d.c.: radon test

There is science happening in my house right now.

The D.C. Department of the Environment is giving away free radon test kits for District residents, and I sent away for one. Things I since have learned about radon:

(1) I had assumed, wrongly, that radon is a problem only in houses with basements. Apparently radon also can seep from the soil into houses that are built on crawlspaces and slabs.

(2) D.C. says radon exposure is the second-leading cause of cancer in this country. It uses phrases like "radioactive decay" and "alpha particles" and "lung cancer."

So, why not send away for a test kit? Here's what mine looked like when it came in the mail:

I now have the test sitting on the dining room table for 48 hours while it measures the air quality. The kit included an envelope that I'll use to send it back to the testing lab. (This post epitomizes responsible homeownership, doesn't it??) 

Science, do your thing.

d.c.: the storm

As The Storm and its 70-mile-per-hour winds approached D.C. on Friday evening, I heeded the advice of the TV weatherman, and I moved myself to the dining room in center of the house, as far away from the windows as possible. Meanwhile, Tony and my brother-in-law Ian, who was in town for the weekend, clearly didn't worry so much and grabbed the window seats at Biergartenhaus on H Street and watched folks outside run for cover and try to catch cabs. Mercifully, after living for part of the week without AC in 100-degree temperatures, the power stayed on at our house during The Storm; 1.5 million other houses in the area weren't so lucky.  

When we got out of the house Saturday morning, trees and branches were all over the place. This poor car, which was parked on 12th Street Southeast near Frager's, had a tree limb through its windshield.  

Apparently Mother Nature does not listen to sassy bumper stickers.