Blog Archives

Hi,

Today is the anniversary of the premier of Magnum PI, 1980.  Tomorrow is the anniversary of Joel Roberts Poinsett’s death in 1851.  He was the diplomat that brought back the central American plant that has become so popular for the holidays and had the plant named for him.

My sister and her friend can’t go to the Steeler’s game tomorrow.  Their tickets (around 737 row AA) are for sale.  If anyone wants them (face value $75), call her at 412.913.0949.  A guest checked in and also has two tickets around section 223.  Call me if you want these 412.231.4800.

They just don’t “get it”, do they?  We voted a bunch, not enough, state legislators out of office two years ago over their late at night, behind closed doors money grab for their raises.  We voted state judges out of office for the same.  I personally like President Obama a lot.  I think he’s a nice guy that has high morals and is trying to do “the right thing”.  I am questioning his ability to lead, at this point.  After the resounding thrashing the Democrats got in this past election and the GOP and Tea Party’s demand for financial reform, our federal representatives, of both parties, are still doing their pork line item add ons to every bill going through congress.  Our state representatives are still playing with their WAM (walking around money they take from us and give out to their special interests).  Out going Governor Rendell is sinking us deeper in debt with his out going special projects costing us $65 million.  OMG, what do we have to do to get through to them?  Take up arms.  (That statement will put me on NSA’s watch list).  🙂  Sorry for the tirade, maybe I should stop reading the paper everyday.

On a brighter note, Forbes magazine came out with their ratings of charitable organizations.  Again, one of my two favorites, Brother’s Brother, came out tied number one with the percentage of donations actually going to the charity and the least going to overhead (like the VA spending over a million dollars to “decorate” their new offices over here on the Northside).  My other favorite charity (and maybe slightly higher in my list because Greg is definitely one of the little guys making a big difference) Central Asia Institute sent out their yearly report, what an amazing organization and what an amazing individual Greg Mortenson is.  He’s the CAI as I am The Parador.  He’s written two amazing books, “Three Cups of Tea” and “Stones Into Schools” about his efforts to build schools to educate Pakistani and Afghan children, with an emphasis on girls.  CAI’s calendar’s hanging in my kitchen over the little table I use as a desk down here.

There’s a local young guy from Natrona Heights (up the Allegheny River) that’s stared his own business selling shoes he’s hand painted.  He’s twenty one years old and has been doing this since middle school.  Max Talbot, of the Penguins, is one of his customers and supporters.  His shoes run from around $300-$400 a pair, each are one of a kind.  You can see his work at his web site brushfootwear.com.

The Union Project at 801 N Negley Avenue in Highland Park (sort of near the zoo) is have their ninth annual “Unwrapped” community celebration and fund raiser this evening from 7 to 11.  It’s the old Union Baptist Church that was bought by a group of young Mennonites wanting to create a local arts and community center.  One of their first challenges was to repair/restore 150 stained glass windows.  They decided to take them out one at a time and use them to teach stained glass repair for a fee.  They’ve been working on this since.  The last I heard, they were desperately trying to get the last few  windows finished for tonight’s festivities.  If you have time, it’s beautiful space and worth the trip this evening.

Have a great one,

ed

Hi,

Today is the anniversary of the first formal cremation in America, 1972 (I’m not sure why I’m listing this one).  It is also the anniversary of the founding of the Petrified Forest National Park in 1962.

The National Aviary was just accredited by the Washington based Association of Zoos and Aquariums for another five years, they have been accredited for the past twenty-five years.  Only 221 of the 2,500 organizations hold government permits to display wild animals hold this esteemed accreditation.  The AZA checks things like veterinary services, animal care, educational programs and conservation services.  They also check their books to ensure the organization has the funds to care for their animals.  Good Job National Aviary.  But, they seem to have a new web site that takes awhile to load, I hate web sites that are so cute and flashy and waste your time trying to view it.  ):

Don Blankenship is retiring from Massey Energy, the company guilty of having more violations of the Mine Safety Act than any other mining company (I’m not sure of the title of the group that inspects mines).  They have repeatedly at all (or maybe it has been just most) stonewalled and delayed every attempt by the inspectors to insure there’s a safe environment for the employees to go under ground and remove the coal. Not to mention 29 coal miners that lost their lives to this greedy money tops everything company.  They are also notorious for their disregard for the environment.  He’s at least being “encouraged” to retire by Massey’s board.  What does he get?  Two years of health care & $5,000 a month consulting job, $2 million on December 31 and another $10 million on July 1.  This doesn’t include undetermined performance awards.  OMG, to put it crassly, maybe I’ll murder 29 people and a multimillion dollar reward.

The Penn Hills volunteer fire department is having a train display in their hall.  There’s several trains traveling around a recreation of Mr Roger’s Neighborhood, other towns, farms, etc common to train displays, but what’s pretty unique here is this FIRE DEPARTMENT has a burning house with miniature fire fighters battling it.  🙂  The Station is at the corner of Center Avenue and Sixth Street.  Their is no “official” fee, they are asking for a donation to help support them acquire equipment.  It’s open Saturdays and Sundays 1 p.m. until 4 p.m. and then 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and weekdays from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. and runs through January 4.  Lets support our fire fighters and see a burning house in a fire house.

There’s a local couple making artistic Mexican sauces.  Luis & Joanne Guerrero of Point Breeze are hand crafting sauces inspired by Luis’s hometown of Leon  in the Mexican state of Guanajuato.  They have demonstrations at Whole Foods and other local markets.  Information on their company Guapo Sauce and products can be seen by clicking this link.

The Pittsburgh Public Market has recently opened in the Terminal Building and I finally made it on Sunday to see it.  I highly recommend it.  It’s only open Friday, Saturday and Sunday, hopefully if the crowd I saw on a Sunday is any indication of business levels, they will open more days.  It’s all small local purveyors, a great find is Gosia’s Pierogies has a storefront there.  They’re the Latrobe company that’s owned and operated by deaf people.  Jay, from Catered Elegance , uses their pierogies in his panko breaded and fried pierogie appetizers, one of the few fried foods I indulge in.  Also, the East End Brewery, a very cool local micro brewery has a presence there.

Finally, Myra seems to be making great progress with writing the web site for her new Inn.  She seemed to be having a rough time getting started (which is common), but she’s really going gang busters now.  Hopefully we’ll be able to have a first final draft sometime around the holidays.  We will both be going to the North East Bed and Breakfast Convention in the spring, the convention’s close to The Stone Manse, so I’ll have an opportunity to see her progress.

Bye,

ed

Hi,

I’m sure everyone is aware today is the anniversary of the attack on Pearl Harbor, it is also the anniversary of Apollo 17 being launched in 1972 and the space craft Galileo finally beginning it’s orbit around Jupiter after being launched from Atlantis six years earlier.  It is also the anniversary of the birth of Madame Marie Tussaud’s in 1761 (of the Madame Tussaud’s waxwork museum fame).

American Textile, based right here in Duquesne, is one of the country’s largest suppliers of pillows, mattress covers and pillow covers is opening another manufacturing and distributing plant in Tifton, GA.  This will be their fourth site.  They don’t sell direct to the public, but make a number of brands and are carried in Bed Bath & Beyond, Altmires, Amazon.com and other outlets.  Way to go PGH manufacturing.

What a wonderful day I had yesterday.  It was one of those days that everything went right.  I really didn’t start the day with a major agenda, but there’s been a bunch  of little tasks that have been nagging me.  Yesterday, I just started knocking them out one at a time.  I got tons done.  🙂

Today was a turning point for Bougainvillea.  If you go to my web site, www.j1c.852.myftpupload.com and click on the Icon that says Accommodations, the seventh room down you’ll see Bougainvillea as it used to be.  It is now a queen.  Three weeks ago it was the last room available and I got two calls for lodging and when they heard it had a full sized bed, they said they’d call me back.  Which they never did.  Two weekends ago again Bougainvillea was the last room available and I got one phone call for lodging and when I told them Bougainvillea had a full sized be, they said they’d call me back.  When someone says that they’ll call you back, that always means thanx but no thanx.  So now it has a queen bed.  That’s a shame, because I like the frame for that full sized bed.  I also rearranged the look of the bedroom a bit.  I have to admit, the queen bed actually fits in the room better than the full did.  The new look will be debuted on my web site in a week or two.

When I opened my first Bed and Breakfast in Florida, I worked at Cuccina’s restaurant on Palm Beach Island.  They had this wall art they commissioned from Palm Beach Floral.  They were roughly four feet tall and six feet long and were bamboo lashed together making roughly one foot square open spaces between them.  Then they attached wicker baskets with silk flower arrangements attached to the bamboo and other items of interest.  Palm Beach Floral charged something like $4,000 EACH.  So I had to make one myself (for a lot less).  🙂   It’s been in storage since I moved up here and since there’s no head board over Bougainvillea’s new queen bed, I’ve pulled my bamboo art out, cleaned it and am updating it.  I think it’s gonna look pretty cool, maybe $2,000 worth.  🙂

Speaking of new mattress & box springs, I got them at The Original Mattress Factory.  They are a locally made and owned.  And actually, their prices were quite competitive.  Maybe the best part is they make mattress that are the same on the top and bottom, so they can be flipped over yearly.  This greatly extends the life of a mattress.  Most mattress manufacturers stopped making flippable mattresses, so this is a great find.

Good night,

ed

Hi,

Actually, I’m doing this on Friday, but I want to use Saturday because it’s the 53rd anniversary of of Chase’s Calendar of Events book (this source for my factoids I start each blog with) and the anniversary of the birth of Helen Chase, one of the co-founders was born December 4, 1924.

I may have to change the format of my blog a bit.  It looks like I’m going Face book and Twitter.  I have a Face book page and The Parador does.  I’ve never done much with my Face book page, because the free time I can spare, I prefer to spend it updating my blog.  I found out I can open a Twitter account and automatically send a tweat with the first 140 characters of my block and a link you can click on to see the rest on my blog.  Twitter will then update my Face book page.  So that’s pretty cool.  My next desk project.

Some pretty exciting news, for me at least.  I was approved yesterday for the $ to renovate the Loft (my new space) and my current space, which will become the Hibiscus guest room.  While I’m at it, I’ll also be adding fireplace in Ruellia.  Can’t wait to get these projects started.

Mary & Alan are visiting for a few days, they own The Carlisle House in none other than Carlisle, PA.  A very nice couple and they have a very nice Inn.  Their attention to detail is apparent as soon as you first look at their web site.  We had quite the discussion this morning.  Alan does all their web work and he’s the one that told me about Twitter & Face book links for my blog.  We also had some nice discussions on operating in Inn.

I finished paste waxing the floors on the first floor, they really did turn out the best.  Derronda did a fabulous job decorating both formal and Caribbean trees and I finished the other decorations.  The Inn looks very festive.  That was quite the project, next I need to get my tail in gear and finish up my project for the Western PA Bed and Breakfast Association.  I have completed the list of potential B & B’s to invite and next want to update the invitation letter.

Well, that’s all for tonight, actually, tomorrow.  🙂

ed

Hi,

Today Casablanca premiered in 1942, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland was published in 1865 and the Price is Right premier in 1956.

Myra & Phil closed on The Stone Manse this week.  They are in the process of moving in as we speak, how depressing, I HATE moving.  I don’t think I’d move even if someone was willing to pack my stuff up and move it.  Obviously I’m kidding about the depressing thing, how exciting.  Good luck Myra, Phil & Alex.  🙂

The Trib is having their yearly Operation Santa Claus, their goal is to provide a nutritious holiday meal to 6,500 households, quite the goal.  They’re packaging non perishable food items for the meal, plus a $10 gift certificate for the meat portion of the meal.  They are taking donations at Operation Santa Claus c/o Trib Total Media, 622 Cabin Hill Drive, Greensburg, PA 15601 if you would like to help out.

Hartwood Acres has decked the mansion out for the holidays and are giving tours from ten a.m. until three p.m. Monday through Saturday and noon until four on Sundays.  The price is $6 for adults, $4 for seniors and teenagers and $2 for children.  In the evening, also through January 9, they are having the annual Festival of Lights there also.  It’s just over three miles of lighting displays.  A word of warning, weekends and as we get closer to the holidays it gets quite packed.  The money collected at the Festival of Lights goes to the Salvation Army’s Project Bundle Up, a fund raiser to help the less fortunate keep warm through the winter.

My “pre-lit” holiday tree is no longer pre-lit.  I’ve spent almost 6 hours and I’m still not finished removing the old lights.  I WILL finish tomorrow and hopefully will get the new lights on. I also want to get all the garland up, if not Saturday, definitely Sunday.

Moved all the the largest pieces of furniture out of the Parlor & Library, washed the floor and did my yearly paste waxing.  I must say, this is the best job I’ve done with the past wax.  The key is putting the correct amount of wax down, obviously, and I’m getting better at judging than and working the wax in.  I’m quite happy with it.  Next week, I plan on paste waxing the dining rooms.

Hi,

So many remembrances on this date.  This is the anniversary of the founding of the Humane Society of the United States (November 22, 1954).  The anniversary of the assassination of John F Kennedy (November 22, 1963).  The original publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species (November 22, 1859).  Many others, but my last for today is the anniversary of the first China Clipper flight (November 22, 1935-the first transpacific mail service.)

What a wonderful day yesterday.  The weather was spectacular.  I pulled all my compost out and it’s MUCH better than last year’s harvest (my first).  Perfectly decomposed and it spread over my gardens like a charm.  I also got the last of my leaves raked up and chopped up with the lawn mower.  I got the other leaves I’ve already chopped and spread all of them over the gardens.  I gave the grass a final clipping before the winter, got the leaves out of the gutters and even got to watch the second half of the Steelers game.

I’m reading a really cute book, A Dog’s Purpose, A Novel for Humans by W Bruce Cameron.  It is written first person dog (ie it’s totally written as if the dog is writing it).  If you love dogs, you really need to read this book (particularly if you’re thinking of getting a puppy).

After feeding 14 guests b’fast this morning and doing my errands, I started bringing the holiday decorations down from Lady Palm and took the exterior garland apart and ran new LED lights and re-worked the ribbons and hung on the porches.  With the weather still holding out, I want to get the outside done.  (I’ve been out there hanging the garland in the wind, the rain and freezing temperatures).  I should be able to finish the outside tomorrow and then start on the Parlor/Libray.  I’ll get D to help me with the awkward stuff (the piano, Mellon bench and Library buffet stay in place) and get the floor washed and paste waxed for the holidays.  This weekend we should be able to get that finished and then next week do the same in the dining rooms.

I belong to Western PA Bed and Breakfast Association and am on the membership committee, so I took it upon myself to find as many Bed and Breakfasts in Western PA I could.  Besides our members, I found over 140 Inns!  I want to do some work on the “Welcome” package and send that and my list of potential members out to our current members to see if I can recruit some of them into helping me solicit new members.  I have done hard stuff done, locating the Inns.  My list has their names, address & phone numbers.  If I get ten volunteers, we would have less than 14 people for each of us to contact.  Not too big a job.

Well, I’m going so sign off for now,

ed

Hi,

Today is Mexican Revolution Day.  In 1910, the social revolution was launched by Francisco Madero.  It is also the anniversary of Edwin Hubble (1889) who discovered that the universe is expanding.  That’s why they named the telescope in outer space after him.

I’m in the Tribune Review today.  Feature writer JoAnne Harrop did an article on guest rooms, what non hoteliers need to know about setting a room up for visiting friends over the holidays.  She interviewed three bed and breakfast owners and made a nice compilation of our ideas.

It’s supposed to be a nice day today through Monday.  Sunny and warm today and tomorrow and warm and cloudy Monday.  I’m planning on pulling my compost out and spread it around the gardens and then cover that with my chopped up leaves for the winter.  It is fairly warm out there right now, but no sun.  It’s so much nicer working outside when it’s sunny.  OK, I’ll quit whining and be happy with what I have.  Tomorrow’s the Steelers play a home game, so I’ll be busy with that (I’m sold out last night and for the next two).   I’m planning on hanging my outside holiday decorations out on Monday (but I won’t turn the lights on until after Thanksgiving).

Up date on The Stone Manse Inn, they ran into a major snag on Tuesday (the day they were to close on their current house as well as the Inn).  The buyers of their current house couldn’t complete financing.  I don’t know if they are totally out of the picture at this point or not, but Myra & Phil arranged to have closing on The Manse next Tuesday.  Myra’s been reading and editing my manuscript and there’s a section called “So Do You Really Need Money”.  In it I talk about alternatives to your traditional forms of dealing with money issues.  Like if you don’t have enough cash and loans to complete a real estate transaction, maybe tap your sister and do it formally just like a loan and payments.  The nice thing here is you don’t need to leverage collateral like you do with a bank.  This leaves more collateral to get better terms from the bank.  I also talk about new Inns being room rich (empty rooms) and cash poor (empty rooms). So instead of buying ads to get your Inn known, why not work a barter deal with a local newspaper that brings people into town for various reasons.  Also, if you are only selling a couple of rooms on your good days, do you really need four bath towels in each bathroom and back up in the linen closet? Why not direct the cash you would have spent on all those towels towards something to get yourself known?  They took some ideas from my book and with relentless determination got a deal shoved through with the bank.  That’s what separates the men from the boys in owning a business.  When “opportunities” arise, you have to rise not to them, but above them.  And believe me, there will be plenty of “opportunities” owning your own business.  🙂

I am definitely loving not having a cast.  I’m typing this with ten fingers (well, eight and two thumbs), not four fingers, a thumb and one finger on my left hand.  The stiffness in my left wrist and small finger knuckles is almost gone.  I’ve actually been tackling some minor projects that require two hands that I’ve been putting off for the past six weeks.

Finally added an amenity to the guest rooms I’ve been planning on for sometime.  The all have emergency flashlights next to their alarm clock radios.  Naturally, I got maglite flashlights.  I don’t know if you know the story of maglite, but it was founded by Anthony Magica, born in NYC, but moved with his mother as a young child to her Croatia.  After World War II, they came back and he started his company in LA in 1955.  He started his business doing precision work for the aerospace industry.  He went on to design his flashlight line in the 1970’s.  They have gotten numerous awards and recognition for the quality of their design and craftsmanship.  He’s adamantly American and when other manufacturers are building factories in foreign countries (with inferior products), he’s maintained his facilities here.  I think I heard on NPR that he hasn’t raised the price on his flashlights since their introduction.

Well, it’s about check-in time.  I’m going to go down stairs and get started on prep for b’fast waiting on my four check-ins.  I just saw a Just Ducky tour amphibian go down the street.  I thought they were closed for the winter.  They’re my preferred way to tour the city.  They also are a great company.

Bye,

ed

Hi,

Sunday, I neglected to follow through with my new “procedure”, so I’ll do a post for Sunday and one for Wednesday.  For Sunday I have two, the first is it was the anniversary of the Apollo 12 launch.  The second was National American Teddy Bear Day.  Legend has it that in 1902, Theodore Roosevelt spared at bear cub on this day while on a big game hunt in Mississippi.  Political cartoonist, Clifford Berryman recorded this event.  Ever since, Pres Roosevelt was generally depicted along side a teddy bear and this started the American fascination with teddy bears.  Today is the anniversary of the opening of the Suez Canal, it opened on this day in 1869.   It took 1 1/2 million men to dig the 100 mile canal and shaved 6,000 miles off the trip from Europe to India.

Yesterday, they took the cast off !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  OMG, I am in heaven.  Doctor Schmidt was very happy with the healing.  The break itself has no discomfort, and basically didn’t other than when da boiz broke the bone.  But my wrist and the knuckles on my little finger are a bit sore.  Kind of like arthritis and I have trouble extending and contracting the small finger from it being immobilized in the cast.  It’s just going to take a little bit to get it back in working function.  I know Joy, I took a shower last night without a plastic bag and was able to wash my left hand and arm (no visuals folks, don’t embarrass me).  🙂

So after having the cast removed, I headed out to Harrisburg.  It poured rain almost the entire drive out and about half the way back.  What a miserable drive.  It was coming down so hard, that water was splashing from the semi’s on both sides of the road and when I was passing a big truck, I had to focus on the solid yellow line on the left to keep in position in my lane (I know, some of you are thinking that I shouldn’t have been passing in that weather).  And then, in the construction zone just east of the Irwin interchange I hydroplaned twice.  Luckily, the deepest water was the first and I saw the car in front of me going through it and was able to slow down enough that I didn’t have any problems.   The second about 100 yards farther I was prepared for.

Why did I drive to Harrisburg you may ask.  Well, good friends of mine, Myra, Phil and Alex are buying a bed and breakfast today and I drove out for a preview.  What a fabulous Inn that is going to make.  It’s two buildings, the summer house in the back is the longest occupied structure in York County.  I believe it was build in 1730’s.  What cool space.  They are setting that up as a suite, living room with this HUGE ANCIENT fireplace on the first floor and the bedroom and bath on the second.  Beamed ceiling, rough cut odd sized flooring.  The main house also has a HUGE ANCIENT fireplace.  This one still has the iron kettle holder that swings over the fire.  It also has these cool shutters (?) that close it off so you don’t see the dirty ashes.  The main house will have their living space, and five guest rooms.  Typical of 17th century construction, all kinds of very cool quirks.  The Inn has very easy access from the turnpike and is close to lots of attractions.  It sits on top of a hill over a pretty large creek that we need to figure out how to capitalize on (sound and view).  This will be a regular feature here, the opening of The Stone Manse Inn.  I’m very excited for them.

Speaking of them opening an Inn, I realized something else I miss about the corporate world.  (If you remember, I whined about missing the expertise and camaraderie hospitality workers share.)  I also always enjoyed training staff.  I would always have some bus I was training to be waite staff, a supervisor I was training to be a manager, etc.  Helping Myra, Phil & Alex set up their first B & B is filling this void and I’m enjoying offering advise.  Now this is a lot different than training an employee, this is two piers and I need to be careful not to over step, but I’m sure if I do, they won’t hesitate to “put me in my place”.  🙂

Talk soon,

ed

Hi,

Three major films shot here are opening in theaters over the next month.  “Unstoppable”, staring Denzell Washington opens next week.  “The Next Three Days” staring Russell Crowe opens next and “Love and Other Drugs” staring Jake Gyllenhaal and Annie Hathaway opens after Three Days.  This is in addition to the movie with Taylor Lautner (from Twilight fame-the werewolf) that was recently shot here.  The story is taken from a famous contemporary author (I don’t recall his name) that wrote a series of thrillers about the orphaned son of CIA operatives that is being chased by his parents’ nemesis.

Two more days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  If the orthopedic surgeon doesn’t have my cast removed Tuesday, I swear I’ll take a saw and cut it off myself.  After that, I’m driving to Harrisburg to see Myra & Phil’s new Inn The Stone Manse Inn, opening in February, 2011.

I did the new presentation of my mushroom strata today.  Instead of making it as a casserole, I used my mini loaf pans and definitely like the presentation better.

One of da boiz favorite things is going for a ride in the truck when I do my errands.  When they realize what’s up next, they both jump up and down, run in circles,  etc.  I have been having problems with junior biting Razor continuously.   I holler at him and he stops and then starts biting Razor again.  This is a continuous thing of me constantly hollering at RJ as we walk to the truck.   So yesterday I got mad and put RJ in the Courtyard, locked the gate and took just Razor on the errands (we did this several months ago and RJ stopped this bad behavior for a good while and started doing it again recently).  Guess who was a good boy today when we went to do my errands?  I didn’t even have to holler at him once.

My friends at the Inn on the Mexican War Streets have had their holiday decorations up for a week already.  I haven’t had a chance to call Jeff and ask him what’s up with this?  I swear, before long we may as well just leave them up year round.  We’ve been doing our holiday cleaning.  Derronda has most of the first floor in good shape, I’m hoping to get the floors paste waxed next week and the decorations up the following week.

What happened to our morals?  I’m not talking about big corporations and politicians that I’m so fond of bashing.  I’m talking everyday people.  Skip & Christina (and Hunter) are relocating up here from Florida.  They found a house they love in a neighborhood they think they like.  They signed a six month lease with a right to purchase.  The man that owns the house and signed the contract had someone come by and offer to buy the house outright.  So he changed his mind.  The reason I’m bringing this up now is an even worse scenario was in today’s paper.  I’m so mad, that I’m going do do something I never do and use first and last names.  Cheryl & Mike Ickes are raising their 14 year old granddaughter who has a rare blood disease in Indiana County.  Tracey & Bill Kurnocks offered to GIVE them a house after hearing about these great people.  The Ickes spent money they didn’t have, had volunteers help them fix up the house and started moving stuff in.  Through much hoopla and press pictures, the Kurnocks handed the keys to the house right before Thanksgiving in 2008.  Then the Kurnocks CHANGED their mind and presented the Ickes with documents requiring a five year no sell clause (I’m OK with that) and a $72k mortgage.  The Kurnocks even had the Ickes arrested for picking up their possessions the Kurnocks put out for trash.  How despicable can people be?

To end this blog on a positive note, Jackie & Rob were here this past week for a few days from Virginia.  The reason they came to Pittsburgh is there’s a lady in Blawnox that has a retro jewelery store and Jackie & Rob just got engaged. Marlene Harris collects retro jewelery from all over, she also acquires various vintage molds and forms and creates new jewelery based on classic styles.

Well, that’s it for today, Go Steelers,

ed