Pittsburgh notes
It's been more than a week since I got back from Pittsburgh, and I still haven't made that post I was planning about my trip. Maybe I should just post the notes that I took on things I wanted to talk about, and not bother writing the rest. That would be kind of mysteriously semi-informative:
free wireless internet - My layover was in Las Vegas, and I was so pleased to find out that, in addition to slot machines, the airport offers free wireless internet access. I'd been told that Pittsburgh had the same (free wireless, not slot machines), but while waiting for my flight home, I was unable to successfully connect to it. Free wireless in airports is a wonderful thing. The airports that make you pay for it, it's ridiculous, like 8 or 10 dollars. Those might give you access all day, but it's an airport! You're not going to be there for more than an hour or two. I would probably be willing to pay a dollar for each hour of use, though I'm much happier to see this service provided free, but I'm not going to shell out a lot more of that. The hotel where I stayed in Pittsburgh also provided free wireless, which was great, too. In a hotel, where I'm going to be able to take advantage of a lot more of the 24 hours of access I've paid for, I'm willing to pay, but if I knew a particular hotel chain offered free wireless in all locations, I'd pick it when I had a choice. (Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I was also willing to spend a dollar on a slot machine, which was far less entertaining than the internet.)
redeye != full night sleep - I like to take a redeye when I fly to the eastern part of the country because I hate losing an entire day in travel. I am able to sleep on a plane (hell, I'm able to sleep in a cardboard box backstage at a rock concert), so it always seems to make sense to combine transit time and sleeping time. It always seems that way, but what I forget every time is that even though it looks like the flight will last all night, there are those pesky time zones to consider. I left Las Vegas at midnight and arrived in Pittsburgh early in the morning, earlier than I ever get up, but still morning, so therefore I reasoned that I'd get a... no. The flying time was three and a half hours. I got a nice restful three hours of sleep by snoozing through most of my all-night flight. Right. Need to account for the time zones on the next go-round. (No, I've never actually slept in a cardboard box backstage at a rock concert. Sorry to disappoint.)
sports team apparel - Surely from this note you were able to guess that I was talking about how it's convenient that people wear sports team apparel, because that means that when you're approaching a line of people and wanting to confirm that it really is the new gate for your flight, you can note that a whole bunch of them are wearing hats and jackets bearing the names of teams from the city you're hoping to travel to. (This, my friends, is why it's useful to learn which teams go with which city. Even if you never do learn which teams go with which sport.)
brick houses - It fascinated me as a kid, and it still fascinates me now: Most of the houses in Pittsburgh are made of brick. In New England and in Northern California, the two places I've lived (that I remember), houses are almost always wood. (How many of you are now singing, "She's a brick...howwwse"?)
internet is for porn - This was almost a really funny story, but not quite. After my three hours of sleep, a hotel breakfast buffet, and a shower, I got into a minivan with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law to drive around Pittsburgh, see the houses my mom used to live in, marvel over how far she had to walk to school (uphill one way at least -- they sure have a lot of hills in Pittsburgh), and visit some scenic downtown locations. The rental car had satellite radio, and we put on the showtunes station because some of us like showtunes (and the others were willing to tolerate them). In the half an hour or so that we listened, they only played a couple of songs I actually recognized. Then as we were driving over one of Pittsburgh's many bridges, a song came on that I know well: "The Internet Is For Porn" from Avenue Q. I immediately started singing along, thinking about the delicious awkwardness of listening to this song while trapped in a car with one's parents (though really more for a generic set of parents, as mine would hardly be scandalized). My brother noticed but wasn't familiar with the show. My mom... was paying no attention whatsoever and turned off the radio because she was trying to figure out what street we needed to take. So much for a really funny story. ("Ready, normal people? The internet is for porn!")
pierogies, fries in salad, cookie table - These are all Pittsburgh delicacies I experienced on my visit. Pierogies are an eastern European dumpling popular in Pittsburgh, which has a large eastern European community. I enjoyed the one I tried, which was some traditional flavor, I'm not quite sure what. I ate it at a brewery that's inside an old church, where they also served odder flavors of pierogies, as well as serving a "Pittsburgh salad", which turns out to be a salad with fries on top of it. They really like fries in Pittsburgh. I knew about putting fries inside sandwiches there, and now I know about putting them on salads. I'm not sure how far this gets taken. The cookie table is a local wedding tradition. It's customary to have a table full of cookies at the reception, with boxes available so that guests can take some cookies home. I am all in favor of any tradition involving cookies. (At the Church Brew Works, by the way, the women's room is converted from the baptismal area, and the altar space holds the brew tanks.)
- free wireless internet
- redeye != full night sleep
- sports team apparel
- brick houses
- internet is for porn
- pierogies, fries in salad, cookie table
free wireless internet - My layover was in Las Vegas, and I was so pleased to find out that, in addition to slot machines, the airport offers free wireless internet access. I'd been told that Pittsburgh had the same (free wireless, not slot machines), but while waiting for my flight home, I was unable to successfully connect to it. Free wireless in airports is a wonderful thing. The airports that make you pay for it, it's ridiculous, like 8 or 10 dollars. Those might give you access all day, but it's an airport! You're not going to be there for more than an hour or two. I would probably be willing to pay a dollar for each hour of use, though I'm much happier to see this service provided free, but I'm not going to shell out a lot more of that. The hotel where I stayed in Pittsburgh also provided free wireless, which was great, too. In a hotel, where I'm going to be able to take advantage of a lot more of the 24 hours of access I've paid for, I'm willing to pay, but if I knew a particular hotel chain offered free wireless in all locations, I'd pick it when I had a choice. (Oh, and in case anyone was wondering, I was also willing to spend a dollar on a slot machine, which was far less entertaining than the internet.)
redeye != full night sleep - I like to take a redeye when I fly to the eastern part of the country because I hate losing an entire day in travel. I am able to sleep on a plane (hell, I'm able to sleep in a cardboard box backstage at a rock concert), so it always seems to make sense to combine transit time and sleeping time. It always seems that way, but what I forget every time is that even though it looks like the flight will last all night, there are those pesky time zones to consider. I left Las Vegas at midnight and arrived in Pittsburgh early in the morning, earlier than I ever get up, but still morning, so therefore I reasoned that I'd get a... no. The flying time was three and a half hours. I got a nice restful three hours of sleep by snoozing through most of my all-night flight. Right. Need to account for the time zones on the next go-round. (No, I've never actually slept in a cardboard box backstage at a rock concert. Sorry to disappoint.)
sports team apparel - Surely from this note you were able to guess that I was talking about how it's convenient that people wear sports team apparel, because that means that when you're approaching a line of people and wanting to confirm that it really is the new gate for your flight, you can note that a whole bunch of them are wearing hats and jackets bearing the names of teams from the city you're hoping to travel to. (This, my friends, is why it's useful to learn which teams go with which city. Even if you never do learn which teams go with which sport.)
brick houses - It fascinated me as a kid, and it still fascinates me now: Most of the houses in Pittsburgh are made of brick. In New England and in Northern California, the two places I've lived (that I remember), houses are almost always wood. (How many of you are now singing, "She's a brick...howwwse"?)
internet is for porn - This was almost a really funny story, but not quite. After my three hours of sleep, a hotel breakfast buffet, and a shower, I got into a minivan with my parents, brother, and sister-in-law to drive around Pittsburgh, see the houses my mom used to live in, marvel over how far she had to walk to school (uphill one way at least -- they sure have a lot of hills in Pittsburgh), and visit some scenic downtown locations. The rental car had satellite radio, and we put on the showtunes station because some of us like showtunes (and the others were willing to tolerate them). In the half an hour or so that we listened, they only played a couple of songs I actually recognized. Then as we were driving over one of Pittsburgh's many bridges, a song came on that I know well: "The Internet Is For Porn" from Avenue Q. I immediately started singing along, thinking about the delicious awkwardness of listening to this song while trapped in a car with one's parents (though really more for a generic set of parents, as mine would hardly be scandalized). My brother noticed but wasn't familiar with the show. My mom... was paying no attention whatsoever and turned off the radio because she was trying to figure out what street we needed to take. So much for a really funny story. ("Ready, normal people? The internet is for porn!")
pierogies, fries in salad, cookie table - These are all Pittsburgh delicacies I experienced on my visit. Pierogies are an eastern European dumpling popular in Pittsburgh, which has a large eastern European community. I enjoyed the one I tried, which was some traditional flavor, I'm not quite sure what. I ate it at a brewery that's inside an old church, where they also served odder flavors of pierogies, as well as serving a "Pittsburgh salad", which turns out to be a salad with fries on top of it. They really like fries in Pittsburgh. I knew about putting fries inside sandwiches there, and now I know about putting them on salads. I'm not sure how far this gets taken. The cookie table is a local wedding tradition. It's customary to have a table full of cookies at the reception, with boxes available so that guests can take some cookies home. I am all in favor of any tradition involving cookies. (At the Church Brew Works, by the way, the women's room is converted from the baptismal area, and the altar space holds the brew tanks.)