Posts Tagged ‘West Liberty Avenue’
‘Effin around on West Liberty
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Is there no one on this planet who can even challenge me?
General Zod said that in the second of the Christopher Reeves Superman movies, and I find myself repeating it periodically.
Every now and again, one of these native born Appalachian people decides they’re trying to get one over on me, thinking that I’m dumb or facile enough to allow it. It’s usually a clerk of some kind.
I have one sentence to offer in response – I’m from Brooklyn, yo, don’t piss on my feet and tell me it’s raining.
A minor business dispute at the customer services desk of my local car mechanic spun wildly out of proportion recently, for instance. Somebody in their employ randomly tried to inflict their will upon me, which caused me to have to ‘react.’
You never, ever, want to see me to start ‘reacting’ to something. There’s a small army of environmental regulators and politicians back in NYC and especially so at Newtown Creek who can tell you that.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Long story short, a minor ‘recall/repair’ was applied to the car a couple of years back. Known issue, manufacturing defect, easy peasy fix if you’ve got the replacement part. Said replacement part began to degrade over time during the last 24 months, and I mentioned my problem with it to the mechanics desk when I came in for an oil change. The person I was talking to got hostile about it, and quick.
This kicked off almost a month of back and forth’s, and a great deal of wasted time for me. These shots were gathered during my most recent encounter in this skirmish, when the car was at the mechanic for appointment number three.
After gathering these shots, since I hadn’t heard from the mechanic since dropping the car off, I decided to call them and ask for a status.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
First, I was accused of trying to defraud Toyota since the clerk didn’t bother looking up my car’s warrantee in her system. Started purposely mangling my name during the conversation – called me ‘Which Maxwell,’ ‘Max Wishman,’ and a few others.
Then she decided to randomly try to charge me $300 just to have a mechanic examine the issue that I had described. Under my breath, I murmured ‘eff off, and she hung up on me.
What this person’s mistake ultimately came down to was in not understanding what it was she was dealing with. I got back to the dealership, collected my keys, and then proceeded over to the side of the facility where they do the office work. I do not back off when I’m in the right. Period. Don’t start a fight, but finish it, that’s me.
Two hours later, and I’m waiting to see the GM of the dealership. Couldn’t see me in person, but we spoke on the phone later on in the day and worked things out.
He chided me for using ‘blue language’ with a woman, to which I responded that ‘I don’t modulate my behavior towards Toyota employees based on their gender or sexual identity,’ and that as a guy from NYC – cussing is a cultural thing for me. He said that ‘here in Pittsburgh, gentlemen speak properly to women.’ I apologized for my cuss, and didn’t go after his sexism, all of which seemed appropriate to do. Sometimes you need to give them a little ground in an argument, before pressing your point.
Pfah.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This whole encounter just pissed me off, mainly because of all my time that was wasted with no mechanical result on the problem I was having with the car.
Suffice to say that I allowed exactly 48 hours from the phone conversation with the dealership’s GM to pass, then left him a message asking if he’d been able to find a resolution to my problem.
Son of a gun if the person who had randomly caused all this derision, and wasted the time of both customer and dealership with three separate maintenance appointments, didn’t cheerfully call me up to schedule an appointment for the dealership to ‘make good’ on the issue. I was also told, happily, that she had found my warrantee in the system, and called me ‘Mister Waxman.’
All General Zod ever wanted was respect, and what was best for his people.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
This person at the dealership’s receiving desk was acting towards me like a bully. When I was a little kid, I had to ‘take it’ from this type of person. As an adult, however, this sort of behavior is unsafe at any speed to perpetrate, around me at least. Can’t abide it.
One of my beliefs is that if you are ‘strong,’ psychologically speaking, and you encounter a bully you must knock them back. If they’re trying to do this stuff to you, it’s a guarantee that they’re doing to others who aren’t as capable of standing up to it as you are. You owe it to society.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
They really don’t see it coming, with me deep in the conflagrations of middle age. The gray hair disguises it, I guess. I must look like a pushover.
Heh.
Back tomorrow.
“follow” me on Twitter- @newtownpentacle
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“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.
Stroad Tales
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These shots were gathered during a recent walk in frigid clime – which started in Pittsburgh’s Mount Lebanon, and ended back at HQ in neighboring Dormont.
Continuing, one was walking through a quite hostile to pedestrians corridor called ‘Route 19 Truck’ by officialdom. In this section, 19 is called ‘Washington Road,’ but at some magical spot along the way it transmogrifies into ‘West Liberty Avenue’ when entering Dormont, and then proceeds towards the Liberty Tunnel some 5 or so miles hence.
It’s not a well designed pedestrian experience, have to say, and it would be freaking terrifying to ride a bike through here as well. Route 19, a primary and sometimes secondary arterial road, is what’s known in transit planning circles as a ‘stroad.’
Curbs are uneven across its length, sometimes you step off an 18 inch curb, and a block later there’s a 1 inch curb. Curb cuts at intersections are uneven, as well, and there are seldom ‘rumble strips’ inserted into the curb cuts to accomodate users of mobility devices.
Mostly 30 second red lights with ‘walk, don’t walk’ cycles that start blinking red before you’re even a third of the way into the crosswalk.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Route 19 accretes traffic to itself as it moves towards the Liberty Tunnel, scraping vehicles out of the local grids of Dormont, Brookline, and Beechview principally. It also narrows to one lane in spots, due to on street parking in Dormont and elsewhere.
Drivers seem to grow fevered and enraged in this area as they encounter a series of red lights, slowing their progress towards the central section of the city. Road rage and narrow streets… magic combination right there.
This used to be a trolley route, by the way. Notice those iron utility poles with the three electrical connectors up top?
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One prides himself as being ‘able to read a city like a book.’ If something is old and it’s still there, there’s probably a reason. In my case, there is no reason, but I’m old and there…
Everything I’ve definitely not read – as far as history goes – suggests that Pittsburgh began the process of abandoning its trolley system as early as the 1960’s. If an iron pole is still present on the sidewalk sixty to seventy and change years after its built purpose has faded away, there’s a reason.
Definitely not doing any historic research at all, me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Here’s an example of why I’m on history strike. People are idiots. Being smart has become a liability now. Act dumb, and fit in. Don’t stand out, squeaky wheel gets replaced.
The future just sucks.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
I was tracking where the addresses on shops changed over from being on Washington Road over to West Liberty Avenue, and now have an idea where that municipal ‘line’ between Dormont and Mount Lebanon is.
I know where the cultural line is, as they have it delineated with a platinum and copper band set into the road where Mount Lebanon starts, and there’s also the golden fire hydrants… there’s also a nightly drone light show…
In Dormont, we use a line of crushed charcoal for our borders. Used up stuff, from the base of a Weber they keep at City Hall for cook outs.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Another walk through the cold wastes… this post is actually being written in your past, as it’s the very end of January right now and it’s negative four degrees outside while I’m writing this. It’s very, very cold. Bah!
Back tomorrow with something different.
“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.
Operation Hin und Zurück
Tuesday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Cannot win, me.
I had altered my schedule to free up the day’s worth of time required to accomodate the needs of the car. An annual inspection was expected of the thing, according to Pennsylvanian law, and there was also a recall from Toyota that’s supposed to replace an electrical engine component which has proven to be problematic for the model year of my very own Mobile Oppression Platform. As is the case with any scandal, the suffix ‘gate’ has been applied to this situation by the internet, and it’s called ‘cablegate.’ Said issue hasn’t manifested for me yet, but there we are.
I was supposed to receive a courtesy ride back to the ‘stealership’ and expected all of this to be wrapped up by the late afternoon.
Imagine my surprise, while purchasing a cup of extremely rare ‘out of the house’ coffee at a shop shortly after debarking from the T Light Rail here in Dormont, when a text came in stating that they had forgotten to order the recall part but that my inspection was done and I could pick up the car ‘whenever.’
My ‘courtesy ride’ never materialized, so one decided to just walk there. Maybe a mile and a half from this starting position.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
One found himself back on West Liberty Avenue (U.S. Route 19 Truck) and shlepping towards the Toyota facility. This is the section of West Liberty which your humble narrator dreads walking the most, due to a nearly complete lack of sidewalks or even pavement in several spots.
Walking in the street, on a primary arterial ‘stroad,’ in a City whose motorists are nationally famous for their utter embrace of ‘we suck at driving,’ texting while driving, and frequent displays of road rage? Fun.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Again, one is constantly struck dumb when observing residential homes set along this sort of arterial street. I’d imagine that the people who live there come and go via the back of the house, as suggested by the lack of snow clearance on the frontage. This home is likely a part of the Brookline neighborhood, incidentally.
The reason why I was walking, rather than getting picked up by the ‘stealership’s’ courtesy vehicle remains unknown to this date. The mechanics said ‘I’d hear from Rodney,’ but it’s been over two weeks now and still no Rodney.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Bah!
One pushed himself against the rotation of the planet. I’d like to believe that if one could walk fast enough, your position would essentially become static, and the world just turns away beneath your feet. Sounds like fun, but you’d need to be walking at jet engine speeds and your body would need to be aerodynamically armored to pull that one off.
According to Google’s AI:
To stay in a fixed spot relative to the stars while Earth rotates, you need to move westward at the exact speed Earth rotates beneath you, which is about 1,000 mph (1,670 km/h) at the equator, or roughly 700 mph at mid-latitudes, requiring zero vertical movement, though practically, you’d need to hover or use propulsion against air resistance to maintain position against the atmosphere. For an object to hover above the Earth, it needs to match the Earth’s rotational speed and direction, effectively being stationary relative to the ground beneath it, requiring a constant counter-force to stay put in the atmosphere.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking away from Brookline towards Beechview for the shot above, and another house set onto a forbidding slope. This part of my day was maybe a half hour in length. Soon, I was reunited with the Mobile Oppression Platform and then we were motoring along.
Since my day was already kind of half wasted, a return to HQ ensued. I did have photos to process and Pentacle posts to set up. The MOP was secured into my driveway.
Since someone will ask, I start off with a template document of my own creation at WordPress. There’s a set of mostly blank documents I set up during COVID, for use as templates. I switch out the placeholder photos from the template and then do a ‘save as’ action. When I screw up the code, you see a shot of a 2020 residential fire in Astoria when clicking through to Flickr. I try to write posts in batches, usually of five to ten and then schedule them using tools at WordPress’s site, for publication at a later date. I’ve got templates set up for a three image post, and a six image one, and also a single. It’s a system, and as I’ve been consistently posting long form content here since 2009, it works for me.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Along the walk to the mechanic, I passed by a closed off set of City Steps at Ray Street and West Liberty Avenue. Looking forward to exploring the City Steps of Pittsburgh again, in the spring when the ice and snow are gone. I’ve actually investigated this set of steps, given their proximity to home base, but they are literally in the midst of collapsing.
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.
Operation Huílái
Monday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Just a few scouting shots from an entrance to Pittsburgh’s ‘T’ light rail service today, found at the Dawn Avenue stop on the City’s Southern Busway.
As mentioned last week, one was killing some time while the Toyota was off at the ‘stealership’s’ mechanic shop for an annual inspection and a recall based replacement of an engine component. Your narrator had humbly scuttled down a primary arterial road here in Pittsburgh after his automotive assignation, a ‘stroad’ dubbed as ‘U.S. Route 19 Truck’ for its totality but which is designated as ‘West Liberty Avenue’ in this vicinity. One was heading for the Dawn Avenue stop on the “T” light rail service.
The opportunity to wave the camera around in this vicinity and scout out a few locations for future use was gladly taken.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
An interchange of local and arterial roads feeds vehicle traffic into the Liberty Tunnel, described in some detail in a prior post. Said tunnel provides connection between the South Hills section (where Newtown Pentacle HQ, in Dormont, is found – approximately five miles away from this position) and then on the other side you gain access to the rest of the Pittsburgh Metro’s road network, notably I-376 and I-379.
I drive through here regularly, but as is often stated: you can’t ‘see’ anything from behind the wheel of a car as you’re moving too fast.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
These rail tracks are used by the Wheeling & Lake Erie RR outfit, and I will certainly be haunting this location when the climate warms back up while hoping for rail shots to manifest. Directly across the street from those stairs leading to the busway, this is.
I waved the camera around for a bit.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Heading towards my transit connection, but still shooting on my way to the busway where the stop is, which is up that flight of steps. These images should be defined as ‘what’s there’ snap shots, rather than being ‘photographs.’
Photographs – to me – are considered and composed shots meant to tell a story. A snap shot is something executed quickly, without much consideration. Mind you, there’s a lot to be said for quick observations, and about 80% of what you see here fit into my definition of ‘snap shots.’
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Yikes! The weird PTSD symptoms I’ve been experiencing around walking down flights of stairs was triggered by this sight. Yikes!
There are multiple ‘busways’ in Pittsburgh. These roads are closed to all but transit and municipal vehicles like those operated by the cops, fire departments, and ambulance services. The Southern Busway, which those stairs lead up to, incorporates tracks and catenaries for the T light rail. I’ve been riding past this particular stop at Dawn Avenue for three years, and I’m glad that I finally took a look at what’s here.
Plans for the warmer months which I’m crafting involve these busways.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
The Red Line T appeared, and one boarded the thing for a ride back to Dormont, where the plan for the day called on me to helplessly wait until the Toyota people called to say that the car was ready for pickup. I had photos to process at home anyway, so no big deal. They said they’d send a ‘courtesy vehicle’ to pick me up.
As it turned out I wasn’t done walking for the day.
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.
Operation Ochtendgloren
Friday
– photo by Mitch Waxman
So… that’s where I was heading… Dawn Avenue’s intersection with Route 19 / West Liberty Avenue at the Liberty Tunnel interchange.
This has to be one of the least pedestrian friendly spots in Pittsburgh. Traffic is literally coming at you from every direction of the compass. It’s the ‘last stop’ for commuters towards the downtown section of Pittsburgh, and high speed road connections to points north and east of the city itself, from the South Hills.
Drivers get quite salty when they get caught at red lights in this zone.
One found an intersection with a painted crosswalk, and hit the little arrow button on the signal pole. Soon, the device was telling me it was safe to cross and one burst across the intersection as fast as his fat little feet could carry him.
It’s been more than a year now, and I basically still cannot run due to the orthopedic incident. Working on it.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Traffic insanity is everywhere. Pittsburgh drivers will maliciously slow down to make you catch a light. Pittsburgh drivers will intentionally keep you away from highway exits by lurking in your blind spot, and commonly tailgate other vehicles – at speed – on the highways. They’ll ‘fake’ a left turn and then go right… they suck.
Why? Lulz. The Yinzers think it’s funny.
After wiggling my butt across the intersection, I realized that the lighting had changed again and things had gotten quite photogenic all of a sudden.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Up that flight of steps, that’s where I’d need to get in order to go back to HQ.
I enjoyed a quick chat with a fellow named Brian who owns that auto shop whose signage is seen in the bottom left of the shot above. He gave me some time of day ‘intel’ on when Wheeling & Lake Erie RR commonly transits through this area, and he then informed that me he’s retiring and that the business is up for sale ‘if I know anyone interested.’
After a quick hand shake and my admonition that I wasn’t interested in purchasing an auto repair and used car sales business, I was off on my way. Hope he finds a reliable buyer. Nice guy.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Looking back at West Liberty Avenue from Dawn Avenue’s paver covered roadway. Pavers (cobblestones colloquially, or more accurately ‘Belgian Blocks) are used on roads all over Pittsburgh, and particularly so on these steep streets. They suck to drive on, as your car is bouncing all over the place, but the pavers do enhance the ‘grip’ of your tires and allow for a bit more control in terms of speed and braking on a slope.
This was a fairly barren spot, by the way. Didn’t see any evidence of homeless encampments, or any sort of morbid habitations, here.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
Those are the steps leading up to the Southern Busway, which is partially ‘tracked’ to serve the T light rail. Nearby is the yard used by a towing company which seems to enjoy a municipal contract. If you parked illegally, and they scooped up your auto, odds are that you’re coming out here to get it back.
Reminds me of the old days in NYC when the NYPD used an area under the Kosciuszcko Bridge, in Queens, as a tow yard. At least in Pittsburgh, the tow yard is sited somewhat near mass transit. NYPD used to tow cars out to a remote spot which you needed a car to get to, which I always thought of as being a kind of perverse joke.
– photo by Mitch Waxman
People live up here, and there’s a small neighborhood present in these foothills. This is, as I often call such places, a ‘pregnant location.’ Lots of photo opportunities. I’ll be coming back, and specifically so in pursuit of some rail shots from this spot.
Back next week with more – 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.
The Newtown Pentacle 