u/southphillydadbar

I know it's a hot one because I'm STANDING IN the hot one.

I may get dragged for posting this.. I live on a very narrow South Philly side street. There is a sewer vent in front of the house I rent. Over years of people parking on the sidewalk (I'm guessing) the cast iron cover has broken.

I didn't really notice it until one of my neighbors down the street came banging on my door. He immediately launched into how it's a tripping hazard and I need to call the city and get it fixed ASAP. I let him know I'm a renter and would notify my landlord and he said "I don't give a fuck if you rent." It was a very strange conversation. The guy is kind of a dick and is constantly milling around smoking and muttering to himself about this or that, and he has 2 or 3 busted up cars that just permanently live on the block. But I have no history with him other than this.

I let my landlord know, and on brand for her the response was basically "ok thanks." I did not see it as an emergency given how many of those caps I see straight up missing; and also given the fact that the broken piece of the cover still fits snugly on the vent.

Anyway a week or so later I was walking down the block and the neighbor guy confronted me and said "why haven't you gotten that fixed yet? Someone's dog is going to trip on it and break its fuckin leg" etc. I told him that I had notified my landlord and that it was on her to address it but that I would look into what can be done about it.

Then this morning I woke up with the broken cover piece on my front steps.. The only way it would have ended up there is if someone physically removed it and put it there. Like it's just really weird behavior.

Having done a little research I see that those grates can be bought for pretty cheap at Home Depot, and that there are also like caps you can buy to put over them? I don't trust that my landlord will address this issue and it's not enough of an emergency to really press it - and at the end of the day she'll be the one getting ticketed if the city decides to do so. But at the same time I don't want to be a shitty neighbor and I'm also sick of dealing with this annoying guy. I'm reasonably handy and if this is a quick fix I'm willing to just take care of it myself, but I'm not willing to take on a whole sewer infrastructure repair project on a rental house. I was born and raised here but have never known much about these things or their purpose.

Will attempt to post pics of what it looks like at the moment.

https://preview.redd.it/lf8fjmpsjq8h1.jpg?width=768&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=8400c94bb1330beaaad818556d63b3f85f75f693

I've been going to Philly pride for years, I've been to Pride celebrations all over, from Oklahoma City to Málaga to Cape Town.

Yesterday's Pride in the gayborhood was one of the most unpleasant Pride celebrations I've ever attended.

Now don't get me wrong, I had fun being with friends. I crushed one too many frozen pina coladas. But the vibes outside were absolutely awful. There were police EVERYWHERE and they were mostly just standing around looking on disapprovingly. It is unacceptable to me that so much of the area was left open to car traffic. I was at Knock and it was just nonstop angry drivers honking at the hordes of drunk gays wandering through the intersection.

The barricades absolutely everywhere?? The fact that they shut down the 1300 block of Locust to car AND foot traffic which created a horrible claustrophobic crowd crush feeling in the Camac alley.

And then the way they swept the crowds at the end by randomly barricading all the major corridors and then barking orders at people who didn't understand what was going on. I saw these two queer younger kids nearly brought to tears by an officer who screamed at them to "just keep fucking moving" while forcing them down the sidewalk.

It was pandemonium and it was ALL the police's fault! I grant that Pride always attracts a lot of opportunitistic teens who come down just to cause trouble but the only drama I personally saw this year was engineered by the police. I agree the event needs a police presence but the way they handled things this year felt downright dystopian. Philly deserves better.

Note: this is NOT commentary on Pride 365 or the parkway event which had nothing to do with what was going on the gayborhood.

I never drove on it much but started having to take it for work and it is the fucking wild west over there. The speed limit is 35 but people fly down it going literally 70+ mph especially in the direction of the 95 ramp. And if you go any slower people will honk and tailgate and flash their lights and pass you in unsafe ways. Sometimes traffic comes to a sudden stop because cars are backed way up at the intersection. It's nuts and genuinely feels unsafe. Is this a case of "the posted speed limit should be higher" or is there a real need for traffic calming measures there?

Wawk sign is awn ta crawss Wawnut.

... the man riding a huge fat tire ebike down the sidewalk on Broad and "walking" his two intact male pitbulls while shouting at people to get out of his way.

fuck these antisocial scumbags

And I'm not even talking about the quality of their food or the fact that it's owned by a violent MAGA thug. The way they allow and actively encourage people to park up and down the entire underpass and all over the sidewalk is a travesty. I've been on a crutch lately but was feeling a little better so I decided to walk to FDR Park and had to walk in the road for that entire stretch. Fuck me, I guess?