Nuke it

So we don't have a microwave.

It's not because we're crunchy hippies and think that a microwave will kill us. We just don't have room for one.

When we moved into this house, there wasn't microwave built in and there wasn't an obvious spot to put one on the counter. We decided to see how long we could live without one. That was two years ago.

To fill the microwave void, we use a combination of the stove, oven, and an awful toaster oven. Generally this works, but actually a microwave is more energy-efficient than our current methods. And as I said, I hate the toaster oven. It's ugly and confusing and big.

We're getting nice, new counter tops very soon, and I feel this is the perfect time to reconsider our small appliance set-up. I would like to retain the ability to toast, at the very least. And I would love to be able to heat up left-overs without using the stove.

Do we ditch the toaster oven and get a small, simple toaster? What about these convection toaster ovens? They seem to heat up left-overs quickly, but I see some complaints that they don't toast well.

Or do we get a small microwave and keep a little toaster in the cabinet? Or maybe a really small microwave that would fit in a cabinet? I'm open to other ideas too.

Slow

I probably would have splurged and got the full STOP sign here.

Keys

It's always in the frantic moments when you're looking desperately for a certain key that you find out you have a billion keys to nothing.

I was in this situation the other day, looking for this one pathetic key. It is the only key we now have left for the station wagon. But that's another story.
While tearing apart boxes and drawers looking for this key, I decided it was time to take a hard look at this key collection, and maybe try to organize them.

For instance, do we need 8 or 9 keys that apparently open some roof top in the DC area? How about a key to 3427? Where is 3427? I'm guessing on the 3rd floor somewhere.
Yet despite all of these keys, I don't have a key that opens the back door.

Cheeseburger, Cheeseburger

Pepsi. No Coke.

I knew they were good for something

They keep my bike going. Thanks, Bike Pittsburgh.

Keg Ride!

Last night was the East End Brewing Annual Keg Ride. It was a first for us, but the fourth for the brewery.

You can read all the details and history here.

Last night was an awesome time. I was nervous since my training consisted of a three-mile round trip to Walgreens and a slightly longer trip on a flat bike trail.

The one clue we had about this year's mystery destination was that it was about 6-7 miles from the brewery, and we would cross a river. I had guessed we were going to PNC Park. I even planned out our ride home based on this guess.



But I was wrong. We crossed the other river, and ended up at OTB Bicycle Cafe in the South Side. From the brewerey, all 450 of us rode through Homewood, East Liberty, Shadyside, Oakland, down Panther Hollow to the Eliza Furnace trail, across the Hot Metal Bridge, and then around South Side Works to end up at OTB.

One highlight for me were seeing everyone's reactions to 450 bikers riding through traffic. Some people honked to cheer us on, others honked because we made them miss about 10 green lights. Someone on a cell phone saying, "I'll call you back- we're being invaded by bikers." Or people asking us where we were going, and we'd say, "We don't know, but we get a free beer when we get there!"

The other great part was seeing parts of Pittsburgh that look so different by bike. Going across the Hot Metal Bridge, and seeing the sun set over the city was just amazing.

As we rode down Neville Street, I knew I would have to get back up it at the end of the night. But I think adrenaline got me home. It was a little creepy riding through Panther Hollow and some of Frick Park in the pitch dark. We made it, and I didn't even have to walk my bike up Neville Street (I did walk it up Reynolds).

I can't wait until next year, when there will be so many people, it will have to be at PNC Park to hold all of the bikers.

Urban Exploring

I have long been fascinated by the idea of urban exploring. Sure, I've been a few places I shouldn't have, but I'm way too paranoid to stay long enough to really look around and take pictures.

But there are some brave souls out there who not only find fantastic places to explore, they also take amazing photos. Some even do research and give you the history of a place. I have spent hours looking around at some of these sites. Since I do not have the guts to do what they do, I'll have to settle with this arrangement.

Here are a couple of urban explorers who do some awesome work:

http://mj.justtoirritateyou.com/

Go to the Adventures link. This guy writes a lot to go with the pictures. My favorites are the Nike site (which was always kind of an urban legend growing up), and the Forest Hills Nuclear Research Lab.

http://hobogan.com/index.php?option=com_frontpage&Itemid=36

These guys take some pretty amazing photographs. Their site is a little difficult to navigate, but if you have some time, I recommend it. I really like the Centralia photos since that story just blows my mind. Their Links page has some other sites to check out as well.