June 15, 2006
The clock-radio (the only radio I listen to nowadays) is set to whatever station Elliott in the Morning is on. They were talking today about how Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers quarterback, trashed his motorcycle Tuesday morning. Nothing too serious, it would seem: a broken face and a probable concussion. And riding without a helmet. Well, it's not like football players are known for being bright.
The funny thing is that I'm used to all the place-names mentioned on the news where (almost) nobody else here is. Elliott and his sidekick were talking about the other driver's residence -- Squirrel Hill -- and saying how it didn't sound like it's the wealthy part of town. "Oh, you have money," they said in hushed tones, "you're from... Squirrel Hill."
Highland Park, they decided -- Ben's residence? -- sounded much wealthier.
It really stuck out as I was thinking about it how well I'd learned my way around the Pittsburgh area in the decade I spent there. How to get from Point A to Point B while bypassing X road under construction. Where to eat. Where to get a good beer. I know almost none of that here.
And given my hermit-like nature, I'm not learning very quickly. I suppose if I spend enough time here I will, but I'm coming up on 15 months here and that's a bit of a long time to drive around like I don't know where I'm going.
