Calm like a bomb

The only thing worse than yesterday's 102 degree weather was being stuck in long Metro lines on the Red Line due to suspicious packages. Thankfully, your correspondent was not. Dupont Circle, Woodley Park and Cleveland Park stations were all closed during the hottest commute of the year. While it is becoming routine to have bomb scares and threats in this quintessential terrorist target, there are steps the Metro Area Transit Authority can take to assure a quicker and safer commute, no matter how many cardboard boxes are forgotten on the train.

A cost-effective solution is to buy a robotic bomb-exploder for each station. Automatic External Defibrillators have become standard for medical emergencies; WMATA should take the next step and put safety in the hands of the people as well. Locked inside a glass box, the bomb-exploders would be available for use whenever a suspicious package is found. And of course, commuters would use them for good, never for evil. There are positive externalities of incorporating bomb-exploders as a standard. Current Metro employees are notorious for not caring about the Metro. I sympathize, because such a job cannot be exciting and holds little satisfaction. Now add "blowing up shit" to the job description and watch productivity, and bad-assedness, improve.

How to be a real person: Saving Your Money the Smart Way

So you got a job mostly to keep up with your social life, but somehow managed to save a little. While you may be content letting that money sit in you Chevy Chase checking account, think again. Even if you aren't raking in tons of dough, it might be a good idea to check into a high yield savings account.

Most banks are perfectly content to let your hard-earned savings collect dust instead of interest, but that doesn't mean you should be. Setting up a high yield account is a quick and easy way to earn up to 5.3 % interest (***according to current rates... they change, you see). It's also much easier than dealing with complicated money market accounts or constraining CDs (Certificates of Deposits).

So if you're not quite up to playing the markets or picking out mutual funds, check out the online savings accounts like Emigrant Direct or research the best rates for yourself on BankRate.com. The APY (Annual Percent Yield) is what really concerns you on these ratings. Online banks eliminate the overhead of other "brick and mortar" institutions, allowing them to hike interest rates well above the traditional bank's reach. Interest is still compounded daily, and credited monthly, just like your home bank.

Make sure there isn't a minimum or any limits on the number of times you can transfer funds per month. These online savings accounts can link directly to your original checking account for easy transfers.

Don't let the cobwebs cover you cash stash.



Disclaimer: The G Spot is not affiliated with any banks, nor does it take responsibility for losses that may be incurred by following its suggestions. Research wisely.

Getting a degree in International Studies?

. . . knowing the location of the nearest IHOP is a requirement for graduation. Actually, you'll probably need to know this just to maintain credibility as a college student at all.

Previously, this had a required prerequisite course of Map of the Modern World - and even that may not have been enough. I've heard of not one, but two sketchy bus routes winding as much as an hour into the wilds of Virginia in search of boysenberry-syrup goodness.

But no longer.

The G Spot is proud to present: How to Get to the Nearest IHOP
1. Take the GUTS bus to Rosslyn
2. Take the orange line to Ballston
3. IHOP is right outside of the Metro stop

Not at home in DC? The IHOP Locator is in order.

Thoughts on Shots (Round Three)

Crime story comparisons seem truly de rigeur among urbanites everywhere - friends at school in bad neighborhoods brag about midday muggings on the quad - and DC is no exception to the rule of horrific one-upmanship.

At a dinner party on Capitol Hill the other night, the winning story was none of the several muggings and home invasions rattled off. It wasn't really even successful. . .

A group of residents were having a small gathering on a neighborhood porch with wine, cheese, fine spirits, and all of the necessary trappings of mildly pretentious good living in early evening when a man walked up to a porch, directed a gun at one of the attendees' heads, and demanded money from everyone. Pretty typical. Until the party-goers invited their assailant up for a drink, calmly, and repeatedly. He finally accepted one. Then he accepted another. And another. And another. And another. Twenty minutes later, the now-sloppy gunman was crying and requesting comforting hugs before he apologized and went on his way.

So, what is the moral of this story? Where DOPS, Metro, mace, and menacing male friends have failed, alchohol succeeded. I'm just waiting for Georgetown to begin plying us with the alcohol with which to ply any attackers . . .

Thoughts on Shots (Part Deux)

A recently-released CDC Morbidity and Mortality report shows that teenage binge-drinkers in the U.S. prefer liquor to beer, as it is easier for them to obtain (from parents) and conceal (from parents). Class of oh-eleven, if you are reading this, know that if such binge-drinking occurs (as it should), do so with beer, not liquor. The Beast is much easier on your wallet.