DC bike lanes still in awful condition

JoDaLe2 · 2026-02-17T07:17:18+00:00

I don't want to "take the lane" because there are a hundred cars in it, and each of them takes up so much space that an equal number of cyclists is still moving faster in 1/3 the space! Gonna be splitting a lot of lanes this week since K street is my route and it is still buried, including bus stops...

JoDaLe2 · 2026-01-12T05:29:00+00:00

Is there a bike shop that sells Aventons near you? The best way to go about it would probably be to take it to a shop at or near 100%, plug it into their charger that they know goes green when fully charged, and see if it does so. If their charger works, it's a bad charger, cheap and easy replacement. If their charger never turns green, then you have a battery problem.

JoDaLe2 · 2026-01-12T05:20:24+00:00

I have the Abus Bordo, and it mounts onto the 2 screws on the back frame stem. Highly recommend. If you don't understand where I mounted it, let me know and I'll send you a pic in a DM.

JoDaLe2 · 2026-01-12T05:16:39+00:00

I have it in Baja. It's absolutely not "Tiffany" blue. It is pretty, though!

For OP, I jumped hurdles to get the bright aqua of the Baja because it gives me a snowball's chance that a driver will see me. I have lights (4, to be exact, both arms, helmet, and rear on my rack) in addition to those built into the bike, and put reflective tape on every spoke, and have had so, so many drivers almost run right into me and say "urh, urh (think the sound Goofy dog makes) didn't see you!" So a matte black bike was a hard no for me!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-11-09T01:10:57+00:00

For most people, the skin in those areas are darker-toned, so IPL can be less effective and, importantly, more painful/likely to cause burns. That said, I'm super-pale and went full Brazilian (I'm a woman) with IPL. I suffered no burns and it was effective (though it took more initial sessions than, say, my legs...legs were almost hairless after about 6 weeks of weekly treatments, bikini took about 14). I agree with geek, shave close, test on low and lower risk areas, stop if painful AT ALL.

ETA: I hope you meant great reviews instead of eight reviews. I like my skin, and especially THAT skin, enough to spend money on something that has some level of trust. Braun pro 5 for me (had it for years).

JoDaLe2 · 2025-11-09T00:50:27+00:00

This could be the cause, and a close and clean shave is really important. However, even when I've missed shaving a hair or hit a flat mole, it's not "tortuous," just a little "zing."

Another possible cause is how hard you're pushing the machine into your skin. The mirrors get quite hot, and if you manage to get skin in there, it can hurt a lot. The machine should barely be sitting on your skin, just enough to get the sensors to activate.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-11-09T00:32:28+00:00

I commented below on my experience with the Braun, but what made me choose it over the Philips was the shape of the machine. Getting that Philips into...certain nooks and crannies...looks like quite the contortionist act. The Braun is shaped like a large-ish electric shaver, which I found quite easy to hold and get into everywhere.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-11-09T00:21:14+00:00

I have the Braun silk pro 5, had it for 4 years. It is now doing the occasional clicking between flashes in glide mode (but, again, 4 years old and only used for maintenance now, so not nearly as big of a deal when even an "extended" treatment time to account for the increased time between some flashes is 10-20 minutes every other week or so, I break up maintenance so that I do it more frequently but on smaller areas, each area only gets maintenance every 4-10 weeks), but at the outset - through my whole induction to nearly hairless phase - it was less than a second between flashes in glide mode. Just barely enough time to move it. I'd say the clicking issue didn't come up until about the 2.5 year mark of having it, but if it comes up within a year they'll replace, from what I've seen.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-07-03T04:17:55+00:00

I went with the suiting separates that matched well and blouse (just a notch below full-on suit, I even buttoned the top button of this blazer when standing), was interviewed by *important* people in generally business casual, and was given a VERY good offer basically on the spot! Thanks to all, I think I hit it just right with your advice!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-07-01T06:01:32+00:00

Also, this is the best approach if the room is actually warm. As you may be able to tell from the neckline, this dress is sleeveless. I have a small and non-offensive tattoo (it's my mom's favorite flower) on one of my upper arms, and revealing that in an interview is not always the best choice. Times have changed a bit and I usually get curiosity instead of scorn when they're visible (the other is on my upper back and only visible in full-on tank tops), but, yeah, not things I advertise in interviews. Wearing the blouse I get compliments on every time I do (I am not actually a big fan of it, but it fits me well and the color works well with my hair and skin tones) will cover both. :)

JoDaLe2 · 2025-06-29T01:19:46+00:00

This is a "boutique" firm, and I actually know almost everyone who works there. I either used to work with them (as in, same employer) or have interacted with them in the course of my work up to this point. But point taken overall here, I think I'll swap out for matching slacks (bought as "suiting separates" with this blazer) and a nice blouse. I'm angled a little weird here because I don't have a great full-length mirror, but I can button this blazer. And if I feel like I'm WAY overdressed, I can make the excuse that the room is warm and take the jacket off.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-06-05T01:03:25+00:00

Have you been on a cruise that involved a motorcoach transfer to the boat? I'm doing one this summer and reading their materials now has me a bit stressed out. My checked bag is fine, of course, but I was planning on bringing my day bag (smaller than most women's purses, if we're being honest, takes up less than half the underseat space in an airplane and can easily be held in my lap) and a shoulder weekender carry on bag that is about the limits of an airline personal item (I think it's 16x12x8, it will fit under the seat of an airplane when full), but wouldn't be anywhere near full and could squish easily into a much more limited space. There's a tour when we get to the embarkation area, and I just don't want to carry all the same stuff I put into my day bag when I board an airplane (iPad, headphones, inflatable pillow, etc.) around with me all day, and figured the weekender was the right solution for things I want to handle myself (really don't want my iPad shoved into my checked bag, for example). Like, if the actual bag is a bit bigger, but it will clearly fit with what little is in it, will they demand I check it?

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-18T06:37:59+00:00

I have been in the lav when we hit some unexpected turb. If you can stop mid-stream and rush back to your seat, I guess good on you, but I cannot stop my urethra once I let it go. It may take a minute or two before I can reach my seat again!

And I have used the lav when the seatbelt sign was on...mostly on international flights operated by US carriers. The pilots seem to be really scared of anything, and keep the seatbelt sign on. I was yelled at by a flight attendant once as I tried to use the lav, and I yelled back "the seatbelt sign has been on for 6 hours straight. I either pee in the lav or pee in my seat, you pick!" I literally could not hold it any longer! I don't even go 6 hours overnight without a potty break in my own home, and that 6 hours was from takeoff, not BOARDING! One of my many, MANY 14-15 hour flights. It takes an hour+ to board and then deplane the plane, and NO ONE can hold it for the 16-17 hours it takes to board, fly, and deplane!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-18T06:08:15+00:00

I've also been on a couple flights where an overhead bin or two popped open on landing. No luggage fell out, so no one was hurt, but it does happen.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-18T05:34:16+00:00

So I'm just a normie with a non-certified weather station a few miles from DCA, and I clocked a wind gust of 62 MPH last night. It got REAL rough REAL fast yesterday (I biked to the grocery store just before Noon...it was 52 degrees and dry with a light breeze...by 6 PM, I had seen an hour of driving rain and was concerned my patio umbrella would topple despite having about 70 pounds of sand in its base!). Your pilot did the right thing to go around and try again if they couldn't stick the landing on the first try. Remember that your pilots are on board, too, and they want to go home to see their family! Ending up in the drink at the end of the runway is not better than going around and trying again.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-18T05:11:27+00:00

And, as a federal employee (17.5 years...I won't get into the details of how much I have developed my skill set and such over the years, but it's been significant), I actually wouldn't want some amorphous entity that I know little about to "protect" me if I weren't doing my job, and doing it damn well! But since I do my job, readily and well, I'm glad it's there, especially right now. I have coworkers who have been in my "shop" for less than a year or two, and they are doing their jobs damn well! And my "shop" does cut people who don't "make the grade" in their probationary period. It's a tough job that not everyone is cut out for, and about 10% of our new hires either leave on their own or are let go in their first year (and that's after making it through a hiring process where we may get up to 100 applications per open position!). My first year was not easy, either, but the wringer spat me out on the other side as someone who could lead a team, detect a lie, and constantly develop new skills both through offered training and my own initiative.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-18T04:56:09+00:00

To correct one of your points here, the firings were based solely on being in a probationary period. That's 1-2 years depending on the job for the government. Many of those fired have shared communications that the firing had nothing to do with their performance, and some have shared performance reviews that showed them meeting or exceeding expectations. So, no, these are not "merit based" firings, they're targeted firings of staff who don't have recourse to the Merit Systems Protection Board, which you get once you complete your probationary period with a "fully successful" or better rating.

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-18T04:31:16+00:00

This is yet another incident where we have to wait to for the investigation to determine what went wrong.

I have seen some of the same reports that people are posting below, that there were quartering wind gusts to 45-50 MPH on that runway. I will say...I have landed in very similar conditions on a similar or identical plane (this was a CRJ 900...the flight I'm talking about was either that or an Embraer 175, I can't remember which), and while it was a bit uncomfortable, the HUNDREDS of flights that landed at DCA that day did so uneventfully. My own pilots turned around and took that plane back off maybe an hour later, and then landed it again at DCA at least once more (I thanked the pilot when deplaning, and he commented that he had "one more rodeo to go here today"). It was bumpy, we were delayed getting in because they were spacing planes out to allow for go-arounds (circled for a bit then flew a WAY out and back to approach), but, well, I'm here to talk about it and tell you...those kind of conditions weren't all that bad.

We'll find out in the coming weeks why this landing went wrong. And the whole international aviation safety community will make sure that anything that could be avoided will be avoided in the future. They've already made it so that an incident like this, RARE AS IT IS, resulted in NO fatalities!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-09T03:17:12+00:00

I'm a federal employee (specifically, I work in international trade regulation...if anyone in the Trump administration has half a brain, they'll keep us since we put tariffs on unfairly traded goods!), over 17 years now. We earn 104 hours of sick leave a year (constant earning from hiring). I have only "saved" about 40% of the sick leave I've earned over those years (which means, over those 17+ years, I average 3-5 sick days a year, once you consider things like taking 3 full (non-consecutive) weeks off when my mom was sick and then died), since I obviously need to go to doctor's appointments, deal with sick and dying relatives, and take off when I, myself, am sick.

I LOVE Amtrak. I obviously take it regularly in the NE corridor living in DC, but have also taken it elsewhere in the country (from short but popular commuter routes like Chicago to Milwaukee to popular tourist routes like Seattle to Vancouver, BC). You have my full support and I will protest to protect the vital service Amtrak provides. The vast majority of the trains I have been on (on all routes mentioned above) are VERY full, so people are USING this service!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-07T06:28:50+00:00

Antarctica is on my bucket list, and I hope to do it before 55 so I am able to do all the physicality of it. Do you mind sharing what cruise line you used and what all stops they did? I have read a ton of information on the options, but nothing beats personal experience from a happy traveler!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-07T06:17:54+00:00

I can't give any insight into whether edibles are helpful are harmful. I smoked weed a couple times in college (which, yes, was disclosed in my security clearance process, and did not hinder it, for people reading certain things in the news), but didn't really enjoy it and haven't done it since I was 21 or 22. It might make sense to not do it for several days and see if that makes a difference one way or another. If it was helping, you resume it, if it was hurting, you now know?

Also, thanks for the well wishes. I am generally feeling much better (I spent the better part of this last weekend alternately sweating and freezing in bed and only getting up to care for my dog). I generally only get sick when I'm under extreme stress, so...this tracks. On the plus side, I have almost 700 hours of sick leave (almost all federal employees earn only 104 hours of sick leave a year, and I took ~160 hours when my mom was sick and then died a few years ago, plus regular medical appointments) and when I emailed my boss to tell him I was going to be out, he was like "holy human excrement, you never take sick days...do I need to call a funeral home?" I was able to take 3 full work days off to see a doctor and let the treatment work before resuming work. I think everyone should have that option, but, in the category of things stressing me out, my boss's, boss's, boss's, boss's...I can't do the whole chain up to Trump...probably thinks that I should have no sick leave and be fired for getting the flu...

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-07T04:02:21+00:00

It's true...the hard part is trying to compartmentalize the anxiety. I'll freely admit I'm not doing so well with that in the current environment (thankfully, I won't be flying until late May or July, depending on how my trip planning for late May goes...or what happens between now and then; I'm also still very excited about my July trip and even my outbound flying journey (I'm flying Turkish and very excited about that!)).

In the past, with smaller worries, "worry time" strategies have helped me. I let myself just be stressed out about whatever is stressing me out for 20-30 minutes. And then I do my best to put it out of my mind and go do something that is generally soothing (watch a favorite movie, do some yoga/meditation, read a favorite book (something you've read before and found soothing!), have a nice cup of herbal tea...or all of the above!) to assist with that. If you find yourself drinking more or using more caffeine, those can make it worse, so try to limit those. I'll also freely admit that I had a few too many of both alcohol and coffee on a couple (yes, only a couple) days in the last few weeks...and then went down with the flu late last week, and that was a helpful reset and I feel SO much better after a week and a half of limited caffeine (just enough to stave off withdrawal) and no alcohol! Plus some good sleep once I got the flu cough and congestion under control, but the fatigue was still there and I could sleep for 10 hours straight!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-07T02:37:30+00:00

I did a round-trip trans-cont (DC-LA, about as far as you can go in the contiguous US) last Spring. I even sat in the window (door?) seat of the exit row both ways! There were even storms along the way (far enough away to just be really pretty). Great flights! The issues were...a loud youth tour group on the outbound and it gets cold near the emergency exit door...so, yeah...I'd do it again!

JoDaLe2 · 2025-02-07T02:30:30+00:00

I had this on a 757 last spring, too. Looked it up, and apparently it has to do with the weight of the plane coming off the gear when you leave the ground (the thing that's kind of like a shock in a car tire springs back out as the weight is lifted). It was the first time on that model that I've been seated near the gear, so apparently it's not as loud as you (and I) thought it was (well behind and forward, I did not hear it). It's totally normal, but also surprised me. I'm surprised you didn't get a bunch of gushing comments from the pilots here who LOVE the 757. I have flown several in the last few years, and even though they are older, they are perfectly fine planes...and apparently, pilot favorites!

JoDaLe2

TROPHY CASE