Tag: arlington

Good Things About Living in Washington, DC

M's Adventures

As I did in Dhaka, Bogota, Lima, and Rome, I will write a couple of articles about the good and not so good things about living in the Washington, DC, area. First, some of the good things.

Free drinking water. You can drink the tap water.

High speed internet.

International cuisine. I will write more about this later, but in the DC area, one can get good Vietnamese, Ethiopian, Korean, Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, Salvadoran, Japanese… you get the idea.

International people. Many embassies are located here.

Public transportation. Between the train, bus, and light rail, you can get many places for 3-10 dollars.

Availability of things – Amazon is sometimes delivered the next day or faster, and some shops are open 24-7.

Free museums, free concerts, free meetings, and free libraries. The Smithsonian is a collection of 21 museums and almost all (I think only the one in New York charges an entrance fee) are free to enter.

National Airport (DCA). Having an airport on a metro line and within a mile of DC is gold. Dulles is also on the metro but 25 miles away.

People like dogs. Oh, wait, that’s not just here. But I still think it’s a good thing about being here.

Often the dog treats are free.

The Beginning of the Internet

M's Adventures

I was doing some research on Italy, and I got to a screen that said, “You have reached the end.” During this time at home, you too may have reached the end of the Internet… but, did you wonder where it began?

The plaque put up by Arlington County.

The Internet started just a few steps from Washington, DC, USA, fifty years ago. Developed from 1970-1975 in Arlington, Virginia, the “ARPANet” (Advanced Research Projects Agency Net) was developed as a communications tool by the military. A small plaque stands on the side of the road in Arlington, Virginia. The plaque has a smaller plaque with zeroes and ones representing the binary code for “ARPANet.” Although Arlington County claims to have invented the Internet, the first computer-to-computer transmission was in California in 1969, but it was the ARPANet who figured out how to dice up information into binary code…. which became the Internet, online shopping, electronic mail, blogging, and video-calls (imagine no Zoom?)… The World Wide Web.

A whole new world.

Land of Choices

M's Adventures

Land of milk and soy, goat, almond…

I was recently in the new Trader Joes in Clarendon, Virginia, USA, and I was bedazzled by the array of new choices. Mine was a normal reaction and I came prepared with camera.

Bread by any name.

Whether you call it a tomato or a tomato, it’s still a tomato. Milk, however, is not just milk. And how great is that!