[19:02] <ChinnoDog> hello
[19:06] <maco> howdy
[19:27] <ChinnoDog> some of you peeps look awfully familliar. Who here is actually in DC?
[19:27] <dtchen> most of us are. Presently I am not.
[19:29] <maco> atm, i'm in columbia, md
[19:29] <maco> when im at home, i'm only about 50 feet into i-can-have-a-senator territory
[19:29] <maco> (i live on the dc border)
[19:31]  * ChinnoDog googles Columbia
[19:32] <ChinnoDog> maco: Isn't that a long commute?
[19:33] <dtchen> depends on time of day and direction
[19:33] <dtchen> it's rarely a long commute for me, but I'm almost always going against the flow of traffic
[19:33] <maco> ChinnoDog: 25 minutes
[19:34] <dtchen> (I also take the train to/from work most days, so I don't drive)
[19:34] <maco> i tried taking the train home from work before i got a car. a coworker was about to drop me off at a rally shady MARC station when we found a decapitated dog and decided against that
[19:34] <maco> *really shady
[19:35] <maco> it was just a bus-stop-like hut next to some tracks and a sign warning to be careful when crossing the tracks to get to the hut
[19:35] <dtchen> hmm, the one on the camden line?
[19:35] <maco> no building, nothing to buy a ticket...just the backend of a parking lot for a bunch of warehouses
[19:35] <ChinnoDog> creepy
[19:35] <dtchen> heh, that sounds like most marc stations :-)
[19:36] <maco> totally not like the marc station chuck picked me up at for CALUG meetings!
[19:36] <maco> that had a building with benches and stuff
[19:36] <dtchen> odenton? yeah, I go there
[19:36] <maco> yeah odenton sounds right
[19:36] <dtchen> <3 public transportation benefit
[19:37] <dtchen> unlimited metro and marc for $230 not out of my pocket
[19:37] <maco> oh yeah i heard your car got totalled
[19:37] <maco> the guy at peregrine mentioned it
[19:37] <dtchen> yep, that was lovely
[19:38] <dtchen> at least DC DMV dismissed the citation, towing and storage fees
[19:38] <dtchen> I wasn't about to pony up $3400 + damage
[19:38] <maco> er, not the guy that works there that was babysitting it. the guy who uses linux and went to Wooten
[19:38] <dtchen> (yeah, Cliff)
[19:51] <ChinnoDog> With some luck I will be in the DC area soon.
[19:52] <dtchen> ChinnoDog: neat. Might you be in DC proper or "just" in the metro area?
[19:54] <ChinnoDog> Metro area. Virginia on the orange line.
[19:54] <dtchen> cool
[19:55] <dtchen> I'm in NW DC, but work is (roughly) in Baltimore.
[20:01] <maco> ChinnoDog: GMU?
[20:03] <ChinnoDog> uh.. lets see.. where is that..
[20:03] <ChinnoDog> No, further west. Dunn Loring.
[20:04] <dtchen> well, at least you wouldn't be too far from a MicroCenter
[20:05] <maco> oh yeah, one metro stop and a 10 minute walk
[20:05] <ChinnoDog> I noticed that!
[20:05] <ChinnoDog> <3 Microcenter
[20:29] <ncweber> Oh man, I am so glad they put one in Rockville.  I was getting tired of having to go all the way out to Vienna. :P
[20:31] <dtchen> the funny thing is that I haven't had a need to go to MicroCenter in ages; my laptop is working (FSVOI), and I just popped 8 GB RAM into it
[20:31] <dtchen> there's a lot of sand and dust in this thing, but that goes with the territory
[20:32] <ncweber> I do have to say, I am not loving the chicklet style keyboard on my new netbook.  I kind like to feel where my keys are.
[20:34] <dtchen> I'd love a real Model M in a laptop :-)
[20:34] <ncweber> Model M?
[20:35] <dtchen> the greatest keyboard
[20:35] <ncweber> Ah, not familiar with it.
[20:35] <maco> ncweber: big clicky ibm keyboard from the 80s
[20:36] <ncweber> Ohhhh, those things. :)
[20:36] <maco> use it to knock on a steel firedoor with it, and you'll the dent the door but leave the keyboard unharmed
[20:37] <ncweber> I remember them.  Yikes, I was accidentally hit in the head with one.  You don't forget an embarrassing injury like that.
[20:45] <ChinnoDog> There is a company that makes those for the nostalgic.