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Greetings from Boston!

Well I've perked up a bit after being such a moaning misery-guts over in shagging and diseases and have managed to leave the house, despite the weather's best efforts to prevent me. It has been raining like a bastard for the last 9 nine days.

Found a local bar on Saturday night where I sat on my own for a bit listening to 80s rawk and hip-hop and reading Piers Morgan's diaries until I noticed 3 young Americans giggling and apologizing to me for using such filthy language within my earshot. I hadn't noticed them saying anything, but took the opportunity to introduce myself to some clean-living college boys. Two students of criminal law and one hip-hop producer who was heroically drunk.

They told me all about how they used to take ketamine in church even though they believe in god 'n' all :D , were keen to know what 'cracking one off' meant (they brought it up!) and practised their English accents on me. Ooh and they (all white) warned me not to go to South Boston as while Boston is apparently becoming less racially segregated in some areas (like Brighton/Allston, where I'm staying), not so down there and they didn't think I'd be safe. Happy to take their advice at the moment. :eek:

Tried to go leaf-peeping yesterday. Got up very early for a pick-up from a hotel in town. Despite assurances from the concierge that the Fall Foliage Spectacular bus wouldn't arrive for ages and that he'd tell them to wait while I went to the loo if they were early, I got left behind. After calling me a liar and telling me he wasn't deaf and that I'd definitely said I was going on some shopping trip I hadn't heard of, he called the company and asked them to come back, only to be told that 'someone' had phoned them and cancelled my booking and that the tour was over-subscribed and I could just sod off really. (He put me on the phone so they could tell me themselves.)

I jumped in a cab and went to the tour offices, to find a line of people waiting for the bus which hadn't yet arrived and was still doing the rounds of hotels - so I joined it and got the last seat on the bus. No problem with my booking as far as they were concerned! And there was no-one behind me in the queue - it was just exactly full....

Sat next to a lovely, black (it's relevant!) woman from Texas who'd just moved to Boston and was being a tourist for a bit...

We decided to find the tour funny. It rained all the way, the leaves hadn't really turned much, we couldn't stop anywhere as it was too wet, the driver and tour guide spent the whole trip telling us he wished he'd stayed in bed and that he should have stayed retired instead of coming back to tourism after 10 years, and talking on his mobile phone as he sped down the fast lane of the motorway with one windscreen-wiper broken and looking almost anywhere but the road. I had a good view of the windscreen as I was in the front row of seats.

At lunch, Regina and I sat with a Scottish couple and were asked by the rather dotty woman whether we were sisters or just friends... "Er, we just met on the bus." ''Oh! Do you sing?" "No - I'm a neuroscientist". :rolleyes:

Still! At least I went off for a 3-hour whale watching tour this morning. At least, I got to the harbour but despite this being the first warm and sunny day for ages, the trip was cancelled due to gale force winds that have now arrived and are trying to re-arrange the park outside my window.

:D

(I did manage a quick trip round the harbour on another boat but even then the plastic chairs started to blow off deck!)

And I'm going to hook up with Regina again, possibly to go hiking in the White Mountains.

And I got Stobes a fridge-magnet.

:)
 
Mation said:
I shall come in drag! :cool:
Click to expand...

* Takes cold shower *





* Realises the boiler is broken and there isn't any other kind tonight *



:mad:


So much for the sincerity of that servile "have a nice day" service, then. Glad to hear it's shaping up Soviet :D
 
fat hamster said:
:rolleyes: indeed, but also :D .
Click to expand...
The timing was a bit off as Regina went to the loo as I said what I do, but when she arrived back I did ask the Scottish woman whether -she- was a singer. It went *whoosh* but amused us!

laptop said:
Glad to hear it's shaping up Soviet :D
Click to expand...
Indeed. :D

<girly bit>

Oh and I forgot the other reason I'm feeling better.. I went to Filene's Basement at Downtown Crossing, where the clothes get marked down and then down further automatically, by a percentage of the original price according to how long they've been there. Saw loads of bum-length, soft, grey, flannel dressing-gowns with hoods and was wishing very hard for a longer one with pockets to see me through Sundays and the already quite nippy mornings. And after looking at least 20 of the wrong sort, one materialised!

For $7.50. :cool:
 
Hey you I've only just seen this :rolleyes: You write what you want it's not a competition ;)
*subscribes to thread*
 
:eek:

One of my neighbours is freak...

I did something naughty - I admit it. Last week I took the rubbish down as I was on my way out... This was the first time and I thought I'd read in my sublease agreement that rubbish was to be left behind my building, #76. When I got downstairs I saw that I couldn't get through the gate to the back of the house without a key, and thought that the person I'm subletting from (Esther) must have forgotten to give it to me (as she had with the key to the letterbox). So as I was already late, I left the bag by the gate. Felt a bit guilty. I did this precisely once.

Today I got an email from Esther who had in turn received an email from the company that manages the building. There was a complaint about me leaving the bag in the wrong place (it should have been behind #79, as I found out when I looked at the lease again).

How did they know it was me?

The person who found the bag *went through my rubbish* and found something that mentioned this flat.

:confused:
 
D said:
Mation - is your tagline a reference to Cheers?

That's very Bostonian of you.

:cool: :p
Click to expand...
It is! I went and sat on his stool at the bar in the Cheers-interior-replica bar that looks nothing at all like Cheers! :D

No-one cried "Mation!" so I'm thinking of changing my name...
 
Mation said:
The person who found the bag *went through my rubbish* and found something that mentioned this flat.

:confused:
Click to expand...


:eek:

That notwithstanding, it sounds like you're having a fab time :cool: :)
 
djbombscare said:
Now this is just freaky. . I've just found out I've got to fly out to Boston for a week on Nov 28th.
Click to expand...
Spooky!

I'll be an expert Boston bore by then and can tell you where to go. As it were. And if you're about for a cuppa that would be lovely. :)

*waves to mango5, LilJen and skim*
 
Mation said:
Today I got an email from Esther who had in turn received an email from the company that manages the building. There was a complaint about me leaving the bag in the wrong place (it should have been behind #79, as I found out when I looked at the lease again).
Click to expand...

Er...

How long has Boston been in Switzerland?

Don't hang any washing out!
 
Isnt' the Boston chinatown the crappiest ever?


I didn't realize you were a neuropsychologist. That must be why you knew who Muriel Lezak was, a while ago - at least I think it was you.

Judging by the weather, you might as well be in Vancouver.
 
Johnny Canuck2 said:
Isnt' the Boston chinatown the crappiest ever?


I didn't realize you were a neuropsychologist. That must be why you knew who Muriel Lezak was, a while ago - at least I think it was you.

Judging by the weather, you might as well be in Vancouver.
Click to expand...
Had a wander round Chinatown after my mini harbour tour on Sunday. Wasn't desperately excited by it, but then I don't know what would make me so.

I'm *not* a neuropsychologist! There's a difference! :D And I don't know who Muriel Lezak is. I was however, wearing blue.

Appropo of the silly thread in general, did I mention the queue (sorry, line) for the loo on Saturday?

Leaf-peeping tour bus stopped for a nanosecond at a cafe so we could all go to the loo, and the queue was all muddled. So people (all from the bus) attempted to work out who was in which place. The woman in front of me looked straight past lil old me, to the woman behind me (who was only half inside the room as it was so crowded) and said "You were after me, weren't you?" and the tosser blatantly lied and answered, "Yes, I'm next, after you." I looked back and forth between them and realised that they weren't likely to look in my direction anytime soon, so just said "Erm, I think you'll find that I was before you", to the queue-jumper. She didn't say a word, and the one in front said "oh" and looked away again.

:rolleyes:
 
laptop said:
Don't hang any washing out!
Click to expand...
No chance of that! I'm using the residential laundry in the building across the road. Seven quarters for a wash and seven for a dry. Grrrrr. Fucking fiddly money. :mad:
 
Mation said:
Appropo of the silly thread in general, did I mention the queue (sorry, line) for the loo on Saturday?

Leaf-peeping tour bus stopped for a nanosecond at a cafe so we could all go to the loo, and the queue was all muddled. So people (all from the bus) attempted to work out who was in which place. The woman in front of me looked straight past lil old me, to the woman behind me (who was only half inside the room as it was so crowded) and said "You were after me, weren't you?" and the tosser blatantly lied and answered, "Yes, I'm next, after you." I looked back and forth between them and realised that they weren't likely to look in my direction anytime soon, so just said "Erm, I think you'll find that I was before you", to the queue-jumper. She didn't say a word, and the one in front said "oh" and looked away again.

:rolleyes:
Click to expand...

Ah yes:the good old USA.

The problem in the US is that if you're black, you aren't sure if that kind of stuff is racial, or is just generalized rudeness.

Then, there are some things that you know boil down to race.

I hope you have a thick skin. If you do, you can laugh at the silliness of it.
 
You know, I've never lived in Boston; but a number of people I know who have say they encountered far more abundant, insidious, and totally let's-pretend-it's-not-there racism in Boston than they did living in New Orleans, Washington DC, Baltimore, most anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line.
 
Johnny Canuck2 said:
The problem in the US is that if you're black, you aren't sure if that kind of stuff is racial, or is just generalized rudeness.
Click to expand...
Well that's just it! I seldom know, here or at home (though I think this time it was definitely racism given how polite everyone was being to everyone else).

I've had white friends outraged on my behalf before when they've spotted things like me being overlooked at a bar, while I've just been thinking it was busy... Hard to tell and I'm not keen to tot up all my experiences of this compared to some (white) other person, but I suspect that if I did there'd be an imbalance.

I did find it quite funny though. :D

D - yes I remember you saying that when I was asking about New Orleans before my trip there last February and thinking 'oh fuck!' :D
 
D said:
You know, I've never lived in Boston; but a number of people I know who have say they encountered far more abundant, insidious, and totally let's-pretend-it's-not-there racism in Boston than they did living in New Orleans, Washington DC, Baltimore, most anywhere south of the Mason Dixon line.
Click to expand...

I think part of it is that you're not expecting it there, or in other northern cities, so it takes you unawares.

I know that during my limited travels in the south, I was braced for all sorts of nonsense that never happened. Maybe I was lucky, but the racial issue seemed fairly relaxed - at least where I was.

But I've been totally floored by minor racist incidents in places like SF, Chicago, ..... and Great Falls Montana.

Maybe I shouldn't have been so surprised at that last one.
 
JC2 - Have you been to Detroit? Newark? DC?

I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of those northern (DC's kind of neither north nor south, really - just its own weird, dreadful political apparatus divorced from the rest of the country) cities where the population is predominantly black.
 
Mation said:
Spooky!

I'll be an expert Boston bore by then and can tell you where to go. As it were. And if you're about for a cuppa that would be lovely. :)

*waves to mango5, LilJen and skim*
Click to expand...

I think a cuppa a tea in Boston has gotta be a must.

Im well excited. Im going on my own so its like a little adventure :D
 
djbombscare said:
I think a cuppa a tea in Boston has gotta be a must.

Im well excited. Im going on my own so its like a little adventure :D
Click to expand...
Cool - I'll investigate some tea rooms :)

D - I went to Washington DC for a week or so a decade ago. I was staying with a white friend and her mother in the suburbs and just remember both of them being very frightened everytime we went out in the evening, especially if we were near somewhere 'urban'. Her mother actually assesed my handbag for size and was slightly reassured that it looked big enough to contain a gun! :eek:

When my friend and I missed the last metro home one night after a concert at the Wonderland Ballroom, she was so terrified that some blokes were hanging around about 75 metres away that she opened the door of a cab that had stopped at the lights but had its light off and a passenger inside, and asked if we could jump in and share! We did. It was a bit bizarre.

Went to a club and got talking to the (black) bouncers there. They were very friendly but warned me that if I did find myself in a poor area that it wouldn't matter what color (sic!) I was - I should just keep my mouth shut so they wouldn't know I'm English!

Am of to DC again in a month or so for a week... Will be staying in town this time.
 
D said:
JC2 - Have you been to Detroit? Newark? DC?

I'd be interested in hearing what you thought of those northern (DC's kind of neither north nor south, really - just its own weird, dreadful political apparatus divorced from the rest of the country) cities where the population is predominantly black.
Click to expand...

No, none of those. Places I've been with the largest black populations were Chicago, Oakland; and East St. Louis, of course, but I didn't linger there very long.
 
Johnny Canuck2 said:
Parts of the Pacific Northwest, mostly in parts of Montana and Idaho, are home to a number of white supremacists.
Click to expand...
Ah.

Good thing to know in advance of my solo camping holiday adventure then.
 
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