Rocky Racoon

Today was "Memorial Day". A celebration and rememberence of military service folks and a bank holiday. It brought back memories of our second US memorial day back in 1996. I was singing in a barbershop quartet called the Chordsharks and we were booked to sing at the Bethel Park parade. We sang...."I'm Proud to be an American" with me on lead. Not an easy one to pull off that but definitely a great experience. Nobody rumbled me as an imposter.

On Saturday we went out to a nearby state park called Racoon Creek, which is about 40 minutes drive away. Sadly the camera is broken again so there are no pics to upload. The park is basically a massive forest (Pennsylvania is a massive forest actually) with a big lake in the middle and a nice little sandy beach. We spent the day swimming and had a sushi picnic for lunch before heading back into town for dinner at the home of Geena and James Wyn and their kids. James is a faculty member at CMU (scroll to the bottom) in the English Dept and his subject is the "Rhetoric of Science". As you can imagine we had plenty to talk about.

On Saturday we mooched around the North Hills and got know the city again and then had lunch overlooking the Allegheny River at the Yacht Club. After that we went for a cook out at Tanya Faubion's place. She is our real estate agent here and is lovely! Somewhat bizzarly, most of the other guests were past clients but this was definitely a social gathering rather than a marketing campaign. I think Tanya has a habit of befriending out-of-towners.

After a leisurely start this morning we headed out for ice cream and beers in Shadyside with Robbo and then went out to Highland Park for yet more socializing with Mike and Vicky and their son Sacha who we got to know shortly before we left Pittsburgh in 2004. Sacha is 6 and the boys spent most of the afternoon and evening playing baseball and footy. Their next door neighbour is from Warrington!!!!

Bother!

How did that happen? One minute I was sitting enjoying my pint in Piper's and wondering how many goals Stevie G was going to tonk past Dida when....bam......stupid goal.....game over. Bah!

This morning Adam asked me..."what will me and Sophie be when we grow up"?
I said....you can be anything you want. What would you like to be?
A SCIENTIST! Came the reply.
I can only assume it's Rob's influence.
Then I asked Soph the same question.
Her reply?......
A DINOSAUR!!!!
(just like Dad eh?)

South Side

Today was a day for chilling and people watching. We headed to the South Side of the Monongahela River to...funnily enough.....a district known locally as "The South Side" (imagine that!?). This is an old steel workers' community that was on its knees until recently when it was redeveloped as a trendy loft and shop district. I have discover my new favorite place to shop at a place called REI which sells everything from bikes, through climbing gear to canoes. They even have a huge climbing wall that members (it's a coop) can use for free. They have "KinderClimb" on Fridays so I'll take Adam down for his first taste of ropework.

We ended up having lunch in Claddagh (an Irish pub that serves the finest F and Cs I can remember eating) and.....oh dear!......a pint of Guinness. Rob must be able to smell Guinness being poured from a couple of miles away because he arrived on spec and joined us for the festivities. After a good feed we headed to the square and the kids lead the charge into the fountain. They both got thoroughly soaked and entertained the crowds with their antics.

A happy day. As Rob says...."It's great to be us".

Pics:

1. Shaz in her natural environment
2. Dave after 3 weeks at Rob's house
3. Soaked and happy
4. Re-inventing the enema
5. Fun!!!

Happy Birthday Mina!

I am painfully aware that, whilst Dave Berg's blog describes the healthy weekend ritual of walking on open beaches and huddling for coffee overlooking stunning vistas, our weekend ritual involves a Saturday morning outing for pancakes and lard at Ritter's Diner in Friendship. Still....they are fab pancakes.

After a postprandial walk into Shadyside for coffee and a run around at the swing park on Ivy Street we headed out to Mina Kimak's Hawaiian birthday party in the South Hills. Mark and Melissa Kimak are good pals from the old days and we also caught up with Scott and Sue Harrington and their son Joey. Typically, Sophia joined in all the party games while Adam spent his time trying not to lose too many cool points. After the party we all headed out for beer and pizza which was great.

Pics:
1. Robbie and Harry in the local java house (Jitters on Walnut St...my favourite caffeine stop
2. Soph being a hula girl
3. Adam getting into the "Swing" of American living

Vicarious Pleasure

I should probably rename this blog "Rob's Adventures".

Sharon pointed out that most of my musings focus on Rob's exciting life and today's addition is no exception.

Rob (our long suffering and ever smiling host) has just returned from having dinner at the house of Dan Rooney who is ONLY the owner of the Pittsburgh Steelers!!! (the 2006 NFL SuperBowl Champions!!!!!) There was a bijoux gathering of top scientists and heavy hitting financiers there and Rob was wheeled out as the local expert in diabetes. Of course Dan's family is of Irish extraction so Rob (a Dublin boy) was the star of the show and spent time hanging out with Dan in the innner-sanctum of his study.

Growl!

This....has been a day of mixed fortunes......

We rented our house!!!! Yaaaay!!! But....oh!.....we haven't yet been paid. The tenants are escaping their flooded house round the corner (I am trying not to wonder HOW it was flooded!) and their insurance company (The Halifax) is picking up the tab. Sadly....the Halifax now owe us a few sheckles and the tab remains unpaid. Probably not a big deal but I enjoyed living in Chalfont Rd more than I am enjoying renting it.

However...."nil carborundum illegitimi" (look it up)....we fed the kids their tea and then took them off to the Pittsburgh Zoo where, as members, we were "invited" (along with about 3 million other members) to attend the grand opening of the new Polar Bear enclosure, complete with underwater viewing tunnel thingy. Typically, the bears spent the entire time hanging around at the back so it was a bit of a flop in a wildlife sense but it was a beautiful evening and great to be out and about with the good people of Pittsburgh. What strikes me most is how scally-free this environment is. The place was packed but everybody is laid back and civilized. It's good value for money ($1 hotdogs) and free to get in (with membership) and the zoo is top quality.

Groovy!

Here is a thought provoking idea. Rob has today become an investor in African enterprise. Not by buying a mutual fund or some obscure stock sold by a Nigerian gentlemen via spam email but rather through a company called Kiva. The idea is that Kiva (and its African counterpart...both non-profit organizations) will put investors in touch with the "working poor" to help fund entrepreneurial activities. The interest rate is 0% so don't expect to retire on the fruits of your hard working $$$ but it sounds like there are many happy points to be won. Well done Robbo!!!!

If you want to be amazed and inspired....watch the Kiva story here. Well worth it.

Living Large

It's Sunday night and I have just collapsed on the couch with a bottle of Pipe Organ Pale Ale...brewed with loving care by the men and women at the local church. The Church Brew-Works that is. This has been a favourite hang out of ours since it opened way back in 1996. I am proud to say that many of the staff seem to know us by our first names despite 3 years of absence from these shores.

We've had a great weekend. We went house hunting on Saturday morning (not so great) but this was followed by a traditional American haircut at an old Italian Barbershop in Bloomfield (think "Soprano's) which is also known locally as "Little Italy", a run around the swing park and then a pizza lunch (oooh....and a pint) at the Church Brew-Works.

After this we headed to Squirrel Hill and had ice cream at the famous Rita's before driving down to the South Side which is a newly developed waterfront community on the shore of the Monongahela River. I bought a new bike (wooohooooo!) and the children pranced around in the fountain. We met Rob and Nancy and listened to the live band and then had fish and chips (even better than the Allerton Fish Bar) and Guiness in The Claddagh (an Irish Pub).

Today we hoofed it out to OhioPyle State Park the center of which is a beautiful riverfront village about 70 miles South East of Pittsburgh. We spent the afternoon paddling around the shallows and jumping between rocks somewhere near here. Robbie came rocketing out to meet us in his Porsche and we headed out to a nearby village called Confluence for dinner at the Riversedge Cafe. Sadly they were full (or at least they were when they saw us coming) so we ended up at the Sisters Cafe down the road. Think greasy spoon without the scallies.



It's 11.20 pm and Adam has just gone to bed. Fab weekend. Early start (yikes) but at least I get to race down to campus on my posh new bike.

Sorry about the pic quality. The camera is defunct so they were taken on Shazzy's phone.

Night night.

Fab!

Adam woke me up at 6 am today to ask "can we go to school now"? Today was his visit to Falk school. He spent the morning there with the 6 year old class and had a blast. Sophia visited a nursery school and has been offered a place to start in September. She was bumped to the top of the waiting list because, as the head-teacher said, we'd had a rough ride getting here and deserved a break. I felt a bit guilty at this development. I feel incredibly lucky just being here and having these opportunities despite all the visa hassle.

Shaz and I actually went on a date tonight. "Uncle Rob" was left in charge and we disappeared into Shadyside for dinner and a drink. Very civilized. The neighborhood is incredibly multi-cultural. It is a hot night and the city feels very cosmopolitan. We followed dinner at the Elbow Room with coffee and pud on Walnut St in Shadyside. Luvverly!!!

Sub Prime

So much for the sub-prime lending market dragging the US economy into recession! Houses in the Shadyside and Squirrell Hill neighbourhoods are being snapped up faster than you can get yer cheque book out to leave a deposit. So....we are still staying chez O'Doherty with little sign of any developments on the housing front.

Fortunately Rob is the perfect host. The kids love him and the feeling seems to be mutual. A major disadvantage is that Rob keeps a cellar full of beer and is keen to deplete his stock as rapidly as possible. I suppose I will get used to it (hic) but it's been a struggle. Tomorrow is Rob's birthday so we are going for a picnic with a few mates in Schenley Park.

STOP PRESS>>>>

Rob is a "Pittsburgh Genius". Dan Handley (my ex PhD student) is now a TV producer in Pittsburgh and he has done series called "Pittsburgh Genius" which is now showing on local TV. I had trouble down loading it but you can find the "Rob episode" here and Dan's main site here. Cool!!! I am getting vicarious pleasure from this.

Trooping the Colour

Hats of to Isuzu! Our poor old Trooper that had been rotting slowly for 3 years on Leo's driveway passed its MOT yesterday. It needed new wiper blades....! So....we are finally mobile which has made life easier and cheaper (we have been using rental cars at premium prices). Leo's wife Joanne sobbed and hugged me when I drove it away. I am assuming it was the joy of relief rather than a sad farewell. If anybody has suggestions on what I could possibly buy Joanne and Leo that would compensate them and reward their tolerance then let me know.

Pittsburgh continues to be at its beautiful best. When we arrived 10 days ago everything was still grey. No leaves on trees or blossoms. Now it is green everywhere and I can't stop sneezing nor wondering in amazement at how an old industrial town can have so much green space.

Interestingly there is no public debate here (as far as I can tell) about global warming. In contrast, the UK media seems obsessed (rightly) with the topic. So...I shake my head, wonder what will happen to us all and pump some more cheap gas into the Trooper . Gulp!

Adam came with us to tour the Falk school on Monday. It is a laboratory school attached to the University of Pittsburgh and seems to be incredibly open minded and relaxed. It was full of happy and well rounded children. My first thought was that they had locked all the nutters in the cellar before we arrived but there didn't seem to be any. Yet!

When we arrived, the smartly dressed headmaster showed us into his office. Adam had to be virtually dragged in wimpering adf then proceded to hide under the chair with his arse in the air. Nothing could tempt him out....not even Sophia sticking her head under the chair and soothing him with cries of "it's alwight Adam". We did the tour while Adam wimpered softly but by the time it was time to leave....he didn't want to go. He insisited on starting school right there and then. I was proud of him! Sadly it is extrememly tough to get into Falk so that may be asa far as we get.

More soon