Blogging My Life

Another New England minor league ballpark checked off this summer. Up to Lowell (New York-Penn League, A) tonight with Dan and Henrik, a Hungarian friend. I always enjoy trying to explain baseball to foreigners! It was a great game for it, actually, with lot of errors and should-have-been errors, and so forth. It’s a nice park, right near downtown and the river and in the shadow of some of Lowell’s ancienttextile mills. Best name: Yahmed Yema. Top prospect: Jacoby Ellsbury. The one everyone was there to see: Gabe Kapler, back from Japan (Yomiuri Giants) and DH-ing tonight. Final score: 7-1 over Batavia. Dan told me about the Jack Kerouac bobble-head promotion there a two years ago. Sorry I missed that!
Here’s Gabe striking out, but (added 7/30) he made it back to Fenway on Saturday:

Back to the Paradise this past weekend to see Shelby Lynne (July 17). It was a very good show, though, for someone who in interviews says she lives for performing, I thought she was a little uneasy on stage. Her band, the geekiest-lookest threesome ever to come out of Mississippi I’m sure, was really good. The hard rock dobro stylings were a revelation for any fan of that instrument. The highlight of the night for me was a cover of the Stones’ “Dead Flowers”. I also really like her new tune “Where Am I Now?,” off the new album, Suit Yourself.
The crowd mystified me a little. Librarian-ish women and forty- and fifty-something single men. The presence of the latter was explained when a few minutes on Google revealed the Shelby has developed a large gay following.

Our latest Communication to our esteemed Board of Directors. I guess the idea that someone would not have a car in CA is just too much for them.

July 12, 2005
… Homeowners Association Board of Directors
[snip]
Dear Board members:
I just learned of Karen’s recommendation on July 12, 2005, that we be fined for failure to turn in a parking form. This is absurd. I am trying very hard not to take this suggestion as personal harassment and dishonesty. I will try to see it as merely managerial incompetence and a very bad memory.
We have had two interactions with the Association about the parking form. The first was last September when we moved in. We told Karen that we did not have a car and would not have one on the property until the end of this summer. She issued us a sticker, which we have used on the occasional rental car. She told us that there was no point in filling out a form until we had a car of own that we would be parking on the property but that when we moved our car to Pomona and registered it in California we would have to fill one out.
The issue came up again at the May Board meeting, when a representative from the security firm was there to talk about parking issues. My wife, Leda, was present at the meeting and reminded Karen and the Board that we would not have a car at “Partridge Patch Condos” until the end of the summer. Leda says the response was a little vague, but that the answer was that you would be figuring out what should happen in a case like this. Surely the minutes reflect this. No further decision on this portentous issue has been forthcoming.
I have written to Karen and asked her to mail or fax me a form (I am out of state for the summer) if a signed blank form will make her happy.
I also understand that we will be receiving a letter officially asking us to submit a review request for our garage shelves. We have already indicated, verbally and in writing, that we intend to do so. The Board is aware, I hope, that we are both away for the summer (we left a day or two after the inspection by the Board’s visiting committee) and will only be able to submit something when we return in late August.
We feel that we are off to a rocky start with this Board and with Karen, and we sincerely hope that future interactions will not require the assistance of our attorney.
Yours,

Lots of people ask me, “John, how do mamage to get across the streets in Cambridge”? Cambridge drivers, of course, see pedestrians as so many tin cans to flatten. Here’s my strategy:
First of all, no one is going to stop for you in a crosswalk if you stay on the curb like so many timid souls do. The “state law stop for pedestrians” signs could be dripping blood, and it wouldn’t phase them. The trick is to make a quick and confident first stride off the curb, furtively making sure that the driver sees you and will actually stop but — and this is the most important part — without letting them see you seeing them. Only when you’re sure that they will stop can you look at them so they don’t think you’re totally crazy. Secondly, and this is controversial, you must never wave thanks. They’re required by law to stop, of course, so they’re not doing you any favors. If you thank them, as do many unthinking pedestrians, you introduce in their minds the pernicious notion that they were doing you a favor, and the next time they approach a crosswalk with a doubt as to whether to hit the gas or the brake, you don’t want them thinking, “I already did my favor for today.” It might just be me in the crosswalk, looking out of the corner of my eye!

I discovered this week that one of my favorite Cambridge bars has closed, the Plough and Stars. I walked in for lunch the other day and found the sad owner, George, closing things up. He thinks it will re-open soon but probably not with him. This was a great bar, and just two blocks from home. Great music, nice folks.

Hoping to see games in all the Boston area ballparks this summer, I headed out to Worcester tonight to see a game against New Haven (Can-Am League, Independent). They use the Holy Cross ballpark, not a thing of great beauty. Clunky aluminum granstand, view of the freeway. As usual, I paid for an expensive seat that I never sat in, roaming the ballpark instead. Worst beer I’ve had to buy in years (Budweiser) and the worst hot dogs and sausages ever — cold soggy things wrapped in aluminum foil for god knows how long. I told the cashier they needed better beer, and she gave me this look like I was crazy not to love Bud. I wanted to say that there was this beer revolution in America twenty years ago and Worcester will catch up to it sooner or later. The crowd was quite into the game, following it closely, even when the City of Worcester’s rather impressive early 4th fireworks show started going off over the right field horizon. I was surprised at the number of California-style, 5th inning-arrivals, though. Worcester-ites are very white and doughy, if the crowd at the game was representative. Sort of Nebraska in Massachusetts. Long lines at the fried dough stand, and it showed :-0.
The officiating was awful (and I don’t often complain about that). The home plate and first base umps made egregious calls. The third base ump, hugely fat and looking past middle-aged, labored out to the field every time a man got on, making me glad for the ambulance I saw standing by on the way in. Good guys, leading their division, won 3-1. Decent pitching, lots of good hits, plenty of Little League moments in the infield, shallow outfield (the lights don’t illuminate very high and many popups were lost in the darkness), and on the base paths. The Worcester catcher looks like he has it all together, though: Yohanny Valera, a veteran who had his cup of coffee with the Expos for two weeks in 1999 before dropping back down and knocking around the minors.
I had planned on going up to Lowell tonight to see the Spinners, but I learned at the last minute that it was a salute-the-troops night there, with the team dressing in camouflage uniforms. More jingo than I could take, so I headed west instead. The Tornadoes, by the way, are named for the big T4 1953 twister that killed 94 people. Worcester is also the home of Robert Goddard, “father of the space program,” as I learned from a sign on 1-290.
I’m excited for Monday’s start for Oil Can Boyd down in Brockton. It will be my third Brockton Rox game. I saw him pitch there with Stefan last weekend. I really love that ballpark, and it’s fun to reconnect with an ancestral home!

The response:
Some board members looked at my shelves and worried about a lot of things relevant to someone else’s garage shelves but not mine. I still have to submit an architecture review. This won’t happen until the end of the summer when I’m back and probably the new chair of the architecture committee!
The letter that came today:

[blah blah blah about satellite dishes and garages, then…]
If you continue to have a rodent problem in your unit contact the office and terminex will inspect your unit and treat the problem.

I.e., if rats enter again and chew through your walls and carry away your new baby, let us know and we’ll spend lots of money to exterminate and settle your lawsuit. We’re not interested in spending a few bucks and putting screen over the attic vents to forestall this eventuality.

June 14, 2005
. . . Homeowners Association Board
Dear Board Members:
This week I noticed that the television dish antenna that had been on our roof was gone. Our understanding is that Debby, the former owner of Unit #[XX], had installed the dish without proper permission from the Association and that the former owner of our unit had shared her hookup. Despite the unapproved installation, the dish had apparently been allowed to remain for some years. We had planned to start service using the dish in the near future. When I asked yesterday about the missing dish, Karen informed me that John [the handyman] had recently removed the dish. I asked her if the the problem had been simply that it had been installed without permission or if it had been installed incorrectly. She said the cables had been allowed to lie on the roof and that this was the problem. I pointed out that although the dish had been removed, the cables continue to lie across the roof. The dish was also removed without advising anyone in the building that this would happen. The removal of the correctly installed dish exposed wood beneath it that had not been painted at the last repainting, attesting both to the age of the installation and to the negative aesthetic effect of removing the dish at this time.
We fully understand the dish antenna policy that has been approved by the Board and the reasons that rigorous Association control is necessary. We would simply like to object to the capricious and illogical manner in which enforcement was carried out in this case. Why not, for example, simply ask someone in the building to rectify the cabling issue if they wish to continue to use the dish?
We would also like to propose that the Board consider an amendment to the dish antenna policy. Since the Association has apparently already received advice on how, where, and how many dish antennas should be installed on each of the buildings of the Project, a detailed description of these installation requirements should be composed and circulated. Residents who contract their own vendors to install dish antennas should be bound to consult with and coordinate with building neighbors, notify the Association in advance of the installation date, and to comply fully with the published guidelines. Those who fail to do so should be immediately fined and charged with the costs of removal. Residents can then show the requirements to such private vendors as they wish to contract to hold them responsible, in turn, for following the guidelines. We strenuously object to having to pay a high, non-competitive price to a single individual with a monopoly on dish installations.
Your truly,

June 13, 2005
. . . Homeowners Association Board
Dear Board Members,
We would like to bring to your attention four issues of concern:
A. Garage Shelves
We have recently built some new shelves in our garage. Last week [complex manager] told us she had seen the shelves and that such work may require architectural approval from the board. We are perfectly willing to submit a request for architectural review and/or open the garage for inspection at a mutually convenient time.
We would like it to be noted that 1) we built three shelves, one workbench of the same construction technique, and two overhead supports for flattened boxes, skis, etc.; 2) the shelves do not extend into the other half of the garage or obstruct the other occupants’ use of their half; 3) the shelves leave ample room for our car to be parked in the garage; 4) the shelves replace existing shelving which was already attached to the walls and ceiling joists of the garage but which was poorly built and inadequate for our needs; 5) the shelves are constructed in a modular fashion and are attached to studs and joists in a minimal way using screws and nails; 6) they can very easily be removed in the future with no damage to the garage; 7) there was some urgency to the construction of these shelves since in the last few months we have twice suffered water damage to belongings stored in the garage when water entered through the rear; and 8) the shelves are modeled on shelving we have seen in dozens of garages in this complex.
If the board would like some further action on our part, please let us know. If an architectural review application is requested of us, we would like to see copies of the approved requests for all the other garage shelving constructions in the complex.
B. Water
As noted in the paragraph above and as has been communicated verbally to the board in past meetings, our garage accumulates a considerable amount of water when it rains. In this past rainy season, the water damaged several items that were in the garage because we are remodeling our unit. We request that the board take the necessary steps to resolve this problem before next winter.
C. Rats
The plumber who replaced the bathtubs in our bathrooms discovered that rats were nesting under them. He killed four of them, but we are concerned that others might take their place. The evidence showed that the rats came from the outside through attic vents, entered and chewed through the bathroom vent ducts and got access to the inside of our walls. To prevent further problems that might be more costly, we request that screens be immediately installed on the mouths of the vents to prevent rats or other animals from entering. Since the new owners of Unit #79, below us, talked with [the complex manager] about this issue in April, it is possible that this problem has already been rectified, but we would like to know what steps have been taken or are being planned.
D. Laundry
Finally, we would like to inform the board that in the south laundry room one of the new front loader washing machines (the one on the left) has been malfunctioning since it was installed. The machine does not accept fabric softener, which simply accumulates in the receptacle.
Thanks for your attention and please let us know if you need any further information.
Sincerely yours,