[PRCo] Re: Interesting PATransit PCC Photos

[John Swindler]

It's Wyler's Law.  A good example is a railfan working in the transit industry.  "Normal" employees just can't comprehend.  
 
Cheers
John
 

 

> Subject: [PRCo] Re: Interesting PATransit PCC Photos
> From: fwschneider at comcast.net
> Date: Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:24:50 -0500
> To: pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org
> 
> Blue Highways was a good read if you were brought up to believe in wandering the blue highways. I was. I figure I have somewhere around 1.25 million miles on three continents by now. 
> 
> If you believe only in expressways, you probably would appreciate it.
> 
> John Swindler had a great line that parallels this. It goes, "For those who understand, no explanation is needed. For those who do not, no explanation is possible."
> 
> 
> On Feb 29, 2012, at 12:14 AM, Dwight Long wrote:
> 
> > 
> > Fred
> > 
> > It was my understanding, back in the day when I lived near and worked in da 
> > Burgh, that the various Tambellini bars and restaurants were all run by 
> > cousins, nephews, uncles, etc. In other words, in the family but not the 
> > immediate family. There was one right around the corner on Carson from P&LE 
> > terminal, as well. Never ate in any of them except the one on Southern, 
> > later on Saw Mill Run Blvd.
> > 
> > I concur; William Least Heat Moon's book is a good read!
> > 
> > Dwight
> > 
> > ----- Original Message ----- 
> > From: "Fred Schneider" <fwschneider at comcast.net>
> > To: <pittsburgh-railways at dementix.org>
> > Sent: Tuesday, February 28, 2012 8:20 PM
> > Subject: [PRCo] Re: Interesting PATransit PCC Photos
> > 
> > 
> >> Are all the Tambillini restaurants run by the same family? I see an F 
> >> Tambillini on 7th St. dawntawn. I think I may have eaten in the one in 
> >> Bridgeville. Joe runs one in the Highland / Morningside area (Bryant St. 
> >> between Negley and Craig).
> >> One of the things I concluded working in labor statistics for a lifetime 
> >> is that the life of typical business is one generation. The second 
> >> generation either doesn't understand the sacrifices that were required to 
> >> make it work or do not recognize how trends change. Restaurants seldom 
> >> last more than a year or two. Those that have been in business for 50 
> >> years or more can be counted on one hand in most small cities.
> >> 
> >> Some of you may have read a book titled "Blue Highways" written by a man 
> >> with the nom-de-plume William Least Heat Moon. It was all about driving 
> >> and enjoying the secondary roads, i.e. those blue roads back when road 
> >> maps were printed in two colors, red and blue. (Remember road maps? 
> >> That was before we had those inane female GPS voices screeching, "turn 
> >> around, you missed your turn.") Well, one of Moon's methods for finding 
> >> a good restaurant was, "it will have five consecutive years worth of 
> >> calendars hanging in the kitchen." In other words, it's a good place to 
> >> eat if it has managed to stay in business for five years. (McDonalds and 
> >> their ilk excepted.)
> >> 
> >> And how often do we find the restaurant that mom and dad ran for 30 or 40 
> >> years and now the kids have it and they don't quite understand the formula 
> >> that made it so special. The Stock Yards Inn in Lancaster, Pennsylvania 
> >> has been around under the same family since the early 1940s but it isn't 
> >> the same today .... the kids redecorated, added credit cards (mom and dad 
> >> understood cash), got themselves deeply in debt, cut the menu deeply to 
> >> save money ... it's still there but the food isn't as good and there are 
> >> no waiting lines today and many nights 3 out of 4 tables are empty. Down 
> >> in Washington, Pennsylvania, there used to be great Italian restaurant 
> >> named Angelos. Rather cramped but tremendous food. The kids decided to 
> >> expand ... probably three times the size ... and in a shopping center 
> >> instead of the old economical digs on West Chestnut Street. I don't go 
> >> nearly as often because it needs a accoustical treatment ... the ceiling 
> >> is dome shaped ... I guess they were t!
> >> rying for their own version of a Renaissance structure ... you know, like 
> >> Flippo Brunelleschi's dome on the cathedral in Florence. Well, it's like 
> >> eating inside a base drum. All the noises are amplified and aimed at the 
> >> center of the restaurant!
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> On Feb 28, 2012, at 5:28 PM, Bob Iannucci wrote:
> >> 
> >>> Tom,
> >>> Thank you so much for the pictures and the memories. I especially
> >>> appreciated "Southern Avenue at Tambellini's Restaurant" - that was my
> >>> father's favorite restaurant and as kids we got to go there on special
> >>> occasions. To compare then-and-now, I've added a more recent photo 
> >>> (thanks
> >>> to Google) as an inset. The restaurant has moved on from Southern Ave.
> >>> 
> >>> For the few on this list who don't know, the Tambellini name was and is
> >>> very well known in Pittsburgh and beyond, being associated with many
> >>> restaurants in and around Pittsburgh (operated by various members of the
> >>> family) in addition to a frozen-food business some time ago. This
> >>> particular restaurant was established by Louis Tambellini in 1946. It
> >>> moved to a much larger space on Route 51 in 1981. Louis passed away in
> >>> 1996.
> >>> 
> >>> Bob
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> -- Attached file removed by Ecartis and put at URL below --
> >>> -- Type: image/jpeg
> >>> -- Size: 404k (413842 bytes)
> >>> -- URL : 
> >>> http://lists.dementix.org/files/pittsburgh-railways/1795%20Tambellinis%20Then%20and%20Now.jpg
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >>> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> 
> > 
> > 
> 
> 
>