The joys of unemployment (sort of)

Yes, my blog will again deal with the topic of unemployment. (And the little things that make me feel better about my situation.)

Anyway...

Now that I no longer have a job, I no longer have a commute. No more commuting means that I won't be as bothered by the movie being filmed on Centre Street in West Roxbury.











One of the catering trucks I passed was imported all the way from Sylmar, California. (At least that's what the side of the truck said.) Seems kind of silly to bring a basic catering truck across the country. Unless it's a prop.

Anyone know what EOD stands for?

Who're you calling a giant inflatable rat?

Newton Roofing, apparently.

As seen on Providence Highway in Dedham this morning.

Rural Wrentham

This morning I saw a man riding right through Wrentham Center on a small John Deere tractor. Tractor* Guy wasn't going very fast, but seemed to be obeying traffic laws. Reminded me of The Straight Story (except that the the guy in Wrentham was much younger).


*If it wasn't a 'real' tractor, it was a seriously large riding mower.

Sweeping time

Whose bright idea was it to have the street sweepers out and about when people are trying to drive to work in the morning?

Some drivers are just stupid

I was at the light at the corner of VFW Parkway and Rte. 109 around 5:45pm today and noticed crime scene tape and a few police vehicles are blocking VFW Pkwy. South. (Anyone know why?)







Some idiots still kept trying to turn onto the closed portion of Rte. 1 South. What did they not understand about the police cars and the patient officer directing traffic? (Those of us going straight on Rte. 109 were supposed to follow the traffic light.) The officer saw that the idiots were totally screwing up the traffic pattern by their insistence that they HAD to get on Rte. 1 South, that he seemed to start directing them to a sort of waiting area near the cruisers. (I don't recall it being a very residential area, so I'm not sure if they were desperate to go to Stop n' Shop or what....)



{Note - The kind folks at Universal Hub later informed me that the blockade was due to a fire.}

Sugar-scented commute

The scent of fresh baked goods lingered in the morning air as I drove down Centre Street in West Roxbury on Tuesday. What a nice way to start the usually droll drive to work.

Signs of spring

The people in the neon yellow shirts are (re)appearing at intersections...

spring must be just around the corner.

The squeaky wheel that did not get the grease

No, that sound you hear isn't a train going by my car. It's coming from the truck and trailer in front of me. I was worried that something (a wheel? lug nut? random piece of metal?) was going to fly off that trailer and smack into my windshield.



Sorry for the bouncy camera, it was resting on the dashboard.

Nature's dandruff?

Arborway rotary

Snow piled up on Arborway over Washington St.

Arnold Arboretum

Plant icicles outside of office building

"Don't plow me!"

Those were the words uttered by Carpool Buddy after a near miss with the snowplow on Centre St. (near Faulkner Hospital) as he took his turn cleaning the ice off my windshield wipers. It took us 3 1/2 hours to make what is normally a 45 minute drive from work to JP.



Someone abandoned a perfectly nice car on South St. (near James's Gate), which really helped traffic. Note the police officer who was left to deal with the aftermath.





Things were such a mess at the intersection of Washington St. and Green St. (right outside the police station) that a random pedestrian and 3 firefighters took it upon themselves to direct traffic. I think that cars should not be allowed to make left turns at some intersections during bad weather.

Yee?

As seen during this morning's commute.

Fresh wounds

While driving back from work, I arrived on this gristly scene not long after the cops, EMTs, and paramedics. I took the picture while waiting for the authorities to decide whether to re-route the traffic that was quickly accumulating on this 2 lane road. I figured I was waiting because of some sort of accident, but didn't see any mangled cars. I did not expect to see what I did after being waved through the intersection.

Intersection of Village Street and Forest Road in Millis, MA.

Right behind the car with its door ajar, there was a mangled motorcycle and a pool of deep red, slick and shiny liquid. Fresh blood.

I don't know what became of the motorcyclist, but I hope that s/he survived.

UPDATE:
Sadly, I've since found out that the motorcyclist did not make it.

Construction craziness - Will it ever end?

My commute is like a soap opera. I am on the edge of my (car) seat every morning.

Will the left lane on VFW Parkway be closed this morning? Or will it be the right lane? Will the stupid retail construction and its overflow of paving mess be spewing onto Route 1 this morning? Will it be finished in time for football season? Or will the Patriots be forced to play in a stadium surrounded by piles of dirt and gravel? Do I take I-95 and risk getting caught in a tangle of traffic at the Split?

Rush hour charity collectors of Boston

Who are these mysterious people in the neon shirts causing traffic slowdowns at rush hour? I can't tell if they are collecting for a legit cause or just really sophisticated panhandlers.

Commute under construction (again)

I can't escape it. It's like the construction is following me south.


The new bane of my commute is the construction on Route 1 by Gillette Stadium. Generally there's not much typical* traffic on a given morning (especially compared to when there's a football game or concert). But add some orange cones, big machines, and men in DayGlo vests and you've got a traffic-stopping mess on your hands.





*Typical traffic = general volume, frequent slowdowns, commuters afloat in a sea of brake lights (ex: Storrow Drive at rush hour)

Monster puddle swallows car?

This picture of what I believe to be a car's bumper floating in a large puddle was taken through my rain-soaked car window on VFW Parkway this morning.