Digging out of the pit, or see below

A few thoughts about the swimming championship rant below

• The WPIAL has no options regarding venue. Nobody knows of another pool with anywhere near the seating capacity of Trees Pool at Pitt, so Oakland it is.
• Parking is limited, no matter when the event happens. You're in the big city, so deal with it.

What then?

• Hold the event on Saturday. A single day, race until it's over meet. Abandon the 2-day schedule. Alternate morning and afternoon sessions annually so the AAA and AA boosters, coaches, schools and families have one less thing to complain about. Every other sport seems to have playoffs on weekends, so why is swimming excempt?

• By holding a one day meet, on a weekend, parking MAY get beter. The Pitt students aren't going away, but the hospitals should see less demand for employee parking on Saturday. Perhaps an optimistic viewpoint, but this is a rant isn't it?

• Can anyone do anything about the concession prices? Probably not. Someone has decided that $3.50 for a Pepsi, $3.00 for a hot dog, and $3.00 for a candy bar are normal enough. Prices at the airport are lower, by far....

• The WiFi complaint only deals with digital workflow. If I have to drive back, I'm losing time that I could be spending doing other work.

• As matter of common courtesy, if you offer your committee free food, let them eat in a private room. If I've gotta pay a small fortune for food, I consider it bad form to flaunt the freebies. And by the way, give the offficials acccess to the food. A hungry ref is a grumpy ref...

Pitt. or The Pits

Some aspects of a person's life just can't be altered.
As we grow old our joints will stiffen, and we'll sit on the porch waiting for the end like a potted plant. But before that, we work. In my case that frequently involves attending sporting events at high schools and some of the colleges in Western Pa. It can be a decent day, or it can be a drag depending on the time of day the event starts, day of the week, season of the year, of most tellingly the organization in charge. The WPIAL - the Big Cheese of sanctioning bodies in Western Pa - has got to be a typical organization, but consistently produces events in the in what seems to be a lowest bidder mode.

Today and tomorrow are the local swimming championships. Hooray - the WPIAL holds these at Trees pool on the Pitt campus. The biggest problem with this event is this: there just isn't anywhere else to hold it, and nobody in a position of authority seems to care.

This thing is just wrong in every way.

•Parking is expensive - if you can find a space - as you're competing with a 30k student population, half a dozen busy hospitals, and an urban campus.
•Everything is uphill. Not just a hill but a 5 story climb to the pool from anywhere in the neighborhood.
•The media work area is a pair of folding tables and two rather decent chairs.
•WiFi in the pool is password protected. God forbid anyone in the area know the password or know who would.
•Hungry? Bend over and spread 'em. $3.50 for a Pepsi in a bottle. $3 for a dog. I was ready to use my "Usually when I get screwed, I get a kiss" line, but the counter help looked as if they were only Minimum Wage Slaves with less control than anyone.
•Agoraphobic? Contemplate this. At the afternoon session there were 54 swim teams participating. if they AVERAGE 10 members, that's 540 kids plus coaches all crowded around the pool. Loads of room to work.

sheesh

Which came first?

Off to HS wrestling today and tomorrow. The question pertains to the site and it's nickname. Canon-McMillan HS, home of the Big Macs. Why would anyone want a school ID that reflects the name of a bad hamburger?

So, which came first?

One little thing that drives me up a wall

"Cute" e-mails You know - the Men are Pond Scum, pray for me and pass it on, collect holiday cards for Bobby, and the like. BUT particularly the men are scum sort. I'd really like to know what motivates writers to pass along email that doesn't even rise to the level of stereotype.If I write something along the lines of "Why are women always comparing their shortcomings to Men" would I be a pig?

Random Pets

So every entry isn't a big deal. Just thoughts, without a significant purpose. After all, I'm not asking $3 million for my collection of music.. Trying to add a decent title to the entry gets interesting. As a result the combo-title for today.

Housekeeping

Nothing exciting. Just a few random thoughts. Sam'sClub gas isn't any less expensive than the brand name product - today - but the rest of the store can be - if you look carefuly. Food is up, gas is up, ad rates are up, and I'm not making any more $$. Oh well, should have paid more attention in Rocket Science class

Pet Peeves and such

TV news bother me on several levels. Leaving the near complete lack of content alone, the seemingly universal mispronunciation of the word that describes the amount of heat in the atmosphere drive me up a bloody wall. It's a four sylable word folks. Temp-er-a-ture. Not temp-a-ture. Let's all pronounce it at home.... Temp-er-a-ture.

They really are a couple of freaks....

Catching a good line on TV sometimes inspires a thought. Now all I need to do is compile a list of freaks. They are out there, waiting to be selected.

Tax time, or Oh joy

Why , when tax time rolls around do I feel like hummng. It alternates - sometimes it's Follow the Yellow Brick Road, others Hi Ho, Hi Ho. In either instance, it's time to visit Accountant Joe and deliver the raw data.

Or perhaps the Average Outdoor Store

Just back from the trip to REI. Before you spend the time, they don't stock the Cozy Creek line in their stores. At least not in their 25,000 or so sq foot emporium in Pittsburgh. Not one example of the brand.
So I brought home a knockoff. It looks decent - better than the WallyMart version that I had - and has an extendo-bottom that essentially provides double butt padding.
Oh well. I'm resigned to live with it and the smiling cashier who reminded me that:
a. In Seattle they stock everything.
b. I could order and have the item shipped to the store here at no charge for said shipping.
The I reminded her that:
c. I'd still not have seen an example of the product.
d. Spending another 2 hours of my time and paying for parking again wasn't such a good deal.
Then add this in:
Looking for sales help in the Post Christmas letdown was about impossible, and I imagine the market for ice axes is Pittsburgh is so large that keeping lesser items like camp chairs makes sense to someone.
Next time i'm in the Pacific Northwest I'll stop.

Shopping in the Great Outdoor Store

I need one of those folding camp chairs. Perhaps need isn't entirely accurate, but want isn't emphatic enough. In the next month or so, I'll spend a lot - perhaps a majority - of my days at work covering HS basketball playoffs. That means many hours sitting on gym floors watching the action close up. As the family will attest that Dad was born without a butt, I really appreciate having the padding that one of these chairs provides. So it will be off to REI to look for the Cozy Creek - or perhps as an homage to The Band - Cripple Creek line of chairware.