Squirrel Hill is Cool

I woke up this morning and need to accomplish the following:

1. Mail a letter
2. Go to the bank
3. Get a optical audio cable
4. Check used Xbox prices
5. Work out

I synced up with the On the Media podcast (so I would have something to listen to at the gym), then left my apartment. Here's what happened:

1. Walked up Murray Ave. to the post office and dropped my letter in the mailbox.
2. Crossed the street and got money out of the ATM at my bank.
3. Walked down Forbes Ave. to The Exchange. Used Xbox: $110.
4. Crossed the street to EB Games. Used Xbox: $130.
5. Walked up Forbes to Radio Shack. 3ft Monster cable: $40. 3ft Radio Shack brand cable: $15. Bought the Radio Shack cable.
6. Continued down Forbes to the JCC. Worked out on the elliptical trainer.
7. Walked back to my apartment.

Total miles driven to accomplish my tasks: 0.

Whole Foods

Today I made my first visit to Whole Foods , the ultimate yuppie supermarket. This is the place to shop if you enjoy paying a 50-100% markup over traditional supermarket prices so that you can feel good about how much you are doing for the native tribesmen of Mek-a-lek-a-ding-dong. Aside from that, they do have a good selection of international and esoteric foods. Here are some reasons you might want to shop there:

• Patak's Cooking Sauces . I really like these Indian sauces. My roommate Brett from Extreme Blue last summer tipped me off to them. You simply cook 1 lb. of chicken, dump in the sauce, and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Combine with rice and you've got a solid meal. (These sauces are available at some Giant Eagles too.)
• Garden of Eatin' Red Hot Blues . These corn chips are ridiculously good (and spicy). I found out about them when one of the Near-Time guys bought some when I was in NC last November.
• Whole Foods Dried Apple Rings. A coworker brought some of these in to work a couple of weeks ago. They are a good snack.

Hopefully I can continue to shop at Whole Foods occasionally without succumbing to the powerful forces of yuppification therein.

Hop the Counter

The current buzz phrase at work is "hop the counter". This is in reference to retail establishments that conduct business over the counter. Sample usages:

If Cafe Tango screws up my order I'm going to hop the counter.

Rite Aid better have my prescription ready, otherwise I'm hopping the counter.

For some reason, I find the use of this phrase intensely amusing.

GPS

After an annoying driving experience this weekend, which involved going 5 miles out of my way by missing a single turn, I decided to purchase a GPS unit for my Treo 600 . This unit was recommended to me by a coworker, who also has this unit and a Treo 600. I've wanted to have GPS in my car for awhile, but the standalone GPS units are too expensive for me to justify, since I don't do a lot of driving. With this GPS unit (and appropriate software on my Treo) I can get basic directions, as well as voice prompts (e.g. "turn left", "turn right") and automatic recalculation if I miss a turn. That should be a big help as I explore Pittsburgh.

The Revolution That Wasn't

The Revolution That Wasn't :

"If the history of the Republican revolution were written today, one would have to ask: Whatever happened to the promise of smaller government?"

...

"The era of big government being over is over," declared Marshall Wittmann, a senior fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist Democratic research organization.

By the way, there's a Libertarian Party of Pittsburgh meeting on Wednesday at 7:00pm.

Around Town

I recently found out that there is a local Cocoa programmer's group named CocoaHeads . They are having a meeting at CMU tomorrow, so I'm going to try to attend.

For a couple of weeks now, I've been wondering about the sign on the second floor of the building on the corner of Murray and Forbes reading "CyberConxion". I figured it was either an ISP or some lame Internet cafe. Well, it turns out that it's a video gaming center . I'm going to have to check it out, since I've been wanting to play Half-Life 2 on a pimped out machine. It might still end up being a lame Internet cafe, but at least it looks more promising than I initially thought.

Although Squirrel Hill has restaurants of many cuisines, there is no place to get Mexican food. Not even a faux-Mexican burrito joint. However, I did find out today that there is a Baja Fresh over in Oakland. That will have to suffice, since there aren't any Chipotles in Pittsburgh. You can find the Baja Fresh using the new Google Maps , which is awesome (except for some Safari incompatibilities).

Jewish Community Center

For the past week, I've been taking advantage of a free trial membership to the Jewish Community Center (JCC) in Squirrel Hill. (JCCs are similar to YMCAs.) Now I have to decide if I want to pay for a year-long membership. It's pretty expensive, but Apple will pay for part of it. Also, the location is great for me, since I can walk there on my way home from work. Even though it will end up being $50 out-of-pocket per month, I think I'm going to sign up. They have aerobic machines, a weight room, pool, gym, and racquetball courts. It is extremely lame that they charge you extra for group exercise classes (e.g., Spinning) when you've already paid $600+ per year. Oh well.

Pittsburgh Restaurant Micro-reviews

One of my co-workers put together a nice collection of one-line Pittsburgh restaurant reviews . Checking out the places on that list should keep me occupied for awhile. Here are my thoughts on the places I've tried so far:

Gullifty's - Overpriced, mediocre to average American food. This place has a reputation for great deserts, and while they were decent, they weren't special.

Zaw's - Dirt cheap, average to above average Chinese takeout. At lunchtime you can get an entree, rice, and soup for $4-5.

Rose Tea Garden - Really good Chinese food and good (although overpriced) bubble tea.

Kazansky's - A Squirrel Hill fixture. Good corned beef sandwiches and other deli fare.

Mineo's - Excellent pizza. Kind of like Mama Santa's or Valentino's in Cleveland, but more generous with the cheese and toppings.

Napoli Pizza - Reasonable pizza. Good place to grab a few slices on the way home from work.

Pizza Amier - Haven't had their pizza, but their gyros make a solid lunch.

Sree's - Good, cheap Indian. You can get lunch for $5, and it's enough for two meals.

Second Anniversary

Yesterday was the second anniversary of this blog. I've been busy learning the ropes at my new job, but you can expect to see more frequent postings in the coming week.

Also, due to some asshat spammers, trackbacks have been disabled on this blog.