Been a busy couple of days. Yesterday, we took a trip up past Greensburg, PA, to visit Joelle’s horse that she used to share with her friend back Stacy when she worked at CMU. His name is Skipper and they used to ride and take care of him, and one day after Joelle had moved to Arizona, Stacy learned he was going to be made into meat for human consumption, which I found shocking, and Stacy said “NOT ON MY FUCKING WATCH,” bought him, then quit her job and became an animal rights activist and worked to get that outlawed. At any rate, here is Skipper with the girls:
On the way there, I stopped at one of my secret places in Washington, PA, a tiny Mexican grocery which sells street tacos and burritos and is the real deal (I’m usually the only white person there and I look like I am standing among liliputians), and got some tacos and a Mexican coke.
I don’t tell anyone about this spot because I don’t want white people to fuck it up coming in there asking for unseasoned chicken or vegan refried beans and karening up the fucking place.
Today we headed over to have another visit with her mom and go out to eat. They took me to a local place called the Elmton Pizza, which apparently is one of those legendary places. It’s interesting (and that is not a passive aggressive “that’s interesting.” I really just mean it was interesting and not like pizza I had had before):
It’s also where Joelle’s father proposed to her mother, so that was neat. After that we went ring shopping, and since this is a small town, this also happens to be where Joelle’s father bought her mother’s ring. We looked around for a bit, and Joelle’s mother picked one out that she really liked, and Joelle like it to. We then left, and on the way home, her mother then told Joelle we should not buy a ring, that Joelle should just take hers, which was just “sitting in the kitchen- I haven’t worn it in years.” Joelle was over the moon:
I’m still getting a ring, but Joelle and I realized on the ride home after dropping off her mom that her mother had probably planned the entire thing- taking us to the same restaurant, then the same ring place, then casually saying “why not just take mine.” Those old ladies are crafty like that. Never take yer eye off them.
And, of course, we stopped at Handel’s ice cream and got a quart for mom and dad and a quart for us.
So that’s what we have been up to.
Fuck Republicans.
Baud
Married and on vacation, but still find time to stomp AL.
raven
Home of PONY (Protect Our Nation’s Youth) Baseball!
Suzanne
Is it Las Palmas? That’s the only good taco place I’ve found in PA.
lowtechcyclist
You mean Greensburg, PA.
Was wondering what you guys were doing in Georgia, then I figured it out.
Anne Laurie
@Baud: Nah, for once I knew this was coming. Just wanted to get the snark out of the way so Cole could have his time in the spotlight, which he uses so rarely these days!
JWR
Oh wow! Washington, PA. My mom’s hometown! Her branch of the family moved out here to CA in 1953, but I still have family I’ve never met back there. In the late 1960’s, my mom’s sister moved her family out here, and we were all amazed at how “hick” they all sounded. Do all y’all’s talk that aways, Johnny? ;)
Baud
@Anne Laurie:
You’re good people, AL.
raven
@JWR: I had a good friend here in Athens, GA that was from there.
raven
@lowtechcyclist: There is no Greensburg, Ga.
Another Scott
@raven: Tyop.
PA.
Cheers,
Scott.
(“Who was wondering how he got from GA to WV so quickly…”)
zhena gogolia
@Baud: Haha, just what I thought.
oldster
I’d try that pizza. It looks a bit different from what I’m used to, but promising nonetheless.
Nice story about the ring. If Joelle’s happy with it, that’s all you need to know.
HeleninEire
Great road trip. If you ever take a road trip East lemme know. My sister owns the best restaurant in all of Virginia. The Old Oak Cafe. Scruggs Road, Moneta, VA.
eclare
Those tacos look great!
Danielx
Wish I could recall the name of the Italian place I’ve hit in Washington PA a couple of times on cross country trips…checkered tablecloths and t o die for. Enjoy the trip!
Also too: I live in central indiana and have never ever seen anything like the smoke haze I’m seeing right now. Like 1966 Los Angeles, at least as I imagine it.
Just…gross. Awaiting the usual broadsides about how a) this is actually good for us, and/or b) we should invade Canada and take over everything, most particularly firefighting efforts.
frosty
Washington PA – stomping grounds of some of my family, although Brownsville would be closer to it. Mom grew up in Mt. Lebanon, just up the road. Someone on my maternal grandpa’s side got all involved with the Whiskey Rebellion. I’ll have to ask by genealogy researching cousin about it.
dexwood
I wish you both all the best in the years to come. Love, fun times, patience, understanding, health, and, most of all, happiness – says this guy still in love with the women he met on the night of July 4th, 1975.
Suzanne
So I’m sure Cole is talking about Las Palmas. It’s a local chain, and yes, it is good. File it away if you ever find yourself in western PA and do not want tacos with cream cheese, or some other white people bullshit that I have encountered here.
I will note that I live a block from one of the PGH locations and I see Mexican people there all the time.
John Cole
@Suzanne: Yes
Raven
@HeleninEire: We go to Smith Mountain Lake now and then!
geg6
You did not drive down to Georgia for the day. I believe you meant Greensburg, PA.
And everyone knows about Las Palmas. Washington, PA isn’t big enough to hide anything that good for long. And it’s not the only one.
Sister Golden Bear
Everyone says “awww” at the ring story. Like daughter like mother?
@Danielx:
My sympathies. Pro tip from CA where we’re all too familiar with wildfire smoke. Do not go outside unless you really need to, and wear a N95 mask if you do. A P100 mask is even better. At home, if you’ve got an air filter, especially a HEPA air filter, keep it running full time. Do not exercise or do heavy exertion. That shit’ll fuck up your lungs real good. Ask me how I know.
Omnes Omnibus
@Baud: Wait, what? The wedding already happened?
geg6
@Sister Golden Bear:
We’re supposed to have a red alert day tomorrow due to the Canadian fires. I’m 64 years old, live in a place that used to have one of the highest concentrations of steel mills in the country and endured some shit, but I’ve never seen a red alert day. All the local news stations are telling everyone to stay home if possible. Not me, I’ll go into work but limit outdoor excursions. We’ve never historically been much affected this far south of Erie that I can remember. I feel like I’m getting a minute taste of what CA residents deal with.
Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.)
Don’t let the gringos fuck up the Mexican place. You might let one or two know about it if you can really trust them. But that’s it. One or two. Any more than that, and they’ll ruin it. We have a Honduran place near us where I can get kick-ass baleadas, and everybody drives by it every day, but I don’t have to worry about any gringos fucking that place up, because gringos don’t know where the fuck Honduras is, or what Honduran food is, and even if they did, they’d be too scared to try. You have to be careful with Mexican places though.
Ceci n est pas mon nym
I don’t think you’re in danger of anglos overrunning the Mexican place. Two stories:
First time I had a business trip to California (Monterey) I decided I was going to have real Mexican food when I got out there. I was on a lunch break back at my motel. Asked the desk clerk for a recommendation. “Sorry,” she said, “there isn’t a good Mexican restaurant within 15 miles.”
Got back to my room. Found several maids taking a break nearby. Asked them the same question. “We don’t speak English” they said in Spanish. So I repeated the question in Spanish and got a very enthusiastic response. “Oh yeah there are three good ones right nearby”. One of which was literally across the street.
Second story, also Cali. Was working a job on the naval base in San Diego. Used to cut through the Mexican quarter to get there. One day I noticed a shack that always had a huge line of customers, virtually all Mexican. After that I stopped there at least once a day. Amazing food. Tried several times to coax any of my colleagues to join me there but they simply couldn’t handle the idea. Their loss.
Lyrebird
@geg6: Please do mask up, like Sister Golden Bear suggests, to keep your “taste” of the hazard minimal. I’m several hours northeast of you, and when we had the haze, I grabbed a leftover KN95 mask, and it definitely reduced the stinging.
Mousebumples
@Omnes Omnibus: I thought it was next fall…?
eclare
@Danielx:
Wow, I can’t imagine. This is all from wildfires in Canada? How far south is it predicted to go?
Suzanne
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.): I think it’s okay. Two of the PGH locations are in Beechview and Brookline, which are city neighborhoods with significant Mexican populations. They get white people, too, but plenty of Mexican clientele.
Lyrebird
I don’t speak nearly as much Spanish as you do, clearly, but yeah, I worked for a national laboratory in the southwest. 90% of the cafeteria workers there: Spanish speakers. (ETA: It was the kind of cafeteria where you have to ask staff people to hand you things or put stuff on your plate, lots of interaction even before the cash reg.) Jiminy crickets, was I shocked to see Anglo coworkers who had been at that lab for decades who did not even know which times of day Buenos Dias & Buenos Tardes are for. Cafeteria regulars. Sheesh.
eclare
@Sister Golden Bear:
The smoke isn’t here (yet), but thank you for the advice. I have my 95’s from covid, which I still wear in big stores. Need to replenish.
Martin
@Sister Golden Bear: Yep. It’s always remarkable to me how the military bases here as soon as it gets hot, or smoky, are pretty quick to restrict outdoor or strenuous activity – way faster than the general public.
There’s a temptation by folks to see this for the first time and charge out there thinking that one time won’t hurt them. Yeah, maybe. But this won’t be the only time. We’ve had bad fire seasons here where you’d get hit by 3 different events, sometimes for a week or more. And getting it year after year.
We’ve normalized mask wearing, so wear a mask.
Seefleur
From the point of view of a person in a 42-year marriage (with an additional 2 years of cohabiting – to get the kinks out, donchaknow) this is one of the most romantic posts EVER!! I’m sending my best “you go get the best life for the twoayouse” vibes your way. Salut!
Also, it was great being able to read such a lovely post by the jackal host.
Betsy
This is great and very fun to read about.
cain
@Lord Fartdaddy (Formerly Mumphrey, Smedley Darlington Mingobat, et al.):
That’s how I feel about Indian food. Indian food becomes super popular because it’s spicy and caters to Indian people. Than the white people show up and they can’t take the spice so they end up blunting all the spice and turning it into a mediocre place.
Of course now, we got “indian spice” and “white people spice” – so now we don’t have to compromise. :)
kindness
Like reading someone’s diary.
HeleninEire
@Raven: Go to the Old Oak Cafe!!!
Gin & Tonic
Great food pics, but I wonder what Adam’s nutritionist would say (unless you’ve already fired her, of course.)
Martin
@cain: Good rule of thumb for Mexican restaurants – if goat is on the menu, you have a real place. If not, it may be very good, but it’s probably not where the locals eat.
LesGS
@Sister Golden Bear: The reason why one of the big California tech companies (can’t remember which one) was able to donate thousands of N95 masks, at the beginning of the Covid pandemic was because of the CA OSHA requirement that employers have those masks available in case of smoke from a major fire. We also, as San Diegans, had a stash of them, just because.
Given your nym, you probably know this…
Blue Galangal
Congratulations – that’s a wonderful story!
Jackie
@Omnes Omnibus: Engagement ring 😁
Jay
@Gin & Tonic:
there are no calories in good taco’s,…..
Ruckus
@eclare:
Those tacos look so good I’m going to have to make tacos for dinner. My family has been making them since I was a kid and I’ve been making them the same way for decades. So off to cook….
CaseyL
You two are having so much fun! It’s delightful to see. I love the story of the ring.
Kudos, many many kudos, to Stacy for saving Skipper.
Martin
@LesGS: I told my employer in Feb 2020 to break out the emergency supply of N95s. We had a few thousand in a shipping container with our other emergency supplies.
Ruckus
@Martin:
We used to eat in a restaurant in San Gabriel called Ponchitios, it’s now closed, they ran out of generations to run it. Amazing Mexican food, but not stand in line type of food, sit down restaurant type food. When you walked out the front door you were looking at the historic San Gabriel Mission. Some of the best food I’ve ever eaten.
laura
The Blogfather is going to get married and fall in love so hard it’s going to be bigger than that whole ‘where’s the frog in this pond’ craze from a few years back.
(Just to be clear, this advice is for those effected by the wildfire smoke and not the newly engaged) Chiming in from not as of yet on fire NorCal to add my voice to the chorus of advice to wear the absolute best filtering N95 type mask, avoid any non-critical activities, if you’ve got an air filter crank it up, keep your doors and windows closed and just reduce your physical movements to a minimum. the particulate matter is pernicious and you need to take all manner of precautions to protect your heart and lungs. When the air clears, consider replacing your home air filters.
Omnes Omnibus
@Jackie:
I was reacting to Baud’s comment.
Princess
There’s a place in Pittsburgh, in Beechview, that sounds like your taco place in Washington. It’s amazing.
ETA after reading the comments: Ha! It is the same place, sort of. It’s a Las Palmas. Didn’t know it was a chain.
cain
@Martin: We have goat in some of the indian restaurants – but I never eaten goat in the U.S. or in India. I’ve been to a number of mexican restaurants here in Oregon that have goat on the menu. I’ve never been brave enough to try :D
The Up and Up
I heard of amorous happenings of the Blogfather at a meeting of the Seattle Jackals in April. Congrats.
A creative writing professor I had always championed love. Once quoted to the student newspaper there needed to be “more love and less Republicans.”
cain
@laura: I think Joelle realized that he’s a catch and has made sure that she claimed him before anyone else has. :)
prostratedragon
@eclare: Don’t know how far south, but just heard on local news that effects are being felt in Spain, in Spain! Seems here in Chicago was world’s worst air for the day, and I’m staying in till the weekend.
Sister Golden Bear
For those in smoke-saturated areas, I definitely recommend going beyond an N95 mask and getting a P100 mask, the kind used for painting. The post-apocalyptic look will complement the post-apocalyptic skies.
Seriously, when we had the orange skies here in the SF Bay Area back in 2020, I wore one whenever I had to go outside — and wore an N95 inside the house. Still had to get an inhaler from my doctor when it was over so I could breathe decently while my lungs recovered.
JCJ
@Danielx: Waukesha, Wisconsin hit a high AQI of 393 today with visibility of 0.75 miles. It is awful in this area
CaseyL
@cain: Goat is delicious, but there are so many little bones. Also, I always feel incredibly guilty eating goat, because they’re wonderful animals. Keep hearing ghostly little baas.
RandomMonster
I’ll say it again: I love Relationship John.
Ramalama
I’m in Quebec province, not in Val D”or or the other bits on fire (along with at least one town under water and the only escape was through the burning forest), but aside from those folks, I think America has gotten it worse at least air-quality-wise. Couple yellow days. Couple more hazy where I’m at but nothing really compared to far north or far south. Wonder what gives.
Very cool ring and horse story.
Tinare
Las Palmas. The original one opened in my neighborhood. Not sure I would call it a chain per se. It’s a family owned business with four locations. Four brothers, I think.
rikyrah
Awe…
The ring…
Yeah, it was planned🤗😍
rikyrah
@RandomMonster:
🤗🤗❤❤
Steeplejack
Sister Golden Bear:
Completely fucked link. Fixed: P100 respirator.
mvr
Just happy that you are well.
Another Scott
One for the punsters…
A “root vegetable” is a vegetable with administrator privileges.
You’re welcome.
(via https://mastodon.social/@delong)
Cheers,
Scott.
CapnMubbers
Consider having your vehicle cabin air filter or filters changed if you’ve driven much.
I know the mask works; I slept in an N95 mask the month I spent sleeping in my car after the Paradise fire and changed it more than once in the daytime. My face was coated in black particulate matter up to the edges of the masks but relatively clean under. I still had to up my use of an inhaler.
sab
I am in NE Ohio and the air smelled very toasty today, even with intermittent rain. Absolutely no warnings from public health officials. We are not that far from Pittsburgh, so I assume our guys were remiss
ETA Took a walk today and started coughing. Wished I’d worn a mask, which is weird when there has been rain.
prostratedragon
Another Scott@66: As if one would express thanks for that.
sab
How old is Skipper? Horses live a long time compared to cats and dogs, and their elder care is expensive and sort of demanding. My younger sister is realizing you can’t just retire your old horse. You can’t keep him in the house or yard, and if you sell him someone will eat him.
Cats and dogs die at home in your bed. Horses are off in a barn somewhere.
Redshift
@sab:
That sucks. We’re getting the smoke in the DC area tomorrow, and our weather forecasts had warnings and showed a map of it over Ohio today.
sab
@Redshift: One of the jokes among Ohio viewers is that the weather person stands in front of Ohio facing west to discuss the weather on the Plains, and then stands in front of Ohio on the map facing east to discuss the MidAtlantic, at no point discussing Ohio which they are standing in front of all through the broadcast.
VeniceRiley
It’s my emigration anniversary, and also Reggie’s first birthday! Very pleased so far… But the cost of living crisis is real. As is shrinkflation. Such small packages, man. I cannot with these tiny jars of pasta sauce. WTF. I’VE LOST WEIGHT THOUGH!
Cole, I am glad you sound so happy.
projectn95.Org is where I got my strapless stick on masks and they’re great.
Jay
30 years of having go bags packed, some days we could not see Edith hill. (rural F1V), one real road out.
Every spring, I would drive out and clear the 2 alternate 4×4 routes. Chainsaw the downed trees, fill in the water ditching of the roads with a shovel. Cleared our firebrakes. Doing controlled burns.
Used to be July to September, the last year, 2020,it was April to October.
Masks people,
Air purifier indoors.
Don’t try to tough it out.
eversor
Nice tacos! We have a great truck by us that White Women are constantly trying to ruin by demanding vegan options and diet sodas. Which is all really funny because most people that work there, and go there, do not speak english! The people that run it are straight out of Mexico city and they cater to all the construction workers building the place up. They also only serve up spicy sauce, limes, radish, and cucumber as a side, is no other option don’t ask them.
The SO loves them to death and she is always there for the lengua (tongue tacos). It’s also smack next to the low income housing area and people just stand around it and eat with the whole family. Quality stuff.
Stay their long enough and invariably some white lady in yoga pants will come up, read them the riot act about a lack of vegan options, complain the sauce is to hot, use the dreaded LatinX and then storm off. While everyone laughs their ass off shortly after. Karen’s gonna Karen.
Our new hot fast foodish place is Peruvian chicken and it’s a great thing (been here for a good long grip but I just dragged the SO to it). Though we did have to deal with a friend asking if they had vegan options the last time we went there and she was along. No, they don’t. We can go to a vegan place after and grab some, but this place only has chicken. All they have. It’s right on the sign. The question is how many chickens you want. Also fries or plantains, or both, as a side, with the chickens! Like the taco place it’s strictly cash only and nobody speaks English and the food is glorious.
Think I will go get a chicken tomorrow. It will be yum.
NotMax
Looks for all the world like a Costco pizza. Only with more grease.
NotMax
@cain
Goat is far and away the most commonly eaten mammalian meat worldwide.
opiejeanne
@NotMax: My daughter tells me goat is delicious. We were at a little hole in the wall Mexican joint recently that had birria on the menu, but it was beef. I was a little disappointed but the taco I got was very good.
LiminalOwl
@opiejeanne: Goat is delicious, and for those who care about such things: goat meat is lower in fat than chicken and higher in iron than beef.
I miss the Trinidadian curried goat from our old neighborhood (there was Jamaican too, but I like Trinidad’s spice mix better). But then I look at goat pajama party videos and am glad to leave the gulit behind.
Nukular Biskits
Was that a REAL Coke made with sugar?
During my first trip to Japan, I discovered the Coca Cola there was amazing and was told that they use real cane sugar, not corn syrup, as the sweetener. The difference in taste is amazing!
I think I recall a similar experience when spending a few days during a port call in La Manzanilla, Mexico.
And, mom & pop “hole in the wall” restaurants are the best!
Nukular Biskits
@John Cole:
Long time reader, mostly lurker, semi-occasional commenter. A lot of us Jackals (Many? Some? Just me?) have no real lives and live vicariously through you.
I know you could justifiably tell me to “go google it your fucking self” but could you consider doing a short post about led to this state of bliss?
lowtechcyclist
@Nukular Biskits:
Here you go:
https://balloon-juice.com/2023/02/15/howdy-folks/
Barry
SE MI here. I could taste smoke yesterday. Detroit was heavily hazy, and some things had to shut down.
BruceFromOhio
Needed this post real bad. Thanks, John.
Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony
@Martin: My rule of thumb is menudo, rather than goat.
satby
@Barry: AQI of 231 this morning in S. Bend. Yesterday it went as high as 271, today and the rest of the week predicted to stay in the danger zone too. We may get rain tomorrow and I’m really hoping that cleans out some of the smoke.
satby
@Sister Machine Gun of Quiet Harmony: Love goat, big nope on menudo.
Nukular Biskits
@lowtechcyclist:
Damn, I must be going senile. I remember that now!
Thanks!
WhatsMyNym
@Nukular Biskits:
Costco imports real Coke, with sugar, from Mexico. You can look for the white label stuck on a glass bottle.
Elizabelle
Enjoyed the latest prenuptial report. Best to you and Joelle. Making a beeline for a Las Palmas when next up in PA.
pluky
Tacos, pizza, and ice cream?!?!?!
Living well, clearly!
mrmoshpotato
LOL!
eclare
@mrmoshpotato:
I don’t even understand this attitude. It would be like going to one of those Brazilian steakhouses with all the meats and complaining about the lack of tofu. That’s not why you go there!
Chief Oshkosh
@The Up and Up:
C’mon, man! That should be
ETA: Harumph!
J R in WV
Late to the thread, but wanted to express my congratulations to the happy couple!!
So obviously carefully plotted by Joelle’s mother, but of course you need two rings, an engagement ring AND a wedding ring. Using a family wedding ring seems like a great compromise and you get to pick the more flashy engagement ring.
I finally got Ms JR in WVV a flashy emerald cut stone at a big mineral and gem show in MA, and used a pair of diamond stud earrings on either side of the big green stone … couldn’t hide the project, was a big investment setting the stone with platinum, she wears it 24/7 except for trips through medical scanners…
Our wedding rings were bought at the shipboard px, and worked well back in 1971, though lost to the ages, they are still working all these years later on.
. Remember one thing: “If MAMA isn’t happy, no one is happy!”
Best wishes from our hermitage in Lincoln county.!!!..
dnfree
@eclare: Sometimes it happens that a vegetarian or even a vegan is one of a group of people going out to eat. It’s been my experience that almost any restaurant will make an effort to accommodate, even if something isn’t on their regular menu. Most places can at least come up with a salad! But I have been to places that go out of their way to be rude to vegetarians: a couple of steak houses, and one Greek food stand that refused to make gyros without meat.
dnfree
Duplicate
Joelle
@sab: Yes, Stacy has been providing retired horse pasture and barn life to Skipper for many years now. There is a chance he may not pull through from this surgery if they were unable to cut the infection out. yesterday he was doing well post-op. Most would have put a horse as old as Skipper (40ish) down instead of the $$$ surgery. But Stacy is going to give him every chance she can until he runs out of chances.