I remember talking with one person who said she'd rather have her friends catch her with a sack of dildoes than a box of ammo for her pistol.

City needs to install crosswalk lights, plain & simple. Saw these implemented around Univ of Mary Washington a few weeks ago.

And I also think pedestrians need to be reminded/encouraged to GO to crosswalks at lights when they're available. I'm guilty of just rambling across a street rather than go to a corner because I didn't want to go 150 feet further and wait for a light to change, but I should know better.

I'm guessing the experience part is getting the personal attention and looking at all the shiny things. I get it.

If you *really* want the experience, find and buy from a locally owned shop. I did that when I got my wife's engagement ring. Ended up getting a really great piece that was surprisingly within budget and left feeling like a million bucks because the buying experience was so good and personal.

That's just dumb.

Not in my experience, at least Staples Mill to Alexandria. Two hours from start to finish, for a round trip cost that's equal or less than gas and parking fees. But throw in Main Street Station or Union Station, and yeah, it can have some uncertainty.

Not with a 2yo, in my opinion (having had three 2yos...)

If you did want to try it, I'd recommend taking the train to Alexandria, hopping off there, and taking a break in Old Town before catching the Metro into DC, and then taking the train home. Or if you felt committed to driving, don't drive all the way into DC.

Not my thing, but my boss does this and she loves it. Goes to festivals all over the place for it.

Thanks...that's where my wife's friend is staying, so that might be the best solution.

My wife and a childhood friend are going out for dinner, first time in probably 15 years. I wanted to find options where she wouldn't have to think about parking. 😀

Is that in the Marriott?

Who said I was getting brakes done?

Yeah. The guys not charging me for work were really screwing me over.

And to be specific, I'm talking REARS, not fronts.

Fine. A mechanic friend formerly at Import Auto Haus, a service manager at Jerry's Ford who oversaw recalls on a car I owned, a manager at Royal Service Center in Alexandria who took care of two of my cars, and a buddy of mine from a car club whose dad owned a garage that we used to use for car modding all have talked with me about book rate and service policies. Believe me or not, I don't care, but it's how the industry works.

What, you want a list? FOH...

If the book calls for always replacing rear rotors and pads together, that's what the mechanic is going to say every time.

For rear brakes...I think I've heard that a lot before. Rears generally are smaller/thinner rotors and I don't think they can be turned (meaning shaved down to even them out) like front rotors can. In fact, as I think about it, I think I'd be more concerned if a shop tried to convince you it was okay to go without replacing the rear rotors. Do you really want to possibly compromise your brakes?

Since we moved here in 2006, we've had two good accumulating snowfalls in early/mid-March, as Google Photos loves to remind me of every year.

One of the local journos was walking by and asked a guard what happened to the cannons, and after the guard answered him, he then yelled (paraphrased) "Now get off my lawn."

There's something weird going on there. It might be just one guy with some mania on a power trip.

"Y'all can't manage your kids, then they can't come here!"

Nah man, no disrespect, I've got the Wawa app on my phone. It's just out of the way + another stop when I just want to get home.

One kid's got a birthday party, another kid's got archery practice, and we're having meatloaf for dinner. Suburban paradise.

I think that RIC has a really long runway and I'm not sure how many turnoffs there are to the taxiway.

Tell me about it. I usually arrive there close to 11pm and still have a 45 minute drive home. An open coffee bar would be glory...way better than having to go to Wawa.