On July 14th, Kelly and I headed to New Hampshire to join other family members at my sister’s place for a big family meal. And since I got to do a lot of the cooking, I had a grand old time.
Tag: holidays
Harborfest is over
And it has been a very, very busy week for me, between the two jobs and police details.
In honor of the 4th
I have some friends for whom the 4th of July is their favorite holiday of the year. Other are more middle of the road about it. Me? I’m not into huge groups of people waiting for things to go BOOM over their heads or the tourists that flood the city decking themselves out in flag clothes and leaving their trash everywhere. I grew up and now live in the two cities largely responsible for the birth of this nation. As a result I’m over the Liberty Bell and the Pops on the Esplanade.
April 1st is here again
So far today we’ve seen some pretty inventive April Fools Jokes from corporate America. The first to cross my virtual desk was this one from “Warby Barker.” It’s a very well done prank by Warby Parker, an online glasses retailer with a social awareness bent.
The Eatin’ of the Green
Today is St. Patrick’s Day. As I write this thousands of Bostonians are going out to traditional Irish-like watering holes to drink themselves into oblivion on green beer and bad bar food. Geoff and I didn’t have much to do today other than a doggie play date this morning and a few errands. On his way home from running errands, Geoff stopped at the nearest Burger King and got us each a meal.
There’s a fine line between clever and stupid
This line apparently exists somewhere between the MBTA and the TSA. And it is made of frosting.
Continue reading “There’s a fine line between clever and stupid”
Slowly returning to normal, except for that whole Geoff as Santa thing
Kelly and I went to church today and followed a fairly regular schedule for the first time in a good while. She had been working a lot of shifts this past week that kept her out late (last night until after 1 AM), and I have been trying to get caught up on all of the housework that got neglected in the weeks before the wedding.
Continue reading “Slowly returning to normal, except for that whole Geoff as Santa thing”
Finally, the interview I was waiting for
I got a call yesterday from the City of Cambridge. They want to interview me for the position I applied for with Emergency Communications down at the CPD. We scheduled for next Tuesday, after the holiday weekend. This is the interview I was hoping would happen before the end of the year, as it is for a job that I think I am a very strong candidate for. Wish me luck!
-Geoff
We survived the Fourth of July
Geoff here- last night was a VERY long police detail for me. I arrived at the police station at around 6:20 PM yesterday and arrived home this morning around 1:40 AM. In between was a virtually non-stop flood of cars and people. Everyone had a good time, and I even saw a few people I knew. But I am still wondering how so many people manage to get into such a relatively small space. I am just not that big a fan of crowds, I guess. There must have been half a million people all together. Still, it was not too bad, relatively speaking, as at least we did not have a lot of violence or troublemakers to worry about. There was some of that, but none anywhere near where I was, which was on Mass Ave., along the main route (at least in Cambridge) to and from the Mass Ave bridge and thus prime fireworks viewing area. I was with two regular Cambridge officers, but even with three of us we really had our hands full. So many people were not paying attention – drivers AND pedestrians. It really is a miracle no one was hurt.
I don’t get the people who have lived here for a good while and still haven’t figured out that the night of July 4th is a bad time to be anywhere near that part of the Charles River in your car. I mean, you expect tourists to not know, but people who have been around should know better. I could not believe how many people I had to tell “no, you CANNOT go on the bridge – it is blocked to all vehicle traffic”… and they wanted to argue about it. I don’t make the rules, I just have to enforce them. And how exactly do you expect to get on the bridge, even if I let you? You going to navigate through a crowd of several hundred thousand people, with lawn chairs and beach blankets, watching the show?
Still, the fireworks show was pretty spectacular. I could not hear any of the music from where I was, which is just as well because you just know they would play that Lee Greenwood song that I hate.
Anyway, back to the routine, which these days has been job hunting and house cleaning.
It’s that time of year again…
They’re invading and there is nothing we can do to stop them. No proactive measures, no way to seal the entrances, nothing. And you know what? There are some people who think that their presence here is actually a good thing.
No, I’m not talking about cockroaches, though I might as well be. I’m talking about tourists.
Today is the other day of the year when our fair city swells with the ranks of Townies, Suburbanites, and those dreaded infiltrators, Tourists.
When I worked in retail on Beacon Hill I used to have to work on the 4th of July. It was absolute hell. I worked in an antique store and that day we got hordes of two types of people, thieves and tourists. The thieves were there for only one purpose, to steal from us or from the tourists. The tourists were there largely to gawk or to ask us dumb questions. The #1 top question was, “Do you have any silver by Paul Revere?”
For those of you not in the know, Paul Revere was a silversmith but not a prolific one by any means. On the rare occasion that one of his pieces is unearthed in a private collection somewhere it is usually sold at auction and goes for big money. The last time I remember a piece being sold it was auctioned off by a church and the proceeds were used to refinance the rehabbing of the entire sanctuary. So, no, the tiny little shop I worked for did not and would never have a piece of silver by the most famous and one of the least prolific silversmiths in US History.
Charles St., where I used to work, leads directly to the Hatch Shell where the Pops play and the fireworks take place. People who are really insane devoted actually camp out overnight so they can get a space on the Esplanade in front of the Hatch Shell the morning of the 4th and they sit there ALL DAY waiting for the festivities to begin. That meant that at the end of the day on the 3rd and during the day on the 4th we’d be flooded on Charles St. with drunks, revelers, and all sorts of folks looking to make a dime off the tourists who’d flock to Boston for a “genuine American 4th of July experience.”
July 5th in Boston, and on the other side of the river in Cambridge, looks a bit like Time’s Square on January 1st each year. Trash is strewn everywhere, food, bottles, and, of course, the results of people who drank too much and couldn’t, ahem, make it to a bathroom. It is mayhem. Most locals head out of the town for the 4th. Or, they do what I do, stay inside and batten down the hatches.
Wherever you are, I hope you have a Happy 4th. I’ll be at home in air conditioned comfort away from the tourist invasion and waiting for Geoff to come home from his patrol. Think of him as you watch the fireworks, he’ll be out herding cats tourists.
~Kelly
The Books are Taking Over... 