patty made fun of me for sleeping in until 11:00, when in fact i was thinking about how early i was having to wake up. she made us fancy french toast which was really good.

jen and i took off for the 'home and garden show' in downtown pittsburg, which is where giffin interiors had built the frank lloyd apartment. i took some pictures on the road.

we parked downtown and decided we wanted to eat some more before we went to the show, so went to a great italian place in the strip. it was a cool family place (our waitress addressed the cook, "hey dad"). very tasty, and cheap.

the homeshow was a short walk away. it was full of everything you'd expect to see in a home show. i was looking to see if anchorwall had a booth. every other retaining wall place in the world did, but not anchorwall. i was hoping my "i made your website" status would get me an extra free pen or something. oh well.

we really walked straight through the whole deal to get to the frank lloyd wright exhibit and then left immediately; we didn't have much interest in the rest of the show.

wright designed an apartment complex for pittsburg called 'pointview' which was to look out over the point at which the three rivers join (now occupied by three rivers stadium). for whatever reason, the building was never built. however, the blueprints have been around in books for years.

giffin interiors, the company created by jen's uncle gordon, actually built one of the suites for the home show. the line to walk through it was 20 minutes long, and it wasn't very big. i think we were only inside for about two minutes. all the same, it was great. it was so much better and different from any other apartment sized living space i've ever seen.

it's a shame the place was never built; it was swank.

after leaving, we had some time to kill, so we drove around pittsburg and the surrounding area for awhile. it really is a pretty town. jen says it was unusually clear today, however. because of the ever present steel industry, there is a lot more steel in the infrastructure than in any other town. lots of brightly painted old steel bridges. it has a unique feel to it. old, rustic - literally.

on the south side, we found a store that was apparently selling pimp outfits. the guy in yellow has a shiney 9-milli.

we went home for a bit but left quickly to go have dinner with jen's aunt and uncle, deb and gordon. gordon's the one who owns the company jen and her dad work for.

and he's loaded.

his house, while perhaps not decorated in my favorite decor, was full of cool gear. one of his sons, andrew, has a nice music studio in his room including a 12 channel fostex. *drool* 56 inch TV, hot tub, computers for every family member. it would be nice to be that wealthy.

some day, perhaps.

we had a great dinner with tuna steaks, reagular steaks, salmon, chicken, yum. they're great people. the conversation seemed to concern me and my life a little more than i care for, but then again i guess i was the guest (of honor?) so that's ok.

his other son, drew (?), was very interested in 6.270 and i showed him the website.

i noticed after i got home that i hadn't shaved in forever, so i had this big ugly beard thing growing. embarrassing for a first impression, but oh well.