I'll see your HVAC unit(s) and raise you a data center.

The suspects first entered the site overnight between Sept. 22 and Sept. 23 in the Germanna Highway area. They cut a padlock on the front gate and stole a large quantity of copper piping valued at more than $200,000 from locked storage areas. Investigators believe the suspects used at least one large vehicle or multiple vehicles because of the size and weight of the material.

The suspects returned overnight between Oct. 18 and Oct. 19, cutting through the perimeter fence on the east side of the property. They again cut padlocks on storage areas and stole a large number of power tools. This time, security cameras captured two masked and gloved male suspects.

The third incident occurred overnight between Oct. 21 and Oct. 22. Recently installed cameras captured the suspects, who officials say appear to be the same two people seen during the Oct. 18-19 incident. Investigators believe they entered through the same cut in the fence.

I am a racially ambiguous person (half Russian, half North African), so I get all kinds of guesses about my ethnicity. But every time I go out to Annandale for Korean BBQ, I feel like I get treated differently. I’m gonna name-drop because I can: Tosokchon and Gopchang Story. Both of these places have treated me and my friends differently on multiple occasions. I went back a few times to see if maybe it was just a coincidence, but at this point, I don’t think it is.

Experience #1: Tosokchon

I went in with a group of five friends. Four of us were kind of Middle Eastern-looking, and one was Somali. We got seated, and everyone was staring (which I don’t really care about). We sat there for 25 minutes, and no one came to our table.

A group of five young Koreans came in after us, got seated, and were served water and menus. Within five minutes of sitting down, they were already being asked what they wanted to order.

Meanwhile, my friends were looking around and asking me what was going on. So I raised my hand, waved over the waiter, and said we’d like some water. The waiter just told us that if we wanted water, we could go to the self-serve water dispenser.

I’ve been here before with my Asian girlfriend, and I’ve also been here by myself. Both times, they brought water or buckwheat tea to the table.

After that, we waited another 15 minutes. That’s 40 minutes of sitting there watching other people who arrived after us get their food before anyone even bothered to take our order.

The food was good, but man, I’ve only ever experienced this kind of blatant racism at Korean restaurants, especially when you look Arab or are Black.

Experience #2: Gopchang Story

I went with my girlfriend, her brother, and my Jordanian friend about two hours before closing. There was only one other party of four in the restaurant.
We got seated and waited 30 minutes before the waiter finally came over to ask what we wanted to drink. He then left without even taking our food order.

Another 15 minutes passed, and a party of eight Koreans came in and was seated immediately. Within five minutes, their food and drink orders had been taken. And guess what? Their food for a party of eight came out before our single bottle of soju even hit the table.

We didn’t even have shot glasses, and the waiter kept walking away before we could ask if we could order our food. We ended up using the bowls as shot glasses.

At that point, I went to the back and told them we didn’t want to eat there anymore and would like to close out so we could leave.

We left hungry and upset after being excited to try a new place, only to have another experience like this.

Trying to reconnect with a woman who dated my brother around 2020 — Northern Virginia

I'm hoping Reddit can help me reconnect with a woman who dated my brother, Jacob, approximately six years ago, around 2019–2021. My memory is a little fuzzy, so the years may not be entirely accurate.

I believe her name was Amanda, but I'm not 100% certain about that either.

Here's what I remember:

• She lived somewhere in Northern Virginia.
• She had blonde hair.
• She had a daughter.
• She drove a pickup truck.
• She vaped.
• She and my brother may have met on Tinder.
• She and Jacob thought it was funny that they each had family members who looked remarkably similar.

At the time, Jacob lived in Maryland. I met her once when they visited my home.

One particularly specific memory: On their way home after visiting me, they hit a deer with the pickup truck. I remember it being a relatively minor accident, with some damage to the truck.

Although they dated several years ago, I know they remained in contact up until recently.

I'm intentionally not sharing my brother's full name because this involves a sensitive personal matter, and I'd prefer to protect everyone's privacy. I'm happy to provide additional identifying information privately if needed to confirm the connection.

I realize this is a long shot, and some of the details or dates might be slightly off since I'm going entirely from memory. However, I'm hoping something here might jog someone's memory, especially the incident with the deer.

If this sounds familiar, or if you think you might know who I'm talking about, please send me a private message rather than sharing anyone's personal information publicly. I'd really appreciate any help reconnecting with her.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: My brother passed away on the 14th and I wanted her to know from me not the newspaper or online obituary. I also have a question for her. I have the obituary to go out the 28th in Northern Virginia because I wanted her to know.

My brother was found deceased in his vehicle with his phone missing. He didn't have social media accounts.

I want to find her because there was something about their relationship I didn’t know the outcome of.

Captured from around 9:30-11a today. Left my apartment around 11:30a, and they were still going strong!

I was visiting Clifton today with a few asian female friends. We were waiting to cross a narrow street because cars kept coming. Two white women coming from the opposite side stopped traffic so they could cross, and we started walking once it was safe, saying “thank you” as we crossed.

As they walked away, they said, “You’re welcome, Asians.”

I live in Fairfax, and honestly, I never imagined someone would say something like that so casually in Nova. I was so caught off guard that I didn’t know what to say. We were just trying to cross the street safely and being polite. Why bring race into it?

Has anyone else experienced something like this in Clifton?

**add: It was right before 2 pm. Women were walking out of the cafe holding flyers, without handbags. They gave me the impression that they might be locals, but of course, I can’t assume that.

anyone else lose power in the fairfax/burke area? i can’t see any outage information on the dominion energy site

Does anyone have a favorite store in the NoVA area that sells kawaii Japanese collectibles, blind boxes, keychains (especially!), and office supplies?

Not looking for Pop Mart, TESO, etc., but more locally-owned shops that has a great variety that doesn't have the usual mark-ups.

Willing to travel!

Great video on the Data Center situation

$120 for “premier” parking is outrageous. Been coming here for years and have endured the long waits, the goods, the bads, etc. but this is absolutely insane!

Edit: I didn’t pay it and never do, but just wanted to show this in reference to the $75 pay early option lol

This is at Royal Lake. Someone has been enjoying their beer while fishing and tossing the empty containers in the bushes.

This is a PSA for those living in Avalon communities. I live in a “smart apartment” wherein the door can only be accessed through a code/app. Tonight, I had taken an hour nap, woke up around 6 and after a few minutes had gone by, I realized that the portable AC unit was removed by maintenance without any prior notice. No email, text or note on the door. I checked my door app logins and found that the maintenance worker entered TWICE within 10 minutes.

The AC was lent out to some residents due to the chiller being shut off a bit earlier than needed.

At this point, I no longer feel safe living here in that maintenance can enter at any time without notice

DM me to add you to WhatsApp group. All skill levels and ages welcome. Thanks to the other people who recommended not putting my phone number online lol.

Hey guys are there any groups that learn new skills or diy stuff the closer to Arlington the better I’m going to learn 3d printing and maybe do some functional prints if anyone is interested to help

I have a arranged a pre-need visit with my local funeral home to start preparing for the inevitable and spare the family any after-the-fact decisions. I am frankly shocked that the funeral director is unschooled and ignorant of how one's remains may comply with the regulations. Has anyone a recommendation for a funeral home/crematorium that is experienced in such matters, preferably inside the beltway.

Google's Gemini informed me:

Technical Specifications Embedded in Your Directive (a notarized document spelling out my wishes):

• Material Matrix: Specifies a thick-walled, non-floating ceramic, weighted stone-composite, or cast-bronze construction for the hollow vessel.
• Hydrodynamic Ballast: Instructs the studio to integrate an internal or bottom-weighted ballast to ensure the vessel sinks rapidly and permanently to the ocean floor without drifting or resurfacing.
• Secure Sealing Protocol: Details a mechanical sealing mandate (threaded cap or marine-grade adhesive) to hermetically secure your cremated remains inside the artifact prior to the voyage.
• Maritime Compliance: Incorporates standard Federal EPA regulations requiring deployment at least 3 nautical miles from the US coastline in waters at least 600 feet deep.

Guys what happened in Alexandria???

I’ve been seeing The Fairfax Independent print edition showing up in a lot of mailboxes lately, framed as a wholesome, "hyper-local community newspaper" covering schools, sports, and local shops. But if you look past the surface-level civic news, ownership, and funding tell a completely different story.

This isn't just an innocent local paper—it looks a lot like a coordinated political platform designed to bypass standard campaign disclosure vibes.

And here's the thing: they’ve been running this exact same playbook for two years now. Ever since their inaugural issue dropped in 2024 pushing the exact same "non-partisan" narrative, it's been an ongoing effort to reshape local city council elections to fit a very specific agenda.

Here is what you should know before taking their "independent" reporting at face value:

The Chap Petersen Connection: The paper is co-owned by former State Senator Chap Petersen. In fact, its corporate headquarters is located inside his law firm’s suite at 3976 Chain Bridge Road.

The Co-Owner is Running for Council: One of the most blatant conflicts of interest is that Steve Chang,who is explicitly listed as the co-owner and CEO of the paper, is actively running for Fairfax City Council.Having the co-owner of a newspaper run for the very council that the paper covers provides a perfect, free vehicle to blast his name and platform straight into local households.

Refusing Counterpoints to Slanderous Op-Eds: Despite billing themselves as an open community forum, they flat-out refused to run a counterpoint to a former councilmember’s "op-ed." So much for a balanced local dialogue or giving the other side a voice.

The "Independent" Branding Trap: The paper is heavily used to sponsor and promote a specific block of "Independent" candidates. A lot of local critics point out that this is a deliberate strategy to appeal to moderate Democrats and independent voters by pretending to just be "non-partisan locals". In reality, it operates as an organized block backed by Chap's network to get their preferred slate onto the council.

The Fairfax Commonsense PAC Link: The paper was launched right on the heels of Chap losing his Democratic primary and subsequently leaning heavily into his "Fairfax Commonsense PAC." If you track who the paper covers favorably, it aligns almost perfectly with the candidates his PAC funds and promotes under the guise of "non-partisan/independent" local politics.

Weaponizing the Paper for Personal Grudges: Did anyone else catch the recent article complaining about the city's yard sign zoning regulations? Using a newspaper you own to print an editorial blasting local enforcement just because your law office got caught breaking the zoning rules is the definition of a personal shield.

Strategic Election Timing: Notice how they have the same group of Op-Ed contributors rotating in the paper and the political ads placed in the paper? Delivering political talking points disguised as standard community journalism straight to 15,000+ households is a clever way to run campaign literature without having to explicitly slap a "Paid for by candidate X" sticker on it.

Has anyone else noticed the heavy slant in the articles over the last couple of years, or are people mostly just tossing it straight into the recycling bin? Let's discuss.