'Burg to 'Burgh: Day 1

It's our first weekly lab meeting, intended to discuss our objectives for the next week each Friday. We plan a schedule for working on our project (discussed in a later post) and review the papers we've read. Dr. Ruder mentions an old colleague of his who's "a pro" at creating microfluidic systems via soft lithography and happens to be holding a workshop on the 10th. In other words, her research fits in well with our goals, and learning to recreate what she does will help us better understand our project. Mentioning that her lab is up in Pittsburgh, Ruder then asks us, "Are you free this weekend?"

The next morning I'm on the road with my two co-workers. The drive's five hours, but considering the 18-hour Illinois trips I'm used to, it was nothing. We stayed at my fellow Scieneer Sean Hardy's house in Peters Township, about a half hour's drive from the city. Although the workshop was held on Monday the 10th, we left on the 8th so that we could spend a day exploring the city.

Peters Township is a suburban area with your basic shopping outlets, chain restaurants, and an excellent school system; definitely a good place to raise a family. Sean's dad owns a good deal of property in the area, and judging from his memorabilia and the fact that we caught him right after a game of golf, business is going smoothly.

That's "Mean Joe" Greene's autograph second from the right. I couldn't try on the sweat-covered jersey, though.

We decided to look into a local candy store called Sarris Candies, a small business started up by the late Frank Sarris in nearby Canonsburg. Sarris started the business developing formulas in his basement, before starting up his own store, which to this day refuses to expand, still run by the Sarris family. The interior looks like what you'd expect in a candy store, save for this modern marvel of chocolate engineering (which will probably be offered as a major here at VT in 2016):

I really hope the AC never breaks down in here.

Would I want Head Chocolatier on my resume?
Absolutely.

Sarris's shop has raked in countless small business awards and continues to be a major player in the community, supporting countless local teams and schools. Signatures of countless celebrities and athletes line the walls, some frames picturing Frank Sarris greeting them. It's definitely worth a look if you're in the Canonsburg area, as it's a place that really gives off that "Small Town America" feel.

Oddly enough, the whole place was staffed by  18-20ish-year-old girls. Nice one, Sarris.

Cheers,

Ben