<div dir="ltr"><br><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Thu, Feb 6, 2014 at 11:19 PM, Herb Brannon <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:hrbran@cavtel.net" target="_blank">hrbran@cavtel.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">May as well do some reading about Pittsburgh on these frozen evenings.<br>
<br></blockquote><div>[]<br> <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
Rocco's funeral will probably be one of the biggest funerals held in<br>
Pittsburgh in recent times.<br>
<br></blockquote><div>I went to high school with Officer Sciullo , who died in the line of duty April 4, 2009.<br></div><div>We went to watch the procession along the East Busway when he was buried.<br><br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
NEXT ON THE reading list is PATransit and the ice storm yesterday morning.<br>
When I worked at PAT it was common, during an ice storm, to run a couple<br>
cars on the lines with "ice cutters" attached to the trolley wheel. These<br>
"ice cars" would be run whenever needed no matter what time of day or night<br>
and on all lines. Apparently the current management of PAT has forgotten<br>
that frozen water is a perfect insulator and will not allow the current to<br>
pass from the overhead wire into the motors. Yesterday morning the entire<br>
rail system was shut down, because of ice on the overhead, until around<br>
10AM. Around 10AM what PAT called "limited service" was started on the Red<br>
Line. The Blue Line didn't get up and running until much later and full<br>
service took several hours to get running. Where did these people learn how<br>
to run a railroad?????<br></blockquote><div><br></div><div>Yeah, I wondered that myself. Rich Fitzgerald seems to be activist in terms of<br></div><div>his county management style; I suspect if you can get a bug in his ear, that<br>
</div><div>might get fixed. <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>
THIRD ON THE list is short story fiction, about Pittsburgh, with streetcars<br>
mentioned in the story lines. I have selected three excerpts from three<br>
different books. These books are very interesting especially if one really<br>
gets the "minds' eye" involved in the reading process. You will become a<br>
part of the story.<br>
<br>
Story 1--Excerpt from "Out of the Furnace" by Thomas Bell. </blockquote><div><br></div><div>Which was assigned reading, for me, in high school. <br></div><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px 0.8ex;border-left:1px solid rgb(204,204,204);padding-left:1ex">
<br>
FINALLY THE FOURTH ITEM on tonight's happenings is the current television<br>
ad being run by Citizens Bank. Several Citizens Bank employees are in their<br>
branch break room. The bank customers have suddenly started giving gifts to<br>
the Citizens Bank employees because Citizens doesn't charge a lot of fees.<br>
Two of the employees appear wearing sweaters with "No 1 Banker" on the<br>
front of both sweaters. Another employee turns, looks at the two sweater<br>
guys and says, "Youins can't both be number one bankers." This, after all<br>
that every school in Allegheny has been doing for years to curb the<br>
corruption of the English language in the Pittsburgh area and this bank<br>
gets it started again !!<br>
<br></blockquote><div>I unironically use "yinz" in everyday speech, and all of my foreign colleagues understand it now. <br></div><br><br></div></div></div>