Rudi "Cooler Weather = Better" Riet

Nine Ways to Avoid Disclosing That You’re From Chevy Chase, Shaker Heights, Darien, or Scarsdale 1. “I’m from Washington D.C. / Cleveland / Connecticut / New York.” 2. “I’m from the D.C. area / the Cleveland area / the Tri-State Area / Westches...

"I grew up in a small town outside Washington, D.C. / right outside Cleveland / just over the New York City line / basically across the street from New York City."

International flights are not full in either direction these days, at least between the U.S. and the EU.

Another thing: people see sweat as off-putting, but it does work to cool the body. Wear layers that help sweat evaporate - and lay off the thick makeup that blocks the function of pores to release sweat. And be sure to hydrate and eat nutritious foods to keep your electrolytes up!

Huh. Seems that there may be more focus on primary tourist cities (Paris, Lyon, Marseille) than second-tier cities.

Regarding indoor parking: while I can easily park a “standard” bike (or three or five) in my walk-up apartment, a cargo bike simply won’t even fit through the door (weird and old entryway), and hauling it up or down the stairs isn’t possible either. So outdoor parking makes sense.

The issue is space use, rack placement, and design. So much of this is limited: either by lack of space for the longer wheelbase of a cargo bike, or by limited foresight by the powers holding the purse strings. When a cargo bike is parked at a now-standard rack it can cause issues with others. 1/

So many cargo bikes face similar parking problems as SUVs in urban spaces, as bike parking has traditionally been designed around “standard” drop bar road bikes. So the SUV/minivan analogy works on multiple levels.

In France it’s quite clear how much Apple has ignored upkeep of its Maps database. Too many non-public roads and defunct businesses.

“No idea how ______ works” sums up 45/47 in a nutshell about almost everything.

You are trying to sell a bill of goods to the people of the District. This is such a bad faith investment. Sports facilities - especially limited use ones like NFL stadiums - are white elephant gifts. The District should cut no favors for the NFL or the Commanders here: they can afford the bill.

1. Open bag
2. Stuff ALL OF THE THINGS into it
3. Zip closed

Et voila!

Enjoy Iceland!

Just to "yes and" this point, it is useful to think of statements like these as being aimed at the market and investors rather than us proles. It is a message that says: keep pricing us like a growth stock and not like a shambling, stagnating zombie of a company!

About.

Friggin’.

Time!

Ilyushin IL-96 wide body aircraft parked at GVA

Oddly enough, I just arrived in Geneva (where an Aeroflot A321 has been stranded for years - probably a seized asset) and a certain IL-96 was parked on the apron. Hmm…

YouTube video by The Tom Lehrer Wisdom Channel Tom Lehrer - Poisoning Pigeons In The Park

Raise a glass for Tom Lehrer, a lyrical and musical genius. #RIP youtu.be/yhuMLpdnOjY?...

Thoughts and prayers

Fun city. Small but full of life.

Munich

Frauenkirche

Yum!

Altes Rathaus in Marienplatz

Overcast, alas. But still a nice morning and a relief to be away from the DC sauna!

Need to see if Munich is matching that awesomeness

Not a stein but sooooo tired - Prost!

I’ll think of y’all as a raise a stein in Munich!

Yeah, it’s a word salad of petulant excuses. Reading it seriously hurt my eyes.

When you take a knee to an authoritarian fascist, you sell your soul. And DC was sold in the process.

For every 1 good appointee Bowser has had there have been 15+ underqualified/crooked/both appointees. The voters of DC should’ve done better.

Opinion | I Watched It Happen in Hungary. Now It’s Happening Here.

This is a prescient warning from someone who witnessed firsthand Hungary's devolution from democracy to neo-fascist autocracy. The big takeaway: too many have their heads in the sand, especially those who could slow or stop the devolution here in the U.S. #resist

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

Washington Metro, welcome to The War on Cars.

Thing I think about a lot

How long does it take people to realize they’re on the wrong side of history?

Opinion | I Watched It Happen in Hungary. Now It’s Happening Here.

“To the stewards of our nation’s great cultural and commercial institutions: Don’t dupe yourselves. The illusion that you are smarter than the strongman, that you’ll outmaneuver him with silent cleverness, is an illusion. Now your principled leadership matters.”

www.nytimes.com/2025/07/23/o...

The bar has been lowered so far as to be subterranean.

Rules are here: www.arlingtoncemetery.mil/funerals/sch...

The presidents (and all politicians, for that matter) who are interred at ANC all served in one of the branches. RFK received a special exception for his plot next to his brother given he was just a reservist, but he still served.