Complaint Department

Blame speculators. Prices aren't going up because if a lack of supply, it's because speculators are predicting there will be shortages in the near future, which drives up prices.
One great thing about Boston, with the public transportation system here I only drive my car one or two days a week. My monthly pass for the T (our metro system) is subsidized by my employer so I pay $30 a month for unlimited travel on it. Is there public transportation available where you live? That could definitely help save on your fuel costs.

 

There's a guy who routinely drives his tractor down Valley Road but there's not a second seat on that vehicle. That's about as close as it comes to public transportation in these parts.

As for the T, please give my regards to the Green Line (and the Red and the Orange). I spent manymanymany hours there.

 

Red line everyday for me. MGH to Harvard Square 5 days a week. I hate the green line.

 

Don't blame the speculators. Blame George W. Bush. Saturday Night Live's ability to see into a parallel universe proves that the country would've been much better with Al Gore as president. Check it out for a good laugh!

Al Gore

-Matt

 

Can't watch that link from my iPad, but I hope your kidding. Amazes me how people can blame gas prices today on someone that has been out of office for 2 years.

 

Hmmm. See you at Nini's.

 

Of course I'm kidding... you totally have to watch the clip though! I love it when the politicians poke fun at themselves.

-Matt

 

Matt, that clip was really funny. Thanks for sharing. It's good to see Gore with a sense of humor.

 

The Red Line is the least of the 4 evils....I can't stand the T. In order of preference for me (it's like choosing your method of execution) it's Red, Blue, Orange, Green....the Green Line sucks.

Useless trivia...the T line's colors were chosen for specific reasons;

Red - Last stop North used to be Harvard....Harvard Crimson

Orange - Used to run down the now-defunct Orange Street

Blue - Runs underneath Boston Harbor

Green - Runs through the tree-lined areas of Boston and Brookline.

Oh, and my latest complaint.....trying to buy a gallon of milk at the local convenience store, and getting stuck behind someone blowing their paycheck on scratch tickets and lottery chances..."Give me 2 Number 5's, 5 Number 2's, 6 Number 7's, and play this number any order for the next week".

If they could say it that fast, I wouldn't really care, but that's always delivered as they lean on the counter and after they take their sweet-ass time looking at all the scratch tickets, totally oblivious to the growing line of people behind them who just want some convenience at the convenience store, buy 1-2 items with cash, and leave.

I used to drive a mile out of my way to go to a convenience store that didn't have the lottery (because the liquor store next to them did have it), but the liquor store tanked, so the convenience store ended up with the lottery license.

 

My latest complaint... people who cough, and allow their snot-nosed germ machine kids to cough, with their mouths unshielded. At a restaurant the other night, we were sat next to a couple who had 3 kids, and 2-3 of the family members, including the mother, were all hacking away open mouth. I was feeling ill by the end of the night, and it was likely from another source, but it's idiots like that that shouldn't be allowed to breed, let alone survive into adulthood.

 

I was in an elevator the other day and some guy said something about "breeders." Now I've always thought that this was an insulting term that gay people used to describe hetero people but is there some other meaning that could be applied so that I don't feel the need to put my knee (with speed and power) up into his general groin area?

 

Wow... interesting. I've never heard the term refer to straight people before. I've always heard it refer to poorer people who have kids so they can reap the benefits of a government assistance check. Must be a geographical difference.

-Matt

 

I've seen the term used to refer to couples that bear children. Believe it or not, there is actually a "child free" movement.

 

Child Free? What is that, like an "end humanity as we know it" movement? Perhaps the people who are in the "child free" movement should go back in time and make sure their parents are in the "child free" movement.

-Matt

 

Don't know about this movement, I personally have chosen not to have children but figure there are many, many others who have decided to reproduce, whether it's for the best or not, to keep the species going.

 

I have never done even a snippet of reading on the movement, but have stumbled across vague references a couple of times. I believe it has connections to the "zero-impact" concept. Essentially, they claim (perhaps correctly) that the earth has exceeded its carrying capacity for the human species, and so it is our responsibility to gradually lower the total population (through less reproduction) in order to avoid a more harsh Darwinian competition for resources.

In other words, if we don't voluntarily lower our numbers, then nature will take care of it for us, through starvation, disease, etc. There may actually be something to the argument, though the net effect of a few "non-breeders" will be null.

 

The better option is to expand beyond the Earth.

 

But we have to stretch this rock out as long as we can so that the requisite technologies can be developed. Also, suitable locations are not yet known, though we are making progress in that area.

What an exciting time to be alive!