I’ve always been curious as to some of the unusually sized windows on this one:

From a Facebook invite:

“Sunday, January 30 · 6:00pm – 9:00pm

SOVA Game Nights
More Info Come enjoy an evening of board games at SOVA Wine bar. Half price drink specials from 5 pm – 8 pm.”

Sova is located at 1359 H Street, NE, we judged them here. Anyone ever previously attend game night here?

We learned back in Nov. that Ripple would be expanding into the old Foot Solutions space at 3415 Connecticut Ave, NW. For those who remember the bar Aroma, it is a wild transformation of 3417 Conn. Ave but it looks great and the expansion mirrors the original space. Anyone try them out yet? You can see their menus here.

I know we’ve spoken about the Kennedy Warren, located at 3133 Connecticut Ave, NW in Cleveland Park, before but it seems like everytime I pass it, I notice another cool detail. I wonder if the elephants were incorporated because of the nearby zoo or another reason?

If you have any fun or interesting animal/pet photos or news please shoot me an email to princeofpetworth(at)gmail(dot)com with ‘Animal Fix’ in the title and say what neighborhood you’re from or upload to the PoPville flickr pool. I can’t guarantee I’ll get them all posted but I’ll do my best.

“Poppy, the aptly-named “PoP” streetcat rescued last year, had been watching the snow for 3 hours. Thundersnow!!!”

“This is my awesome dog Porter on our (very brief) walk around Bloomingdale this afternoon- let it snow!”

Photo by PoPville flickr user pablo.raw

This rental is located at 14th Street, SE at Pennsylvania Avenue:

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The Craigslist ad says:

“Perfect for a carless commuter. Ideal for one tenant – cozy for a couple. GREAT location… just steps to the Potomac Avenue Metro (blue and orange lines) and several bus lines, ½ block to grocery store. Several restaurants and bars just a block or 2 away. Short walk to Eastern Market and Barracks Row shops and restaurants. Parking is on-street and ample.

Recently renovated apartment features a private entrance, full kitchen (dishwasher, oven, granite counter tops and microwave, etc). Bathroom includes standing shower and washer/dryer. Cable TV, central A/C, built-in desk and wireless internet. All utilities included.

Furnished rear patio (with grill) shared with owner.”

$1600 sound reasonable for this 1bed/1bath?

“Dear PoP,

I was standing in the line this past Saturday at the T St Post Office (1915 14th St. NW). The Postal Worker said that everyone who works there is getting laid off and the Office was closing in a few months. I can’t find anything online about it. Have you heard anything? Do you know which Post Office will open on Saturdays that is closest to Dupont Circle?

The line was an hour long at 12:30PM. Obviously there is demand from residents.”

Hmm, I remember hearing that Ledroit Park and Petworth’s post offices were scheduled to close but haven’t seen any movement at either location. Just recently, the Wall Street Journal wrote:

Postal Service Eyes Closing Thousands of Post Offices

Now, with the red ink showing no sign of stopping, the postal service is hoping to ramp up a cost-cutting program that is already eliciting yelps of pain around the country. Beginning in March, the agency will start the process of closing as many as 2,000 post offices, on top of the 491 it said it would close starting at the end of last year. In addition, it is reviewing another 16,000—half of the nation’s existing post offices—that are operating at a deficit, and lobbying Congress to allow it to change the law so it can close the most unprofitable among them. The law currently allows the postal service to close post offices only for maintenance problems, lease expirations or other reasons that don’t include profitability.

Anyone else hear rumors of the 14th and T St, NW location closing?

It does always seem to be busy so I’d be really surprised if it is on the list. But then again given the huge number of locations they plan on closing it seems like anything is possible. Of course I’ll be sure to update when more info becomes available.

Photo by PoPville flickr user Sanjay Suchak

Submit your photos to the PoPville flickr pool here. Follow PoPville on twitter here.

Photo by PoPville flickr user yostinator

Back in late Dec. I noted that there was some movement at the old EFN Lounge space at 1318 9th St, NW. At the time a commenter said: “I’m a neighbor to 1318 9th. I talked to the woman who bought/leased the building. It is going to be a restaurant bar called Mood and is scheduled for a New Year’s Eve opening.” Clearly they didn’t make a New Year’s opening but I just noticed a new awning went up. Anyone hear anything else about this new space?

This home is located at 304 Q St, NW:

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The flier says:

“Price Reduced & Ready to Sell!! FHA approved/VA eligible. Newly Constructed Luxury Condo Bldg: 2BD/1BA unit for sale, located in the heart of DC. High ceilings, Gourmet Kitchen w/ SS appl. & custom cabinets. Prewired Cable & Internet. HWF, tons of natural light, in-unit W/ D, spacious living room, custom tiled bathroom. Large master bedroom w/ bay windows. Walk to Metro or bike to work!”

You can find more info here and a few photos here.

I know this one could be hard because there’s only a few photos but I’m still curious what you guys think – it’s a 2 bed/1 bath going for $289,000 ($222 condo fee). Sound right?

“Dear PoP,

I was so proud of my neighbors on 20th St, NW for shoveling this morning, I just had to take a picture. Our entire block was clear and safe this morning. But that warm and fuzzy feeling dissipated as soon as I hit Connecticut Avenue, where few shop owners bother to shovel. Some did and some didn’t, so I had to get a picture to show the contrast. City staff were busy clearing Dupont Circle, the scene of another snowball fight last night. Roads are clear, but the medians between lanes were still treacherous for pedestrians.”

Every year we have heroes and villains. If you’d like to give props or nominate businesses for shoveling shame, you can do so here.

I have to give props to two of my neighbors who fixed a downed cable wire for me this morning.

Whenever we talk about Chinese food, Mr. Chen’s, located at 2604 Connecticut Av, NW in Woodley Park, seems to pop up in the comments. So I figured it was time for a proper judging. Their Web site says:

“At Mr. Chen’s Restaurant, we use organic fresh vegetables along with a health-conscious cooking style to prepare delicious Chinese cuisine.”

You can see their menu options here.

Do the organic fresh vegetables make a difference? Any must order dishes?

I’m not quite sure what this “AOL” is but this seems promising:

Philippa Hughes is the founder of the Pink Line Project and one of DC’s most influential local arts supporters. I happened to see the following note on her Facebook page, and with her permission, would like to repost it here. She writes:

Someone tried to mug me last October. It happened in the middle of the day just a few blocks from my home. It was really traumatic, though I joked about it at the time. Afterward, I constantly looked over my shoulder when walking around my own neighborhood and was spooked if anyone came up behind me suddenly. Lucky for me, the guy got caught and spent time in jail, but it still took some time for me to shake the feeling of vulnerability. Receiving this apology letter from the mugger has helped me feel hopeful again. Here’s the letter:

“I am writing this letter to let you know that I apologize for what I did. I am truly sorry, I can imagine the pain and trauma I have caused in your life. You have every reason to have negative feelings towards me and to want to see me incarcerated. I am not the type of person that does stuff like that; I am a very likable and unique person with a good heart. I was at a down point in my life when I made the mistake of mugging you but that is still no excuse. I have made myself look like something I’m not. I am very disappointed in myself and embarrassed. While I was incarcerated I thought about what I did every day and that is something I have to live with for the rest of my life. I have suffered a lot while I was in jail and I changed a lot. I know you don’t want to even hear from me but I hope you can take me into consideration and hopefully one day you can find it in your heart to forgive me. And I thank you for taking time out of your day to read this letter. God bless you.”

“Dear PoP,

What do you do if you have a downed line on your block? We have a downed line that has been in that state for maybe 3-4 weeks. I’m guessing, based on the appearance of the line, that it is some sort of cable line (verizon, comcast, direct tv, rcn?) and likely from a disconnected service since it clearly hasn’t been reported due to an outage of some sort.

In my experience after the snowpocolypse, the companies wouldn’t come out to check on the lines without confirmation that I was a service user and that the downed lines were in fact for my service. Some of them even tried to charge me for the visit!

So, yeah… what do you do?”

If it is a power line of course call Pepco at 1-877-PEPCO-62 but it sounds like you’re talking about cable. How would you guys advise this reader?

Also on a related note, I just had a big branch come down (call 311 if a tree or big branch came down in last night’s storm) and take out some landline telephone wires. I don’t use a landline – so who should I call to take care of these telephone wires? Verizon?

Photo by PoPville flickr user Columbia Heights Climber

So what’s the verdict?  Have you guys experienced many trees down, wires down, power outages etc?

For those that have to work – how was your commute?

For those that don’t – how are you gonna take advantage of your snow day?

Following are a few emails from DC Gov’t and agencies.

From MPD:

In addition to, at least, $375 in fines for being towed from Snow Emergency Routes, Channel 4 is also reporting $100 fines for cars parked in Rush Hour Routes between the hours of 7am and 930am today and the evening Rush Hour of 4pm and 630pm.

Again: Avoid Snow Emergency Routes & Rush Hour Parking!

If your car is towed, call: 202-541-6083

Locate Towed Vehicle: here.

Snow Emergency Towing Policy:
here.

WMATA writes:

“Metrorail service will open at its usual time and Metrobuses will begin the day on snow emergency routes, with plans to return to as many neighborhood streets as possible as those roads are plowed and conditions improve to the point that it is safe to travel.”

From Meridian Pint (11th and Park Rd, NW):

“In celebration of this wonderful snow day, Meridian Pint will open at 10am with an amazing surprise line up of beers that include 15 beers over 10% and 4 beers over 9%. I know it’s irresponsible of us but c’mon, it’s a snow day in DC. We had originally been planning our opening around the Federal Governments opening/closing but when they let us down by opening 2 hours late, we decided to cut them out of the deal. Beer Director Sam has been in since 7am prepping the beer lines. WE OPEN TODAY, THURSDAY, JANUARY 27 AT 10am!”

From Kramerbooks (1517 Conn. Avenue, NW):

“Thurs., Jan. 27, we will be serving these Snow Day Breakfast Specials all day:

Banana French Toast
Pan-fried Italian bread soaked in egg batter
stuffed w/sliced banana
w/scrambled eggs & hickory bacon
warmed walnut syrup; fruit compote

Café Corned Beef Hash & Eggs
Café corned beef hash crusted under the broiler
(corned beef, onions, potatoes)
topped w/2 eggs – almost any style
finished w/hollandaise; Café potatoes & fresh fruit

Café Croque Madame – A Variation
(May add jumbo lump crab meat, or add lobster meat)
shaved ham, gruyere cheese, hollandaise
on grilled Café bread; fired under the broiler
w/two eggs — almost any style
Café potatoes, fresh fruit”

Photo by PoPville flickr user ianseanlivingston