Pennsylvania
Pittsburgh
Infrastructure
Fig. 1. Post-collapse scene at the Fern Hollow Bridge, photograph by National Transportation Safety Board, January 29, 2022, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
I didn’t traverse anything like a representative section of Pittsburgh today, so I don’t know how the snowplowing went, though I have seen neglected tertiary streets (like back alleys) even before this latest storm. I was mostly in the suburbs today. I did wind up quitting a little early as I noticed it getting dark and the snow seemed to be intensifying, and it happened I was relatively close to home. This’d be about the time the snow plows get going again, and, of course, it takes time for them to do their rounds, with more snow accumulating just as soon as they’ve plowed it.
Usually, after they’ve had a chance to make their rounds, the roads are pretty much okay, apart from the usual hazards, just well salted to rust any exposed metal so the car can fail its annual inspection. I get a car wash in the morning to wash off the snow I’m just getting too damned old to reach. I get another one in the evening to try to wash off some of that salt. I pray this and the rustproofing treatment I had applied will preserve the car.
I got home safely and here I am in my sandals because I’m too damned lazy to put on appropriate shoes for this weather, trudging through I’d guess about three inches of snow on the ground to get to the stairs back to my apartment, which of course were also covered in about three inches of snow. I’ll deal with it in the morning.
On the other hand, the usual quiet of my neighborhood is being regularly disturbed by the passage of snowplows. I’m glad they’re there. I’m not looking forward to finding out how trying to sleep through the din goes. Who knows? I might be snowed in.
In the meantime, repairs will now be funded for some really, really major bridges: McKees Rocks (work is already underway with a long-term lane closure), West End, and Fort Duquesne.[1] These bridges are all already traffic bottlenecks.
I start looking for an apartment in northwest Pennsylvania next month. It looks like I’ll have to broaden my radius a bit. I’m realizing I don’t like cities, really even one little bit: I see only the negatives and have neither time nor money for the positives. So Erie itself is out.
I was thinking Edinboro, but it’s still looking kind of high rent. One of the factors I might be up against will be a solar eclipse coming, if I recall correctly, in April. It seems Erie will be a prime viewing location. Me? I’d be just fine indoors under cloudy skies.
Steve Bonel, “State, local officials announce $132 million for repairs to three Pittsburgh bridges,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 18, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2024/01/18/fort-duquesne-west-end-mckees-rocks-bridges/stories/202401180089
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, “Another winter storm is bearing down on the Pittsburgh region,” January 18, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/weather-news/2024/01/18/how-much-snow-pittsbugh-forecast-updates/stories/202401180086
Jacob Geanous, “Chartiers Bridge from Pittsburgh to McKees Rocks has new restrictions after a recent analysis of its condition,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 19, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2024/01/19/chartiers-bridge-load-reduction-repairs-pittsburgh/stories/202401190073
Justin Vellucci, “3 major Pittsburgh bridges set to get $132M in renovations,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 19, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/3-major-pittsburgh-bridges-set-to-get-132m-in-renovations/
Imperialism
Israel
Palestine
Fig. 1. The ruins of a terminal at the Gaza airport. Image by Said Khatib (Agence France-Presse) on September 9, 2018, via the Times of Israel,[2] fair use.
Neri Zilber, “Benjamin Netanyahu faces political backlash over Israel’s hostage strategy,” Financial Times, January 16, 2024, https://www.ft.com/content/2d5258d5-aabb-4c54-80e8-ec28fd4e21b0
James Robins, “Israel’s Subtle Threats at the International Court of Justice,” New Republic, January 17, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/article/178174/israels-subtle-threats-international-court-justice
Peter Beaumont, “Netanyahu tells US he opposes creation of Palestinian state after Gaza war,” Guardian, January 18, 2024, https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/jan/18/netanyahu-tells-us-opposes-palestinian-state-after-gaza-war
Tori Otten, “Democrats Are Pissed After Netanyahu’s Palestinian Statehood Comments,” New Republic, January 19, 2024, https://newrepublic.com/post/178286/democrats-pissed-netanyahu-palestinian-statehood-rejection
- [1]Steve Bonel, “State, local officials announce $132 million for repairs to three Pittsburgh bridges,” Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, January 18, 2024, https://www.post-gazette.com/news/transportation/2024/01/18/fort-duquesne-west-end-mckees-rocks-bridges/stories/202401180089; Justin Vellucci, “3 major Pittsburgh bridges set to get $132M in renovations,” Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, January 19, 2024, https://triblive.com/local/3-major-pittsburgh-bridges-set-to-get-132m-in-renovations/↩
- [2]Agence France-Presse and Times of Israel, “20 years after its opening, destroyed Gaza airport embodies grounded peace hopes,” Times of Israel, September 12, 2018, https://www.timesofisrael.com/20-years-after-its-opening-destroyed-gaza-airport-embodies-grounded-peace-hopes/↩