Bob Levey (Barbara Tyroler)

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Levey Live: Speaking Freely
Washington Post Columnist
Friday, Aug. 30, 2002; 1 p.m. EDT

"Levey Live: Speaking Freely," hosted by Washington Post columnist Bob Levey, appears every Friday. It is a live, open-agenda discussion offering washingtonpost.com users around the world the opportunity to ask questions and discuss topics of their choice with Bob.

Editor's Note: Washingtonpost.com moderators retain editorial control over Live Online discussions and choose the most relevant questions for guests and hosts; guests and hosts can decline to answer questions.

Bob Levey: Good afternoon, pre-Labor Day throngs, and welcome to the one place on the Web where we take on everything--rants, screeds, treatises, bleats and even requests.
It's "Levey Live: Speaking Freely," an hour dedicated to the proposition that anything you might have inside your head is fair game to be deposited in mine.
Anyone for a little baseball? Anyone for a little commentary on Willie Wilson? How about the other Wilson--the bridge--which looks as if it may never be finished? Has back-to-school gone well?
Let's get cooking with anything and everything....

Irked Metrobus Rider, Va.: Bob, not sure if you or one of the Metroids lurking might be able to answer this. Why is it that you only receive a 10 percent bonus when purchasing farecards for metrorail? It seems unfair to the bus riders who don't receive a 10 percent bonus when buying bus tokens. To top it off, you lose your 10 percent bonus on your metrochek if you use it for tokens rather than as a farecard. If the bonus is supposed to encourage public transportation use, wouldn't it make sense to extend it to bus fare as well?

Bob Levey: As always, the Metroids say that help is right around the corner. Very soon, you'll be able to buy a Faredocument that will be usable on both bus and subway. Then (but probably only then) will you get your 10 percent break on busfares, too.

Fairfax County, Va.: Does it bother you that The Washington Post -- which of course includes your sage column five days a week -- is delivered in southeastern Fairfax County by a courier driving an SUV? [Edited for space.]

Bob Levey: FUNNNEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!
Fairfax alludes to my well-known disdain for SUVs. I feel that way because they are notoriously unsafe, notoriously expensive, notoriously skimpy on interior room and notoriously show-offy. You know, I have a Navigator that sits higher on the road than your Taurus, so I'm better than you.
I feel great puzzlement over a Post carrier who must log many thousands of miles a year and chooses to do it in a vehicle that gets 12 MPG. So, in that sense, your revelation bothers me.

Mt. Lebanon, Pa.: So why are the Redskins wearing Steelers colors? I looked at The Post this morning and thought: Pittsburgh didn't play the Patriots yesterday, what is this? File photo? The Redskins aren't going to recapture their past glory looking like someone else. Thanks much.

Bob Levey: Those are vintage Redskins colors, Mt. Lebanon. The burgundy is back to where it was in the 1960s--less watery than the more recent versions. I think your judgment (and your memory of long-ago redskins colors) has been affected by your Steeler-colored glasses.

Silver Spring, Md.: I just have a little nit that I hear all the time, and I always think of you.

WHY OH WHY do most Metro conductors pronounce the name of the Judiciary Square stop as "Judic-u-ary," -- like it's a month -- January, February, Judicuary?

It's not the only stop name that gets mangled (L'Enfant Plaza also gets mention), but it's by far the worst.

These are the things I worry about as I wait to be sprung for the three-day weekend.

Bob Levey: I'd say the wreckage inflicted on "L'Enfant" tops ANYTHING a train driver can and does do to "Judiciary." I'd also nominate "Brookland," which is pronounced like the legendary borough in New York City at least half the time.
Yet another reason why a canned announcement system would be best for Metro. The brass stoutly opposes this, because they think that listening to different voices adds local spice and color. Local errors, too.

Dupont Circle, Washington, D.C.: Oh, Bob, Bob, Bob. Please help me. Now that open-window weather is upon us (thank heaven!), I've been woken up TWICE this week at two in the morning by garbage trucks emptying the cans at the little dog park outside my apartment. Two in the morning? Can they do that? Can I call someone and complain?

Bob Levey: You can call the Department of Public Works and complain all you like, but if 2 a.m. in your neighborhood is what makes the citywide schedules work, your chances of getting this fixed are somewhere between none and none.
I'd try my city council member first. DPW is more apt to quake when he or she calls.

Falls Church, Va.: Hello Bob,

Just wanted to check in with you and see whether or not you are continuing your healthy lifestyle changes. How are you doing?

Bob Levey: Really well. I've lost 25 pounds in five months. I continue to hold myself to 2,300 calories a day (and often less). My pants continue to hang on my hips as if they used to belong to someone else (and in a way, they did).
I still don't feel all that much better. I don't get seized by the desire to start singing "Oh, What a Beautiful Morning." But I had my annual checkup in June and my net cholesterol total had dropped by 60 points, just because of my weight loss!
I don't think you have to worry about whether I'll be staying with this regimen.

Capitol Hill, Washington, D.C.: Hi, Bob! I'm really bothered by this statement in The Post article about the automated shop in Adams Morgan. Gerald Celente, director of the Trends Research Institute in Rhinebeck, N.Y. said, "And it's not like you're dealing with a real human being in convenience stores anyway." That's such a major insult to the people who work in convenience stores. What a jerky thing to say!

Bob Levey: Amen. And tinged with racism, too. Most convenience store employees are from the third world these days. They work like dogs, and make about as much money, too. How cruel to put them down for trying to make their way up the ladder in what is for most a new country.

Falls Church, Va.: Great column on car maintenance today, Bob. I've got a hairy 50-mile round-trip commute between Falls Church and College Park on the Beltway, and to avoid nasty traffic I leave home well before dawn. Recently I've been struck by the number of yellow "check engine" lights I've seen in my fellow commuters' cars (yeah, I know I should have my eyes on the road and not on other people's instrument panels). Don't these people know that those little lights mean something?! And black electrical tape over the light isn't the answer. I also saw an old Volvo with no taillights or dashboard lights the other morning, trundling along with no idea how fast he was going! Beltway commuting at speeds of 70 to 80 mph in a poorly maintained car can be a disaster for yourself and others.

Bob Levey: Those "check engine" lights go on for a reason. The one thing you should NEVER do is drive when one of them comes on. You'll only make a bad situation worse. But people are fools (you may quote me). They think, "I've got to get to work" when they should be thinking "That light has just gone on for a reason." Ask me how much sympathy I have for them when they have to buy a new engine to the tune of $5,000.

Washington, D.C.: Hi Bob,

I read today that Bush has raised $110 million dollars so far this year, topping Clinton's astronomical hauls of the 90's.

The writer suggested that we now, officially, have a fundraiser-in-chief.

That got me thinking -- why not make that a job duty of the president. It is obvious that republicans and democrats can both raise enormous sums during their stay in the White House. The problem is, the money goes to them.

Since we pay the president's bills (flights, protection, room and board, etc), I propose that the president be allowed to raise as much as he can... but not for campaigns. The money should go to pay down the national debt, or help a good cause.

Just imagine, the president has a dinner and raises $30 million. Then he sends the check to Levey's List.

That would be some presidential fundraising I could be proud of (rather than the current sick feeling I get when the suits gather).

Bob Levey: I like the way you think, but I stoutly predict that your idea ain't goin' nowhere. Politicians are good at fundraising because they've cowed the Big Bucks into thinking that it would be business suicide NOT to give.

Washington, D.C. Re: No Olympics Here Anytime Soon: Bob --

Why do you think D.C. got passed over? In my mind, the U.S. could not offer up two East Coast cities (too similar) so it had to pick between D.C. and New York. Not that New York couldn't host a good event, but I also think they were selected because of the sympathy vote -- big time. People in the rest of the country (maybe because of the media stories shown) really focus on New York's tragedy, but they do seem to forget that D.C. was attacked too. We need a boost in our economy just as much as New York -- maybe even more since our airports still aren't running to capacity.

Bob Levey: No question that New York profited from what I call The Pity Factor (based on Sept. 11). Also by outcompeting Washington in that regard. New York may have lost ten times as many people as we did on Sept. 11, 2001, but Washington was DEVASTATED that day, too, if you recall--not just by the damage and death at the Pentagon, but to the tourist trade and the whole local economy. I hate to compete with New York on these terms, but it would be naive not to realize that we have been, and will be.
I think we also lost out for an age-old reason: Local Washington was made to pay for the perceived sins of National Washington. If it's really true that Samaranch steered sentiment away from Washington-Baltimore because his poor little feelings were hurt by that Congressional incquiry, then he's a baby and Washington is yet again the most misunderstoof city on the planet.
I'm also afraid that the Marion Barry stench is still in the air. It will take at least another generation for it to dissipate.

Baseball in Washington, D.C.?: Now that the strike has been averted, and contraction officially put off for the next four years, do you think D.C. has a chance at getting the Expos? (And corollary -- if we do, will RFK get the renovations it desperately needs? It was a baseball stadium in its first incarnation, right?)

Bob Levey: A GREAT chance! This is the best news in years for D.C. baseball fans. As for the renovations to RFK, it isn't clear whether they'd happen right away. Fresh bonds might have to be floated. But I'd much prefer baseball at RFK, even in its present condition, to baseball in Loudoun County (for somewhere similar). How can we not put baseball inside the city limits (like Baltimore, Cleveland, San Francisco, etc.) and right beside a subway stop. No-brainer.....

Chevy Chase, Md.: Shriver or Van Hollen? I can't decide. Who are you supporting?

Bob Levey: I don't take positions in political races, and never discuss who I vote for. But I will say that many in Chevy Chase (and all over the Eighth District) are undecided. I suspect that whoever wins, he'll squeak home by less than two percent.

An interesting "Metro on Bob Levey" observation: Interesting I went back through most of your chat archvies to look at this. Whenever we are critical of Metro here, they are nowhere to be found. Whenever we say that their kiosk attendants are absolute clods who wouldn't notice if the ceiling fell on their head, they are nowhere to be found. But whenever someone praises them, they pop right in. In one instance, THREE TIMES in one chat.

Hey Metro, things need to be fixed. If you want to help, pay attention when riders send in problems. Don't just look for the things you do right. If you keep doing that pretty soon there may not be many.

Anyway, happy holiday.

Bob Levey: I post this to stir the bucket, not necessarily to vouch for the research skills of this chatter. But it's clear that Metro has not seriously faced the chorus of discontent about the subway--especially the discontent about the endless escalator fiasco, the issue of eating-and-drinking in the system and the question of rush hour fares for sub-rush hour service.

Washington, D.C.: Bob, just wanted to welcome your new assistant. I'm sure she's in for a great year with the Bobster. Happy long weekend! Hope you're taking advantage of all three days and not working.

Bob Levey: Samantha Ganey, World's Newest and Greatest Producer, has been on deck for two weeks. She appreciates your welcome, I'm sure--just as I appreciate her. She joins us from Chicago, where she was born and bred. She went to the University of Michigan. She is an ACE of a writer, as you will see during the 2002-3 Children's Hospital campaign, when she'll be guesting several columns. She hasn't even complained about Washington's heat!
Sorry to break your heart, but I'll be hacking all three days over the weekend. My novel ain't gonna finish itself, now, is it?

College Park, Md.: As a former 7-11 clerk, I would like to say, yup, I'm offended by that quote.

I'd like to see how well that person would've handled the long and odd hours, all hard physical work, the required paperwork and all the customers.

Bob Levey: Not to mention the fear that every guy who comes in 10 minutes before closing is about to level a sawed-off shotgun at you. Thanks for weighing in

New York: Just waitin for quittin time ...

Congrats on the weight loss! I've gone from 240 to 180 ... but where does that 60 pounds go? It was a physical mass and that physical mass has to end up somewhere! Where?

Bob Levey: Your 60 clearly went where my 25 went--into space somewhere. Three thousand years from now, explorers will find it floating around, looking for another poor over-eater to victimize.
Congratulations, by the way!

Forest Glen, Md.: I want to admit something.

I'm actually disappointed that baseball didn't end in a strike. I was desperately hoping for a reason to loosen my bond on our National PastItsTime.

Bob Levey: In fact, the hold of the game on fans such as you was loosening anyway--and will probably continue to do so. TV ratings for MLB are in the tank. The gate is way down. The sale of memorabilia is, too. Don't forget that the second this last-minute agreement was reached in New York, the parties looked ahead to the end of it--just four short years. Do you really think there won't be another strike threat (and maybe another strike) then?

No Baseball in Va. Suburbs: If we get the Expos, they belong in the District, or possibly in Arlington. Given the statements by the Senators' owner some years ago, putting baseball out by Dulles or somewhere would seem too much like white flight.

Bob Levey: It would also make very poor business sense. To reach a 7 p.m. weeknight game, you'd have to leave downtown by car no later than 5 p.m., and then expect to sit in traffic for the nedxt 90 minutes at least. Not exactly a joyous journey or a joyous prospect. But if a team were playing at RFK, you could leave the office at 6:15 and still make the end of batting practice. Please note the huge success of MCI Center, which bet that the subway could be a lifeline. It has been

MD: I enjoyed your article today on car maintenance. It always amazes me how many people don't even know how to pop the hood or the basics of their engine. Sadly, the days of self-repair and even self-maintance are long gone. Even when I drove a clunker that I couldn't afford to repair, I made sure I was well aware of the problems so that I wouldn't be surprised. I had a slow power steering fluid leak, so I checked it every week and added power steering fluid when necessary. When it finally died entirely, I wasn't suprised and was prepared to drive without it (which I did, for several months).

I hate to point this out, but my female friends seem to be the worst about the total lack of car knowledge. I just don't get it. (I'm a woman, too, so I'm not trying to be sexist.) I actually had a friend call a tow truck, because it had a flat tire. A flat tire! That should be basic knowledge.

Bob Levey: About 18 months ago, I wrote about a Dad who wouldn't let his teenaged daughter have the keys until she changed a flat--with him looking on and providing counsel. A wise fellow.
I do know some females who are good with cars, and don't consider them a male province. But fewer females are comfortable with all this than they should be

Metro Media Relations: The 10% discount mentioned earlier in this chat referred to the discount our riders (I did not say customers!) receive when they add value to their SmarTrip card. As Bob pointed out, we will soon be adding new fareboxes on our buses that accept SmarTrip cards, as well as cash. So relief really is on the way. And yes, we do feel that having our rail operators make announcements on our trains (including "eating and drinking are prohibited," "please allow persons to exit the train before boarding," and "there is a train ahead of us, we'll be moving shortly") is a better system for our riders than recorded announcements.

Bob Levey: There ya go!
And praise the Lord for at least one Metroid who did NOT say "customers!" That marketing tactic has to be the dopeyest ever. Nice to see there's dissension within the ranks.

Silver Spring, Md.: Bob, what's wrong with calling that homemade blanket an Afghan? It's not as if everything Afghan is bad, is it? I was surprised by this, given your excellent defense of the Chinese restaurant owner.

Bob Levey: Much more on this coming in my Sept. 5 column. I can certainly understand why you were put off by the idea that the word "afghan" needs replacing. But neither I nor the woman who crochets them has anything against the nation of Afghanistan or the people who live there. The woman who wrote to me is just uncomfortable about Sept. 11, 2001, in general, and about the many deaths that soon followed in Afghanistan.

Los Angeles, Ca.: Bob-
Just wanted to let you know that I tune in to a lot of the live online discussions, and you are by far the fastest responder of them all! If I go away from my desk for a minute and refresh my browser, you've answered several more questions, while many others, whose chats I also enjoy, haven't even gotten to one more question. Thanks for being so on top of things!

Bob Levey: As I say, so often...
1) Thanks very much.
2) When all is said and done, the race goes to those who can type like the wind.

Laurel, Md.: Bob,

Since you haven't bought a new car in 10 years, you might not be personally familiar with the reason I think people don't maintain their cars:

Modern dealerships sell routine maintainance at ridiculous prices.

When I bought my car a year ago, the dealership gave me a recommended maintainance schedule for 7,500; 15,000; and 30,000 miles. They also gave me a brochure to have it done at their dealership. The 7,500 mile maintainence was about what Jiffy Lube will do, plus a set of visual checks. It was priced at $112!

The 15k was priced $243. The garage accross the street from my work did it for $55.

Everyone knows that prices quoted in car ads don't mean anything. Well, we get ads and coupons for automobile service all the time, and that $39 tune up is just to get you into the shop and sell you hundreds of dollars of other service.

This is not to say auto maintainence isn't important. It's what gets you 200k out of a modern car. But it's understandable that consumers face routine maintainence with all the enthusiam of telemarketing calls, because that's about what a lot of it is.

Bob Levey: I'm half with you and half against you.
I agree that routine maintenance is WAY more expensive at dealerships than it has to be. But they've got you by the throat. If you don't follow the maintenance schedule called for by the warranty, they could later claim that the warranty is void. So let's say you are "booked" to suffer a broken engine block at 49,000 miles. Better that they cover that huge repair entirely then than that they bill you for it--which they might do if they discover that you haven't had routine lubes done by them. It's the old deal--pay a little now so you won't have to pay a lot later.
In any case, I'd never have a serious, major repair done by anyone but a dealer. They know the cars. Their entire rep hangs in the balance. The corner gas station doesn't care as much, or know as much.

Chicago, Ill.: Bob --

Re: Car repair. Mid-20s female here. I get my car serviced religiously because I can't afford the consequences of not doing so. But I used to know a young couple, both well-educated and well-off who ruined the engine on an expensive car by driving it 20K miles without changing the oil. Their excuse? They didn't know the oil had to be changed.

Bob Levey: I rest my case.

Washington, D.C.: Bob, try this one for size:

I think former mayor Barry's endorsement of candidate Wilson is actually a negative, or a wash at best. The reason? Seems to me that folks that are going to vote for Wilson would be doing it without the Barry association. Further, there are probably plenty of fence sitters who are now turned off by the ex-mayor's statements.

I know Wilson was doing what he thought was the logical move, but I see it as actually hurting his chances.

Your thoughts?

Bob Levey: In local politics, it all comes back to race very, very quickly (too quickly). The bitter truth is that whites in D.C. vote in much greater proportions than their population percentage, and blacks in much smaller proportions. This is even truer when you're talking about the poorest blacks. So I don't believe Barry will sway a soul. Poor blacks were always going to vote for Wilson (as they did for Barry). But because relatively few poor blacks will vote at all, Williams is still a huge favorite to win.

Washington, D.C.: Although I do not think Rev. Wilson will win the mayoral election, I am very disturbed by his candidacy. His and several other campaigns seem to be using the "give D.C. back to blacks" (and yes, I've actually seen signs with this sentiment expressed) as a way to stir up votes. What a horrible way to try to win an election -- by dividing those who need to work together to improve D.C.

Bob Levey: The race card has been played by candidates great and small in every D.C. election since the 19th century. You're absolutely right that it does the city no good whatsoever in the long run. I hate the idea that Williams is somehow not black enough for some black voters. What in the world are they talking about? Do they want a mayor who can talk street-dude talk or balance the budget? Easy one, if you ask me.

I'm a female too!: Bob, I know how to change a tire. I don't usually do it though, unless I really have no choice. Why? Because I don't feel safe changing a tire on a freeway, or in a deserted parking lot. In fact, I feel like I've painted a big sign on my head saying "Attack Me." I'd rather look silly to others by calling a towtruck than get hurt.

Bob Levey: Nothing against prudence. But please promise you'd always change the tire yorself if you found it flat in your (presumably safe) driveway.

19th Street NW, Washington, D.C.: Hi Bob:

Now that the Metroids are here, I have a question that involves both you and them. For the fourth day in a row this week, I have gone to buy my copy of The Post at The Post news vending machine at the Eastern Market metro (which is right on top of the station, on Metro property I believe) and for the fourth day, I have had a local "gentlemen" who has obviously put in 35 cents, taken out a whole stack of papers, and is pocketing the money from people, selling them the papers. I have no problem buying the paper from those who are clearly identified as The Washington Post people (or who have an arrangement with The Post as their cheery vests clearly say). Who can I complain to about this? Is this a Metro issue since it is on their property or is it a Post issue? I just feel really harassed when I have to avoid these less than savory characters who are ripping everyone off(including The Post).

Bob Levey: Metroids wouldn't have anything to say about this, but The Great Powers who sit two floors above me sure will.
This has been a huge problem for The Post for more than 70 years--or the time when corner boxes first began to replace street vendors. It's especially nasty on Sunday, when a few, uh, "independent businessmen" will stick $1.25 into one box, clean it out, sell 12 papers and pockets 11 x $1.25. Our circulation people will press charges whenever they can catch the bad guys. The operator you just saw at Eastern Market is only the latest in a logn string.

Arlington, Va.: Thoughts on the O & A mess and what may happen to Don & Mike?

Bob Levey: I hear Don and Mike may be heading back to their old time slot. I wish them well. Which is more than they wish me.

Washington, D.C.: If you were going to redesign the Metro system, what stops would you include or leave out? I personally think that the lack of a stop in Georgetown is one of the worst parts of the map. Do you think the system works well georgraphically or would you change it?

Bob Levey: If we were building it from the ground up today, I would add a Dulles corridor line (in the first nanosecond!), extend the Yellow Line down as far as Mount Vernon, add express tracks on the Red Line outside the downtown area, build a passageway between the two Farraguts and add a new line (you pick the color) that starts at Georgetown University and runs across the belly of the city, a little like the G2 bus--to Dupont Circle, Howard University, Children's Hospital/Washington Hospital Center, Brookland and finally the burgeoning suburban areas of Langley Park and Hyattsville. I wouldn't drop or change anything that's there today.

9/11 Remembrances: MLK Library already has up an outside display of newspaper's 9/12 front pages from the Newseum. Isn't the end of summer and the return to school depressing enough? Do we have to anticipate a sad anniversary weeks in advance?

Bob Levey: This is only the first drop in what will be many buckets. Get ready. The year-later journalism is going to be over-the-floodgates.

Washington, D.C.: Ok Bob, what to do in this situation? (Although, as an aside, the world must be returning to normal if this is a concern weighing heavily for me!) I was riding the S2 Metrobus to work the other morning and the DRIVER was balancing his coffee precariously on the doohickey that opens the bus door. At every stop, he would slurp a sip. How can he enforce any regulations if he doesn't follow them himself? Given the delicate balance he was relying on while not sipping, I wouldn't have been surprised if he ended up with coffee all over his shirt and the bus floor. Disgusting! Inappropriate! Illegal! Where is the justice?

Also, why do so many Metrobus drivers read and write as they drive? More often than not, the driver is clutching a bus schedule (!), reading it AS HE/SHE IS WEAVING THRU TRAFFIC! And on Tuesday, my fabulous driver was tallying the number of transfers he had given out on some form WHILE HE WAS DRIVING. This is a dangerous situation that MUST BE STOPPED! Are the Metroids online today? Can they do something before I resort to my car again?

Bob Levey: Not much you could have done on the spot if the guy was intent on sipping. But you can report him right now, and you should. Call the general manager's office. Supply the route number, the time of day and (if you have it) the bus number. That will lead to disciplinary action against the driver.

AU: I can't change my tire.

I can't explain it, but somehow, my wheel gets stuck on the car. So, I can get the lug bolts (it's an Audi. So no, it's not lug nuts. Audis are weird.) Anyhow, I can get the lug bolts off, but the wheel won't come off.

Then the auto club thinks I am a wimp, so when I call for a tow, they send roadside assistance. And they can't get the wheel off.

Then they send a tow, it goes to the garage, it gets its tire changed, and the auto club calls me and tells me I am abusing their services by requiring 2 calls for one flat.

I can change a tire. On any car except my own (mechanic says it's that the heat binds the wheel to the axel). Ah well.

Bob Levey: This sounds like a quiet yet persistent problem: garage mechanics who use air guns to put lugs back on. The guns tighten them so well that no human, male or female, can budge them. Be sure to ask your professional mechanic NOT to use a gun if you want to avoid this. With your luck (if it's as good as mine), you'll discover the frozen lugs when you get a flat during a cloudburst, or a ten-inch snowstorm.

College Park: Bobyou said:
"I hate the idea that Williams is somehow not black enough for some black voters. What in the world are they talking about? Do they want a mayor who can talk street-dude talk or balance the budget?"

I also dislike some of Wilson's election signs and the race card politics. However I also dislike Williams alienation of people east of the Anacostia River, which fosters race politics in the first place.

Bob Levey: Are you saying that Williams fostered race politics east of the Anacostia? That's ridiculous. He has been on the scene for only four years. The District of Columbia has existed for 202. Poor blacks have always been suspicious of "the man," whichever color skin he happened to have. I agree that Williams has not CONCENTRATED solely or mostly on problems east of the Anacostia. He certainly should have. But that doesn't make him a racially vindictive politician like, for example, Marion Barry

Washington, D.C.: You're serious? Get your routine maintenence (sorry about the spelling) done by a dealership?

I'm sorry, but my fabulous local garage is much much better and much much cheaper, and a WHOLE lot more honest than any of the dealerships around here.

I took poor Mr. Car to the dealership once. They kept him for two weeks, to fix a broken automatic window. And they charged $650. My mechanic can do that in one day for less the $100. And oil changes?

Not to mention convenience. My mechanic is down the street, on multiple bus lines and a metro line. The dealerships are all out int the burbs. How am I supposed to get home, and then get back out so I can bring Mr. Car home?

No, I'll take my mechanic any day over a dealership.

Bob Levey: Another quarter heard from.
Your car must be out of warranty, right?

Washington, D.C.: Has Metro considered making the "priority seating" signs more conspicuous so maybe, just maybe, people will find it harder to pretend they don't know that they should consider giving up their comfortable seat to the old lady with a cane or the very pregnant woman who just got on?

Thanks for letting me vent. I hate observing discourtesy (from a standing position) every single day.

Bob Levey: I'm for not just more and bigger signs, but more and louder announcements by the train operator. Remember, he isn't actually driving the train (a computer is). So he isn't exactly breaking his backside with things to do. The driver should make at least one housekeeping announcemet at every stop (no eating-drinking, don't camp in the doorways, please let the needy have priority seats). The same Metro marketing whizzes who gave us "customers" don't like this idea. They think constant announcements would annoy people and chase them back into their SUVs. I say non-enfrocement of the rules will chase them back faster than anything else.

Takoma Park: Hiya Bob! How are you likng the comics? Any favorites so far?

Bob Levey: Cathy ain't bad. Rest are a big shrug

AU: No, no. I can get the bolts off fine. Not a problem.

The wheel won't come off the axle. Bolts all off, wheel fused onto car.

Bob Levey: Oh, boy.
Deeper doo-doo.
Sorry

Falls Church, VA: Just a note about those "check engine" lights. I took my car in to the dealership when the light came on and was told that (at least on my Acura) the light has nothing to do with the engine. It just goes on every 3000 miles or so to remind you to get the car serviced. There is a button hidden under the steering column that resets the light and sometimes the service people forget to press it.

Bob Levey: Clearly a conspiracy! Thanks for letting us know.
Now shed some light on this:
How come I can take 30 cabs across six months in Washington, D.C., and EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM has its "Check Engine" light on?

Washington, D.C.: When, if ever, will the localities and the feds get together to regulate tour bus traffic, which is pretty much out of control? They park anywhere they want in residential areas surrounding tourist attractions. They tie up traffic. And they are huge, often with tinted windows and huge underbelly storage areas, which are just begging to be used to thwart security in our new security-conscious capital. Why do we allow this?

Bob Levey: Enforcement is very mixed. About 18 months ago, I rode for the day with a U.S. Park Police officer who is hell-on-wheels about this problem. He chases tour buses off the Mall every hour of every shift. But he was the first to admit that not every cop is as vigilant as he.

Washington, D.C.: .Newspapers in vending machines - maybe a neologism contest could define the type of person who compulsively pulls the fifth newspaper down in the stack, leaving the first four all unfurled in a huge mess inside the box?

Arggh! That's MY pet peeve!

And it doesn't help The Post's bottom line either if the unfurled ones are shunned as they usually are...

Bob Levey: Already did a neologism contest about what you call the guy who takes the second paper in the stack. Can't recall the winner. But I surely sympathzie with the reason.
When I was a kid in New York, the top paper never had a sports section because some railbird had stolen it to check the late scratches. Horse racing ain't what it used to be, but the habits of newspaper readers are. The top copy in the stack is now odds-on to be missing some section (business with stock tables, Style with movie listings) where the thief's single question can be answered without buying the entire paper.

Manassas, Va.: Happy beautiful Friday afternoon Bob! Just wanted to check in and see if World's Greatest Daughter has gone back to school yet? Isn't this her Sophomore year? Is the house as quiet this time as it was the first time? Also, can't wait to read your book! When is it due to be finished? (Time for shameless plug here!)

Bob Levey: WGD begins her third year on Tuesday, and she is already back on campus (such as NYU's is, in the heart of Lower Manhattan). Yes, the house is quiet, especially since she was home for the whole summer. It's never easy to say goodbye to a child--or to say goodbye again.
"When is it due to be finished" isn't quite the way to ask it. "When do you HOPE to have it finished" wouild be more accurate. Answer to that: Late September (especially if I get three good days of hacking in, starting tomorrow morning).

Re: Don & Mike: They say the word "gay" every five minutes like a bunch of school kids. Do people really think they are funny?

Bob Levey: If you believe the ratings, people do. Of course, who ARE those people?
One day a couple of years ago, when Don and Mike sicced their hordes on me, you should have seen the e-mails I got. Their fans can't spell, can't write a sentence, can't do anything except type nasty names. And they even misspell those!

About corner service stations...: I really have to disagree with your statement that the dealer will always be better for major repairs. I've had terrible experiences with multiple dealerships - from just plain old outrageous prices to actually doing harm to the car - and I've had mostly good experiences from local service stations. That said, it definitely pays to find a mechanic you trust and stick with them.

I'm not convinced that dealerships have an incentive to perform because it will affect their reputation. It's not uncommon to have many car dealerships in an area are owned by one person or group and individuals have a strong incentive to use dealers near them, so I don't think the choice is wide enough for competition on service quality to be a big factor.

Bob Levey: Some dealerships are beginning to realize that theirs is not a thief-in-the-night business. Like any retailer, it's worth it to them to build and retain a rep. No, you don't buy a car every month. But if they treat you right in the service bays, you're more likely to come back when it's time to buy new wheels. That's the logic, anyway. I see more and more of this kind of enmlightened thinking by more and more dealerships. Only the old-line guys look at you like a lemon--useful only for being squeezed.

Georgia Ave., Washington, D.C.: Bob, reporting bad drivers, and other bad stuff, to Metro simply gets ignored. I know you don't want to believe it, and I know metro will have no answer. But over the years I have written letters and made phone calls with time, date, place, bus number, route number, train number -- lots of details.

I've only received a reply once, and it was a form letter, thanking me for my praise. (I had been complaining about a poorly handled incident with a gun on the 73 bus.)

Metro doesn't care. Metro has a monopoly and simply doesn't care.

Bob Levey: Another approach is through the member of the Metro board who represents your jurisdiction. If you live on Georgia Avenue, I believe your guy is councilman Jim Graham (might be wrong--but it's some council member--I'm sure of that). Call him/her

Vienna, Va.: Bob. The reason most of the cabs you ride in have the CHECK ENGINE light is probably that they have so many miles on them that the sensors are all worn out or the catalytic converter is plugged up.

Bob Levey: Excuse me? The reason so many cabs have that light on is that so many cabs are driven 24 hours a day, and never maintained.

Bethesda, Md.: Bob:

What can be done about that awful judge Durke Thompson who sent a convicted child sex abuser of his stepdaughter back into the household and the 15-year-old girl recently gave birth to a baby after further abuse. This is not the first time that this particular judge has come up with outrageous statements/actions regarding sexual abuse of children and women (he's the one who said of an 11-year-old who was abused that "it takes two to tango").

Bob Levey: I'm not sure of the exact mechanism, but he could certainly be impeached. A little more of this kind of thing, and I'd say he will be

Washington, D.C.: Hi Bob, I don't know what kind of hours you spend at the office, but if you are ever around 15th street in the wee hours, you will immediately notice an overwhelming number of prostitutes walking the blocks in the area. How can this illegal activity that is so out in the open continue? Where is the police presence? What can concerned residents do about it?

Bob Levey: I got to work at 6 a.m. on Monday and there, right outside the front door of The Post, was a lady of the evening, in the shortest shorts and highest heels I've ever seen. Obviously, she hadn't had a good nigth and was till trying to make her nightly quota of dough. Very sad.
What can be done about this? Get after the johns! I hope all of yuo saw the story in Style this week about Obedience School for Johns. Great stuff. Go to our archives and look it up.

Silver Spring, Md.: Bob,

Why is the area around Colesville Road and University in Silver Spring called "Four Corners"?

Bob Levey: Because UB is split at that intersection. There's an island between eastbound and westbound lanes. Thus, there are four corners there

Bob Levey: All I've got time for today, gang. Thanks much. Have a good three-day-er.

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