{"id":40,"date":"2008-03-04T12:55:00","date_gmt":"2008-03-04T17:55:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.greatsociety.org\/?p=40"},"modified":"2018-10-31T15:06:13","modified_gmt":"2018-10-31T19:06:13","slug":"send-up-the-heat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/?p=40","title":{"rendered":"Send up the heat!"},"content":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t stalked a girl lately! <\/span>Or so I told myself on the ride to work today. <\/span>We\u2019ve got a dose of early spring \u2013 70 down here in the city and everything feeling fresh and exciting. <\/span>Except for the bus, the train, and my office building, where the heat\u2019s still on. <\/span>But, at least, the women \u2013 specifically the weird-looking blonde at my bus stop \u2013 are wearing spring clothes. <\/span>Nice.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

But sexual thoughts are quickly wiped from my mind as heat billows out of the vent above my desk. <\/span>I shouldn\u2019t be surprised. <\/span>There are a few days around this time every year where my office is suitable for raising rare orchids. <\/span>And that\u2019s fine by me, because it means I\u2019m going to slip away at lunch, sit up by the Capitol, and watch all the crazy Hill people. <\/span>The countrified, corn-fed interns who can\u2019t walk in heels stumbling around trying to look pretty, the empty-eyed male interns who try to engage you in conversation, and the vaguely malevolent homeless. <\/span>Then there are the chattering lobbyists, and the occasional Representative out among the common-folk. But they steer clear of anyone not in a suit and tie. <\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m usually put off by the Hill people. <\/span>Mainly because they\u2019re all Republicans. <\/span>Without fail, you\u2019ll take outdoor seats at some bar on Capitol Hill and the clean-cut, suit-wearing intern fucks at the next table try to talk to you in their country twang. <\/span>Howdy! <\/span>You local?<\/p>\n

What the fuck, dude?<\/p>\n

The only ones who talk to you are the Republicans. <\/span>The Democrat interns all seem to keep to themselves. That\u2019s the only time when you can really stomach going out drinking on the Hill \u2013 when the Democrats have control. <\/span>Since Democrats have no god, all they do is drink. <\/span>It simplifies my life when I creep out at lunchtime or decide to spend a summer evening watching the commuters flail against traffic. <\/span>There\u2019s nothing like spring in <\/st1>Washington<\/st1>, a pub with outdoor seating, and a view of countless thousands who are less fortunate than you. But that can all be ruined by a tap on the shoulder and some Jesus freak intern asking you for the time and whether or not you know of a different, better bar. <\/span><\/p>\n

Not that I\u2019m out drinking too much anymore. <\/span>Beer prices are up, and nobody anywhere knows how to make a mixed drink. <\/span>Or maybe they aren\u2019t allowed to put in enough booze to make me happy. <\/span>Nine times out of ten, it\u2019s six bucks for a pint of beer or a glass of tonic water that may have been stored close to the vodka. <\/span>(Though this is where I tell everyone to go see Erich at <\/st1>America<\/st1><\/a> in Union Station. <\/span>Best bartender in DC. <\/span>He\u2019s on the day shift, and he doesn’t skimp on booze.)<\/p>\n

One good thing about warm days is that I can prematurely stop my dreadful morning commute at the New York Avenue Metro station and walk the rest of the way to work, taking in the sweet air of Northeast DC<\/st1> where nothing bad ever happens. <\/span>This morning, I made the walk without being tackled by a panhandler or a meth-head (though a lady did lie down in front of me and scream about white devils), and even had time to pause on the corner of First and Florida to snap a picture of Protest Flag. <\/span>At least, that\u2019s what I\u2019m calling it:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/www.greatsociety.org<\/wbr>\/uploads\/userfiles\/3\/flag.jpg<\/a>
\nhttp:\/\/www.greatsociety.org<\/wbr>\/uploads\/userfiles\/3\/flag2.jpg<\/a>\n<\/p>\n

Yeah, my cellphone sucks. <\/span>Yet another example of why I should always travel with my camera. <\/span>After 9\/11, I spent a year walking around with a camera because I wanted to run up to the roof and take a real Tourist Guy photo as a terror plane veered towards my building.<\/p>\n

But that was just wishful thinking.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m going to stop writing now because my office is a very humid 94 degrees and I\u2019m starting to get that wall-eyed sort of \u201cI can\u2019t believe I\u2019m still in Saigon<\/st1>\u201d feeling. My office mate just announced that she was going down to the gym to take a cold shower.<\/p>\n

One hour to go until lunchtime, when I plan to race over to Caf\u00e9 <\/st1>Berlin<\/st1><\/a> and drink two liters of overpriced beer on the patio while taxi cabs ride up onto the sidewalk and my waiter refuses to look in my direction. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I haven\u2019t stalked a girl lately! Or so I told myself on the ride to work today. We\u2019ve got a dose of early spring \u2013 70 down here in the city and everything feeling fresh and exciting. Except for the …<\/p>\n

Send up the heat!<\/span> Read More »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[36,228,399],"class_list":["post-40","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-dc","tag-commute","tag-stalker","tag-dc"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=40"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1219,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/40\/revisions\/1219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=40"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=40"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/greatsociety.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=40"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}