My blog n'at

July
Began the month with recording at the BeerDependence Day celebration at Bocktown. Attended the Penguins Stanley Cup DVD Release Party. Started a contracting job at EDMC that would become the longest month of my life and that’s all I’m going to say. Enjoyed my first ever bowl of Pho. Rocked the Beer on the Bay festival in Erie which the videos are epic and may never be released. End the month being interviewed by KDKA for the Craft Beer Summit.

August
Won a 2009 Mustang! Bees invade our bathroom (landlord still has yet to remove the dead bodies). I got a full-time job in social media/web dev that has turned out to be freaking cool plus I’m on a rockstar team. Threatened Lushie with divorce after she gets rid of the Back to the Future marathon channels.

September
Attended “Best of the Burgh” at the Warhol with sickpuppy, PittGirl, Woy and Rachel. Go big time and hosted Beer School at the Cabaret downtown to a sold out crowd. Teaspoon hits 17lbs.

October
Hosted 2 sessions at Podcamp Pittsburgh 4. Should I Drink That passed 500,000 download mark. Pens start defending the Stanley Cup. Revised Google Maps errors. Celebrate 4 years of marriage with Lushie. Lay the smackdown on poor fact checking by the Post gazette about Erie. Teaspoon goes pumpkin farming.

November
I blogged the whole month. Seriously. Bought a X-box. Teaspoon’s first Thanksgiving. Wonders of fatherhood and a kid who grows like a weed. Craft Beer Dinner with Lew Bryson, Education on the Pittsburgh Potty. Making your own Bacon. BEER AT GIANT EAGLE! Yinz Bowl 2.o

December
Still living it for 5 more hours. Remembering dad on his anniversary. Hosted a Christmas beer sampling at Bocktown. Saw KISS in concert. Teaspoon’s first Christmas. Finished the school year with a 3.65GPA. SNOW!

So what do I have to look forward to in 2010?  Come back tomorrow and find out!

I have to admit that this has been the most life changing year of my life. Some good, some bad and some mind blowing kickass. Here’s a quick recap as I reflect before tonight’s festivities start. I’m splitting this up into 2 sections because lets be honest, no one will scroll through 12 months.

January
Reflected on the first beer I EVER drank and yes, I kept the bottle. Prepare for the end of my 10+ year employment at ForeSystems/Marconi/Ericsson. Bitched about the weather and yinzers inability to drive in snow plus dumb ass snow removal by my neighbors. Both of those still hold true today. Got ready for an unbelievable run to the Super Bowl

February
Steelers won the Super Bowl and became the first ever 6 time champ thus giving every knock off t-shirt maker starry eyes at the potential of “6 pack” shirts. Punxy Phil said 6 more weeks of winter. I was officially laid off, was interviewed for a Post Gazette story on unemployment moments after i was laid off (that never was published), Pens started to turn it around and the biggest shock of them all… Teaspoon arrived 2 months early making me the happiest and most terrified dad. Came in at 4.1lb, dropped to 3.2lb and would leave at 5 in March.

March
It was the month of Teaspoon. Lushie and I spent every minute we could at the Mercy NICU while he got healthy in an incubator. 28 days later he came home. Also witnessed the stupidity of some Hill District parents who think its a hotel in there and the joke that is unemployment system in PA.

April
Went to my first ever Rugby match and got addicted to watching Claire and the girls kick ass. Missed my first opening day of Pirates baseball since 1984 (watched it on TV with Teaspoon and started a new tradition with my boy). Bought a Wii. Enjoyed the greatest comeback in Pens Playoff hockey that I have witnessed as the Pens turned the series around with 1 fight and the Max Talbot shhhhhhh! Saw Beer Wars the Movie with hundreds of other craft beer fans around the world and baked an incredible beer ham for Easter.

May
Should I Drink That turned 3. Pens defeated Washington and Carolina to earn a second trip to the Stanley Cup Finals for a 2nd year. Bought a Blackberry. Joined Sadie’s Soldiers and took some Great Strides. KDKA reads my “tweet of the day” which I WISH they would bring back. The great personalized jersey debate. Meatshield welcomed his first child (i swear it was the year for kids to be born) and we had a cookout with some family. Bowling league ended and we were the undisputed champs.

June
Teaspoon’s first trip to the ER. Coming out of golf retirement after 3.5 year for a day with Yinz Teamer’s Woy, Lokay and Shireman at Cranberry Highlands. The Clarks release Restless Days after 5 years. Pens win the Stanley Cup in 7 games vs Detroit. Pittsburgh floods… again. Unemployed Utensil makes his first appearance as a way to help me get through not working. My first Father’s day and Pirates waste of talent Ian Snell cant take negative people.

up next… July through December.

There were rumors for days that a huge storm was coming our way but I honestly don’t think anyone took it serious. Then there is myself (and Uncle Crappy I found out from this post) who loves severe weather. Part of this stems for me from growing up in Erie, PA where you will experience 4 seasons in one day. I know people exaggerate in Pittsburgh about the phenom but it is true up on the lake. I saw it. When you think about it what else do we have to do besides obsess about weather and gas prices?

On Wednesday Pittsburgh was slammed by a couple of storms which brought on flooding, high winds, hail and mass hysteria. The areas of Westmoreland County, Turtle Creek, Forest Hills, East Pittsburgh and parts of Monroeville were hit the hardest. Friends of mine in the areas all reported minimal damage with one having 4 inches of rain in his sun room. As a weather geek this was the super bowl for our area. I watched KDKA’s coverage for 4 hours. You’re reading that correctly, I watched a Doppler for 4 hours… in HD! Oh yeah buddy!

Floods and I have a history together. When I lived in Bellevue we had massive flooding in 2004 and 05 due to hurricanes with he last basement bath coming in 2007 shortly after we moved to our new residence. This one was due to sewage lines and not flood waters which turned out was a blessing.  The cleanup sucked and we lost around 10k in personal belongings but found out that our insurance didn’t cover natural flooding. If you are a renter you’re basically screwed when mother nature comes calling. I called my insurance agent and got the “good farking luck” speech.

Back to watching the news, I did find some humor in the clip that showed a Bellevue cop scolding a resident for driving through the flood waters which almost swept her car away. Why is it funny? She’s the drunk girlfriend of our old neighbor who stole the backhoe to go grocery shopping and put a non-working toilet on his porch. See why I miss Bellevue. It’s the people.

Weather report for Friday is more rain so Lushie and I are getting our basement ready just in case. Most of what we own are in plastic storage bins but it’s my electronics I worry about. Do you know how many years of dumpster diving it took me to collect this stuff! Though I don’t think Lushie would mind if some of these computers were tossed.

The last act of Ericsson was to send out a bonus check to those of us laid off folks (go ahead and make jokes, I haven’t stopped about the irony). With that Lushie said that I need to do something for myself with a part of it so I bought us a Wii and Wii fit. Scratch that, Teaspoon got a Wii and Wii Fit for Easter. Love that bunny!

I’ve been dwelling on which gaming unit to purchase for years and what it came down to was honestly the Wii Fit. I was hesitant at first but last night after breaking it in I love the little sucker. PittGirl had named her trainer and I’m still trying to decide if I like the male or female trainer. It’ll probably come down to who I talk back to more. Since Teaspoon was born I’ve dropped 20lbs so I figure that this is more motivation to keep going. Plus I was finally able to get Lushie to play a video game that wasn’t Pac Man

As for the other games we stuck with what came with the gaming unit and extra controller. Hands down bowling is my favorite and I can see this as a huge hit at parties. It has consumed me into a Wii lifestyle. Next up on my shopping list (probably this weekend) is NHL 2K9, Tiger Woods and Punch Out! . I need to earn/buy more points so I can get the web browser and see how SIDT looks on it. Also a big fan of the weather channel. What appeals to me most is that its not graphic intensive as a PS3 or XBOX 360. It’s simple and entertaining. Granted I’d love to play some hockey with rockin graphics but for the price this more than fills my needs.

I also picked up Mario Kart which I really suck at and need practice. Wanna race and kick the snot out of a noob? Send me your Kart code thinger to add as a friend via my contact form. Can you tell I’m still trying to get use to this?

All of you Wii owners out there, what else should I look at buying/playing? What are some MUST HAVE accessories? What is online playing like and what info do I need when wanting to play someone?

cheers!

Oh, here are my 3 top bowling scores last night. If there is an online league I’m SO in!

We’re buds. Served in the war together.

This is my favorite holiday of the year.

If you drive an SUV or an oversize vehicle and drive on Parkway North there is a very good possibility that I don’t like you. In fact you’ve probably been on the receiving end of the bird from Lushie for being an idiot driver.

Yesterday Pittsburgh was pounded with a winter storm that went snow/rain/ice/thundersnow. Yes, thundersnow. It took me 2 hours to drive to Downtown Pittsburgh and back. A drive that is normally 40 minutes round trip. Granted the roads were slick but PennDOT actually did a good job clearing I-79 and I-279, the problem was the idiot drivers. I spent 45 minutes going from Vets Bridge to Perrysville exit not because of snow or accidents but because of illiterate drivers (like that pictured above) who haul ass in the far right lane that’s ending so they can zoom up and merge. There are signs saying “Lanes End in 1500ft. move the hell over.” Apparently these signs don’t apply to dumbasses. Better yet, since everyone is taking shots at the mayor for his and Dan Onorato’s most excellent adventure to Tampa, lets call these people “dumbassenstahls”.

The numero uno reason for traffic backup yesterday was a collection of dumbassenstahls who would get out of their lanes and race up 279N to this merge point and and then force their way into traffic. Here is a concept to comprehend. If YOU speed up and screw up traffic, you are causing a chain reaction in dumbassenstahl-istry. Since I had plenty of time to sit back and watch this in traffic I can say with confidence that a dumbassenstahl drives some form of BMW, Hummer, Expedition, Yukon or a truck that should be kept on the farm.

People, stop being dumbassenstahls. Wait your turn before one of these days someone with less patience than me puts you into the ditch.

I admit, I take pride in my snow shoveling skills. Many a winter I spent in Erie under my dad’s guidance learning when to shovel snow, how to do it with style and why you do what you do. When you get as much snow as Erie does you need to learn to accept and adapt to it. Moving to Pittsburgh has taught me that not only do people fear it but also they have no idea how to deal with it. I need to write Snow Removal for Dummies.

The picture above is steps that lead down to the parking area in my community. As you can see the steps are an abomination and the picture actually makes it look better. Late one day last week while I was at work one of the Mensa elite that live by me deemed it wise to shovel a single path from their door, across the lawn, down the steps and across the road to neighbors on the other side of the street. The effort put in was shovel down and walk.

By the time I came home and the temps dropped to single digits the snow had become ice. The issue now is that the steps are all ice and it’s too cold for salt thus making them a hazard for those who are, oh I don’t know, 29 weeks pregnant. When I’m up at 5am and outside shoveling I take the responsibility upon myself to not only clear my walkway but the neighbors all the way over to and including the steps. I don’t mind doing it but when you half ass shoveling that causes a risk to my family I get pissy.

I went out with my shovel and tried to clear the steps with no luck. My shovel almost broke when I tried to chip away at the ice so I knew it was a losing fight. So now not only am I irritated that the steps are a hazard but also at the slackass careless job. I understand it takes effort but if you’re one of these people take into consideration the others around you.

So here are my tips for you when it comes to snow removal:

• If you’re going out in temps under 32F, dress with a minimum of 2 layers. Neglecting this will cause you to whine about the cold and probably get sick thus making you worthless
• Watch the weather channel or some other radar system and shovel when the first wave is done. Yes more will fall later but in the later rounds you’ll find out it’s much easier and faster to clean up. Think of it this way, many easy small jobs or one agonizing shoveling resulting in sore muscles and long pain.
• Rock salt is your friend and it’s cheap. Use it generously.
• Cover your face. You may think your face is tough in the cold until you come into the heat and you scream like a little girl. Wind burn is not pleasant.

The temp finally went up on Monday so I went outside, cleared as much snow as I could and salted the hell out of the steps.  By morning I was able to chip away and make it a safe passage for Lushie.

In the meantime, the dumbass who originally shoveled just made a straight path from his back door, across his lawn and to his car. My guess is that the steps were too slippy for him

I knew that would get people all riled up when I posted that on twitter and now I will explain because 140 characters isn’t enough space. I’m suffering from over saturation of the media. For the last 2 weeks it has been non stop SNOW SNOW SNOW! COLD! OMG WE’RE GONNA DIE! from all local news stations when the reality is that it’s freaking WINTER. Snow happens. Cold happens. Watching the news you’d think that this was the first time our climate has seen this weather. Now I’m entering into 2 weeks of Steelers coverage with everything from what Ben has for breakfast to every bad yinzer chant that makes filler space DVE. Again, I support the Steelers, it’s the coverage that’s excessive.

The icing on the cake, however, is today. I’ve never watched an inauguration for any president and have no intention of watching this one either. I cant even check email without getting forwards about the event. I get that people are thrilled about today but leave me out of it. I can’t take any more Obamaism.

I got out of the shower today to find on my TV people making out for Obama, some guy passed out in his own puke for Obama (imagine that tailgate party) and some fat guy ripping open his jacket to show his chest on CBS… for Obama.

If you’re excited for today because we have a new president, that’s fantastic. I think this is a historic day and hope that everyone takes a part of it with them. I’m not bitter about the fact McCain didn’t win (which some of you seem to believe) and I’m not spewing hate or whatever you think it is, I’ve just had it with extreme coverage.

cheers!

It’s currently -7F and with the windchill it’s -21F.  I’m not kidding. The Weather Channel told me so.

Today is a good day to stay home. I can log into work from here, do my homework and get some reading done for class. The thing that, for some reason after 10 years here, still amazes me is the local coverage of weather. There is NO need for 4 people to be covering falling temperatures. NONE! Keep your reporters inside instead of freezing their butts off hanging out over the interstates.

Most Pittsburghers have lived here their whole lives and still act as if Winter is a new phenomenon. Part of it due to the hype and fear of Armageddon bestowed upon by local paranoid yinzers. Do the wise thing and stay indoors and unless you’re one of the crazy insane of us, bundle up.

How am I spending today? Working on Tea Spoon’s baby room with Lushie, doing homework and watching TV. Suck it up Pittsburgh and be smart.

cheers!

(that’s right… it’s Europe)

February 20th is the target for my final date of employment. The day before my 33rd birthday. Kick in the nuts eh? Those of you who follow me on the various social networking sites already know this news but for everyone else this is the official notice. I cracked a joke that the slip I was given wan’t even pink. Apparently there was cost involved in colored paper. Couldn’t even humor me. *sheesh*

I could bitch that it happened right before Christmas but everyone knew the first round was coming. Am I bitter? Not really. I think I’m still in denial. Over these last 10 years my coworkers have become family which is why I always loved working here. I’m going to take the holiday to weigh my options and seriously entertain ideas I’ve had for awhile. Heck, I could take the next year off if I wanted to but I don’t think Lushie would be able to tolerate me after the first 2 weeks. Moving out of the area isn’t out of question now if I can find employment elsewhere. I’d like to stay here but honestly, gotta go where the work is. Lushie said she’ll go wherever as long as there is a plane ticket back in case of emergency.

tomorrow we’re supposed to go to Erie for a quick one day trip but if the roads are bad there is no way I’m taking Lushie and our precious load out in any potential harm. If the job thing wasn’t stressful enough, we now have the holidays and all the lovely family drama that comes with it. (reasons why I’m not fond of the holidays coming soon)

Who am i kidding, I could really go for a week in St Lucia.

I had this ungodly long post recapping my last 10 years here but though you’d be sleeping by the second paragraph. Maybe I’ll post various stories throughout the year. Onward with the brevity version!

10 years ago today I packed up the U-haul and left Erie for the last time and made my way down I-79 in my beat up 84 Cavalier with studded snow tires to a new city and new job. Ironically both of which I’m still at… well for a few more months at least (*HA*). I was 22, making stupid choices and living carefree while drinking Franzia with Griff. Yeah, life was good. Now I’m 32, married, my first child on the way and a responsible adult. OK, I try on that last one at least.

Last weekend my mom asked me, as I was driving her home, if I would ever move back to Erie. There have been times I’ve thought about it but the job scene is non existent for my field of work. The cost of living is hella cheaper than Pittsburgh but what is there for me to do? Work retail again? Yeah idontfreakingthinksobob. I’ve had business ideas for Erie but honestly with the little guy coming in a few months entertaining such an idea is crazy insane. Looking back, moving was the best thing I could have done at that time. Sometimes you need to take time away to see how things really are.

I like the city. No, I LOVE this city. When I was moving in at 22 I was all about living in Oakland, going to the bars and house parties with my girlfriend and playing Frisbee. Now my interests are learning the history of the region, tasting the local cuisine, feeding my addiction to the hockey and involvement in the local craft beer and new/social media scene. Pittsburgh has made me who I am today and for that I’m thankful.

Here are random things I’ve learned over the last 10 years:

• How to speak Pittsburghese and what a “gumband” is.
• Fries and slaw are essential for a sandwich
• Pittsburghers may be blue collar and tough people but once there is moisture in the air they freak the hell out.
• People are terrified of driving over bridges or through tunnels unless it’s for work.
• There are still more mullets per square foot here than anywhere below the Mason Dixon line.
• The whole belt system is to screw with the newbies in the area. If you get lost look for the Cathedral of Learning.
• I think most people cheated on their driver’s exam. See this video for proof
• I can now pronounce and spell Monongahela
• WDVE = WRKT. No wonder Randy made an easy transition.
• Plenty of Erie transplants to joke around with about the snow and yinzer inability to drive in it.
• There is no East Side/West Side rivalry. Instead everyone gets along unless they have to drive on your parkway.
• Fireworks will occur on a random Tuesday because someone has a hinkerin for some BOOM BOOM… in the middle of the day.
• Yinzers tailgate EVERYTHING. No kidding, check out this lady at the hospital!
• Gas is always a couple cents more per gallon down here so please quit asking what the price is.  It’s also warmer. We have an invisible wall at I-80
• The reason why we pay $5 Miller Lite whereas Erie pays $1.50 at the bar is due to the fact… people are fools. Seriously, $5 for a Miller Lite? Both of you still drink Corona with a lime so we’ll call it a draw. That’s lame, not fashionable and is worthy of a bitchslap. *sigh* tragic
• Cars randomly catch on fire every morning on any parkway.
• Pittsburgh has traffic reporters with 3D maps. Erie has “Peach street is jammed for a 10 minute wait… back to you.”
• Pittsburgh has more hi-tech weather equipment and reporters to tell you there is a quarter of a half of an eighth of rain on the ground. In Erie all we needed to do was look out the window and see if we need to shovel or get the blower. You got in your car and drove.
• Loyalty. No matter where you go, if you say you’re from Pittsburgh you will always find a friend.

Could I give all of this up? Would I?

I dont think so.