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Posts Tagged ‘DC’

Day 63 – Moe M.

Posted in Food & Beverage, Transportation, tagged , , , , , , on February 17, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I met Moe on Monday evening.  My cousin Cheryl and I hailed a cab in DC to take us over to Rosslyn, VA to meet with my brother, sister-in-law, and friends Conor and Scott.  We were meeting them at Piola, a good pizza joint that I was first introduced to in Buenos Aires in the late 90s.  Later, I ate at Piola in Sao Paulo. 

Piola - Rosslyn, VA

About a year ago, Piola opened up here in DC.  In an age where pizza seems to be getting so processed and tasteless, Piola is a little bit of hope.  Even the pizza they make here is not as good as the pizzas they serve up in Sao Paulo though…then again, Sao Paulo has some of my favorite pizza in the world.

Cheryl and I didn’t talk to Moe much on the drive.  We were busy chatting away.  When we arrived, Moe said he had to ask a question about what happened at the end of Cheryl’s story.  Cheryl explained and we got out of the cab.  Normally I would probably think it was rude for the cab driver to be so nosey as to ask something like that, but, not the way Moe asked.  He had a real genuine interest. 

We paid the fare and got out of the cab, Cheryl noticed she was missing one of her rings and looked all over for it.  The driver got out and checked around the car, under the seats, everywhere.  But it was not to be found.  The 58-year-old former real estate executive and father of two twin boys took our contact info and offered to get in touch with us if he found it.  

I was touched how thoughtful and kind he was and I pulled out my $10.  He took it and said he would use it for gas.  

In all the craziness about the ring, I forgot to get his contact information to invite him to the year end party and maintain contact with him throughout the Year of Giving.  So, Moe, if you check this out, drop me a note!

By the way, Cheryl found the ring in her hotel room the next morning.

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Day 62 – Joe L.

Posted in Alcohol, Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , on February 16, 2010| 1 Comment »

The Year of Giving hit 4,000 unique visitors today from more than 37 countries around the world.

I met Joe, an Englishman from Nottingham (think East Midlands, the legend of Robin Hood, Raleigh bicycles, William Booth of the Salvation Army, Nottingham Forest F.C., home of Boots) who is in DC on vacation.  This is my first recipient who is not living in the US.  The 24-year-old is smart, witty, and easy to converse with.  Even a little self deprecating as he tells me that he has no talents whatsoever.  His friend Anna chimed in, “That’s not true…you are an expert at post colonial Nigerian military history.”  A tight smile came across Joe’s face and he slowly nodded and said, “Well, that is true.  I am.”  I never quite understood why such the specialty, but I am sure that comes in handy.

I asked Joe what he would do with my American dollars that I gave him.  “I’ll probably spend it on some beer and food, I guess.”  I asked his friend Anna what she would have done with it.  She thought about it and said that she would feel like she had to do something karma-like with it…like give it to a homeless person.  She recalls finding $10 a few weeks back and says that she gave it to a cab driver who said he was being evicted from his place.

Joe, like me, is unemployed right now.  He hopes to find work in the UK working in government.  Specifically doing campaign related work for the Labour Party…the party of current British PM Gordon Brown and former PM Tony Blair. 

I enjoyed speaking with both Joe and Anna.  They mentioned an interesting blog to me, People’s District.  I checked this blog out and really enjoyed it.  They also tipped me off to a potential place to hold the year-end celebration that I am planning in December.

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Day 61 – Issa M.

Posted in Food & Beverage, Transportation, tagged , , , , , on February 15, 2010| 8 Comments »

February 13, 2010. 

Today was the wedding of my brother and his fiancée (well, now his wife!) Mandy.  After spending a couple hours chiseling ice off of drain spouts around my building and shoveling snow off of our flat roof (by the way, flat roofs in regions where snow is prone, not a good idea), I headed over to meet my dad and brother for a shave at the Grooming Lounge on L Street in DC.

If you have never gotten a professional shave, I recommend it…at least for you men out there.  Matt gave me my shave.  He did an excellent job and I recommend him if you want to check this place out.  Your face just feels amazing afterwards.  I do kind of wish they would use the straight edge razor…the one that you use the strop with.  But they use safety razors…the same kind I shave with at home and claim that you can get as good of a shave with the modern safety razors as you can with a straight edge razor.  Any opinion on this?

I then hurried around, picked up my dry cleaning at Georgetown Cleaners (they are pretty good) on Florida Ave., reviewed my notes for the ceremony and headed down to the Hotel Monaco for the wedding.

I think I have mentioned in other posts that my brother and Mandy asked me to perform the wedding ceremony.  This is not something that I have a lot of experience doing.  In fact, I didn’t have any experience.

I think it went well though.  I did forget to tell the guests to sit after the bride and groom came in though.  So, everyone stood for the ceremony!  Oops…good thing it was only about 12 minutes long.

Mandy and Ryan (photo: Maureen Buckley)

The reception was wonderful.  The hotel setting was beautiful, the food was fantastic, and all the other details were perfect.  I got to see a lot of family and friends that I have not seen in some time… only wish I could have spent more time with them all.

I sensed the reception was coming to an end…could it have been the Neil Diamond tune that clued me in?  Who knows?  I found a hotel staff member cleaning up and thought I should offer him my $10.

Issa is a 50 year-old-man originally from the West African country of Sierra Leone.  He is a Banquet Captain at the Monaco and has worked there for about 7 years…pretty much since they opened in 2002. 

He is tall and slender and was very appreciative of the gift.  He said that he would use it to put gas in his car and buy some juice.  Issa was busy and I let him finish his work so that he could get home.

Several of us headed to the hotel bar, Poste, for the penultimate drink.

Congratulations Mandy and Ryan!  Your wedding was beautiful and I am very happy for you both.  I love you very much.

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Day 60 – Laqueen

Posted in Food & Beverage, tagged , , , , , on February 13, 2010| 3 Comments »

This one will be a short one, as I have to get ready for my brother’s wedding.

I went to get my haircut yesterday at the Hair Cuttery in Dupont.  I like this location.  It is one of the very first Hair Cuttery locations.  I never request anyone and almost always have a good experience. 

Yesterday Nancy was to cut my hair.  She had cut my hair once before.  She is a petite asian woman who has worked there since 1979.  She is a very sweet woman, but she wouldn’t take my $10.  Neither would another worker there. 

On my way out, I asked the receptionist/cashier is she would accept it and she did.  Laqueen is 21 and has been working there for about a month.  The place is very busy and she keeps her cool as she coordinates who cuts whose hair (is that proper English?).  She said she would spend the $10 this week on some food.

If you need a good hair cut and don’t want to pay a fortune for it, head down to the Hair Cuttery in Dupont at Connecticut and R Street.

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Day 57 – Roger

Posted in Rent, tagged , , , , , , , on February 9, 2010| 2 Comments »

I didn’t think that the driving situation could get worse than yesterday…but I stand corrected.  Today there were way more amateur drivers venturing out into the snowy mess.  I helped dig out and push five cars.  Most of the people were not used to driving in the snow.  Sadly one of them was a taxi driver who was completely clueless about driving in the snow (in his defense, he was from East Africa).

I was surprised at how few people offered to help.  One time a maintenance man at a nearby building offered to help.  His name was Chavez…I tried to give him $10 after we got the person unstuck, but he politely refused and said the next time I saw him he would accept.  I will be looking for you Chavez!

I later found Roger, a Street Sense salesman, at the Farragut North Metro entrance.  Roger is 58 and lives in DC.  He has been living with his brother-in-law for about four months after he had some serious problems with his wife and daughter that lead to his wife changing the locks.  “That’s a bad sign” he tells me.  Yea…I would have to agree with you Roger.  Now his brother-in-law is also asking him to leave.  He is not sure where he will go after Feb 11th.

He says he will keep my $10 and add it to his savings to hopefully pay for housing/shelter.  

Roger seems very nice.  I shot a little bit of video of him that you can see here.

Want to help Roger out?  Here are a couple of things he needs:

  • A place to keep some of his things.  Preferably a place where he could have key to lock the items up.  Even a closet like space would help.
  • Free counseling. Roger has went through a very difficult time with his family.  He realizes that he needs counseling on how to deal with the situation.  I would like to try to find a therapist who would work with Roger on a pro bono basis.
  • Lastly, his computer broke and he really misses having his computer.  He actually still carries his computer case.  If anyone or any company has a working laptop that they would like to put to good use, Roger would be very appreciative. 

If you can help with any of these things, let me know and I can contact Roger.

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Day 53 – Beth H.

Posted in Donation, tagged , , , , , , , on February 6, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I am snowed in. 

We got about two feet of snow in DC so far and it is still coming down lightly.  Trees are down, cars are completely covered, and people are heading to Dupont Circle for a massive snow ball fight…the news reported that some 3,000+ on Facebook have said the are going to join the fight.  I think I will stay here for now.

Last night my brother invited me to go to the Capitals game where they beat the Thrashers.  On my way home, some friends sent me a message to meet up for a drink at the Russia House.  I made my way through the snowy streets and arrived at the Russia House.  It was pretty busy.  My friends showed up and we had a few Lithuanian beers.

Beth was sitting next to us.  The 30-year-old lives in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in DC.  Although she studied Art and History in college, now she works in energy policy.  In addition to her job, she is enrolled in Johns Hopkins’ International Energy and Environment Program.  Coincidentally we discover that we have both lived in Brazil.  I lived in Sao Paulo for three years, she lived in Rio.

Beth said she was pretty sure that she knew what she wanted to do with the $10, but asked to follow up with me later on it.  I just got an email from her now saying that she donated the money to the World Resources Institute’s International Financial Flows and the Environment program.  That was the fastest follow up I have had so far!

By the way, Andrea S. from Day 48 followed up with me and let me know that she gave her money to the Woodside United Methodist Church Food Pantry.  She wrote me a nice note and I have asked her to post as a comment on her day’s blog post.

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Day 14 – Davitia

Posted in Transportation, tagged , , , , , , on December 28, 2009| 1 Comment »

Today was a mixed bag.  Several positive things happened, but also some frustrating setbacks.

I have been battling with unemployment.  For some reason they have not paid me a dime since I filed back in September.  I have sent letters, emails, called them, all to no avail.  So, finally I decided to trek over to the closest center that they have which is on Rhode Island Avenue in NE.  I get over there and wait in line to get to the front desk only to find that they stopped letting new people in 11 minutes earlier.  So, once again, I am shot down by the unemployment office.  I will be back tomorrow or Wednesday at 8:30 am to guarantee that I get to speak to someone.

On the positive side, I got two updates from previous recipients of the Year of Giving and I heard back from two different organizations with whom I have been interviewing.  The updates were from Davie (Day 5) and Jenny (day 13).  Davie is doing well.  He used the $10 toward a bus ticket to NYC and is doing well there.  He still plans to come back to DC in January.  He was very gracious for the gift and even offered to do something in return, however, he said he wasn’t sure what that would be but said he was really good at giving mohawk, chelsea, undercut, etc. style haircuts.  Not sure how I would look with one of those, but who knows! 

You might have also seen that Jenny posted a comment.  She promises to keep us posted on her journey during the Year of Giving.

So on my way home from the failed Unemployment Office visit, I stopped at the Giant at the Rhode Island / Brentwood Metro station.  On my way out I saw a woman with a cart full of groceries waiting for someone to pick her up.  Davitia, a 32 year-old resident of NW, is a Home Health Aid.  She visits people, mostly elderly, in their homes and helps them with some of their basic routine items.  She is very kind and I am sure she brightens the day of the people that she serves. 

I got a chuckle from the response Davitia gave when I asked if she would accept the $10.  She snapped her neck back slightly and said something like, “Heck yeah!”  She smiled and I gave her the $10.  She said that the money would probably go to her Metro SmarTrip card.  Interesting that Jenny said the same thing yesterday.

I asked Davitia what she had purchased and she had the usual things to feed her family.  She has three children, so you can imagine the amount of food they go through to fill their growing bellies.  I was glad to meet Davitia…she brightened my day.

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