JJB’s Ramblings

I was talking with Erin today about something and the topic made its way to Lego’s.  It’s been a while since I’ve played with them.  So I think that maybe I will have a lego party in the near future.  Or, lets take this a step further.  We all love waffles, right?  how about a lego and eggo party?  sound off.

It’s time for another installment of the Top 10 Shuffle (insert canned applause) I’m going to take advantage of some down time to tell you opinions and stories about the next 10 songs that come up on the old iPod. Ready? Go. 

J. Geils Band – Houseparty.  I love these guys.  The bad boys from Boston know how to rock (I mean, they have a harmonica player named Magic Dick).  The song is pretty good, but the story that comes to mind every time I hear J. Geils is even better.  Back in 2002, Roo and I ventured out to Chicago to pick up Sophie and bring her back from the windy city.  It’s a grueling 16hour (depending on tailwind) voyage that we completed, round trip in about 50 hours.  This included the time spent in Chicago.  Basically we got there, found Sophie, ate some deep-dish pizza and came home.  ANYWAY.  We hadn’t even cleared the Boston city limits when we had our first memorable conversation.  We were discussing the mix CD’s that we both had made and were conversing amiably when this happened (to the best of my recollection): 

R: I’m getting Hungry
J: Hungry like the wolf?
R. Ha. Yes. Peter Wolf.
J: haha.
R: (looking at the mix cd) Did you know that the lead singers name in the J. Geils band is not J. Geils?
J: yea…
R: I can’t remember his name though. I think he is from Boston.
J: ha, um, are you serious?
R: yea, why?
J: His name is Peter Wolf.
R: HA. Oh. 

For more on this trip, you can check here.

Dispatch – The General.  I don’t think that there is ANYONE who went to school in New England who doesn’t know these guys.  It’s not a bad thing. 

Counting Crows – Time and Time Again.  I’ve already ranted a little bit about the atrocities of lead singer Adam Duritz so I won’t go into that again.  I enjoy this album but only make a point os listening to it a few times a year. 

Another point about Roo and Peter Wolf just came to mind.  We had just finished eating dessert at Coldstones downtown and were milling around outside talking with some friends when this tall lanky guy dressed all in black with a scarf on passed us.  Immediately Roo looks at me and says. “Is that who I think it was?” I nod.  “We should go after him!  Get a signature or something. Was that really him, do you think” Anyway we spent the next 10 min discussing whether we thought it was him or not and by the time we came to any real conclusion, he was gone. 

Sublime – What I Got.  I think that it was this album cover that initially put the back tattoo in my mind all those years ago.

Rascal Flatts – Bless the Broken Road.  Initially I thought the name of the lead singer was Rascal.  I was wrong.  And if you hate country because you think it’s cool to do, then you are wrong too. 

Hootie and the Blowfish – What do you Want from Me Now.  Wow, it seems like this is a post more about lead singers and song names.  We all know his name isn’t Hootie, that would be cruel.  It’s Darius, because that’s MUCH better. 

Led Zeppelin – The Battle of Evermore.  One of the feature tracks off of one of the top selling Zep albums of all time, thanks in part to the song When the Levee Breaks… I mean…Stairway to heaven. 

Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals – Glory and Consequence.  They had their biggest hit with Steal My Kisses back in 1999.  Probably just as well because there is a lot of good stuff on his albums, and I would hate to seem them repeated ad nauseam on the radio. 

Guns N’ Roses – Civil War.  It was years before I realized that the opening quote to this song was from the movie Cool Hand Luke.  It made the movie seem cooler and the song seem a little more silly.  For  the record, G N’R was probably the only band who made it “cool” to us the N and apostrophe together.  Too bad they didn’t gross as much as another band that used it in the mid to late 90’s… 

Van Morrison – Brown Eyed Girl.  Nobody will ever confuse the lead singer of Van Morrison. It’s Van Morrison.  At least, that’s what I thought until MJG regrettably informed his fiancé and I that he sometimes confuses Morrison with Elton John.  We will NEVER let him forget that, I promise.  Actually, if you see him, you should remind him too.    

I just sent this out to the Boston Parking Department:

City of Boston

PO Box 55800

Boston, MA 02205

To Whom It May Concern:

On 6/15/07 I was issued a parking violation (#558594525) for an expired meter on Newbury St at 7:48pm.  I believe that this violation should not have been given as I had taken the appropriate steps to ensure that my meter fee was paid in full to its limit time of 8pm.

I parked at meter 0015 at 5:41pm and purchased two hours of parking time from the machine and placed the sticker (#479143) on my passenger window, assuring me coverage until 7:41.  My plans in town we going to keep me occupied for a better part of the evening and I was to attend a performance on Boylston Street that started at 8pm.  At 6:55 I returned to my vehicle (the only convenient time before heading to the performance) to purchase the remaining 19 minutes necessary to cover my meter time.  Under normal circumstances I would have deposited another 2 quarters into the meter, but as I had to use the multi space machine, I was forced to purchase another sticker  (#479154).  When it printed, I noticed that it only displayed the expiration time and did not include the amount of time purchased.  Not wanting to be issued a ticket, I took extra steps to avoid this by handwriting on the sticker that the 30 min was to cover the remaining meter time and then some.  I placed the sticker next to one another on my window and left for the performance.

When I returned to my vehicle, to my dismay I found a citation for $25 for meter fee unpaid.  I realize that this may have been an oversight by the ticketing officer (#116) who may not have looked more closely than the latest visible expiration time.  I had taken every precautionary step to avoid such a situation and was presented with no reasonable alternative.  I believe that the new meters are a good idea for the city of Boston, but feel that situations like this should be considered and an option to for more time added. 

In light of the circumstances, I ask that ticket be voided.  I appreciate your time in reviewing the matter.  Should there be anything further required from me, please let me know.

Sincerely,

J. Justin Bates

CC: Mayor Thomas Menino

 Yes, you read that right.  I CC’d the Mayor and added this:

I think that these are a fine idea for the city, and enjoyed not having to tote around quarters to continually feed the meter, but I think that a viable soultion should be made as I am positive that I am not the only person who has had issue with this. 

Thank you for your time

There are certain places that I try to avoid dealing with at all costs; the RMV, Credit Card companies, Comcast, etc.  I find that the people that are providing “customer service” are usually more irritated about the conversation than I am.  More often than not I will hang up just to end a phone call rather than talk in circles for another 20 min and then I take a shower to try and cleanse myself. 

The other day I found myself on the phone with the cable company discussing their relocation process for customers.  I had been billed but not automatically charged for my old address and I had been billed and my autopay was pending for the new address.  Unfortunately, in limbo was my actual outstanding balance that needed to be paid.  I tried to question them as to why my checking account couldn’t simply be switched from the old account, which it had auto-paid sufficiently for the last year, to the new account.  They told me no.  That’s it. No.  Which isn’t so much an answer to my question as it is an ideology with them. 

Anyway, that’s not the point of all of this. 

I stopped in at my local Comcast office on Saturday to drop off eRock’s old modem that has been residing in my trunk for the last two weeks.  I pulled into the parking lot at about 1:40 and noted that their closing time was 2pm.  Thank god, I have 20 min to spare and I am not that guy that walks in 2 min before closing.  Well I might as well have been that guy.  Upon entering the office I noted the two people at the counter and the four people in front of me.  Shortly after my entrance another 5 people came in.  I start to feel a panic welling up in my stomach.  Not so much for me, but because I can sense the stress and frustration coming from the lone customer service rep (CSR) in the office seeping through the thick Plexiglas.  ANYWAY.  The gentleman is arguing with the CSR in broken English and she is able to dispatch him in no less than 10 min.  Another person comes in.  Oddly enough, nobody on our side of the glass seems tense and the CSR has found her groove and is movin through the line.  Now I am next up.  The two gentlemen in front of me were asking about getting another box but because they were not in the local area they couldn’t get it there.  No problem, the CSR started to research where they could get it.  In the interim, the rest of us in the lobby are watching the gigantic wide screen TV that they have set up in the lobby to kill the time.  It keeps cycling through CNN and the same stories are repeating.  Then it happens.  The tall, bald guy 3 people back has a brilliant idea.  In one motion he takes the Universal remote in his hand and changes the channel to ESPN.  The other dudes in line with remotes are cursing themselves for not thinking of it.  I am smiling because I think it was an awesome move and lightened the atmosphere even more.  So we channel surf as a group for a few min and talk about Barry bonds being in Boston.  We laugh. We cry. We shared a moment and then finally it was my time at the service window.

But wait. 

One of the two guys in front of me starts looking around; his partner asks, “What’s wrong”? They have a brief discussion of who had the car keys last.  He can’t find them and starts to move to the door to look outside. It’s Justin’s time to shine.  “They’re in your back pocket” I say casually.  He checks. Sure enough, there they are.  There is jubilation and pie.  They exit and I step to the window, the CSR looks at me, I state my purpose, she smiles and I have the nicest interaction with a Comcast employee to date and leave five minutes later with my mission accomplished and my blood pressure normal.  Score.

There is nothing worse than trying to make decisions when operating on an empty stomach.  As a matter of fact, if that is combined with a hectic day at work (hectic being defined as: reaching the point where you would gladly amputate your own thumbs because it means you cannot pick up the ever ringing phone) then you should not be allowed to mingle with the public until you have eaten a 12inch sub of varying toppings and washed it down with your beverage of choice.  That being said, I should not have been in public last night. 

I met E in Central Sq. after work with the intention of looking at a couch (quickly) and then finding dinner (preferably within 15 paces of the furniture store).  The first part went just fine.  We looked, we saw, we left. Now time for dinner.  There are a plethora of restaurants in the square and suddenly NONE of them seemed appetizing.  I was well past the point of hunger, teetering on the cusp of “I’m so hungry I can’t decide”… I immediately put the spotlight on E, hoping that she would be able come up with some suggestions that would reflect what she wanted, making my choice easier.  The problem was that my miserable, hungry mood was starting to take its effect on her. 

I should note here that the original thought was that we would head over to La Spina in Davis.  I changed this plan mid-day when I realized that going from Central to Davis would “take too long” and that I would need instant gratification. Stupid stupid stupid. 

We started by popping into Central Kitchen and turned around when nothing jumped off the ¼ page menu.  We decide that a middle of the road priced restaurant was what we needed and we would save the duck confit with strawberry preserves for another day.  Working our way back to the apartment E tried in vain to make suggestions and I keep striking them down.  Mexican? No. Indian? No. Bukowski’s? Nope, I want better food. At this juncture I am flat out unreasonable and decide that the B Side lounge is where we will dine.  I hadn’t eaten there before but liked the atmosphere and that was good enough.  When we arrived the bar was full so we asked to be seated a little further from the after-work crowd.  Our waitress came over with some water and menus and left us to peruse the offerings.  For a tri-fold menu that is double sided, only one page was actually reserved for food.  The rest is wine, beer, mixed drinks, etc…with a little area for dessert.  E looked troubled.  Nothing really seemed to be appealing to her and I was trying to choose between 7 different options.  Things are not looking good.  I have stabilized my Munger (a combination of mad and hungry) but E is slipping fast. Nothing looks good to her, and under normal circumstances I would have taken her somewhere else after looking at the menu.  The waitress came over and I inquired as to what cheeses were on the Artisinal Cheese plate to which she replies, “Artisan cheese”.  I am crying inside.  I take a breath and E, seeing my stability waning, says yes, but what KIND.  The poor waitress says, “OH.  The peppercorn…yea that peppercorn cheese and some goat cheese”.  Great.  I order a PBR and ask her to give us a minute.  The waitress exits and I continue to unfairly badger E about what she will eat.  I rationalize that if she decides on a sandwich then I will get one.  If she wants appetizers, then we will just split a few of those.  In the middle of this earthshaking decision, our waitress comes back saying that they don’t have PBR.  I give her a second beer order and she disappears, coming back a few moments later with the beer and taking our order.  We decided on two app’s and a sandwich.  The waitress leaves, I take a sip of the beer, look at E (who does not look happy) and say, “You want to just go to La Spina?” (again, stupid, stupid, stupid) and she says Yes. OK, easy enough.  I take a pull from my bottle and go find our waitress.  I tell her that E just received a phone call and we actually have to leave immediately, so could she cancel that whole order and draw the tab for the beer?  She gives me a look, shrugs and turns around to scratch it.  I get back to the table, we finish the beer and away we go.

ANYWAY. 

La Spina was great and I shouldn’t have changed the plans.  Rita was testing out the idea of serving pizza at the bar so we got to try a few different pies that she made.  In addition to that we had some wonderful calamari and eggplant, shot the shit with Holly and Steve at the bar, chatted with Rita and her son and had a very good time.  Full and happy we left two hours later, completely content.

Now, I know some of you are reading this shaking your head saying, “SEE! This is why you shouldn’t change your plans all the time.”  That’s all well and good, but if I didn’t, I wouldn’t have had a story to kill the last 5 minutes of your day, or the last 25 of mine, would I?  The lesson learned is simple: Give a man a fish, feed him for a meal.  Give him three and he can eat enough between meals so he doesn’t become a raging ass.