Now On VIRB

I have decided to stop paying for my own domain name and hosting service, which means I will also stop using this blog.  You can find me at VIRB.com.  Thanks!

P.S.  I’m not really sure what the “Thanks!” was for, but it seemed appropriate.

Pittsburgh’s 250th Birthday

Last night Melody and I took the bus downtown to watch the fireworks for Pittsburgh’s 250th birthday celebration.  There were people everywhere, filling every sidewalk, bridge, hill, park and riverbank.  At 10:00pm they started, and the didn’t stop until 10:30.  It was the largest fireworks display in America, ever.  They had over 15 different launching sites, including the tops of several buildings downtown and a few of the bridges.  This video of the last eight minutes hardly does it justice, but it’s the best one I found on YouTube so far.

Overtime

I stopped watching the Steelers game last night just as overtime was starting.  It was already midnight, and I was tired.  It occurred to me that, in the interest of time and humor, it would be much better if the teams just played Red Rover on the field to decide the winner.

Niagara

I’ve been to Yosemite so I’m no stranger to gorgeous waterfalls.  Niagara floored me.  We walked along the river on the American side, and up ahead the water just vanished and there was a huge emptiness beyond it.  We couldn’t really hear the falls at this point since we were above them.  A few more steps ahead and I took this shot.

The American Falls

Look Alike

Am I the only one who has noticed this?

Ocean's Twelve French guy.

Sid the Sloth.

Uncanny.

Things That Are Lame About Pittsburgh #001 – Roads

It’s not so much the roads themselves as it is where they have been put.

I could swear that a long, long time ago there was a meeting.  Lots of important people were at this meeting, and one of these important people had the responsibility of drawing up a  map of where he thought the streets of Pittsburgh should go.  We’ll call this man Stupid Face.

Stupid Face wasn’t a bad guy, really.  He didn’t intentionally screw up the roadways for future generations, he just forgot that he was supposed to come up with a drawing for the meeting.  The night before, as he was putting his young children to bed, it dawned on him.  He panicked.  “Oh no!” he thought.  “I have to think of something quick!”  So he grabbed his 2-year-old son’s Sunday school drawing off the refrigerator (or ice box, or meat locker… whatever), stuffed it in his briefcase and hoped for the best.

Unfortunately, “the best” meant this:

How stupid.

And incredibly enough, all the important people at the meeting liked what Stupid Face presented.

The End.

Things That Are Great About Pittsburgh #001 – Temperature

Seeing as we’re still new to this city and are likely to be homesick for most of this year, it will be much easier for me to point out the lame things about Pittsburgh than the good things.  But what kind of a start is that?  I want to start off optimistically, even though it won’t be as funny as if I were making fun of the Burgh.

So you’re in California right now and it’s what, 82 degrees?  Well, by 3:00pm it’s supposed to be 93 degrees.  And that probably feels great.  You’re thinking, “Fall must be right around the corner!”  Of course you think that.  I thought that every September, only to find out on the day before Halloween when it was still 95 frickin’ degrees that, oh, wait, fall wasn’t almost there.  It was far, far away, being stupid.

But I’m sitting here thinking, “Man, this last week has been great – a mix of rain and sun with nice breezes and 70 degree temperatures.”  You’re all suckers.

I know, I know, wait until winter, right?  I’ll be freezing over here when you’re, well, not freezing.  Sure, sure, uh-huh, whine until you feel better.

ALTERNATE READING:  The weather here is great, but I miss California and I’m afraid of the cold.

Arriving In Pittsburgh

Our third or fourth day here we drove out to the Duquesne (pronounced “dukane”) Incline and rode to the top of Mt. Washington for a great view of the city.  This was about 30 seconds before the skies opened up and dumped rain on us.

A great view.

We look happy, but really we were thinking, "What have we done?!"

More to come, I promise.  Right now I’m learning about Greek accents and can’t wait to do something more exciting, like count the hairs on my head.

Update

Hey everyone, sorry I’ve been so long in writing something.

We’re safe and sound in Pittsburgh, and I’ll start classes next week.  Melody is still looking for a job and will probably start subbing pretty soon at local schools.

I have a few kinks to work out with my website, so it might still be a couple of weeks until I’m back to posting regularly.  But hang in there – soon I’ll post plenty of stories, photos, thoughts, and random stuff for you to check out.

Miss you all.

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