Hi,

One more thing from Monday’s excursions was we were traveling up a mountain coming out of the Orosi Valley we saw a sign on the side of mountain in very large white letters Mirador de Orosi.  The miradors are a series of locations with views that the Costa Rican Tourism Office operates and many date back fifty years or so.  They are pretty much like our public works projects that were completed by President Roosevelt in the 1930’s.  Here’s a view:

We left San Jose on Tuesday and traveled northwest through the mountains up the American Highway (this road runs through all of Central America and South America).  After cutting through some mountains on our way down to Lake Arenal, we were arriving too early to meet our greeter, so we stopped for a late lunch/early dinner at the Mystica Resort, phone +506-2692-1001  It’s a very colorful yoga resort with a very nice restaurant run by some great people.  The food was great and once again our lunch filled in for lunch and dinner.

So we arrived at Leigh’s wonderful house.  You saw the pictures before I left of the front gate and the large building (which actually is the guest house, the lower, one story house is the actual main house where we stayed.  Here’s a picture of the house from down the yard before the yard falls off towards Lake Arenal:

Here’s a picture from the front porch towards Lake Arenal:

Here’s a picture from the front porch towards Leigh’s pool:

And a picture of the pool:

The driveway that you saw with the gate seems to have been an access road for something down at the lake, because there’s a cut pathway that bends down from Leigh’s yard and meanders down the mountain.  Lining Leigh’s driveway and down the pathway are these majestic camouflage trees:

Here’s a close up of their interesting bark:

Not knowing where we were going for sure, we started descending down this trail and after about ten minutes we came across these beautiful orchids growing in front of this palm:

Yeps, that’s them on top of those four foot stalks, they are terrestrial orchids (ground based instead of air based in a tree).

The trail bends around another bend the trail when through someone’s yard.  Hesitant to enter someone’s yard, we stood there for a moment while the dog barked at us.  The owner, Mike an American Ex-Pat came out and we introduced ourselves as friends of Leigh.  He was very nice and did all the right things, but when he offered to take a group picture of us and “send it to Leigh”, I got a little suspicious that he was suspicious of us.  J  Don’t blame him, he had never met us and we had set the burglar alarm off earlier.  He gave us directions down to the lake and we then pass this gorgeous Traveler Palm:

Further along the trail we came across this clearing:

There are two volcanoes in the general area (one active since 1968 and the other in-active).  When they actually explode, they shoot rocks for miles and I believe that is what this depression is from.  You see volcanic rocks and depressions like this all over the place.  I don’t know if the active volcano has actually exploded since becoming active or not.

Leigh has a lot of interesting plants growing around here property.  As you start down her driveway, you pass this plant that I believe is a Prodteus.  Here’s a picture of the flower opening:

Here’s a picture of it fully open:

And here’s a picture of it having gone to seed:

Dave & Claire say a variety of it is the national flower of South Africa (they lived in Angola for a number of years and traveled to South Africa a good bit) and they have seen these flowers as big as a trash can lid.

Eventually, we left the compound for a friend of Leigh’s restaurant/gift shop, but unfortunately Monica had to leave and wasn’t around.  So we went to the little town of Nuevo Arenal.  It is actually a cute little town with a nice variety of shops.  Several decent restaurants, two grocery stores, two hardware stores, a pet store and vet are all located here.  There’s also the “famous” German Bakery, a bakery, restaurant and gift shop that was closing when we arrive.  But speaking of the hardware stores, after eating dinner at Moya’s (nice waiter, good food) we stopped at the first one to get some light bulbs to replace ones burnt out at Leigh’s.  The first one didn’t have anything that would match, so we stopped at the second one.  They didn’t have either bulbs, but the guy we were talking to took pictures of what we wanted and sent the pictures to another of their stores who had one of the bulbs and our Arenal store would have it by noon the next day!  Third world country and the hardware clerk takes pictures of electronics and has it delivered the next day?  Here’s a picture of downtown Arenal:

I think that’s about it for today, have a great one,

ed

Hi,

Day 2 Orosi Valley

Correction from yesterday.  It wasn’t the Honduran embassy across from the Inn we stayed at, it was the  Nicaraguan, sorry for confusing the flag.

The Valley of Orosi surrounds a lake that is a hydro-electric project that is quite scenic.  When arriving from San Jose, the first large city you pass is Cartago, the home of the ruins of one of the oldest cathedras in Costa Rica, Las Ruinas de la Parroquia.  Also in this city is Basilica de Nuestra Senora de Los Angeles, which is the most significant site in the city which is an amazing Byzantine style open air church that just exudes style.  Stained glass windows, wood carved altars, hand painted murals, jewel encrusted statues are just a few of the high lights.  Built in 1635, it has been renovated many times, but remains true to its original design.  One tradition that shows the religious fervor of some is approaching the basilica on your knees, even from as far away as from San Jose (about 15 miles) for the Feast of the Assumption in August.

Here’s a picture of Los Angeles from the outside:

Here’s a picture of the inside:

The highway encircling the lake is pretty well paved, as has been most roads we’ve encountered so far.  Driving around is at a fairly leisurely pace.  Partially because traffic is so dense and the roads are not equipped with turn lanes, shoulders, etc.  Having a relatively smooth paved road is a lot nicer than was anticipated in the outer areas.  But be careful of the scooters, they are everywhere and don’t seem to have any rules.

The hillsides are full of farms growing mainly coffee, but a lot of other agriculture as well.  And this is grown on these unbelievably steep slopes.  I can’t imagine working those slopes all day.

Here’s some slopes:

At the far east of this lake is a VERY narrow one lane bridge that when we crossed it, we had to share the traveling lanes with school kids walking in front of us (there was no sidewalk area).  J  But shortly before that, there was a heavily used suspension bridge over the river that filled the lake.  Permanent, very narrow entrances keep cars and scooters off the bridge.  See the bridge below:

Next is a picture of a previous bridge that seems to have been non-suspension and had been washed away:

We were traveling along the south of the lake and it was later afternoon by the time we decided to stop for lunch.  There’s a ton of little cantina kind of restaurants along any road you travel in Costa Rica.  Most cantinas seem, at best, to be boring opportunities to put something in your stomach.  One of the things I like about traveling is “local color”, so I seldom eat at any kind of chain while on the road.  So we found this open air cantina with the proprietor sitting alone in the restaurant.  It looked pretty clean and wholesome, so we pulled in.  #1 he had the tables covered in white table cloths with a red napkin angled decoratively angled in the center.  #2, as we entered and the five of us were squeezing into a four top table and he came over, greeted us and immediately pulled another table so we had plenty of room.  He then went back to the counter and started turning the TV he was watching down.  I told me not to be concerned, it didn’t bother us.  He said OK and still turned it down.  He gave us the menus & asked what we would want to drink (in Spanish, he spoke no English).  We ordered and he made his recommendations on what menu items he recommended to order and left us.  He came back shortly afterwards to take our order and three of us had ordered beer and two had soft drinks.  I told him I didn’t want a glass, so when he brought a second beer, he had a napkin decoratively wrapped around the neck of the bottle and one folded as a holder across the center of the bottle.  I love little touches.  He served the ladies first and really paid attention to us (granted, we were the only guests, but I’ve been in places with the same scenario and been ignored).  And then came out the entrees!  OMG, for such a little place the quantity of the food, the presentation was amazing and the food quality and flavoring was right on base.  I had ordered chicken and rice, pretty standard Spanish faire.  The pulled chicken and rice had a very healthy portion that was decorated with several tortilla chips on top.  There was a small side salad of fresh tomatoes & lettuce with a light vinaigrette.  The side of refried beans had a unique flavor; I think it may have had a dash of mole.  I had asked the proprietor for a business card and he did give me one because I wanted to give his business a push.  Unfortunately I seem to have lost it.  If I come across it again, I will post it.  He doesn’t have a web site, but if I give his address, etc some other traveler may have the opportunity to enjoy this fine establishment.  We were so full that we never had dinner that evening.

We headed off Tuesday for Leigh’s home on Lake Arenal.  After a number of minor wrong turns, one of which was through the famous wind farm (well over 100) serviced by the constant winds off Lake Arenal and then down a very steep decline to the lake.  While descending, we passed a troupe of White-Faced Monkeys:

Have a great one,

ed

Hi,

Day one in country.  To continue last night’s blog with pictures of Miguel’s artwork, I got the photos downloaded.

This first picture is of his art studio, all made from coffee plant parts:

Here is Miguel’s workshop:

This next picture is of Miguel in front of his house with Tony and Dave to the side:

This is the stream that runs right below Miguel’s studio, just very common scenery of the lush vegetation you see everywhere:

These are statues Miguel and his brother Hermes have carved and are for sale in their shop:

And these are several of the statues I selected.  The two end ones are of coffee picker’s, the middle one on the left is an ape (it was the only ape he had, there’s no apes native to Costa Rica, don’t fret ), and the weeping lady at the middle right is a pretty famous legend.  She was taking her kids across a raging river and lost them and has weeped and haunted ever since.  I don’t know if this legend is exclusive to Costa Rica because I have seen it referred to a number of times elsewhere.  The TV show Grimm even did a story based on it:

Here’s pictures of Dave with Claire on the second floor porch of Miguel’s studio:

Here’s a tree that has been carved into someone with raised hands in a parking lot of a closed restaurant/bar down the street  from Miguel’s studio:

Here’s a picture of the Inn we stayed at while in San Jose, La Gioconda House Hotel:

And finally, here’s a picture of the Honduras embassy which is right across the street from our Inn.  Every day lines form in three directions (both ways on the front street and up the side street) of Hondurans looking to extend their work Visas.

Well, that’s it for now.  I REALLY need to figure out how to delete the old pictures from my camera because every time I download, it downloads ALL the pictures, which is becoming awkward.  It will soon be a nightmare.  There’s lots more from yesterday that I hope to talk and show tonight.

Have a great one,

ed

Hi,

Yesterday we arrived in San Jose Costa Rica.

Our United Airlines flight was scheduled to depart at 7 am and our good friend Sue wanted to get up at 3 am to ensure everything went smooth, which it did.  We were sitting at the gate over an hour before they started boarding, but that was OK.  So many time’s my MO has been arriving at the airport and stressing over parking, screening, etc that this leisurely arrival was nice.  I haven’t flown in a few years and I must say the TSA were the most polite and professional I have ever seen them.

We had a layover in Houston, where our friends Dave and Claire had one as well (they live in Austin) and they had a flight that was to bring them into Costa Rica three hours before us.  So they were assigned getting the rental car.  Their connecting flight from Austin to Houston was delayed, so guess who we bumped into at the Houston airport?  Yeps, Dave and Claire.  Their connecting flight was earlier than ours, so they still got into Costa Rica almost two hours before us.

On our connecting flight from Houston to San Jose (United flight number UA 1055Y- the reason I am including a link to United so if United uses Google Alerts, they may be interested in locating who the following stewardess assigned first class that gave me such poor service so they may contact me, if they care), the steward/stewardess’ passed out the Customs and Emigration forms for us to fill out.  I didn’t have a pen and the passengers next to me had a pen that broke as they were filling out their form.  So as a United stewardess was passing, I politely requested to borrow a pen.  She stopped, turned to me and tersely said “No.”  She told a step and turned and said “Ask your neighbors”, turned her back on me a second time and then continued up the aisle.  Now up until now, overall I had been again pleasantly surprised with the service I had received from United (I came with low expectations).  They even surprised us was with a warm lunch of salad, carrots, chicken or roast beef sandwiches and brownie.  What a rude thing for her to say and what a terrible attitued.  I could understand “I’m sorry I don’t have one”, “I’m sorry it’s illegal to give passengers a pen” or any other excuse, but a terse “No” is just unacceptable from anyone that works the hospitality field.

The decent into San Jose was quite stunning.  As you get lower and can see land, the landscape is quite exciting.  There’s the ocean on one side and a wide plain with rolling hills in the background.  And the rolling hills turn into gradually climbing mountains that level out into the central plain that hosts the city of San Jose.  We arrived in San Jose and the airports fairly modern and staffed with gracious and fairly bi-lingual staff.  One thing I found really amusing was their emergency exit signs.  It shows a stick figure “running” for a door.  You immediately understand its meaning; we should adopt that up north.

The mountains as seen from San Jose airport:

The city of San Jose is pretty dense and the roads are better than anticipated.  Not well marked, but if you pay attention, the signs are there and not too hard to navigate.  Lots of police all round, but they seem to just observe and the locals seem aware of the police presence.  I felt very comfortable.  Absolutely everyone so far that we have dealt with has been very nice and eager to assist.  Their English may not be good, but my Spanish is worse and for this I am thankful.

I called Verizon about using my iPhone or cell in Costa Rica.  The iPhone was not manufactured to work here and I would need to rent a phone that they would assign my phone number to.  So I checked about my cell phone and they said that would work fine, they just needed to adjust some settings that they did remotely.  I was told to do *228 for the phone to pick up the latest cell towers before leaving the country, which I did in Houston.  I immediately lost service and haven’t been able to get it back.  It keep “Searching”.

We stayed last night and this evening at the La Gioconda House Hotel, a center city bed and breakfast run by these very nice people.

We had a great day today in the Orosi Valley.  One thing I definitely will talk about more is Miguel, of the Casa Del Sonador, house of the dreamer.  Miguel and Hermes are sons of Macedonio Quesada, one of Costa Rica’s most famous Tico carvers.  A friend of Tony, one us, had stayed with Miguel’s parents as a translator in the 1970′s and Miguel clearly remembers Leon.  What an amazing man, amazing place and amazing artist.

It’s late and I have another big day tomorrow.  I hope to have time to fill in some more of today and post as many pictures as I can of today before retiring tomorrow.

Have a great day,

ed

Hi,

Tomorrow is ground hog day, good luck Punxsutawney Phil.  Birth anniversaries celebrated tomorrow include the first woman elected senator Hattie Wyatt Caraway (1878), film star Clark Gable (1901) and Soviet leader Boris Yeltsin (1931).  It is the anniversary of the rescue of Alexander Selkirk whom Robinson Crusoe was based (1709), action figure GI Joe was introduced (1964), the first session of the Supreme Court (1790) and the first moving picture studio Black Maria at Thomas Edison’s laboratory at West Orange, NJ (1893).  (The term Black Maria comes from the studio resembling black police wagons of the time and they were referred to as Black Marias.)

Just to make you jealous, here’s where we will be “camping” while in Costa Rica:

One more picture:

Does anyone want to buy The Parador of Pittsburgh, Leigh may have a permanent resident. 

Founded in 1952, non profit Auberle, assisted 2,374 Western Pennsylvania children and families last year.  Some children were referred through the state’s juvenile justice  or child welfare systems.  Also, school districts and relatives refer youth to the programs.  It operates six sites in the Mon Valley offering assistance for housing, substance abuse, mental and behavioral health counseling, foster care and employment training.  They’ve created an Employment Institute with programs in landscaping, construction, food handling, computer graphics, design and commercial driving.  They partnered with Massaro Properties in O’Hara for the landscape training.  Dave Massaro hopes to expand the program this year because of the excellent results he’s seen with his trainees.  In fact, Dave commented that some of the students actually improved upon the work done by some contractors.  They recently the added hazardous waste operations in conjunction with Carnegie-based Weaverton Environmental Group.  Dawn Fuchs, who was on Auberle’s board of directors readily agreed to spearhead this initiative.  Because of state regulations in handling hazardous wastes, Dawn is not able to provide the same “on the job” experience as some of the other trades, but with all the expanding oil and gas industries and environmental concerns, this could be a bright future.  If you are looking to fill entry level positions (or offer your expertise and assistance), you may want to contact them.

Mt Lebanon is doing trial runs on valet parking on the weekends on Washington Road.  I’m not going to touch that one. 

Sewickley United Methodist Church, at 337 Broad Street is having their 65th annual turkey dinner February 7 from 5 until 7.  The cost for this fund raiser is $15 for adults and $6 for children 6 to 10.  You can even get take out for $15.  The turkey and all the trimmings are prepared by a team of around 100 volunteers.  They shoot for a traditional turkey dinner, not a gourmet faire.   They  will be roasting 34 turkeys, 300 pounds of potatoes, 156 pounds of green beans, 125 pounds of cole slaw, 600 dinner rolls and 42 batches of stuffing.  I don’t know about dessert, you may have to bring your own.    They anticipate serving 600 dinners this year.  So it is strongly suggested to make reservations by calling Dottie Price at 412-741-4460 or the church office at 412-741-9430.

Back to back blogs about Sewickley, the Sweetwater Center for the Arts is hosting an exhibit featuring some pretty striking prints through February 23.  The exhibit showcases 18 pieces of art by 13 artists from across the country and none of them are digital (I’m not saying digital is bad, there’s a lot of incredible work done in digital.  It’s just nice to see more traditional art forms together sometimes).  Denise Presnell-Weidner of Wisconsin used the sun to etch her plates to create Translucent Liz, Indrani Nayar-Gall of North Carolina used intaglio, transfer printing, tracing and drawing to create her Travel Log-Mighty M and Barbara Westman used monoprints created from materials  she collect that give her different textural qualities when inked and printed.  An interesting exhibit.

This Sunday at The Warhol, Regarding Warhol: Sixty Artist, Fifty Years will span four floors of 45 Warhol works displayed alongside 100 works by 60 other artists.  This exhibit is to show how Warhol’s interest in consumer goods, pop culture, film making, magazine publishing and design affect world cultures.  It should be interesting to see how the staff at The Warhol pair his work with more contemporary art.  The show is included in your regular admission and regular hours.  That info is at their web site.

Speaking of Warhol, the Warhol Foundation is putting 125 paintings, drawings, photographs and prints up for auction at Christie’s International from February 26 through March 5.  Pre-sale estimates range from $600 to $70,000.  You can bid on line or by phone and receive instant updates in case someone over bids you.  Just thought you’d like to know.    The proceeds will be used in the Warhol Foundation’s endowment.

I’m all in favor of turning public control over to private interests.  I would really like to see the state liquor control board abolished and that function turned over to private enterprise for all the obvious reasons, high paying political patronage jobs, rude service, inconvenient hours and products, etc.  I also am in favor of turning the lottery over for many of the same reasons.  But I get nervous when the governor rams the lottery take over by a British company down everyone’s throats.    Not saying anything is under the table, it just lacks transparency.

ALCOSAN this week requested an extension on the controversial (and outrageously expensive) solution they came up with to meet DEP new standards so they can explore greener and less expensive options.  FINALLY.  Heinz Endowments has kicked in $31,000 to help the 83 municipalities served by ALCOSAN come up with local green initiatives to help relieve the strain on the sewer systems.  Looks like we may be on the right path, finally.

The owner of Delaney’s Pub in Youngwood reported income of just over $10,000 a year for the last few years.  When State Police and the Feds raided them, they found $586,310 in a safe in the bar’s basement, $117,000 in one safe deposit account and $781,630 in their residence.  OMG are they in trouble.  A roommate of mine in college lived out there and we’d stop by for a beer on occasion. 

Some disturbing statistics.  Nearly 44% of Americans are one emergency away from financial ruin.  Many of these work full time (75%), and 15% earn more than $55,000 a year.  Almost a third of Americans don’t have a  savings account.  We seem to be taking a good first step because credit card debt is down, but we need to start saving.  The report didn’t breakout people that had investments in lieu of a savings account, but we all should have a bit of one, even if the interest stinks.

Well, this may be my last post in awhile.  I leave for Costa Rica this weekend.  I’ll try and do some blogs with pictures, but I’m not guaranteeing.   Keep warm and happy,

ed

Hi,

This didn’t originally post to facebook, so I’m posting it again.

Tomorrow’s birth anniversaries include author Zane Grey (1872), baseballer Jackie Robinson (1919) and composer Franz Schubert (1797).  It is the death anniversaries of movie mogul Samuel Goldwyn (1974) and the controversial execution of Eddie Slovik for desertion (1945)-after being buried in France, he was finally returned to the United States and was buried next to his wife Antoinette in 1987.  It is also the anniversary of the Marshal Islands Landing in 1944 after two weeks of intensive bombings and almost 8,500 killed, the marines acquired a major foot hold in the Pacific.

Here’s a very heart warming story.  Kelly Smith, director of the Omega Horse Rescue, was walking through a holding pen for horses waiting to be slaughtered in Lancaster County, PA, when she noticed a mare with blood running down her leg.  Kelly had built up a relationship with the people that run that facility and got permission to have the horse treated.  Kelly ended up paying $360 for the horse and put pictures of this mare on her Facebook page for adoption.  In the  mean time, Brittany from Harwich, Mass. was researching for a paper she was doing for school on horse slaughtering and came across the picture.  The horse looked familiar.  Brittany had a very similar looking horse a number of years ago when she was younger.  She contacted Kelly and inquired whether the mare had a distinctive scare below her tail and sure enough the horse did.  Word spread through the Cape Cod community and they raised the $400 needed to cover the costs so Brittany and Scribbles could be reunited.  When they met, Scribbles immediately remembered Brittany.  What a small world we live in. 

Here’s something pretty scarey.  Since even before the Great Recession, technology has been kicking the middle income out of their jobs by the boat loads.  This isn’t like earlier technological advances that created efficiencies and middle class workers were able to move to better paying, more productive jobs with increased wealth.  The increased efficiencies are not creating new opportunities, just saving money for the companies employing these new applications.  Most of these job losses are in the service industries, which accounts for two-thirds of all workers.  When was the last time you contacted a travel agent for a trip?  With these “smart meters”, the number of meter readers plunged from 56,000 in 2001 to 36,000 in 2010.  In ten more years, it is predicted the number of meter readers will be 0.  Small businesses, historically the largest creators of new jobs, are increasingly using computers instead of an accountant to set their business up, instead of hiring an attorney to incorporate the new business, marketing, advertising, etc.  I’m guilty here as well, but I do farm a lot out.  This is a direct quote from the Tribune Review’s article I read on Sunday “Thanks to technology, companies in the Standard and Poor’s 500 stock index reported one-third more profit the past year than they earned the year before the Great Recession.  They’ve also expanded their businesses, but total employment , 21.1 million, has declined by a half-million”.  Nearly half of the 7.5 million jobs lost in the Great Recession were middle income jobs ($38,000 to $68,000), but only 2% of the 3.5 million jobs created since are of the middle income level.  The vast majority created were for low income positions.  There are opportunities out there, it’s just not as much as in the past and to find and qualify for them you need to be pretty laser focused.

My father passed away several years ago from Alzheimer’s disease and my mother choose to take care of him at home.  I was in Florida during his final years and clearly remember family phone calls about the difficulties with this.  If you happen to be going through this, you are not alone.  The Alzheimer’s Association has a ton of information on their web site and they offer 24/7 help at 1-800-272-3900.  And this phone life line is not just for technical advise, it’s also open as a shoulder to cry on.  Treating a loved one, either at home or in assisted care, can be extremely draining and it’s great to know support is available anytime.  You can get so mixed up with time that 2 a.m. may be the only time you can reach out.

I don’t know if you noticed, they did the first two arm transplant to a Vet that lost ALL four limbs to a roadside bomb in Afghanistan.  To me, this is the real tragedy of these two wars.  It’s terrible all the young lives we lost (and I’m not making a political statement for or against the wars), but all these injured Vets coming home with such physical challenges is so depressing.  And generally speaking, the VA doesn’t seem to be stepping up to the plate on this.  I do have to give them credit for each February, the VA sponsors the National Salute to Veteran Patients.  The Salute runs from February 10 until February 16.  You can do as little as addressing Valentine cards and sending them to injured Vets or volunteering at a local VA Hospital during that time.  Last year, more than 361,000 Valentines were received at Veteran Centers, 21,904 people visited 82,493 veteran patients and they recruited 364 new volunteers.  More info the VA volunteer web site.

The I Made It Market  is holding their next event this coming Saturday from Noon until 5 pm in the old Joseph Beth Booksellers at 27th and Carson Streets.  Up coming they will be at Bakery Square in Shadyside and the Tangiers Outlets in Washington County.  This is a group that supports and promotes individual crafts persons and artists.  Visit their web site and Bookmark their site so you have a resource throughout the year for gifts.

Speaking of local, anyone that’s visit The Parador Inn, probably has noticed my “vases” are amber colored soda bottles with the Jamaica’s Finest Ginger Beer labels.  Well, I buy a case of Natrona Height’s famous ginger beer (for you long time locals, this is the original recipe they bought from Tom Tucker Ginger Ale-but they didn’t buy the name so had to re-name it) and after drinking the sodas, I coat the exterior with polyurethane.  Natrona Bottling also makes Pennsylvania Punch, Red Ribbon Cherry Pop, Chamayno , Mint Julep, Root Beer, Almond and Vanilla Cream Sodas. You can go to their web site (which they are currently re-building) and order locally crafted pop.  The carbinator Natrona uses is from the turn of the 19th century, kind of hard to find parts for.    Also using a 100 year old carbinator is Pittsburgh Seltzer in Swissvale.  PGH Seltzer fills those vintage 19th century seltzer  bottles for you to use with your own choice of flavorings.  Pittsburgh Soda Pop is ideally suited to supply you with the flavorings you need for your own flavored soda pop or other flavored ventures.  The tremendously successful East End Brewery has a sister company Barmy Soda that’s producing local pop as well.  Making their own root beer are local restaurants The Church Brew Works and RiverTowne.

Want some money?  Go Green.    The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection has $7.25M set aside for solar heating systems and solar electric and heating systems.  Residents can qualify for up to $5k for solar heating and hot water and up to $7.5k for solar electric.  Businesses can qualify for up to $50k for solar heat and hot water systems and $52K for solar electric.  If interested, go to the DEP’s web site and use the key word Sunshine.

Well, I’m banned from working on stripping Oleander’s wood work.  I recently developed a very unsightly and uncomfortable rash, particularly around me neck.  I really could have gotten a job in some B rated scifi movie.  Little children ran screaming from me.  Well, I am exaggerating a tad.  But this just started this past weekend and I have that trip to Costa Rica scheduled for this coming weekend.  So I contacted Doctor Wilson at Forbes Regional and she was able to see me Monday.  After talking with her, we decided it was a reaction to lotion.  I was told not to use Gold Bond anymore and to find Vanicream.  It’s very old school and still made like lye soap with none of the modern additives in most lotions.  When I picked up the prescription Dr. Wilson gave me, I couldn’t find the Vanicream and so got Lubriderm which I also used in the past with no adverse affects.  Monday night, I applied some Lubriderm to my face and ankles and guess what?  I got rashes both places.  It was odd that I all of a sudden developed an allergy to Gold Bond, unbelievable that I also all of a sudden developed an allergy to Lubriderm as well.  So I called Dr. Wilson in a panic and she said there has to be something else.  I told her about stripping the wainscoting and trim in Oleander and apparently I’m having a reaction to the fumes in the room.  I’m wearing a long sleeved shirt and pants as well as heavy gloves.  I have used this stripper since moving back to Pittsburgh, but this is the largest project and hence the most exposed to the chemicals floating in the air.  Today I’m shedding skin from my neck like a snake.    When I come back, the kindly Dr. Wilson says I’m allowed to finish the project only if I do in limited quantities of time and if the room is properly ventilated. 

Well, it’s sixty degrees today and raining.  January, sixty degrees, is this called Indian winter? 

As I said, we’re leaving for Costa Rica this weekend.  Not sure how much Internet access I will have (or want), so you may not hear from me for a couple of weeks.

Take care and keep warm,

ed

Hi,

A lot of birth anniversaries tomorrow:  explorer Henry Morton Stanley (1841), abstract expressionist Jackson Pollock (1912), scientist Jean Felix Piccard (1884) and Cuban author/activist Jose Julian Marti (1853).  It is also the anniversary of Congress resolved that the Great Seal of the US  should be kept by the Congress and it affixed to every act, ordinance or paper as directed by congress (1782).

Here’s one for you, the Kaulong tribe in New Guinea practiced widow strangling until 1957!  True story.  It was the brother’s responsibility to strangle a widow after her husband passed away.  In the absence of a brother, the task was passed on to her son.  There is no explanation as to why this custom was established.

I’ve talked about the Dormont’s non-profit Hollywood Theater’s dilemma in the past.  In order to stay afloat, they need to upgrade their projection system to the new format at the tune of $75,000.  So far, they’ve raised $12,000.  Enter Gary Streiner who worked on Night of the Living Dead.  Streiner heads The Living Dead Festival, an annual celebration of that movie that brings groupies, cast and crew members together together.  He is organizing “The Hollywood Theater is Closing, Over My Dead Body”, apply named because he is bringing cast and crew members to the event on March 2 who will be signing posters and other memorabilia as well as just mingling with the crowd.  Get your tickets now at  ShowClix.  Be quick, they’ve already sold 100 tickets.  Last year, Streiner’s group raised $50,000 to rehab Evans City Cemetery chapel that was so prominent in the original Living Dead movie.

OK, we all know what a vegan is and what a wiccan is.  Do you know what a freegan is?  I don’t know how widespread this movement is, but it’s people that like to survive on free.  They pretty much are a group of dumpster divers.  They know where the dumpsters are that grocery stores throw away food that has gone beyond it’s “expired” date and other “prime” dumpsters.  The pros never spend money on objects, they survive and barter with each other on objects they find.  No don’t think homeless, these people own homes, live in apartments and some in vehicles.  And I’m not being critical here, I’ve done my share of dumpster diving in my life. 

Has the financial recession caused you to cut back on entertainment, maybe home remodeling projects you were planning on or caused you to delay other purchases?  Would someone please tell the Pentagon this?  The American defense budget is over $1T (yes that’s TRILLION).  Last week, before the Pentagon went before Congress to plead their case to INCREASE their budget, they LEAKED to the press information they planned to submit to Congress.  Obviously a political ploy, what is the Pentagon doing playing politics?  I thought they were supposed to fight enemies and keep us safe.  This week, they are warning that budget cuts will hurt the war effort.  Well, number one, if they haven’t won a war in over ten years, maybe they should go back and look at their play book.  Number two, why are they holier than thou when the entire country is cutting our budgets?  Don’t get me wrong, I want a strong defense.  I just think people need to use reason.

It appears Steve Bland’s about to get the axe.  County Executive Fitzgerald seems to have given Port Authority’s Board a list of reasons why Bland should go and they tabled it at their last meeting and will bring it up next week.  Although the Board is independent from the county, the County Executive does appoint the members and so has a lot of sway there.  Maybe we can get someone in there that can actually run the transit authority instead of just hiring outside companies at the tune of $230,000 to tell them to take the letters off the bus routes and just use numbers.  (I am exaggerating here a bit, but basically that’s what one of the studies concluded).

After a $25M renovation, one of my Alma Maters, the Omni William Penn picked up their fourth diamond from AAA.  Celebrating it’s 100th anniversary in 2016, the Wm Penn has had it’s storied past.  When I worked there, it was the cash cow for Servico, a West Palm Beach based hotel group that seemed to have the propensity to purchase poor performing locations.  So for years, needed maintenance and up grades kept getting pushed back until the back log became too great.  I left while Servico still owned it and I’m not sure, but I think Omni bought it next.  It certainly is a grand hotel.  I just love that art deco ballroom up on the 17th floor.

You Tube sensation Angela Trimbur has recently posted a new Dance Like Nobody’s Watching video at LAX airport.  They’ve had over 4 million views on this one.  She’s pretty funny (I say that in the kindest of ways). 

Included in the general admission price for the Carnegie Museum of Natural History (and Art & Architecture) is a pretty cool Empowering Women: Artisan Cooperatives that Transform Communities.  These women band together to create co-ops to provide a safe haven from violence, preserving fading heritages, nurturing the environment and of course earning income.  The groups go from maybe 100 and I’ve heard of them reaching 4,000 members.  You can always purchase their wares at 10,000 Villages.  That’s a group that has a year round presence here, but the have multiple locations right before the Christmas holidays.  The show runs through May here, then moves on to other cities.  The traveling exhibit is available starting in August, 2014 for $16,000 if you would like to display it.  Just go to the Empowering Women web site for more info. 

There’s a pretty cool visual artist that’s come back to Pittsburgh.  Mexico City native Miguel Chevalier‘s new video installation will be at the Wood Street Galleries through April 7, admission is free.  Miguel Chevalier: Power Pixels 2013 will be accompanied with original music composed by Jacop Baboni Schilingi for the exhibit.  This is all computer generated, random (?) images of all numerals that are combined with psychedelic images that are in constant change.  Not only being changed in the computer program, but also by observers entering the exhibit effect the images.  One of the things that’s intriguing about this exhibit is the way he’s gotten the technology to bend these light images around corners.  This kind of artwork used to be only clear when shown directly on a flat surface.

I have been working on Oleander’s wainscoting, but nothing to post any pictures about.  I decided to scrape everything scrapable, clean up the dust and then do the stripper/alcohol routine.  And I decide to include the door and window trims as well.  I have all the scraping finished and just did the first coat of stripper/alcohol on the wainscoting behind the sink and toilet.  I’m helping my brother move out in Murrysville today, so probably won’t get much done until tomorrow.  Enjoy this bright and crisp day,

ed

Happy Inauguration Day.  What a great country we live in.  George Washington was quoted that the important act wasn’t him being the first president, but a smooth transition to the next president.  It was a very antagonistic and polarizing election, but we still transitioned to a new four year term with Democrats and Republicans in attendance.  Not like Syria, Mali or so many other countries.

Margaret Brent demanded a political voice in 1648, our first feminist and one you may want to read up on, a very dynamic lady.  It is the birth anniversaries of patriot Ethan Allen (1738), ACLU founder Roger Nash Breckinridge (1821), gun maker John Moses Browning (1855), designer Christian Dior (1905), civil war legend Thomas Jonathan Stonewall Jackson (1824) and radio personality Wolfman Jack (1938).

Here’s an update on the wainscoting project in Oleander:

This wall is letting me scrape it first, that will make the obnoxious job of using the stripper much easier.  For some reason the wall behind where the sink and toilet sit won’t let me scrape it.  But the good news on that is the finish is much thinner and it takes a lot less stripper.  So the next step is clean up that little bit on the bottom and then scrape the trim around the window and both doors (bathroom/bedroom door and the bathroom closet door).  The next pic’s I post should be pretty impressive (I hope). 

3-D printing, also known as “additive manufacturing” it the process of taking an image of an object and making a three dimensional copy of it.  This is done by building a prototype of an image and printing or stacking thousands of precision layers of a material to form a solid model  of the object.  There are different mediums used in this process, like hair-thin gypsum powder, plastic and even molten metal.  The layers are held together with a binding agent, frequently epoxy.  3-D printing evolved out of laser printing technology.  One local 3-D printer manufacturers is ExOne Co LLC headquartered in North Huntingdon (with offices in Troy, MI; Huston, TX, Augsburg, Germany and Japan) is cruising to exceeding $15M, this their ninth year.  Another major 3-D player is Pittsburgh 3D LP of Blawnox.  They are the regional distributor for Z Corp 3D printers covering Western PA and NY with these printers made in Rock Hill, SC.  Although these are not five cent color copies from Kinko’s, they are a huge savings going from drawing board to more traditional forms of demos.  The technology has exploded the last three years and there’s tremendous growth in the technology in the machines, the mediums for making the 3D image and other parallel equipment.

For being in charge of JP Morgan Chase bank when they lost $6B in trading losses, CEO Jamie Dimon had is pay cut by $11.5M (from $23M).  OMG, will he be able to feed and clothe his children this year? 

We (Pittsburghers) all know about our convention center and how it’s considered the largest green building in the world.  For you non-Pittsburghers, it’s design incorporates massive natural light, so very little artificial light is ever needed, the sloping roofs etc mean it consumes very little air conditioning, it has it’s own grey water recycling/reuse system, etc.  (that’s why it holds a platinum LEED rating).  What I have always noticed, but didn’t notice (if that makes any sense) is there’s no “main entrance”.  Buildings of that size and importance always have a grand entrance.  The “grand entrance” was designed to be from the yet to be built convention center hotel.  This hotel, up to 500 guest rooms, was slated to go where that service parking lot is in front of the convention hall bounded by Tenth and Penn (the parcel doesn’t seem that big to me).    The hotel’s main lobby was to go from Penn Avenue all the way through the building to the back wall (across that alleyway from the convention center).  There you would come to grand elevators that would take you to either the third or fourth floors of the convention center.  The fourth floor would let you out on the roof top terrace.  The third floor would let you off at a glass enclosed walkway over the center’s cavernous main hall.  After traversing this walkway and getting a glimpse of the event you are about to attend, the walkway ends at a lobby facing the river with escalators down to the main floor.  Pretty dramatic entrance.  Now I know why I always felt like I was using a side entrance anytime I’ve attended anything at the convention center. 

The Box Hart Gallery at 4523 Liberty Avenue, Bloomfield has their “12th Annual Art Inter/National … here and abroad” exhibit through February 2.  They are highlighting 24 works of art by 20 artists using a variety of medias.  (They received more than 550 entries from local, national and international artists).  A couple of pieces if found intriguing were Sia Aryai: Iran Eternity 1, an artist originally from Iran that masked a photograph  with thin veils of milky – white pigment.  British artist Sarah Michalik‘s sculpture “Patterns of Immersion” is an interesting way of looking at our “connections” through Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other forms of social media.   Jardley Jean-Louis of Queens who’s piece Yellow depicts bathroom has a lot in this drawing that doesn’t meet the eye at first glance, like the lady in the bathtub and the gentleman wrapped up in the shower curtain at the foot of the tub.  Finally, possibly the most dramatic piece is Russian born sculptor Irina Koukhanov’s Iron Enclosure 2.  It is two bronze sculpture of two birds, one wearing a military helmet and the other wearing a gas mask.  The implications here are obvious.  More info at Box Heart’s website, the individual’s web sites or by calling 412-687-8858.

You may think you’re living in the city, but we keep getting sightings of black bears.  There was a young male in my mom’s Beechview area this past spring, there was the one out at Pittsburgh Mills that actually went into the Sears store there, there’s been sightings in Cranberry recently.  Now they seem to be hanging out around Robert Morris’ campus in Moon Township.  Even though they are famed for being shy and avoiding people, I think I’d be pretty scared coming across one.  Call me wimpy. 

Here’s a list of local events coming up in the area:

The traveling Celiac Awareness Tour is returning to Monroeville this coming Saturday from 9 am until 2 pm.  It’s a great source of learning to live without gluten and an opportunity to get great gluten free recipes.

The 53rd Annual Pittsburgh Boat Show starts Thursday at the Monroeville Convention Center and runs through January 27.  A nice way to pretend it’s no longer winter. 

The 52nd Annual Baierl Subaru Pittsburgh World of Wheels is also this weekend (January 25 – 27) at the David L Lawrence Convention Center, what a long name. 

Also at the convention center next week (January 29 – 31) will be the Fourth annual Marcellus-Utica Midstream Conference & Exhibit.

More info at their web sites.

Keep warm and happy,

ed

Hi,

Tomorrow is the birth anniversary of Al Capone (1899) and Benjamin Franklin (1706).  The patent for cable cars was issued in 1871, the first nuclear powered submarine, the Nautilus, was launched (1955), the cartoon Popeye debuted (1929),  the last Hawaiian queen, Liluokalani was deposed (1893) and the terrible nuclear accident where an American aircraft carrying nuclear bombs collided with it’s re-fueling aircraft spilling two bombs on the Palomares region of Spain (1966).

What a challenging two weeks I’ve had.  At least I’ve been dealing with this while business is fairly slow instead of the midst of a busy time in the summer.  I hate credit card processing companies.  Let me preface this with the very first credit card processing company I signed up for when I opened my first bed and breakfast in Florida.  The sales rep I met, signed a contract with and gave a $1,000 deposit opening my first credit card processing account was a retired Texas professional football player who’s name and face I recognized from watching football and the news.  When I didn’t receive a credit card machine and my phone calls to the processor weren’t returned I became angry and more aggressive on this.  Well the credit card processor told me that the ex-pro football player was an independent sales agent and they had no control over what he did.  Fast forward twelve years.  I have never had a credit card dispute since opening in Pittsburgh, my sales volume in Pittsburgh is very respectable and personally my credit score is in the 800′s.  In other words, I’m a prime candidate for the best rates around.  I have had Heartland processing my credit cards since opening here in Pittsburgh.  I’ve had very little problems with them and am generally happy with their service.  For the past year, I have been inundated with telemarketing calls claiming they could save me tons of money.  I was fairly slow in December and decided to pursue this and sent Blue Pay a copy of my current processor’s end of month report “for comparison”.  #1, never show your hand to insurance companies, credit card processors, contractors, etc.  Let them come up with an offer on their own.  So Blue Pay showed me how they were going to save me about $600 a year ($50 per month) and I agreed to go with them.  Credit card processors have to write a specific program for your terminal so everything meshes between you and their system and to ensure you are compliant with federal credit card security requirements.  Two weeks later, I get a phone call from Blue Pay around 5 pm saying the program was ready to download.  I went to my machine, got the process started with the tech and she said it would take about thirty minutes and when it was all loaded, a message would appear on the screen and I need to call in so the re-programing could be Initialized.  Thirty minutes later, the message was on the screen and I called the 800 number.  After ringing and some clicking sounds (the call was re-routed), the call went to voice mail and I left a message.  I waited fifteen minutes (they close at 6 pm EST)  I called them again and left a second voice mail.  At five minutes to six, I called the 800 number I was given to call, I called the programer I had on caller ID and I called my sales rep, all went to voice mail.  Everyone went home and I was unable to process credit cards.  Unbelievable.  So the next morning, the tech calls, couldn’t be nicer or more apologetic and we finish the programing.  This is Friday before Christmas (there will be no one in their offices for four days) so I was sure to get contact phone numbers in case I had problems over the long weekend.  So Friday night I had a problem with a guest’s credit card (the machine accepted the sale, but when I tried to recall the sale to close it out I couldn’t find the transaction in the machine).  I called the first number Blue Pay provided me and it rolled over to First Data, the company Blue Pay subcontracts to for machine technical support.  They couldn’t help me with the credit card itself.  So I called the second number I had and it went directly to First Data (the other number was forwarded to First Data).  The second rep I got, after I explained what I needed, first suggested I get the guest’s credit card and try again.   When I explained the guest had left (for the evening) and I just wanted him to find the info that I knew was in my machine and their system or retrieve the information so that I could re-process the charge.  He apologized and said he could only help me with terminal problems.  Over the weekend, I decided that even if Blue Pay was honest in their assessment of the fees I pay Heartland, for $50 a month to be able to reach a rep or tech 24/7 was worth it.  So Wednesday, I attempted to contact my sales rep from Blue Pay through voice mail and e-mail to cancel my account and never heard from him (he was on an extended holiday).  When I didn’t hear from Blue Pay on Wednesday, Thursday morning I called Heartland, my account was still active and they started the process of re-programing my terminal.  After repeated attempts to re-program my terminal (the final attempt was Friday morning-I had been up until 2 am Thursday night trying to get the terminal to accept Heartland’s program), Blue Pay had a piece of code in the processing machine that Heartland couldn’t overwrite.  I needed a new terminal, Heartland overnights them, but because this was now Friday and the holidays, I wouldn’t get it until Wednesday.  This is New Years Weekend AND the Steelers had their last home game of the season that Sunday.  I had to manually write down the credit card numbers over the weekend and then go to an on-line processing program Heartland has and for each transaction there was multiple forms I needed to fill out.  Now remember, I was sold out those four days with multiple rooms that needed cleaned, turned, guests needed checked in (my check-in process is at least 20 minutes, in addition to showing the Inn, their room, getting ID and credit card info, I can easily spend another twenty minutes giving “directions and recommendations”).  Also, each time we tried to re-program the terminal, it was a half hour download time and then at least a half hour trying to get the terminal to work.  Dee does most of the housekeeping work, but there’s things I need to help her with in addition to my Innkeeping and breakfast cook duties.  Busy time for me.

ALSO, that Friday before NYE, my CPA does what he does every year.  After reviewing my books, he has me call ADP (my payroll processor) and assign personal use of company vehicle, health care payments and a pay check for myself (I still don’t draw a pay from the company, this amount is for tax purposes for the company and myself-totally legal and above the board).  I entered Dee’s payroll Sunday night as always and called in Monday for the the items that need charged to me.  I was aware Monday was New Years Eve and made it abundantly clear the these adjustments to me HAD to be for pay period ending December 30, 2012.  It could not be in 2013′s payroll.  After a lengthy conversation with the clerk, I let her make the entries.  I wasn’t comfortable after hanging up, so I called back and asked for a supervisor.  The very nice lady I was talking to needed to know what I needed a supervisor for so she could direct the call.  I explained my concerns and she assured me it was not problem, she could handle it.  We went through the process and again I emphasized the charges HAD to hit in 2012.  When I got the reports and paychecks from ADP the next day, my check was dated 1/2/13!!!!!!!!!!  So I call ADP again and I think we finally have it straightened out.  BUT, ADP ran the first payroll from the first clerk I spoke with, then when I spoke with the second clerk, she needed to delete that first run and do a new one.  Then when I spoke with them for the third time, they had to delete the second run and do a third.  I have receive five sets of payroll (three initiating and two deleting), two sets of end of year reports and three letters notifying me that they were taking money out of or replacing money in my account.  I’ve had to figure out from my bank statements showing what was taken out of my account  in January by ADP on my own.  ADP was totally useless in this.  Not totally the clerk’s fault, you need to see ADP’s reports to understand how you can not have an intelligent conversation over the phone with an ADP representative if you don’t see how the number the pages.  There’s close to twenty pages for the report for each pay period.  Some are listed “This Page Has Been Deliberately Left Blank”.  Others are reminders you might need to order supplies, some are alerts that this was the End of Month Report, etc.  These pages are identified  by Period Covered, Check Date, Run Week, Qtr Page on the bottom of each page (the rest of the human race would use PAGE NUMBERS).  And Page does not mean page number.  Of these twenty odd pages, some have no Page description, there’s multiple Page 1′s throughout.  There’s no way you can talk to an ADP clerk and say “On Page 6, it says you deducted $75 for FICA, why’s that?”  Add to that, I assume that the ADP clerk is looking at a computer screen that doesn’t mimic the printed page I am looking at.  The same information is probably in their computer, but that probably is not image to image identical, how can you talk intelligently?  Dealing with ADP for the last six years, I have found their staff to be very professional, courteous and a genuine desire to make things right.  BUT ADP’s system is so cumbersome that it is not functional.  The system is a breeze to work with when things are smooth, but an unbelievable nightmare when a problem arises.  I don’t blame the first clerk or the nice lady for making a mistake.  I blame ADP for having a system that is so cumbersome that it can be useless when their clients need help.

Wow, thanks for listening.  I feel better, not so much that I vented (it did help), but last night I finally got my bank account balanced between Blue Pay, ADP and Heartland’s challenges.  I do still have an end of year report I need to finish for my CPA so he’s prepared to come and do my year end audit this week, that’s today’s project.  Hopefully I can get back to stripping the wainscoting in Oleander’s bathroom tomorrow.

After five years and about $500M dollars, the new Clairton Coke Works came on line this past November.  Much to the relief of the small city of Clairton and the Mon Valley in general.  This year, Allegheny County seems able to be in compliance with the current federally mandated soot limit for the first time ever.  (We have for years achieved past levels set by the EPA, but they kept increasing the stringency of the rules and so we were credited with complying past levels and promised to “do better”).  J  The Clairton Coke Works, I believe it is the largest in the United States, was a major component in this increase in air quality.  The reduction in the number of coal fire power plants or the increased efficiency of the air scrubbing equipment is the second biggest factor.

Speaking of coal, in eastern Mississippi, Mississippi Power Company ( a subsidiary of mega power group Southern Company) is working on a $2.6B coal to gas fired power plant that supposedly will emit much less carbon pollution than any other coal fired plant.  Although the plant is already a half a billion dollars over original budget, the technologies coming out of this plant should help other coal fired plants be more compliant to federal standards.  Southern Company (you may be more familiar with another of their subsidiaries Georgia Power) says the reason for this huge expense is diversification.  Five years ago, 70% of their power came from coal fired plants and 11% came from natural gas.  Today, 35% comes from coal and 47% comes from natural gas.  With the life of power plants ranging in the decades, planning on not having “all your eggs in one basket” does seem to be a wise option.  Southern is also adding two nuclear power plants to their mix (out of four currently under construction in the US).

Did you know most free apps aren’t free?  Take the wildly popular (not as popular as it was a year ago, but still huge), in the program, they track your location and sell that information to third parties.  This is not nefarious, like big brother checking up on you or that they are going to sent a “hit squad” to “take you out”.  I imagine it’s generally sold to say Chilli’s and if your location is near one of their stores, you get an ad sent to your smart phone.  Some of the “cookies” are more nefarious.  (A cookie is a program planted in your computer, smart phone, etc that keeps info stored.  It’s like when you go back to a site you’ve been to before and start filling out a form, and with the first few keystrokes the site prompts you with what your typing in-like your name or address).  Sometime they take your address book or even pictures you have stored on your computer/smart phone/etc.  Of the 2,254 app users interviewed by the Pew Research Center, 54% chose not to install an app for privacy reasons and 30% chose to uninstall apps for this reason.  There’s currently a push in certain circles for more transparency in what these apps are placing on you device.  (To be fair, they do tell you, but who ever reads all that fine print when you “Agree to Terms and Conditions”.  The push is pull the description of these cookies out of the Terms and Conditions and make them readily apparent when selecting to download the app.

Hi,

Tomorrow’s birth anniversaries include Benedict Arnold (1741) and Albert Schweitzer (1875).  It is Ratification Day (1784-the act that officially ended the American Revolution and established the United States) and it is Uzbekistan Army Day, a national holiday there.

Well, we won, somewhat.  Buncher has withdrawn their request for $50M Tax Increment Financing.  Buncher said “the public’s negative perception of the TIF was too great to overcome.”  At least they seem to be starting to listen to us.  I would like them to abide by the current code calling for a 95 foot set back from the Allegheny River and to gussy up their plans so it’s actually something we can all be proud of.  There is at least one study out there that architect John Conti quoted awhile back that could be helpful.  When you are planning a development as massive as this, in the grand scale of things, they could come up with some designs that really wouldn’t cost that much.  I’m fairly flexible on this, but my big thing, still, by far, is their plans to demolish a third of the Terminal Building.  (I would consider stopping my whining if they even just cut a minimum hole through the Terminal for just a road and sidewalk, leaving the bulk of that third in tack).

Speaking of TIF’s, the URA is starting to work on a $100M TIF to get the 178 acre site of the former LTV mill in Hazelwood off the ground.  The funding would be for some brownfield work, and installing some of the streets and utilities.  That’s a huge chunk of very valuable land that could really turn into something just below Oakland and five minutes to Downtown.  The development by Almono LP, so named after the ALlegheny, MOnongahela and Ohio Rivers seem more interested in outside input than Buncher and this project might turn into a jewel for the city.

For anyone that’s followed the St Nicholas church saga of the past ten years, they took the bells out Tuesday in preparation for the church’s demolition.  In case you haven’t been following, a group of ex-parishioners didn’t want PennDot to tear it down for the route 28 rebuilding project.  After years, PennDot threw in the towel and redesigned the path of Route 28 that included moving railroad tracks.  Then the Diocese didn’t want the building anymore, the parishioners couldn’t raise the money to create their museum and then wanted PennDot to buy the building and tear it down.  Then the Northside Leadership Conference joined the push to turn it into a national Croation heritage museum.  The Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh turned down the latest offer from the city to purchase the building.  It’s a shame, it’s a beautiful building, but I guess enough is enough.

Having lived in South Florida for ten years and really enjoying the Everglades, I always pay attention to what’s going on there.  In particular with preservation and restoration efforts.  What they’ve done over the years has been massive to correct all the mistake we made trying to tame the Everglades to our needs.  Well the temperature and ecology is ideal for Burmese pythons.  People buy the pythons as pets, they get too big and the fools have for years turned them loose in the Everglades.  (It’s the same mentality of putting your batteries in the garbage, I don’t see where the mercury goes, so I don’t care).  Well the pythons don’t have any natural predators in the Everglades and have been breeding prolifically.  There are no small animals left in large areas.  So they are having the 2013 Python Challenge with a $1,000 prize for the longest Python and a $1,500 prize for catching the most.  At first glance that may seem like a good solution, but I’m wondering how many native snakes are going to fall to this and more than that, this competition is open to basically anyone.  There is going to be a lot of non-seasoned hunters running around the Everglades with guns.  Seems to be a recipe for disaster to me.  400 people have registered for this event that begins this Saturday and runs through February 16 at the Miami Zoo.  More info on their web site.  As an update (I wrote this the other day), 800 people have signed up by the opening yesterday.

The live TV over the web company, AEREO, Inc is coming to Pittsburgh soon.  What they do is grab free TV broadcasts that are sent over the air and they have the technology to bring it in to individual tiny antennas and then stream it to their subscribers.  Each subscriber has one of these antennas assigned to them, that’s how AEREO is skirting the copyright issues.  A New York judge has given tentative and somewhat skeptical, ruling in their favor.  So for $8 you get 29 stations, it can come with a DVR service at a higher fee.  I have no love for the big cable or satellite companies, but this really is just not right.  But when you look at all the shenanigans the cable/satellite companies pull on us, maybe it’s just desserts. 

Pittsburgh came out on top of the list of cities with the most home owners that actually own their home.  38.6% of Pittsburghers have no mortgage, compared to a national average of 29.3%.  Two big factors are our aging population and affordable housing.  Tampa came in second at 33.2% and Philly came in third at 27.6%.

Ivy League college Harvard has a pretty amazing program targeting lower income, high achieving students.  Not only are they offering free tuition, they also offer free room and board.  Pretty incredible.  Harvard is the only one I heard about, I would assume other Ivy League schools have similar programs.

Gotta run and enjoy this 70 degree day (on my thermometer).  Going on my front porch with a glass of wine and a book,

ed