Soy to the World

I'll go right out and say it: the weather has absolutely SUCKED around here lately. If not for last week including Christmas and this week including my birthday and New Year's Day (and an extended weekend), well, nah it still sucked.

In the midst of it, one day when it WASN'T raining and instead just gray and overcast, I was treated to a pleasant smell: tofu!

I know what you're thinking. "Steve, what the heck does tofu smell like?" And those of you who know a little about tofu might ask, "How can something that is inherently flavorless have a smell?" Well, I assure you it does, and I rather enjoy it.

I was riding up Fairmount Avenue last week, when I happened upon the familiar smell (some claim smell is the closest sense related to memory) but couldn't figure out where it was coming from. Then, I looked to my left:

Nature Soy is all over Philly, restaurants and Asian markets alike, but I had no idea their factory was right in the heart of my delivery area. Kinda neat. Best of all, it's non-GMO!

Seriously, it's been a bleak couple of weeks around here. I've had to find simple pleasures to keep my spirits up...EAT MOR TOFOO.

The Blight Stuff

I've long been fascinated by urban decay (or urban blight) for some reason. There's no shortage of it in North Philly, where I work most mornings. Some areas are on the rebound, but sadly, blocks like this one on Oxford Street between 24th and 25th Streets are still commonplace:

You can see the red paint on the lower walls of the houses, vain attempts to cover graffiti and other vandalism. This picture tells a much different story in black & white:

Creepy, right? This block is right on the northeast edge of Brewerytown, which is actually experiencing a small resurgence in the last few years. Actually, I have some friends who moved up that way. Not here, though.

As I ride past here on a semi-weekly basis, I wonder what this block may have looked like in its heyday. You know, when the paint was fresh, families inhabited every home and children played in the streets. Now it sits as a desolate place where there is very little life, but this seems far less depressing than it must have been when each house would be abandoned, one by one, each a victim of the slow decline of post-industrial America.

But hey, even in the wake of loss, there is always new life:

I think that's enough metaphors for today. The orange postings are imminence of demolition. There's only one inhabited home in that entire row (that I can see), and the remainder of them are in no shape for dwelling. We'll see what happens...

The Coffee Crusader

A co-worker out of our Thompson St. facility recently quit, and I decided to take on his duties as morning residential cyclist in addition to my commercial route.

It's been enjoyable in some respects, going back to the way things were when Thompson first opened...other aspects, not so much. For starters, I'm waking up about an hour earlier and starting my shift about 2 hours earlier, so I don't have much time in the morning to get ready. I guess I could wake up even earlier, but let's not get crazy. 6AM is early enough.

Anywho, one of the positives is that I've been exploring new areas of the neighborhoods I frequent and revisiting places I haven't been to in months. Take for example, Front Street Cafe, located at the corner of Front & Master Streets:

I service Fishtown and Northern Liberties quite frequently, but until last week, I hadn't noticed this place, which opened in August.

I popped in here today 'cuz I didn't have time to make coffee this morning, but was sorely in need of a fix. I mean, it was in the 30's this morning, and even on a nice day, I don't feel quite right without a solid cup of coffee.

I'm glad I did. It turns out I may be stopping by here quite frequently, because they happen to serve my favorite brand of organic coffee beans: Counter Culture. Because it's good, it's hard to find, but I absolutely refuse to settle for La Colombe. Shit tastes like aluminum. So, this was a pleasant find on an otherwise dreadful Monday morning, which I won't detail. Focus on the positives.

Have a great week!

Saint Beeramin

Last week, I had this absolutely amazing beer from Saint Benjamin Brewing called Hopligation. If you can ever find it on a hand-pump/beer engine, I highly recommend it. It's absolutely one of my new favorite IPAs.

What does this have to do with biking, you ask? Well, I was enjoying said beer with a couple friends and they asked where Saint Benjamin brewing was located. I said "It's somewhere in Philadelphia, but I don't know where." I did the Google thing, and found out it's at 1710 N. 5th Street, which is less than a half block north from Cecil B. Moore Avenue, which I ride almost every day for work. I couldn't believe I missed seeing this place all this time.

So one day, I decided to take the two minute detour to find it, and then I understood why I missed it:

Very unassuming, right? I mean, breweries are usually pretty sizeable, but Saint Benjamin is about as micro-brew as it gets, so it makes sense. Yet another reminder to stop and look around once in a while. Ya never know what you might miss...I think that was a quote from Ferris Bueller's Day Off, or at least a rough translation.

Phone Tag

As I'm sure most cyclists will tell you, we find a lot of trash and other things laying in the street in our daily travels. Most of the time, it's small things like USB cables, phone chargers and headphones, and if they're use-able, I'll either keep them or donate them to Philly AIDS Thrift. But two days ago, I found a phone as I was riding up Fairmount Avenue:

ET phone homeless

So, that undoubtedly sucks for the person who this belonged to, but I did the right thing and turned it in to MetroPCS (I could see the service on the screen before I turned the phone off). I didn't think to leave my contact info to find out, but I hope they got it back...