The Steel City

I wonder if somewhere in Pittsburgh they have a Superman statue. I would. Except I hate Superman.

Here's pictures of my trip: pictures of my trip

So here's the story: I got free tickets to this Schizophrenia conference (because I'm a med student and was remotely interested, so they waved the 50 dollar fee.) Pittsburgh is 3 hours away, which is just about exactly the distance I'd be willing to go for a conference. 3.5 and I would've stayed home.

The trip there was uneventful. I widdled my ChrisMix 08 from 200 to 100. I ate Donettes (my preferred car food.) I regretted having to wake up at 4, but enjoyed not having to wake up at 5 and go to work.

The conference itself was pretty good. Most of the speakers were doctors, but we also had some advocacy groups, schizophrenic patients etc. I kind of got lectured out around 3 so the last couple presentations were lost on me. Oh well, I won't get my patients to quit smoking, or whatever the last guy talked about.

I wanted to do something fun while I was in Pittsburgh, but the fates conspired against me. I had a couple museums that looked interesting (Mattress Factory, an Internation exhibit at Carnegie Melon etc) but they all closed at 5. In retrospect I should've left the conference early and visited them. You live and learn. I contemplated driving the extra hour to Fallingwater, but it would've been dark, and it was freezing.

I did visit Mt. Washington, which is kind of a suburb or Pittsburgh that is 400 feet higher than the city. It was pretty nice, but it was freezing outside (15 degrees maybe) and I was just in my shirt and tie (and pants, if you were wondering) so my exploring was pretty brief.

Driving home was a nightmare. Combine driving in a new urban environment with the first ice of the season, with stupid drivers, with steep hills, with a poor sense of direction. Those sum up to a 5 hour drive home. Oi. Thanks to the Spaniard for guiding me home. She was rewarded.

Go to Pittsburgh some time. It's probably better than you think.