Credit: farrelley

I got an email this morning from my brother and was wondering how true it is?  The email was about the Tomb of the Unknowns and a question that came up in Jeopardy on how many steps a guard takes when walking across to the other side of the tomb.  I knew the answer since everything is done in 21’s, 21 steps, 21 seconds… I didn’t know what it took to be a guard though and was wondering how true this question #6 was.

“What are the physical traits of the guard limited to?”

Here was the answer.

For a person to apply for guard duty at the tomb, he must be  between 5′ 10′ and 6′ 2′ tall and  is waist size cannot exceed 30.’ Other requirements of the Guard: They must commit 2 years of life to guard the  tomb, live in a barracks under the tomb, and cannot drink any alcohol on  or off duty for the rest of their lives. They cannot swear in public for the  rest of their lives and cannot disgrace the uniform {fighting} or the tomb in any way. After two years, the guard is given a wreath pin that is worn on their lapel signifying they served as guard of the tomb. There are only 400 presently worn. The guard must obey these rules for the rest of their lives or give up the wreath pin.

The shoes are specially made with very thick soles to keep the heat and cold from their feet. There are metal heel plates that extend to the top of the shoe in order to make the loud click as they come to a halt. There are no wrinkles, folds or lint on the uniform. Guards dress for duty in front of a full-length mirror. The first six months of duty a guard cannot talk to anyone, nor watch TV. All off duty time is spent studying the 175 notable people laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery … A guard must memorize who they are and where they are interred. Among the notables are: President Taft, Joe E. Lewis {the boxer} and Medal of Honor winner Audie Murphy, {the most decorated soldier of WWII} of Hollywood fame.

Every guard spends five hours a day getting his uniforms ready for guard duty.

Can anyone validate that all this is true?  I think this is very intresting. Thanks.

It’s kind of funny but the Washington Nationals Manager Manny Acta said that the main office as of yesterday has fired every assistant coach but one.   The good news? The Nationals lost 102 games this year and will get the first round draft pick. The Bad News? I feel sorry fo that all-star that will be drafted by the Nats.

Eagle Eye opens this weekend and they released some new video trailers. This time one of the TV trailers shows the part that I saw being filmed on New Jersey Ave SE. Here is the trailer of it. It’s :26 seconds in and very quick. You see the Capitol on the background and Shia LaBeouf running through traffic towards it.

Here is the video of that same scene that I shot from two different vantage points

Scene compare - Left is Movie, right is what I shot

Eagle Eye Compare

Today is the Washington Nationals last home game of the season.  They will take on the the Marlins at 7:10pm.  Hopefully it’s not rained out.  Last night the Nat’s posted another loss losing to the Marlins 9-4 and bringing there record to 59-99.  They have 4 games left in the season including today’s game.

The Washington Capitals opened up there preseason with a win over the Carolina Hurricanes with a score of 4-1.  Both teams will come back to DC for another preseason game which starts tonight at 7:00pm in the phone booth.

The DC United (2008 U.S Open Cup Champions) fell to the Honduran Green Monster’s last night with a score of 2-0.  There next game is Sunday 9-28 at FC Dallas

Is the fire hydrant in your neighborhood working?  When was the last time is was inspected?  Check the status on he map below.  Zooming in displays more hydrants in a specific area.

View Larger Map

Credit: Sister72

@brandonsavage on twitter alerted me to a local pub on Capitol Hill that doesn’t allow our protectors, the ones that make the country safe for us to do what we want, our nations military into their bar!  How unpatriotic is that? Oh yeah the bar in question is  Hawk and Dove (Penn Ave, SE).  I didn’t believe it at first so I did a bit of searching and found this posted on the washigntonpost.com in a section where the they show off local hot spots.  Here is what one person from Quantico, Va asked,

Quantico, Va.: Just a heads up for our men and women in uniform: Hawk and Dove (Penn Ave, SE) does not permit military personnel. Several active duty Marines and civilian coworkers (including myself) were denied access to the bar after a Marine showed his military ID as proof of age (his driver’s license expired while he was in Iraq). They told us that military personnel were not permitted into the bar. We received no further explanation. I just wanted to let people know so that they wouldn’t waste their time or money on this establishment.

and Washingtonpost.com’s response,

Fritz: This is true, though when I’ve written about it, I was been told the policy — which dates back to the early ’90s — only applies to groups of Marines. The explanation the bar gives is that they’ve had problems with groups of Marines coming in and getting involved in fights and drunken incidents. If the Marines are in uniform or with a date, there’s no problem, since (according to the bar) they behave better in those circumstances.

I don’t think this is the only bar in D.C. with a no-Marines policy, and it certainly works both ways, with the Corps banning Marines from entering some local bars and clubs, most notably Nation.

Anyway, yes, it seems discriminatory, and if you don’t agree with it, take your money elsewhere, but more importantly, LET THE BAR KNOW that you’re taking your business somewhere else. That’s the only way to try to effect change.

Fritz is right.  People need to know about this and the bar needs to told.  If bars want to limit who can come in and out then they need to do this on an individual basis.  These men and woman fight for your right to own that bar.  It is very unpatriotic to not let them in and a pretty bad business decision.  If anything it is something that we need to stand up for!

I also found this on WJLA

Please help share this, and spread the word.  We should be doing everything possible for these men and woman at this time in our nations history!  So with that I salute all the men and woman in the US Military and say THANK YOU! Beers on me if you see me out and about!

For the person(s) who work at the cities truck facility directly across the street from my bed room and living room windows (New Jersey and K St SE) it’s not appreciated that your car alarm goes off every morning at 6:30am.  Car alarms were status symbols back in the early 90’s and they are so not hip anymore.  If I could I would also love to ask why you have a car alarm on a 1992 Pontiac Grand Prix?  Who wants to steal that?  The alarm system probably costs more than the car.

Oh yeah, the guy who used to play music really loud and wash his car around 9pm must have gotten fired or he quit.  I haven’t seen or heard him in a while.

Thanks,

Your Friendly Neighbor