Lots of interesting bits to start off July!
This 4th of July was much lower-key than in years past for us. We did make some good steak and mashed potatoes, though, and prepped some chocolate raspberry ice cream to make later in the week, so that's pretty exciting in itself! This was the first year CMU hosted their very own fireworks for the 4th of July, and they were really quite good! Not having to fight any traffic was a definite plus as well. The aftermath the next day was kind of surprising, but also interesting to look at.
Peter and I had a Groupon expiring, so we were further spoiled by a midweek dinner downtown at Elements. A seven-course meal is a pretty rare occurence!
And then, of course, was the real patriotic event of the week. Only on late Tuesday (after tickets had already been handed out to the greater Pittsburgh public) did we CMU citizens learn that Obama was going to speak on campus, right across from my building, on Friday. Crazy stuff! Since security was going to be tight, my building would actually be locked all Friday, so it was either attend or work from home. Seems like an easy choice to me. I went in and stood in line for tickets on Thursday (thank goodness they thought to have some for the students/staff), and did some more standing on Friday. I figured, at worst it would be a dry run for the Firefly Festival, since it was supposed to be very hot. I brought a bandana for dousing with water, water bottle, sunscreen, a fan, even a sandwich and banana in my purse...and I was very happy to be so prepared. Fortunately, the initial line was under an overhang in the morning, so the 9:30 - 11am wait was relatively cool in the shade. I was far enough ahead that I was able to grab a spot underneath the only tree on the CFA lawn too, so I was further protected for another hour or so. The last hour of waiting (1-2pm) was pretty brutal, though, and even I wasn't feeling the greatest - especially after watching people left and right faint from the heat. Let's face it, a 98F cloudless day is not optimal for waiting 4+ hours outside, but what can you do? They had some sparse entertainment on stage, but by far the best was watching the secret service guys set up and patrol the rooftops.
I can't really fault Obama for being there after 2pm, though - he gave a speech in Youngstown just before 11am, apparently, and that's 1.5 hours away. Tight scheduling. Once he finally came to the stage, there was simultaneous relief and electrification in the crowd. At the beginning he made a joke about the White Sox and the Pirates which people liked; I liked his "I love you back!" quip to the many shouts of love from the crowd. The ensuing half hour speech was about what I had expected, otherwise. I found it very reasonable and mostly hinging on what he has accomplished thus far, which I think is a lot. I dutifully cheered when he mentioned keeping folks under 26 on their parent's insurance. :) He did seem tired and a bit raspy, not too many smiles until the end either. But he is a heck of a good public speaker.
(sidenote: they didn't put the seal up until right before he was about to speak, tricky)
It's not every day that you get to see the sitting POTUS speak right outside your office! Well, as a civilian, anyway. One of the coolest 98F experiences I've ever had, probably.
This 4th of July was much lower-key than in years past for us. We did make some good steak and mashed potatoes, though, and prepped some chocolate raspberry ice cream to make later in the week, so that's pretty exciting in itself! This was the first year CMU hosted their very own fireworks for the 4th of July, and they were really quite good! Not having to fight any traffic was a definite plus as well. The aftermath the next day was kind of surprising, but also interesting to look at.
Peter and I had a Groupon expiring, so we were further spoiled by a midweek dinner downtown at Elements. A seven-course meal is a pretty rare occurence!
And then, of course, was the real patriotic event of the week. Only on late Tuesday (after tickets had already been handed out to the greater Pittsburgh public) did we CMU citizens learn that Obama was going to speak on campus, right across from my building, on Friday. Crazy stuff! Since security was going to be tight, my building would actually be locked all Friday, so it was either attend or work from home. Seems like an easy choice to me. I went in and stood in line for tickets on Thursday (thank goodness they thought to have some for the students/staff), and did some more standing on Friday. I figured, at worst it would be a dry run for the Firefly Festival, since it was supposed to be very hot. I brought a bandana for dousing with water, water bottle, sunscreen, a fan, even a sandwich and banana in my purse...and I was very happy to be so prepared. Fortunately, the initial line was under an overhang in the morning, so the 9:30 - 11am wait was relatively cool in the shade. I was far enough ahead that I was able to grab a spot underneath the only tree on the CFA lawn too, so I was further protected for another hour or so. The last hour of waiting (1-2pm) was pretty brutal, though, and even I wasn't feeling the greatest - especially after watching people left and right faint from the heat. Let's face it, a 98F cloudless day is not optimal for waiting 4+ hours outside, but what can you do? They had some sparse entertainment on stage, but by far the best was watching the secret service guys set up and patrol the rooftops.
I can't really fault Obama for being there after 2pm, though - he gave a speech in Youngstown just before 11am, apparently, and that's 1.5 hours away. Tight scheduling. Once he finally came to the stage, there was simultaneous relief and electrification in the crowd. At the beginning he made a joke about the White Sox and the Pirates which people liked; I liked his "I love you back!" quip to the many shouts of love from the crowd. The ensuing half hour speech was about what I had expected, otherwise. I found it very reasonable and mostly hinging on what he has accomplished thus far, which I think is a lot. I dutifully cheered when he mentioned keeping folks under 26 on their parent's insurance. :) He did seem tired and a bit raspy, not too many smiles until the end either. But he is a heck of a good public speaker.
(sidenote: they didn't put the seal up until right before he was about to speak, tricky)
(^-- can you see him in the backround?! I wasn't very far away! // lots of debris --v)
It's not every day that you get to see the sitting POTUS speak right outside your office! Well, as a civilian, anyway. One of the coolest 98F experiences I've ever had, probably.
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