Drink it up!

The city of Kirkland, WA (along with several other nearby cities) prides itself on the quality of tap water. "You can even drink the water right out of your faucet" - they say in their newsletter. "So what?" - I always thought to myself, - "This is OK water, nothing particularly great... Not like it's some kind of mineral spring miracle water, right? And besides, I always used to drink water right out of the faucet, what's so special about that?"

Well, as it is becoming more and more of a tradition, I was dead wrong about that. Turns out, it is pretty special. Turns out, that really was great tap water.

The best way to get rid of naïve illusions? Just drink from a Boston faucet! Wait, what the heck am I talking about?! You don't even have to drink (might actually be dangerous) - just smell it.

No, really. The tap water in Boston smells like garbage. And I'm not exaggerating here: it really, really, smells exactly like the inside of my kitchen trash can (and for those in doubt, I'd clarify: the trash can itself is located on the other side of the kitchen - farthest from the sink).

We actually have a water filter installed (a good one, not that junk type that you screw on the end of your faucet), and I'm used to put a couple drops of lemon juice in my water glass, but even these measures don't eliminate the smell completely.

Yes, I've heard that story about old pipes, most of which are leaking, and it's very expensive to replace them, but they're still doing their best, blah-blah-blah... But wait a minute! Ok, the pipes are old. And leaking. But I still don't see where the trash smell would come from. Is it that all the good smell is leaking out of old pipes, and only the bad smell stays in, just to spoil our lives, because, you know, it's just bad? Or is it that somehow something external is leaking into the pipes? Well, that external stuff must be under a lot of pressure then: you know, the water in the pipes is under pressure, so you have to have even greater pressure to sneak something in.

And speaking about the old pipes. Just about a week ago, one of those broke down. A big one. Or, to say it more precisely, the big one. The pipe in the city of Weston that all the water for the eastern Massachusetts goes through. That includes Boston, Brookline, Newton, Cambridge, and a couple dozens other cities.

[Update: according to a nice anonymous commenter, Cambridge was not affected. It has it's own water supply]

Of course, in the richest country in the world, in the most "for-the-people-by-the-people" state in that country, there must be a back up. Some kind of reserve, just for this kind of situation. And there was, of course, mind you. But guess what? Not for drinking. So the Water and Sewer Commission has issued a "boil order" - that is, all the good people of eastern Massachusetts, please be so kind and boil your water before drinking, while we're trying to clean up the mess. And for the whole week (there was apparently no way to fix it quicker than that), all the good people of eastern Massachusetts were boiling their water and saving it in pans and pitchers to cool down - because, just coincidentally, this turned out to be some of the unusually hot days for this time of year, so nobody wanted to drink it hot.

A quick side note: some of the Starbucks coffee shops that I've happened to come by were closed, with a note on their doors saying: "We're sorry, but our corporate office ordered us to close due to water pipe break". Poor Seattle-based Starbucks corporation, scared to death by some minor disturbance like this. It sits on it's clean water supply and just doesn't know what the real life is, apparently.

Car robbery: sad and even sadder

Imagine your car was broken into. Happens a lot in Boston: a big city, high crime rate, whatcha gonna do? Actually, to think about it, pretty amazing thing, considering the hoards of  police officers I see around...

But anyway, say your car was broken into. And you weren't around, of course, because if you were, it wouldn't have happened in the first place... I hope so at least :-)

The glass is broken, the recently installed $500 radio is missing, and the mess of wires hangs out of the dashboard, sadly reminding of the great days of great music that are to be no more. And the dashboard itself is probably damaged beyond repair as well.

Sad. Annoying. Expensive (unless your insurance is really nice).

But prepare to become even sadder, more annoyed, and bear more expenses! Because, chances are, now you also owe a hundred or two to the local impound shop.

WTF?! Turns out, if a police officer walks down the street and finds a car with a broken window, missing windshield, broken door lock, or whatever else evidence of recent robbery, he may, at his discretion (meaning, he can, but does not have to), order the car impounded to by the local city-contracted impound shop.

Nice service, I guess... You know, just to keep the car from more vandalism and preserve the nice street appearance...

But here's the bummer: you pay.

Not only doesn't the city help you to get out of the mess, but it also kicks you in the groin once more, just to make sure you're really in pain.

Once again: nice job keeping people safe and comfortable. Real Common Wealth, Massachusetts. Bravo!

Registry of Motor Vechicles

The other day, I went to the RMV to get a Mass license plate for my ol' good Honda Odyssey. You know, they require you to get one - or else.
Ok, whatever, can do that.

First, I tried to find out if I actually had to get the plate. I mean, maybe some states don't require it, you never know... One might expect that such information is freely available on the RMV's website. But one would be wrong. Next thing, one would probably try to call them and ask. But one would have a hard time finding a phone number. Bummer.

Ok, never mind, I'll go and ask in person. A few words into the purpose for my visit, the very busy lady at the front door cut me off abruptly and handed me a ticket with number. At the very bottom, there was a small statement: "Est. wait time: 87 min." Rrrrrright...

A few days later, I finally got around to going in and actually getting the plates. Now try to guess how much is the fee for that.
I'll give you a couple of hints. In Washington, it would cost around $60. In California - around $50.

In Massachusetts? In the very same Massachusetts that one would expect to have lower government fees because is has all those taxes?
Ha! I wish! Turns out, it costs $125. Of which $50 for registration and $75 for title transfer.

Well... I'm certainly not in a position to judge how the cost gets determined... But at least, I believe, I'm entitled to know where exactly does my money go, am I not? So that's exactly what I asked them: where do those $75 go exactly?

Here's the enlightened dialog that I've had with the nice lady at the counter, and then with her supervisor, another nice lady:

- Where does the $75 payment go?
- It goes to pay for the title transfer.
- Yes, I understand. But where do those money go exactly?
- They go to pay for the title transfer.
- Yes, yes. But after that? What does it pay for exactly?
- For the title transfer.
- Mmmm... I mean, does it pay somebody's salary? Or something else?
- No, it doesn't pay anybody's salary.
- But what does it pay for then?
- For the title transfer.
- But... Mmmm... - I was desperately trying to find the right words. - What... mmm... costs... are involved in transfering the title?

At this point, I was seriously afraid that the answer will be "A $75 fee".
But, fortunately, the answer followed:

- I don't know about that, I just work here.
- Ok. Who knows? Whom do I ask?
- I don't know...
- But... But...
- I don't know, try to call the state house, they're in charge of all the laws.
- Ok, what's the number?
- I don't know.

Ok... Gues I'll be calling the State House next thing...

The Zoo

The zoo says they work from 10 to 4 (winter hours). For Seattle's own Woodland Park Zoo (the greatest!), that would mean that I can actually come at 3:55 and spend an hour there, enjoying the park. I might not see too many animals after closing though, but still.

For the Franklin Park Zoo in Boston, that really means that if I come at 3:55, I'm not getting in. At all. Because, although closing is at 4, the last entry is at 3:30 (yeah, thanks for letting me know). And if I come at 3:30, I would be actually kicked out at 4. 


Cool place!

Coop stores

There are no coop grocery stores in Boston. 


Well, not exactly. There are some. Very little, though. To be exact, three - for all the Boston area (at least I was unable to find more). We're just very lucky to have one in 15 minutes walking from our home. 


But when we asked our first (temporary) landlord about any coop stores around, he (after asking "what stores?" and getting an explanation) said "well... umm... You will find that Boston is not like Seattle in this respect..."


Oh yes, you bet it isn't.

Toll highways

Interstate-90 is a toll freeway in Massachusetts. WTF? There are no toll freeways in Washington. Why would there be one in a state that has an income tax to pay for public things?


If you just happen to miss your exit and end up at the toll booth, and don't have any cash on you (I personally very rarely have any cash), there is no option to go back. Instead, they will give you a special receipt called "no-fund" that explains where to send the payment. And the payment in that case will include - get it - a 75 cent "administrative fee".