Photo by PoPville Flickr user Tyrannous

“Dear PoP,

I T-boned a cop car last week. Let me explain:

Wednesday night I made a run to the Whole Foods on P St. to grab a few last-minute Thanksgiving necessities. On my way home I made a left from P St. onto 14th and within five seconds of heading north on 14th I saw something flash in front of me and next thing you know I basically t-bone a gold sedan that was (without signaling) attempting to make an illegal U-turn from the right lane on northbound 14th, all the way over to the southbound lanes.

So I’m steaming and the offending car pulls over on the opposite side of the street and a full-uniformed police officer gets out of the car. Yup, I just t-boned an unmarked cop car. Great. It turns out the cop was very cool about the whole thing — immediately apologetic, said he felt terrible about the whole thing, etc. Because the accident involved a cop car, they had to bring in crime scene investigators, the offending officer’s boss, that guy’s boss, and a bunch of other people.

After the long weekend I finally got to work on this situation with my insurance company and they are painting a bleak picture for me. First, I’m going to have to scrape together the cash for my deductible even though the accident was not my fault (this is likely due to the phrase “Official Investigation Pending” on the police report). Then, I won’t get reimbursed for that money until my insurance people get the money from the DC government — and I’m told that the bureaucracy here will be “brutal”. I’ve already emailed the officer who wrote the police report asking to amend it because of some major inaccuracies on the report vs. what really happened.

Needless to say I’m not looking forward to all of this. Here’s my question — have any of your readers ever been through anything remotely resembling this? How screwed up is this process going to prove to be? Is there anything I can do to make this easier?”

Man, that is rough. What do you guys recommend besides suggesting the reader get his/her Council Member involved?

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We learned the shop was coming back in early Sept.. This is also the same building where POSH consignment store recently opened. Here’s a note I received from the owner:

“We are located at 1828 on 18th Street between T and Swann, across from Lauriol Restaurant. Ansonia Wines grows out of a small, family run business specializing in French wines. For the past few years Ansonia Imports has supplied wine to some of Washington’s finest restaurants, including CityZen, Citronelle, Komi, Obelisk and Central. Now the Ansonia Wines retail store will bring such wines to individual wine lovers in DC’s Dupont Circle neighborhood. The majority of our wines come from Burgundy, but we also sell wines from the Alsace, the Rhone, Bordeaux and Italy.

We offer hand-selected wines, from winemakers we know. We think that people enjoy their wine a little more when they know something about who made it and where it came from – in our store you’ll find books, maps, and photographs with our producers, all designed to bring our customers closer to the producers that make their wine. We insist on complete climate control for all of our wines through the entire journey from vineyard to our store. Our wines are as fresh as they are at the domaine.

We had a soft opening this past Saturday, and are open from 10:30am-8:30pm Monday through Thursday, and 10am-9pm Friday and Saturday. We are planning an open house event Saturday December 12th where we will open a larger number and range of wines throughout the day.

More information can also be found at our website, www.AnsoniaWines.com, or on our blog: ansoniawines.blogspot.com.”

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This mansion on 3rd Street, NW near the Anna J. Cooper Circle has been in a sorry state for a while. I haven’t been able to track down how much it’s going for but maybe Hipchick can find out. Anyway, it reminds me a bit of the great old mansion in a similar state of disrepair off Monroe in Mt. Pleasant. What do you think would be a reasonable asking price for a huge home that obviously needs a ton of work?

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I reader emailed me about this statue getting a touch up months ago. I totally forgot about it until I walked by last weekend. The green is striking. I think it came out great. It’s across from the Hinkley Hilton on Connecticut Ave.

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Sadly the building itself is rather rundown but just looking at these numbers makes me think of the 1950s/60s.

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I thought these shrubs were wild. They were sculpted meticulously. Anyone know what kind of shrub/plant it is?

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Thanks to a reader for sending:

“I found this door (I think) the day the owners were installing it, or at least doing some work on it. It is just off of Logan. I realized just now looking at the picture that the the door to the left is not too shabby either though it was the door at 1519 that really caught my attention.”

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Here’s another sweet one from Bloomingdale. I was trying to figure out if the third floor was an addition or not – what do you guys think? It also had a pretty cool decoration over the door:

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Photo by PoPville Flickr user cacophony76

From metro:

Metro Transit Police are investigating a preliminary report of an individual who was pushed into the side of a Red Line train. The train was stopped and servicing the platform at the Gallery Place/Chinatown Metrorail station at about 3:35 p.m. today (Nov. 30) at the time of the incident. The train was headed in the direction of Shady Grove.

The preliminary investigation indicates that two young men were involved in an altercation and one individual pushed the other into the side of the last car of a six-car train. The young man fell to the platform and was aided by local emergency medical first responders. The individual, a minor, was transported to a nearby hospital.

The incident train was held at the scene of the accident for 45 minutes. Customers on the Red Line experienced delays as a result of the incident. Red Line trains were taking turns sharing one track (single-tracking) between Farragut North and Judiciary Square Metrorail station while the train was being held at the scene.

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Du Froyo yogurt shop is located at 1709 Connecticut Ave NW. While they are currently open, they’ll be having their grand opening Dec. 4th with a tasting according to their Web site. Anyone check them out yet?

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Here’s a couple of interesting events I received via email:

Cheap Art Sale
Benefit for Neighbors’ Consejo
Saturday, December 5
1-5pm
at La Casa (3166 Mt Pleasant St NW, Washington, DC)

On Saturday, December 5th the Cheap Art Sale will host local artists from across the city who will show and sell original works of art, donating half or more of all proceeds to the nonprofit Neighbors’ Consejo (www.neighborsconsejo.org).  All art will be priced at $100 or less.  The Cheap Art Sale is an opportunity for shoppers to purchase unique holiday gifts and one-of-a-kind items.  Participating artists include Leslie Andrus, Lely Constantinople, Mike Ferguson, Henry Gallucio, Sha Grogan-Brown, Kikapika Designs, Tom Legro, Vrinda Manglik, Vida Russell, Arelle Wood and others.  Works of art include photography, prints, screen printed clothing, jewelry, paintings, etc.

Hundreds of Young Poets Shine on Local Stage
Students Compete for the DC SCORES Poetry Slam! Golden Mic

WHAT: On consecutive nights, more than 300 of the District’s public elementary and middle school students will take the stage during the 12th annual citywide DC SCORES Poetry Slam! competition to vie for the coveted Golden Mic trophy. The Slam! showcases original works of poetry written and performed by students from the DC SCORES after-school program. During this event, a boy and a girl from each of our 23 schools will receive a new bicycle courtesty of Bicycle Stations for displaying leadership during the DC SCORES fall season.

WHEN & Wednesday, December 2, 6:00 p.m.
WHERE: Columbia Heights Education Campus
3101 16th Street, NW Washington, DC (Metro: Columbia Heights)

Thursday, December 3, 6:00 p.m.
Kelly Miller Middle School
301 49th Street, NE Washington, DC (Metro: Benning Road)

DETAILS: The DC SCORES Poetry Slam!, free and open to the public, funnels the energy and creativity of youth into self-expression as a means of improving their literacy rates and raising their self-esteem.

DC SCORES is an affiliate of America SCORES, the nation’s largest after-school soccer and literacy program. For more information, please visit www.dcscores.org.

Bicycle Stations, located at 2204 14th St., NW, opened in September 2009 to motivate the DC community to make healthier decisions by commuting on bicycles. Bicycle Stations will have three locations by the end of 2010 and specializes in high-line commuter and road bikes.

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Thanks to @Ray Swore for the heads up. I’m really excited to try this place out. I haven’t had Dim Sum in ages. It’s located at 900 7th Street, NW in Chinatown. You can see their Web site from England here. @shaw-girl on twitter says she stopped in and said they’re going to open Dec. 12th!

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This is pretty funny. Back in Feb. ‘08 I had a photo contest for free Wilco tickets. Yesterday I received an entry for the contest from someone who was searching google. I had to break the news that the contest was nearly two years old. But I really liked the entry so I’ll include it below. I’ve got to check out this cemetery.

“The Congressional Cemetery, at 1801 E St. SE, has long been my favorite place in the city. At one time, it was the nation’s most hallowed ground, having served as the final resting place to crusading journalists, war heroes and statesmen. Among its most famous denizens are J. Edgar Hoover, John Philip Sousa and Matthew Brady. But now, Congressional Cemetery is largely unknown to most Americans, or most D.C. residents for that matter.

The massive cemetery fell into disrepair over the years, and today some parts remain dilapidated. But it’s making a comeback, thanks largely to a loyal group of dog walkers and volunteers who put time and money into maintaining the cemetery. Unlike Arlington Cemetery – with its orderly rows of identical headstones – Congressional Cemetery is beautifully diverse. Some memorials are nothing short of museum-quality sculpture. Others are barely noticeable. And no two corners of the site are identical. Congressional Cemetery is eccentric, diverse and beautiful, with parts in desperate need of repair – much like D.C. itself.”

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From an email:

Come to Room 11 on Monday, November 30th for a celebration of Scotland’s National Holiday, St. Andrew’s Day, from 5 pm to closing. We’ll have guest tap Brooklyn Winter Ale, a Scotch-style Ale (think dark rich and malty) on
draft while it lasts. From 8:30 to 10 pm Scottish gin Hendrick’s will be offering free samples and free shoeshines! We’ll also have Scotch whiskey and cocktail specials from Compass Box and we’ll declare the winner of the Highland Bitters Scottish Cocktail Smackdown. Will the Mel Gibson (Hendrick’s Martini with house-made Highland Bitters and a house-pickled onion) or the Liam Neeson (Compass Box Asyla with sweet and dry vermouth and house-made Highland Bitters) emerge victorious? Cast your vote by ordering one then feast on some delicious Scottish food specials from Chef Ben Gilligan.

Slainte Mhaith!
Dan Searing
Partner/Bar Manager
Room 11
3234 11th St NW

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These phenomenal shots are from Sanjay Suchak.

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