To the woman driving the white Lincoln Mk. Z on the Greensburg Pike this morning, just so you know, being in the oncoming traffic lane to pass me on my bike does not exempt you from the stop sign at Penn Avenue. Oh, wait! It was 5:45 in the morning. You probably blow through that stop sign every morning.


 

I was stopped at the intersection of Grant Street and the Boulevard of the Allies when a fire truck from the Strip District turned left from the Boulevard onto Grant in direct violation of the illuminated sign indicating "No Left Turn."

The car right behind him turned as well.

And the car after that.

And a truck after that. His window was down so I pointed at the sign:

Geis: "The sign says No Left Turn."

Scofflaw #4: "I know that."

Geis: "Then why did you turn?"

Scofflaw #4: "There's a detour back there."

Geis: "But the sign HERE says No Left Turn."

Scofflaw #4: "I know that."

Geis: "But you ignored it, anyway. The sign says No Left Turn."

Scofflaw #4: "I know that."

The guy in the truck behind him, who had also turned left and was still blocking traffic, didn't look at me but laughed.

Geis: "And you laugh and break the law, too. What's wrong with you people?"

Then, two people drove through the light coming off of Second Avenue because they had been delayed by the five people turning left against the sign. Only after my light had been green for some time did the intersection finally clear and I was able to proceed with what would pass for safety.

If I were in a car.

So, in all, seven people broke the law because they were too self-important to go down to the next intersection to turn legally. This is one intersection during one cycle of the light. Multiply that during the several hours of "rush hour" across all the intersections of the city and you have no reason to wonder why people think riding a bike might be a little bit dangerous.

And this parade of idiocy was lead by a city fire truck. Good job, men. Good job.

 

When I was leaving work on Friday, the last day of the G-20 Summit, the scheduled parade organized by the Thomas Murton Center was underway through the center of town. I could see that the cops were almost shoulder to shoulder along the route so I expected that I would not be able to get through. Going around might be problematic as well. At Sixth and Ross I spoke to an officer about the odds of my getting through to the Smithfield Street Bridge. She said the way was blocked. I asked if there was a way around the parade and she said that no, there wasn't.

Now, I could have taken her word for it but I know Pittsburgh. There are plenty of ways around, especially being on a bike. I went up Sixth and it curved around to Fifth Avenue. Yea, this is Pittsburgh, so Sixth Avenue intersects with Fifth Avenue. I was able to ride down Fifth for a block back to Ross and then had to turn left. It looked like the parade was on Grant Street for a block before turning to continue on down Forbes so when I got down to Ross and Third I asked the officer there whether I could get through.

"On a bike. Sure. No problem. Can't say what you'll find at the other end, though."

While I talked to the helmeted officer (county sheriff, I think), a National Guard solder was standing behind him with a grimace on his face the whole time. Perhaps he was trying to look menacing but I thought he just looked constipated.

Otherwise, it was clear sailing. The parade was severely contained and there were only a few spectators. It was nothing like the quarter of a million crowds that lined the streets for the Super Bowl and Stanley Cup celebrations. I think the cops outnumbered the protesters.

I spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out at the Hobby Shop listening to the action on the police scanner. Actually, there wasn't much action. A few times, black shirted and bandannad anarchists got around behind the cops but there were only a few of them and, in such small numbers, they were no more a threat than any vandal.

Too bad.

 

There were SWAT guys standing behind the fence at the jail, National Guardsmen blocking the Grate Street offramp and a State Trooper with concrete barriers at Forbes Avenue. There were some other streets and sidewalks blocked that I had to go around but there was otherwise no issues with my rolling through town to get to work at 5:20 this morning.

My coworkers who had to drive in were saying how there was absolutely no traffic. Those who rode in on busses didn't have any problems except that they had to get off the bus outside the Golden Triangle and (oh, the horrors) walk the rest of the way.

The call volume has been extremely light. Sure, a lot of people have abandoned the city but there are still all the people in other branches and offices east of the Mississippi River who should be having all the printer, network and password issues they always have. And all those people who don't normally use remote access who have been clogging our phone lines in the weeks leading up to this. Out of the 30-some-thousand people we support, only about 3000 have bugged out. Where are the other 20-some-thousand people. They can't all have suddenly solved all their problems.

I talked to the Tactical Manager and he said that a corporate wide email went out saying that only business critical issues were going to be addressed. That means that a huge number of people are sitting on their hands, expecting that if they call they won't be taken care of. I dread the call volume on Monday. It will be like the entire back took a four or five day weekend and came back only to realize they have forgotten all their passwords.

The Tactical Manager has started a poll. I guessed we'll take 2500 calls. He thinks we'll beat our Day After New Years 2007 record of 2800.

After work, I rode through town looking for any action. There was none. There wer cops massed at various locations just standing around. A few curious people walking around. Some people on bikes. Several pedicabs.

The hobby shop was similarly boring. All the regulars that were in yesterday for new comics day were nowhere to be found. We sat for the rest of the afternoon listening to my police scanner as the action built in Lawrenceville, Bloomfield and the Strip. Even that didn't seem so bad. A few hundred people who were fairly easily broken up to become smaller groups of vandals.

Maybe they will organize more action in town tomorrow but Pittsburgh is like a fortress so I expect protests to flare up back in the Strip or the North Shore. Maybe I'll ride my bike over there tomorrow afternoon to see if I can actually witness this historic event rather than just hear about it on the radio.

 

On the way into work, I saw that there was a huge amount of fencing set up around Schenley Park and a pre-positioned "Road Closed" sign on Boundary Street at the bottom of Jonciare. It looks like all of Schenley Park will be a no-access security zone on Thursday when the President has dinner at Phipps Conservatory. A Secret Service press release confirms this, saying the closure will start at 9am Thursday. That means I'll be able to get to work on my normal route but will have to find some other way back.

I think I may try Greenfield Avenue up from Second, and across the Greenfield Bridge and then into Squirrel Hill.

There is also a lot of that fencing along Grant Street, preparing for the security zone that will go up around the Convention Center. The map at g20safety.org doesn't make it clear if Grant Street is going to be closed at that point or not. I am guessing so. How this will affect my ability to get to work is yet to be determined.

I will have plenty of time, however. I was at the office with a full 45 minutes to spare this morning so I should be able to manage any detours I might have tomorrow.

Of course, getting in to the actual office was a different matter. My swipe card wouldn't let me in. It would seem that, since I normally don't work until 7:30, the card is programmed not to let me in before 6am. A coworker opened the door and let me in but if I'm supposed to work at 6:00 I should be able to open the door before that.

The rest of the day was pretty boring. A typical workload at work but it was nice to be able to dress casual instead of business casual. Hanging out at the hobby shop at work was uneventful as well. A regular patron, who was also a professional photojournalist (or, at least, had a huge camera loadout and official press credentials) had been out and about taking pictures and photographed nothing exciting.

The City has declared a state of emergency. Ostensibly, it is to deputize all the municipal cops imported into the city to help out but I wonder what other powers have been granted? Has all the fuss over the mask and "thoughtcrime" laws that the city wanted to put into effect before the G-20 Summit been superseded by "we can do what we want because it's an emergency" powers? I have read reports of jaywalkers and bicyclists without lights being stopped and harassed. They say "we're enforcing existing laws" but what they are really doing is using minor infractions to turn everyone into a suspicious person and giving themselves the excuse to search anyone they don't like the looks of.

I'm sorry, but "I don't like the cut of your jib" is not a valid reason to stop someone.

 

On the way in this morning, I saw a fox in Junction Hollow.

I also saw that several Jersey barriers were pre-positioned near the Bike and Blade station under the T near the end of the Eliza Furnace Trail. I wonder if they are going to be moved to limit access or block it completely. According to the g20safety.org they should allow pedestrian access and, if not, I'll only have to go a block to get around it.

At the corner of Grant Street and First Avenue, they have a number of barriers up to keep truck bombs and other vehicles from ramming the front to the PNC Firstside Center.

They have greased the flagpoles at Mellon Plaza to keep protesters from climbing the flagpoles and, well, something. The worst I can imagine is them taking down the BNY/Mellon flags and putting up something else.

At the USX Plaza, a number of barricades have been removed because, while they were the post kind that is reasonably efficient at blocking vehicles, they were merely screwed into their bases with thick, threaded rod. Protesters could easily unscrew them and employ them is some nefarious and destructive manner and so, they had to go.

Security at my office has closed most of the entry doors and moved their desk right up to the front. But, aside from the security guard not being able to figure out how to open the handicap door, I had no problem bringing my bike into the building to then lock it up to a chain link fence in the parking garage.


 

They have pulled the three bike racks that sat at the end of the Eliza Furnace Trail at Grant Street and First Avenue. I suppose someone was worried about anarchists using them as barricades or battering rams.

I also see that the plaza at USX has pulled all their tables and chairs.

 

According to g20safety.org:

"Pedestrians and cyclists may go about their daily business Downtown with little disruption unless they are traveling within the United States Secret Service's security perimeter."

There is a checkpoint at 5th and Ross but, if I read the regulations and map correctly, that is only a checkpoint for vehicular access. As a cyclist I think I should be able to roll straight onto Grant Street off of the Eliza Furnace Trail. It will be easier that usual because Grant will be closed to unauthorized vehicular traffic. Or will it? At 5:30 in the morning I didn't expect a lot of rioting to be going on.

 

'Face of an ambassador', TRIBUNE-REVIEW Monday, December 1, 2008

When my house was burglarized, the perpetrators also stole my Guy Fawkes mask. I stopped by Spotlight Costume the other day to finally replace it.

Now I'm ready for the G-20 Summit.