Located just north of the Pantano and Broadway intersection, this local sandwich shop comes as close as you can get to Philly while still being 2000+ miles away (they even import their rolls from a Philly bakery).

I picked the chicken cheesesteak with peppers and provolone and Lauren picked the veggie with mushrooms and provolone. Both were quite excellent tasting albeit a little greasy (what do you expect from a cheesesteak?). The staff was courteous, service was prompt, and food was very enjoyable. As the name states, it’s a hoagie (sub, grinder, po-boy, sandwitch on a long roll, etc…) and cheesesteak place and there isn’t much else on the menu. After asking where the owners were from, we learned that they moved here from NJ, so the food is as close to authentic as you can get.

The two of us ate for just under $20, placing it on the more affordable side of local, non-fast-food eateries but on the high side for a pair of cheesesteaks and drinks. Regardless of the price, we would certainly go back again.

With gas prices reaching $4 a gallon and filling the tank costing me ~$42 weekly now, I’ve been thinking of how to lower my costs and still be able to get to work to make money. I would certainly consider riding my bike to work, regardless of the 18 mile distance, but the lack of protection for riders on most streets through Tucson makes it quite hard to justify. I’ve met too many people who’ve been hit or know someone that’s been hit here to feel comfortable regularly riding the city streets.

Tucson does have plans to add “bike lanes” (read: widen existing roads to have a larger shoulder area) to many roads throughout the city, but the drivers here don’t respect the lanes and will often drive in them for long distances to illegally avoid traffic or make turns. Drivers here also have the bad habit of not looking out for riders that are in the lane and will cut them off and stop in front of them almost daily. On many main streets, city buses are allowed to drive the lanes as well, which null-and-voids the intent of a bike lane in the first place. Another boondoggle that I’ve witnessed is that, though the city intends to build many miles of new lanes, there have been very few actually put in since I moved here almost three years ago.

I’ve frequently though that Tucson could benefit from protected bike lanes and, with any luck, this experiment in NYC may make other cities play copy cat. I’d bet adding protected bike lanes through the city for bikers would, on top of enabling people to bike throughout the city, also cut down on car traffic.

For more information about Tucson’s bike programs, check out the TDOT’s website. There is lots of useful information about biking there, including maps and Tucson-specific biking laws.

[Washington Post Article found via Bike Hugger]

With the SPF numbers getting higher and higher each season (we bought some spray-on SPF 70+ today… who’s ever heard of a number so high?), how long will it be until we see Krylon start making spray-on sun protection?

I can see it now: SPF 1000+ spray-on sun protection, UVA/B/C and all future UV frequencies discovered are protected against without reformulating, prevents rust, comes in almost every color that their paint lines comes in (so that you can better match your outfit), prevents dings and dents with a hardened protective layer, and doesn’t come off while swimming and showering (in fact, you’d have to use turpentine to take it off). It would sell like hot-cakes… maybe…

So, a few weeks back, my desktop computer decided to stop booting. It was quite frustrating (as any computer geek without their computer can tell you).

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