Uniontown, or: San Jose 1, United 1

 

The Gah in Uniontown was fine. Spent some time with my favorite aunt (I was a seven-year-old ring-bearer at her wedding; Planet was a five-year-old flower girl at her daughter's wedding), some time with a favorite uncle (whose birthday was the occasion for the event), who'd take me and Elric on long-drives around Fayette County when we were kids, at whose gas station we pumped gas during summers when we were teens.

Drove through downtown Uniontown afterwards with Earthgirl and Planet, one way east then one way west on Business 40. If the one person I know in Blegsylvania who grew up in Uniontown reads this, both Earthgirl and Planet found Uniontown "charming" and "cute." Looked ghost to me, but my formative memory, from when I was a ten-year-old kid, is Uniontown as vibrant, bustling, especially westbound on 40, a treat to visit after days of boredom in Republic.

Here's the church my parents were married in, St John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Church:

My mother's mother didn't attend because it wasn't a Roman Catholic church.

Afterward, on way back to New Stanton (as close to Uniontown I could book a decent hotel) we went five miles further north on PA 51 to Fellsburg to see the house my mother grew up in:

Much fixed up since last I saw it. New siding, new fence, air-conditioner, front and back porches re-done - for the first time in my fifty years it doesn't look like a house built in the early 1930s. I can't believe the basement is still dirt floor or the fruit cellar is still used as a fruit cellar.

And holyfuck, there's a shopping center and a Sheetz at the corner of 51 and Fellsburg-Donora Road, the entire stretch of 51 looks different except for this:

If me and Elric and our cousins behaved and begged enough Elric's father or uncle would take us putt-putting and then for soft-serve ice cream right next door.

Speaking of Planet

we picked her up in Richmond Indiana Saturday morning before driving back to Uniontown. The stay was a success; she learned many of lessons we hoped the experience would teach her, not least of which to remind her how brave she is. She's glad she did it. She's a remarkably together kid.

The first thing my uncle asked me after I wished him a Happy Birthday was how Planet liked Earlham, told me what a great kid she is, asked me how I ended up such a lucky bastard to have such a great kid considering what a shit-teenager I was. I was asked the question by at least four other people, including my favorite aunt.

O! San Jose 1, United 1. Didn't see it. Apparently the problem is not fucking MLSNET, it's my fucking new laptop. Anyone know what "Debug Error = 4004" means and how to fix it? And this doesn't exonerate MLSNET for not responding to a request for help.

Hah! This from a running commentary of last night's Phunion - Chivas game my eyes serendipitously caught as I was scrolling past it in google reader as fast as I could:

65th Minute - BIG SAVE!! Fred with a breakway after a ChivasUSA turn over and Thornton comes up big to make the stop.

Fredsux! Some consistency in the universe.

Finally, your Fourth of July song. If anyone can read Chinese and tell me which is the button to get the embed video code, let me know.