Traveling for the Holidays!
I haven't really updated here in awhile,... most of my online activities are really over on my Facebook page. But I thought I'd scribble a few things over here,... the journaling capabilities are a bit better here than at Facebook (that, and there's not as many "applications" ;-).
So, I've been getting settled here in Pittsburgh this December. Found an apartment quite close to campus, which means I can walk to work instead of either driving or taking a bus. It's still about a mile, but I need the exercise,... ;-) Plus, I get to walk right by some fantastic architecture (e.g. Cathedral of Learning), and there's a Starbucks along the way, too!
The neighborhood (Oakland & Shadyside), is actually pretty nice, and I've discovered that it is quite possible to live in a city environment and not live in the ghetto! As a matter of fact, there's probably a couple of $500,000+ homes across the street from my building. I live in an 11 story apartment building that was built in the 1930s (about the same time as the Cathedral of Learning was built). It's on a hill overlooking Shadyside to the east and the Pitt & Carnegie-Mellon campuses to the south. I'm only on the fourth floor, but you'd think I was on the 15th or something, because of the hill (I'm on the side facing "outwards" from the hill :-).
Anyway, I was almost pretty much resigned to staying here for the holidays, since I expected air travel to be just too high booking at the last minute. Plus, I left Arizona the Monday after Thanksgiving, so I got to spend that holiday with family there. So that was nice. So then, I'm cruising around some of the travel sites last night, and just for shits and giggles, search for an airfare from PIT to PHX for the holiday period (12/24 through 12/31). Southwest (my preferred airline, since they kick ass!), as like $375, so no dice there (sorry, guys). But then I had the notion to search Orbitz -- and the airfare for American Airlines was like $200, round-trip, with two tickets left!!!! Damn!!!! That's too good to pass up!!!! ;-)
So now I get to be with family for the holidays! :-)
So, I've been getting settled here in Pittsburgh this December. Found an apartment quite close to campus, which means I can walk to work instead of either driving or taking a bus. It's still about a mile, but I need the exercise,... ;-) Plus, I get to walk right by some fantastic architecture (e.g. Cathedral of Learning), and there's a Starbucks along the way, too!
The neighborhood (Oakland & Shadyside), is actually pretty nice, and I've discovered that it is quite possible to live in a city environment and not live in the ghetto! As a matter of fact, there's probably a couple of $500,000+ homes across the street from my building. I live in an 11 story apartment building that was built in the 1930s (about the same time as the Cathedral of Learning was built). It's on a hill overlooking Shadyside to the east and the Pitt & Carnegie-Mellon campuses to the south. I'm only on the fourth floor, but you'd think I was on the 15th or something, because of the hill (I'm on the side facing "outwards" from the hill :-).
Anyway, I was almost pretty much resigned to staying here for the holidays, since I expected air travel to be just too high booking at the last minute. Plus, I left Arizona the Monday after Thanksgiving, so I got to spend that holiday with family there. So that was nice. So then, I'm cruising around some of the travel sites last night, and just for shits and giggles, search for an airfare from PIT to PHX for the holiday period (12/24 through 12/31). Southwest (my preferred airline, since they kick ass!), as like $375, so no dice there (sorry, guys). But then I had the notion to search Orbitz -- and the airfare for American Airlines was like $200, round-trip, with two tickets left!!!! Damn!!!! That's too good to pass up!!!! ;-)
So now I get to be with family for the holidays! :-)