For as long as I can remember, drivers on the parkway east were greeted each December by a Christmas tree.  Last year it was announced that the tree would not be up this year  however the center pole remains, which I am now declaring to be Pittsburgh’s Festivus pole!

The state came through and is going to give PAT money!  Hooray!  And (even though I didn’t realize they needed to vote to accept it), they voted to accept that money!  Hooray!

Let’s stop that smile right there, mister.

In their latest blog post, PAT lays out what will happen, which of course, they don’t know many details of.  However, lest you think it would change, the fares will increase January 1.

Now, I’m actually not that upset about the fare increase.  It isn’t as big as I thought it would be, and really, prices go up.  Cost of living goes up.  Yeah, it sucks, but I can’t fault PAT for it.

However, before you think that their blog post is all kittens and rainbows, never fear, they are back and as mopey as always.  Some layoffs and service reductions are coming.  No details yet (they are being reworked in light of the new money), and no clues either.  And of course, don’t forget, this is the state’s fault, not PAT’s.

And again, I’m venting.  But when I’m constantly faced with sad, pessimistic writing of their blog posts/press releases (not to give them more work but the people that run @pghtransit, they get social media.  Maybe they could do some writing for the blog, make it more conversational, help riders interact with PAT more.  You know, since it’s social media), it gets tiring.

So at the end of the day, we’re back up in the air, but there is still lots of time before the service reductions and layoffs, so I’m not too worried about it.  There will most likely be a public comment time (isn’t there always?), before anything goes into affect, so we have that to look forward to.

A new app was released today to help people downtown find a space to park.  Park Pittsburgh shows how many spaces are available in each lot, as well as showing the prices and nearby attractions to each parking garage.

I love that it came into existence out of the need of one man, and will now (hopefully as it spreads), benefit the entire city.

iPhone users can download the app, other smartphone users can go to a mobile site, or view the information via text message, call a number to listen to availability or view it through a web browser.  I’m guessing Mr. Benter uses an iPhone, but I am anxiously waiting for the Android app as well.

I went to the mobile site, and it’s pretty awesome.  The only addition I could think of, would be to add driving directions to the garage entrance using your phone’s GPS, although that may be a feature of the app, I don’t know.

Anyway, thanks, Mr. Benter (and your team of engineers and the Cultural Trust), for making it a little bit easier to park downtown, I can’t wait to see how this expands!

My boss at work was nice enough to take a bunch of us to see the train at the Science Center, which I haven’t seen in years.

We spent a while trying to find all the people fishing (I think we missed one).  We saw Fred Rogers and Mr. McFeely, the Westinghouse Castle and Fallingwater.  I loved the hot air balloons and the boats.

Fun fact, the boats move around by a magnet that is attached to the bottom of their hull which follows another magnet attached to a bike chain that moves around underneath the water.

There is a small display in the lobby of the Science Center, but the main train section is on the second floor (up the ramp one rotation), make sure to check it out.  There are four seasons displayed, and the lights cycle through day and night.

What a weekend.  Here is the list of Pittsburgh Fail:

• Pens lose 3-0 to the Caps
• Christina Aguilera botched the National Anthem
• Steelers lost to Green Bay

But we move on, as we must, and as we always have.  It was a fantastic season and we still have a lot more of the NHL season to go.  The weekend could have been better, but I hope you at least got to spend it with family and friends, like I did.

Congratulations to this year’s #PGH shorty awards, including second place Linsday of I heart Pittsburgh!  Also up there, Sally Wiggin’s Hair and Ginny from That’s Church.

Congratulations to everyone, and thanks to Lindsay and I heart Pittsburgh for spearheading the push for a Pittsburgh category!

Mario has made a statement in response to the Islanders game shitshow.  Here is a small portion:

“Hockey is a tough, physical game, and it always should be. But what happened Friday night on Long Island wasn’t hockey. It was a travesty. It was painful to watch the game I love turn into a sideshow like that.

“The NHL had a chance to send a clear and strong message that those kinds of actions are unacceptable and embarrassing to the sport. It failed.

From what I just saw, “Mario Lemieux” is trending worldwide on twitter, which is pretty awesome, so this is getting lots of coverage.

Bylsma will not be suspended, although, with enough of the team gone, this graphic by The Pensblog is still fitting (and awesome):

There will be a rally on Tuesday, beginning at 4 p.m. at the County Courthouse (Grant and Forbes, downtown).  The evening will continue with the 5 p.m. county council meeting.  Everyone is welcome to attend.

There should be an e-mail list going up over at the Transit Union’s website, but right now, it’s a bit of a mess, I’ll keep you posted.

In the meantime, and additionally, everyone is encouraged to contact their elected official:

State Rep. Frank Dermody (724) 274-4770

State Rep. Joe Markosek (412) 856-8284

State Senator Jay Costa (412) 241-6690

State Senator James Brewster (412) 380-2242

County Council Member Rich Fitzgerald (412) 350-6575

Governor Corbett (717) 787-2500

Please remember these cuts will affect all of us: roadways will be much more congested (drivers on the Parkway East and Route 28, good luck), parking will be harder to find downtown and jobs will be lost with the closing of the Harmar Garage, which Port Authority has mentioned once and kept silent about.

Today’s post is sponsored by Giant Eagle, who I know what they were going for, but it really came off as creepy:

As you’ve probably heard, Borders will be closing three local locations, including Monroeville.  That is where the National Novel Writing Month east write-ins have been held.  We would gather in the cafe, people watch, be amazed at the random electrical outlet up at the ceiling (we called it the spiderman plug) and work on crafting great novels.

Now however, we’re going to need someplace new, so I’d like to ask for some suggestions.  Barring in mind that I’m not actually in charge, I’m just trying to help out our Municipal Liason (who is awesome by the way, I’ll be writing about her awesome blog probably next week).  Here’s what we need in a location:

• Ability to seat about 10 people (we usually get about that many on the weekend write-ins, and about half that during the week).  We’re not the biggest write-in location, but we’re dependable six or seven write-ins a month
• Two electrical sockets.  We bring our own surge protectors/power strips.  We’ve learned that lesson from experience.
• Wi-Fi.  You know, for research… And I wrote my book in Google Docs last year, so it was nice to just write in the cloud.
• Caffeine.  Totally optional, but we’ll buy food and drink from the location we’re in, and probably whatever else is for sale (I usually left Borders with new books to read)
• A fondness for strangeness.  We wear funny hats when we write, it helps with the creative process, and allows us to find each other easier.  So when you see me come in wearing a Viking helmet, Mad Hatter hat, or something else equally odd, you’ll know we’re there.

Barnes and Noble is an option, although they have a smaller seating area, and the last few times I was there, their Wi-Fi was pitiful.  We’ve used the Panera in Penn Center in Wilkins, and that was a good spot (plus, unlike the Panera in Monroeville, the staff is friendly and gets my orders correct).

But I guess I’m kind of interested to see if there is some place off the beaten path, I know we had tried to set up some write-ins in Oakmont last year, but I don’t think that ever got off the ground.  We’re generally fairly quiet, bring in business (as well as publishing the fact that we’re at your location a lot), and I can even get you a cool “Write Your Novel Here” window cling to hang up.

So, any ideas?