Adventures in Gastronomy

Mark (from Paris) is now gone – but I think we all collectively showed him a good time during his first trip to Boston. He stayed with Ben and Brad (the ones who introduced me to him) for the first few nights and with me the last few nights. Between Thursday and Saturday I brought him around various locales within walking distance of my home: North End, Custom House Tower, Faneuil Hall/Quincy Market, and Beacon Hill. While on his own, he also did a Duck Tour and walked the Freedom Trail.

Friday night was when he got got together with all of his Boston-based connections: Ben and Brad (his oldest friends), me and Randy, Mike (who went with me to Paris last summer) and his new boyfriend, Bruce, Jason (who I introduced to him last fall) and his boyfriend, Bryan. Phew. We went to the Top of the Hub and, after some stupidity on the part of the restaurant, settled in nicely at two tables by the window overlooking Boston from 52 floors up.

I seem to be very territorial about Boston so I wanted to make sure that Mark had a good time. And unless he’s an incredible liar, I think he enjoyed his trip (from staying with Ben and Brad until leaving on Saturday). In fact, he said that he could even see himself living in the North End (with it’s butcher shops, bakeries, fruit stands, and restaurants all a block or so away).

Though, if I had to chose between Boston or staying in Paris…even I would stick with Paris. 

Later on Saturday (after I dropped Mark off at South Station) I met up with my friend, Scott, and his friend, Deano. Scott is taking an architectural photography class so we continued playing tourist and I brought them to Mass General Hospital’s historic Ether Dome (where anesthesia was used for the first time) ad then through Beacon Hill, the Public Garden, and Boston Public Library.

So, being as lazy as I am, that meant that I did absolutely nothing on Sunday (while it rained all day). I never left the apartment. Hell, I didn’t take a shower until 6PM. It was wonderful.

As was the rest of the weekend.

April 16th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

I met with my new financial planner this morning. I wasn’t impressed with my last one – especially after she left the state and working with her became impossible. My new one is a lesbian (I wanted somebody familiar with the complexities of a gay person’s tax and inheritance concerns). This was our second meeting and I’m quite impressed.

Based on the numbers I gave her at the last meeting she came up with some scenarios for the future. Now, I’ve always feared that I’d become some single old man with no kids to help him out….eating cat food and heating myself by sitting in front of the oven. I’d also hum incessently and whine about modern technology.

Yeah, that’s a bit dramatic – but I never expected that my retirement would be comfortable financially. I suspect that social security will have exhausted itself and my only source of retirement income would be from investments I make today. And until recently, my investments were pitiful.

But after plugging in the numbers she showed me a graph that indicated that to maintain the exact lifestyle I live today (with expected inflation of 3%/year between now and then) I am putting aside enough money to live comfortably and travel as much as I do. Now, this is just taking into account what I am contributing today. This doesn’t take into account if social security still exists at that time (which would boost my monthly income up by about $1,700/month). It also doesn’t take into account the money Harvard contributes to my retirement plan each month. Basically, she ran the report on only the cash I’m contributing myself though payroll deductions or my Roth IRA.

If all goes as planned, I’ll have enough money to live this same lifetsyle from 65 until 95 years old (when the funds will have exhausted). I told her that I predicted I’d work until at least 70 or 72 (I think I’d get bored if I retired…I want to stay active). Those extra 5-7 years of work (full or part-time) will make a huge difference in the longevity and balance of my retirement funds.

For the first time – I feel comfortable about my life after 65. Even without Social Security – I’ll be able to survive. And with Social Security, I’ll survive…and travel! Look out world – you’ll be seeing a geriatric Karl all over Provincetown, San Francisco, Key West, Fort Lauderdale, Ogunquit, Sitges, and Chelsea. I’ll see you all at the Gray Party! WOOP WOOP! Just don’t trip over my cane on the dance floor since I won’t be able to hear you without my hearing aid.

April 12th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

The Boston Globe had an article today about better informing the public about bus routes and schedules and how these bus routes can connect you to various subway and commuter rail lines. Great idea. I’m with you 100%

But then there was this little graphic that showed the three most popular bus lines and the number of riders per day on each. They ranged from 12,758 daily to 14,405 daily boardings. Then the graphic showed the three least popular bus routes. There is actually one bus route (#355) that gets 17 daily boardings per day. SEVENTEEN…in an entire day! That doesn’t even fill the seats on one bus…let alone the 4 trips the bus route does each day. Or how about Route 424W which gets a whopping 72 riders per day on 9 trips each day? What a waste.

I say kill these bus lines and create a bus route that acts as the urban ring (until a rail version is finally constructed). Let it run from the north shore coast (Salem, perhaps) through the northern suburbs, to the western suburbs down to the southern suburbs and finally to a south shore town and finally the airport. And every time it crosses a commuter rail line or subway line – there should be a stop. This would finally eliminate the spoke system Boston currently has (where most lines lead into the city center but it’s damn near impossible to go from one suburb to the next). This could alleviate congestion in the city and make it easier for people to work along (highway) Route 128 were so many tech companies are located (currenty they’re mostly accessible by car only).

And while you’re at it, give me a free life-time transit pass.

April 11th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

…to my place!

It took over 3 hours – but I cleaned my apartment last night. I’ve been pretty bad lately. First, I’ve been spending at least half of my time over at Randy’s place so I’m not around much to make a mess. Yet that doesn’t seem to stop the dust bunnies from reproducing like, well, rabbits. Nor does it prevent dust from accumulating on flat surfaces.

Second, my friend, Mark (from Paris), is visiting this week so I kept thinking that I might as well just wait and clean before his visit (instead of cleaning twice). That “waiting” was well over a month.

Somebody smack that absurd logic out of my head the next time I propose it.

So, after three hours the dusty bunnies are gone, the floors are swept and mopped and the bathroom has been scrubbed so hard you could perform surgery in there. I’m quite impressed – I don’t think it’s ever been so clean. It’s almost so clean I want company to come by so I can show it off and hear them say “wow – your place looks great!”

I’m apparently very easy to please.

April 10th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

Randy got me pounds of candy for easter. POUNDS! Chocolates and jelly beans and peanut butter cups and M&M’s. I just want to point out that this same person who has commented on my expanding belly over the past 7 months (lovingly) is also the same person who gave me POUNDS of candy for Easter (lovingly). I think this effectively ends his right to critique my physique.

But the weekend was quite nice overall. I finally bit the bullet and bought a 30GB iPod on Friday night. I found one online at Best Buy for only $237…$12 cheaper than any other venue except Amazon.com. But making it better than Amazon was that I wouldn’t have to wait for it to ship. I told Randy about it and he proposed going to New Hampshire THAT NIGHT to pick it up and avoid paying tax. So, we hopped in the car and headed to Salem, New Hampshire. As I waited in line to pick up mine, Randy went and bought one for himself. he he

Now we have matching black iPods. So gay.

Also on Friday night (after Best Buy), we headed over to our friend, Scott’s place in great-outer suburbia (he lives on a dirt road overlooking a river – that may qualify as rural more than suburban, huh?). He baked home-made pizza then we at and chatted and played cards. A good time was had by all.

Saturday Randy and I drove to the Cape for Easter weekend and bonded with my parents. He re-installed my parent’s computer’s operating system since it was ravaged by viruses/spam. He also cooked dinner for us (both Saturday and Sunday). Needless to say, I think my parents have really taken a liking to him. Hell, at one point my Mom said she’d recently seen an episode of the Newlywed Game on Game Show Network and had a question for Randy: “Hey Randy, when you watch Karl getting dressed, how does he do it?”

That is SO not a question you want your 75 year old mother asking your boyfriend. I mean, I don’t even like the idea of her acknowledging the fact that I even has sex…let alone asking him about what he witnesses when he’s around me when I’m naked!

Then again, she lets me sleep in the same bed with him at their place (which is more than some of my straight friend’s parents allow from their un-wed children). I guess I’m pretty lucky.

Though, if I keep eating all of this damn chocolate, nobody will want to sleep with me.

April 9th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

As a result of my ever-expanding belly (nearly 20 pounds gained since meeting Randy – that bastard) I’ve ceased taking the elevator and climb the stairs 5 flights to my office every day. And with meetings on other floors and going to the cafeteria (or nearby restaurants) for lunch each day, I go up and down at least three times (and this doesn’t include subterranean climbs into subways stations). Despite all that, after 3 motnhs I’m still gaining weight.

But this is all beside the point. Wait – what was the point?

Oh yeah, coming back from the cafeteria yesterday I reached the 5th floor stair-landing (and my office is in a fairly deserted wing of the building so NOBODY uses those stairs) and I discovered a middle-aged man with scraggly hair and a long beard sitting on the window ledge with an open tupperware container with left-over food. And he was knitting something turqouise.

At least this is better than a few years ago when I went into the copy room in my previous building (also on the 5th floor, coincidentally) and made some copies first thing in the morning. Being the energy-concious fellow that I am, I didn’t turn the lights on – I just made copies by the light provided by the open door and single emergency lighting fixture that remained on permanently. After returning to my office, a co-worker ran into my office an hour or so later and asked if I’d noticed a body behind the copy machine.

Um, no – I did not.

I followed him back into the copy room and lo-and-behold, there was a man sleeping behind the copier. At least he wasn’t dead. I apparently didn’t notice his legs sticking out because I didn’t turn on the lights. And he must have been really tired (or hung-over) since he didn’t notice the copy machine running next to him (or me humming, since I apparently hum non-stop).

Oh, and before I forget, I want to thank everybody for your emails this week asking when I’m going to blog next. Now if only you’d put those requests on the blog so it actually looks like I have readers! I actually have no reason for not blogging aside from laziness. And I’ve been pre-occupied with other things (work related and vacation planning related).

But don’t you worry, I’ll take my blogging Metamucil next week and be much more regular.

April 6th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments

…the Facts of Life. The Facts of Life.

I had a fairly productive weekend – personally and socially. Friday night I got together with a bunch of friends for wine and food (Anna’s Taqueria in Davis Square for the food part). MMMMMMM

Speaking of facts of life…it’s a fact of life that you’ll find bargains when shopping with Randy. It’s true! If you want a deal, drag him along. But give him advance notice because he’ll also track down the best deals on-line first (through store websites, manufacturer websites and bargain-hunter sites like SlickDeals).

Without boring you with the details let’s just say that, combined, we saved well over 40% off the retail. We bought 3 pairs of Skechers shoes that were marked down to half-off and one pair that was $10 off. Then when the woman rang them in she accidentally scanned the box for the cheapest pair twice…instead of charging us for the most expensive pair. On top of that, Randy signed up for the store charge card and got 10% off the entire purchase. Then they had this “bonus bucks” program where if you spend $50 you got $10 back. Since the total purchase came to $102 – we got $20 back. We were on a roll.

…until we decided to cheack out mp3 players for me. OK everybody – I need your help. My iPod is getting worse and worse. It’s not even two years old and it’s obsolete (it’s a Mini…purchased a month or two before the Nano came out). The screen has been broken for the past year so all I can do with it is shuffle).  Now the screen is just about completely lost and I may not even be able to find the shuffle option within the next month.

I’d planned on gettting the 30GB iPod so I can put movies on it for when I travel on planes. While at the stores on Saturday, I noticed that these iPods run for about $249 (though we found them for $10 less at one or two places). But then I saw that the 30GB Zune (basically Microsoft’s version of the iPod) can be purchased for between $199 and $229. So, potentially $50 less for the same size memory and a few more options.

After holding both in my hands and playing with both iPod’s and Zune’s, I started leaning toward the Zune. It has a much larger screen, it has an FM stereo feature (which the iPod doesn’t), and the buttons/wheel are better than the iPod (unlike the iPod, you can actually operate the Zune if you’re wearing gloves in the winter…something us New Englanders have to be concerned with 5 months of the year).

However, EVERYBODY I’ve talked to about this says to get the iPod since that’s the industry standard. Yet, not single person has ever used a Zune themselves…they’re all going on “what they heard” which, to be honest, has never been a good enough reason to do anything for me (explains why I’m atheist, etc…).

I’ve looked (a bit) online and the reviews for the Zune have been reasonable: hovering between 8 out of 10, or 3.5 out of 5 (depending on the scale). The iPod receives similar scores. The biggest complaints about the Zune have been the Wifi feature (which I wouldn’t even use use) or the ability to purchase songs (you have to use the lessser stocked Zune Marketplace instead of iTunes – which I never use).

So, does anybody out there have personal experience with the Zune? I could use some advice.

Finally, there’s a reason for my Facts of Life reference! Our friend, Peter, hosted a Facts of Life reunion special at his place last night (it aired in 2001, originally). It was pretty bad (Jo was smart enough not to participate). In this one, for some inexplicable reason, Natalie had two boyfriends fighting over her (and that was the plot, essentially). One fellow was quite tasty, though – so at least there was some eye candy. It was unfortunate that he was shirtless only briefly, however.

Speaking of tasty, Peter provided a delicious fondue (presumably so the food could be as “cheezy” as the entertainment).

Good times.

April 2nd, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

First I sold the Aibo robot dog on ebay. Then a pair of pants. (Thanks, Randy, for your help)

Then my old computer monitor on Craigslist (which went with the CPU that was flooded at Best Buy). Then I sold some speakers.

Now I’m selling my CD rack since, in another act of purging, I’ve transfered all of my CD’s into a portable carrying case to save space (and since I never use CD’s anymore…but don’t want to get rid of them, just in case). A woman is coming by on Saturday to take it away. This should open up space in my living room.

And I’ve been working on that photo scanning project to get rid of my photo albums. I’m down to the last stack of photos to scan (FINALLY) and these loose photos take up a LOT less space than my photo albums did. Now I just need to find a water-tight box to put them in and I’m all set.

This feels good.  I like cleaning things up. Out with the old, in the with the new. Though, I must admit I’m rather fond of these old (mostly) black and white photos I scanned earlier this week.

1938 – My Mom in the 1930’s

1940’s – My Mom and my grandmother (can you tell my Mom was a tomboy…dressing like a man even in the 40’s..how Katherine Hepburn!

1940’s – My Mom’s family at a cottage in the White Mountains of New Hampshire

1950’s – My Mom on vacation in Atlantic City (I love this photo)

1950’s – Osterville (where I was raised)

1979 – My third grade picture

March 30th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

I’ve got two things to rant about today….and to make it more bearable, one is political and one is pure fluff.

Let’s start with political.

The news last night, and the Metro newspaper this morning, ran articles about our upcoming financial fiasco for Massachusetts transportation. Currently, the MBTA is $8 billion in debt. Yep, billion. It’s now estimated that the MBTA will become an additional $9 billion in debt within 20 years. Making matters worse, our highways and roads (and tunnels and bridges) will go nearly $10 billion in debt during the same time frame. In total, $19 billion more in debt than we are today.

Please, please, please explain to me why taxes aren’t raised? Yeah, yeah, yeah, they may be just playing doomsday by exaggerating. But still – there already is the $9 billion in MBTA today so it seems pretty realistic that such obscene amounts of debt are likely in the future.

And we MUST do preventive maintenance on our infrastructure or else people die. I mean, the brand new Big Dig tunnel ceiling collapsed last summer killing one person. Twenty years from now (when they say we’ll be at $19 billion in debt) the Big Dig will be 25 years old. If we’ve got stuff collapsing after 3 years of use, what’s it going to be like after a quarter century? And remember a few years ago that highway overpass near Fall River or New Bedford crumbled down into traffic?

Raising taxes sucks, I agree. But I remember reading somewhere that if state incomes taxes went up just 0.02 percent, it would raise the average person’s taxes just around $200/year (that’s $3.84/week….one trip to Starbucks). But isn’t that worth it than to have to dodge crumbling bridges and tunnels?

It’s definitely a balancing act (raise taxes too much and people…and business…will flee the state). But an antiquating infrastructure isn’t exactly going to be luring new businesses our way, either.

Ok, onto the fluff.

What the hell is up with Sanjaya? I mean, really now. He’s horrible! I must admit, I was impressed during his audition. In fact, I thought he had one of the best auditions of the lot. But the minute he “got to Hollywood, dawg”, he was either overshadowed by people with more talent…or he just plain sucks (I vote for the latter).

So why do people keep voting for him? I can’t believe this “Indian mafia” hype. But there must be some sort of constituency plotting his ascendency to stardom. Maybe there’s a larger population of deaf teenage girls in this country than I’d thought?  I’m sure he’s a nice enough guy. And I bet he’ll be a great boyfriend to some nice fellow some day. But those qualities don’t make him a quality performer.

March 29th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

Something interesting happened this morning. I witnessed a cranky Randy for the first time. We stayed at my place last night so we were on a tighter schedule to get out of the apartment this morning. Plus, my place is 1/2 the size of his place so it’s not as easy for one person to sleep later (him) while the other showers and prepares for work (me).

Anyway, after my shower I let him know it was his turn to use the bathroom. It was then that he notified me that he was “pissy” (his words, not mine). I shrugged it off because he was still smiling and friendly.

After leaving the apartment and getting off the train at Porter Square we started discussing iTunes and the annoying issues I’ve been having with songs I’ve downloaded from them.* My problems with iTunes are ignorance/user related (the software does what it’s supposed to – I just don’t understand the logic behind certain things). It was then that Randy really snapped. And it made me realize something about myself that I didn’t like.

How he was responding to my software stupidity is EXACTLY how I react to my Dad when I visit him on the cape and he has problems with his computer. The solutions seem so simple to me, yet no matter how many times I try to explain things to my father, he just doesn’t get it. It doesn’t help that he uses the wrong terms to describe his problem.

And this morning I was my Dad. Only this time, Randy was me. Now I can completely understand two things: 1) how annoying it is for the “knowledgeable” person in the party (in this case Randy) to have to keep explaining things, and 2) how disconcerting and shocking it is to get snapped at (whether justifiably or not).

This made me realizse that I need to work on treating my father better. Or at least have a little more patience with him (he is approaching 80, after all). He loves my company and loves me…and yet I’ll get really pissy (my words, not his). He takes it in stride…he just shouldn’t have to take it at all.

As for Randy, I was tempted to post a very unflattering photo of him on my blog just to spite him. But instead, I guess I should thank him for bringing all of this to my attention (even if inadvertantly).

It’s kind of funny that with a blog title such as this (Seeing Myself Through Somebody Else’s Eyes) you’d think I’d be the perfect segue into photos to post today…but I can’t think of anything.

*My iTunes issue is this: I downloaded songs from iTunes. That worked. I put those songs on my iPod. That worked. But when I connect my iPod to my work computer, I use PodPlayer (since I don’t have iTunes installed on my work computer). And now those songs don’t play. EVERY other song I have plays (whether burned from CD’s or downloaded from other sites) – but iTunes songs don’t play (even though I’m not stealing or sharing them). Yet, apparently, if I take those iTunes songs, burn them to a CD, then re-install them into iTunes, it will work. What a freaking waste of time (and a perfectly good blank CD).  

March 28th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 6 Comments