehand (open bar!) I had the pleasure of meeting blogger Asian Mistress for the first time, as well as bumping in to Listen to Leon and INPY.

The show was great – Julia has an AMAZING voice. Julia did not sing the music – she was the music. There is nothing that woman couldn’t sing, and with her four octave range, we got quite the sampling of her capabilities. The live band on stage was the perfect complement to her performance, and Julia had a voice that could make you cry. (I must say I did get a bit teary during a few of her numbers.)

Overall, a great performance.

Metro: Columbia Heights, 14th Street North Exit. Walk north one block.

The Good:

• The Eggs Benedict had Hollandaise sauce that was perfect; just the right amount of lemon flavor.
• The bacon was thick, tasty, and crisp.
• The French Toast had thick slices with a cinnamon pecan maple syrup.
• Nice outside seating
• Gorgeous interior
• Good service; attentive waiter

The bad:

• None

Needs Improvement:

• Menu – Looked like great food on the menu, however, needs a bigger selection
• Outside tables – Our table was made for four, however, with four of us sitting there, there was hardly enough room for 4 plates, condiments, drinks, etc.
• No children’s choices.Special thanks to Wes285 for letting me know that The Heights DOES have a children’s menu. Just ask for it!

Price: $$

Overall Rating:

3 Monuments

Good. You won’t worship it, but you won’t hate it either.

Had THE BEST Bleu Cheese Burger in my life this weekend at Colonel Brooks’.

And I didn’t take a picture of it. But here’s the menu.

I’ve never been to this area of DC; never had a reason to, but I did some volunteer work there over the weekend, and a group of us ate here.

The neighborhood varies from block to block, and this tavern seem to come out of nowhere.

The good:

• Great atmosphere. Real “pub” kind of feel. Reminded me of places I’ve been in England.
• THE BEST bleu cheese burger I’ve ever had in my life. I’d love to know where they get their bleu cheese.
• The waitress was very patient with 6 of us trying to split the bill between cash and various credit cards
• Inexpensive

The bad:

• Can’t think of any negatives

Colonel Brooks’ Tavern – 901 Monroe St NE – (202) 529-4002

Overall Rating:

3 Monuments

Good. You won’t worship it, but you won’t hate it either.

Went to Loeb’s for Lunch last week, and have mixed feelings about it.

Here are pictures from lunch:

Loeb’s

BLT on Marble Rye

Sort of Apple Pie

Initial Impression:

Long line.

The good:

• The food was cheap
• We were able to find a place to sit
• The food was decent. My BLT was just that. Nothing lacking. But nothing special.

The Bad:

• Very long line
• They don’t accept credit cards (except Amex), but they have no problem pointing you to an ATM right inside the restaurant. Rather than paying a fee to a merchant account, they’ll get a few bucks out of you for using their ATM.
• Apple pie was gross.

Loeb’s – The Perfect New York Deli Restaurant – 832 15th St. N.W. – (202) 371-1150 – McPherson Metro

Overall Rating:

2 Monuments

Fair…If you have nowhere else to go.

Had lunch at La Tomate -

Shrimp Caesar Salad (Insalata Caesar con Gamberi Grigliati) – $12.95

The Good:

• Nice atmosphere
• Prompt and attentive waitstaff
• Excellent salad – the seasoned shrimp was hot off the grill, and they were huge.

The not so good (I won’t say bad here, because nothing was bad):

• It took quite some time before we received our order (salads). This I was able to fairly easily forgive – I was pleased they didn’t just throw some cold shrimp on top of the salad.

La Tomate  – 1701 Connecticut Ave. NW – 202-667-5506

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Information:

3107 14th Street NW (just north of the Columbia Heights Metro)

Washington DC 20010

(202) 232-2670

The good:

• It’s Starbucks; if you like their coffee and other drinks, then you’re all set.
• The staff at this particular Starbucks has been consistantly friendly during each of my visits.
• They have never gotten my drink wrong.
• The staff does not get all upset if I order my drink “wrong” (i.e. “small”, instead of “grande”); in fact, I was told that it doesn’t really matter at all how I order it; they only use the fancy names when they call it out.
• One of the girls that works there remembers my name and what I like. How’s that for service?
• It seems like every time I am in there, they are giving out free samples of something!

The not so good:

• It is always FREEZING in there. I just want to sit and read the paper while drinking my coffee. But it’s never that “comfortable” temperature.

• The food, such as the sandwiches, are not all that good. This is especially true of the refrigerated type food. The food that they heat up, such as the bacon, egg, and cheese sandwiches are just “ok.”

Why are my hands all black?

You’ve got to love the Metro escalators. When they’re working. Which is sometimes.

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The good:

• Sometimes the escalators work. To be fair, many times they work.

The bad:

• Sometimes the escalators do not work. Sometimes it’s a long walk up.
• Nine times out of ten I wind up with black grease on my fingers from the escalator handrails. Whether they’re working or not. Gross.

I’ve been in Mayorga a few times, but it’s time to write about it.

Mayorga coffee is located at 3303 14th Street NW, Washington DC near the old Tivoli Theater. Pictures of this specific location can be found on Mayorga’s Website.

You can get to Mayorga Coffee by taking the green/yellow Metro lines to the Columbia Heights Metro stop, then walk two blocks north on 14th street.

My pictures:

My drink

One of the sitting areas -

Outlets under almost every seat downstairs!

The good:

• Excellent Coffee. I had a Frozen Caramel Latte, and they make it to order. No premade mix that they just stick in a blender.
• Had a blueberry muffin for breakfast. Large, tasty.
• Free wi-fi
• Power outlets everywhere for you to plug in your laptop.
• Amazing, cozy atmosphere.
• Large flat screen if you’re into just sitting and watching the tube while you relax and eat.

The bad:

• They ran out of butter. No butter on my muffin.