Facie’s Ramblings

The Pens are back on the ice! Yes, as many people said, it was billionaires fighting with millionaires, which is pretty sad. And I am still mad that the "everyday people" were out of work or lost business thanks to the stupid lockout. But with the Steelers not in the playoffs this year (and, even worse, the Patriots playing the Ravens in the AFC Championship Game; seriously, who do I root for?), I, and so many others, need hockey to start. I am so looking forward to the puck dropping on Saturday. And Sid staying healthy and being at the top of his. And Geno having a great year. And the power play improving. And Fleury doing some acrobatics while making some monster saves. And Kris Letang's hair. And seeing a Pittsburgh team in the playoffs (and hopefully hoisting a Cup). If only Jordan Stahl were still a 'Guin... The boys are back in town, and I feel fine.

Did you every notice how bad weather and holidays tend to bring out the worst in people? Sure, many come together in various, and sometimes positive, ways during those occurrences, but there are times when ugliness rears its head. Yesterday, western Pennsylvania was hit with some fast-falling snow, which happened to land on some ice. The roads, from the pictures and videos I saw and the comments I read on Facebook, were quite dicey in most areas. Considering this weather had been forecast for several days and this is PA in late December, not the deep South, the roads should have been in better shape. But on the other hand, you can pretreat all you want; when freezing rain comes down and there are a ton of cars on the road, it is unrealistic to expect smooth-sailing. But to read and listen to the number of complaints, it was clear that many (including the hubby) fell into the former camp. Admittedly, I was annoyed with the road conditions. Our taxes have gone up as has our house ass...

Yesterday, the Burgh woke up to a bit of snow. Just a trace amount where I live, but enough to dust the roads and create some slick spots (it was worse in other areas). Pretty much every year without fail, the first time it snows, I get a teeny bit freaked out. I worry about sliding my car into another or getting stuck trying to make it up the hill out of our area. And our steep, downhill driveway is no picnic either. Back when my kid went to an at-home, city neighborhood daycare just off a hilly street, I was pretty much a nervous wreck anytime it snowed. With cars parked along both sides, you had just one lane to drive up and down the street, often making it impossible to turn around. So I was often forced to head down the very steep perpendicular road near her caregiver's house. Said narrow street often had cars parked along the side. Gives me the willies just remembering the many times I had the car in the lowest possible gear, holding my breath and clutching the steering whe...

If you live around the Burgh, you have probably heard by now that some idiot apparently shot himself on Light-Up Night (as an aside, apparently there is no hyphen in the official Light-Up Night moniker, but I am choosing to put one in anyway). I had wanted to take Jordan to that event, but Brian thought it was too dangerous. I scoffed at that, but relented to his wishes, as much for the all the traffic as for anything else. It turns out he was kind of right. However, since Light-Up Night was actually a two-day event this year, I decided that we would go to the second day, during the afternoon. I was not about to let a little shooting and some fights stop me from heading downtown. Any time I read about what I consider an isolated incident at a place I would normally go to (or at least would considering going to), I make it a point to get right back on the horse or to try it out if I had never been there before. When there was a shooting at Boyce Park this summer, hours after we had...