Ornoth

Last weekend’s Pittsburgh trip: not much to talk about.

Saturday morning, a package I’d ordered arrived: new Teva sandals. I put them on and went for lunch at the Prudential mall food court, which was overrun with costumed attendees of the Anime Boston convention. Pretty surreal.

Full Photoset

Grabbed my bag and left home, but on the way out, I received another package I’d been waiting for: a second battery for my video camera. Threw that in my bag and made my way to Logan.

The flight was fine except the descent into Pittsburgh was bumpy due to wind. The woman next to me squealed on touch-down. Weather a balmy 82 degrees but overcast.

Hit a grocery store that Inna wanted to visit, then dinner at Maharaja, an Indian restaurant tucked inside a Days Inn by the highway. It was set in a long-abandoned ballroom, with used dinner plates littering several of the many empty tables. To my horror, Inna violated my first rule of Indian—never order the buffet!—and it delivered in spades. Spots in the steam table labeled rice and naan were empty, and what food there was looked like it had been sitting on the Sterno for months. At least they didn’t serve Goat Bone Curry like Ajanta used to!

Since Inna’s mother was traveling, we stopped by to feed her cats Theo and Pumpy, then called it a day.

Sunday was Easter, so I tried to get Inna to sample a chocolate bunny, but she refused. We spent a mostly lazy day doing not much of anything, since most places were closed for the holiday. We walked around Shadyside and had ice cream at Oh Yeah!, then drove around at random, ending up having a nice walk around the reservoir at the summit of Highland Park.

After feeding mom’s cats, we went to a place called Thai Cuisine on East Liberty, which was unmemorable, then home so that Inna could study.

Monday I walked down to the Fifth Third Bank and snagged some small bills, then off for ice cream at Klavon’s. Drove around Lawrenceville, and saw three deer in Allegheny Cemetery. Back in Squirrel Hill, we stopped at Radio Shack to pick up Livestrong wristbands for the cats to play with, and chocolate for us.

Dinner was a burger at the Elbow Room in Shadyside, which wasn’t bad, then we went home and played “Wits & Wagers” and some “World of Goo” game on Inna’s Wii.

Tuesday I packed up and we hit the Waterworks Mall where Inna shopped for clothing while I picked up some Eneloop batteries and found a kitten to play with at Petco. We made our way out to Moon Township and had a tasty lunch at Mad Mex before saying our goodbyes at the airport.

All told, it was a very low-key visit, which seems pretty typical of Pittsburgh. Atypical, however, were the mediocre meals, since my experience has been that the thing Pittsburgh usually gets right is its food. But the weather was pretty gorgeous for early April, which made a nice change from the freezing cold of my previous two visits. Mostly it was good to see Inna, since she’s been buried up to her eyeballs all year with work for the one-year sustainability MBA program she’s enrolled in.

What size shoe do you wear?

Somewhere between 10 and 12. Unfortunately, because the shoe manufacturers can't abide by a very simple standard, every time I buy shoes it's a crapshoot. I probably own more ill-fitting shoes than I do properly-fitting ones. Such gross incompetence shouldn't be allowed to persist in a modern society.
 

How many pairs of shoes do you own?

19½. I own 6½ pairs of Converse Chuck Taylor sneakers, four pairs of dress shoes, three pairs of other sneakers, two pairs of sandals, one pair of boots, one pair of cycling shoes, one pair of bowling shoes, and one pair of cycling sandals.
 

What type of shoe do you prefer (boots, sneakers, pumps, etc.)?

For years all I wore were Chucks, but I gave them up when the Converse factory outlet in Malden was closed. This year I tried switching to suede Pumas, but their sizing is so ludicrous that I probably won't be back. In recent years, I've become a sandal maniac, and you will almost always find me in my cycling sandals or my Tevas, even though Tevas are woefully passé.
 

Describe your favorite pair of shoes. Why are they your favorite?

Easily my favorite shoes are my Shimano SD-SH60 cycling sandals, complete with SPD cleats. They're elegant, efficient, comfortable, and durable. They're a sure conversation starter with other cyclists, who are always envious. And they give you the most amazing tan lines! I've ridden over 3500 miles in my first/present pair, and have every intention of buying at least two more pair in the near future. They're probably the single best purchase I've made in either realm: footwear or cycling gear.
 

What's the most you've spent on one pair of shoes?

I spent $259 for a pair of Allen-Edmonds wingtips for work back in 1996. They're okay, but I have no real emotional attachment to them. They're just shoes, as opposed to some of my more interesting but lower-priced purchases.