It doesn't happen often, but I am occasionally surprised to meet a stranger who says, "Hey, I read your blog!" I recently had a fellow Navy officer come to my office for a meeting, and he recognized one of the framed pictures over my desk that was also posted on my blog. He told me when he received orders to PCS to the Pentagon, one of the Navy officers in his new office sent him an email with a link to my "Pentagon Gouge." Wow! I'm honored to be included in the unofficial Pentagon welcome aboard packet, and glad to know some have found the information I've shared here to be useful.
That gave me a nudge that I should get back in the habit of sharing things on my blog that may be of use to folks working in the Pentagon or the National Capital Region in general.
To that end, please tell me (comment or email), how do you keep up on your blog reading? For me, I used to have a long list of blogs I read on Google Reader. I was out at sea when Google Reader went away, and I just never recovered or reconstituted any means of keeping up to date on all the blogs I used to read. How do you do it? I know I keep up to date on a lot of things via Facebook. Maybe I should change this into a Facebook page. What do you think?
Showing posts with label DC gouge. Show all posts
Showing posts with label DC gouge. Show all posts
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Saturday, August 30, 2014
DC Car Free Day!
Hey folks, if you are in the DC area, Car Free Day is Monday, 22 September. If you go to the website and pledge not to use your car that day, you could win a Kindle Fire or other prizes. Even if you don't normally use your car to commute to work, you can still pledge to go car free that day.
Also, I know it's been a while since I posted about this before. I've met a few people recently who were new to the DC area and were not aware of the Guaranteed Ride Home program.
In order to encourage people to use public transit in the DC area, you can register for the Guaranteed Ride Home. If you have some sort of a family emergency an you need to go home during the middle of the day, they will pay your cab fare to go home up to 4 times per year.
I used it. It works. One day, one of my kids was sick at school and needed to be picked up and my wife was out of the area. I called the Guaranteed Ride Home program and there was a taxi at my doorstep within 10 minutes. It drove me from Crystal City all the way home to Ashburn and I signed a slip for the $70 cab fare and didn't pay a dime.
It's FREE! If you live in the DC area and use public transit to get to work, SIGN UP!
Also, I know it's been a while since I posted about this before. I've met a few people recently who were new to the DC area and were not aware of the Guaranteed Ride Home program.
In order to encourage people to use public transit in the DC area, you can register for the Guaranteed Ride Home. If you have some sort of a family emergency an you need to go home during the middle of the day, they will pay your cab fare to go home up to 4 times per year.
I used it. It works. One day, one of my kids was sick at school and needed to be picked up and my wife was out of the area. I called the Guaranteed Ride Home program and there was a taxi at my doorstep within 10 minutes. It drove me from Crystal City all the way home to Ashburn and I signed a slip for the $70 cab fare and didn't pay a dime.
It's FREE! If you live in the DC area and use public transit to get to work, SIGN UP!
Wednesday, December 4, 2013
DC Gouge: Antietam Luminaries
Hey folks,
Once a year in December, the National Park Service puts luminaries out across the Antietam National Battlefield - one luminary for each of the 23,000 soldiers killed at the battle. You stay in your car and just drive the tour route through the battlefield. It's happening this Saturday, 7 December. You can find out more information at the National Park Service website: http://www.nps.gov/anti/planyourvisit/luminary.htm
Friday, November 29, 2013
Mass Transit Benefits go DOWN in January
Heads-Up!
One of the nice things about working for the federal government in the DC area is they pay you to use mass transit, and they automatically deposit it to your Metro SmarTrip Card each month.
If you're using the National Capital Region (NCR) Mass Transit Benefit Program (MTBP), then plan to pay more money out of your pocket since the benefits go DOWN in January.
One of my coworkers received this email warning from MTBP. I'm not sure why I didn't receive it since I normally get the MTBP announcement emails, but here it is:
If you're using the National Capital Region (NCR) Mass Transit Benefit Program (MTBP), then plan to pay more money out of your pocket since the benefits go DOWN in January.
One of my coworkers received this email warning from MTBP. I'm not sure why I didn't receive it since I normally get the MTBP announcement emails, but here it is:
NOTICE: The maximum monthly statutory limit for transit benefits is set to decrease from $245 to $130 in 2014
Attention MTBP participants,
WHAT?
In January 2013, the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 (H.R.8) temporarily raised the transit benefit statutory limit to $245 per month. This new amount was not intended to be permanent and expires at the end of 2013.
Unless a new statutory limit is approved by Congress, the statutory limit will decrease to $130 per month starting January 1, 2014. Source: IRS Revenue Procedures (rp-13-35)
Congress may still act to extend the limit above $130, but at this time agencies must proceed with what the law states as the maximum tax exempt mass transit subsidy limit. Any updates will be posted at the MTBP website ( http://www.whs.mil/MTBP/ )
Friday, September 13, 2013
DC Events and Pentagon Gouge Update
Here are a few upcoming events for the National Capital Region and some gouge on the uniform shop and ITT down below:
Navy Uniform Shop. Speaking of uniforms, I just discovered that the old Navy Annex is GONE, flat, bulldozed, non-existent. I asked around what happened to the uniform shop. They've actually put the NAVY uniform shop in a trailer just inside the gate to Henderson Hall, and it's pretty darn convenient. It used to be you had to fight for parking, walk all the way up to go through security to get into the Navy Annex, then go exploring waaaaaay down into the farthest reaches of the Navy Annex basement to get to the uniform shop. Now, there's parking right smack in front of this stand-alone trailer, and no security to get through (other than showing your ID at the gate to Henderson Hall).
ITT. Looking to buy tickets for something? There are ITT offices at the Marine Corps Exchange, right next to the package store, and there is one at the Washington Navy Yard (WNY) inside where the food court is (across the street / behind Naval Reactors). There is an Air Force ITT in the Pentagon on the 5th Deck, E-Ring... It's over amongst all the cool Air Force paintings. I think that's somewhere in the 9th to 10th corridor area.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Update on Pentagon Tours
This is an update to my previous post on Pentagon Tours.
Most hallways of the Pentagon have some sort of historic or current operations museum-type of exhibit. Many of the A-ring hallways are museums in and of themselves. Me being the type of person who likes to read each and every word of every display in a museum, it would take me a loooooooong time to get through all the Pentagon exhibits have to offer.
The official Pentagon tours are excellent, but you have to sign up weeks in advance, and they are only offered Monday through Friday. Given there are about 25,000 people working in the Pentagon, chances are there are a few more people out there like me who want to give a tour to visiting family and friends on a weekend. If you need to give a tour yourself, you can download a PDF of a self-guided tour from the Pentagon Tours website.
However, the official tour route doesn't go to a couple of spots I highly recommend like the Pentagon Building History (2nd corridor, 3rd floor) and the Army's Living History Exhibit (2nd floor, E-Ring between the 6th and 7th corridors). Because the Metro entrance is closed on the weekends, you have to bring your weekend visitors in through North Parking or through the 2nd Corridor entrance. As a result, I made my own tour-route, which I will list below for anybody else who is interested.
Before I describe the tour route, I want to tell you about two other things I did (and recommend doing) to prepare for a weekend tour.
First, go follow one of the official tour groups around on a weekday. You don't have to sign up or anything - you've got a Pentagon badge, just loiter at the back of the official tour group. The tour guides have a fairly set script they follow, but they have a LOT of interesting tidbits of information they use to keep people's interest as they walk their route, and they've put a lot of thought and effort into what sequence to cover what. You will get a lot of useful ideas of things to talk about with your tour group that you wouldn't get from just reading the PDF file Self-Guided Tour brochure.
Second, I made a scavenger hunt list of things for the five kids in my tour group to find. I told them they had to write down the first three digits of the nearest office address (like "3A5xx" for the 3rd floor A ring 5th corridor) for where they found each item, so I knew they really found it and didn't just cross it off the list.
Since the Pentagon Gift Shop is also CLOSED on the weekends, I went to the gift shop ahead of time and got some little things like hats, magnets, stickers, or pins. When we finished with the D-Day paintings, I had them turn in their scavenger hunt sheets to me, and I gave them an oral quiz on some facts about the Pentagon to see what they had learned. In return for completing the scavenger hunt and passing "the quiz," I gave them each a "prize" (one of the things I had picked up in the Pentagon gift shop earlier that week). From there, we headed back to the 2nd corridor entrance to go back out to South Parking.
In order to help plan my route and to be able to find specific exhibits quickly, I made my own map of the exhibits in each hallway. I have NOT finished mapping it all yet, but I have all the A-ring hallways mapped plus a few of the interesting corridors and the Army Living History exhibit.
Blunoz's Weekend Pentagon Tour Route
Given those constraints, I came up with my own tour path that went like this:
- Parked in South Parking, visited the Pentagon Memorial
- Enter 2nd Corridor Entrance (use restrooms there if necessary depending on how long your drive to the Pentagon was or how long you were at the Pentagon Memorial).
- Take elevator or stairs up to 3rd floor (remember - escalators are turned off on weekends)
- Pentagon Building History exhibit (3rd floor, 2nd corridor). I put together some notes to talk about the history of how the Pentagon got its shape and comparing its size to other things. I am happy to email you the powerpoint slides I made, just send me an email.
- At A-ring, turn right into NORAD hallway and go up escalator (walking up them like stairs) to 4th floor.
- USAF Aces exhibit (4th floor, A-ring between 1st and 10th corridor)
- USAF History and models (4th floor, A-ring between 9th and 8th corridor)
- U.S. Coast Guard history (4th floor, A-ring first half of hallway between 7th and 6th corridor)
- Naval Aviation history (4th floor, A-ring second half of hallway between 7th and 6th corridor)
- Down the stairs to 3rd floor. Here at the 5-6 Apex you can take a side excursion down the POW/MIA hallway (3rd floor, A-ring from 6th to 7th corridor) and then back again, or continue onward.
- MacArthur exhibit (3rd floor, A-ring between 5th and 4th corridor)
- Down the stairs to the 2nd floor.
- Soldier Signers of the Declaration of Independence (2nd floor, 4th corridor)
- Out at the E-Ring, take the stairs or elevator down to the 1st floor.
- 9-11 Memorial Chapel (end of 4th corridor on 1st floor)
- 9-11 Memorial Quilts (1st floor, 4th corridor) back to the A-ring then left into
- Eisenhower Exhibit (1st floor, A-ring from 4th to 5th corridor).
- Women in the Military exhibit (1st floor, A-ring from 6th to 7th corridor)
- Up the stairs to the 2nd floor.
- Go out the 7th corridor to the E-ring.
- Army Living History Exhibit (2nd floor, E-ring from 7th to 6th corridor)
- Continue along the E-ring past the 6th corridor to see something pretty cool. You can't miss it.
- Turn around, go back to the 6th corridor and out to the A-ring
- Disaster Relief Exhibit (2nd floor, A-ring from 6th to 7th corridor)
- ANZUS exhibit (2nd floor, A-ring from 8th to 9th corridor)
- Out the 10th corridor and make a U-turn to the left by the Hall of Heroes in order to see the D-Day Paintings in the ramp going up to the 3rd floor.
So you COULD take the route recommended in the Pentagon Self-Guided Tour brochure, and it would be shorter. You COULD take the route I developed and listed above that'll go to more of the exhibits. Or, you COULD make up your own route using my map up above.
Most hallways of the Pentagon have some sort of historic or current operations museum-type of exhibit. Many of the A-ring hallways are museums in and of themselves. Me being the type of person who likes to read each and every word of every display in a museum, it would take me a loooooooong time to get through all the Pentagon exhibits have to offer.
However, the official tour route doesn't go to a couple of spots I highly recommend like the Pentagon Building History (2nd corridor, 3rd floor) and the Army's Living History Exhibit (2nd floor, E-Ring between the 6th and 7th corridors). Because the Metro entrance is closed on the weekends, you have to bring your weekend visitors in through North Parking or through the 2nd Corridor entrance. As a result, I made my own tour-route, which I will list below for anybody else who is interested.
Before I describe the tour route, I want to tell you about two other things I did (and recommend doing) to prepare for a weekend tour.
First, go follow one of the official tour groups around on a weekday. You don't have to sign up or anything - you've got a Pentagon badge, just loiter at the back of the official tour group. The tour guides have a fairly set script they follow, but they have a LOT of interesting tidbits of information they use to keep people's interest as they walk their route, and they've put a lot of thought and effort into what sequence to cover what. You will get a lot of useful ideas of things to talk about with your tour group that you wouldn't get from just reading the PDF file Self-Guided Tour brochure.
Second, I made a scavenger hunt list of things for the five kids in my tour group to find. I told them they had to write down the first three digits of the nearest office address (like "3A5xx" for the 3rd floor A ring 5th corridor) for where they found each item, so I knew they really found it and didn't just cross it off the list.
Scavenger Hunt List
Aside: The hardest one for my group to find was a red lightning bolt. If you need help finding anything on the list, send me an email. There are at least two red lightning bolts, but they're very small and hidden in big paintings.
Since the Pentagon Gift Shop is also CLOSED on the weekends, I went to the gift shop ahead of time and got some little things like hats, magnets, stickers, or pins. When we finished with the D-Day paintings, I had them turn in their scavenger hunt sheets to me, and I gave them an oral quiz on some facts about the Pentagon to see what they had learned. In return for completing the scavenger hunt and passing "the quiz," I gave them each a "prize" (one of the things I had picked up in the Pentagon gift shop earlier that week). From there, we headed back to the 2nd corridor entrance to go back out to South Parking.
In order to help plan my route and to be able to find specific exhibits quickly, I made my own map of the exhibits in each hallway. I have NOT finished mapping it all yet, but I have all the A-ring hallways mapped plus a few of the interesting corridors and the Army Living History exhibit.
Click on image to enlarge.
Blunoz's Weekend Pentagon Tour Route
Given those constraints, I came up with my own tour path that went like this:
- Parked in South Parking, visited the Pentagon Memorial
- Enter 2nd Corridor Entrance (use restrooms there if necessary depending on how long your drive to the Pentagon was or how long you were at the Pentagon Memorial).
- Take elevator or stairs up to 3rd floor (remember - escalators are turned off on weekends)
- Pentagon Building History exhibit (3rd floor, 2nd corridor). I put together some notes to talk about the history of how the Pentagon got its shape and comparing its size to other things. I am happy to email you the powerpoint slides I made, just send me an email.
- At A-ring, turn right into NORAD hallway and go up escalator (walking up them like stairs) to 4th floor.
- USAF Aces exhibit (4th floor, A-ring between 1st and 10th corridor)
- USAF History and models (4th floor, A-ring between 9th and 8th corridor)
- U.S. Coast Guard history (4th floor, A-ring first half of hallway between 7th and 6th corridor)
- Naval Aviation history (4th floor, A-ring second half of hallway between 7th and 6th corridor)
- Down the stairs to 3rd floor. Here at the 5-6 Apex you can take a side excursion down the POW/MIA hallway (3rd floor, A-ring from 6th to 7th corridor) and then back again, or continue onward.
- MacArthur exhibit (3rd floor, A-ring between 5th and 4th corridor)
- Down the stairs to the 2nd floor.
- Soldier Signers of the Declaration of Independence (2nd floor, 4th corridor)
- Out at the E-Ring, take the stairs or elevator down to the 1st floor.
- 9-11 Memorial Chapel (end of 4th corridor on 1st floor)
- 9-11 Memorial Quilts (1st floor, 4th corridor) back to the A-ring then left into
- Eisenhower Exhibit (1st floor, A-ring from 4th to 5th corridor).
- Women in the Military exhibit (1st floor, A-ring from 6th to 7th corridor)
- Up the stairs to the 2nd floor.
- Go out the 7th corridor to the E-ring.
- Army Living History Exhibit (2nd floor, E-ring from 7th to 6th corridor)
- Continue along the E-ring past the 6th corridor to see something pretty cool. You can't miss it.
- Turn around, go back to the 6th corridor and out to the A-ring
- Disaster Relief Exhibit (2nd floor, A-ring from 6th to 7th corridor)
- ANZUS exhibit (2nd floor, A-ring from 8th to 9th corridor)
- Out the 10th corridor and make a U-turn to the left by the Hall of Heroes in order to see the D-Day Paintings in the ramp going up to the 3rd floor.
So you COULD take the route recommended in the Pentagon Self-Guided Tour brochure, and it would be shorter. You COULD take the route I developed and listed above that'll go to more of the exhibits. Or, you COULD make up your own route using my map up above.
Thursday, June 9, 2011
DC Gouge: New Submarine Exhibit Opening at Navy Museum
If you're in DC and you've never been to the Navy Museum at the Washington Navy Yard, then I highly recommend checking it out.
My youngest son on the periscope in the Navy Museum
Soon there will be even more cool stuff to see at the museum. I just received this from the DC Naval Submarine League:
The submarine exhibit “Covert Submarine Operations” will be dedicated by the Naval Historical Foundation on Saturday, 18 June at the Washington Navy Yard Museum. The event is open to all connected with the Submarine Force and Naval Submarine League. The attached invitation (email me if you want a copy of the invite) provides the details and a map of the WNY with directions to the Cold War Gallery museum. Spouse/friends are included in the invitation.
(Event is past - so I removed the RSVP data)
The exhibit contains most of the artifacts from the Smithsonian’s “Fast Attack and Boomers” exhibit that was opened in 2000 as part of the Submarine Force Centennial celebration and is the first major exhibit in the Museum’s new Cold War Gallery.
If I were still in DC, then I know where I would be going next Saturday!
Friday, December 24, 2010
National Museum of the Marine Corps
The exterior invokes the image of the Marines raising the flag over Iwo Jima.
My youngest son under the F-4 Corsair
The museum is very well organized to take you through a chronological series of exhibits on everything from the Revolution through the War of 1812, the Mexian War, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, World War I and II, the Korean War, Vietnam and the Cold War.
There was a LOT to see. The exhibits were very high-tech, interactive multi-media type displays.
Then there was some goofy fun, too.
Amphibious landing craft used in the landings at Tarawa.
Bob and I especially enjoyed the World War II exhibit since we just finished watching The Pacific. It was great to see some pictures of the real Marines who were portrayed in the HBO series, and videos of interviews with them, too.
The first US flag flown over Mt. Suribachi, Iwo Jima.
In the Korean War section, we walked through a life-size diorama of the Chosin Reservoir with gunfire and mortars going off, tracers flying by, and they have the temperature in that room cranked down so you feel like you're freezing your butt off at the Chosin Reservoir.
The boys running down the ramp of the CH-46 into Vietnam.
You enter the Vietnam section through the fuselage of a CH-46 helicopter. The inside of the helicopter really SMELLS like a military helicopter. While in the helicopter, you listen to some radio dialogue between the pilot and the ground forces about landing in a hot LZ. Then you run down the ramp into the diorama of Vietnam, and it's HOT and HUMID and there's a battle raging around you.
Harrier and helo
I was impressed to see so many Medals of Honor on display here. Since it's illegal to reproduce or sell a Medal of Honor, you know the ones on display here in the museum are the real thing donated by the families of the brave Marines who earned them.
We arrived about 1 p.m., and they kicked us out at closing time at 5 p.m. We had to drag the boys out against their will. They were busy doing some interactive team problem-solving game when I had to drag them out because the museum was closing.
Two peas in a pod.
The National Museum of the Marine Corps is essentially a museum of American History. In every conflict our nation has ever fought, the Marines have been there and done that. This was an extraordinarily good museum and a fun time for all of us.
To top it all off, it's FREE! And when I say free, I'm not saying Smithsonian it's-free-but-you've-gotta-pay-$14-to-park "free" (like the Udvar Hazy Center). This is really no kidding FREE.
Don't forget to check out the Lego Sculpture in the Gift Shop!
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Bike Log: C&O Canal Tow Path
This post is time-late. I started to write it and had troubles getting Blogger to upload photos, and I didn't get around to finish it until now.
My life has been pretty busy lately and I obviously haven't had much time for blogging. I'm in the midst of going through a series of fairly intense Navy schools. I was fortunate enough to have a week off between schools though, and I put the time to good use getting several errands run and projects done around the house.
On the Thursday of my week off (just after Labor Day), my friend Bob and I went for a 20 mile bike ride on the C&O Canal Tow Path, and it was awesome.
You may recall last year, Bob and I rode our bikes 13 miles from Point of Rocks, MD down to White's Ferry. This time, we started from the same spot under the Rt. 15 bridge at Point of Rocks, but we rode 10 miles upstream toward Harpers Ferry. Then we turned around and came back with a stop in Brunswick, MD for an awesome lunch at El Sloppy Tacos.
Starting off under the Rt. 15 bridge
at Point of Rocks, MD
On the C&O Canal Tow Path
Lock 29 and the Lock House
We passed the remnants of the Catoctin Aqueduct.
My life has been pretty busy lately and I obviously haven't had much time for blogging. I'm in the midst of going through a series of fairly intense Navy schools. I was fortunate enough to have a week off between schools though, and I put the time to good use getting several errands run and projects done around the house.
On the Thursday of my week off (just after Labor Day), my friend Bob and I went for a 20 mile bike ride on the C&O Canal Tow Path, and it was awesome.
You may recall last year, Bob and I rode our bikes 13 miles from Point of Rocks, MD down to White's Ferry. This time, we started from the same spot under the Rt. 15 bridge at Point of Rocks, but we rode 10 miles upstream toward Harpers Ferry. Then we turned around and came back with a stop in Brunswick, MD for an awesome lunch at El Sloppy Tacos.
Starting off under the Rt. 15 bridgeat Point of Rocks, MD
On the C&O Canal Tow Path
Lock 29 and the Lock HouseWe passed Locks 28, 29, and 30 along the way. It was interesting to see signs at various places showing how high previous floods had risen. One flood, I think it was in 1996, brought the water level of the Potomac River up to the second floor of that lock house above.
We passed the remnants of the Catoctin Aqueduct.This beautiful stone arch structure was originally built in 1832-1834 and was one of 11 stone aqueducts along the C&O Canal (such as the very nicely restored Monocacy River Aqueduct).
It collapsed back in 1973, but they salvaged the old stones from the Catoctin Creek and are raising funds to rebuild it to look exactly like it was with the original stones. If you want to sponsor one of the stones, then you can visit their adopt-a-stone website.
Of course, I had to stop and take pictures of flowers here and there. This was my favorite flower photo of the day. I am having trouble identifying the flower in my book though. Anybody able to help name this one?
Update 10/21/2010: According to the Virginia Tech weed identification guide, this is a Wingstem flower (verbesina alternifolia).
We turned around when we got 10 miles from Point of Rocks. It just happened to be exactly where the Appalachian Trail joins the C&O Canal Tow Path just shy of Harpers Ferry, WV.
On our way back, we stopped at El Sloppy Taco in Brunswick, MD. On a previous trip through town, my friend Bob had noticed this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint and immediately thought of me. Not sure why he would think of me, but... Anyway, it had pretty good reviews on Yelp. Being the Mexican food addict connoisseur that I am, I must say that was a darn good tinga poblano burrito.
A glimpse of the Point of Rocks Bridge over the Potomac River on our way back.
Trip Stats
20.1 miles
Moving Time 2 hrs 35 min
Stopped Time 30 min 52 sec
Moving Average 7.8 mph
I turned off the GPS while we were eating lunch in Brunswick. Unfortunately, that broke my Garmin Connect download into two separate trips. This is my primary gripe against Garmin Connect: It won't let you edit the data to combine two data sets into one trip or to delete data off the end of a trip when I forget to stop and turn off the GPS. Oh well.
So this was the first part going up until lunch...
...and this was the second part from lunch back to Point of Rocks.
Overall, it was another awesome day out riding. As we prepare for the moving truck to come and yet another PCS move takes us away from NoVA, I will miss the awesome hiking, biking, and kayaking we've been able to enjoy here.
It collapsed back in 1973, but they salvaged the old stones from the Catoctin Creek and are raising funds to rebuild it to look exactly like it was with the original stones. If you want to sponsor one of the stones, then you can visit their adopt-a-stone website.
Of course, I had to stop and take pictures of flowers here and there. This was my favorite flower photo of the day. Update 10/21/2010: According to the Virginia Tech weed identification guide, this is a Wingstem flower (verbesina alternifolia).
We turned around when we got 10 miles from Point of Rocks. It just happened to be exactly where the Appalachian Trail joins the C&O Canal Tow Path just shy of Harpers Ferry, WV.
On our way back, we stopped at El Sloppy Taco in Brunswick, MD. On a previous trip through town, my friend Bob had noticed this little hole-in-the-wall Mexican joint and immediately thought of me. Not sure why he would think of me, but... Anyway, it had pretty good reviews on Yelp. Being the Mexican food 
A glimpse of the Point of Rocks Bridge over the Potomac River on our way back.
Trip Stats20.1 miles
Moving Time 2 hrs 35 min
Stopped Time 30 min 52 sec
Moving Average 7.8 mph
I turned off the GPS while we were eating lunch in Brunswick. Unfortunately, that broke my Garmin Connect download into two separate trips. This is my primary gripe against Garmin Connect: It won't let you edit the data to combine two data sets into one trip or to delete data off the end of a trip when I forget to stop and turn off the GPS. Oh well.
So this was the first part going up until lunch...
...and this was the second part from lunch back to Point of Rocks.
Overall, it was another awesome day out riding. As we prepare for the moving truck to come and yet another PCS move takes us away from NoVA, I will miss the awesome hiking, biking, and kayaking we've been able to enjoy here.
Monday, August 30, 2010
DC Car Free Day
Heads-up! DC Car Free Day is Wednesday, 22 September 2010.
Like last year, if you pledge on the website that you will not use your car that day, then you will be entered for some free prizes. I won a $10 gift card to our local bike store last year.
It's okay if you already use public transit or bicycle to ride to work. You can still pledge that you won't use your car that day and enter to win the free stuff.
If you check out the DC Car Free Day Facebook Page, you can find other useful information. For instance, Bike and Roll is offering FREE BIKE RENTALS that day. Check it out!
Thursday, August 12, 2010
Pentagon Gouge: PCS Check-Out
Tuesday was my last official day of walking the halls of the Pentagon as I rushed by many offices to finish my PCS check-out sheets. Just like the check-in process, I had three separate check-OUT sheets: one for the OPNAV Staff Support office, one for the N-code Secretariat, and one for my specific office. I was able to knock out almost all of the administrative stuff in a day speed-walking around the Pentagon and Crystal City.
Here are a few pointers for anyone else in the audience following in my footsteps and PCSing out of the National Capital Region and back to sea duty again (nudge nudge wink wink - you know who you are):
1. Don't wait for PSD to send you a transfer package. It required an active ping from me to get them to send me my transfer package a week before I detached. The OPNAV Support office will tell you who your transfer clerk is over at PSD Anacostia. If you call your transfer clerk, he/she will email you your transfer package so you don't have to drive over to Anacostia to pick it up.
2. The transfer clerk will tell you that you have to submit the ENTIRE completed package or it won't be approved / endorsed by PSD. Pages that aren't applicable need to have an N/A written on them and the sheet returned. This would not be a big deal if you received the transfer package more than 5 business days before your detaching date. As it was, the first day I had the transfer package in my hands, I had everything completed and ready to turn in except for one thing...
3. The "longest pole in the tent" for completing my transfer package was the medical and dental Sea Duty Screening. In hindsight, I could have gotten ahead of this even before I received my transfer package. I recommend starting this part of your PCS early.
I went to NNMC Bethesda to get my Sea Duty Screening done. I don't have any data to suggest the Army DiLorenzo Clinic at the Pentagon wouldn't be able to properly complete a Navy Sea Duty Screening. However, the Medical Readiness office at NNMC Bethesda is in the business of doing Sea Duty and Overseas Duty screenings. It's their raison d'etre. As I've mentioned before, I have been pleased each time I have gone there to get my Physical Health Assessment (PHA), and I continue to be impressed with how smoothly they completed my Sea Duty Screening.
Even with the friendly and professional staff in the Medical Readiness office, there were a few things that took some time that I wish I had done sooner.
- PPD. I learned something new. PPD tests are only required once every 3 years... UNLESS you are transferring to Sea Duty. If you are transferring to Sea Duty, then you must have one within the last year.
Doh.
Poke me in the arm and come back 48 hours later to have the corpsman verify I didn't react.
- HIV. You have to have an HIV test within the last year prior to transfer. It takes them 2 weeks to analyze the results.
- Dental. As you know, the Navy shifted to this strategy where you have your annual dental check-up and your PHA done in your birth month, which for me is in September. Low and behold, here it is August and I'm trying to get my Sea Duty screening done, so it's been 11 months since my last dental exam. They wanted to do my annual exam now.
The Dental Readiness clinic personnel at NNMC Bethesda were also very friendly and professional and eager to help get me out the door to serve my country on the pointy-end of the spear. However, they did the annual "check-up" and found something odd on one of my teeth. They were VERY cautious about signing off on me going to Sea Duty and would NOT put pen-to-paper until they were absolutely sure everything was good-to-go. This meant extra X-rays of the roots of one of my teeth and special tests of the tooth with electric probes, hot water, and cold ice stuff, and a consult with an endodontist.
In the end, everything worked out fine, but I had to spend a Friday afternoon and a Monday afternoon up at NNMC Bethesda to get it all done, and that was with the very helpful, supportive NNMC staff who do Sea Duty Screenings for a living and are intimately familiar with the rules and PUSHING to get it all done so I could get out the door on time. I'm not sure I would wager money that a non-Navy clinic would have gotten that done correctly or in-time.
So to sum it up:
1. Kudos and many thanks to the superb staff at NNMC Bethesda's Medical Readiness and Dental Readiness clinics.
2. If you're expecting to detach in the near future, get thee to the Medical and Dental Readiness clinics, get your PPD and HIV and annual dental exam done NOW so that your Sea Duty screening will be a breeze.
Here are a few pointers for anyone else in the audience following in my footsteps and PCSing out of the National Capital Region and back to sea duty again (nudge nudge wink wink - you know who you are):
1. Don't wait for PSD to send you a transfer package. It required an active ping from me to get them to send me my transfer package a week before I detached. The OPNAV Support office will tell you who your transfer clerk is over at PSD Anacostia. If you call your transfer clerk, he/she will email you your transfer package so you don't have to drive over to Anacostia to pick it up.
2. The transfer clerk will tell you that you have to submit the ENTIRE completed package or it won't be approved / endorsed by PSD. Pages that aren't applicable need to have an N/A written on them and the sheet returned. This would not be a big deal if you received the transfer package more than 5 business days before your detaching date. As it was, the first day I had the transfer package in my hands, I had everything completed and ready to turn in except for one thing...
3. The "longest pole in the tent" for completing my transfer package was the medical and dental Sea Duty Screening. In hindsight, I could have gotten ahead of this even before I received my transfer package. I recommend starting this part of your PCS early.
I went to NNMC Bethesda to get my Sea Duty Screening done. I don't have any data to suggest the Army DiLorenzo Clinic at the Pentagon wouldn't be able to properly complete a Navy Sea Duty Screening. However, the Medical Readiness office at NNMC Bethesda is in the business of doing Sea Duty and Overseas Duty screenings. It's their raison d'etre. As I've mentioned before, I have been pleased each time I have gone there to get my Physical Health Assessment (PHA), and I continue to be impressed with how smoothly they completed my Sea Duty Screening.
Even with the friendly and professional staff in the Medical Readiness office, there were a few things that took some time that I wish I had done sooner.
- PPD. I learned something new. PPD tests are only required once every 3 years... UNLESS you are transferring to Sea Duty. If you are transferring to Sea Duty, then you must have one within the last year.
Doh.
Poke me in the arm and come back 48 hours later to have the corpsman verify I didn't react.
- HIV. You have to have an HIV test within the last year prior to transfer. It takes them 2 weeks to analyze the results.
- Dental. As you know, the Navy shifted to this strategy where you have your annual dental check-up and your PHA done in your birth month, which for me is in September. Low and behold, here it is August and I'm trying to get my Sea Duty screening done, so it's been 11 months since my last dental exam. They wanted to do my annual exam now.
The Dental Readiness clinic personnel at NNMC Bethesda were also very friendly and professional and eager to help get me out the door to serve my country on the pointy-end of the spear. However, they did the annual "check-up" and found something odd on one of my teeth. They were VERY cautious about signing off on me going to Sea Duty and would NOT put pen-to-paper until they were absolutely sure everything was good-to-go. This meant extra X-rays of the roots of one of my teeth and special tests of the tooth with electric probes, hot water, and cold ice stuff, and a consult with an endodontist.
In the end, everything worked out fine, but I had to spend a Friday afternoon and a Monday afternoon up at NNMC Bethesda to get it all done, and that was with the very helpful, supportive NNMC staff who do Sea Duty Screenings for a living and are intimately familiar with the rules and PUSHING to get it all done so I could get out the door on time. I'm not sure I would wager money that a non-Navy clinic would have gotten that done correctly or in-time.
So to sum it up:
1. Kudos and many thanks to the superb staff at NNMC Bethesda's Medical Readiness and Dental Readiness clinics.
2. If you're expecting to detach in the near future, get thee to the Medical and Dental Readiness clinics, get your PPD and HIV and annual dental exam done NOW so that your Sea Duty screening will be a breeze.
Monday, August 9, 2010
Pentagon Gouge: Photo Studio
First, quick advice for other navy officers in the audience: Do you have a service record photo in your current paygrade? Just in case that isn't clear: If you're a LCDR, then you should have an official photo in your service record of you wearing gold oak leaves on your collar. If not, get it done now so it isn't a crisis before your next promotion or screening board.
For anyone in the DC area who needs a service record photo or portrait, the OPNAV staff has a photo studio down in the RSAC on the first floor of the Pentagon. I had no problem making an appointment. They had plenty of open slots on their calendar and were happy to accommodate whenever I wanted to come in. I went and had a portrait taken and was very pleased with their professionalism.
As recommended on the PERS-42 website, they took photos of me in summer whites with my cover on and off and in my service dress blues with my cover on and off. They emailed me the photos a few days after they were taken.
Here's the flier the photo studio emailed out to all the OPNAV staff with the hours and contact information for the photo studio:
For anyone in the DC area who needs a service record photo or portrait, the OPNAV staff has a photo studio down in the RSAC on the first floor of the Pentagon. I had no problem making an appointment. They had plenty of open slots on their calendar and were happy to accommodate whenever I wanted to come in. I went and had a portrait taken and was very pleased with their professionalism.
As recommended on the PERS-42 website, they took photos of me in summer whites with my cover on and off and in my service dress blues with my cover on and off. They emailed me the photos a few days after they were taken.
Here's the flier the photo studio emailed out to all the OPNAV staff with the hours and contact information for the photo studio:
(click on image to enlarge)
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Have a Great 4th of July Weekend!
MCPON put out an outstanding public service announcement for this weekend. Check it out:
I couldn't agree more. Like I told my crew every Friday at quarters on the pier - don't allow yourself to end up in a position where YOU have decide if YOU are "sober-enough" to drive home after YOU've already been drinking. Drinking impairs your judgment and you're likely to make a bad-call in the interest of convenience.
Follow MCPON's advice and HAVE A PLAN how you are getting home BEFORE you go out.
That being said, I have also frequently told my crew that I know sometimes plans go awry. You had a designated driver and next thing you know, you look across the bar and there is your "designated driver" putting down shots of tequila.
That's okay. Not your fault. There are other SAFE alternatives available to you such as calling a taxi cab or a friend. I think there are a lot of people like me around who would rather you called at 1 a.m. in need of a safe ride home than have to attend your funeral because you didn't call / didn't want to wake me up at 1 a.m.
Along the same lines, here in the DC area, there is a safe ride home program. From 10 p.m. Sunday July 4 until 6 a.m. on Monday July 5, call the SoberRide program at 1-800-200-TAXI to get a free ride home (up to a $50 fare). If you aren't in the DC area, then google it for your home town. Take the number with you JUST IN CASE.
Have an awesome 4th of July holiday weekend everyone!
I couldn't agree more. Like I told my crew every Friday at quarters on the pier - don't allow yourself to end up in a position where YOU have decide if YOU are "sober-enough" to drive home after YOU've already been drinking. Drinking impairs your judgment and you're likely to make a bad-call in the interest of convenience.
Follow MCPON's advice and HAVE A PLAN how you are getting home BEFORE you go out.
That being said, I have also frequently told my crew that I know sometimes plans go awry. You had a designated driver and next thing you know, you look across the bar and there is your "designated driver" putting down shots of tequila.
That's okay. Not your fault. There are other SAFE alternatives available to you such as calling a taxi cab or a friend. I think there are a lot of people like me around who would rather you called at 1 a.m. in need of a safe ride home than have to attend your funeral because you didn't call / didn't want to wake me up at 1 a.m.
Along the same lines, here in the DC area, there is a safe ride home program. From 10 p.m. Sunday July 4 until 6 a.m. on Monday July 5, call the SoberRide program at 1-800-200-TAXI to get a free ride home (up to a $50 fare). If you aren't in the DC area, then google it for your home town. Take the number with you JUST IN CASE.
Monday, June 14, 2010
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens
H/T and many, many thanks to TwoDC. I read their blog post about the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens and said to myself, "Self, that would be a cool place to go when your parents come to visit."
Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens is a hidden gem in northeast DC. I highly recommend reading TwoDC's post about it, because they are much more eloquent than me in their overview description of the park.
TwoDC recommended going in the morning because as the day gets hotter, the flowers close up. I checked out the web page and saw they had tours scheduled for 9, 10, 11, and 12. The first tour was too early in the morning for us, so I planned on us leaving our house around 9 a.m. in order to pick up some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and make it to the KAG in time for the 10 a.m. tour.
Unfortunately, I didn't trust my instincts and drive the way I knew. I followed the directions provided by our car's navigation system and ended up sitting in traffic for a while.
Thanks to the traffic though, we did enjoy the scenery of the architecture in the neighborhoods of the historic district of Washington, D.C. We arrived at the KAG about 10:40 and found out there actually wasn't a 10 a.m. tour, so we didn't miss anything AND we were just in time for the 11 a.m. tour! :-)
KAG has been there a long time and is now run by the National Park Service.
The flowers... oh my gosh the flowers were absolutely gorgeous. My wife and I both took tons of pictures, but I will try to pull out just a few to share with you here.
TwoDC recommended going in the morning because as the day gets hotter, the flowers close up. I checked out the web page and saw they had tours scheduled for 9, 10, 11, and 12. The first tour was too early in the morning for us, so I planned on us leaving our house around 9 a.m. in order to pick up some breakfast at Dunkin Donuts and make it to the KAG in time for the 10 a.m. tour.
Comparing Notes
Before we drove down to DC, I printed out two copies of the Junior Park Ranger activity booklet and put them in binders for the boys. They both really enjoyed earning their Junior Park Ranger badges. During the car ride, they did the dot-to-dots and the maze and drew some pictures. While we were there, they really got into the scavenger hunts. The booklet actually provides two scavenger hunts for older and younger kids. My eldest son did the scavenger hunt that lists a dozen or so items written out in text (a view of the Anacostia River, a beaver dam, a historic marsh, a reconstructed marsh, etc). My youngest son did the scavenger hunt that consisted of six simple pictures on the page (picture of a lotus flower, picture of cat tails, picture of the national park service emblem, picture of poison ivy, etc).
For a while, YB rode on Grandpa's shoulders and
used Grandpa's head as his desk. Here he is crossing
off the cat-tail picture from his scavenger hunt list.
The flowers... oh my gosh the flowers were absolutely gorgeous. My wife and I both took tons of pictures, but I will try to pull out just a few to share with you here.
Common Orange Day-Lily
I forgot this one and can't find it in my book.
Fragrant Water Lily (and dragonfly)
Orange trumpet?
Carolina Rose
Lotus
Pink water lily
Hydrangea
I feel like I'm being watched.
We saw a few turtles and also had a Great Blue Heron swoop across the path right in front of us.
Traditional Blunoz Self Portrait
Our Park Ranger tour guide was awesome, and I'm SO glad we went for the guided tour. I have yet to be disappointed by a Park Ranger led tour at any National Park. They are just walking encyclopedias of information and anecdotal stories about the history of the park.
YB drawing pictures in his book.
The boys turned in their completed Junior Park Ranger books at the visitor center. They had to say an oath of office to get sworn in as Junior Park Rangers, and then they were awarded their own hats, badges, and patches.
This picture alone made it worth the
frustrating drive through DC traffic.
frustrating drive through DC traffic.
If you are in the DC area, then I highly recommend visiting the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens. Regardless where you are, I highly recommend taking advantage of every opportunity to visit your closest National Park and go for a Park Ranger guided tour.
My two newly-minted Junior Park Rangers
enthusiastically leading the way to lunch.
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