Are you confusing "politician" and "Big Tech CEO"?

A common stereotype of a politician is "shaking hands & kissing babies." Whenever there are voters or cameras around politicians know how to turn on the charm. They need votes and you don't win votes by giving voters the impression you don't have time for them or that you're not genuinely interested in their opinions (regardless if you really give a shit or not).

But if it’s such an easy-win payday… why wouldn’t you do it? If someone said I could make $50k for a day’s work, I’d do it.

Maybe because it’s a gigantic pain in the ass and much more time & money than a day’s work. And you know it.

I mean, that’s something my boomer dad would be impressed by, “You didn’t get the promotion? Did you firmly shake your boss’ hand and make direct eye contact? Hmm, I don’t know what else you could have done here.”

The Cutco recruiter who tried to get me to sign up also shook my hand firmly and did not break eye contact, lol

Then go do it. I mean all these people saying how simple it is yet I don’t see any news stories of a heroic Redditor actually DOING it.

It’s all bullshit Reddit fake-law degree talk.

You aren’t being arrested so you don’t get Mirandized.

That is not true. Commonwealth v. Shields. MA has ruled that sobriety checkpoints are constitutionally legal. If you enter one, you are obligated to speak with authorities and answer questions. If you refuse, you may be subjected to a field sobriety test. If you refuse that, you will lose your license automatically.

EDIT: Lol, go ahead and try it. I hope you enjoy spending all your time wrapped in court, meeting with lawyers, taking time off work, etc.

Yes, I know, but 495 bisects Hopkinton north to south pretty much down the middle. If you’re saying half the town is in western MA then you’re basically saying the whole town is western MA. Hopkinton is not large.

It really depends on the unit / construction. Our 2nd floor apartment is 1000sqft with natural gas heat, newer construction, newer windows, energy efficient appliances, etc. We literally leave the thermostat at 72 all year round. Never had a bill over $200 in summer or winter. We stay quite insulated.

Our previous place was on the top-floor of creaky triple-decker with old-ass appliances, drafty windows, etc. It was a downright struggle to keep it at 68. It seemed like the heat would blast non-stop and it was still cold.

So, you believe the Boston Marathon starts in western MA...?

I didn't mean Central MA proper as in Worcester County because none of the towns fit OP's criteria. They're all quiet bedroom communities, zero walkability, and nothing to do or see unless you consider going to Target and Buffalo Wild Wings a great time. I meant it more like geographically in general. Western MA is huge in its own right by that same token. Stockbridge and Amherst / Northamption are not exactly neighbors.

OP also mentioned somewhere safe enough you could walk around at night. Main South is not that. I watched two teenagers jump out of the car right in front me and start shooting at another group of teenagers standing outside the 7-Eleven in broad daylight in August. I gave my statement to WPD and the cop seemed visibly annoyed that he had to be outside while it was so hot. Lol. Main South.

>It sounded like we are at the point where we either come up with new solutions or we may begin to become economically stagnant

Certainly but I don't think the right solution is to spend billions on a new high-speed rail.

First thing, we can't even agree on spending money to fix & maintain the MBTA. How are we supposed to build a new high-speed rail and fix the MBTA and maintain both of them when we can't even handle what's on our plate right now?

Second thing, we still have a ton of opportunity to add more housing and better public transportation closer to Boston in a smart, impactful way. We're nowhere near the point where we need to start tapping into the Springfield / Hartford area workforce.

A lot of North Shore towns fit your criteria -- Gloucester, Rockport, Newburyport, Marblehead, Salem.

The Cape & Islands are very walkable by nature of being gorgeous beach towns -- Provincetown, Chatham, Falmouth.

Central MA is mostly the 'burbs with some walkability -- Waltham, Concord, Arlington, Franklin, Wellesley.

Western MA is quiet (aside from the 5-college area) and charming -- Northampton, Amherst, Stockbridge, Shelburne Falls.

And obviously all of Boston itself is walkable with lots to do. You'd have to look into specific areas & neighborhoods, proximity to trains, safety, etc.

I don't know why I find this so funny.

Picturing a man very casually tossing a bumper into his trunk like a shopping bag and going to the repair shop like, "Hey, guy, put that back on for me?"

Not all competition is created equal though. Amazon was a direct competitor against mom-and-pop shops. Look how that ended up for the consumer.

The same thing will happen with bars & restaurants if we're not careful. Larger chains with assloads of capital, hyper-efficient business models, and zero personality will drive out all of the local bars & restaurants who can't compete with $1 shots, half-price booze / food, etc.

They'll be the only places left just like Walmart or Amazon and we'll wonder why there aren't anymore good places to eat or cool bars to hang out at.

And you'll regret saying this when it's still snowing in April. The rest of the country will get a nice Spring thaw and feel the warm sun on their skin. We'll still be shoveling & salting like idiots.

Including other cultures & religions is somehow an attack on yours? I can only imagine how much you'd complain if you weren't a white Christian male. You're literally playing the game of life on Easy Mode and you still manage to complain... It's pathetic.

Gosh, you'd probably kill yourself if you actually had to play on Hard Mode like a Muslim person, a Jewish person, a black person, an Asian person, etc.

The White Mountains in particular are at the confluence of major continental weather patterns in North America -- cold Arctic air meets warmer ocean air basically. Those different temperature & pressure systems are constantly competing and that's why New England weather is incredibly unpredictable and changes so rapidly compared to other climates.

The effect is amplified by a million times when you're up in the mountains. It's incredibly deceptive. It could be bright & sunny in the morning with a foot of snow by the afternoon depending where you are. Mt Washington gets snow all year round. My friend has a video of snow in mid-July at the summit.

Yeah, my advice is to stay close to 95 / 93. Local traffic in those areas -- Saugus, Swampscott, Lynn, Salem -- is absolutely horrible. I lived in Salem for 2 years, very close to the Swampscott line, and getting to & from 95 was miserable. Beautiful town though!

As the saying goes, "If you're intelligent, talented, and hard-working... why would you ever get into politics?"

Still the best overall fast-food Chinese in Worcester. Always fresh, never greasy or soggy. The owner is super nice. I moved out of Worcester and I miss Min's Wok more than most of the higher-end places.

Red Pepper is a close second.

You think thats because they don’t want to open though…? I’d bet that’s because of lack of staff. You can’t open if you don’t have people to work, and you can’t hire people if you aren’t making money. It’s the classic catch-22 of the small business world.

Welcome to the new normal in restaurant industry post-COVID. Reduced hours, fewer staff, inexperienced staff, shortened menus, higher prices, etc. Restaurants are still struggling to get by.

Over half of the restaurants I consider go-to spots in Worcester County have reduced their hours, shortened their menus, and raised their prices. Wife & I went to our favorite hibachi place last week and they had one hibachi chef cooking at 4 tables, running back and forth like a bat out of hell. Couldn’t find any chefs to work.

Haha, I hear ya. I got burned two years in a row doing online shopping so I'm early with it now.

Either they get lost in transit or marked as "delivered" but never actually delivered. Takes a week to "investigate" and by that time it's too late. Companies can't send a replacement because they're out of stock now or they shipped a new one but shipping is so backed up it doesn't arrive until January. Never again...

They should all be paid out by mid-December. Maybe not in time for holiday shopping but, man, I am really not looking forward to my National Grid bills over the next few months... so this will definitely help offset those!

Schools aren't the ones that need convincing. If you want better school lunches, you need to convince all of your local townspeople to pay more taxes so the public schools can buy better food. Best of luck...

I think most people, myself included, would rather not pay the taxes and instead brown-bag it for their kids. Still far healthier & fresher than anything you'd get in a large-scale cafeteria.

Korean American checking in. Not much of my people’s food out here, sad to say.

Woo Jung in Ayer is the best option outside of Boston/Allston. My Korean dad is ultra picky when it comes to Korean restaurants here. But he enjoys it very much. My brother lives in LA, a Mecca of Korean food, and he still dreams about their jjamppong.

Westboro Korean is authentic but not the best. It’s ok and close by. I’ve only been there a couple times despite living maybe 10 min away. So take that for what it’s worth.

Sapporo is not authentic but good for Chinese/Japanese style food. The previous owner was a family friend and the food definitely changed from Korean to Chinese-influenced dishes after he sold it.