Odds and Ends

New Target
The new Target opened in DC this week. It is in the very up and coming neighborhood of Columbia Heights. I haven't been up in the area since I was house hunting which is now 6 years.

There is now development all over the place. Besides the Target there will be a Marshalls, Bed Bath and Beyond and a Best Buy (this will be the second Best Buy to open in the District). There is across the street from the Target more stores and many many condo buildings going up.

As to the store itself, it is on two floors. They have an "escalator" for your shopping chart. The chart escalator is located right next to the regular one. As you ride up the chart keeps pace with you. I not sure what happens when the store is really crowded and there are lots of charts heading up or down.

The only potential problem I see is that the entrance and exit to the parking garage is on a very narrow one way street. When all the stores are open the street could really be over loaded with traffic.

From one Mall to another
I went out shopping with my friend Mark yesterday. We ended up going to Springfield Mall. At one point in time it was the largest mall in the DC area. Neither of us had been there in a very long time. It was to say the least a complete and total dump. There were several hallways we walked down where there were absolutely no stores. It also was very dark and seemed claustrophobic. There were very few people in it.

On the way back to Mark's house we ended up going to Pentagon City Mall. There was a new Apple store there. It was packed with people. It was very bright and open.

Monarc Construction
This is a local construction company. They have been around for a very long time. Almost as long as I've lived here. And there has always been something that has bugged me about them. They have a butterfly as their logo. Now you'd think Monarc Construction Monarch butterfly. But as far as I can tell it looks very much to me that it is a Tiger Swallowtail butterfly. Go figure.

First real estate tax bill
I got my first real estate tax bill this past week. I was under a program in the District where first time home buyers were exempt from paying property taxes for the first five years they live in their homes.

So I to got my first bill. It was about one-fifth of what the mortgage estimated. I've written them a letter with a copy of the bill and asking them to recalculate the escrow payment for the property taxes which means my mortgage payment will drop.

Spring ahead
I love having to go through my house and change all of the clocks. I always forget to do the one in the basement. I also have to change my watch. Now the watch is supposed to be linked up with the atomic clock in Denver and you should never ever have to change the time. It will access the atomic clock and change all on its own. Well I've never has that work until today. I got out the instructions to the watch so I could change the time and picked up the watch and the time was already changes.

Coughing
Finally this is starting to go away. The nasal spray has helped and so has the inhaler. I think sometime I cough just because I'm so used to coughing. I think it will be gone when I head for England which is in a little over two and a half weeks away.