Posts Tagged ‘Monongahela River’
Failure of intent
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Ok, I’ll admit it, I willingly attended a Governmental meeting here in Pittsburgh. I’ve been doing historic research about Pittsburgh, too.
I was talked into it, but there was food laid out for the meeting, so that’s a tax refund – right? It seems that Allegheny County, which is a Governmental layer more or less synonymous with the municipality of Pittsburgh geographically, was publicly releasing an environmental plan that’s been in the works for a few years.
I figured that I’d work a scuttle into the endeavor, and found myself starting said walk at the top of Mount Washington, and specifically use Sycamore Street for the descent. Fun.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This ‘plan’ wasn’t actually much of a plan, it was more of a wishlist visioning document without any mandated deadlines for its recommendations, which didn’t carry a budget along with them. Ambitious plans filled with terminology like ‘decarbonizing’ and ‘human powered’ populated its pages.
A presentation was given, and then attendees were led into a room with the easels and signboards, where people connected to the agency wanted to hear opinions and reactions to the plan. I saw the person who talked me into coming to this event, and made a bee line for her signboard.
I felt that I needed to point out that nobody but nobody is going to replace their gas stove with an electric one without some sort of tax incentive to do so. The expensive nuances of removing a gas system and having an electrician come in to pull new power lines up through the gas pipes isn’t something they thought of, nor is a funded mechanism to handle the tonnages of gas stoves and furnaces which would headed for landfills or recycling.
Also, that when a government says ‘we should do a thing’ without any sort of a timeline included in their statement, that’s just politicians talking about the ‘way things should be,’ and they don’t have any way to pay for this policy position they admire.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey Now! CSX #104 was crossing underneath me while I was crossing the Smithfield Street Bridge, to get to the County building where the meeting would take place. I should mention something here…
I’ve given up. Nothing matters and nobody cares. The only thing which can stop people from pouring battery acid into water reservoirs is the threat of Police enforcement – and even then – not so much. I honestly believe that the best we can do at this point – environmentally speaking – is to try and manage the ‘new normal.’ It’s too late. We missed the window, as a culture, to do anything about the climate problem.
The County’s plan is solid in its logic. Its mandates are unfunded.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The cost of retrofitting the ‘installed base’ of water heaters, furnaces, stoves and so on is massive. Just doing the government’s buildings represents a price that would double taxes for a decade.
The only way to achieve a changeover to devices fueled alternatively to manufactured gas is to either mandate the replacement and create a tax scheme to forgive and absorb the expense, or to just change the zoning laws for new construction and gradually move over to the newer/‘cleaner’ technologies in the fullness of time as housing stock is demolished and rebuilt over the decades. The latter is the sort of approach that NYC is taking.
NYC is also embracing a farcical rooftop solar agenda, but that’s a different tale.
Suffice to say, I’ve seen a lot of environmental plans presented by lots of very smart people, and it’s ultimately always a wish list or a ‘vision’ plan that you’re consuming. Important to do, mind you, but still just a wishlist.
I wish that I was rich, taller, and better looking. That’s my vision plan.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The catering at the event was very political.
They had gluten free, and vegan, and all the other options which you’d need to have for a public ‘do.’ The food was prepared by a non-profit which specializes in providing the first steps for street people towards having a hirable skill set. Everybody I met was super nice, and friendly. I did my best not to talk to anyone, but that didn’t work as I was approached several times, and once they heard the Brooklyn accent…
I actually had to say it several times: ‘Hi, I’m Mitch Waxman…’ sigh…
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I found the whole thing slightly depressing, as I often find such gatherings. They are very happy and peppy in public, however, the political people here in Pittsburgh. Genuinely nice in person.
I walked back across the river and caught a T light rail back towards HQ. Hope that this plan gets funded, and that they figure out a great way to sell it to those who will automatically be hostile to it.
Try this:
Hey, Y’see those people over there… whom you don’t like… well, those other people that are standing behind that curtain over there want to take something away from you, and give it to them. Me? I’m the only one who can stop that… even though I’m actually one of those people behind the curtain… I’m the ‘good one’ who cares about you, your kids, your dog, and Veterans – of course. Vote Quimby.
Back next week with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Accidentally, Homestead
Thursday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… yeah.
Failing to follow a detailed itinerary, which I had prepared in advance, with a literal turn by turn set of directions in the notes app on my phone, ignoring the carried prophylaxis against directional confusion offered by a compass… your humble narrator instead found himself staring down the barrel of a faraway place called Homestead.
There’s a waterfront rail trail I could have picked up from there to get back ‘to the center,’ but it’s a photographically boring route for most of that scuttle. It was also getting quite hot out.
Also, there was no freaking way that I was going to go and walk back over that steep hill which I had just surmounted. Bah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The 1936 vintage Homestead Grays Bridge is what this one is called.
Spans the Monongahela River, and over on the opposing bank was once found the United States Steel Homestead Steel Works. These days, that land which once made steel is a shopping mall.
I’m here a bunch for mundane ‘business of life’ tasks all the time, but always with the car. Dog food and paper towels at Costco, burgers at Red Robin, catch a movie at the IMAX – that sort of stuff.
In the distance, that’s not a continuation of the bridge, instead it’s a terrestrial road leading down a hill. I cannot say it enough times, how insane and challenging the terrain is, here in the Appalachians.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey, it’s the water of the Monongahela River. The muddy color, I’m told, is caused by sediments the waterway picked up on its north western journey through West Virginia.
They’ve got rivers out here which flow in all sorts of directions.
Since NYC is the logical center of all reality, and everything else in the world is just a distorted reflection of or a reaction to the Five Boroughs, it blows my mind that all global rivers don’t follow north/south axes like the Hudson does. What cheek…
I mean, it’s obvious, right? Right? RIGHT?
As a note, yeah I know about the Nile… it’s just interesting that my brain constantly jumps back to the ‘rivers naturally flow north to south’ paradigm, all the time.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Lucky for me, I was distracted by and got to shout ‘Hey Now!’ once again, as Norfolk Southern #6998 appeared.
It was at the head of a group of three locomotive engines, and they were hauling bucket cars filled with a black mineral – probably coal or coke, but can’t say for sure – so – mineral.
It also reminded me that I had to go food shopping at Aldi pretty soon.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One debarked the bridge, and headed for a decision point.
The atmosphere was fairly warm, and the first stage of this scuttle had been a lot more strenuous than I had intended, due to that steep and unending hill. I walked through the shopping mall, which was largely shaded. Debating my next move while doing so…
Bah… better to clip things off. Discretion, valor, all that.
Can’t believe that I walked the wrong direction. Again. Gah!
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another ‘Hey Now!’ buoyed the flagging personal opinion about my own capabilities and efficacy.
CSX #7106 hurtled by, hauling a long line of double stacked cargo box cars. I was in front of the Costco anyway for this shot, so I went inside and bought one of their footlong hot dogs and drank a half cup of lemonade.
Cooled down a bit in there, but your humble narrator was spent. A quick but expensive rideshare cab ride ensued, and then I was once again confronted by Moe the Dog at HQ back in Dormont.
Back tomorrow with something different – at this – your Newtown Pentacle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Clamps, clamps, clamps
Wednesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Your humble narrator had been involved in a fun scuttle for a couple of hours, when the photo above was captured.
Depicting the Fort Pitt Bridge over the Monongahela River, this and a couple of the other shots in today’s post were shot in the name of testing out a new piece of gear, recently added to the camera bag.
I should mention that I’m obsessed with unique camera support devices. One of the few spaces wherein I ‘tinker’ revolves around building novel support mechanisms for the camera. I’m forever attaching tripod heads and ARCA Swiss plates to all sort of things – bean bags, blocks of silicone, you name it.
The new addition is a ‘Super Clamp.’ Clamp, clamp, clamp.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It needed some modification, ‘out of the box,’ to fit my particular ‘use case scenario.’ Specifically, an extended bushing which introduced instability into the mount needed to go. I ordered a smaller bushing from Amazon which I swapped in – a tripod mount screw size (1/4 inch 20 turn) on one side and tripod head mount size (3/8ths 16 turn) on the other. That allowed me to securely attach a tripod head to the thing.
I screwed a ten stop ND filter onto my lens for these, to ‘slow’ down the flowing waters of the Monongahela and capture reflections.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The beauty of this device is that it allows me to clamp my camera onto fences, poles, even fire hydrants – offering a rock steady mount.
Given that I was quite taken with the thing’s performance, it’s become a regular carry ever since. My problems have now transferred over to the lens filters themselves. The ones I’ve been carrying – for years and years – are screw on filters, which are a pain in the neck to manipulate in ‘the field.’
My problem is encapsulated in the shift to the next shot.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I had time to unscrew the filter, and ‘rekajigger’ the camera settings away from ‘long and loving’ exposure over to a ‘freeze the moment’ setting, for this shot. It isn’t always the case that I can do this quickly enough, so I often miss stuff when the camera is set up for filter usage.
Accordingly, I’ve spent a bit of cash on a new set of lens filters, which use a magnetic system in lieu of the screw in system. You do have to screw an adapter into the lens, which is ferrous in composition so when a magnet enabled filter gets close to it, the glass disc just snaps right into place.
Just got these delivered, at this writing, so the verdict is out on whether or not I pissed away my money, or if the things will work as I hope and help rather than hinder my efforts. I’ve been ‘feeling’ longer exposures again for some reason.
Comparing the two bridge shots above, you can really discern the amount of color cast which my older filters alter the scene with. All ND filters have a ‘cast,’ some more severe than others.
Also, clamps.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Can’t miss a Towboat shot though, can I?
Gotta say, I’m missing the smell of salt water these days, and it’s been a long time since I was on anything but a tourist boat.
This is about when I heard the hissing.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This Canadian Doofus was angry at me.
A bit of recent research in this direction revealed that – in Pittsburgh at least – the Canada Gooses segregate into two groups. There’s a purely migratory population of them, and there’s a static one which occupies the waterfronts all year long – even in winter. The latter are larger in stature and weight, according to the Pennsylvania environmental peeps. These monstrous iceholes enjoy Federal and State protection, and their only natural predators are Coyotes, Eagles, and Owls.
These predators don’t mess with adults like the one pictured above – mind you – instead preferring to pick off either the newborn Goslings, or sick and or elderly adult Gooses who can’t fight back.
I stand by my conviction that Canada Geese, as a specie, are dicks.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Squirreling through the hills
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As described previously, your humble narrator was heading for a historical lecture being offered at a library, in Pittsburgh’s Squirrel Hill neighborhood, and one had just crossed the South Tenth Street Bridge over the Monongahela River in order to facilitate a ride share pickup to carry me to said library.
The horizon line in the shot above is where I had been walking around in the posts published last week – an area called ‘The Bluff’ – which hosts both Duquesne University, and the neighborhood called ‘Uptown.’
I used Uber for this ride. Common practice that I’ve picked up here in Pittsburgh is to query both Uber and Lyft and see which one is cheaper for the same ride. Uber beat Lyft by about $7 so ‘win.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One arrived at the library, and it was thankfully quite cool within. This was one of the first truly warm days in late Spring for Pittsburgh.
Yes, the Newtown Pentacle time warp persists. Photos from May 11, words from early June, and you’re in mid July if I got my scheduling right.
The lecture itself was academic in nature, with a detailed description of the historian’s methodology. Personally, whenever I was doing one of these kind of talks about Newtown Creek back in Brooklyn or Queens, I liked to drop in a few jokes and use colloquial language, and avoided getting into the slog of how I researched the presented information, but then again I don’t have a PHD in Jewish history as the presenter did – as I’m just some schmuck with a camera who knows far too much about Newtown Creek.
I learned things, though, it was worth attending.
After about an hour, the presentation was over and one was vomited forth back onto the streets, where he belongs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Squirrel Hill is a really nice neighborhood, and kind of pricey to live in as well due to desirability, at least compared with the rest of Pittsburgh.
This ‘zone’ is literally Mister Rogers’ neighborhood, as a note.
The plan… and this is where the second half of my efforts for the day begin… was to walk all the way back to the T Light Rail on the South Shore of the Monongahela River, and use that to get back to HQ in the Dormont section. More or less about a seven mile walk. Best to just lean into it.
I had more or less decided on a path, but left it kind of fuzzy to accommodate serendipity, should it manifest.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
As mentioned, really lovely neighborhood.
Reminds me a great deal of Brooklyn’s Midwood, in the section where it nears Coney Island Avenue and Ocean Parkway in the east ‘teen’ streets, and along the H-N avenues. Historically speaking, Squirrel Hill is meant to be a Jewish majority neighborhood, just like Midwood is back home. Most of the ‘important’ non Jewish people live out here – politicians, and university brass, the wealthy corporate types.
It was hot on the streets, I tell you, hot. Your narrator was humbly shvitzing while scuttling.
I’ve got a whole routine for this sort of weather, by the way. Number one thing is breathe through your nose and keep your mouth shut or you’ll dehydrate quickly. Number two is walk in the shade if you can. I’ve mentioned that I’ve recently started carrying a water bottle, yes?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
There’s a lot of weird traffic interchanges in Pittsburgh, and the one pictured above is an example. It’s at a border where Squirrel Hill bumps up against Oakland, where a large park and the two big universities are found. Hills and valleys, hollows and peaks…
This leg of my day would end up adding about seven miles of wear to the hiking shoes. After returning to HQ, I noticed that the treads on those shoes had essentially been ground smooth in the last few months, and I had to order another pair. Merrel Moab 3, if you’re curious. Been wearing this model of shoe for years, and they’re a critical part of the ‘kit.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
That water bottle recently added to the kit came in handy on this walk.
A paroxysm of comparison shopping led me to purchase one of the fairly leak proof offerings from the Nalgene outfit, and I now have a 16 ounce parcel of travel liquid to rely upon during scuttles.
A big difference between NYC and Pittsburgh revolves around the presence of Bodegas. NYC has them, Pittsburgh doesn’t.
In NYC, you’re never more than a mile from someone wanting to sell you a cold drink, in Pittsburgh you have to rely on a coroner retrieving your water starved husk of a corpse, found lying on the side of a road pointing towards a Bodega which doesn’t exist.
Back tomorrow with the next leg of this scuttle.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
Under bluffed
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Hey, that’s where we left off last week – with your humble narrator about to scuttle into the Armstrong Tunnel in Pittsburgh’s pedestrian and bike path. Fun!
Said tunnel pierces a land form dubbed ‘The Bluff,’ connecting Forbes Avenue to Second Avenue, along the Monongahela River waterfront nearby the South 10th street bridge. Whew… all caught up.
This would be a two part scuttle, with an intermission in the middle. Your humble narrator had signed up to attend a lecture.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One of the cool things which I’ve found to do here in Pittsburgh revolves around the availability of a vast numbers of academic presentations, historical talks, and live lectures that are offered at the City’s many libraries, historical societies, and cultural institutions – mostly for free.
Going back to a recent question of ‘is walking around all that I do,’ learning new things is also something I enjoy doing.
One entered the Armstrong Tunnel, secure in the knowledge that I would not bump my head on the ceiling, as I would enjoy some 7 feet and 11 inches of headroom and approximate leeway, therein.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
It’s fairly grim within, and kind of loud. Saying that, pedestrian path!
The lecture I was heading to was being offered at a library, in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, and presented by a historian from the Heinz Museum who held a PHD in Jewish History.
One of the Pittsburgh neighborhoods which was historically considered ‘Jewish’ back in the day, was the same area I had been walking around for the last couple of hours – ‘Uptown’ on the Bluff.
I wasn’t attending this lecture to find some lost relative or anything, instead it’s just another part of learning about this crazy place.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I’ve attended Hebraic oriented tours here in Pittsburgh, which included visits to the monumental Rodef Shalom Synagogue in Oakland, and Poale Zedeck in Squirrel Hill. Both made me think about Eldridge Street in Lower Manhattan.
I grew up Jewish. People ask me all the time if I still practice Judaism, and my answer is always ‘nope, I’m really good at it, no need to practice anymore.’
In case you’re wondering, the graffiti in the tunnel was likely eliminated in the run up to the NFL Draft at the end of April. Don’t worry, just a matter of time until it’s back.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Time was growing short, and as I’m notoriously early to everything, I began flying into a panic about that. I had 45 minutes to go about five miles… sigh…
The plan was simple, I’d emerge from the tunnel – like some sort of human turd hurtling out of a mountainous ass – and then walk across a bridge, and summon a ride share to carry my pre-corpse there.
I may write all fancy, but my internal dialogue is profane and common.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The bridge crossing in question would involve the South Tenth Street Bridge, pictured above.
It would be a bit easier to get a rideshare pickup on the south side of the river than it would be on the northern shore, which hosts a busy traffic interchange, as well as a jail and a large homeless shelter. I walked across and activated the app, summoning a ride.
When my Uber arrived, the guy was driving a pickup truck. That’s a new one.
Back tomorrow with more wanderings.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
Buy a book!
“In the Shadows at Newtown Creek,” an 88 page softcover 8.5×11 magazine format photo book by Mitch Waxman, is now on sale at blurb.com for $30.
The Newtown Pentacle 