Car love

I think my car has finally kicked the bucket... or is circling the drain. It was towed to the mechanic in the town where I work, where it awaits a checkup (its second this week). The engine was crapping out on me when I idled at lights. Not good. I am sad. I had grown so attached to it. I had worried about it's death at one point last year (when the engine was making the car shake violently, turned out to be a simple fix). The idea of having to get a new car stressed me out so much. I sat at my office computer, eyes glazed over, pondering the infinite choices- but not wanting any of them.

I'm also wondering about the commute now- like how I can do it with no car and wildly inconvenient commuter rail trains.

Tags: cars, auto, death, machinery, commute

Your (friendly) neighborhood sex offender

Thanks to this article, I learned about how through some nifty manipulation of GoogleMaps, you can find out how many sex offenders live on your block. (I'm declining to say how many I found near my house). Before you get all freaked and start egging houses (or worse), remember that a large portion of victims already knew their molester. I do feel a bit conflicted, since I'm usually for the right to privacy. I guess for now I'll just chalk it up to 'better safe than sorry'.

(via Fleshbot)

Tags: sex offenders, neighborhood, map, crime, danger, victims, privacy

Criminal minds are wondering.....

ATM Stolen from Dorchester Bar

At approximately 4:15 this morning, officers from District 11 responded to the D Bar on Dorchester Avenue for an alarm sounding. Upon arrival, they observed the rear door wide open with damages done to the lock. When the owner arrived at the scene, he told police that the ATM machine within the bar had in fact been stolen. It contained between $11,000 and $12,000. The incident remains under investigation.

(via BPD News)

This begs the question- how easy is it to get the ATM open to relieve it of the cash inside?

Tags: criminals, ATM, money, things I ponder

You can tell me what to do when you grow a uterus

Just as I thought- when South Dakota decided to screw over the women who live there by taking away almost all of their reproductive rights, it may now be possible to get help with an unwanted pregnancy from incest or rape on the local Native American reservation, where the state has no jurisdiction.

Tags: choice, reproductive rights, South Dakota, idiots, scary white men who have too much time on their hands

Babies as birth control

I think my neighbors (downstairs? across hall? can't tell) are Ferberizing their stupid kid. Either that or they're just neglecting a crying baby. Please don't get the idea that the kid is being abused. The little pooper cries loud enough, and often enough, for me to be able to tell that it has different cries (I'm guessing one for 'hungry', one for ''wet diaper', one for 'turn that fucking music down, you're damaging my developing ears'). I imagine that if a teenager had to listen to all this wailing, which seems to increase at late at night (my old job had me home during the day and I never heard much from the kid), they'd never want to have sex. Hmm..Babies as birth control....

Tags: babies, Boston, city life, neighbors, noise, birth control

Boston goes green

I braved the crowds and Boston's reputation for hooliganism on St. Patty's Day and made my way to Quincy Market late last night to go out with some friends. It is amazing what some people will put up with in the name of celebrating drinking. Some bars were charging $30! The friends and I ended up (after a moderate wait in the freezing night) at the Union Oyster House. I actually had a decent time. The place was not too crowded, understaffed, or playing Irish music. The bartenders were pretty talented too, making yummy drinks and not making customers wait too long.
Among the things I did encounter last night:

-As we waited in line, the friends and I spotted this girl licking the shaved head of a bald guy through the window of the nearby Bell in Hand bar. Then she got on his lap (facing him) and began rhythmically moving up and down. I'm all for freedom of sexuality, but there was something kinda disturbing about this (maybe it had to do with licking some guy's head?). We pondered if she was wearing and skirt and wondered if they were doing the nasty in full view of anyone who walked by. Then he put his hand up her shirt, causing much muffin top to be come visible. I guess it's all fun and games until someone takes a picture and puts it on the internet.

-Overheard in the ladies room at the Oyster House- one girl says to her friend "...I can't believe you just threw up on me!"

-The 21st birthday of a pair of cute twins. Their friends and family had made up t-shirts for Mike and Brian's birthday pub crawl. Once they got out and saw the lines, they opted to stay at the Oyster House.(I think those were their names, I admit to being kind of tipsy last night). The back of the shirts said something like "remember when..." followed by lines like (and I swear I'm not making this up) 'Brian bit Mike. And mom bit Brian" and "When papa said 'they were triplet, but one died'".

Tags: Boston, St. Patrick's Day, Irish, bars, drinking, night life, stupid adventures, crazy

An education that pays

Roommate's school was on CNN this week. He teaches at a local high school that had the bright idea to pay students for perfect attendance, but only if it was perfect for all four years. They've since revoked the policy, but it seems someone neglected to tell CNN that.

Tags: Boston metro, high school, experiment, teacher, class, education

What is post-gentrification?

For my corner of Jamaica Plain it means that the yuppie-to-gangsta ratio is a favorable one.

Tags: Boston, Jamaica Plain, urban life, JP, gangsta, yuppie, city life, urbanity

Retail death

I went to Filenes in the Chestnut Hill Mall over the weekend. It was sad. But I got a pair of shoes for $14 and a $60 purse for $20.

Tags: Filenes, retail, shopping, Boston, chain stores, department stores

Lights and sirens

There are at least two ambulances idling in the parking lot of the apartment complex. And I saw a fire truck a few minutes ago. I keep hearing the distinctive low hum of the fire engines (I grew up down the street from a firehouse).


I hope everyone is OK, as we have more than a few senior citizens living here.

Rites of spring

Sometimes a new season can be beautiful and full of promise, yet at the same time be sort of horrifying. If I had background music for this time in my life, it might be The Rite of Spring by Stravinsky. Growing pains can be tough. Lots of changes have taken place in my life in the past few months.
I love it when spring arrives. At the same time the beginning of a new season kind of depresses me, as it is a reminder that another block of my life is behind me. And I can't have that time back. I am forced to wonder if I am any closer to being where I want to be... or who I want to be. Sometimes I just take a look and think "what happened?"

Tags: life, seasons, change, spring, renewal

I tag, therefore I am

I am loving del.icio.us, the tagging program/website/gadget/obsession. Every time I search for something on it, I ponder what we might learn about random people based on what they tag ....

Tags: tags, bookmarks, del.icio.us, randomness

Car life

I am spending way too much quality time with my car these days. I know that, as an American, I'm supposed to be loving it, but I just don't. Mainly because of the crappy ergonomics of cars that were designed for the average 5''10 man. Am awaiting a spare moment to breathe and get all the daily errand crap done that I need to do.
I have to admit, I do like having weekends back. It was sort of refreshing to be able to go out with my friends and have a life again on recent weekends.
The town the new job is in is absolutely adorable. If I were partnered with kids I'd love to live ther. Kind of reminds me of where I grew up, but a bit more rural.

Tags: life, work, commute, stress, cars, highways

Organize me, please

Sometimes I think that between iCal, 30 Boxes, Palm Pilots, wall calendars, and any other tool that is supposed to help me organize my life simply end up overwhelming me, as I spend too much time making sure that they're all synched.....

Tags: life, organization, busy

Baby protests music

I think that the loud neighbors in my building had a baby (I've never
met the woman who lives there, so no way to tell if she was pregnant
when they moved in). It's a screamer. But the funniest part is that I
think the kid is protesting their taste in music. Every time they put that crap on, it begins to scream. As much as I dislike this child (and the way it cries at top volume every single night), I can't argue with the kid's taste in music.

Tags: neighbors, music, city life