NY, NY

Life back here in NY is kind of surreal. So many things about my hometown are the same (thee's stil a McDonald's and a CVS and the movie theater), but so many things are new and seem out of place to my psyche. I still can't get used to the (newish) Walmart. And all those housing developments that've sprung up from grass and trees and vacant lots.

I can't help but dwell a little about the difference between life here and life in New England. I can't lie - the bagels, Chinese food, and pizza are better here. I kind of miss the walkability that you find around Boston and I dislike having to drive everywhere here in Rockland. Sure, I could try to walk to the CVS here in town, but I'd probably get run down trying to cross Route 59. I miss the racial/ethnic diversity of JP. Here in my hometown it's pretty homogenus.

It's a good thing I'm moving soon...

...because violent crime is seems to be occurring closer and closer to my house.

J. and I drove by on Forest Hills Street around 4:45pm on Saturday and wondered why there were so many cops and a medium-sized crowd of people gathered on the corner of Rossmore and Forest Hills streets. Not to mention the two or three police cars that were parked in the immediate area. I commented that the films crews I've seen in the area (mainly at Doyle's) did not seem to require nearly as many police officers. Then we spotted the yellow tape - definitely not a film crew.

MA unemployment dept. is illogical

Because they take your call based on your social security number, not what order you are in the queue of callers.

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 dislikes the Dali Lama? (Besides the Chinese government)

Somebody who rides the Red Line.

Canadian consulate adventure

I should preface this post with the fact that I am a big fan of Canada. I can't exactly pinpoint the origin of my warm feelings for the Great White North... maybe it has something to do with my love of hockey, or fondness for ice wine.

Anyway, I got invited to an election night party at the Canadian Consulate in Boston by a friend who hails from British Columbia. We passed time waiting for the polls (at least those in eastern Canada) to close by enjoying some fine Canadian wine (no ice wine, sadly) and of course, beer (Molson is actually popular with Canadians). Then, like good citizens of any first world country, we gathered around a big screen TV to watch the election results come in.

It was interesting to have a sort of insider's p.o.v. as to how another county's government is formed. I also learned that I can pass for a Canadian. (As long as I stayed sort of quiet and pretended to get jokes about Corner Gas, The Friendly Giant, and the NDP.) It felt kind of odd having to repeat "I'm from the U.S. and I'm a tad confused by your minority parliamentary government. Can you please explain again how your electoral system differs from mine?" But everyone was very polite about my lack of understanding. After all, they're Canadian.

Sad Truck gone wild

Sad Car, meet Sad Truck
(which, incidentally, is located next door to my second favorite dilapidated car).

Sad Truck reminds of those ships that are sunk to make artificial reefs.

Atrium Mall gets Proactiv

Proactiv vending machine at the Atrium Mall

Sunday on the square, with balloons

I caught a glimpse of balloons at Copley Square on Sunday. I think there was some sort of charity walk going on. This was about as close as I got.

Plane to see

Planes fly really low over my house sometimes. Close enough to see the underbelly. If it was daytime I imagine I'd be able to tell you what airline it was that just buzzed the place. And they seem to fly really close to each other on takeoff/landing approaches.

While I was on the porch watching the jets zoom overhead, I noticed a police officer walking through my parking lot. Then he noticed me noticing him and waved. I guess that's what community policing is all about.

Orange Line confusion

Saw this in the Orange Line station near my house. Note that none of these stations are actually on the Orange Line, which is not terribly helpful.

Masshole swiped my car

My day started and ended with car accidents.


I was traveling northeast on Centre St. in West Roxbury at about 6:23pm on Thursday, August 7, 2008, I was stopped in the right lane at the light at Corey Street. A commercial truck was next to me. A police car with lights and sirens came down Centre St. (heading northeast). I moved about as far to the right as I could. The small commercial truck to my left (in the left lane) suddenly seemed to be making an attempt to turn right onto Corey Street from the LEFT lane (at least that's what he appeared to be doing) by in front of my car. He cut WAY too close to the right. I began beeping to remind him of my presence. And then I heard a horrible scraping noise coming from the front end of my car (driver's side). Asshole had struck me. I honked and honked and honked, as the light turned green, he kept going straight down Centre Street. I pulled up next to him, honking and gesturing, trying to get his attention. I wanted us to pull over and exchange insurance info. But no. The masshole drove off down towards Belgrade Ave. Luckily I got his license plate number, as well as the name and phone number of the company he works for. I've already called an left a message with them. Now I have some nonsensical paperwork to fill out and return to the police.


I also got some pictures of the damage.

James Hook & Co. rises from the ashes

James Hook & Co. as the longtime Boston business rebuilds after a fire in May. (Photos were taken around July 4th.)

The T is chepaer than I thought

They couldn't even be bothered to order correct signs for this Silver Line bus. (Is that the proper terminology for Silver Line vehicles?) I only saw the correct labeling because I was standing this close to the sign.

The real question is, who made the above clarification - the MBTA or a rider who finally had enough of the confusion surrounding Silver Line routes?

Lightning flashed while I was snapping this photo

Interesting (and accidental) timing on my part. Wasn't trying to get lightning on film.


Live at the top of a hill. Went outside to take some pictures of the stormy night skies. Was playing with manual settings and ISO speed on the camera (Canon IXUS 40).

Took some other shots of the rain.

R.I.P. Sad Car

The slow decay has ended. It seems that Sad Car has been put out to pasture.

It's been a little while since I've driven that particular stretch of VFW Parkway, but a friend recently alerted me about the disappearance of the familiar rotting hunk of metal and steel. (The once white sedan can even be seen in the aerial photo on the city's Property Data Viewer).

Sad Car made quite an impression on this West Roxbury (Roslindale?) property.

Without Sad Car guarding the garage like a dedicated sentry, Sad House has lost part of its identity . (J. adds that this "looks like the home where a serial killer lives.")

Has JP been annexed?

Since when is Jamaica Plain no longer part of the city of Boston?

At least that what a Boston Globe article makes it sound like:

And communities in Boston's inner belt - including Somerville, Brookline, Newton, and Jamaica Plain - are also doing somewhat better than Cambridge, with their single-family home sales collectively down about 22 percent from the first five months of 2007, he said.

Fireworks... finally

My belated (thanks to some computer issues) video montage of Boston's July 4th fireworks spectacular. I was lucky enough to have seen them from high up in the Hancock Building.





(Sorry for the crappy video quality.. compression and all...)

Parking rules n' regs

In my apartment's parking lot, everyone who has a car has their assigned spot. And guests aren't really supposed to park in the lot. (We have more parking spots than cars, so people's vehicles tend to be scattered in a non-uniform manner, leaving us with a few extra spaces near the back fence.) But when they park in someone's spot, and that person comes home, the accepted protocol is to honk your horn as loud and as long as possible. Even if it's the middle of the night.

So it's not a surprise that I drew a crowd with my loud honking after my annoying commute home after a long day of work. People hung out on porches and stared. Eventually some nice ladies from one of the neighboring buildings started ringing doorbells of the building that the offender was most likely visiting - nice to know that neighbors still help each other out.

Turns out that the offending visitor belonged to the asshole downstairs. Who was on his porch sans shirt while his fat belly hanging over his shorts, watching me honk and honk and honk and honk.

(Yes, I realize what I said yesterday. But I'm getting to the point where I don't know how much longer I can live around them anymore (and from what I understand, I'm not the only one who feels this way).)

Not exactly Mr. Rogers' neighborhood...

Won't you be my neighbor?
by Fred M. Rogers

It's a beautiful day in this neighborhood,
A beautiful day for a neighbor.
Would you be mine?
Could you be mine?...


These two postings got me thinking a little deeper about the neighborhood that I live in within the larger context of the city of Boston.

I found a decently priced place to live here and my neighbors are all colors and ethnicities and ages and income levels. You'll find a pretty diverse lot waiting for the Orange Line or walking down Centre Street or waiting on line for ice cream at JP Licks. I have the typical 'neighborly' friendships with some of my neighbors - We help each other clean off snowy cars, take in packages for each other, etc. - despite the fact that we don't always speak the same language (English, PSanish, Portugese, Creole...).

I'm not saying that there aren't problems, issues, and/or misunderstandings sometimes. That's life. As neighbors, we have to be able to live around each other, not be best friends.