I went to Pittsburgh over the weekend. In my desire to get there as fast as possible, I took the turnpike. Yawn.
Once you get west of mile marker 200, you pretty much have nothing for a good 120 miles. The only relevant exits (in my opinion) are the ones for I-70 and I-99. You've got back-to-back tunnels west of the Shippensburg exit, and another tunnel at the top of another mountain. It's hard to stay awake during the 36-mile stretch between Bedford and Somerset.
You can't pick up any PA radio stations for a couple of long stretches (mostly Hagerstown and Cumberland, MD)... the one station in Somerset had an old forecast and no commercials... I don't think any station between Carlisle and Greensburg had any live, local DJ's, except for one of the million Froggy stations out that way... Froggy 98, Froggy 101, Froggy this, Froggy that... and every station I turned to seemed to play Mellencamp every other song. I don't get it.
As my luck would have it, I hit overnight paving when I drove it... yuck.
I usually take route 22... at least Huntingdon, the area south of Altoona, Ebensburg, and Blairsville give you reasons to stop and stay awake. Most of route 22 between Altoona and Pittsburgh will be a four-lane highway by decade's end. Now, if only route 30 could be the same way.
Oh yeah, for the cost of going from I-83 to route 66 in Greensburg... you can get about nine things off the Mickey D's dollar menu. The rest stops are great... but the people working the food places (when they're open) have no sense of urgency, and don't care that you have places to go.
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If you are heading west anytime soon, stop by King's Family Restaurant. Get a frownie. It's neat.
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Buckle up and don't be allergic to life.
TS
Monday, July 28, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Family reunion...
I was privileged to be part of a family reunion this past weekend. My Dad's side of the family got together in State College.
His side of the family is huge. If you go three generations above me, there were three brothers... two sides were represented. The oldest brother, Casper, had 7 children. The youngest, Paul, the branch I'm from, had 5 children. My one cousin had counted 48-50 people present.
I was kicking myself for throughout the weekend because I had lived in Bellefonte for six months, and never realized that I had about 10-12 cousins within about a 20-mile radius. Plenty still live in Philipsburg, a few in State College, and a few in Boalsburg.
On Casper's side, great Aunt Rose passed away in February. We had a brief but classy memorial service for her at the start of the day on Saturday. Then, we all headed to Black Moshannon State Park for a picnic, and the big family portrait. We had relatives from California, Chicago, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and all over PA present. My cousin Paige and I almost won the egg toss. I didn't get the lowest score in the family quiz... even though the questions were 99% involving Casper's side. Cousin Peter helped me a few questions.
We later went to Cousin Danny's nice, big house, in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, to eat more, play a few games, and listen to music. Cousin Scott from California has his own band, "Smitty West." Scott, Danny, and Scott's son, Ernie, did a nice job, considering they didn't rehearse.
We wrapped up the weekend with breakfast at Cousin Kim's. I also learned that Cousins Amy and Greg have scuba-dived in the Arctic, and explored the Antarctic. Way cool.
We're talking about getting together again next year. I hope so... Mom and Dad didn't get the chance to go. Plus, with two of my great aunts passing within the last year, we all wanted to get together again nad have some fun. We sure did.
Buckle up and don't be allergic to life,
TS
His side of the family is huge. If you go three generations above me, there were three brothers... two sides were represented. The oldest brother, Casper, had 7 children. The youngest, Paul, the branch I'm from, had 5 children. My one cousin had counted 48-50 people present.
I was kicking myself for throughout the weekend because I had lived in Bellefonte for six months, and never realized that I had about 10-12 cousins within about a 20-mile radius. Plenty still live in Philipsburg, a few in State College, and a few in Boalsburg.
On Casper's side, great Aunt Rose passed away in February. We had a brief but classy memorial service for her at the start of the day on Saturday. Then, we all headed to Black Moshannon State Park for a picnic, and the big family portrait. We had relatives from California, Chicago, Georgia, Louisiana, Virginia, Maryland, New York, and all over PA present. My cousin Paige and I almost won the egg toss. I didn't get the lowest score in the family quiz... even though the questions were 99% involving Casper's side. Cousin Peter helped me a few questions.
We later went to Cousin Danny's nice, big house, in the shadow of Beaver Stadium, to eat more, play a few games, and listen to music. Cousin Scott from California has his own band, "Smitty West." Scott, Danny, and Scott's son, Ernie, did a nice job, considering they didn't rehearse.
We wrapped up the weekend with breakfast at Cousin Kim's. I also learned that Cousins Amy and Greg have scuba-dived in the Arctic, and explored the Antarctic. Way cool.
We're talking about getting together again next year. I hope so... Mom and Dad didn't get the chance to go. Plus, with two of my great aunts passing within the last year, we all wanted to get together again nad have some fun. We sure did.
Buckle up and don't be allergic to life,
TS
Dumb enough to get caught...
If you watch news in Philadelphia, you've probably seen the saga ad nauseum of Alycia Lane and Larry Mendte. Well, it all came to a head yesterday when Mendte was charged with intruding Lane's emails... not just once or a few times, but 537 times! This is what the feds are saying. We haven't heard straight from Larry... yet. His lawyer says he's cooperating fully. At worst, Mendte could get five years in jail. To quote the Philadelphia Daily News, "Mendte was charged with a one-count felony: intentionally accessing a protected computer without authorization to obtain information." Apparently, he accessed Lane's usernames and passwords through some sort of keystroke device.
I e-mailed Larry a few times before all this happened... he was always very cordial to me. Can I trust him anymore as a journalist? Not sure. Will he ever be on TV again? Not sure. Will he be able to peacefully stroll the boardwalk anymore? Maybe in a few years. He has to speak publicly about all this before he can expect any forgiveness... but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have already decided he's guilty in the court of public opinion.
What happens from here? Well, CBS3 must move on. Alycia's got a few court dates ahead, on the plaintiff's side no doubt. As for Larry, I hope the next move is a smart one, and the moves after that.
I guess the lesson here is not to snoop in other's e-mails.
Buckle up and don't be allergic to life.
TS
I e-mailed Larry a few times before all this happened... he was always very cordial to me. Can I trust him anymore as a journalist? Not sure. Will he ever be on TV again? Not sure. Will he be able to peacefully stroll the boardwalk anymore? Maybe in a few years. He has to speak publicly about all this before he can expect any forgiveness... but I wouldn't be surprised if a lot of people have already decided he's guilty in the court of public opinion.
What happens from here? Well, CBS3 must move on. Alycia's got a few court dates ahead, on the plaintiff's side no doubt. As for Larry, I hope the next move is a smart one, and the moves after that.
I guess the lesson here is not to snoop in other's e-mails.
Buckle up and don't be allergic to life.
TS
Monday, July 14, 2008
Don't be allergic to life...
My buddy Matt had the best line of my entire vacation... don't be allergic to life.
I took that to heart last week. I got adventurous on a few occasions.
First stop was Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. This was my first visit. 10 of us were there Wednesday, it grew to 15 on Thursday for dinner.
This place is worth the 6 1/2 hour drive. I-80 west to US Route 250 west to Cedar Point.
Wednesday night, I personally got on Gemini, Raging Rapids and the Mine Shaft (both wooden coasters). My friends got on Magnum, Wicked Twister, and the indoor coaster, among others... a nasty t-storm cut the night short.
If you stay at one of the hotels on Cedar Point, you're allowed into the park an hour early. Unfortunately, we got washed out until about 11:30. I did the really cool Iron Dragon, the train, and the old-time cars. My friends waited 45 minutes for Milennium Force and about 90 minutes for Mantis... they wrapped up with Maverick before going to Famous Dave's for dinner. I wanted to come back on the way back...
We get to Auburn Hills, Michigan late Thursday night. After a few detours around construction, and seeing a cool fireworks display in Toledo, we got to our hotel (across from the Silverdome) around 11:30.
Over the next 7 days, we made 7 trips to Meijer... like Wallyworld but three times better. I had to get new shoes, because my sneakers got soaked and I had no other pairs of shoes.
As part of my tour of junior bowling tournaments, we ran a warm-up event in nearby Clinton Township at Imperial Lanes. The first squad on Friday afternoon went well, after all the kinks were worked out. We had 72 bowlers. For that night's squad, we had a check-in line that went out the front door. 168 bowlers and 45 minutes past 7:00, we started and got done around midnight. After only 16 bowlers on Saturday afternoon, the flood gates opened on Saturday night. The squad was supposed to start at 7:00. It started a little after 8:00, with an eye-popping 243 bowlers. I thought Matt, his parents, and our friends Jen and Kerry were gonna go bonkers. We didn't get done until 1:30, and finally left the bowling center at 3:15... big thank yous to Joe, Jeff, and the Imperial Lanes staff for hosting (and putting up) with us. Altogether, we had 499 entries, and awarded almost $16,000 in scholarships.
The main event, the Junior Gold National Championships, were exciting as usual. Congratulations to Liz Seibel from Hellertown, our highest local finisher. She finished 14th in the girls division and earned $600 in scholarships.
I caught a cold sometime during the tournament, and was fighting it all week. In one of my "allergic to life" moments, I didn't want to go to any casinos because I didn't want to be around any cigarette smoking. Much to my surprise, there was no smoking at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario. I enjoyed myself on Thursday night, even though I didn't make any money.
I went back to Cedar Point on Saturday night. Soak City is FUN!!!! If you get on any of the speed slides, don't wear a shirt... it'll slow you down. The tube slides are neat, and both Lazy Rivers are cool. If you have kids, take them through the "playground." For the adults, they have a pool with a bar right on the beach.
On Sunday, I forgot my take my glasses off before I got on my first ride. When I hit the bottom, my glasses fell off. Lifeguards Rick and Lauren later found them. Thanks big time!!!
Next time I head out there, I wanna go to the Kalahari Water Park, south of Sandusky.
The other highlight of this trip was Tomtom. We downloaded Austin Powers. "Take the motorway," and "Groovy Driving! Yeah!" were heard most often while driving. Matt liked mine so much, he went out and got one for himself.
Talk with you tonight. Buckle up, don't be allergic to life, and "groovy driving, yeah!"
TS
I took that to heart last week. I got adventurous on a few occasions.
First stop was Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio. This was my first visit. 10 of us were there Wednesday, it grew to 15 on Thursday for dinner.
This place is worth the 6 1/2 hour drive. I-80 west to US Route 250 west to Cedar Point.
Wednesday night, I personally got on Gemini, Raging Rapids and the Mine Shaft (both wooden coasters). My friends got on Magnum, Wicked Twister, and the indoor coaster, among others... a nasty t-storm cut the night short.
If you stay at one of the hotels on Cedar Point, you're allowed into the park an hour early. Unfortunately, we got washed out until about 11:30. I did the really cool Iron Dragon, the train, and the old-time cars. My friends waited 45 minutes for Milennium Force and about 90 minutes for Mantis... they wrapped up with Maverick before going to Famous Dave's for dinner. I wanted to come back on the way back...
We get to Auburn Hills, Michigan late Thursday night. After a few detours around construction, and seeing a cool fireworks display in Toledo, we got to our hotel (across from the Silverdome) around 11:30.
Over the next 7 days, we made 7 trips to Meijer... like Wallyworld but three times better. I had to get new shoes, because my sneakers got soaked and I had no other pairs of shoes.
As part of my tour of junior bowling tournaments, we ran a warm-up event in nearby Clinton Township at Imperial Lanes. The first squad on Friday afternoon went well, after all the kinks were worked out. We had 72 bowlers. For that night's squad, we had a check-in line that went out the front door. 168 bowlers and 45 minutes past 7:00, we started and got done around midnight. After only 16 bowlers on Saturday afternoon, the flood gates opened on Saturday night. The squad was supposed to start at 7:00. It started a little after 8:00, with an eye-popping 243 bowlers. I thought Matt, his parents, and our friends Jen and Kerry were gonna go bonkers. We didn't get done until 1:30, and finally left the bowling center at 3:15... big thank yous to Joe, Jeff, and the Imperial Lanes staff for hosting (and putting up) with us. Altogether, we had 499 entries, and awarded almost $16,000 in scholarships.
The main event, the Junior Gold National Championships, were exciting as usual. Congratulations to Liz Seibel from Hellertown, our highest local finisher. She finished 14th in the girls division and earned $600 in scholarships.
I caught a cold sometime during the tournament, and was fighting it all week. In one of my "allergic to life" moments, I didn't want to go to any casinos because I didn't want to be around any cigarette smoking. Much to my surprise, there was no smoking at Caesars in Windsor, Ontario. I enjoyed myself on Thursday night, even though I didn't make any money.
I went back to Cedar Point on Saturday night. Soak City is FUN!!!! If you get on any of the speed slides, don't wear a shirt... it'll slow you down. The tube slides are neat, and both Lazy Rivers are cool. If you have kids, take them through the "playground." For the adults, they have a pool with a bar right on the beach.
On Sunday, I forgot my take my glasses off before I got on my first ride. When I hit the bottom, my glasses fell off. Lifeguards Rick and Lauren later found them. Thanks big time!!!
Next time I head out there, I wanna go to the Kalahari Water Park, south of Sandusky.
The other highlight of this trip was Tomtom. We downloaded Austin Powers. "Take the motorway," and "Groovy Driving! Yeah!" were heard most often while driving. Matt liked mine so much, he went out and got one for himself.
Talk with you tonight. Buckle up, don't be allergic to life, and "groovy driving, yeah!"
TS
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