Carwashes
No car washes actually work around here. And the salt crust gets BAD in winter. I for one, do not wanna be outside in winter washing my car!
All signage in Spanish and English
If I had immigrated here from any country other than a Spanish-speaking one, I'd be really mad they didn't have my language! Aren't we supposed to be a melting pot? What about Pluralism? If we have one language, shouldn't we have the top 5 or 10? [NOTE: Seattle does]
All church signage in Korean and English
Let's be clear. I've not actually seen a Korean person for the entire time I've lived here. Chinese, yes. Vietnamese, yes. Indonesian, yes. Korean? Dave has seen two Korean people--downtown--the ones that operate a Bool Kogi stand. There are not even Korean people in line for the Bool Kogi at lunch. So where are all these mythical Korean people who are so dedicated to going to church that EVERY church within a 150 mile radius is working hard to attract them by having their language on the sign? Again, if I was anyone other than a Korean person, I'd be really mad that the church didn't have my language listed also. What about attracting everyone else to your church? Confusing!!
You can die riding the Metro
Apparently it's quite common. Accidents, lack of infrastructure spending. I heard today that violent crime on the Metro is up 24% since this same time last year. So what if Seattle doesn't have a subway system?
Commuting
It can take anywhere from 35 minutes to 4 hours to get to DC depending on accidents, Metro or VRE delays. It's major part of life here. Sometimes the VRE just lets other trains use their track during scheduled VRE times. Blissful.
Opinion: There are no nice neighborhoods (Exception: Annapolis, MD)
Just tiny pockets of pretty-ness and nice-ness. Perhaps I am spoiled from having lived in Raleigh, NC, Pittsburgh, PA and Seattle. There are really really nice neighborhoods in all those places. Lots of them. Where an entire 10 mile radius is uniformly pretty. Here, not so much. There are tiny pockets of pretty developments sprinkled here and there surrounded by lots of humongously-scaled mega housing developments with things like stacked condos, or like this one which emulates the Great Wall of China: (this one only has two pass through spots)
YELLOW Firetrucks.
YELLOW!!! Hello! Who has YELLOW firetrucks? These remind me of albino pythons:
Who does that? Everyone knows, fire engines are supposed to be RED!The WIND
You would think with all the blasted sunshine that it would be GREAT to be outside all the time (which I was in SEATTLE). I love love love being outside. Walking in the woods, hiking, running. As I took for granted in every place I've ever lived. Here, not so much. First, no shade. The trees are like 4" tall. And the woods are so dense (and filled with COOL wildlife) that it's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too scary to walk in them. BUGS. Icky ones that give you Lyme Disease. But the ABSOLUTE WORST hands down is THE WIND. The wind gusts regularly around here up to 50 mph. All year round but particularly in Spring. Since there are no trees, the wind goes unabated. Big deal? Ya? What is the big deal? The big deal is that no one has LOCKS on their GARBAGE can. When we first lived here, I actually tried going outside to clean up all the garbage blowing around on garbage day. Chinese take-out from the neighbors, stinky diapers flapping in the wind. I definitely did my own, but I tried doing my neighbors too. ICKY. Double ick! After it happened about 20 million more times, I gave up. It's just downright aggressive wind and it makes it very uncomfortable to be outside when it's windy. Which is all the time. I can't be my normal outside person because in addition to the wind and sunshine (read DRY), there is DUSTY DIRT. And if you know me well, you know that I have to wash my hands immediately when I come into contact with DUSTY DIRT. And just FORGET about DUSTY DIRT on my feet. Seattle has LOAMY SOIL with gentle mists and cool weather with pine needles cradling the woodsy floor and blankets of shade where the trees are so tall you can't see the tops. Oh, and they compost their food waste EVERY DAY CITY WIDE so there is no garbage blowing about on the street. Oh, and no rats downtown either. No BUGS either! Unless you count spiders. Tons of spiders. It just feels really clean there and that pine smell is better than any perfume. I actually have Campfire Memories incense. You can buy that smell.
Anger Management
It's clear that people here are some real power brokers. You can just feel it walking around. It's also clear that some people have some pretty big beefs. You have to feel really strongly about your cause to be a lobbist, activist, politician, and even a service person. You can just feel the tension and the seriousness. This is not a lighthearted place. People are very intense, aggressive and very type A--especially in large crowds or in traffic. Me no likey! So different than the culture of creativity, beauty, personal acheivement and work-life balance I'm used to--in where--yes! Seattle!
Obviously I could go on and on and on. And on. Just remember that my life is pretty constrained right now. It consists of chasing around a 2 year old Tasmanian Devil and driving on Highway 66 with very terse and aggressive and dangerous drivers for at least 3 hours every day. I am sure if my life was normal and included normal things like weekends with my husband going sightseeing or doing home improvement projects, I'd have a very different outlook. And just remember, I'm apparently the only person on earth who talks smack about Virginia. Forbes magazine ranked Fairfax as the number 3 place in the whole country to live. (Can you say kickback?)
It's just a *LOT* of Helvetica. Actually, worse: Arial. Too much bad design! Too much industrial--what's it called? Military Industrial Complex? Yes, that. So sad for our Nation's Capital.
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