Zipperific

Ever since we sold our car to the nice folks at CarMax a couple of weeks ago, we have been rejoicing on a daily basis that we no longer owe a large sum of money to the apartment management for parking garage fees each month. Without putting an exact number on it, let's just say we can now afford to eat at Five Guys about 15 more times each month!

Not owning a car, however, does pose some problems from time to time. For instance, I thoroughly enjoy paying one person in excess of $50 to tell me what is wrong with an object, and then a few months later, paying a second person in excess of $50 to tell me what is really wrong with that same object. Without a car, I'll be forced to find another way to throw my money away.

Sarcasm aside, an actual problem with not owning a car is how to get somewhere that is not next to a Metro subway or bus stop. For example, when one lives in DC and wants to take a ski trip to Virginia, the automobile is a good solution. We looked around for the closest vehicle we could legally get our hands on, and it turned out to be parked right in front of our building. We discovered Zipcar.

Having heard about them a few years back in Seattle, and learned much more since moving to DC, we had actually been planning this transition from ownership to rental for awhile. The details are available on their website, but basically, it works like this:

1. Apply for membership (Zipcar checks your driving history for major problems)
2. If approved, your Zipcard is mailed to you
3. Set up account on the Zipcar website
4. Make a reservation on the website for any available Zipcar in the United States (well, in a few major cities at least)
5. Use Zipcard to get in car when reservation starts, and make sure the car is back in its designated parking place when your reservation ends

The brilliant part? You never have to interact with a human being. Unlike normal rental car companies (Enterprise, Hertz, Thrifty, etc), you don't have to go to a local office, fill out any paperwork, or have a rep try to hustle you into "upgrading" or buying the extra insurance. You just walk up to the car, wave your Zipcard at the sensor under the corner of the windshield, and it magically knows that you, and only you, are allowed to unlock it with your Zipcard.

After factoring in insurance and gas costs (both are included in the up-front Zipcar reservation fees), the daily or hourly cost is just as good, if not better than, a lot of typical rental shop deals. And did I mention you don't have to interact with anyone to reserve a car? I really like that part. The XM radio is a nice extra as well.

So here we are, in Charlottesville, VA, having arrived safely in our chosen Zipcar for the weekend, a Ford Escape named Ethel (another difference from typical rental car places: all Zipcars have names). She has been a good steed thus far, and it's nice knowing she'll be ready to take us on another ride when we want to venture outside the reaches of the DC Metro. Of course, Bert, a Scion xB parked near the Georgetown Law School campus, looks pretty tempting...

Happy birthday, Chelsea!

Exactly one year ago, Adam and I were driving to the hospital so we could be there when our niece was born. We can't believe how much she has grown in just one year. Let me tell you, she is one beautiful little girl, and we wish we could be there to celebrate her first birthday with her!

When I have fears that our computer may cease to work...

...they usually come true. The (second) motherboard in our (relatively new) computer seems to have bought the farm. You would think that with a computer genius like Adam around, we would never have these problems. Sadly, you would be wrong. This means that the promised picture posting will have to be put on indefinite hold until Adam has time to figure out what the problem is and fix it. Given that he has been working approximately 38 hours per day lately, that could take awhile.

Item #1 in today's News of the Weird is that I have been called for jury duty. IN ANAMOSA. (This is, unfortunately, about as weird as my life gets.) This is funny because a) I traded in my Iowa driver's license for a DC one about six months ago, and b) I have not been registered to vote in Anamosa for at least 4 years. In fact, since I was last registered to vote in Anamosa, I have been registered in two other places: Ames and DC.

Anyway, my wonderful mother filled out the jury duty form for me, but she left the "Distance from residence to courthouse" space blank. After I talked to her, I looked it up: 923 miles. At their rate of $.20-$.30/mile for commuting, that's about $184-$277, which is probably enough for a plane ticket. Given that I'm self-employed and the only equipment I need to do my job is a computer and a high-speed internet connection, and that (News of the Weird item #2) my dad was called for jury duty at the same time (I don't think he was as amused about it as I was), I should totally do it. How much fun would it be to report for jury duty with my dad? Actually, probably more fun for me than for him. He has to actually show up somewhere for work.

Coup de Blog

Because I have more time than Adam and because I'm supposed to be the writer in this relationship anyway, I've decided to help him out with the blogging duties. I'm not sure that I'll be any less sporadic than Adam is, but between the two of us we might be able to manage at least a weekly update!

I hope all of our readers (Adam has led me to believe that there are two of you, possibly fewer) had a good Valentine's Day. We celebrated by grabbing dinner at Five Guys, the best burger place in the world ever, then walking around the neighborhood past all the expensive restaurants. We're also taking a trip to Charlottesville, VA this weekend so Adam can emulate the Olympic skiers we've been watching on TV and break at least one bone.

Finally, I've decided that we need to publish a few more of the pictures we have on our computer, so be on the lookout for plenty of pictures within the next few days. Some of these are at least a year old and the order in which I post them will probably be arbitrary, but I'll try to adequately explain them so they're not too confusing.

Hollywood, DC

Reese Witherspoon was spotted shopping the in District a couple of times last week while her husband Ryan Phillipe is filming a new movie about the FBI and the infamous spy/mole Robert Hanssen called Breach. Last weekend, as Amy and I were walking by the Hoover FBI building on our way to Barnes & Noble, we noticed a strange sight; the entire block appeared to be surrounded by semi-trucks and trailers of many sizes. I didn't immediately make the connection, but once I saw the trailer with a numbers of doors marked with a single star, and another trailer with a door marked "Director", my lightning-quick logic abilities kicked in--there were famous people nearby!!!

Unfortunately, the only people we spotted were the bored-looking individuals sitting in the trucks keeping them warm. Assuming filming was happening in or around the Hoover building, it made me wonder what kind hoops the studio had to jump through to get access.

Birthday Gifts

Another birthday has come and gone, and having turned 26 I am now officially on my way to 30 years old. Though approaching that age is just a wee little bit scary, I'm a firm believer in the you're-only-as-old-as-you-feel philosophy, and as Amy would tell you, some [editor's note: where "some" means "most"] days that comes out in the 14-16 year old range.

I had a great birthday, which included an excellent cake Amy made for me from a recipe I got from a coworker. The gist of the recipe: cookie on bottom, frosting on top, cake in the middle. Deliciousness all around. We also attempted to go bowling at the new bowling alley by the MCI Center, but discovered upon arrival that reservations are typically required to get a lane. Since bowling wasn't an option, we did the next best thing you can do in a bowling alley; we parked ourselves at the bar, ordered some drinks, and watched many basketball games on a wall of widescreen TVs.

Finally, a list of a few random events that occurred close to my birthday which I will claim as birthday gifts:

• Our vehicle of burden for the past 7 months finally decided to leave us. A 1994 Buick Skylark, it had been in Amy's family since it was new, and had been a solid car for us up until we moved to DC. Ever since we got here, however, the automobile has not been its old reliable self. Flat tires, dead batteries, and most recently, an alternator needing replacement, finally motivated us (me mostly; Amy had been ready to get rid of it since the flat tire) to take a drive to Car Max. They made the process of selling pretty painless, and we were happy with the offer they made. Most of all we're happy that we'll no longer have to pay outrageous monthly parking fees for our apartment's garage.
• Prince channeling Jimi Hendrix with his rocking guitar-driven performance on Saturday Night Live last weekend. He played a tasty tune called "Fury", and got me excited about his next album coming out in March, called "3121". Hopefully his next tour makes a stop in DC!