>Cambridge needs its own bus system,

No.

No, no, no, no, NO. We do not need to balkanize public transit EVEN FURTHER than it already is. We need a single, state-wide public transit system.

One of the reasons why European systems work so well, is that they are national - not done piecemeal, community by community. They are a single, unified whole.

Decades of deferred maintenance has consequences.

Honestly, the State (and the Cities and Towns directly serviced by the T) need to put a few billion dollars back into the MBTA - who should never have been saddled with so much debt in the first place.

The total debt carried by the MBTA is over seven and a half billion dollars. And it is in large part due to the pressures of servicing that debt (over half a billion dollars per year!), that maintenance and safety budgets were slashed. That's certainly not the only reason ... but I firmly believe it is the biggest reason. The second largest reason is the wholly inadequate funding provided to the MBTA by the State and Cities/Towns serviced by it's system. The mess we have today, is the inevitable consequence of the intersection between the two of them.

Note, by the by, that fares collected by the MBTA amount to just under 1/3 of it's annual revenue, so just raising fairs "a little" would be like pissing in the ocean. We need the State to step in with a large, ongoing funding comitment.

Specifically, we (all across the U.S.) need to stop treating public transit like a for-profit enterprise, and treat it like we do our roads and bridges: as a necessary Public Good.

It needs to be fully and properly funded from tax revenues. Look at the recent surplus collection, and resulting Chapter 62F rebates. The state collected some $3B more than it actually needed to cover it's budget, so clearly revenues under the current tax rates are adequate to cover a greatly increased budget for supporting public transit throughout the state, meaning: we don't even have to raise taxes to do that...!

If the State committed just $1B/year in additional, direct funding to the MBTA, there would still have been a 62F rebate ... and the T would start getting (literally) back on track in very fast order. They could double the money provided towards their debt, and still have almost half a billion dollars more to spend catching up on the repairs and upgrades they've been forced to skip since 2000.

Then again, if it's raining or snowing out ... a little extra time to keep a roof between you and the weather might be a worthwhile investment. :)

Also also, we don't know if the OP might have luggage in tow. Probably not, given where he's going ... but not impossible.

Or Blue to Government Center, then Green to North Station, and voila, you're there.

Sugar free alcohol ...? I'm honestly not sure such a thing is chemically possible! Alcohol comes from the fermentation of sugars ...! Doesn't it?!

>I want to try anyway while he is still around to share it with.

Oh, absolutely definitely do that!! :) I just didn't want you to go in expecting a perfectly crisp and clear result, then be disappointed with what you got. :)

​

Edit to add: also, you might get really lucky and have large sections, maybe even most of the film, come out pretty damned well despite the almost-a-century sitting in the camera.

How much is it to build a house?

Pretty sure it's more than $6K.

Also pretty sure it's also more than the $10K or $20K to build a good, winter-suitable yurt.

I can't help you, but just want to make you aware that there's a high probability that the film has suffered some degradation in the ~90 years since it was used, so you can set your expectations appropriately: the image quality is likely to be on the low side as a result of those decades in the camera (and probably not in a controlled environment).

Yurts are used extensively on the Mongolian steppes ... including during the winter.

There are also modern four-season tents. Many of them have a pass-through for the chimney of a wood-burning stove, and are used for things like scaling Mount Everest.

Did the OP say they were coming in by plane? I don't recall seeing anything to that effect.

You could still face arrest, temporary confinement (until you had your hearing), possibly asset seizure of your car (and a pardon doesn't get that returned).

Like I said:

• Headaches
• Stress
• Unhappiness

What I didn't say was:

• your life could be ruined

Just be aware: if you buy it here, and then take it home and cross state lines in doing so ... you could open yourself up to a lot of headaches, stress, and unhappiness if the feds somehow get involved.

Very small dogs and smallish cats should also exercise increased caution. Also, ducks.

:)

*Prix Fixe

/nit_pick

:)

Nah, it's not actually on fire, and he's not holding a sign that reads "This is fine." :D

Best of luck getting it back!!

The core parts of Boston, and some of the adjacent towns, definitely yes. MBTA's current troubles aside, there's a good network of public transit to get you within a few blocks of your destination, and probably you can access the system within a similarly short distance.

Some of the more outlaying parts ... maybe yes?

Overall, it's got to be one of the more walkable cities in the U.S.

...

Compared to most of Europe it's pretty shit, though.

Trying to make you retroactively pay more for the first month is illegal. That month is already done and over with.

The Security deposit, and Last Month rent, though? Legitimate (and legal) for him to want you to pay the difference.

Well, Dorchester was, once long ago, a separate town entirely, with it's own neighborhoods.

Then the town was annexed by Boston, becoming a neighborhood of that city.

The old divisions of that area, however, persist as neighborhoods within Dorchester.

Single-payer does not have to mean "free for all residents".

And they already CAN come here to be part of Masshealth Standard, so .... where's the point, again? I seem to be having trouble finding one ...