Could the republicans, with their letter to Iran stunt, have finally jumped the shark? Nah, I don’t think so either. There’s no limit to how far they’ll dive—not to make this country better but to achieve total control over us peasant types. Ya know, that worked out SO well for the French and English Kingdoms amongst others. Except the “right” doesn’t seem too familiar with history, reality and, ya know, logic.
A girl can dream.
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I was in Brookline yesterday and guess what, even with all the magnificent thaw action that we’ve experienced here in Snow Central, there are still some sidewalks and crosswalks that are a mess of ice and old crusty flakes.
A few things1) In Brookline, the Family Median Income is $148,414. Wow. The average income per resident is $64,102. You’d think, even with the crazy home prices (average price, and this includes condos, is $527M), there’d be a shekel or two left over to pay the local urchins to shovel the walk.
2) Let’s look at the property tax rates. In 2014, the commercial rate was $18.50. Residential was $11.39. For working class, no frills Quincy? Municipal tax rates for Fiscal Year 2015 are: Residential $14.60 and Commercial/Industrial $30.26.
Higher. Interesting. Brookline has the big posh rep too.
Still, I’d think/hope/imagine they would get some sidewalk and crosswalk clearance for their tax buckos. Makes sense, don’t it?
In this historically snowy winter Quincy had, albeit late in the season, earth mover-ettes clearing the more frequented walkways. Mebbe Brookline should consider raising their taxes OR guilt-tripping the home and biz owners, who’re enjoying the relatively low tax rates, into shelling out for shovellers.
and
3) There are a lot of elderly folk in Brookline. Mega thoughtless, dangerous and inconsiderate of the city and landlords to disregard the welfare of the most fragile citizens, eh?
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While walking from Brookline down to student heaven (AKA Allston) to meet Jen, I saw not one but TWO men walking purse dogs. These were average looking schmoes too. No Dolce and Gabbana suits, wingtips and manis, them. Have purse dogs crossed the gender appreciation line? Also, what’s the appeal of purse dogs? If you’re gonna have a pet that small, get a cat! You don’t need to take a cat outside in a driving rainstorm or killer blizzard so they can pee.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Janice, my shrink, tells me that during this obscenely stressful time I should do things to help/comfort/build myself up.
Like what? What would that even look like?
Wine is great (duh) but I need to drink less (one glass versus two a day MAX). Laying in bed with a great escapist paperback is awesome but I can’t do that all day every day AND I’m, as previously mentioned, having a hell of a time finding a new author/book. The Blue Lagoon beckons BUT I need to be home by TAB’s side. Triking—YES but the weather is still dodgy so I can’t get out and ride every day. I could start drawing on the kitchen walls. Sunflowers. Maybe some vines but mostly sunflowers.
Janice says that getting through the Scheiße is about balance (NOT one of my superpowers). It’s not all work and microscopic amounts of play. Right. Gotcha. Maybe I need to be mindful—that is, I need to recognize down times, mellow moments and appreciate them as opposed to shoehorning a minute in here and there as though it's just one more thing to check off on my To Do list.
Also...wine. This is another wine label that I love.
You know, this sounds much like a conversation I’ve been having with C for many years. She’s always been high-stress, gotta get it done, what’s the next thing to do, rush rush rush. She’s told me many times that she can’t let herself relax because then things won’t get done, but then she doesn’t like the results of the stress in her life. I’ve had to remind her countless times over the years that relaxing is not something that happens after everything else on The List is ticked off because if that’s her requirement, then relaxing will never happen because, by definition, The List is never all done. It’s taken me years to convince her that unwinding is a legitimate item on the The List, not an afterthought. It’s integral to getting the rest done. So chill, willya?
ReplyDeletechillen'—it's on The List. :-)
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