Allan James Vestal

28 Aug

I’m a complete novice with soldering, and lost my solder tutor when she changed jobs and stopped coming down to D.C. as often. But if I can eventually do things like this and not just nerdy silicon/ESP32 stuff? Oh wow, I need to learn.

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28 Aug

(@rashida.bsky.social if I burn my house down soldering it’s because you weren’t there to save me from myself and my idiot ways)

12 Aug

I’m just a dude, standing in front of Steve Kornacki, begging him to pronounce “man-it-oh-walk” county properly rather than “”Mann-itto-walk.”

12 Aug

Or, more accurately: “Mannih-Doh-Walk.”

19 Apr

Super cool of my autocorrect to stop adding a final “t” to certain words. (I’m getting a lot of “tha” and “jus” all of a sudden.) I don’t think I’ve intentionally typed the former since, like, the heyday of AIM — and a man can only eat so many French Dips no matter how hard he tries.

19 Apr

(Yes it also _did_ try to write that as “a ma can only eat so many French Dips…” 🤦)

ire.orgIRE mourns the loss of Executive Director Diana R. FuentesMarch 20, 2026 – A message from IRE Board President Josh Hinkle: Dear IRE members and the broader journalism community, I’m reaching out on behalf of IRE’s Board and staff with a heavy heart. I’m so s...

21 Mar

This is an immense loss. I didn't know Diana especially closely, but I saw the fruits of her work through how inspired the IRE staff were. And by how the conferences and trainings her staff ran brought so many newcomers to our corner of the journalism industry. www.ire.org/2026/03/21/i...

21 Mar

I feel lucky — I got to speak a few words of gratitude to Diana between sessions at the NICAR conference early this month. It’s probably the most I ever spoke with her. But in retrospect I’m glad I got a chance to add my voice to the chorus of others who know all the good she’s made possible.

21 Mar

May her memory be a blessing. And let us keep valuing and cultivating investigative journalism — thanks to the efforts of people like Diana Fuentes and organizations like @ire.org.

24 Feb

@kaylahornbrook.bsky.social MERCH SIGHTING

24 Feb

@kaylahornbrook.bsky.social this is you too, right?

1 Feb

Wow. I wasn't quite willing to believe DDHQ's call (hadn't seen the percent of precincts reporting) but that's a stunning result out of Tarrant.

Taniel@taniel.bsky.social

JUST IN: Democrats flip a red seat in the Texas Senate. Taylor Rehmet wins against Leigh Wambsganss, a conservative activist who helped lead right-wing efforts to take over TX school boards. With all early vote, and 95% of precincts, in, Dem up 57/43. Trump won this seat by 17% in Tarrant County.

30 Jan

My kingdom for better Bsky search functionality. How am I supposed to find the best seasons (series, fine) of that one British show that someone took the time to rank for me? (These must be universal problems, right?)

theaircurrent.comSpecial Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrongD.C. midair crash was the result of a complete collapse of the protections designed to keep aviation safe — and the institutions that design and maintain them

19 Dec 2025

“The night everything at DCA finally went wrong” sure looks like the kind of careful, meticulously-sourced story I wanted to read about this disaster. The level of background knowledge is clear. As is the understanding of the human toll. I hope it gets widely recognized in journalism circles.

Will Guisbond@willguisbond.com

For the last few months, I've been working on a story about January's crash near Washington, D.C. What I learned was that it was simply an accident waiting to happen. Special Report: The night everything at DCA finally went wrong (via @theaircurrent.com) theaircurrent.com/aviation-saf...

30 Nov 2025

A Food Idiot’s Thanksgiving, Part II: Leftover mashed potatoes Boxty (potato pancake) with sour cream, caramelized apples, cranberry gastrique (well, kinda) and sage-butter crisped French fried onions.

29 Nov 2025

A Food Idiot’s Thanksgiving, Part I: Stuffing–Turducken* waffle with sage-infused maple syrup, gravy, crisped lemon-pepper turkey skin and pecan gremolata. With apologies to my long-suffering wife (and my parents’ waffle iron) this took my love of turkey dressing to an even higher level.

29 Nov 2025

* Batter includes a bit of minced turkey & rotisserie chicken, with duck fat cooking spray on the iron. (Intent had been to use duck egg as my binding agent, but a certain unnamed genius may have driven to two stores to get duck eggs … then left them out on a shelf next to the fridge overnight.)

29 Nov 2025

Hat tip to @samer.is, who had a similar idea yesterday, and to an article by Kenji López-Alt insisting that stuffing waffles really do need small amounts of both gravy and syrup. (And apologies to the Waffle Wanter for so rudely depriving him of these concoctions.)

7 Aug 2025

Sir Alex, in the golden hour. Someone tossed him a few berries. He was curious, but ultimately not interested.

12 July 2025

Juror instructions City of Alexandria Late 2023 C.E.

Utopia District@utopiadistrict.bsky.social

Name something you remember watching in this!

Quoting the Congressman for the area in and around DCA Airport. Ardently hoping for the best, for all loved ones who are involved.

Congressman Don Beyer@beyer.house.gov

From American Airlines: "American Eagle Flight 5342 en route from Wichita, Kansas (ICT) to Washington, D.C. (DCA) was involved in an accident at DCA... If you believe you may have loved ones on board Flight 5342, call American Airlines toll-free at 800-679-8215."

WRC has footage from EarthCam. The crash (and flash of light) appears to be over the Maryland side of the Potomac. Searching for a picture on their footage. But this looks like a fireball, leading to a bunch of pieces, that broke apart.

I'll say at this point: I am not an expert. I am only saying what I saw as an observer. If others with more knowledge speak out? Trust them. I hope I'm wrong.

To clarify: NBC News is citing an Army official that three people were aboard the Blackhawk. They have not characterized their conditions

Allan James Vestal@ajv.bsky.social

Thanks. There may well have been an escortee on board, but there is nothing to suggest either way. WRC cites DoD statement that there were three people on board the Blackhawk.

(If memory serves, I could be wrong) Evidently they tried to land on 1 but were doing a second approach.

Samer@samer.is

Some should tell the “airline expert” on WTTG who keeps speculating about runway 1 🤦

Best capture of the footage aired by WRC:

WRC has ATC audio: A CRJ and the helicopter collided a half-mile off the start of Runway 33.

I said "start" but the air traffic controller said "the approach of 33" — for the record, in case that's useful.

WRC has ATC audio: A CRJ and the helicopter collided a half-mile off the start of Runway 33.

"I just saw a fireball and then it was just gone" — WRC-TV citing LiveATC.net

WRC says four victims have been taken to a fire station. Hope this is the start of many rescues — but let us pray for more rescued souls.

To be clear: The impacted pax or crew ('victims' feels imprecise) were taken to the "North Boathouse" station. NBC4 reports that the newly-minted Secretary of Homeland Security is "asking for prayers" and that the President has been briefed.

31 Dec 2024

“But how will I know we’re back in Alexandria?”

31 Dec 2024

Just off camera: the line of Del Ray dads all waiting to retrieve their take-out orders.

15 Dec 2024

Oh good! Finally someone On Here who’s specifically seeking the type of content I post.

11 Nov 2024

ALXsky folks: thanks for all the support and good questions on the 🧵 last night! I’ll be answering all the ?s over the next couple days. (Bravo @martaschantz.bsky.social & @alexgoyette.bsky.social for the Shirlington research!) But also: Office hours @ Port City this afternoon? Got even more maps…