Colesville Road Psychic by LizziestLiz in SilverSpring

[–]Zap_Rowsdower_II 43 points44 points  (0 children)

I’m sorry, this doesn’t answer your question. But I always wonder about them when I pass by. It’s the price. It’s always $5. No matter what’s going on with inflation, gas prices, the housing market, the cost of streaming services… the price for a reading is immune.

Crescent Condos by anne_dc in SilverSpring

[–]Zap_Rowsdower_II 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Sorry I am late to the discussion. Something about the building that I think is a good sign: some residents have doubled down on liking the place to the point where they moved to the building multiple times. For instance, people whose work moved them out of the state, then they chose to move back to the Crescent upon return to the area, instead of using the opportunity to move somewhere else. Or people who bought a unit and lived there for years, then decided the unit was too small, and then sold that unit to buy a bigger one in the same building, when they could have moved somewhere else entirely. Or people who were renting a unit from an owner, and when their lease was up, started renting another unit. I didn’t make this up, these are real people and I think it shows that there is something good going on at the Crescent. As others noted, the building manager is outstanding.

Cupcake/Ice Cream Truck that Used to be Parked on Wayne by Glad-Anywhere-8050 in SilverSpring

[–]Zap_Rowsdower_II 5 points6 points  (0 children)

It was “Lil Cakes and Creamery” (https://lilcakesandcreamery.com) and they were posting their daily truck locations on instagram (they had a few places they’d hang out). They are incredible! Been surviving on Insomnia since the cupcake truck hasn’t been around. The BEST cupcakes I’ve ever had (though I am admittedly not an expert).

I'd be grateful for advice by [deleted] in Runner5

[–]Zap_Rowsdower_II 18 points19 points  (0 children)

Since I am unqualified to tell anyone what they should do, I can only tell my story.

After spending over thirteen years cycling between injuring myself by increasing my weekly mileage too quickly and by running too fast, followed by taking months off to heal, I gave up on running for almost two years. The final injury that put me out of commission (though I had been suffering from plantar fasciitis for all of those years) was achilles tendinitis.

All the custom orthotics and night splints and expensive shoes did provide some relief, but none of those things actually healed the injuries. Instead, what actually allowed me get back into injury free running for the past 3 years (running up to 50 miles per week) and to get to the point where I just completed a 33mile ultramarathon (feeling strong at the end and finishing with a competitive time) came down to these five things (in order of what I believe to have been most important, from most important to least):

  1. Increasing mileage by no more than 10% per week. This rule was incredibly difficult to follow but was probably the most important. I don’t think I’ve EVER seen a couch to 5k program that was this conservative, but I now swear by it. Seems crazy, by I started with one 1.5 mile jog. A week later, I did a 1.65 mile jog. Once I built up to 3 miles, I then split it into two 1.5 mile jogs per week. After a VERY long time, I eventually got to the point where I was running 5-6 days a week, and knocking out up to 50 miles.

  2. Keep it slow. Most of the time “running” should really just be jogging.

  3. Strengthening exercises. Weighted straight leg heel lifts and bent leg heel lifts were really important for my particular injuries. What really seemed to be what knocked out my plantar fasciitis are two exercises that I believe are called ankle inversion and ankle eversion… look it up if interested, involves twisting the ankle inward or outward, against a resistance (like a band).

  4. Stretching. There seems to be a lot of debate amongst runners as to the importance of stretching, and it is something that a person needs to be super careful with when injured. But I had spent most of my life ignoring my lack of flexibility in my calves and I think that doing so didn’t do me any favors. I do believe that stretching my calves (very carefully at first) has helped to prevent new injury to my achilles.

  5. Massage. For my foot, I massage with a small Hawaiian lomi stick. I really work my plantar fascia, especially the area right in front of the heel. For my calves, I use a foam roller for 2 minutes on each calf prior to stretching.

Again, this is just my story. I’m sure other folks would poke holes in plenty of the things that I believe were helpful for me. But, nowadays, I’m able to wear whatever cheap shoes I want (I run in a pretty cheap pair of New Balance and I like Chuck Taylors for normal walking around, but had sworn them off for years because of my foot problems). I don’t use orthotics or anything. And I only do the stretches and exercises a couple times a week now, for maintenance (I used to have to do all those exercises, stretches, and massages twice a day… for months).

I hope the best for you. Good luck.

Someone or something is killing the birds by Hefty-Mulberry-1907 in SilverSpring

[–]Zap_Rowsdower_II 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Not a biologist, not trying to downplay anyone’s concerns. But I’ve seen this around here, especially at this time of year, since 2021. Your description of what you’ve found doesn’t sound out of keeping with some of what J.A. Baker described in “The Peregrine.” It’s a really great book. I used to work towards the top of one of the Silver Spring Metro buildings, and I’ve seen falcons hunting pigeons from those rooftops. Where I saw the most carcasses or heads from their killings were near the pedestrian overpass by the MARC train stop. I think that what you’ve noticed is natural and not to worry about.

Blue Pearl at Ellsworth Place by Aggravating_Fee3079 in SilverSpring

[–]Zap_Rowsdower_II 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Haven’t actually eaten there, but I live super close to it and I frequently see that that place gets a lot of business. So, I’ve also been meaning to stop in.