Toll Roads SUCK!

Sorry there are not pictures. I didn't want to take my phone out for fear that it would get wet. It has rained NON-STOP for three days straight and the news says it will be another 2 days before the sun comes out. Today it was 58 degrees. To me, little miss Las Vegas... that is winter. In August! I'm sure I'll be in for a rude awakening when it starts to get "real" cold but for now I'm still burried under blankets at night. But the weather man says that it should get up to the upper 80's by the end of the week.

So I have not decided if I want to be a Boston Metro interpreter or a willy nilly vehicle interpreter. Boston Metro interpreters take the T and walk and ride a bicycle everywhere but willy nilly vehicle interpreters drive and have to pay outrageous parking meters and stupid tolls. I leaning towards Boston Metro lately.

Reason 1:

My GPS isn't fast enough. Whenever I miss a turn and she does her re-routing thing she will tell me to turn at a street I have already passed. Then she has to take the time to do her re-routing thing AGAIN. It is beyond the most frustrating thing on the planet.

Reason 2:

Toll Roads SUCK! I came to a fork in the road and couldn't tell via my GPS if I should veer left or veer right so I closed my eyes and took a guess. It was a bad guess. I got onto a bridge and there was no turning around for 4 miles. The estimated arrival time on my GPS went from 2 minutes to 25 minutes. Then, when I could finally get myself turned around and situated I was coming back. On the way back... that same road I was on. THE SAME EXACT ROAD that I had been driving on for FREE now cost me $2.50 to drive on because I was going in the other direction. Are you freakin kidding me?!?!? I later learned that this was because Boston want's to punish the people the live in New Hampshire and pay cheaper property taxes but work in Boston at increased wages.

Reason 3:

I am digging the exercise I get everyday. I've already lost 7 pounds and I've only lived her for a few weeks.

Exploring Boston

These are what sidewalks look like in Boston and the city streets aren't much better. I can't go more than 15 mph or my wheels would fall off. For someone as impatient as me it takes a lot of getting use to. I also can't text and drive. It really is risking my life. Back in Las Vegas you only had to worry about someone coming into your lane or stopping in front of you. But here that is only the beginning. Then there are roads that don't go straight and no turning lanes so cars will stop in the middle of the road if they would like to turn. And people make their turns because if you don't there is no going back. The roads aren't wide enough for U-turns and the streets don't go straight so the next turn won't necessarily get you to the same place. And then there is the occational "we are turning this travel lane into a parking lane today". I was driving in a lane and all the sudden there were cars parked in what would have been the shoulder but there wasn't enough space so half the car was in the moving lane. Cars and semi-trucks often swerve into oncoming traffic to avoid someone waiting to turn (in either direction). Then there are my favorite intersection where everyone has the right of way. Three roads come to a point and no one has a stop sign or a yield. Those are my very unfavorite.

The T

Before I moved here I spent a lot of time looking at apartments and rooms to rent. The description always included "close to the T". I had no idea what that meant. Then I saw some clues as I was walking around Harvard Square. This happen to be a bus stop but "The T" includes buses, handicap taxi's, subway trains, and the commuter railroad.

So as I was wondering around Harvard Square I decided to get brave and take the train home. I consider myself a reasonably intelligent person so i walked down the stairs to the hub and told myself I would look at a map and figure it out. This is what I saw:

So not having any idea what any of those machines meant or which one I should go to first I turned my happy little but right around and marched back to the surface. I found a tour starting and I obviously looked lost because the recruiter for the tour asked if he could help me find something. I told him where I needed to go and he told me which bus I should get on and I had to be brave and go back down and look for the sign that had my bus number on it. Very intimidating but success and not to bad for my first time on public transportation.

I do have one horror story about the T that I really should document for posterity. I had met an interpreter through a friend and she invited me to tag along with her when she went shopping for a new outfit to wear as she presented a workshop at RID Region I conference. I got my map out and planned my trip so that I could stop at the Institute building and check it out before jumping back on the train and meeting her at Downtown Crossing. Then in my constant state of brilliance I decided to save a total of $3 by walking to the institute and then taking the train to the designated meeting place. I apparently didn't leave enough time because when I got to the street that forked right for institute and left for the train I didn't have time to make right so I just turned left and on to the train. I made it just fine and we had a lot of fun shopping even though she didn't find anything for the conference. So when we ended at 4 I thought to myself: "cool, there's still time to sneak by the institute. So I go on the green line out to Lechemere but at one of the stops the conductor gets on the intercom and says the train is being taken out of service. So at the next stop everyone gets off the train so I get off the train too. I wait for the next train to come so I get on thinking it will go to the same place the train I just got off was going. Not the case. In fact, I was the only one who got on the train so I smoothly get off the train like I knew exactly what I was doing. Then the next train came and I looked around to see if anyone was getting on. No one moved. Then I started to get frustrated that everyone else knew something I didn't know. How did they know that train was no good??? Well the third train that came had a bunch of people get on so I followed the crowd like cattle and jumped on. Then as we were riding along I was making sure to keep track of where I was because I needed to switch to the red train to get home. Well at the stop before the transfer the guy came on the speaker again and said that anyone getting on the red line to Alewife needed to exit the train and take the shuttle to Kenmore station. So I get off the train and follow the cattle again and have to wait in a giant mob for the third bus to come and get packed on board like sardines and get off the bus with the herd all the time wondering if I'm going to have to pay to get back on the train because it should have been a free transfer but if we walk into the station then it won't be recognized as a transfer. But following the herd never fails because I was with a particular group that went through the service entrance to the train that didn't have to pay. Then I had to wait for the second train before I would fit on board (busses and trains are 15-30 minutes apart so you can see that this trip is taking RIDICULOUSLY longer than it should). And all this because they were doing construction on the little section of the red line that I was trying to get on at. So the moral of the story is that even if you don't use a car you still get stuck in construction traffic.

I am surprised at how... shall we say... "lack of idiot-proof-ness" it is here. Maybe it's because Las Vegas prepares for their pedestrians to be in a constant stooper from alcohol but it seemed so strange that there wasn't a way to protect people from a train whizing by at top speed. People stand right up to and sometimes on top of the yellow line and wait for half a train to pass until it stops to open the doors. I kept thinking to myself that this just wouldn't happen in Vegas. I don't know why but it just didn't seem like it would fly.

This is what happens to your pinky toes when you walk more than 10 miles a day in tennis shoes that are falling apart. Luckily I just got some unexpected funds that I can use to buy new ones...pronto.

City parks are beautiful and not like anything I am use to. The first time I went with Janice to walk the dogs at the park I felt like I was back at girls camp hiking up the mountain. This is the trail from the parking lot to the park... in the middle of the town. Once you get to the actual park it is grass as far as the eyes can see.

Boston is so much different than Las Vegas when it comes to shopping centers and how they are set up. In Las Vegas you can drive down the street and see a CVS and pull into the parking lot and get what you need. If you happen to miss that parking lot then another CVS or store similar to it will be on the next corner. Here the area where you shop is separate from where you live. There are large areas where there are only houses and that is where people live. Even on what would be considered major streets there aren't businesses on every corner. In the areas where you shop are streets that are lined on either side with various stores and these are centers within each city. And everywhere you park has a meter. Mom & Pop stores reign supreme here. CVS is the only drug store/pharmacy that I recognize. There is a Trader Joe's and a Whole foods in the city I live and only one grocery store that is a chain and it doesn't even exist in Vegas. It's called Shaw's. There are not Albertsons. No Smiths. I haven't even seen a 7-11 Since I got here.

Speaking of 7-11 most of the gas stations here will pump your gas. FOR YOU! It's the most awkward thing to get use to. Then I have an overwhelming urge to tip them at the end but Janice said it's weird to do that. Maybe it's because I lived in the biggest tipping town in the world but it's almost uncontrollable. I feel really guilty.

The Beach House

The outside still obviously being remodeled.

This is the fireplace under construction and the kitchen with the lovely Janice who I am now and soon will be living with.

The entrance into my bedroom from the kitchen and the smallest closet in the world that would even fit all my shoes let alone clothes.

Both views of the bathroom.

The Views of the Atlantic Ocean.

Just outside the front door.

A day at the beach is not complete without walking the extra 40 feet to stick you're feet in the ocean.

The move

I decided to only take what would fit in my car. A few things contributed to that decision. First I wanted as fresh a new start as possible. I gave up the furniture and other things like that in divorce negotiations. I didn't really want them anyway. I wasn't in love with them. So mostly cloths and a few bare essential kitchen and bathroom items made it in my car. The other reason was that I didn't have a hitch on my car and I didn't want to pay the money to have it installed. I have a small storage unit in Vegas but most of my worldly possessions fit in my small SUV.

I left first thing on Friday morning and I was so excited when the compass in my car said E for east. I knew I would be seeing that a lot over the next week.

The worst weather I saw was a thunderstorm in New Mexico. I was very fortunate to have such beautiful weather except for a few hours on Friday.

First stop was in Lubbock, TX to stay the night with my cousin Amanda and her fiance Taylor. They tried to take me out for a night on the town but how much trouble can you get in during the summer in a college town... but we had fun!

On the road again

I could kick myself for not taking more pictures in Texas. I got to see my Aunt Laurie and my cousin Anthony who is growing like a weed. I spent some time with my Uncle Malcolm and Aunt Jennifer and their two kids that totally remind me of my niece and nephew. I had to remind myself that they were my cousins. And best of all I got to spend some quality time with my grandparents that I don't get to see very often. Luckily I'll be back in October for Amanda's wedding.

I kept noticing the scenery getting progressively greener as I moved across the country. This is somewhere in Oklahoma. This was definitely the most irritating state. Not only do they have weird freeway exits on the left hand side of the freeway but if you want the privilege of driving on their construction littered freeway...you have to PAY FOR IT. Re-diculous!

I got to St. Louis at 5:30 so of course I was stuck in traffic. But the good news is I got a decent picture of the Arch without having to stop :)

My route took me along the coast of Lake Erie through upstate New York and it was beautiful. The green went right up to the water in most places and the beach was small rocks instead of sand.

By the last day I was getting pretty impatient with semi trucks and their lack of movage to the right lane when I would like to pass them. FEDEX is the WORST!! I will only ship UPS because fedex has the most obnoxious drivers. The right lane is for traveling. The left lane is for passing. driving next to someone for 30 miles is not passing them.

And this is what 3,200 miles worth of bugs looks like.

And my very warm welcome from Janice and the dogs, Bear and Moose.

comming soon.....

I have pictures. I have many things to blog about, but the internet in my basement apartment isn't set up yet so i have to go to starbucks to get internet. I drove down here but they are closed so i'm sitting in my car to tell the blogging world that i will post but right now my battery is almost dead without an outlet nearby. Tomorrow. Hopefully.

BOSTON HERE I COME!

I had applied to a few schools that I wanted to go to. I really should have just applied to Gallaudet because that's the only school I was willing to pack up stuff and move to. I didn't get in and that was heart breaking and I really didn't want to tell anyone. Then a series of circumstances in the Las Vegas Interpreter market happened and getting National Interpreter Certification (NIC) became a matter of survival. So i bit the bullet and took the test. Worst case scenario is that I failed but then I would know what the test was like and be better prepared to study for the next attempt. The test had a 40% failure rate among people who had been working for YEARS and here I come not even graduated from an ITP, with 5 semesters worth of language classes and... I PASSED. That piece of paper flung open the door to so many professional opportunities that I still haven't realized them all yet.

So now that I knew I was not going to Gallaudet but I had Certification I began looking into places I just wanted to live. Being near an Ocean was at the top of the list and followed places like Califonia, Florida, or BOSTON. Further down on the list were just cool cities like New York and Chicago. I even applied to a Video Relay call center in NYC. Boston has always been a place I wanted to live. I talked with an interpreter friend who packed up everything and moved to Vegas from Texas. She suggested I contact local interpreters in the area through the Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID). So I did, using an email identical to the one she used to contact Vegas terps I asked questions about the area the atmosphere and the work volume. The more responses I got the more I felt good about the city.

I contacted the Massachusetts (I guess I need to learn to spell that without spellcheck) Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing MCDHH. I received a contract in the mail and was so nervous I waited 3 weeks to sign it and send it back. Then it took until now but I got it. My contract approval notice. In a couple weeks I'll be loading up my car and moving across the country to sleep on the couch of another interpreter that I met at TerpExpo in Irvine, CA. Then I'll go to an orientation and begin work at a new job, in a new city, with a new marital status.

This is my journey and you're welcome to watch me do it.

This is my new blog to go along with my new life. In a couple of weeks my divorce will be final and I'll be starting a new life with a new job in a new city. There are a lot of people in my life who are not happy with the decisions I am making. To them I say: That is unfortunate but I hope the love that we share is unconditional. My spiritual well-being is between me and Heavenly Father. I am learning to keep private things to myself. Just because a question is asked, doesn't mean I am obligated to answer it. Just because I don't answer it, doesn't mean I don't care about you enough to share.