Odds & Ends

Another week in DC, actually starting work, and the pace accelerates.

Some have questioned whether I actually have a job here. Though I do not write much about it, I do, indeed, have a policy job here. Much of what I have been doing and learning is confidential, and this is not a blog to reveal those inner dealings of the gummint. When I have something that is both non-confidential and important I will bring it up. For instance, each week the US has 150+deaths from H1N1 (mostly children), and thousands of admissions to hospitals. Given all the hype over the flu, the vaccinations, the burden on the medical infrastructure, I am surprised that some fear monger hasn’t started shouting that number from a podium, talk show, or blog…Michele Bachmann, where are you on this.

The ‘hood. I moved into my apartment this weekend, a small place in the back of a townhouse in a quiet neighborhood off Connecticut Av. In NW DC. The good news—I walked the neighborhood, several miles down Connecticut and back, scouting out restaurants, stores, laundries, etc. that I will need on a regular basis in the coming year. The highlight of the day was a stop at Politics & Prose, an independent bookstore (http://www.politics-prose.com/). I arrived toward the end of the reading give by Tim Page, retired music critic at the Washington Post. This is an autobiography describing his discovery, at age 45, that he had been living with Aspergers disease all his life. The bad news—grocery shopping! Ugh! I waited until 9 p.m. to reduce the competition. I don’t remember ever making so many decisions in 90 minutes; however, as with eating a toad first thing every morning, the worst part of the day is over.

Returning from the grocery store, driving down Connecticut Av in Maryland, I was struck by how law-abiding, the locals were, clinging to 30 mph one and all. Then I noticed bright flashes of light and the sign, “Speed Limit Photo Enforced”. As soon as we crossed into DC it looked like the start of the Indy 500. I was left in their dust.

Lunch & Lobbying. It looks like one might eat free lunch on The Hill five days a week, at least when Congress is in session. I took advantage twice. One session was “The New Energy Economy” which dealt primarily with efficiency and demonstrated that increased efficiency is the low-hanging fruit that can reduce our generation needs by 30-50%. One of the striking graphs showed how refrigerator energy consumption was been reduced by 80% by the imposition of standards. Unfortunately, only refrigerators have energy standards, not TVs, microwaves, dishwashers, etc.

The other free lunch dealt with the advances in climate forecasting. In the past three years, computational advances have allowed higher resolution in forecasting, down to 3 km resolution. The panelists gave specific examples of forecasting April snow depth for the Rocky Mountains. Not only is this useful for the ski industry, but allows water-drought predictions for the following year. I also picked up a new work, hind-casting, which is using historic data to test a forecasting model. In other contexts, this has been called the training data set or test set. Hind-casting, so Inside the Beltway.

Diagonal Streets. Many cities have a few diagonal streets that break up the grid so common to Midwestern cities. Chicago has Milwaukee Av; Minneapolis, has Hiawatha. DC has all the state streets. L’Enfant intended these to be more than just decorative. In combination with the regular traffic circles that eventually became the homes of bronze generals and their retinue of pigeons, these streets were designed to help defend the Capitol. He envisioned artillery batteries stationed at each circle defending the city against an attacking army. I don’t know if his vision went as far as to see how all those little triangles of land that were too small to build on could become vest-pocket parks, but I am pleased that so many have become small green spots with trees, grass, benches, and the occasional bronze generals. During my walks from the State Dept to AAAS I came across several Latin-American generals, Simon Bolivar, Bernardo de Galvez, Jose de San Martin, for instance. Perhaps the nearby headquarters of the Organization of American States can explain this concentration of Hispanic generals.

Gardens. Near my office are several gardens that can serve as lunch spots—the US Botanic Gardens Conservatory and the outside gardens and one I just discovered—the Bartholdi Park (http://www.usbg.gov/gardens/barthodli-park.cfm). The centerpiece fountain is being restored, but the rest of the park is open and even features tables with umbrellas.

There is a sunken sculpture garden at the Hirshhorn Gallery (http://hirshhorn.si.edu/) that is a real oasis. When the madding rush hour traffic is honking, breaking, and polluting just a few hundred feet away on Independence Av, all one can hear here is the chirping of birds and riffle of leaves.