bkdunn.com

For Thanksgiving, my brother, his wife, his two kids, and two caged dogs came to visit. The day after Thanksgiving, we did tourist activities. This is the story of those activities. “Story” is a strong word. First we drove out to Fort Necessity, the place where George Washington inadvertently started the French and Indian War. [...]

In case you were wondering. Sometimes I get the impression that this place is the capital of good enough is more than good enough. As evidence:       Or maybe I just shop in the wrong stores. Other than that, everything here remains steady. Always steady. bkd

Went to PNC for a couple of Pirates games on their last homestand (they lost the second game — stupid Padres). Great park, great atmosphere, seems really well run and their aren’t any potholes in the concourses, which makes it feel like you’re not in Pittsburgh. Coming in from the east (or south), the recommended [...]

Just some more photos of Pittsburgh. Like of downtown and of driving around the city on the 376 a little.

This isn’t about Plan B. This is about my having looked at, like, seven houses today and most of them being variations on awful that I hadn’t necessarily considered possible. The sloped rooms and all. I mean, really. Here are the seven…

Spent today looking at houses in the Pitt. It’s different here. For one thing, any house that seems too inexpensive for its specs is usually that way because the floors all slant different directions. I was in three houses today where — yeah. Felt like standing on a ship’s deck. The one I’m trying to buy is in the Lincoln Place neighborhood of Pittsburgh. I’m taking the offer paperwork over to the office in the morning.

It’s final, then: I’m going to Pittsburgh! The program has a great reputation and the faculty are outstanding — both in terms of their quality of research and, like, personality. And I think it’ll provide more than 3-4 hours of gameplay, especially since I’m not Level 20 in real life. I like to pretend I am, but I’m really not.

Pittsburgh has a fantastically nice airport that no one uses. It used to be US Airways’ primary east-coast hub, but US Air has gone from 500 flights a day through there to, like, ten. So now it’s mostly empty. But it’s a great layout, it’s easy to get from one gate to another, it doesn’t require a train to get from the A gates to the D gates, there’s plenty of room to sit…

Got back from The Pitt on Saturday night, was there for about 44 hours total, during which time it never got over 20 degrees. Everyone there apologized for the weather, but honestly it’s kind of cool to have a good reason to wear said parka for once and anyway, clear skies and 15 degrees breaks up the monotony of overcast and 65 in a welcome manner. Seriously. For me.