Scene and heard

I just tried Sheer Bliss brand of Vanilla Ice Cream. The tin is full of superlatives:

Ultra Super Premium Ice Cream

The finest natural vanilla extract is used to create our delicious rich vanilla ice cream. Indulge yourself! You deserve it!

FAIR WARNING! One taste of Sheer Bliss Ice Cream will change your life. It’s that good!

I have to say, it really is delicious. But maybe I shouldn’t have tried it the day after my job in Boston ended or the day I moved my stuff out of my Brookline room and came back to New York. Those two things were life changing. By contrast at least, the Ice Cream wasn’t.

Two days later, with my son visiting for a few days, he tried the Ice Cream and said it was the best he’d had in this country, reminding him of his favourite: Cornish Ice Cream. That’s a fine compliment indeed coming from him, as he has always loved that. Fine compliment coming from anyone actually, as it is so much creamier than other Ice Cream.

He also said it hadn’t changed his life, although we agreed that it is actually difficult to know if a life has been changed when the change happens. Perhaps in 20 years time, we will look back at our changed lives and put the turning point to when we tried this Ice Cream? :)

Joking aside, one thing has changed in my life: my Ice Cream brand. Hmmm. I wonder if they do Strawberry?

Sean has been here to pick up my stuff. He was going to drive me home, but couldn’t get back this weekend. So I sit here in my nearly empty Brookline room, writing my final blog entry actually in Boston. I certainly have a few recollections that I will be writing in the coming days, but they will be written 215 miles from here in the comfort of my Brooklyn Apartment.

Brookline is so lovely, I will miss it; as I will most certainly miss Boston itself. Great City; really nice people; fun culture; the energy of I don’t know how many thousands of College students; sports nuts; drivers who stop for you when you are crossing the road where you aren’t supposed to; Standish Mellon and my former colleagues, including Kelly who is absolutely one of the best managers I’ve ever had; my new, good friend, Heidi; the funky Green Line on the T.

What I won’t miss? 2 5+ hour commutes each week; never being able to fully relax on or enjoy the day I leave New York for here; not sleeping in my bed or being around my stuff; having too little time and inclination to actually do things when I’m home; feeling as if I can’t actually plan my life or think about a relationship.

So as this chapter ends, am I entering a new chapter or merely an interlude? I’ll let you know when I do!

Got a few minutes? :)

“Please listen carefully as we have changed our menu options”

Endless menus to select from when using automated calling systems, including repetition of items from the previous menu

Voice recognition systems that don’t recognise voices

Inability to reach a Human Being for assistance when calling Customer Service

People crossing my path directly in front of me when there was 10 times as much space behind me

People who walk into my path and then stop

Drivers who pull in front of me then slow down

People who don’t allow enough of a gap for those exiting trains and are impatient to get on. These people are idiots. If they hadn’t stemmed the flow of those alighting, they would have got on sooner! Duh!

People who loiter on or near crowded staircases

People who sneeze in public and particularly in enclosed spaces, without covering their mouths

People making that horrible grunting sound

Men who apparently think that every other man’s aim is so poor that they are unable to not piss on toilet seats

Officiousness

Educated ignorance

Lies

Money being valued higher than people

Ultra Conservativism

Religious Fundamentalism

People getting upset on behalf of others, who were not upset at all!

Men referring to women as objects

Women claiming that whereas men are swayed by looks, they are attracted to men based upon personality. Yeah right! Sign up for an Internet dating site and that myth gets blown right out of the water!

Prejudice

People hitting ‘Reply to All’ when a friend sends them and others who they don’t know, an email

The school of thought that always saying yes to your kids is being a good parent

The monsters those people raise

Tailgating

Tailgating in dangerous road conditions. People who do this should be instantly banned from driving

“I’m a glass half full person”. Used to be cute but is now annoying. The word is optimist!

“There’s a question mark over…..” If it is a written question, there should indeed be a question mark. The only times that the word ‘mark’ should follow the word ‘question’ when speaking, are when discussing punctuation or when asking Mark a question!

“There’s no such thing as a stupid question.” Oh yes there is!

People who change course and walk directly into my path and then apologise….. but they still stand there waiting for me to walk around them!

People who talk really loudly on their mobile phones when in an enclosed space

People who talk endlessly on their mobile phones when in an enclosed space

Men who sit in crowded spaces with their legs unnaturally widely open

People who insist on taking up two seats on a bus or train, even when there are people standing

Drivers who inch their cars into a crossing while people are on it and while they have a red light

Gas Guzzling monster cars and trucks – especially when only one person is in it

People who don’t acknowledge me when I hold a door open for them

Adults throwing their rubbish in the street while walking with their kids

People littering – especially when there is a receptacle nearby

People not recycling – especially when there is a recycling bin right by the regular one

People not washing their hands after going to the toilet – especially after having a crap.


I’m sure there are lots more. Please feel free to add some of yours in the comments.

The last time I was in the South Station area with a camera, and not rushing for a bus, the sun was so bright all I got was a black screen. Yesterday, I got out of work early enough that I had an opportunity to take these.

The other building is across the square from the FT building. I think if it was in England, it would affectionately be called the Washboard Tower. Have no idea what it is actually called, but it is very interesting.

This building is beautiful. Actually, Boston has a lot of really nice, very interesting looking buildings. I caught this while on my way to see The Importance of Being Earnest (the play is great but I can’t say the same for the acting in this production!)

Another great but late night out. It had been close to 2 years since I’d been to the theatre in this country, although I did go when I visited London. But now I’ve been 3 times in a couple of weeks. I love it. I resolve to never go so long between plays again.


Trinity Church is in the foreground

I had to do it. Couldn’t possibly be in town for 3 months and not experience a Red Sox game at Fenway Park. I wasn’t at all disappointed. I know New York Mets fans like to delude themselves that they are the best fans in the world, but this is one Mets fan who always found that claim to be a rather sad joke. Is it because I have been to Football matches in England and seen what real fans are? Is it because as soon as things don’t go their way, they start booing? Yes, and emphatically Yes!

Fenway was packed, as always. Apparently, they always sell out, although what with no shows, they are never actually full. The crowd is raucous and wonderfully nutty – much more lively that at Shea. The Red Sox won 2-1, but that was secondary for me to actually being in the famous old park and spending an evening with my son, Sean, who had also never been there before. A night I will definitely remember.

As I have already related, I was hugely frustrated last week, not getting a promised call to arrange an interview for this past Monday. The recruiter I was dealing with couldn’t answer any questions and was entirely lousy at his job. He had said “in their defence, they can’t reach anyone on the phone.” That’s their defence? They are so inefficient that they can’t reach people by phone. I felt much better knowing that!

Anyway, as soon as I decided I was going to work on Monday after all, I knew what was going to happen. It was just so obvious that I confidently told a few people. And sure enough, at 3pm on Monday, my phone rang:

“Hello. This is Raj from [don’t want to say the name]. I thought you were coming in to see us today.”

I went off, ignoring Raj’s efforts to interrupt me:

“I thought so also. I waited 3 days for a promised call. I booked a non-refundable bus journey for Monday and because I was staying home for an extra night, I caught a later bus than usual on Friday and got home at midnight, so my weekend was greatly compromised. I first arranged with my manager to take today off, then told her on Friday that I would come in today as I wasn’t going to lose money for no reason.”

I actually said more than that. His response?

“That’s OK.” Had he apologised, I would have been very nice about it.

“No it’s not OK! I think you owe me an apology!”

He apologised; at first, disingenuously, then more genuinely. I told him I could come in on Friday and just possibly next Tuesday, although I’d prefer not as next week is my last week. He said it would be difficult to get the necessary people together but would get back to me.

I called him yesterday:

“I told you I would have problems getting the people together and the assignment isn’t firmed up. And last time things didn’t work out, you got upset”

He absolutely hadn’t told me that the assignment wasn’t firmed up. I had told him that I would want assurances that the assignment was real before taking a day off and losing pay. I started to tell him what really happened in our Monday conversation, but cut myself short. It wasn’t worth it. Clearly, this guy is a conceited, thoughtless, condescending fucking prick, and nothing I said would make him see that he had done anything wrong. I was going to take Monday off and lose a full day’s pay, which he was fully aware of. And he didn’t even have an assignment for me! He could have waited for June 2nd when it would cost me the fare money from Brooklyn to Teaneck, but no, that wasn’t soon enough for me to interview for a non-existent job.

So I am lucky that the company is so inefficient that they couldn’t reach people by phone in 3 days, because if I’m annoyed by the company now, I would have been much more so had I taken a day off.

And if Raj does call me at some point, which I sincerely doubt he will, I will tell him that I will be happy to sub-contract but would prefer not to take the assignment as his company’s employee. If they want me enough to call, maybe that will work. It’s actually more honest that way as I feel fairly confident in predicting that they will not keep me beyond the one assignment anyway – unless everything falls magically into place and they have something else lined up. So why be an employee with the job security of a consultant but the lower salary. I want the money to go with the lack of security. If I might be looking for work again in a few months, my next job had better pay enough to buffer my bank account enough that I can survive a while out of work.

Unfortunately, that would appear to be my fate as of June 2nd. I do have a couple of not greatly promising leads, but things seem to have quietened down again. Fortunately, I am slightly better prepared for a short while out than I was 4 months ago. It will be a few weeks before I start to really worry. Hopefully, it won’t come to that.

Two weeks ago, I was told about a possible job that sounded designed for me. It would have involved working with my old group at Bank of New York and travel to England. Probably also travel to Boston and other places, working on the system I originally installed 8 years ago. I also had a technical interview over the phone for a full time position with a large consultancy – they had an assignment for me in New York City - but didn’t expect it to come to anything. But still, I was feeling good when I came home last weekend.

As last week progressed, it became apparent that the dream job was unlikely to happen, but on Tuesday I was told that the Consulting Company wanted me to work for them, but first wanted me to name a time to come into their Teaneck office to meet with them. All I had to do was tell them when I would come in to meet them. I told them Monday and was assured that I would be called by the Human Resources person to set it up. So I booked a non-refundable bus journey for Monday instead of my usual Sunday, and booked to leave Boston later than usual as I could do without being here Friday evening if my weekend was being extended.

In the meantime, I got a call from England that the job in Frankfurt that was mentioned to me in February was once again available, and another call regarding an ‘immediate start contract in NYC’.

By Friday, there was no word on either of those contracts and I was told that the job I had really wanted was not currently considered viable. And by then, I was quite upset with the HR person at the consultancy, who had apparently made an absolute promise to the job agent that he would call me Thursday to arrange a time. But the call never came.

Two more weeks!

I’d had a couple of rough days. They happen to us all. When Trish emailed asking if I wanted to see a funny play, I immediately said yes, and met her and her friends Sian and Aliya at the Duplex on Christopher Street for the 10pm performance of Love’s Divide, which bills itself as an unromantic comedy.It took a couple from pre-dating, to marriage and children, then the various mental phases of divorce of divorce, including anger and regret, ending not comedically, but touchingly. At the beginning and end of the play, there was interaction between the two actors, but the middle was a series of monologues.

I’m always interested in hearing two sides of the same story. When personally involved, we understand so little of what the other person is perceiving and feeling, and whereas we like to put our own spin on what they might wish to say to us, or what they might want us to do, we will invariably be wrong. This play brilliantly explores both sides. The actors also wrote it – she, her part, and he, his.

After first Aliya – very tired – then Sian – work early in the morning – left, Trish and I chatted. She had been separated for two years, but her divorce finally came through in the last month, and I knew that some of the things in the play would be perceived by her in the light of her experiences. And certainly there was enough to provoke thought – not only directly related to her - that we talked for some time.

The part that stuck more with me was how both the man and the woman started by detailing why they were alone and saying that it was by choice, and they ended by admitting that they had indeed been fooling themselves; that it had been self-protection. I have no doubt that this isn’t true for everyone who says that they are better alone, and there are times in each of our lives when we are not ready to not be alone, but I do think that for most, the illusion constructed and lived probably doesn’t fool anyone, including themselves.

Oh. If you have a chance to see this play, take it. The audience is encouraged to participate and the actors are excellent and personable. They will be happy to chat with you afterwards. Much of what they do is scripted, but they do ad lib most effectively, based upon the audience interaction. Check out the website: http://lovesdivide.com/

The first time it rained while I was in Downtown Boston, I was surprised that there weren’t little old Chinese women on every (or any) block selling umbrellas for “fiy dulla”. Another thing I have been surprised at is that the per-block ratio of people begging for money here seems rather higher than in the Big Apple.

A couple of weeks ago, I passed so many people with their hands out, I started to wonder how much money it might cost a person if they decided to give a dollar to every person who asked them in any given month, How much would you need to earn just to cover that? Not that I can be bothered to find out, but I would be interested in the result if someone actually took such a project on.

But another thought occurred to me as I witnessed various styles of begging and augmented this with memories of people on the New York Subway.

I believe that smiling nicely and saying “good morning” or “have a nice day”, carries a higher hourly rate of pay than simply shaking a money tin, and also more than millions of Americans are pulling in from their minimum pay jobs.

On the Subway, I suspect the people who need money the most get the least, but of course what they really need is actual care. Thanks to that darling of Republicans, Ronald Reagan, all too many people who used to receive psychiatric help were put onto the streets. And there they have stayed ever since.

Who gets the money on the subway? Mariachis make some great bucks. An a cappella group seen occasionally also does quite well. And the couple of jazz quartets seen all to rarely do very well indeed. Solo singers don’t make out so very well unless they sing the word “Jesus”. They get more for singing it in two distinct syllables and far far more for singing it during the Holiday season. Their most generous audience is undoubtedly African American women of a certain age. I have seen a couple of smart singers turn their fortunes around by injecting this word into their repertoire. Suddenly the hands are dipping into purses as if the plate is being passed around in a Church!

One person, however, invoked in my mind Polanski’s The Fearless Vampire Killers, in which British Actor Alfie Bass played a Jewish Vampire who, when someone held a cross up to him, exclaimed: “Boy have you ever got the wrong vampire here!” This person on the subway picked the wrong audience also, singing the ‘J’ word to a sparse all White and mostly Russian Jewish crowd. Perhaps he ought to invest the time in learning hava nagila for the next he finds himself in that situation! You've got to play to your audience!

I have been told that I must get to Back Bay and had thought I would go there yesterday with Heidi. But just like the last time we were going to walk there, she had a better idea! Last time it was to see QED and this time it was to see and smell the lilac in bloom at the Harvard’s Arnold Arboretum. I went because it was something different for me, and that is what life for me here in Boston is – different. I could never have imagined I would enjoy it quite so much. The various lilacs were spectacular in beauty, contrast and the various smells. If there’s a lilac grove near you, get there this month while you still can. If you appreciate nature, you will not be disappointed.




This last picture has Downtown Boston in the distance

I think I would really throw the cat among the pigeons if the worst actually came to the best, as nobody seems to have a contingency plan for that.

In an underpass by Mill Hill Broadway, North West London, in the early 80's, the following was painted quite large:

In a world full of boxes, only true love is natural

That became the subject of a few (stoned) discussions on whether or not it was profound.


The funniest one ever, I saw re-printed somewhere, and not in it's original scrawl:

If you think the bottom is falling out of your world
Drink Theakston's Real Ale, and you'll think the world is falling out of your bottom


I requested on a message board for people to post their favourites, and this is a selection of what was posted, some of which I had seen elsewhere previously:

Written on wall:
"My mother made me a lesbian"
Written below in different hand
"If I give her the wool, will she make me one too?"


My karma ran over my dogma

On a church sign announcing 'Jesus is Coming', someone had written - 'Don't Swallow That'.

One that only English people will get. posted near the Spurs ground:
KEN DODDS DADS DOGS DEAD


Seen on a 7 Up truck in the late 80’s:
"7 Up - It's good for you".
Someone had written underneath:
"Not if you're Snow White"


In a public toilet:
Here I sit, broken hearted
I came to poo, but only farted


And here are some pictures that were posted.







Please feel free to post your favourites also.

I’ve been feeling this for a long time. I see food prices going way up. A lot of people are really struggling to cope with increased prices for bread, milk and cereals. Some of the increases are due to poor crops; a very small part is due to increased haulage costs. A very large part is because so much corn is being used for the production of ethanol for cars.

Why are we using food to produce fuel for cars? To limit the amount of oil used. Only it isn’t working to lower the price of oil, is it? All it is doing is taking food out of people’s mouths!

Boston has a very nice chain of Tortilla restaurants called Boloco. Great food and great smoothies, as I found out when I tried one this week. They obviously think they will impress people who are environmentally conscious by printing in large letters on their plastic smoothie cups that the cups are 100% made from corn. Well, I’m environmentally aware and I was not in the slightest bit impressed! More food out of people’s mouths, as far as I’m concerned!

The United States of America uses over a quarter of the world’s oil. It has 37% of the world’s cars. So much of this country is based upon use of the automobile. Wave after wave of people have moved into suburbia, but many of the places they have moved to have little or no public transportation. The big car companies made sure of that. And the big car companies are the reason why Americans pay considerably less in gasoline tax than any net oil using country in the world.

While Americans are complaining about $4 gasoline, Europeans are paying more than twice that. Of course, there would be big trouble if European style taxes were introduced over here. But there are predictions that the spike in oil prices is going to continue until it hits $200 a barrel. This will see another $2 added to the price of gasoline here, and more elsewhere, where VAT is added to the price. It actually doesn’t make too much difference how much Europeans cut back their usage if China continues to use more and American usage doesn’t dip significantly. The oil price will continue to rise for as long as Americans are so dependent on it.

How to wean them off? Well the answer sure as hell shouldn’t be using corn and sugar cane! In the short term, it might actually be necessary for suburbanites to telecommute one day a week or be offered the option of working 4 long days. And many new bus routes need to be created in conjunction with new road usage charges and perhaps banning single occupant vehicles from commuting routes at peak times where public transportation alternatives are viable. And yes, increasing the gasoline tax! For the longer term, I have to suggest trains! Light rail for short journeys and high speed for longer ones that will also reduce demand for air travel. Would you fly from Washington DC to Boston if a train could do the journey in 2 ½ to 3 hours? Would you drive?

I saw the McCain and Clinton calls for temporarily halting the tax for the summer as reckless, populist electioneering. Yes, it would make things easier for Americans for the month it takes for the price of oil to go up the next $10 a barrel, at which point it will make no difference except for the shortfall in tax revenue. Yet another debt our grandchildren will be paying because we spend more than we earn.

By the logic that Americans will only significantly reduce their usage when the price of gas is $6 a gallon – click on the hyperlink below - the price of oil will need to reach $200 per barrel, at which point Europeans would be paying upwards of $12. So here is an idea that will never come to fruition. If the USA phased in a $2 per gallon Federal Excise Duty on gasoline, the price level would reach that at which usage would decline significantly, and nobody in other developed nations need feel much more pain than they already are. And it would make the prices here more environmentally responsible. No chance of that happening, unfortunately, but it should!

As for the alternative mentioned here to use Natural Gas resources; as long as we don’t spoil nature reserves or otherwise damage ecology, I don’t see why that shouldn’t happen. But it should be secondary to finding alternatives that are non-polluting and renewable and should not stop efforts to make automobile travel an alternative instead of the only means of transport for millions of Americans.

http://money.cnn.com/2008/05/07/news/economy/120_oil/index.htm?postversion=2008050812

The weather has been mostly miserable so far this Spring. We had some nice days a couple of weeks ago, but then it reverted. Monday was supposedly 60 degrees, but I don’t believe it. There was a breeze coming off of the ocean, so that even in the sun, it felt quite chilly.

Tuesday was a great day: low 70s and mostly sunny. I decided to go to Cambridge after work, hoping to get a few pictures of row boats. Unfortunately, I left work later than usual and had a chat with Louis, a Brooklyn born doorman, so got to the riverfront too late.

I did catch this guy though. He was walking slightly unsteadily, as old dogs do, and surprised me when he didn’t stop at the water’s edge, but kept on going.

I have had a great time here in Boston. It has been an experience I will always cherish. Lovely city, really nice, friendly people, great job, plenty of bus stories to blog. But there is one negative bigger than me being away from home and not sleeping in my own bed for 5 days a week; bigger than dealing with an 11 hour door-to-door weekly round trip.

You see, I had exited a relationship in a most unsatisfactory way not long before I lost my job. It was one of those deals where it has been over for a while, but then something big happens to change and sour everything. But somehow, the manner of how things transpired, however apparently conclusive, never seemed right or in character. So I felt no closure, which is something I strive for and need. Added to that, the limbo of first not having a job, then not being home to get on with life, meant that what I should have moved on from, was rarely too far from my thoughts.

Everything swirled around in my head. The previous time this had become almost overwhelming, a few weeks ago, I wrote the history of events as a short story, in the 3rd person, never intending to do anything with it. It helped a lot. This time around, I tried something else. A letter, which I thought I would send as I was writing it, but slept on it and thought the better of sending the next day. Once again, this did the trick. It’s amazing how clarifying it can be to see your own thoughts in one place at one time, instead of letting them have free rein to wreak havoc on your mind and mood.

By Wednesday, when I heard very exciting details about a possible job opening that has yet to actually start accepting applications, my mind was very much more clear and I felt happy once again.

Had I been working in New York these last 4 months, I would possibly have become involved with someone new, but certainly have had more of a private life, more fun and less time on my hands. I am now looking forward to arriving home on Saturday, May 31st, hopefully with a job to start nearby already lined up or close to it, and actually getting back into my life.

I look forward to my last 3 weeks here with the same fond affection I will remember my stay. It is very easy now. Each week passes incredibly quickly and soon there will be no more. I find myself doing things I must do before I leave. I have tickets to see the Red Sox play at Fenway – how could I not! But I also look forward to getting back into the gym near my apartment and, here’s the masochist coming out once again, getting back onto the dating site that I so despise when I’m on there. It is exciting in prospect and when fresh, but quickly becomes frustrating.

At Passover, Jews say: “next year in Jerusalem.” By that time, Spurs fans (could this be a reason why so many Jews support the team?) say: “next year will be the year we finally get into the top 4.” So why shouldn't this Jewish Spurs fan have the refrain that next time on JDate I will meet the woman of my dreams? Ever the optimist!! Somehow, being a Jew, a Spurs fan and single at 50, are greatly complimentary!

This is an actual headline on the BBC website: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/7390109.stm


It is my belief that tits of many varieties flourish in warm weather.
However, blue tits are clearly more prominent in the winter.

Last Friday, I was told that I should definitely plan on May 16th being my last day in Boston. On Monday, that was confirmed. On Tuesday, shortly before 5pm, I was told that my manager got approval to extend me by 2 weeks. This is good! I now have two weeks extra of guaranteed earnings and two weeks extra to find a job from the relative position of strength of already having one; two weeks more to stave off the worry that comes with unemployment in a horrible job market.

Ever the opportunist, I will be getting tickets to see the Red Sox play at Fenway Park on the Tuesday that had seemed as if it would be my first back home. Can’t spend time in Boston and not go to one of the most famous and venerated stadiums in the country.

Still no clearer on whether my next job will be here or New York. It was clarified for me that one of them I am being submitted for would start here and I may be able to get the role transferred to New York. Hey, I would be quite happy to split my time between the two places. I like my room, love Brookline and am happy to work in Downtown Boston.

As for the title of this entry, I remembered something I had written in March 2005, in a retrospective Bus Driver’s Diary. This is a direct copy and paste:

“Life continues to present me with only the unexpected. Does anyone have a predictable life? If so, do I envy them or feel sorry for them? The answer has to be YES!”

My manager has tried to get my contract extended. She hasn’t yet entirely given up. Not entirely. But so far, she has had no luck. I have told Kevin, who is the leaseholder of the apartment in Brookline, that I am leaving. I’m paid up on my rent there until the end of the month. Two weeks! I don’t feel that it’s long enough. And I don’t mean that just in terms of finishing my work, which I won’t do. Nor do I mean it in terms of getting a new job, although that is making me a little nervous. No, I expected to be around for several more weeks and haven’t really adjusted to the thought of that time being curtailed so much.

The job market really does suck. Usually by now, I have had several calls from annoying people who act like the stereotypical used car salesmen, trying to convince me that I am perfect for a senior role based around something I had light experience with 10 years ago, and won’t take no for an answer. These aren’t the old school American Head Hunters, but a new breed who specialise mostly in bringing people over from India. I am happy not to be dealing with them, but it is a sign of how few jobs there are out there.

My resume on dice.com has been viewed a total of 6 times in 9 days. 9 days after posting in January, it had had well over 30 views. And January wasn’t a hot job market either!

In the last 2 days, I have been told of two vague possibilities for jobs where agents have relationships with companies and will speak with their contacts about whether they need me now. Not much to go on, but that makes two more partial leads than there were until Thursday evening. One of these would be in New York and the other is for a company that has offices in New York and Boston. We shall see.

On Thursday I met Heidi for the second time. She was one of two women I have met from the ad I placed in the Platonic Only section of Craig’s List. We had dinner in a bar near where I work - finally, in my 9th week in town, I went to a Boston bar for the first time - and we then went on to see an off off off off-Broadway play called QED, based upon the life of Nobel Prize winning physicist Richard Feynman at the Broad Institute on the campus of MIT. For me, that area looks as if it was designed by MIT scientists as opposed to architects. It is a rather cold and soulless place. There is this rather interesting looking building which apparently leaks. I wrote down the name but can’t find what I wrote it on.


Anyway, Feynman was a very interesting man and the play was most enjoyable. I really had a great evening. Thoroughly enjoyed the time with Heidi who I will not see in the next two weeks. I have friends in many places, and now I feel that I have at least one in Boston. If nothing else comes from my time there, it has been time well spent.