Impatience

I'm known for my impatience. I mean, I'm not famous or anything, but those who know me know that I want everything done last week.

That said, I wish people would be more like me, maybe not necessarily for my impatience but for the purposes of following through.

Like, when I'm in the market for a new place to live and you tell me, "Meet us at 5:30 to see our apartment," actually be at the apartment at 5:30.

And when you say in an email, "Let's set up a time to meet," and I respond minutes later and ask if such and such a time works, don't go days without responding to my email.

Maybe I'm just being unreasonable. But, to me, it seems like common sense.

Dear Bruins....

....while I appreciate the effort tonight, remember this was only one game. Please save some of the scoring for the remainder of the Stanley Cup Finals. Thank you.

Interstate 84, Exit 2

There's a short stretch of I-84 in Massachusetts, where it ends at the Mass Pike. When I go to and from Connecticut I drive it. I know the stretch of road well.

I took a road trip and something looked different. I'm a little slow so it took me a couple seconds to figure it out.

Then it hit me. The sign for Exit 2 was twisted and crumpled on the ground. Trees were cracked in half or had their tops blown off.

This is the stretch of highway that last week's tornadoes went through.

It gave me chills as I drove through. I couldn't get to the Connecticut state line fast enough.

Quickie Blog

I have a long day today, so this will be a quick blog.

It would be nice if the NHL wouldn't reward players for biting.

How Not To Land a New Tenant

Him: When can you move in?
Me: Well my lease is up at month's end but I'm flexible
Him: I need someone in for June 1
Me: Today is June 3
Him: I want someone in now
Me: I said i was flexible, but i can't give you a commitment for a move-in date when i haven't even seen the place yet.

Western Mass. Tornadoes

We don't get a lot of extreme weather in New England. OK, we get a ton of snow. But snow melts eventually -- definitely by May 1 every year all the snow is gone. We get a handful of 90-degree days each summer. It hits 100 once every five years or so. By the time we get hurricanes they're referred to as "The Remnants of Hurricane ___" -- maybe once a decade we get one that still sports hurricane-force winds.

So it's really sad to see the damage caused by the tornadoes that hit Western and Central Massachusetts a couple days ago. Luckily, we were spared in Worcester and just got a lot of rain and a two-second power outage. Springfield and vicinity weren't so lucky. I always felt for the folks in Alabama and Missouri and Oklahoma and everywhere else that's had to deal with tornadoes this spring, but this makes it that much more poignant.

The story of the woman who died shielding her daughter in the bathtub is particularly heart-wrenching. Yet, and I feel awkward saying this since 4 people did die, but it's amazing that the number of casualties was that low.

I feel for everyone. There were a lot of amazing and heroic stories and I hope everyone affected has a speedy recovery.

I'm Moving

I moved to Worcester 18 months ago. At the time I was paying dirt-cheap rent, largely because I had a roommate. My roommate moved out six months later and I signed on for a year's lease. Obviously my rent went up; it actually more than doubled because my roommate had the larger bedroom. But I was also employed.

Since then the census ended and I was laid off. I'm collecting unemployment but obviously my income took a hit. Then, the Worcester city council discussed classifying apartment complexes as commercial property, which would've nearly doubled my landlord's property tax bill, and he said it would force him to raise my rent $100 a month. Paying that much more didn't sound like fun to me, so I decided it was in my best interest to attend the meeting. Ultimately the Worcester City Council took no action, but my landlord also attended and complained and sent some signals that he'd be raising the rent when the lease expired. My roommate had said he was here for three years and the landlord never raised the rent in his time here. The stars were aligned for a rent increase.

My lease expires June 30. Thus, I've made the decision to move on. I've given my notice and will be moving out at month's end.

Where to, I don't know yet. I'm looking at two places later this afternoon, one here in Worcester and one in Sterling, a quiet place a couple of towns to the north of Worcester, both with significantly lower rent than I pay here.

It's a prudent but difficult decision. My life has been a nomadic one. By my count, this will be the 35th time in my life that I've had to move. Before I moved here to Worcester, I lived in a condo in Milford for 3 1/2 years -- the longest I've ever lived in the same place in my life. You can imagine how much I despise moving. Someday I would like some stability of residence in my life, but it's not in the cards for me right now.

I will keep you updated on what happens. Wish me luck.