Writing wrongs in the streets of City of Boston

towns going ons

2009-05-07T14:28:00.000-07:00

Well locally on my street. Its been a sort of blowout over parking. My neighbor pretty much specifically told me that he has a spot, he doesn't live there but it needs to be empty IN CASE he does come. Now, I live in one of the most congested areas of the city. It seems foolish that I would drive around at 2am looking for a spot just to leave his empty when he doesn't come by like 2x a year. My other neighbor came out and told him he needs to come sweep the street more(see earlier post about sweeping the street). So, I was on my way out for my birthday celebration when this happened so I was mad and I told him never ever to talk to me again.

Yes, i burned the bridge and maybe it wasn't the smartest thing ever but screw him. Then he said to me(get this!!) " Yanno, I'm not the new kid on the block, Ive been here since 02") yes, he did say that. Now,
1. does that matter to me? no
2. will that ever matter to me? No
3. I moved in in 07, is that some sort of mentionable difference? No4. Is that "old school"( old being 6 yrs???) bullshit the way to approach me with some 6 year intimidation? Def no.
So, lines are drawn pretty much.

The next day I spent 1k on fence( instillation plus fencing on sale at Home Depot) so now out patios are blocked off and I don't have to look at the tenants ugly faces. And if he is there doing work he can't be seen.

On my fourth house street on of my neighbors filed bankruptcy and moved out last month. So this puts us in second seniority. Even if he is "from 02" it means nothing because he doesn't live there so now we are like a jack in a card game. Finally a face card, feels good. Which actually opens up another free spot so it makes the whole thing even more insane.

I walk for exercise and of course you can go left or right. I tend to go left because to the right are the crowds. So, going right I need to cross a big intersection and there is no pedestrian crossing sign. After nearly being killed a bazillion times I finally called city hall and they are putting up a sign. It was so easy and they were so nice, I cannot believe it took me so long to call. I'm happy with them.

On a completely separate incident but applicable to this blog, I went to prudential mall today. If you aren't from, Boston, this is a high traffic area, tons of store in a pedestrian viewpoint along the whole road but also the only mall in the city. It is very hard to find parking so I was driving up and I saw a spot so I zipped over and in. Once I was 99% in this car came to the left from the right and the guy told me it was his spot. So, I was already in the spot because I had been their earlier and he told me to get out and i told him no. So, this guy got out of his car and had a FIT and was screaming at my window to the point of spitting. i pretty much laughed because his head was going to explode. But then I got nervous and I called 911. I have him plate but I'm not sure if I should post it here. But the whole thing was so weird because it totally wasn't his spot. I wasn't even trying to sneak in, I was there. But this psycho went nuts. I have never seen anything like that from a sidewalk or experienced anything like that before so I wanted to write it here. Maybe I should post his plate, what a douchebag....
My my my

Trash day

2009-02-24T15:35:00.000-08:00

My street is a mess, my neighbors who lived there 40 years filed bankruptcy and are moving out. The roof is leaking water that's about to flood the street and everyone's acting like its not happening. On a positive, I have officially claimed an off street pkg spot. Not sure how, but I have. Because of the move the last few trash days have been huge, everyone's ditching belongings they are too lazy to move. how it goes....Today was a huge trash day, there were bags and bags out. Apparently it was donations for goodwill. The trash ppl came an emptied the bins but the recycle people had not come yet. My neighbors think they are saving the world for some reason bu recycling milk cartons weekly. So they had their recycle bin out.
When the salvation army truck came in and moved the trash cans and recycle to the side of my stairs.**They could not be seen from the street* They took the donations and left.
apparently, in the meantime the recycling truck drivers by. He doesn't stop unless he sees the full bin and he didn't because it was behind my stairs!
again I had to take matters into my own hand,I moved my bin to the back and also picked up their full and disgusting recycling bin and moved it in front of their house. maybe next week.

I also wanted to try to build new front stairs because mine are falling apart from being old and they are uneven and dangerous and there has already been on incident that ended up in the ER. I had a mason/contractor come out to price a new *vision*. After realizing we only have so many inches into the street on our property he told me how it wont work. We need extra space. Is he retarded? How can I find 8"? So I told him we cant and I need to know what we can do with what he have. So he looked at my neighbors to compare.
two days later I run into my nosey neighbors asking what we are thinking with the stairs and then the mason tells me their is nothing he can build that goes to any code and I have to talk to the buildings dept. Thanks for the damn help!
nosey posey

report a concern

2009-01-19T17:25:00.000-08:00

A kind reader told me how to tell on my neighbors(see earlier post/comment)Living in an area where you will be killed this is very handy. This contractor bought the house on my block( a fore mentioned), he started gutting it to sell it as 3 condos instead of a duplex. During a period of time when he was gutting the house he had no plumbing. This IDIOT decided he'd put up a porta-potty in the middle of the sidewalk! This was august so the heat and all the rain at night didn't help( remember, it rained every night). Finally one night I went out and the porta-potty was spilling all over the sidewalk. The next day I immediately called to see if the idiot had a builders permit since it wasn't posted. Surprise surprise, he didn't. He also had a trash bin in the street taking up THREE PRECIOUS PARKING SPACES. and he had a trash can in front of it and behind it and wood in the street so really 5 spaces were taken by this guy who was just gutting the place and had no intention of living there nor was apart of the community.
I waited and waited but after the sewerage I contacted the city "officials". Since this is my first homeowner experience I didn't know if people CAN do this stuff? but, I learned immediately that they can't. actually when i drove home from work they were on site ticketing the people! I was very impressed and
bye bye port-a-potty
nice knowing you!

snow=death pt2

2009-01-19T17:07:00.002-08:00

It is a week later and we have ~18" more of snow. I feel comfort in being where I'm at. My stairs are shoveled. Even to brick. The front is shoveled....to cement and the car is in a spot, cleaned and I went out today. Its is important to try to get your car out and drive after snow. Cleaning it off is okay but far less than actually driving it around. Sometimes if it is cleaned the snow falls around the car. Therefore creating a reverse-moat of snow. At night if that turns to ice your car can be encased and still be unable to move from its spot in the morning.
Today I saw a first in the holding a parking spot.... someone actually used a baseball diamonds' base!I would give it a 4 for creative and originality(5 scale) . That is pretty high. Also, I'm starting to see which neighbors belong to which furniture that is used to hold spots. I have the bakers rack around the corner. The kitchen aide box across the street. The randoms all do the beach chair, which, in this day an age is considered uncreative and almost insulting by some. This also can be the same for a trashcan. My personal best this year was two people sitting in chairs in a spot! They said they were just resting but who really knows..? Is a parking spot worth two bodies? I guess it depends on the ppl?? This is the City of Boston!
I also have a house on my street that was purchased by a contractor. Since he is gutting the house no one lives there. I will tell more of this story later but regarding snow. He has not come once to dig out his "area"! so, after all the packing down of the snow it is shear ice in front of his house. There has to be something wrong there. I am going to investigate..

Publish Post

snow=death

2009-01-11T17:03:00.000-08:00

With the snow that fell in Boston I am obviously inspired to post. I live in an area where parking is a commodity. If you have a private spot you are considered rich and living easy and if you don't you are in war of wits, time and it may be bloody.
Just the forecast of "'+ put people all over in a tizzy. People rush to the supermarket to buy milk and bread. Everyone panics and needs provisions immediately. I also find it very strange that even if there is no snow that people feel it is their right to put trash barrels out in the street to hold a spot "just in case". In case they suddenly own the street apparently.
I was out and about the night prior to the storm and when I came home there were barrels, chairs, and bins all over the street holding spots.
It fits perfectly if I say here that although this is the point of my discontent I hesitate removing them. I know that if I am seen by ANYONE they will tell on me and I could be killed. Taking these actions is no joke, believe me.
I have heard stories of the neighborhood and words on the street. One neighbor who is so sickeningly sweet. One of those people that are so nice and smile so much when you talk that it is annoying. She is a local. She told me last winter she came home and there was an unmarked spot and she took it since it was late and it was unmarked. In the morning she came out and found "Asshole" keyed into her car! So, she was driving around talking out her window and it said asshole right below! And again, she is the sweetest thing ever. When I gasped in disbelief at this story she just shrugged and said " the spot wasn't marked".
So now the streets are all slush and a mess and there really is no accumulation and yet people still have bins out. This seems super nervy to me on so many fronts. Who are these people that hid in the shadows?
On another note. One of the people on my street refuses to shovel. After the snow packs down due to foot traffic it turns to ice. I nearly died there one day so I took it upon myself. I wrote on an envelope " Shovel please" and strategically placed it. I should have known, the note never disappeared and no shoveling happened. How people can be so ignorant stuns me. They take the time to shovel a spot and leave their sidewalk shear ice..
and as my last point. we are over 48 hrs to trash day and my neighbors trash is out! Are these ppl insane? She told me they were scared they wouldn't be able to get the trash out in event of more snow!
see: trash chronicles(prior post)

trash chronicles-barrrels and gen craziness

2009-01-06T12:18:00.000-08:00

Trash day is always very exciting to me. As a kid and still to this day I like to go to the dump and I love to see trash go on the street and when I come home from work it is gone. However, in the city of Boston and rumored to be all cities, trash becomes another thing to contend with. My neighbors in house C(renters) put their trash on the virtually in front of my house and property. This means they were by our stairway and in the summer it stinks by my door. Oh no, the Avenger will not have this, keep your own trash in front of your own house on trash day and whenever else( Ill post about this later, stay tuned)!
They pissed me off a great deal so I would drag out our barrels and move them all over more toward their house and out of our invisible property line and over in front of their basement wall( no door). They don't own so what do they care if the trash is partially in their radius? So then I would come out in the am and they would have thrown down boxes and shit within the radius. They were not exactly with the trash cans and placed more towards our door almost in a new and separate pile. So, of course I would check out the boxes and they were from Zappos, Gap, etc. I approved of the merchants but I would pick up the boxes and put them with the barrels. Eventually the evolution moved to them throwing down their bags of trash on the cement when their barrels were full, not in their barrels and definitely within my radius. And this officially pissed me off.
Part of the trash understanding is a semi organized pile. That pile is all in one spot. When I would put out my two barrels sometimes one is half full because I plan to put more out the next morning. As if I am redserving a little bit of room for another bag in the morning but it is still ready to go. The next morning I go out and there is trash in my reserve all over the street and No neat pile! so I would have to organize the trash, move it and hope for the best.
Then, it is understood that you don't leave your barrels in the street after trash day! Once they are emptied they are moved to the back until their disclosure the following week. Now, house C neighbors started not putting their barrels and they would be blowing around the street and just generally disgusting. so I had to start picking them up and I would stack them next to their stairs and they mysteriously would disappear. Eventually they stopped disappearing and they would blow back down. In these instances I would take the barrels and put them in the ally right next to their door. This really pisses me off because we all need to only take them out and put them away. As with the stupid front area rules( see other post), the barrels are a damn responsibility for every resident! It's not even the specifics( well kinda it is) but its the fact they know these unspoken rules of city life and do not take part!
Also, one last thing. if you want to look cool and recycle in an area that doesnt recycle, realize the stupid recycle plastic bin is your responsibility too!
yes....really....

shoveling and snow

2009-01-04T13:30:00.000-08:00

After buying my home in the city we had a large snowfall. After the first flake hit the ground my neighbor was immediately at my door telling me i had to shovel in front of my house and out approx 3 feet into the street. This would be the area that would contain a sidewalk if I had one in front of my house. All owners with a sidewalk were responsible for shoveling the sidewalk in front of their house for foot traffic. I was also told that if I failed to do this then I could and would be ticket by the city for failure to shovel and therefore putting people in harms way( namely: her). I smiled and was very happy to receive the demand and looked for snowflake number two.
Throughout my time at my home I have shoveled, I have swept and I have cleaned the area I live. In the winter I put ice melt and sand out on the stairs and in front and in the spring I sweep it up. In the fall when leaves blow in, I sweep. The area in front of my house takes a great deal of work and if I lag, my neighbors are right here to remind me while their places become delapidated.
This year, in the fall alot of leaves flew into our street and living area and got caught in front of the hopuses.Neighbor A (accross the street) told neighborC (renters next to me) that they needed to clean their leaves because they were blowing down to house A and getting caught in their stairsway. Neighbor A told me this and I just shook my head and agreed. Why did renter/house C not realize they to held some sort of responsibility? Was the surface of the constant struggle or renter vs. owner?
I immediately grabbed my broom and scretly swept everything back up to house C just to be blown back to house A.

Allow myself to introduce...myself...

2009-01-04T13:19:00.000-08:00

I am the street Avenger, parking Avenger and author of the Trash Chronicles a short series of essays to be posted here regarding(but not limited to,) the subject of neighbors using trash removal.I am out on the streets of Boston constantly watching the inconsistencies and inadequacies of the streets. Although this may seem a humerus subject to some it is of great importance to others. In this forum will conquer tough topics such as :

*holding a spot in the winter with a baby…good or bad?

*keying cars for spots

*leaving notes

*shoveling vs not shoveling

*trash day!

I will revel in all contact received by others and personal stories told by anyone! I know we all have out gripes, take it to the Avenger and be heard!