A regular summary of irregular news and notes from neighborhood blogs and email lists around the District.
Spell It Out: One member of the MPD 3D email list reports trouble with mail delivery and suggests the area, which stretches from Shaw to Mount Pleasant, might be plagued with a package thief: “Last month, I had a total of six packages stolen from in front of my apartment on the 1200 block of 12th Street. They show as delivered in the US Postal Service electronic system, but I never received them. When I approached my mail carrier, he was evasive, and I have not been encouraged by my conversations with other USPS representatives, by phone and in person. It just doesn’t really sound like they are taking this seriously.” Another member offers, “Back when we used to know one another in the neighborhood, we’d give one another our misdirected mail. Today that courtesy no longer seems to be extended. You might, however, actually be incurring real mail theft. I would write (or email, if you really want to be mean) the postmaster. Literacy has never seemed to be a forté of our mailmen or the local Post Office. I still get lots of misdirected mail, usually to residents on the block or adjoining blocks. I once offered the DC postmaster a week-long training seminar for his personnel on distinguishing among tricky letters and numbers in our writing system. 0s,Os and Qs are bad ones for me living on Que Street. This spelling out the letter follows an old practice, especially for I and 1st, which were always written out as Eye and First. I bet computers can’t correlate these alternate names today. …and G-d forbid if the sender gets the zip code wrong. The correspondence is usually returned.”
If There’s No Soccer in NoMa: Last week, The Washington Post reported that a D.C. United stadium would not be part of the Capital City Market redevelopment. On a post linking to the article, a Frozen Tropics commenter laments, “That’s too bad… it would have been a cool addition to the area, especially if they built it compact and mixed-use as planned.” Another, however, is happy with the status quo, remarking “maybe it could be turned into a old-style market. some of the stores could cater to restaurants, the others for retail. it could have a diverse mix of stores. might be nice.” A third agrees, saying “If they just spruce it up a little it would be great! Plus it’s already got the hipness factor.”
Same Old Song: One member of the Tenleytown email list asks, “Does anyone know where we can bring a 1920s Gramophone to get repaired?” And, an unrelated poster on the Adams Morgan email list asks, “My Bose wave radio/cd player is not working, but just the cd part. Bose won’t repair it because it’s too old. Does anyone know of a place in DC that does stereo repair?”
Does It Come With a VHS Player? “Giving away a sweet movie on VHS,” writes a member of the Brookland Kids email list. Available from the member, for free, is “‘Secret Garden’ VHS Warner Bro from 1993.”