Tag: people at work

Meet Harry “Good News” Gosnell

The People at Work Series grew by one occupation today. Meet Harry “Good News” Gosnell, awarded Top Volume Sales and Customer Appreciation at #1 Cochran Subaru dealership. Selling Subarus for 19 years is what he’s good at and he’s gotten to go on trips to Colorado, Scotland and San Diego

If you have to buy a car, (just thinking about having to do so made me cringe) Mr. Gosnell treats you the way he would like to be treated. Kind, courteous, respectful and positive all around.

At almost 170,000 miles it seemed unwise to invest a lot of money into my old car cause who knows what might fail next. I do a lot of highway driving, visiting my families in Ohio. Safety features are essential. It was a great reliable run for my 2011 Outback but it was time to commit to a new car.

Being an extremely satisfied customer at #1Cochran in Monroeville, I returned to buy another Subaru Outback. I learned that Harry gets terrific Google Reviews for his test drives. My purchase was his thirtieth sale this month, with six more days to make sales. He took the time to instruct me how to operate all the new high tech and safety features on the 2024 Model.

I asked if I could post his portrait as he made the purchasing a new car, a positive and smooth experience. I wanted to say Thank You, Harry. I know why you got recognized for excellent Customer Appreciation.

Tiny diamonds in the gold pin signify his achievements. There are ten!
Harry took my photo in my new vehicle.
Photo by “Good News” what an apt nickname

by Categories: cars, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , 16 Comments

Manna Pottery is All Painted by Hand

Meet Rezgar Mamandi who hand paints the beautiful pottery and tiles you see in the photographs below.

Manna Pottery was at Shadyside.. the Arts Festival on Walnut Street on Saturday.

The pencil lines will burn away when fired
Close up detail -all hand painted by artist
The colors even more vibrant in person
The tiles can be made in any size
Vases, bowls, mugs, tiles, teapots, plates, lidded jars .
All beautiful.

Watch this YouTube video to see Rezgar Mamandi paint and glaze a ceramic plate for a wedding gift.

From the Artist’s brochure
About the artist
by Categories: Art, People at Work, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 10 Comments

Pittsburgh Street Pizza

Meet Gavin, Pittsburgh Street Pizza Owner and Chef

I ordered a Margherita and a Mushroom Garlic Pizza. They didn’t take long at all and they were so flavorful.
The car interior smelled so good I had to eat a slice before I got home.
Fresh ingredients and the crust is superb.

Supporting local small businesses.

This afternoon Pittsburgh Street Pizza was set up in front of McWalker Yarns on Grant Avenue, Millvale PA. (If you’re not local you can still order yarn online but not the pizza 🥲)

Contact Pghstreetpizza to book for your next Pittsburgh event
Thanks Gavin for allowing me to photograph and include you in my People at Work series.
Wishing you every success in your new business.

And I didn’t even know what a ROCCBOX Oven was until this afternoon.

“The restaurant-grade portable pizza oven. Dual fuel, fire up with the convenience of gas or discover the flavor of wood for the ultimate pizza experience”

by Categories: food, People at Work, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , 12 Comments

Lauren Opens Moondust Salon

Meet Lauren in her brand new Moondust Salon which is housed in Sola Salon Studios on Liberty Avenue, Pittsburgh. There’s parking behind the building, you enter from Atlantic Avenue.

Today was opening day. I dodged a few Spring raindrops to document her new endeavor.

Lauren says

“I’ve been in the industry for 4 years. My passions are hair coloring and lightening. I always love challenges. The space is inspired by the movie Practical Magic and Stevie Nicks . I wanted to make a space where people felt comfortable, included, and heard. That’s why I do client applications where I can know hair goals, allergies, social anxiety needs, music/movie preference, and sensory needs.”

“I’m also cruelty free, non-gendered prices, and attempting to be eco friendly like offering a recycling program through my product Amika, to keep plastic waste out of the oceans and landfills.”

Phone number: Call or text 412.436.3446.

Email: moondustsalon@gmail.com

Website (up by April 18th) moondustsalon.com

Follow on Instagram #moondustsalon

Tools at the ready
A special card from a friend

A bouquet from a dear friend

Wishing you all the best, Lauren.

by Categories: People at WorkTags: , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

Built in 1900 But Looking Brand New

People at Work. Hard work.

NIcholas Karam leads the team at Karam Restoration of Natrona Heights. They can definitely take pride in their excellent work.

You can see from the photo below how  bright and clean looking the brick is now that it’s been restored and new mortar has been put in. They are good at Brick Pointing for sure.

They would arrive before the sun was up and worked in cold temperatures, long dark days.

Today they came and took all the equipment and cleaned up the place. Rinsed the brick again.   It’s a pleasure to pull up to the house and see it looking rejuvenated.  Plus the porch roof won’t fall down from the missing mortar in the columns. I was thinking the house was built in 1920 but went and looked again and it says 1900.

(Now if only my carpenter would finish the wood that needs to be replaced)

Thanks to Nick and the team for a job well done.  See below for the Before and After comparison photographs
Before photo/

Our first photo was four members of the team

by Categories: architecture, People at WorkTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 15 Comments

People at Work: Guitar Teacher

Meet Peter King, guitar teacher.  I’ve known Peter about 25 years and he invited me to photograph some of his students while he was teaching guitar- electric, acoustic, jazz, finger picking blues, rock- you name it.

You might have seen his photo on the blog performing with the Fast Friends Band.

Peter holds a Master of Music degree in guitar performance from Duquesne University, performs locally and has released several CDs.

I’m sorry to not have sound to accompany this musical post. 

A note from Peter King:

To paraphrase the old Peace Corps ad, teaching guitar is the hardest job I’ve ever loved! The cool thing is — not only do my students learn, but they end up teaching the teacher new tricks as well. What’s more, we have big fun while we’re at it!

Here are some of Peter’s students in his music studio during their lessons.

 

 

 

 

 

My favorite shot at the end of the second session.  My friend Janice (Peter’s wife) made a cameo appearance/photo bomb.

If you live in the Greater Pittsburgh area and you have always wanted to play the guitar, or brush up on your skills and repertoire, go to Peter King Music website and click on the lessons tab for more information.

by Categories: Music, People at WorkTags: , , , , , , , , , 13 Comments

Ice Cream Truck on a Summer Afternoon

Maura and I went to Staples today and the man in front of us was getting signs laminated for his business-  AN ICE CREAM TRUCK. I am nostalgic for the ice cream trucks of my childhood.  We discovered he would be in our neighborhood later after lunch so Maura and I went by the Highland Park Pool and saw some campers lining up to order cool treats.  When I met him in the morning, I’d asked if it would be okay to photograph him as part of the ongoing People at Work series and he agreed.

A minimum order of $20 and he will bring his truck to your game, fundraiser, company picnic, birthday party, sporting event, church socia or family reunion. You name it. He sponsors a lot of East End sports teams, too.

Maura had the water ice, cherry flavor and I had a classic ice cream sandwich. Perfect for a summer afternoon. As we left to get into our car Maura said it was great he didn’t play annoying music!

Meet the Youngblood family. James, Eric and Ziarrah. James told me he has been in the ice cream business for six years now.  He became self employed as he was having difficulty finding a job so put everything he had, plus a loan of a thousand, into purchasing the truck.  I asked him what he does in the winter,  Deep Fried Cornish Hens!  On a FoodTruck.

I will be sure to check that out. Stay tuned.

 

James, Ziarrah and Eric work as a team.

How about a Jolly Rancher Popsicle?

Campers and swimmers and families line up to buy ice cream or chips and a drink.

You can see me and Maura and his ice cream truck in James’ sunglasses.

 

by Categories: People at WorkTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 9 Comments

Guitar Doc Berlin

Along the Spree River, in a building covered in vines, you can find Guitar Doc. Here’s Anthony working on his 100th guitar. His father being a handyman was always working with his hands so when Anthony was small, he’d look over his shoulder and watch and learn.

There’s a Vintage Guitar Lounge where you can take an instrument from the wall display and test it as you sit and play. Listen to the tone, feel the heft of the polished wood, strum and pick the strings.

A good day for an addition to the People at Work series.

 

 

Guitar Doc
https://www.guitardoc.de/ along the Spree River

by Categories: Music, People at Work, PhotographyTags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , 7 Comments