WhipperSnaPR

If any of you Bostonites listen to WBCN, you probably know who Adolfo is. If not, please let me introduce you:

Now, Adolfo is quite a funny guy. A real piece of work! He is a regular on the Toucher and Rich show and the star of a new game from Pod Design! I’m not ready to show the game just yet, but here’s a preview to whet your appetite:

I live in Central Square, Cambridge (moving soon to Porter: more on this in a bit). I work in Lexington, MA. I don’t own a car. This leaves me only one option of transportation…. the T.

There seems to be a trend of people blogging about the T, so I thought I would throw my own opinion into the mix. As I mentioned in a previous post, I’m known for my hellish commutes. Most days, I’m numb to the pain and inconvenience of having to chart out my day based on a bus schedule. Other days, it drives me crazy!

I try to make the best of my situation, but it isn’t easy. I listen to my ipod, but that has recently stopped holding a charge. I read, but I’m plagued with never having grown out of my childhood, “puke everytime I’m in a car,” extreme motion sickness. I people watch, but it is always the same people (many of whom forget to bathe, so I can’t even breathe!).

So… sticking to my optimistic outlook, I took to the charlie ticket system with ease, hoping it would make my commute easier. I used a combo pass because I take the T and the bus twice daily; the pass is the cheapest option. However, paper passes are not meant to withstand month-long usage. Naturally, I was pleased to see the new card system launch. I even got up early on the central square’s “assigned” day to get a card. I got there well within the time frame and, this shouldn’t have surprised me, nobody was there; no signs, nothing. Never one to be easily discouraged, I got up early the next day to try to catch the Alewife card disbursement day. I missed it and let off a little steam on the nearest T official for it. They promptly produced a card to shut me up. Score!

I quickly learn though, the Charlie Card may fix the paper problem, but it also creates a new problem set altogether. My particular bus has two rates depending on your destination. With the basic coin operating system, I got to decide what to pay. With the pass system, I didn’t care what they “charged,” but with the card to onus is on me. If I don’t explicitly tell the driver my destination and expected far… they’ll charge me the maximum amount! ugh!

The T sucks…

Any seasoned Bostonian knows to expect complete havoc during labor day weekend. It really does look like the Uhaul convention is in town for the weekend. After almost two and a half years here I thought I would have learned my lesson, but there is one thing that I’ve consistently forgotten each fall…. the immediate and constant influx of traffic.

I first moved to Boston in June 2004; I lived in Back Bay and worked in Swampscott (I’ll have to complain about ‘reverse’ commuting on the T some other time). On labor day weekend that year, I moved to Fenway with my parents excursion pulling a Uhaul. Absolutely Crazy! The worst part though, was when I was late to work the entire following week; my already hour-long commute had turned into a two-hour long nightmare due to the huge influx of traffic on the green line. I learned to hate boston students while I was also learning to be one myself.

This year, I’m now working in Lexington. (I have a masochistic track record of working in Boston “suburbs:” Swampscott, Newton, Lexington. I’ve only worked in the actual city for 3 months, and oh how I loved that commute)! So, first I was taking the T to the bus to Lexington and my commute was about an hour. Then, Josh moved here with his car! Because parking in Cambridge is so ridiculous, I drive to work every day to take advantage of free parking. The month of August was amazingly easy. I loved my commute! However, immediately after Labor Day, it has become absolutely hellish.

Lesson learned: students suck, especially the ones with t-passes or cars

I’m writing this for my mother in hopes that she will read this and then pay for me to move into a nicer apartment. At approximately 12:15 am, four gun shots were fired directly outside my apartment building. Sadly, this was the second time in less than a month. Aparently, the park that played such a large role in my initial decision to live here has recently fallen under the “ownership” of a local gang. Police presence has been pretty high for the last week, but I guess that wasn’t enough.

Right now, there are two cop cars parked in the street in front of my building, Columbia St., and two cops are walking around shining flashlights on the sidewalk and bushes across the street. At first I thought maybe they were looking for the shooter, but now I think they are just looking for evidence. I haven’t seen any ambulances yet, so I don’t know if anyone was hurt. More to come later, I’m sure. (for more info, see Josh’s blog as well)
I always lovingly referred to this building as the crack house, but now I’m really regretting that I signed the lease for this place for the next year. It is really too bad, too. I love Central Square; it has great local bars and restaurants and a homey, campus feel to it. I hope this is not the start of a new trend for the neighborhood.