It's Boston's fault.
Apr. 7th, 2002 10:45 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
sanpaku_backupThe real reason we gotta get out of here is that by now we are locked into a mindset where everything bad that happens is because it is here. Cases in point:
"We drove 35 minutes to Somerville and waited for another 20 minutes with a bunch of goddam hipsters to eat at the only half-decent Mexican restaurant in town, and the food was not very good. Boston sucks."
"After that, we drove 20 minutes to Harvard Square because they had a place that would have the newest Eightball. After driving around for 10 minutes looking for a parking space that was a frigid 15 minute walk away from the store, I get to it at 9:50; all their lights are on and the guy is talking on the phone next to the door, but he won't let me in even though the sign says they are open until 10. Boston sucks."
"Mrs. Sanpaku has a concert today so there is not much to do with our Sunday morning. It is too cold to walk anywhere and anything we might want to do is too far of a drive to get back here by 2 pm. Boston sucks."
I got a speeding ticket, ergo Boston sucks. I had to spend $800 on struts for the car, ergo Boston sucks. You get the picture.
My enthusiasm for the moving project has been dampened, though, by the fact that where I want to live in Providence does not seem any cheaper than where we live now, thus removing the first rationale I had for wanting to live there. There also aren't a lot of rentals to begin with. Since we wouldn't move until the summer anyway, I suppose we can try to wait until there seems to be a good place in that area at our price. We could even afford more, but it just seems stupid to move someplace more expensive for no reason.
I mean, there is no real reason to do this unless we really want to do it. For example, we always thought that if we have kids here we'd have to move because the landlord told us the house wasn't deleaded. Looked up the law in Mass., and it turns out that not only can they not discriminate against people with kids (as they clearly did in giving us this place to begin with), they cannot evict you for having kids and not deleading the house. In fact, if they try to evict you after you tell them you want them to delead the house, it is presumptive in court that it's retaliation. Not that I think we want to get into that (lead is really only a problem where paint is peeling, not much of an issue in this house), but it is good to know that they couldn't just evict us for the hell of it.
Anyway, why do we want to do it? For one thing, I am just so sick of it taking forever to get anywhere. Near as I can tell, almost all of the interesting parts of Providence are in a one-mile radius of where I want us to live. Thayer St., Wickenden (sp.?), Brown U. library, downtown, waterfront. It is not as though Boston doesn't have these kinds of things, it's that they take so long to get to.
Rich makes fun of me for saying there is nothing to do in Boston, and I can see that. To be plugged into the fun things in this town, we should have lived in Cambridge/Slummerville/South End etc., but the desire for a house made that impossible. (Rentals are a fortune there and we just have too much stuff for most apts. by now, probably.) But even then all Mrs. Sanpaku really wants out of an evening is what we did in Baltimore: a drive down to the docks to watch the ships. (Not the little "Inner Harbor" in Baltimore, which was for the tourists, but the actual container ships, or the Domino sugar plant. Good ole fashioned industrial blight.) An equivalent thing to do here -- any night drive -- requires dodging 40 minutes of traffic. I feel like in Providence being closer to the water will make many things better.
(Can you tell how much of my life by now is ruled by a rage at/fear of traffic?)
I am not sure why I think we would have a better social life in Providence. My sister-in-law will probably move away from Providence after she graduates in December. But I feel like maybe between the teaching in town and the shul being right there we might finally meet people of our own age etc.
****************************************
My mom is apparently still doing OK at the hospital. She sounded strong yesterday when I talked to her on the phone. But again, it is one of those things that they really didn't tell me how really serious things were. The other night she had some kind of rapid heartbeat and the nurses had to come running to fix whatever it was. It is hard to know what to make of it, as apparently it is not uncommon in heart valve replacement. My mom said, "I was so sick last night, I wouldn't even wish it on Arafat."
"We drove 35 minutes to Somerville and waited for another 20 minutes with a bunch of goddam hipsters to eat at the only half-decent Mexican restaurant in town, and the food was not very good. Boston sucks."
"After that, we drove 20 minutes to Harvard Square because they had a place that would have the newest Eightball. After driving around for 10 minutes looking for a parking space that was a frigid 15 minute walk away from the store, I get to it at 9:50; all their lights are on and the guy is talking on the phone next to the door, but he won't let me in even though the sign says they are open until 10. Boston sucks."
"Mrs. Sanpaku has a concert today so there is not much to do with our Sunday morning. It is too cold to walk anywhere and anything we might want to do is too far of a drive to get back here by 2 pm. Boston sucks."
I got a speeding ticket, ergo Boston sucks. I had to spend $800 on struts for the car, ergo Boston sucks. You get the picture.
My enthusiasm for the moving project has been dampened, though, by the fact that where I want to live in Providence does not seem any cheaper than where we live now, thus removing the first rationale I had for wanting to live there. There also aren't a lot of rentals to begin with. Since we wouldn't move until the summer anyway, I suppose we can try to wait until there seems to be a good place in that area at our price. We could even afford more, but it just seems stupid to move someplace more expensive for no reason.
I mean, there is no real reason to do this unless we really want to do it. For example, we always thought that if we have kids here we'd have to move because the landlord told us the house wasn't deleaded. Looked up the law in Mass., and it turns out that not only can they not discriminate against people with kids (as they clearly did in giving us this place to begin with), they cannot evict you for having kids and not deleading the house. In fact, if they try to evict you after you tell them you want them to delead the house, it is presumptive in court that it's retaliation. Not that I think we want to get into that (lead is really only a problem where paint is peeling, not much of an issue in this house), but it is good to know that they couldn't just evict us for the hell of it.
Anyway, why do we want to do it? For one thing, I am just so sick of it taking forever to get anywhere. Near as I can tell, almost all of the interesting parts of Providence are in a one-mile radius of where I want us to live. Thayer St., Wickenden (sp.?), Brown U. library, downtown, waterfront. It is not as though Boston doesn't have these kinds of things, it's that they take so long to get to.
Rich makes fun of me for saying there is nothing to do in Boston, and I can see that. To be plugged into the fun things in this town, we should have lived in Cambridge/Slummerville/South End etc., but the desire for a house made that impossible. (Rentals are a fortune there and we just have too much stuff for most apts. by now, probably.) But even then all Mrs. Sanpaku really wants out of an evening is what we did in Baltimore: a drive down to the docks to watch the ships. (Not the little "Inner Harbor" in Baltimore, which was for the tourists, but the actual container ships, or the Domino sugar plant. Good ole fashioned industrial blight.) An equivalent thing to do here -- any night drive -- requires dodging 40 minutes of traffic. I feel like in Providence being closer to the water will make many things better.
(Can you tell how much of my life by now is ruled by a rage at/fear of traffic?)
I am not sure why I think we would have a better social life in Providence. My sister-in-law will probably move away from Providence after she graduates in December. But I feel like maybe between the teaching in town and the shul being right there we might finally meet people of our own age etc.
****************************************
My mom is apparently still doing OK at the hospital. She sounded strong yesterday when I talked to her on the phone. But again, it is one of those things that they really didn't tell me how really serious things were. The other night she had some kind of rapid heartbeat and the nurses had to come running to fix whatever it was. It is hard to know what to make of it, as apparently it is not uncommon in heart valve replacement. My mom said, "I was so sick last night, I wouldn't even wish it on Arafat."
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no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 09:33 am (UTC)Secondly, Boston is only fun if you actually live in the city, which you've figured out already. Sounds to me like you'd LOVE Philly. Plenty of industrial blight, plus you can get an enormous apartment for cheap in a nice 'hood. Providence is nice and scrappy though. I like my new england towns kind of scrappy.
no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 01:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 02:16 pm (UTC)(Can you tell how much of my life by now is ruled by a rage at/fear of traffic?)
Right there with you, pal. L.A. is sometimes not as bad as people say in re: crime, level of the average joe's intelligence, etc. But the part about L.A. traffic and how it is monstrous, soul sucking and interminable? ALL TRUE.
I have a pal who will not live in a city where there isn't fast, reliable public transit and/or plenty of opportunity for bicyclers. I'm beginning to understand why. I'd almost go as far as to say quality of life is inversely proportional to the amount of time one spends in the car. what's more:
no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 02:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 02:30 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 03:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2002-04-07 03:23 pm (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-04-08 01:28 pm (UTC)On the other hand, I did figure out how to commute back and forth from here to Kingston, RI (1.5 hours away) on 3 modes of public transit a day (Amtrak, commuter rail, RI bus), and I'm inordinately proud of that.
no subject
Date: 2002-04-10 10:13 am (UTC)Re:
Date: 2002-04-10 10:47 am (UTC)