The Chronicles of Bostonia III - Middlesex

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Wed 5th December - after yesterday’s minus 10 day, today was a little bit easier on the face, my frosty shrivelled balls had time to thaw out a bit. Was in a bit of a bad mood again today - the distance from town and life, a bit of isolation, waiting for Laura to come home with the laptop so I can check me emails before an early bed, Medford being a dry town too means no pub to while away hours, ouch! Living with two girls can also be a bit tricky but the best said about the hair all over the bathroom and bog roll usage the better - I am hardly the best house mate ever! Forget Blue Monday this is more like Blue Wednesdays. So when I got home I rang my mum and felt a bit better and less homesick. But even pork chops and mash for dinner and a DVD (as our TV only gets Fox channel and badly at that) of Mike Myers on Saturday Night Live couldn’t cheer me up, so I went for an early read in bed. The most interesting thing I found out today that is I am living in Middlesex County, which as you know is the closest county to me at home and possibly the best at cricket ever, so...hmmm. Oh yeah, saw a few Blue Jays today, which I have never seen and more of the ‘well-fair’ Cambridge Housing Association veterans in their patriot wheelchairs and local nutters with supermarket trolleys. A squirrel jumped about 4 squirrel feet over my head also today which was a high, almost as high as the birds here, who aren’t quite as fat as New York but still, they eat all the trash and fast food left overs and some can barely fly.
Corey -the 20 year old New Hampshire dude - who also works for Kev and reminds me of a young Ryan is always eating his peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and talking about rap, which always reminds me of my dad...’Rap is crap’ he used to say with a ‘I’m with it’ type hand movement, real ghetto like! Corey cracked jokes like three men in thr front of a truck, if you the furthest one from the wheel, hit the horn and duck, because everyone looks over and sees two men sat very unnecessarily close together-hahaha! You can check out his beats at www.soundclick.com/cwork - be nice!

Then waxes lyrical about the New England Patriots who I don’t think I can afford to go watch, cheapest tickets are $60 and as they have won every single game this season, tickets are hard to come by at any price, let alone the cheap seats. The Celtics it will have to be. I am a true fan now, having purchased a key ring to prove my allegiance, and they also are on fire with the best record in the NBA. John, Kev’s colleague, is a lovely bloke who will say your name everytime he asks you to do something (very irish) and he humours Corey when he’s talking about Tommy Hillfigures or rapper 50 sense, which I still prefer to call 25p.

Thurs 6th Dec - After work (where I am getting my bearings of Boston more now I am trucking everywhere with Kev) I met Laura at North Station and we went for a quick pint in McGann’s bar, where we watched England lose woefully to Croatia. Then we headed to the garden to watch the Boston Bruins 2-4 Montreal Canadiens, which was great fun, but again took like 2 and half hours for a 60 minute game, goddamnit, by the third period I was flaking with tired as I been getting up at 6am and the drunken frat boy behind me (although in general the crowd was rougher and more mulleted than a basketball one) whistling at all the girls and saying: You gotta be kiddin me, anytime the Bruins (a type of Bear by the way) gave the puck away or missed a goal. Having to support the first team I see so far has not really worked in my favbour, but hey...QPR, Boston Celtics, Middlesex CC, Boston Bruins, Oakland Athletics, Wasps, and dare I say England (that should go without saying...)is a mixed bag okay. Went for another pint and then caught the T to Wellington and ran to catch the 10.30 bus back home. Luckily we made it for I did not fancy waiting an hour in what amounts to little more than a car park with a Dunkin Donuts in it (which are everywhere!) Looking forward to the weekend!

Fri 7th Dec - Today was good as Kev and I went around different blocks installing key boxes for the fire department, which was fun to be on the road a bit more, the time went quicker and I definitely had that Friday feeling, which was punctured on the way home when I realised I had to work Saturday on a separate job too, but hey I need the money, so my lie in would just have to wait until Sunday.
In the evening, Sheila (Kev’s wife) drove Laura, Clare, and I to Target to do some Xmas shopping. I finished my family’s in 45 minutes, then bought myself a frisbee, a thermos (as I am a pre-labourer now), and 6 pairs of thick socks and was done in under an hour, but that meant waiting outside in the cold for an hour waiting til 10pm for the others to get out. Ouch, shopping with women with no alternative route home is hard! Had a Friday night stout and managed to blag some guys very slow wireless network on the part-time laptop, but could not keep my eyes open and had another early start so I got myself to bed by midnight.

Sat 8th Dec - after a day in the clouds at work, I was happy and tired to get home, glad to put my trackies on and eat pizza, drink beer, watch some Flight of the Conchords (hilarious - check it out!) and get ready for the Ricky Hatton fight, which we got on pay per view for $20 each in Kev’s free house, Reilly the dog sprawled all over us for belly rubs and face licks. Felt gutted for Ricky, although the best man won in the end even thought the judges were way more bias than the commentators and anyone actually watching the fight, reckoning Hatton won only two of nine rounds (Bolx!) Gave my pay cheque to Laura and next week’s will go to her too, to cover my rent for the two months that we are here, then everything I earn after that will be mine to save or spend, which will be nice, although I am earning less than I thought, which means the ruddy overdraft will probably have to be used again in South America. And also found out I get 12 days off from Saturday 22nd so might go up to Maine or maybe do some skiing in New Hampshire. Also made a 2008 calendar of family and friends which can be found searching my name on www.lulu.com and played hide ‘n’ seek with Kev’s kids for an hour, but they guessed my hiding place, behind the curtains very early and I was too lazy to change it, so I just fed them more sugar and let them hide for ages. QPR drew a game, despite being up twice and I hope this is the turning point, we shall know by Tuesday and a trip to in-form Burnley. Found out that the Editors and Hot Hot heat are playing the Orpheum on 19th January ($25-30) sweet, so gonna get involved in that too!

Sun 9th Dec - Lie in was so good and did not get up til 1pm, which was so sweet! Was gonna go to the New Balance factory, but the bus was going in half hour and ius only every hour and Laura had invited friends Melissa, Jen and daughter Amina over for dinner. They came at 3.30 so I made a curry and we sat around chatting until they left and we watched Zoolander with abottle of red and went to bed early.

Mo 10th Dec - Fell on my ass on the way to work as it was very icy (highly embarrassing) and it took Laura half an hour to walk to Sheila’s (a 5 min walk!). Work same old. Reading Cloud Atlas and it is hard going but its getting better alright. In the evening had the last hot shower before the heating and water decided to shut off during a power cut and not come back on (Freezing!)
Tues 11th Dec - Finighed at the Cambridge Housing today and packed away the scaffolding, which was a nice feeling. Could not figure out the heating and water so we sat around moaning in all our clothes and prayed we would make it through the night. We did and I went to work Wed smelly. Waited for the shopping dude to arrive and unpackled, but was so tired I just snacked and went to bed, pissed off and cold.

Wed 12th Dec - Did a few jobs all over the place so the day went quick and I got to use an electric circle saw today so that was fun, although my hair now feels like starch and I need a shower badly! Stopped at an English/Irish market called Faneuil Street Market where I paid $3.47 for a chomp, a picnic and a bag of beef hula hoops, (English prices or what?!). Ryan called for a few minutes and my piece of shit phone [phone] in case you wanna text keeps munching credit like a stoned student does wotsits!

Until next time, take care and enjoy the photos. X Tom

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Comments

[Chris FJ]

Photos?
Hey Tom thanks for the blog, but where are the photoS?! Chris xxx

[Flouse]

only on the first two at the moment. Having some probs with my camera, long story.