The First Four Days

This post is being published on Friday morning. Donald Trump has been president for all of four days. 96 hours. That’s all. Seriously. A lot has happened over that time, so I’m going to share some thoughts and opinions on the first few days of the Trump administration.

I’m not going to comment on the pardoning of nearly all of the January 6th rioters, even those found guilty of assaulting officers. This is a big win for Antifa who I heard was behind the whole thing. I’m also not going to comment on the executive order to ban birthright citizenship. The 14th amendment wasn't even one of the Bill of Rights, and the only part of the constitutional amendments that are important are the first ten.

Instead, let’s look at some other actions that may not have received adequate attention.

Trump signed an executive order requiring the United States to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America. This is clearly going to bring down the cost of groceries. And sure, media companies might need to start calling this body of water the Gulf of America, but that's like telling Pittsburghers to call Heinz Field the current name of Acrisure Stadium. My question is why stop there? Change the name of the state of New Mexico too! Pittsburgh’s Mexican War Streets should now be the American War Streets. Quarterback Michael Vick had an alias of Ron Mexico. It’s Ron America now! 

The Department of Defense is sending 1,500 troops to the southern border. Not widely publicized is that Trump is also ordering troops to the North Carolina border. Anyone who visits the rest stop/tourist trap South of the Border in South Carolina is not welcome in North Carolina, regardless of immigration and citizenship status.

Trump is ordering all federal employees to return to the office. While this impacts federal employees across the country, this is a bigger deal in places like Washington DC. Sure, it will take some people 2+ hours each day to commute (when they could use even half of that time to work from home), but the real reason behind this action is a little-known fact that Trump is a huge proponent of public transportation. Trump took the subway everyday when he lived in New York. Ridership has been down on the Washington-areas buses and trains significantly since COVID, and he wants to Make Metro Great Again!

Finally, just before inauguration, Donald and Melania Trump released the cryptocurrencies $TRUMP and $MELANIA also known as Trumpcoin and Melaniacoin. This is clearly a fundraising idea to help pay for the devastating destruction caused by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina and Tennessee and the wildfires in southern California. Or maybe to help offset some of the proposed tax cuts. Seems like selling cryptocurrencies is much more effective than a bake sale. I applaud the president and first lady for creating these coins to help the country as I'm sure that they wouldn't use the office of the presidency for their own financial gain. 

Photos by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images and Saul Loeb/AP

End Of An Era

I am writing this post from a bus. For the first 15 years of this blog (this blog is so old!), this was a common occurrence. Nearly everyday, I took the bus to the Metro to get to work. Then the pandemic hit, and I worked from home. When I returned to the office, the thought of cramming onto crowded Metro trains seemed less appealing. 

There have definitely been pros and cons to my commute to work by car. I listen to more podcasts. I’m able to talk on the phone with family. I have more flexibility as to when I leave my home and office. Conversely, I spend a lot more money on gas. I read much less and get less exercise from not walking to and from Metro stations and my office. I also write less frequently and don’t get my afternoon power naps.

Over the last 4 years, I’ve probably taken the bus and Metro to work about 20 times, and that number might be high. Because of me and others who similarly adjusted their commuting routines or work remotely, my bus route is being eliminated. I’m disappointed, but I’m certainly not mad. It doesn’t make sense to keep this route. I’m about to get off the bus at the Metro station, and there are 5 of us on the bus including the driver. Yes, it’s a Friday and the summer, but this number wouldn’t be significantly higher on a Tuesday in March.

Next week, there is a new route going through my neighborhood. The bus will take me to a newly built transit center where I will transfer to another bus before getting to the Metro. It probably won’t make much sense for me to take this new route most days. I realize I am fortunate to have a car allowing me options to get to work, so I may drive to the free parking garage at the transit center and take the bus from there to Metro. It’s not perfect, but it will save money on gas, and there are more frequent buses to and from the transit center to the Metro station. It may be a good compromise. In the meantime, thanks to all my bus drivers, familiar faces I’ve seen on the bus over the years, and everyone else who administers the bus operations and allows the buses to run.

Changing the subject, you’ve probably noticed that I’ve barely written any posts the last few months. I’m finding it difficult to focus on writing since my mom passed away. (The bus is actually helping with this right now since I can’t stand up and do anything else!) I’m struggling to write thank-you notes to people who honored my mom with various donations. I also feel like I need to finish the thank-you notes before writing a new blog post. Just know that I’m (slowly) working on it and am excited to write about some fun things I’ve been able to do recently.

Random Ramblings: Elections & More Edition

Today is election day in Virginia, and I think that I speak for Virginians and those in the DC area in that we’re looking forward to not seeing anymore political advertisements. I understand that there have probably been multiple studies about the effectiveness of ads on TV and at the beginning of YouTube videos, but how many millions of dollars are spent on these ads? Let’s say that there were 1,000 commercials that aired yesterday throughout Virginia (and between the various markets and numerous network and cable stations, this is probably a very low number). Half of this would certainly be sufficient. At this point, I feel like nearly everyone knows who they are voting for today. This money could be better spent on education, infrastructure, healthcare, and so much more. There are definitely political and media groups getting rich from elections.

On a related election topic, I pass several yard signs for Bob Frizzelle who is running for the Virginia House of Delegates. Every time I see them, I wonder how he's related to the teacher with her magic school bus.

After working at the same place for over 16 years, I finally got a parking spot in the building. For the first 15 years, I took the bus and Metro to work. I worked from home for the last year and a half. Now, I'm working from the office a few days a week, but I'm not really comfortable being on potentially crowded Metro trains twice a day. With a recent train derailment and Metro taking many of its cars out of service, I feel like I made the right call for now since waiting 30 minutes between trains doesn't quite work with my schedule. 

Last Friday, The Moose's 5th grade class had a costume day where they could dress like a book character. Since he was going to wear his baseball uniform for Halloween, The Moose found a book about Sandy Koufax. Instead of wearing his team's hat and jersey, we got him a Koufax T-shirt and LA Dodgers hat. You may have your opinion about the team, but the Dodger blue color is fantastic!

Finally, I met someone last weekend named Arlo Guthrie. While he was not THAT Arlo Guthrie, I'm so proud of myself for not asking about his music career or making any reference to his name and the musician. 

End of Express

On Wednesday, "The Washington Post" announced that the final publication of its free, daily newspaper, "The Washington Post Express," would be today. Basically, the paper gave the 20 employees at Express and the 75 people who hand papers out at Metro stations throughout the DC area 24 hours notice that they were losing their jobs. This really sucks for them.

The paper started in 2003, and it has been part of my morning commute since I began taking Metro to work in 2005. I’ve made fun of Express over the years and even created an “Express Fail” series, but I always read it. The paper was (I hate writing this is past tense) a good way to catch the headlines of the day. It introduced me to "Pearls Before Swine" and Sudoku and let me know of area events along with articles on sports, television, music, and movies. Plus, the people handing out Express at the Metro stations were almost always friendly. There’s one guy in particular who has distributed newspapers at my station for years, and it’s nice to see him each day. It gives you some comfort and consistency seeing a familiar, welcoming face each day. Today, people were taking pictures with him. I simply thanked him for being outside handing out papers all these years and wished him good luck. He thanked me and shook my hand.

Back to Express, I was honored to have my blog listed several times in its Blog Log feature. This was one such time. It was really exciting, and I have physical copies of them in my home. (Though I’m not exactly sure where. When I find them, it will be a Found in my Basement post.)

The Washington Post seems to blame Metro ridership for Express going out of business. Not the number of riders (which would make some sense), but the habits of riders constantly looking at their phones and not picking up the paper. I'm not sure that I completely buy this rationale and feel like it has to be more of an economic decision.

I guess that I’ll use my commuting time reading books more and catching up on The Washington Post Magazine. It would be great if something similar took its place (or The Post changed its mind) though giving away free newspapers may not be a good business model in 2019. Plus, what's going to happen to all of these yellow boxes throughout the area?

I’m definitely going to miss Express.

Metro's Brilliant Plan

People regularly and justifiably criticize Metro, but I think they deserve credit for once. The Unite the Right rally (the same group who protested in Charlottesville last year) is scheduled for Sunday. Like other events in DC with people coming from out of town, most people will take Metro to get downtown.

However, it just so happens that Metro begins a major construction project this weekend with two high-traffic stations (Farragut West and McPherson Square) closed on Saturday and Sunday. Another busy station (Metro Center) is only accessible via the Red Line. Service is going to be such a mess over the next two weeks, that Metro is telling people only to use them if you have no other options.

While it's going to be a major inconvenience for people like me who rely on Metro to get to work, maybe Metro is actually helping by making it more difficult for the Unite the Right folks to get to the rally. What a brilliant plan! Of course, Metro also floated the idea of having white supremacist-only cars to help prevent potential fights, so maybe not.

My Life in Pictures: June 2018

The big news in my life is that 9-month old Luigi has discovered how to crawl. This is a game-changer! You can no longer just put him on the floor with some toys, go into the other room to get something, and come back. I mean, you can, but there's a decent change Luigi won't be where he was left. One of Luigi's favorite activities is trying to pet Ziggy. He LOVES Ziggy. While I think Ziggy enjoys the attention, he often seeks higher ground when Luigi is around.

I ride the Metro regularly, but in all my years commuting, I don't recall seeing someone take off their shoes. Why is this happening?

I attended The Moose's first grade performance a few weeks ago and had my phone ready to record his one speaking line. About 10 seconds before his line, my phone informed me that my storage was full, and I missed filming it. Fortunately, another parent from his class filmed it all and sent it out, so I can now watch him say "Someone get a nurse" anytime! Oh, The Moose is Chicken Little with a yellow chicken head in this picture.

Tony Bennett has over 19 Grammys and has had an amazing singing and performing career. I have no idea who Tony Bennette is. Someone at Fairfax Times missed this.

Last one...here is Ziggy sleeping with Pedro Tulo. (Pedro Tulo is in the covers somewhere.)

Metro's Aurora Borealis

Metro has had some problems lately. This August 6th Washington Post article sums it pretty well:

In the past five weeks — just as Metro has emphasized safety and taken drastic steps to warn employees about negligence — the problems have been stark and steady: red-light violations, derailments, a botched evacuation, a report about years of degraded track conditions, a transit police officer accused of attempting to aid the Islamic State.

However, let's focus on the positive today. At the Court House Metro station in Arlington, you can see an Aurora Borealis.



I've always wanted to see the Northern Lights. Who knew you could see it underground?

This calls for a celebration with my favorite song with Aurora Borealis in the lyrics!

2016 Pittsburgh Steelers Schedule

The NFL released its 2016 schedule on Thursday night in a 3-hour show on the NFL Network. Here's your 2016 Steelers schedule:

The first thing that jumps out is the Steelers playing on Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years. However, the Steelers also play on other national holidays: Chocolate Milkshake Day (Sept 12), Fire Prevention Day (Oct 9), my half-birthday (Nov 13) and Bake Cookies Day (Dec 18).

September 12: I really thought the Steelers would play in Washington on the Monday night before election day like they did in 2008. Instead, the Steelers play in Maryland on the first Monday night of the season. I look forward to seeing all of the Metro outages and delays during a regular Monday evening commute, first home football game, and a 7:05 Mets-Nationals game. Might as well throw in a Presidential debate in DC that night as well as a World Bank meeting, Pope visit, or nuclear summit at that time too.

In a bit of a schedule quirk, the NFL scheduled the Steelers against all three other AFC North teams twice.

September 25: How many times do you think we'll hear the Battle of Pennsylvania the week of the Steelers-Eagles game?

October 9: Could the Steelers face the Jets the same time the Pirates play the Mets in the playoffs? (Probably not.)

October 16: Time for a repeat trip to South Florida for a Steelers game? The Dolphins group ticket guy has e-mailed and/or called me weekly over the past month. He also emailed me on Thursday to let me know the exact time the schedule would be released.

October 23: The return of Woodland Hills graduate Rob Gronkowski to Pittsburgh. Some quarterback named Brady will probably be there too.

November 13: Steelers-Cowboys. Let's go back to the days of Roger Staubach and Mean Joe Greene. Tom Laundry and Chuck Noll. Steve Pelluer and Mark Malone?

December 4: The Byron Stingily game. This will almost be as big as when Brett Favre returned to Green Bay as a member of the Vikings. Long-time Steelers offensive lineman Stingily, who we all remember for playing as many snaps for the Steelers as me, seeks revenge against his former team.

January 1: Steelers fans get to see first-hand the annual week 17 game of "Who Is The Cleveland Browns Starting QB?" RG3 has the early edge, but I think Bernie Kosar has a good chance to start.

Go Steelers!

What's Happening Here?

While riding the Metro this morning (hooray for no major delays!), I'm sure that I received some curious glances since, like the woman on the left, I couldn't stop smiling from looking at this picture from Express.

Seriously, what is going on here? Are these some new Lamaze techniques? Practice for, um, going #2?

Two Metro Stories

Those of you living outside of the Washington DC area may not be aware that bloggers living in the DC area are required to write at least two posts a year about Metro, the public transit system that can be great some days and not so great on others.

On Wednesday, trains were packed due to a disabled train causing delays for riders on three separate lines. As a result of the overcrowding, one of the doors on my train was unable to close. The driver made an announcement warning passengers that he would unload the train if the door could not be closed. No one likes to be offloaded. Sure enough, 30 seconds later, the driver sent us to our rooms, I mean, announced that the train was out of service. As we offloaded the train, the driver reversed course and announced doors closing. Some people rushed back on the train while others (like me) were stuck on the platform. Essentially, the driver eased the overcrowding by pretending that everyone had to get off the train. I'd never seen this before. Pretty sneaky (and surprisingly effective).

When you go through the Metro gate, you are able to see the amount of money on the person's fare card that went through the gate before you. I always look at this to ensure that my card actually worked (you can see the balance change from their card to your card meaning that the system successfully read the card). However, I rarely notice the actual amount of money on someone's card...until Monday. The person in front of me had a balance of $896 on her card. That is insane! Why so much? Put that money in a bank or invest these funds in gold or stocks or something. Please note that I'm sure that this amount was automatically added over months or years from the employer. I guess that means this person rarely if ever uses Metro. She really should sell her card and get a new one.

Don't forget to "Like" Sean's Ramblings on Facebook!

Brand New Random Ramblings

- Being a parent, you sometimes catch yourself saying ridiculous things. For example, I said "if you light this place on fire, I am not going to be happy" to my three year old recently. He was playing with a feathered-cat toy not far from a lit candle. (Does this entire scenario sound better if I explain that this did not occur at our home?)

- We are in full potty training mode in our house. There have been plenty of successes and also plenty of, well, not successes. If he has a good run of potty success, his reward will be taking a ride with me on the Metro. Yes, he is extremely excited about the prospect of taking public transportation that thousands of people use daily and love to complain about.

- We order food from a Thai restaurant in the neighborhood every few months. The food is delicious, but the restaurant is nearly empty every time I go there. Actually, I have only ordered take-out from the restaurant. It's in an odd location in the same shopping center as a Costco and Home Depot, so I wonder how they stay open. The theory is that they must do a strong take out and delivery business.

- At a restaurant recently, my son entertained himself by playing my wallet. Then he decided to take my drivers license, credit cards, Metro card and insurance card and throw them in the air like LeBron James with chalk.



- Although I am and will always be a Steelers fan, I would not be disappointed by a Miami Dolphins-Atlanta Falcons Super Bowl this season. Yes, there may be some money involved.

- Over Labor Day weekend, my neighbors pulled weeds and covered our "back yard" with mulch since they had extra. I have awesome neighbors.

- We're now more than two-thirds of the way through 2014, and I have still not seen any movies in the theater.

- No one cares about my fantasy football teams, but in one league, I had to auto-draft since I was not available during the draft time. I did not edit any of the pre-rankings, and as a result, I ended up with 4 kickers on my roster. Amazingly, I actually won in that league in week one.

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While this post and most of my other posts are designed to be humorous, I'm fully aware that I'm posting this on a national day of remembrance. Please take some time today to remember the victims of 9/11 and to thank first responders for all of their service.

Metro's Blue Line Problem

To be a true blogger in the Washington DC area, you need to have a post where you complain about Metro. While I've written several of these posts over the years, I feel the need to share another Metro story today.

I'm an Orange Line guy. I take the Orange Line daily and only seem to go on a different line when I transfer to go to Nationals Park. However, I recently attended a meeting in Pentagon City, so I had to transfer to the Blue Line. I arrived at Rosslyn at 8:05 AM in the middle of rush hour on a Friday and went downstairs to take the Blue Line train in the direction of Franconia/Springfield. I did not barely miss a train, yet, the sign stated that the next Blue Line train wasn't for 12 minutes. 12 minutes! During rush hour! Even more insulting was that there were 4 Orange Line trains that stopped to take passengers towards Vienna before my Blue Line train arrived.

While I understand that there are more passengers on the Orange Line than the Blue Line, this is absurd. I really feel bad for people who need to rely on the Blue Line. They are going to get screwed even more whenever the Silver Line actually opens.

Ten Years In Washington (Part 2)

I have now lived in the Washington DC area for a decade. While I shared some thoughts about significant events that occurred since moving here, I figured I would pose the question about whether or not I am a Washingtonian.

Why I May Be a Washingtonian

- Not only do I regularly ride Metro, but like my fellow Washingtonians, I feel the need to complain about non-air-conditioned trains, cost (I still don't understand the peak of the peak fares), delays, and broken escalators. However, overall, when Metro runs on time, I generally enjoy my experience commuting.

- I dislike Dan Snyder. I'm not a fan of the Washington Redskins in general, but the years of overcharging people for everything at FedEx Field, putting a poor football team together and suing the Washington City Paper all fall under Snyder's watch as owner.

- I know that Chuck Brown is the Godfather of Go-Go.



- I attended Stephen Strasburg's major league baseball debut. Of course, I was one of the few people in attendance wearing a Pittsburgh Pirates shirt.

- I get annoyed by tourists especially when the stand on the left on Metro escalators. However, a recent article in the Washington Post makes me reconsider my views on tourists.

- I have attended concerts or shows at the Kennedy Center, Arena Stage, 930 Club, Wolf Trap, Strathmore, Nissan Pavilion/Jiffy Lube Live and the Verizon Center.

- I have played ultimate frisbee on the National Mall.

- I like the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin. Yes, it's a bit touristy, but they truly are beautiful and signify the beginning of spring.

- I know the correct way to pronounce the name of rapper Wale.

- I know what a Topper Shutt is.



Why I May Not Be a Washingtonian

- I have never attended the July 4th fireworks on the National Mall. I'm generally not really a big fan of being in crowds of 100,000 or more (unless the Steelers or Jon Stewart/Stephen Colbert are involved).

- I attended Washington Capitals games before they became pretty good the past few years. Sure, many of these games were against the Pittsburgh Penguins, but there was no such thing as Rocking the Red then. There was also no problem getting tickets then.

- I have never played in a kickball league.

- Although I have had Ben's Chili Bowl at a Nationals game, I have never been to Ben's Chili Bowl itself. Yes, I realize that this item alone probably puts me into the not a Washingtonian category.



- I did not attend either the 2nd Bush inauguration or the Obama inauguration. Please see the big crowd thing above.

- I rarely visit the DC monuments or museums. This is the one part of this list that bothers me more than the others. Although I live in Northern Virginia and not actually in Washington, I certainly should visit these places more than I do. I tend to only visit these historic sites and wonderful exhibits when I have friends and family in from out of town.

- I have never been to Georgetown Cupcake or any other cupcake store or food truck.

- LiLu made a list of 10 places to visit when moving to the District. I have only been to four of them.

- I have not been invited to any White House event. Apparently, I don't have any connections and I don't feel like crashing any events like the Salahis (remember them?).



So what do you think: Am I a Washingtonian?

Rating Metro Rider Attractiveness

For bloggers out there, have you ever had an idea for a post that you knew wasn’t very good, but you decided to write it anyway? Well, this is one of those times for me. After years of research, I’ve decided to rank the attractiveness of Metro riders proportionally by the Metro stations I frequent the most.

1. Ballston
2. Clarendon
3. Court House
4. Vienna
5. Virginia Square
6. West Falls Church
7. East Falls Church
8. Dunn Loring-Merrifield



I feel like trying to provide an explanation of these rankings will get me into even more trouble. However, the common thread of the top three is that they have a higher percentage of younger riders (meaning people in their 20s) than other stations. So before digging myself into more of a hole, I’ll let you help me. For Metro riders, do you agree with these rankings? Obviously, I’m most familiar with these Virginia stations, so are there are other stations that I’m missing? Basically, what Metro station has the most attractive riders?

Metro's Trip Planner Fail (Shame on Me?)

We interrupt Trivia Tuesday for a special presentation.



People complain about Metro as this is a rite of passage for people living in the Washington DC area. Based on the terrible safety record the system has had recently, the complaints are obviously justified. While I have had some problems with Metro in the past, overall, my experiences taking the Metro nearly every weekday over the past 5+ years have been positive. With that written, I have an issue with Metro that I have not seen complaints about anywhere else: the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (“WMATA”) Trip Planner.

The Trip Planner seems like an excellent idea. You enter your location and destination, and the website shows your departure and arrival times. On the first night on Passover last month, I used the Trip Planner since I left work earlier than usual. However, although I arrived at the Metro station prior to the departure time listed on the website, the Metro train didn’t arrive for another 10 minutes. Consequently, I missed my bus and was fortunate to make it to Seder on time by getting a ride after taking a separate bus to a location only about 2 miles from my house. I chalked up the error to checking the planner several hours before I actually left my office.

President Bush eloquently stated, “Fool me once, shame on - shame on you. Fool me - you can't get fooled again.” Well, I’ve been fooled again, so shame on me.

Yesterday, I checked the Trip Planner at 4:40 to see if there was enough time for me to catch the 5:12 bus. The planner indicated that one Metro train would arrive at 4:42 and a second at 4:48, both enabling me to get the bus on time. There was no chance of catching the 4:42 train, but I hustled to the Metro platform by 4:46...and waited. The train arrived at 4:54.

Let's look at some numbers.

From the Trip Planner: Metro departs at 4:48; arrives at where I need to be at 5:08. Sean gets the 5:12 bus and is home by 5:35.

Actual: Metro departs at 4:54; arrives at 5:15. Sean misses 5:12 bus and waits for the 5:47 bus (using the time to write this post!) and is home by 6:10.

If I knew there was no chance of catching the 5:12 bus, I could have accomplished a little more at work. Of course, arriving home 35 minutes earlier instead of spending that time wating at the best stop would have been a better alternative. I should note that there were no Metro delays during this time.

Although Metro's #1 priority right now should be ensuring safety of its customers and staff, having trains run on schedule (or posting a correct schedule) should be a close 2nd.


Trivia Tuesday will return next Tuesday or there may be a special Trivia session later this week.

Random Ramblings

Memo to people wearing a purse or backpack over your shoulder or back on the Metro: If said purse or backpack continues to bump into people, take the bag off of your back/shoulder and either put it on the floor or hold it by your side!

When seeing the message “Toner Low” on a printer, am I the only person who reads this as Tone Loc?

For proponents of a 96-team NCAA tournament bracket, here is what it could look like. 13 Big East teams would be insane.

We received the census form yesterday and designated Ziggy as the individual in our household to complete it. He doesn't seem interested.



The song currently stuck in my head - Give me back that Filet O Fish. Give me that fish.

Finally, I'm a huge fan of the Reduced Shakespeare Company and the show Lost. Watching RSC condense the first five seasons of Lost into 10 minutes is amazing!



(The video doesn't seem to work here so click on the link above to check out RSC's Lost in 10 minutes.)

Vienna Metro

This post is specifically for folks in the Washington DC area who use the Vienna Metro station. Assuming that the move and everything else works out, I will begin using this station for my daily commute next month. I know very little about this station, so I need some help on the following questions:

* How early do I need to get to Vienna to get a parking spot?
* Where is the best place to park (I remember there being a garage and an outdoor lot)?
* If I'm too late, are there any other parking options around the Metro station?
* How much is parking these days?
* Besides I-66, is there any way to get to Vienna from the Fair Lakes/Fair Oaks area?
* I will likely take a bus to Vienna most days. Is there a specific bus area? If so, or even if not, how easy/hard is it to find my bus? (For example West Falls Church is manageable; the bus area outside the Pentagon seems to extend for miles.)



Thanks for your help!


Photo from Wikipedia

Friday Links

It's a sad day in the blog world as Arjewtino retires. He had one of the most consistently funny blogs out there and will certainly be missed.

Washington City Paper presents the Best of DC 2009. In a shocking development, Jose Theodore did not win the Best Caps Player. (Have I already mentioned that the Caps won’t win a Stanley Cup with Theodore in goal?)

Congrats to the P-G’s Dejan Kovacevic for winning two AP Sports Editors’ Best Writing of 2008 awards. That’s another reason why he was not allowed in the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament! (Bucs Dugout)

This Is Getting Old made a fascinating discovery. Chocolate milk must be sold in New York City 3 days earlier than anywhere else.

Metro set a weekend ridership record last weekend. I was one of the riders; it was an awful and crowded trip and then I had to fight to get out of the train. (DCist)

Gilahi can help you get a degree in public speach. Not speech, speach.

I predicted a 76-86 record for the Pirates this season on RizzoSports Blog. At the current pace (the team is 2-2), I'll be off by five games.

PSAMP always seems to find the best YouTube videos. This week's video features a baby impersonating what his Steeler fan dad does when upset.

HHR interviews Bruce Weber, author of As They See ‘Em: A Fan’s Travels in the Land of Umpires.

Jason prepared his annual Steelers mock draft. (Jason Christ Superstar)

Ithaca College is closing the Tower Club. (Bluey Blog)

Behind the Steel Curtain chatted with Steelers Analyst Craig Wolfley. Here's the money quote:

WOLFLEY: Tunch Ilkin used to get anxiety attacks where he would throw up alot. You never knew when they would happen. Even in training camp, he would throw up at any time. Anyhow, we're playing the Browns in a preseason game in the early 80s. Tunch is standing next to me in the huddle and I notice vomit on my foot. Tunch is gurgling. We broke for the line and I could hear his stomach. I'm thinking, this could be great. On that particular play, I was assigned to help Tunch double-team their defensive tackle, Ron Simmons. Right at the snap, as if it were choreographed, we both lunge at Simmons and Tunch lets it loose. I'm not talking about a dribbler, I'm talking about a gusher. He heaves right in Simmons' face and the guy goes crazy. We didn't need to block him. He was PO'd beyond belief, Tunch is sick and I'm laughing hysterically. The next play he still has chunks on his face and he lines up four yards behind the ball. Tunch didn't have to block him the rest of the game. I'm still laughing.

Finally, don't forget to check out my interview with Beyond Heaving Bosoms author Sarah Wendell (or just buy the book!).

Sunday Links

* Ashley Diparlo and Becky Emmers of WTAE's Pittsburgh Channel website are awesome. They are even more awesome for including the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog Tournament on their Links N'@ video. This is the first time Sean's Ramblings has ever made a video, even though my blog name was not officially mentioned.

* Prior to its tour starting on Sunday in Pittsburgh (and I'll see them in DC in a few weeks), the Post-Gazette caught up with Fleetwood Mac in a fairly in-depth preview. The money quotes:

"It's exciting to us," Nicks says, "because we're not trying to shove new songs down people's throats."

Plus, Christine McVie is not on tour:

"Christine had been keeping big secrets from us all the many years. She was afraid to fly. Because she's such a tough old bird, she never let us know."

* Sports Illustrated wrote that the Pirates could surprise with the young talent. (h/t Bluey Blog).

* Speaking of hopeful things that probably won't happen, Metro will make it to Reston by 2013. (h/t Restonian)

* The Washington Nationals fired Jose Rijo, special assistant to the General Manager and the owner of a baseball academy in the Dominican Republic that the Nats have used, and General Manager Jim Bowden could be next. I receive probably 3-4 e-mails from the Nationals each week selling tickets, merchandise or providing Nationals new. Shockingly, they have not sent me one e-mail about the Bowden or Rijo situation.

* Mike of Steelahs.com wrote a nice post about his experience in the Best Pittsburgh Sports Blog tournament.

* It's very easy to dislike the Washington Redskins. Owner Dan Snyder laid off 20 employees in January, but signed defensive tackle Albert Haynesworth to a reported 7-year, $100 million deal Friday with $41 million of that guaranteed. Good luck with that.

* Finally, I haven't been a part of Cotter's Meeting People Is Easy in many weeks, so the least I could do is link to it.

Metro Discount From Bus to Rail

Lena Sun of the Washington Post is reporting that, "beginning next year, tens of thousands of Metro riders who transfer from bus to rail will save 50 cents a trip if they use electronic SmarTrip cards, officials said yesterday. The long-promised change is scheduled to go into effect Jan. 4, the same day the agency is eliminating paper transfers."

This makes me happy. Bus fares are going up 25 cents in January, but now I'll end up saving 25 cents each day because of the 50-cent (you can find him in da club) transfer reduction.

Well, maybe not. According to this chart, I'm only going to save 10 cents a day. Now I'm slightly confused, which really doesn't take much to occur.