Apartment Agitation: Lost Emails?

So I sent that email about getting bike racks and better recycling facilities a couple weeks ago, and then checked with the office a couple days later.  The office lady said she didn’t get it, and the manager probably didn’t either.  So I sent the email again last week, and still no reply.  I’ve double-checked the emails, and they’re the ones on the card I was given, and the domain they answered when I was applying for the apartment, soooo.  Hrm.

So no direct response, but this morning we got a message under our doors about “balcony inspections” wherein they make sure our balconies are respectable, and mentioned that they are “asking corporate” about getting bike racks for the complex.  Until then, we are welcome to keep them in our apartments (gee, thanks!) or in a maintenance facility storage room open M-F, from 9am to 3pm (what?).

So, the bike’s still on the balcony, which works because it’s raining all the time anyway, and I’m gonna hook up my printer to make some paper copies of the letter tonight and hand them in in person tomorrow.

Phoenix Bikes Show Thursday

I posted about this, but I buried it, and it deserves a headline.  Getcher tickets for $30 online or at the door, and be at the Dome Theatre on Wilson Blvd. in Arlington from 7-9 this Thursday.  There’s food, drinks, bike-power smoothies, helmet tattoos, and a presentation honoring impressive cyclists in the area.  In my head this is based on thigh girth and BMI indexes, but online it sounds more like people who support local cycling, so take it as you will.

Proceeds benefit the Phoenix Bikes education and repair programs, worthy causes indeed.

Events All Over

In order of occurrence:

Alexandria Earth Day Celebration, Ben Brenman Park.  It’s this Saturday from 10-2- the park is right across from Beatley Library (the one with the five triangle peaks that bug me).  The theme is green transport, so bike (they have a bike valet, and the Holmes Run Trail is very convenient), take the free shuttle from King Street Metro, or take the AT8 bus.  I’ll be in class, so we can’t hang out, but there’s a tree sale and lots of booths!  Plus the Eco City people will be announcing their Phase II draft of our Environmental Plan.  More on that later.

Phoenix Bikes 2009 Bike Show.  April 30th, 7-9 at the Dome Theatre in Arlington- 1101 Wilson Blvd.  Tickets are $20 online, and $30 at the door.  Proceeds benefit the same bike repair/recycling and teaching shop that I got my little white Peugeot from a couple years ago- it’s a great program.  Plus, raffle.  And drinks, food, and smoothies, bicycle blended.  Also helmet tattoos.  Should be a thing!  See you there?

Eco City Open House- May 11, comment on the Action Plan Phase II draft.  Houston Rec Center, 901 Wythe, 6:30 to 9 again.  You know the drill!  Except a call to action, and citizen commitments.

Apartment Agitation: Recycling and Bike Racks

I sent this email to the property manager and one of the associates this morning.

Hello,

I am a resident in the #### building.  I lived here about a year ago, also, in the #### building.

When I lived here last, we had just gotten the recycling bins at the end of the complex, and I asked about getting more convenient bins for each apartment building, so that we could recycle more items.  Are there any plans in place to widen the recycling program here at -the complex-?  If not, why not?  Is there anything I can do to help enlarge the program?  Additionally, I have noticed that the bins have contradictory labels- they’re labeled with the single-stream recycling stickers for Alexandria, but they also have separate “Newspapers Only” and “Cans Only” labels that make recycling here a guessing-game.  What exactly is the recycling policy here at -the complex-?  Has it been clearly stated to each resident?  I received no instructions for it when I moved back in, and wouldn’t have even known we had a recycling option if I hadn’t lived here before and specifically asked about it.

Also, I bike to work, and I’d like to know if there are any areas that I could store my bike in the complex.  I live on the third floor, and carrying my bike up and down the two flights twice a day probably builds character, but it would be very convenient if there were a bike rack somewhere on the ground floor.  There is an area under the stairs in this building that’s unused, and the bikes in a rack there wouldn’t be in anyone’s way.  Bike storage on the ground floor would also prevent cyclists from carrying the dirt and mud of the local trails higher into the buildings.

Let me know if there’s anything I can do to get either of these initiatives started.

Best,
Me
Address
Phone Number

I actually included where I live, though.  I’ll let you know what I hear back- now I’m off to report a leak and animal noises behind the vent, and casually mention that I sent an email with demands.

Progress: It’s Been A While

Hey there!  I moved.  It took a while, because there was also a wedding and a class project in there too.  But the composter is humming away on my new balcony, my herbs are sitting in the window of my new kitchen, and I’ve got my very own separate gas and electricity bills are coming in, so pretty soon I can follow EcoCheap’s excellent example, and switch to wind power!

So, good start- I’ll post photos of the seedlings, which I expect any minute now.  I have checked three times in the past day- nothing yet.

Oh, also!  Biking to work?  I can, as soon as I mentally prepare myself to carry the bike down two flights every morning, then up the same stairs each night.  I’ll be in the weight room tomorrow morning, working on that part.  I imagine this will build me more character than muscle, really.

But the eating-my vegetables thing has been going really well.  I cooked a big vegetarian meal for the folks who came by to help me move- cheaper than pizza.  After the move, I’ve been living off of, well, cheese and crackers, but I’ve cooked two or three other big meals too.  I’ll post the recipe for my most recent tomorrow- pierogies with onions and apples.  Actually, that pretty much is the recipe, but I’ll flesh it out a bit for you, I guess.

The most important thing is, I haven’t purchased meat in a couple weeks.  And I still eat it when I eat out, and when other people cook, but I’m not missing it in my own food prep.  You can thank me later, environment!  Just make my plants grow.

New goals:  definitely gardening, this month.  I might also start harassing my apartment complex to working on the truly pitiful recycling options here.  They have three normal garbage bins for the hundreds of people who live in this complex, and they’re hidden in the back.  Now, I’d like them to fix a few things in my apartment before I get annoying, but maybe I can convince them to at least get recycling depositories in each building, or maybe even bins in each apartment!

Gonna dream big.

The One On The Bike, Moaning “Sooooooo Coooooooold”

Positive:  It was so nice this morning, with the sun and the breezes.

Negative: At some point after dark it dropped like 20 degrees and the breeze turned to wind, painful eye-scraping wind.  Gym shorts are irrelevant against cold and wind.  Pants are necessary.

Positive:  The cold sure numbed all those sore bits right up.

So I get a warm shower before I head out to get some more organic wine for that V-day tasting business…

Run Into Me? Please Don’t

Have I biked around enough to earn whining rights yet?  My rear hurts and I need to share, so I’ll chance it:

I had forgotten precisely how awkward sitting on bike seats is.  All that drainage work on Commonwealth last fall?  I hit all of the resulting cracks and potholes on the way home tonight.  And the batteries in my headlight had died after a few months hidden on a shelf (hidden so well it took me 30 min to find them this morning).  Waaaaah, life is so hard.

But gosh it’s beautiful weather to ride around in!  Here’s hoping my rear goes numb soon, so I can enjoy it all.

Day Off

Good thing I goofed off this morning, because the boss gave us the day off on the basis of sunshine.  I took my bike ride anyway (the gears and brakes survived the snow and cold, though remind me to check brakes before I get on that hill down Mt. Ida to Commonwealth next time).  My tires could use some air, it would appear.

Now, on to the Salvation Army, to obtain pants, and perhaps a small table.  I had another only-pair-of-jeans-rip debacle this winter (will she finally learn this year, and obtain more than one pair of nicely-fitting pants?  stay tuned to find out!), and substituted three pairs of poorly fitting, ludicrous pants from a rushed weekend visit to a Unique.  I’ve been gritting my teeth and wearing them since, but today, that changes.

The weather is tempting me to pay attention to my garden, also.  Hm.

Oh, and my passport came today!  Way to be early, State Department.

Further bulletins as events warrant.

OH Also I Took Pictures at the DC Auto Show

A preview:

The Tesla Roadster was there, in clothed and naked editions.  Enjoy!

PS. Nice enough to bike to work Friday, eh?  24 degrees, so never mind.  Monday, perhaps.  Weather.com gives me a good feeling about that.

What’s Left

I’ve made my feelings on Bush’s administration and environmental policy clear- as clear as incoherent rage can be- so on the his last day in office, I’ll let others sum it up for me.

The Guardian: The Worst of Times

Fox News: Bush’s Environmental Legacy Draws Mixed Reviews

National Resources Defense Council: The Bush Administration’s Dirty Legacy

PBS: The Bush Environmental Legacy: 9 Landmark Decisions

All the sources listed mention the last minute reprieve for huge tracts of ocean land Bush just ordered, and not surprisingly, only Fox News feels that catapults his record from “Disaster” to “Mixed”.  Other news organizations are careful to point out that without enforcement and dedicated resources which our lamest duck no longer has control of, the new ocean preservation areas are just a cynical gesture: all legacy, no responsibility.

But tomorrow, we get a new chance.  I’m staying in DC tonight for a celebration with some friends, then we’re headed to the Mall Tuesday to join in the Inauguration.  I’ll post my pictures- even if all I get are the backs of people’s heads- for everybody who can only join in spirit!

If you are coming, make sure to check the list of street closings and forbidden items, and consider biking in, since the WABA is offering two free bike valet services near the mall for you.