#CMU igloo club #Pittsburgh
LOL UPMC donated $10M to #Pittsburgh for more ambulances, so we're living on the charity of a hugely profitable nonprofit because they don't have to pay taxes.
Bus was on time despite the snow. Yay! #pittsburgh
#Pittsburgh needs 123 snow plows for "full and adequate" response, according to our controller. We have 95, of which 50 are currently down, so only 45 of the necessary 123 exist and are operating. Meanwhile they say they have "dozens" of contractors out, like that makes up for this staggering incompetence.
Seriously considering suing #Pittsburgh to get our alley they can't be bothered to maintain back, along with a fat tax break to maintain it.
Alex Akselrod
boosted
"The #Jewish #Solar Challenge ( #JSC) has awarded grants to nine Jewish organizations across #America to purchase and install #solarpanels.
This year’s grantees include seven temples, one camp and one Jewish school:
Congregation Sons of Israel in #Nyack, #NY
#Westchester Torah Academy in #NewRochelle, NY
Bet Torah in #MountKisco, NY
Temple Hillel B'nai Torah in #Boston, #MA
Temple Emanuel in #Newton, MA
Temple Emanuel of #SouthHills in #Pittsburgh, #PA
The Temple (Hebrew Benevolent Congregation) in #Atlanta, #GA
Congregation Bonai Shalom in #Boulder, #CO
Habonim Dror Camp Gilboa in #BigBearLake, #CA
“We are honored to help such an incredible group of organizations across America make the transition to #solarpower,” said Jewish Solar Challenge Founder #MitchellSchwartz."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jewish-solar-challenge-announces-newest-140200831.html
So they've finally started plowing in #Pittsburgh, but very few side roads are done, and in many places they've only plowed a wide enough path for a single vehicle to get through, probably because they're using contractors driving pickup trucks with plow attachments rather than real snowplows. And there's way more traffic out today than yesterday, so in many ways things are actually worse.
"The #Jewish #Solar Challenge ( #JSC) has awarded grants to nine Jewish organizations across #America to purchase and install #solarpanels.
This year’s grantees include seven temples, one camp and one Jewish school:
Congregation Sons of Israel in #Nyack, #NY
#Westchester Torah Academy in #NewRochelle, NY
Bet Torah in #MountKisco, NY
Temple Hillel B'nai Torah in #Boston, #MA
Temple Emanuel in #Newton, MA
Temple Emanuel of #SouthHills in #Pittsburgh, #PA
The Temple (Hebrew Benevolent Congregation) in #Atlanta, #GA
Congregation Bonai Shalom in #Boulder, #CO
Habonim Dror Camp Gilboa in #BigBearLake, #CA
“We are honored to help such an incredible group of organizations across America make the transition to #solarpower,” said Jewish Solar Challenge Founder #MitchellSchwartz."
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/jewish-solar-challenge-announces-newest-140200831.html
The government of #Pittsburgh is at emergency levels of incompetence.
Sure would be nice if #Pittsburgh had the number of snow plows it's supposed to have, and kept a reasonable fraction of them operational. Maybe our mayor might have received a second term if he could get that right.
There are two guys shoveling the entire sidewalk on our street right now, one with a snow blower. That's #Pittsburgh for ya. People come together here. We gave the guy with the shovel a cup of coffee and he shoveled the path to our front door too!
Snow didn't come yesterday, it got here while I was asleep
Only about maybe 8-10cm so far
Power just went out
Power's back on #snowBastard2026 #pittsburgh #doNotLike
-16 here in #pittsburgh and the snow ain't even here yet
I just used a hashtag, that's how weird this weekend is gonna be
I'm even gonna ask what hashtags folk are using for this #snowbastard2026
No snow here yet, none expected until the evening. Temp has climbed to a balmy minus twelve. We've gone to one of the better local libraries to stock up on books 'cause we're sure as hell not going anywhere tomorrow.
How're my other #pittsburgh folk holding up
Kinda feels like the city's holding its breath
-16 here in #pittsburgh and the snow ain't even here yet
I just used a hashtag, that's how weird this weekend is gonna be
I'm even gonna ask what hashtags folk are using for this #snowbastard2026
Saw an unmarked black SUV with regular PA plates and lights in the front windshield parked by the emergency entrance at #WestPennHospital, along with a second police car where there's normally just one parked. Not sure what unmarked #Pittsburgh cruisers look like.
#Pittsburgh is the most affordable city to buy a house in in all of the US. And also a great place to live!
https://www.axios.com/2026/01/19/affordable-homes-metro-income
Here's to getting #ICEout of the #Pittsburgh area
Jess Mahler
boosted
LICENSE ISSUED: I am officially a Pennsylvania LPC! 🐺✨
I am vibrating as I write this, but it is official: I am Joan Elizabeth Burgos, Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), License No. PC019845.
The Board meeting happened yesterday, the "Educational Transcript" hurdles have been cleared, and I am now fully authorized to practice in the State of Pennsylvania. I have already notified the recruiter at my dream UPMC job, and so... here we go!
Where I Stand Now: For months, I’ve been a "whispering wind," feeling like my value was invisible while I fought through the darkness of poverty and bureaucratic static. But today, I won.
No, WE won! All the barriers are gone, and I could never have held out this long without you. Without ANY of you. Whether you gave $400 or $5, I know what I was asking, and I know that you've given all that you could, and OMG I may finally be able to start paying it all back by GIVING rather than RECEIVING soon!
Well, there is only ONE potential hurdle left, and that's the literal cost of movement.
I still need to navigate interviews and onboarding logistics. IF I get my dream job (a high probability), then after a week, I will be so good and so safe as I finally start welding some disconnected pieces of my life together. But if I don't, things'll just be a little harder a little while longer. It's not forever, but I hope I get my dream job and all this comes to an end sooner.
Transportation costs in Pittsburgh (Lyfts to hospitals, transit passes, and basic survival until that first paycheck hits) are the only things left between me and a career where I can finally be a full person again. I am so close I can taste the stable, independent life ahead of me. If you can help me cross this final gap, I can finally stop surviving and start building.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/ellis-emergency-fund
https://cash.app/$CeruleanArc
https://venmo.com/joanburgos
Thank you for seeing me when I was discouraged and when I was at my worst. And for helping me stay in the fight until the stars aligned.
Now, then.
Let’s finish this.
#Pittsburgh #LPC #TransHires #NeuroDivergent #AuDHD #ActuallyAutistic #BPD #MutualAid #TransCrowdfund #MutualAidPgh #Transportation #Writer #TherapistsOfMastodon
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LICENSE ISSUED: I am officially a Pennsylvania LPC! 🐺✨
I am vibrating as I write this, but it is official: I am Joan Elizabeth Burgos, Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC), License No. PC019845.
The Board meeting happened yesterday, the "Educational Transcript" hurdles have been cleared, and I am now fully authorized to practice in the State of Pennsylvania. I have already notified the recruiter at my dream UPMC job, and so... here we go!
Where I Stand Now: For months, I’ve been a "whispering wind," feeling like my value was invisible while I fought through the darkness of poverty and bureaucratic static. But today, I won.
No, WE won! All the barriers are gone, and I could never have held out this long without you. Without ANY of you. Whether you gave $400 or $5, I know what I was asking, and I know that you've given all that you could, and OMG I may finally be able to start paying it all back by GIVING rather than RECEIVING soon!
Well, there is only ONE potential hurdle left, and that's the literal cost of movement.
I still need to navigate interviews and onboarding logistics. IF I get my dream job (a high probability), then after a week, I will be so good and so safe as I finally start welding some disconnected pieces of my life together. But if I don't, things'll just be a little harder a little while longer. It's not forever, but I hope I get my dream job and all this comes to an end sooner.
Transportation costs in Pittsburgh (Lyfts to hospitals, transit passes, and basic survival until that first paycheck hits) are the only things left between me and a career where I can finally be a full person again. I am so close I can taste the stable, independent life ahead of me. If you can help me cross this final gap, I can finally stop surviving and start building.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/ellis-emergency-fund
https://cash.app/$CeruleanArc
https://venmo.com/joanburgos
Thank you for seeing me when I was discouraged and when I was at my worst. And for helping me stay in the fight until the stars aligned.
Now, then.
Let’s finish this.
#Pittsburgh #LPC #TransHires #NeuroDivergent #AuDHD #ActuallyAutistic #BPD #MutualAid #TransCrowdfund #MutualAidPgh #Transportation #Writer #TherapistsOfMastodon
2 media
Jess Mahler
boosted
These have been really difficult days. It's easy to feel no hope when your locus of control is zero. When you have no income, your locus of control is zero. In a capitalist society, this makes you, by definition, little more than an NPC, incapable of anything but scripted responses (unless you want to be seen as a crazy person, which I am tired enough no longer to mind).
Also, I'm sure that if you die, instead of accountability, somebody gets experience points.
Your compassion and generosity have been a lifesaver in these days. The first time I tried to get into Pittsburgh, I learned the bus ran only in the early morning and in the late afternoon. Incredibly, it was only 10 AM, and already my day was ruined. That was Wednesday.
Thursday, I was broke. And it was Thanksgiving. On a day celebrating the genocide of American Indigenous people, I considered the ways in which capitalism is designed to force us to destroy ourselves when we can no longer serve in the people-grinder that is the American workforce. It is a day to remember all that we must fight for and against.
I'm not sure when I was reminded about Venmo's existence for the second time, but I was dissociating so intensely that I ended the night as Joan with Pip, Carmen, and Chaz so exhausted they passed out. And I started getting this really bad headache that hasn't really gone away since. But Venmo existed, and you had come through for me big time. I could end Thursday much better off than I started it. And now, I think maybe I'll be OK for a week or so. As long as I don't get hit by too many surprises like the transportation one on Friday (see below).
At some point I got half the Budget money back, but my account is now overdrawn by $400, and now by $35 less thanks to a new GoFundMe donation that just came through. (I'd talked about this before in short, but I fought so hard for this that I'm still tired about it.) I'm not optimistic we'll get that checking account cleared soon, but I'm happy it's not as daunting a prospect now. The GoFundMe goal is currently to clear this final $400 deficit so I can use my bank account again.
https://www.gofundme.com/f/ellis-emergency-fund
#MutualAid #Pittsburgh #PublicTransit #SystemicFailure #TransCrowdfund #WritingCommunity #Capitalism #ActuallyAutistic #BudgetRentACar #Solidarity #PovertyTax
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