"Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm just taking some pictures"

"Oh come on, why?"

"Just pictures of signs for a Web site."

"Stop blowing smoke up my ass. I wasn't born yesterday, but I was born in the morning. What are you really doing?"

"Really, I'm just taking pictures for a Web site."

"You're investigating something, right?"

"If I were investigating something would I be taking pictures right in front of you?"

"It doesn't matter if we're here - you're going to do what you need to do."

And with that I walked away from the three policemen hanging out around their car on Georgia Avenue at Gresham Place as I was walking back from Girard. Maybe I really am investigating something . . .

I don't remember the conversation exactly, but that is pretty darn close.

This map can give you a bit of an idea why there are so many signs around Girard. Like many streets in D.C. it does not cross the avenue at the same point - the eastern part of the street is actually about a half block south of the western part.