So I've worked in D.C. for the past few years (5 years and 4 months), and the past few years, I've been pretty obsessed with a website called http://www.43things.com. It was started by a bunch of guys that call themselves the Robot-Coop. They are based in Seattle, WA, and I'm doing a little bit of sysadmin work for them, and I'm finally going to meet them.
This is pretty much another dream come true. I would recommend that everyone sign up for an account on 43things and join me.
I'll try to post things when I get a chance.