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How can people live like this?

I personally can’t stand it.

What I’m talking about here is how people. mostly in the greater Boston area, seem perfectly happy to live in ginormous McMansions on lots that have barely enough land to hold the house…never mind having a decent yard of anything. And then you have to deal with neighbors who are six inches away. We’re renting here, and that’s pretty much what we’re dealing with…neighbors who are way too close for comfort. Most of them aren’t even very nice people.

I’d be happy enough with a small parcel of land, and a smaller house, so that there is more of a buffer zone between me and the neighbors. At first, I wanted to live out in the middle of nowhere up in Maine. But we’ve re-thought things, and now we want to move to the Munjoy Hill section of Portland. We want to be able to walk to the Old Port and enjoy all it has to offer, without the parking hassles and cost. Yes, it’s a city, but there are still some properties there with decent-sized yards and all.

I’d like to adopt a couple of greyhounds when we move, so we’d need a big enough yard for them. We’d have to install a tall fence to keep them in, but that fence would serve another purpose…PRIVACY! Neighbors in Munjoy Hill would still be closer than we’d like, but a nice tall stockade fence would keep them from gawking at us while we were BBQing and stuff. If our neighbors turn out to be nice people, maybe we’d invite them from time to time…but I’d still like some privacy for when we don’t feel like having people over.

Also, I’d want room for a small garden…we want to grow veggies and flowers…as well as an area for Mike’s tool storage. If we don’t have a garage, a place to put a shed that could also be used as a workshop would be nice.

But seriously…I don’t know how people can stand to live crowded together like sardines!

Where we’re going…

…in the near future…

Two weeks from today, we’re going up to Portland for the Maine Brewers’ Festival. It’s probably too late to get tickets now…this event always sells out long before the date.

People can be so stupid sometimes. There was this one time we were hanging out at Gritty’s in the Old Port on the day of the festival (we always go to the evening session). Gritty’s is the main sponsor of this event, and they sell tickets to it there.

Anyway, tickets were long sold out for both sessions, and Gritty’s put a ginormous sign on the door to that effect. But as we sat at the bar, we were amazed at how many people came in and asked to buy festival tickets. DUUUUUH…the sign on the door says that they are SOLD OUT. What part of that do you not understand?

I know better. I buy my festival tickets as soon as they go on sale, which is usually sometime in July. I also book a hotel room for that night, so we don’t have to worry about driving home drunk. We always stay at the Inn at St. John for this, it’s an easy walk to and from the festival venue.

More stupid people at the Maine Brewers’ Festival…it is VERY clearly marked on the website, as well as on the actual tickets, that this event is for people aged 21+ only. No kids, no babies. I don’t know why anyone would bring kids to a beer festival in the first place…it’s not like there is anything there for them to do. I’ve been going to this event for years, and trust me…kids would just be bored. They’re not old enough to drink beer, the food and musical entertainment is probably not to their liking. So why bring them?

Yet some people try to…usually it’s people with babies in those backpack things. It’s fun to hang out near the front door and watch the bouncers turn them away. The parents will argue, but rules are rules. They had plenty of advance warning about the no kids thing, should have hired a babysitter.

So there’s a way you might be able to get a ticket if you want to go and don’t have one. Hang around outside the doors shortly after the session starts, and keep an eye out for people with kids or babies in tow. After the bouncers turn them away, offer to buy their tickets from them. They’ll be looking to unload them anyway, since they can’t attend with Junior in tow.
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In December, we’re going to be packing up the Samsonite again, this time going to an event that is open to all ages. It’s the Christmas by Candlelight event at Old Sturbridge Village.  We’re probably going to go over the weekend of December 8-9…we found out the hard way last year that if we go closer to Christmas, it is MUCH more crowded.

So I need to call and order tickets, and reserve a hotel room for the night at the Sturbridge Heritage Motel.   I’d better do that soon, to ensure that we have a place to stay.

That’s pretty much our travel plans for the moment!

Oh…and GOOOOOOO SOX!

Horseback riding…

You CAN go horseback riding, even though you don’t own a horse! There’s a place up in New Hampshire that I know of where you can do so. It’s called Lucky 7 Stables, and they are located up in Londonderry…less than an hour’s drive from Boston. They offer guided horseback trail rides, that go for five miles. The stables are open year round, and hours and contact info for making reservations is on the website.

So, if you’re looking for something different to do this fall, outfit yourself in some snazzy horse riding apparel, and giddy-up!

One thing we don’t do much of…

…is go to see movies at theaters. Once in a while, we do, when it’s something that we really want to see on the big screen.

Movie ticket prices are high in the Boston area. I really hate to pay those prices when other people are so inconsiderate. There are the people who bring babies and small children to movies that are not appropriate for them, causing the kids to cry and scream throughout the show. Do these people bother to remove themselves and their kids from the theater? Hell, NO. In my opinion, this is unfair…THEY are the ones who should have to stay home and wait for the DVD, if they can’t or won’t bet a babysitter…NOT US! But there’s little we can do about it.

Next time we REALLY want to see a movie in a theater, we might try the AMC Framingham Premium 1. Ticket prices are higher, but it’s for patrons aged 21+ only. They have a restaurant there, where you can have dinner before the show. Meal price is not included in the ticket price, but there’s free popcorn and soft drinks during the show.

For those prices ($18 for an evening show, $13 for a matinee), they’d better also enforce a “no cell phone usage” rule. All theaters have a blurb or something during the previews that tell people to shut off phones or at least set on “vibrate”, and if they MUST take a call, to step outside and do it. I never see this being enforced, though.

When we do move to Maine, I’d love to be able to set up a nice home theater system, complete with big screen TV, comfy seating, and even some cool home theater lighting. Then we could just wait for the DVDs, and watch movies in a theater setting at home…no cell phones, no screaming babies, no overpriced tickets and snacks.

And best of all, we can put the movie on PAUSE when we have to go to the bathroom!