The 4th and beyond

A few leftover July-ish things, as I procrastinate studying for quals a little...
The green roof has cool plants I've never seen before, including one with cool Myst-like properties:


There was also that fourth of July business. This being our first year here, I thought it would be fitting to really do it up - go downtown, watch all the shenanigans, etc. On average, the plan worked flawlessly, bringing us great views of waterboat races, skydivers, awesome sunsets and fireworks off the Fort Duquesne bridge. Yum yum. But. When it was time to go home, us and everyone else and their three children wanted to also go home. Chaos is not even the word. Kids were lighting off fireworks in the street unanchored, traffic was at a truly impressive level of bad, and buses were full to the brim. Next time maybe I will buy Peter some anesthetic before the night is over...or probably we'll be watching from some safe, non-busy roof.



In keeping with the "getting out of the house occasionally so my textbooks don't swallow me" vein, I signed both of us up for a downtown walking tour. It was not on one of Pittsburgh's current egg-fryingly hot days, thank goodness, and we did actually learn a bit about the city. For example, Grant St was leveled off by 30 ft (resulting in enough dirt to fill the nearby lake!), the Smithfield St bridge is the oldest steel bridge in the U.S., and the oldest structure in western PA (circa 1764) is down near the Point. Also the yellow of the pgh bridges is only sold here, and is not produced for any other city. Not that anyone else would want it, honestly... but it was an interesting few hours and we got in 4 mi of walking that we wouldn't have normally. And - what a shame! - the tour ended right near a Melting Pot. I haven't been to one in a long time, so we had a bit of fun. We also stopped by the incline because we were there, but I didn't get steady enough shots to do justice to the view at night. Another time!


Society of Women Engineers also hosted a cake decorating class, which I was ALL OVER. Learned how to fill, crumb coat, ice and decorate. Successfully used 9 of the 12 available base colors for the most colorful cake in the lot. A couple days later, there was a super awesome sunset with lightning (!). It was a good week. Of course, if you don't count all the work I am doing, that is...