December 2008 Archives

My apartment has radiator heat. It is plenty warm, but I am still learning the quirks of the system.

First of all, I spent a while wondering why my neighbors were clanking on the pipes. Then I realized that's what radiators do. They make noise. (Not sure if I should admit that. Oh well.)

I've also noticed it gets crazy dry in the winter in my apartment. I bought a humidifier. Problem solved, and my plants seem happier.

It seems like a lot of city apartments have radiator heat. Growing up, we had a coal furnace. Between the two, I'd pick clanging over the chore of keeping a fire burning.

So, I was pretty sad to hear that the coffee shop at Martin Library will be leaving.

I think my exact reaction was "but where will I get coffee??" That Sparky and Clark's was pretty darn convenient, what with it being directly across the street from my apartment and all. Granted, I didn't go all that often, but I never had any trouble when I did.

Today I needed to find some information about a particular neighborhood association, so I went to the city's Web site. But when I clicked on the page for neighborhood associations there, I found something new.

The Alliance of Neighborhood Associations has its own Web site! Looks like people have been commenting on it all month, so I'm a little behind. But they've got contact information for all of the associations, a map, a calendar of events, a blog and all kinds of stuff. It looks like it will be a great resource for people who are involved or who want to get involved. (It appears you have to be registered to access some of the material.)

Check it out here.

Eating here was on my to-do list.

I should have gone sooner. There is a large sign at YaYa's Restaurant, 887 E. Market St. put up late this week. There's been a smaller sign on the door for a while, but I didn't stop to read it until today.

The big paper sign, dripping with today's rain, announces "All restaurant equipments for sale. Walk-in or call 542-4405."

Shoulda, woulda, coulda.

I shouldn't have waited, especially in an economy like this one. Click on the jump to see a picture that makes me wish I hadn't skipped lunch today.

I left my apartment early today, before the trash was picked up from the curb. But I have my fingers crossed that all of the trash will be taken today.

See, last week, someone put a LOT of trash out at least one day early. Then it poured buckets of rain, so there were many soggy bags of trash spread all over the sidewalk. Everyone else added their trash on the right day, and theirs was picked up. The rest was left behind.

I hear the Avenues neighborhood is planning to serenade everyone with carols again this year.

Those participating will stroll the neighborhood with battery-operated candles for about one hour, starting a little after 6 p.m. on Saturday (unless the weather is bad).  So keep your eyes and ears open.

(New flag on a light post on the first block of North Queen.)

I noticed new neighborhood flags on my block this weekend.

Not sure when they went up, but it was a welcome addition. I am still learning all the names and boundaries of neighborhoods in the city. Does anyone know a place where I can find a map with the neighborhoods marked on it?

Speaking of maps, when's the last time you looked at a Pennsylvania map with a fresh eye?

There are so many little fiefdoms in our state. I was at a party this weekend where we tried to name all the state's counties. It's more fun than it sounds.

(This is the damage. The missing windshield is covered with plastic because, of course, it had to rain.)

The car is fixed.

All told, it cost $747 to repair the damage done by whoever decided to smash my back windshield late Saturday or Sunday. Happy holidays to you, too, Mr./Ms. Random Car Smasher(s)!

I can't help but wonder who these people are who keep smashing out windows in parked cars in the city. In my case they didn't steal anything. I can't imagine this was an attempt to steal stuff because you can't reach in to unlock my car door from the back windshield. Unless they have Mr. Gadget go-go arms, which is doubtful.

Not that there was anything worth stealing in there anyway. Just some old newspapers and empty styrofoam coffee cups.

It's worth mentioning that this isn't the first incident like this in my household.

My fiance's car was broken into a couple months ago. In that case they broke the driver's side window and then proceeded to pry open the trunk with a crowbar. (Why they couldn't just pop the trunk open is beyond me.) He moved here from North Side of Pittsburgh (Mexican War Streets), and we never had to worry so much about our cars there.

According to the York City online police log, there have been at least five broken windshield incidents this month. Why are these vandals so angry? Can't they appreciate how much these things cost to fix? 

I've never been to Rocky Ridge County Park to see the Christmas lights, and I've decided that this is the year to fix that.

Next week (Dec. 14-20) is city week, so city residents get a discount. I'm recruiting some of my city friends to tag along. Some of us were just remembering how our families used to drive around to look at Christmas lights when we were younger.

There's a coupon on the city's Web site that makes admission to Christmas Magic buy-one-get-one for residents. So if you're a city resident, next week is the week to go!

As I walked down the stairs in my apartment building to get some breakfast Saturday, I wondered out loud why it smelled like something was burning.

The answer: Nothing to worry about. It's just the re-enactors.

Every so often, the courtyard near my building turns into a Civil War camp complete with tents, campfires and the occasional sound of a musket shot. It's one of the weird but kind of cool aspects of living in a historic old town.

The camps take place behind the Bonham House on Market Street. A little Internet searching tells me that it's part of a Victorian/Civil War living history program launched by the York County Heritage Trust in 2005. The "living historians" in the backyard are portraying the 37th Georgia. It looks like you can tour the Victorian mansion, too.

Saturday seemed like a cold day to be a re-enactor. I'm not sure how many troops stuck around once the snow started falling. But check here and here if you want more info on the living history programs.

So, I became a statistic Sunday.

Someone decided to bash in my back windshield. The cheapest estimate so far is about $350, which does not include fixing the broken plastic behind the back seats.

I filed a police report Sunday late afternoon.

Share your outrage about these crimes. Little things add up. If there aren't enough resources to fight these quality-of-life crimes I'd like to know, so speak up. I like living in this city and want to stay.

For those of you who wanted to see the list of 21 strategic sites the York Daily Record identified in 1997, the story is here.

There's also a related story about what the mayor and the city's economic development director think are strategic sites now. What sites do you think have potential for the future?

Marilyn Hake, of the Olde Towne East neighborhood, sent this along:

Olde Towne East residents are having a "congratulations" party for the William Penn High School football team and their coaches on Saturday, December 13, 2008 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Community Resource Center on Reinecke Place. This is for residents and children of the Olde Towne East Neighborhood to thank the team for their successful season. The neighborhood is scheduling events to bring the neighbors together and celebrate.

Feel free to ship news and events from your neighborhood to me - amason@ydr.com.  And don't forget, you can post your own photos of neighborhood/city happenings on the City Living page.

Are we at the Hardware Bar or the Bourbon Street Saloon?

One of the most confusing things about the downtown nightlife scene has to be the Hardware Bar complex. It seems to be suffering from an identity crisis. Bars have changed names and locations several times during the past two years with little explanation. (Don't count on the Web site to help solve the mystery.)

 

 

Here's another snippet from a story I've been working on, updating on 21 "strategic sites" the city named 10-ish years ago.

One of the sites on the original list in 1997 was 31 S. Beaver St. Then, it was the GTE building. It was empty and used for storage.

The building has stayed in the phone biz. Verizon now uses it to house installation repair technicians and some employees from the network engineering group, according to a spokesman.

The building is a stop on one of Historic York's walking tours. The 1929 building was designed by Rhinehart Dempwolf in the art-deco style, which is somewhat unusual in York, according to Barb Raid at Historic York. Telephone operators and linemen are featured on the metal security doors, which were part of an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, according to an old Daily Record story. Raid said that in the 1980s, GTE wanted to take the doors off when they were trying to make the building ADA compliant, but the doors stayed.

Just another example of a building many people, including me, have probably walked by many times and never stopped to think about. (Although my boss has written about it over on his blog before.) I've been thinking I should sign up for one of the walking tours, I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I've been hunting for a good photo of the building. If I can find one or grab one myself, I'll post it.