A Drinking Town With A Football Problem

"Never use money to measure wealth, son."
-Print Ritter
Broken Trail

It's been great to be in Pittsburgh the last few days, albeit under less than optimum circumstances.

TheSpecialOne and I came to town to make additions to my will, although there were things I needed to add which I forgot about until we met with the attorney, and I needed to redirect some items which I had bequeathed to Al.

We didn't discuss any of the specifics in advance which, when all was said and done, seems to have been a good thing.

There was never a question in my mind, of course, as to whether TheSpecialOne would sit in on the meeting, which turned out to be meetings, with the attorney. I value her counsel highly and she'll be receiving a large portion of my estate.

Looking at what I had designated to go to Al and considering different people to receive those items I ended up juggling several things, directing individual pieces go to different people than those I had originally specified.


If you're going to live under my roof you're going to live by my rules.

That's a tune that played only once in my house. I moved out at 16 and was emancipated.

A lot of people, most perhaps, would have fallen in line instead of turning their back on a trust fund, which by any measure would be considered sizable, but compromising my freedom for money wasn't an option that I could swallow.

In the long run it turned out to be a good decision, if for no other reason because I've developed a good relationship with my parents over the years.


I still have a handful of friends living in Pittsburgh and, as it so happens, TheSpecialOne has a few sorority sisters who moved here over the years.

After the Last Road Trip it's nice for both of us to spend time with old friends.

The one thing I haven't and won't be doing is talking with any of the clients I have here and I had to tell one of them exactly that when we ran into him at Jerome Bettis' Grille 36.

That's not exactly true. It wasn't the client, but one of her employees.

I made time to take care of every one of my clients while we were out on the road so I was aggravated when this guy didn't graciously accept the fact he'd have to wait until I return to Black Squirrel Run to deal with his question related to something I asked him to do about a month ago.

I was out to eat with TheSpecialOne, one of my buddies and his wife and one of her sorority sisters and her husband. Dealing with this joker wasn't something I was in the mood for.

It took all of 30 seconds for me to get my fill of the cretin.

I told him that if he wanted to talk we could sit down as soon as we finished with dinner. All he'd have to do is pay me ten times the hourly rate I normally charge his company, that he'd have to pay for one hour regardless of how short a time we sat there, guaranteeing him it wouldn't be an hour, and that I'd need to be paid in cash at the time we started.

That was the end of our conversation.

Later I found that his boss had left a message on my voice mail. She apologized for his douchebaggery and said that he was no longer working for the company.


We've been staying with one of TheSpecialOne's sorority sisters who lives on Mount Washington not far from the Monongahela Incline.

I love Mount Washington.

It wouldn't be an exaggeration to say that I've looked down on the City of Pittsburgh from Mount Washington a thousand times. I can tell you, though, without hesitation, that it's a view I never tire of seeing.

This was actually one of the places that I considered having my ashes spread, but I decided to go with a different location.

It's details like that I decided I needed to get down on paper after the Last Road Trip.


It's tough to be in Pittsburgh when the Steelers are at Training Camp and not go to Latrobe. My priority, though, has been to get things squared away with my will.

I expected to be able to do that in one appointment, but as it turned out we had to see the attorney three times.

We were due to return to Black Squirrel Run today, but have had a change in plans.

The World Golf Championships - Bridgestone Invitational is being contested in Akron, Ohio. My buddy, who blogs at The Lives and Times..., lives nearby in Canton and he's a big golf fan so it seems like too good an opportunity to pass up.

We're heading to Canton today and going to the practice round tomorrow. You can't shoot photographs during the competitive rounds so, for my money, attending the practice round when you can take a camera is a can't miss opportunity.

Photographs by Kilroy_60