Earthquake!

I never thought there would be an earthquake strong enough for me to feel in Bethesda, MD, but this morning there was. at 5:05 I woke up to the rumbling sound of the quake, a little rattling and some mild shaking, it lasted 5 or 10 seconds. No damage here the power didn't even go out. USGS gives a preliminary estimate of it's magnitude of 3.7, centered near Gaithersburg, MD.

This is the third earthquake I have ever felt, the other two were in California. Earthquakes do happen around here but the are usually too small to feel. This is so rare I'm not even sure what keywords to put with this post.

Old Georgetown Road resurfacing

It looks like they are finished the resurfacing project on Old Georgetown Rd in Bethesda, MD. There may still be barrels and signs, but the work itself is done. They didn't just resurface the road, they did work on the storm drains, bus stops, and corners too. Oddly, the resurfacing project ended just short of downtown so there is still a stretch of road in poor shape. The part they didn't do was probably the part that was in the worst shape.

Many of the bus stops got concrete pads for the bus to stop on. Concrete is stronger than asphalt and buses are heavy, this will hopefully make the road last longer.

The storm drains got concrete around them. I'm not positive the reason but I think it is because the drain/asphalt junction doesn't hold up well and the asphalt tends to crack in that area making it tough on bicyclists.

There are two different types of storm drains, the top one has a grate but no curb opening, the bottom one has both a grate and a curb opening. I didn't notice anything about the surroundings that would have them prefer one over the other.


Here's a storm drain that didn't get fixed, you can see patches, chunks of asphalt missing, cracked asphalt and grass growing in the cracks. Not too pretty and a bit dangerous for bikes.

Caroline Freeland Park Playground Closed

Caroline Freeland Park is on Arlington Road between Bethesda Library and the Giant Foods. There are lots of tables and benches there and it is a good place to eat lunch. Up until very recently there was a kids playground too. They have torn it up and I bet they are going to re-do it and put new equipment in.

In search of the elusive 20 cent coin

I was using the self-checkout at the Giant Food store on Arlington Road and noticed the example coins were the 5 cent, 10 cent, and 20 cent. I wonder who came up with that graphic. I know these machines also take dollar coins (and quarters) and won't accept half-dollars.

Fourth of July fireworks in Montgomery County

The National Mall in DC is a great place to go see the fireworks, but if you don't want to deal with the crowds and waiting forever to catch a metro back, there are some closer fireworks you should consider. Here are some fireworks shows going on in Montgomery County on July Fourth.

Annual Independence Day. Montgomery College-Rockville Campus, 51 Mannakee St., Rockville, MD. A concert at 7pm, fireworks start at 9:30.

Mid-County Sparkles Fireworks Show. Einstein High School, 11135 Newport Road, Kensington, MD. A concert at 7:30, fireworks start at 9:15.

Gaithersburg Independence Day Celebration. Montgomery County Fairgrounds, 16 Chestnut Street, Gaithersburg, MD. Fairgrounds open at 5pm, a concert at 7pm and fireworks at 9:25.

Germantown Glory Fireworks Show and Washington Freedom Soccer Game. SoccerPlex at South Germantown Recreational Park, 18041 Central Park Circle, Boyds. A soccer game at 5pm, a concert at 7pm and fireworks at 9:30. You need to buy tickets for the Washington Freedom vs. Chicago Red Stars soccer game.

I haven't decided which one I will be going to, but it will the Montgomery College and Einstein ones are closest to Bethesda.

Pay for parking at Bethesda Library

Monday, July 5th the Bethesda Library will be closed for the Fourth of July holiday.

Starting July 6th, the parking at Bethesda Library will no longer be free. Parking meters are being installed and it will cost Seventy Five cents per hour.

Also on July 6th the hours are changing. The new hours are Monday-Thursday from 10am to 8pm (it used to close at 9pm) and Friday and Saturday from 10am to 6pm (giving you an extra hour Fri and Sat nights and taking away an hour Sat morning). Again this summer the library will be closed on Sunday. Sunday hours will resume late summer.

The library is located at 7400 Arlington Rd, Bethesda, MD.

Update on the Monty

Just a quick update on the "Monty" project, a new mixed use 17 story apartment building with up to 200 units and 7,700 square feet of ground-floor retail south of Woodmont Avenue facing both Fairmont Ave and St. Elmo Ave. The planning board hasn't had it on the agenda for the past year but it looks like things are slowly progressing. Based on a comment on another post, I walked by there and both PrepMatters and Dansez! Dansez! have moved. I think they were the last occupants of the buildings that are scheduled to be torn down.

According to PrepMatters: While our new office is under construction, we will be holding all summer sessions in a temporary space located at 8120 Woodmont Avenue, Suite 850, Bethesda.

Dansez! Dansez! move on June 16th to 4909 Fairmont Ave, Bethesda, MD.

Update 7/1: What a difference a couple of days makes. DCMud reports that the sale of 4918 St. Elmo Avenue (pictured) to Bainbridge Companies is now complete. Demolition and excavation are supposed to begin this fall and the entire project be done sometime in October 2012.

Uptown Deli on its way

On Norfolk Avenue between the corner slice and Limon's Jewelers we are getting a new deli, "Uptown Deli". Back in April they were planning on putting in "Capital Beer and Wine" but apparently plans have changed.

Bethesda Circulator hours changing

Bethesda Circulator, the free bus that goes around downtown Bethesda, MD every 10 minutes or so is changing its hours. Starting July 1st the hours will be:

• Monday through Thursday: 7 am - 11 pm
• Friday: 7 am - 12 midnight
• Saturday: 10 am - 12 midnight
• Sunday: No service

It used to run (and actually still does through June 30) until midnight Mon-Thurs and until 2am on Fri and Sat. We are getting earlier service on Saturday, it used to start at 6pm on Sat. You can see the route here.

Have you every taken the circulator? Was your experience good or bad?

Like a twig

This was the scene at the beginning of the week on Greentree Road in Bethesda, MD. There clearly had been an accident where a car (yes I am comforable saying it was a car, not a bicycle) knocked down and broke this telephone pole and the fire hydrant next to it. You can see good sized gouges in the ground where the telephone pole hit. Someone must have been going well above the speed limit to do this amount of damage.