News and notes from Reston (tm).

Friday, April 9, 2010

Open Thread

Sorry, no wacky fun-time video this week. Talk about Founder's Day cakes, your favorite good-time eatery, or whatever strikes your earth-toned fancy. And be excellent to each other.

54 comments:

  1. This message is to notify you and your location that the following solicitation has been published to the public:

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    ReplyDelete
  2. I love to saunter and prance around Reston. I will point and make rude comments towards those who drive SUVs and shop at chain stores. I am better than you lemmings.

    ReplyDelete
  3. This message is to notify you and your location that the following solicitation has been published to the public:

    Solicitation Type : RFP
    Issuing Organization : LAA2
    Solicitation Number : 10-163967-32
    Solicitation Version : 1
    Solicitation Description: Fairfax County seek to enter into a contract with a qualified firm to work with Fairfax County under the terms and conditions of this RFP to provide the County with a development plan and feasibility analysis necessary to facilitate redevelopment of the Lake Anne Village Center (LAVC) in an economically feasible and timely manner that is grounded in the Fairfax County Comprehensive Plan.

    See document at: http://www.fairfaxcounty.gov/dpsm/solic.htm

    Work Location: Fairfax County

    NOTE: all times displayed in eVA are EST

    Click here to view the solicitation:
    https://vendor.epro.cgipdc.com/loginEngine/index.jsp?openDoc=openDoc&DocumentCode=RFP&DepartmentCode=LAA2&DocumentID=62900&DocumentVersNo=1&Destination=pNAPSolicitation

    Or you can navigate to the solicitation by these steps:
    Access your eVA account at http://www.eva.virginia.gov
    •Click on the Vendor Login
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    ReplyDelete
  4. can someone explain to me why people choose to jog in the street 6" from a completely clear sidewalk? On a 4-lane road no less? I keep seeing it, but I can't fathom the rationale for it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. pavement has more "give" than cement...easier on the joints

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  6. I see SWB has been swimming in the shallow end of the gene pool again.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO): Soon-to-Be "Amongst the 'Hoods in Colvin Woods"April 9, 2010 at 12:04 PM

    Actually, Convict, SWB is an alias I use on my hometown newspaper in Scranton, PA. My "contributions" to commentary in the paper's articles are not exactly very well-received, so now people have followed me over from there to another forum that I post on, here, and even Facebook to harass and stalk me. They also adopt my alias to post false comments on the newspaper's web site in an attempt to defame me. A lot of people in Scranton apparently feel "threatened" because I explained how I plan to come back someday and become a "mover and shaker" to improve the place---a place that they love to malign because they vent their own professional shortcomings out on the city in general. I don't know if I should feel honored or creeped out by so many people having such an odd infatuation with me. If only finding myself a date was this easy! LOL! :-)

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  8. Anyone have a good landscape maintenance and design company they can recommend? Preferably one that can work with budgets and phase stuff in, etc., and also preferably one that leans in the organic/sustainable direction?

    Also, any experiences with Greenway landscaping?

    Thanks

    ReplyDelete
  9. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO): Soon-to-Be "Amongst the 'Hoods in Colvin Woods"April 9, 2010 at 12:08 PM

    Also, for the record, as an avid runner myself I use sidewalks whenever they are available out of courtesy to motorists or cyclists. If I'm running in your way it's only because Reston has not yet decided to build a sidewalk along the street I'm in. Until that time everyone is just going to have to learn to share the roads better. The worst was in late-February when I was nearly clipped by speeding car after speeding car because I had to run IN busy Wiehle Avenue between North Shore Drive and Fairway Drive because the snow was piled so high along the sidewalk that WAS there it was not navigable.

    ReplyDelete
  10. For those of you who enjoy cheese and charity:

    National Cheese Fondue Day is this Sunday, April 11, and $10 of every cheese fondue purchased at the four Melting Pot locations from 1pm-9pm will be donated to charity. The Arlington and Reston locations will be donating to The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Gaithersburg proceeds will benefit Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, and the Washington, D.C. location will be making their contribution to Food & Friends!

    The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is the largest charitable health organization devoted to funding blood cancer patient services, education, and research. The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) is the leader in type 1 diabetes research, and largest voluntary advocate and funder of diabetes science. Food & Friends delivers groceries and meals to and provides nutrition counseling for individuals facing life-challenging illnesses.


    Because Restonian cares about charity -- and cheese.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO): Soon-to-Be "Amongst the 'Hoods in Colvin Woods"April 9, 2010 at 1:30 PM

    Oh! I love cheese!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Thank God, BiCO, that you cleared up that confusion about your "SWB" alias, otherwise we might have thought it stood for Single White Bisexual and that you had come out of the closet. All of us would have been horrified at the thought you had at last succumbed to the come-hither look of some 40-something cougar from Ashburn and were last seen canoodling with her amidst the child safety seats in the back of her soccer mom mini-van. A fate worse than death.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I understand, BiCO, re: SWB. You explained that in another post. I suppose that from your own frame of reference, there might be some confusion on our part about who's SWB and who's BiCO, since you post with both. However, since you never (that I know of) have posted with SWB on this board, in my mind BiCO and SWB are two different entities.

    With that said, I still maintain that SWB's end of the gene pool could use a little more chlorine to hold down the Cholera bacteria.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Anonymous said...
    pavement has more "give" than cement...easier on the joints
    _______

    Well maybe RA could build clay running tracks, just kidding. But I know more then a few oldsters who have their joints all messed up from jogging when younger which is why some might want to try the kick bike. The kick bike is not hard on the joints like jogging but is fun and gets you winded. I had to take a kickbike break the other day before going into Home Depot and ended up going right in the store with it. It's smaller then conventional bikes and you can easily carry it in your car. I may bring it to RES bithtday if I don't arrive by canoe. Arriving by boat makes the Lake Ann Plazza have a whole new feeling.

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  15. Speaking of favorite eateries I've become fond of Hunan Cafe which moved in a few months ago, all the usual Chinese dishes but with no MSG, low sodium salt (whatever that is) and no microwave recipes, 100% vegetable oil (I like my Chinese food steamed fresh vegetables instead of canned and brown rice. Ever try and convince a Chinese place that had no brown rice to get some? I wish they sold beer but I mostly take out. A good place to go to for good healthy Chinese food.

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  16. Since this is an open thread....can anyone recommend a good brunch in Reston? I go into Arlington and DC a lot but would love to find someplace in Reston that is good (besides Clydes).

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  17. Is anyone else tired of the roadside signs advertising all kinds of worthless schlock? I've been clearing the area around my house and Reston Parkway for a couple of years. But this is getting to be too much for one person to do by themselves and I don't want to involve the kids in this. I'm looking for a partner to assist with ridding our community of this blight. I envision two people and one car, early on either Saturday or Sunday morning for an hour (two at most) to cruise through South Reston and your home area picking up roadside signs. One person does the driving while the passenger collects the signs and drops them in the trunk of the car. Once we've got a full load, we can bring them to my neighborhood for disposal.

    Any takers?

    ReplyDelete
  18. careful convict

    Those signs belong to someone else. You can be charged with theft for removing them. VDOT can appoint you an agent to remove signs but only their employees and agents have authority to remove signs from the right of way.

    Wouldn't want your nome de guerre to become reality.

    ReplyDelete
  19. That's not the way that I understand the law. It's illegal (for the most part) to be parking signs on the right-of-way. Most signs are then treated as abandoned and, therefore, trash. If that weren't the case, the the VDOT lawn mowing crews would need to have every sign checked out before they clean up the place. Clearly, that doesn't happen.

    Besides, it begs the question. How can it be illegal for me remove them but legal for the advertisers to hang/post unapproved signs? Anyway, there was an article in the Washington Post last year about a lady in Annandale who does the same thing.

    Anyway, the cops have seen me doing this and they've asked me what I'm doing but they've never tried to stop me or to caution me against it (except to be safe and not obstruct the road while doing so).

    ReplyDelete
  20. Hey - if you have old computer equipment to get rid of (esp. old CRT monitors) and despair of ever doing so: April 25 - Electric Sunday TV and Computer Recycling Event, 10 a.m. - 3 p.m. at the I-66 Transfer Station, 4618 West Ox Road, Fairfax, VA 22030

    Per the website: Fairfax County residents may use each Electric Sunday recycling event to recycle televisions, computers, monitors and peripheral electronic devices such as printers, scanners, speakers, keyboards, mice and external drives. Residents may also recycle their unbroken fluorescent tubes and light bulbs at these events as well. This is a free service for Fairfax County residents thanks to our partnership with Covanta Energy, Inc.

    We love free. The next electric Sunday is in May.

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  21. Three more days...

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  22. Anon 9:40
    Jasmine does a decent brunch on Lake Anne Plaza.
    Monmartre does an OK brunch. Cheaper than Jasmines + more outdoor seating.
    A nice place to go after picking up a few goodies at the Farmers Market on some sunny Saturday after May 1 perhaps?

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  23. You eat there? No wonder you are such a "glass bowl."

    Nasty, filthy restaurants in a nasty filthy place!!!

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  24. Uncle Julios used to have an excellent brunch. Not sure if they still do it.

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  25. We were out on the Reston paths today enjoying the beautiful weather. Walked the portion near Soapstone (Reach 4b?) where the stream restoration is wrapping up. They have done a wonderful job with the stream. Looks good. And overheard 3 other groups of people remarking at what a wonderful job that's been done. Saw tons of birds and squirrels out and about. Kudos to the stream restoration folks.

    ReplyDelete
  26. I view signs on the right of way as similar to freedom of press. Our forefathers envisioned the freedom for citizens to post information. I am not annoyed to see signs as I drive along the roadways. The lack of viable alternatives has left citizen businessmen with few alternatives. At one time in this country bulletin boards were widespread. I once talked to Milton Mathews regarding about the need for more neighborhood bulletin boards and he said he felt that they would lead to pedophilia and leave the RA open to being sued. There was a public bulletin board in the main room of the RA for a year or two as required by Virginia law for homeowners Associations but even that has been taken down. The RA no longer views itself as a homeowners Association but you still have to pay them dues. If I were a small businessman I would not view some one taking down my expensive signs kindly. I am aware of several institutional bulletin boards the RA maintains with glassed in notices placed by RA officials; they are boring I'll bet few people read them or even know they exist.

    ReplyDelete
  27. Yep-that's 4b - runs behind my house. They just moved the equipment across the street this past week. It does look wonderful and if the deer, foxes, squirrels and kids are any indication, everyone is adjusting quite well!

    It is pretty amazing to think they've been able to keep moving forward even with all the snow delays. They're behind, but not as much as would be reasonable! Mike Rolband of Wetland Solutions is a great guy and really CARES what people think about the work and LOVES to talk with them about it.

    The best thing is that RA isn't being charged so they're not charging us. The way it works is that Wetland is accruing wetlands restoration credits that they can then sell on the market for companies that need to offset development with remediation.

    So, RA agreeing to do it, and finding such a creative way to accomplish it without hemorrhaging funds that belong to US entitles them to some kudos...

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  28. I doubt that using the right of way for advertising would qualify under the first amendment because it's not political speech. However, if businessmen can exercise their first amendment rights in the medians, then so can I. I chose to do so by removing their signs.

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  29. I almost bought this dress at Anthropologie that had lots of vertical lines of pastel polka dots and then realized that I was only drawn to it because it looks like the background on your blog.

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  30. convict

    VDOT employees and agents have authority to remove trespassing signs. Unless you're a VDOT agent, you don't.

    It's not the cops you have to worry about. It's the folks who posted the signs who will bring the charges.

    It's a big deal with the realtors who put up the popcycle signs for new houses. Citizens got charged with theft.

    Proceed at your own risk. You've been warned.

    ReplyDelete
  31. Anon 8:25 & 9:45

    Rolband is making millions off this deal.

    He's no saint.

    Come look at the Disneyfied fawn nursery he created out of what was once a rare closed canopy stream valley by removing 3000 trees from Snake Den. It used to be one of the few such ecosystems in NoVa.

    Having enjoyed the company of all the rats that were chased out of Snake Den, the adjoining cluster owners can now look forward to case after case of Lyme disease.

    Thanks a bunch Mike.

    What a putz.

    ReplyDelete
  32. Not to be argumentative, 10:46, but they would have a leg to stand on, if the sign were posted on private property. Posted on public property without the appropriate approvals is a different story.

    Still, it's food for thought. I think I'll call VDOT about it. It makes you wonder, though, what kind of guidelines they give to the "Adopt-a-Highway" folks.

    ReplyDelete
  33. Food for thought:

    http://www.virginiadot.org/VDOT/Business/asset_upload_file608_3536.pdf

    and this

    http://members.cox.net/kdconway/westlawn/recycle/signs.htm

    ReplyDelete
  34. The bid for Lake Anne Redeveloment is interesting . . . have the neighbors and the related parties been informed and are they part of the process?

    ReplyDelete
  35. Peasant From Less Sought After South RestonApril 11, 2010 at 12:03 PM

    Some responses to a few of the posts here.

    dvdmon -- landscaping firms: I've used Hidden Lane Landscaping, 12539 Lawyers Road, phone (703) 620-6155. They did some work for me about three years ago, and I was pleased with the professionalism both of the landscape designer and the actual workers. I think they also give a one-year replacement guarantee for any plants (shrubs & trees) that they install.

    Anon 9:40 of April 10 -- brunch: I'm heading out shortly to Bazin's on Church in Vienna. Unless I report back otherwise, assume it's pretty good for brunch. Within Reston itself, the Lakeside Inn in the South Lakes shopping center actually had a pretty decent brunch, a bit to my surprise, when I ate there quite a while back.

    Convict -- roadside signs: you would actually be doing all of us a public service if you could report back what actually is necessary to become a licensed VDOT sign slayer. I also think the signs are an eyesore and, at times, a safety hazard by blocking sightlines at intersections. Like you, I've also pulled down more than a few illegal signs in my neighborhood, especially if they have a 1-800 number, but I leave alone house for sale, yard sale, and lost pet signs that have obviously been posted by local residents. Hell, I even pulled down one of those "Google Restonian" signs recently mentioned here, even if I regularly contribute to this "filthy Web-log".

    ReplyDelete
  36. Funny you should mention that, Pez. I took the kiddies for a forced march down Glade. There's one of the "Google Restonian" on the lamp post there by the intersection of Gland and Sopestoan. There was also a lady with a reflective vest carrying a butt-ugly orange trash bag and picking up up garbage on the other side of the road from me. I thought about asking her but decided that the controversy is great enough at this point that I should probably get the skinny on this straight from the horse's mouth.

    When I declutter, I will leave the yard sale signs as long as they are current (i.e. the yard sale hasn't already happened), open house signs (because most of these realtors are pretty good about removing them when the open house is done), youth sports signs (i.e. Reston Little League). When it comes to real estate signs, I'll leave them alone as long as they're in good repair otherwise they're fair game.

    For awhile, somebody was attaching nice ceramic crucifixes with flowers along the roadside to trees in different locations. I left those alone for a while until my atheistic sensibilities couldn't tolerate it any longer. After a few months of waging war on these, that nonsense stopped. (Note: If I had thought that they might be a memorial to a specific person who had died at or near that location, I would have probably left them. However, they were pooping up rapidly and in various locations with one exception: the murder in South Lakes park.)

    Anyway, I'll call VDoT sometime in the next couple of weeks and see what I can find out.

    BTW, to the Bozo with the two dogs (Bulldog and Lhasa Apso or Shih Tzu) in your lap with their heads hanging out the window while you were driving at the intersection of Sopastone and Sunrise Valley at around noon today, you missed me and the the kids by less than a foot. Keep the dogs out of your lap while driving and pay attention to the road. Your dogs' pleasure ride does not trump my family's safety.

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  37. I offer my condolences to the family over in North Point that lost their 2.5 year old in a tragic accident on Saturday.

    http://voices.washingtonpost.com/local-breaking-news/toddler-dies-after-fall-from-w.html?hpid=newswell

    ReplyDelete
  38. since this is an open thread... Rod, do you have a booth at the Reston Farmer's market? My sewing scissors are as sharp as a butter knife.

    ReplyDelete
  39. Weird, normally when I post in a thread it automatically subscribes me to it via email, but for some reason it didn't do that for this thread... Had to do it manually after coming back and seeing entries after I last posted. HKCD, I've taken down a few signs, but most were just papers stapled to lampposts. I applaud your efforts but would be concerned about people who post these things seeing you and then slashing your tires or something. Some of these signs are advertising such scammy stuff that I wouldn't trust the posters being reasonable or even legal in their responses. Be careful!

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  40. Er, I meant to say Convict, not HKCD, sorry!

    ReplyDelete
  41. Note as someone who has worked in real estate: Sometimes the signs are newly placed but still look beat up because they're always being shoved in, yanked out of the ground, rained on, hit with stuff... they're needed and come at personal cost to the realtor... just a thought. Be kind , it's a rough game out there for that profession...

    ReplyDelete
  42. Anonymous said...
    since this is an open thread... Rod, do you have a booth at the Reston Farmer's market? My sewing scissors are as sharp as a butter knife.

    April 11, 2010 8:00 PM

    _________________________


    Let no scissor go unused because of unsharpness! Will will be opening at National Reality Famers Market in Reston on April 28 (look for little yellow signs on the right of way!!!)

    Still no word on the election results which will probally come in on the evening I'm now thinking. But I will post them here as soon as I get them even if I've lost and look poorly.


    hours of operation:

    on Tuesdays at:
    11895 Grand Commons Avenue (next to the Lucy store)
    Fairfax Corner
    11:30am–2:30pm
    Year-round
    As of April 27 this market will run from 3:30pm–6:30pm and return to its previous outdoor location at the corner of Monument Dr. and Government Center Pkwy.

    Wednesdays
    Parking lot of the National Realty Building
    Corner of Reston Parkway and Sunrise Valley Drive
    3:30pm–6:30pm
    Opens April 28

    and maybe on Thursdays if I can get the Herndon town council to understand the benign nature of sharpening
    Herndon Centre (Kmart)
    Elden St., Herndon
    3:30pm–6:30pm
    Opens May 13

    I am at Curran Fabrics in Mclean around the corner from Giants the first Wednesday of the month where you can drop them off and pick them up at your leisure.

    ReplyDelete
  43. I did just get a call from Ellen Graves from the reeelection committee who informed me that I did not win the election. The winner and votes presumably will be announced tomorrow. I can only wish the winner and the citizens of Reston the best.

    ReplyDelete
  44. Peasant From Less Sought After South RestonApril 12, 2010 at 11:52 AM

    Rod, whether we voted for you or not, and although your candidacy was not successful, I think we all owe you a vote of thanks for your civic-mindedness in being willing to run for the RA board and to take on all the headaches it would have entailed had you won. So, thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  45. Bob Simon's Metallic Alter-EgoApril 12, 2010 at 11:54 AM

    Agreed. Rod, I hope you stay involved in trying to make Reston a better place to live. Thanks for your willingness to participate in what was obviously a thankless process.

    ReplyDelete
  46. well done Rod... and to all the candidates

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  47. By the way, I walked past the old Wiehle town hall / distillery on Old Reston Ave yesterday evening, which has been for sale for eons, and the sign now says "Under Contract".

    ReplyDelete
  48. Broke in Charter Oak (BiCO): Soon-to-Be "Amongst the 'Hoods in Colvin Woods"April 13, 2010 at 11:04 AM

    Anonymous @ 6:11 AM: I saw people walking around looking at the property early last week en route to a run on the W&OD. I was hoping the Lady Antebellum music I was blaring as I drove by in the Mazda wouldn't have turned them off to the structure. Maybe it "clinched" the deal for them! What fate awaits that old building? RA's new headquarters? Rod's new sharpening store? A gay bar? A homeless shelter? A Dave & Buster's? Another Starbuck's? A "summer home" for Cathy Hudgins? A Georgetown Cupcake? (oh please God yes!)

    ReplyDelete
  49. They won't be able to knock that structure down. Historic places and all...

    I've always thought it would make a great location for an upscale eatery, but I think a small office/artist studio would actually suit the location best.

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  50. I agree HCKD it would be a perfect studio. I actually looked at the property about 18 months ago when it was still ridiculously priced. The inside has wonderful character and potential (after the bazillion dollar re-do that is inevitably in store) The property has a surprising amount of parking attached to it, although not intuitively oriented... hope it all works out!

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  51. Compare foods will be opening on Friday (April 16), from what the owner of Pho Reston 75 told me. Yay!

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