Rob's Rants

Last October I wrote about the time I was an idiot and left an expensive jacket with my house and car keys in the pocket on a Commuter Rail train and how MBTA Customer Service handled my problem very efficiently and I ultimately got my stuff back in just a couple of days.

Last week something else worked, so I figured I’d let the world know.

Payment Box (photo from http://www.innismir.net/article/159)

I ride the Commuter Rail most every day and parking is a real pain. Such a pain in fact that I think there is an opportunity for a business  that relieves the misery for daily commuters. For those not familiar with the system, you park your car in a numbered space and then walk to a little payment box where you are supposed to stuff your $4 into a tiny little slot so small that only two bills at a time fit if they’ve been folded in half three times. Then, ideally, you shove the money all the way in using a little metal pusher, but the pusher is usually missing since they are constantly ripped off the little attachment cable by kids with nothing better to do. If you fail to pay, the lot attendant puts a little collection envelope under your wiper and you owe $5, which you need to leave in a special fine box.

Anyway, I usually park in the same row every morning, and because most other daily riders follow their own routines pretty closely, I usually get one of about a half-dozen spaces between #48 and #54. Last Friday morning I got #50. On the way to the little payment box, I reached into my pocket and realized that I didn’t have four $1.00 bills. The best I could come up with was a wrinkled old $5.00 bill. So I figured I’d have to pay $5.00 anyway if I skipped the payment and I put the $5.00 bill in slot #50 and happily boarded my train.

When I returned that evening (in the rain), I found a little fine envelope under my wiper. And I was immediately pissed off. I was absolutely certain that I had put $5 in the box and pretty sure that I put it in the correct slot. And there was no way in hell that I was going to pay a $5 fin on top of the $5 I already paid. No Commuter Rail parking space is worth $10 a day! I checked the receipt (which was soaked from being in the rain) and it had space #50 and my license plate on it. Man was I pissed.

There’s a telephone number on the receipt and I called it first thing Monday morning. I navigated the voicemail to the complaint section, where it transferred me to a guy’s mailbox and instructed me to leave my name, license plate number, and a phone number and they would call me back. I left the message.

The next day: nothing. Not a word from them.

On Wednesday I was really angry. At lunch I was contemplating how I was going to escalate this outrageous injustice! I would call again, but I would start using Google Voice to record every call. And I would keep a log of calls on Google Voice too. Maybe write to my State Rep and Senator. This would not stand!

Around 1:30 my phone rang.

Me: “Hello.”

Caller: “Mr. Havasy, this is [name] from Central Parking. I’m calling regarding the non-payment fine you received last Friday. I’ve looked at our system and can tell that you did pay. Our operators sometimes make mistakes. I’m sorry.”

I was thinking to myself … what? No fights? No arguments? And the guy apologized…

Me: “You can tell I paid.”

Caller: “Yes. Because operators sometimes make mistakes, we have them take a digital picture of the back of the collection box door as soon as they open it. The bins are clear so we can see the contents of each. I can see a payment in slot 50, so you’re all set.”

Me: “Wow. Who knew. I remember because I didn’t have dollar bills that morning …”

Caller: “Yes. If I zoom … hold on … I can see a single $5 bill.”

Me: “Thanks. How can I be sure the ticket is cancelled to I don’t get towed or something.”

Caller: “I have the record on the screen in front of me and I have just cancelled it.”

Me: “Thanks.”

Caller: “You’re welcome. Have a nice day.”

And that was it.

See … sometimes the MBTA does something right. That’s twice in two years now. They’re really improving…

Almost two weeks ago I started my seeds for this year’s garden. I just updated the table in that post with the dates for the potatoes I just planted along with some sprout dates, etc.

I also thought I’d record a bit about how I started the seeds this year.

One glance at the table will show you that Johnny’s Selected Seeds is my primary source for vegetable, herb, and flower seeds. For the record, I have no affiliation with them, receive no free stuff, and don’t even get a discount. But when I find a local company that has a great inventory, excellent service, and a lot of knowledge they are willing to share, I am happy to promote them. In the sever or so years I’ve been ordering from them they have never messed up an order. And all of their seeds are top quality and I swear I get nearly a 100% germination rate on everything I plant.

Now, about how I start my seeds.

I start everything on a table in my basement under a single, double-tube fluorescent grow light, and on top of warming mats. Most of this equipment came from my parents’ house after my Dad gave up gardening a decade ago so I have no idea where much of it came from. I suspect Gardener’s Supply, but I can’t be sure. The light frame holds two flats with a little room in between. The flats are suspended over the heat mats by about one inch.

In the flats I usually use peat pots for the seeds, but this year I switched to Cow Pots, which I first saw on an episode of Dirty Jobs in the Discovery Channel. Again, these are made locally to me in Connecticut, and they promise to solve a problem I’ve always had.

Peat pots promise to degrade when planted, but they simply never do. Honestly, I’ve planted them with seedlings in them, had a mediocre garden, then pulled up the plants at the end of the season only to find a nearly intact pot still attached. In fact, I have little pieces of peat pots that I’ve torn up and thrown onto the garden and they still come up in identifiable pieces two and even three years after I’ve dropped them there. So, for the last few years I’ve started my plants either directly in flats or in peat pots which I tear off the seedlings and compost separately. Cow Pots claim to degrade much better and not bind the plant roots. This is good. I intend to put them to the test.

But my first experiences with them have been positive. I suggest you check out their web site and give them a try.

For soil, I’m not too fussy. I usually grab a couple of bags of whatever Lowe’s has on sale at the beginning of the season. I fill the pots, plant the seeds, and let the go for a week or two. I will often plant four to six seeds per small pot and then thin down to one or two after a couple of weeks. Keep them watered and everything should be fine.

My Grow Light Setup

I do keep my grow light adjusted to just a few inches above the seedlings so they don’t get too leggy, and it is on a times so it’s on for 18 hours and off for 6. Then I just keep the flats watered.

After about a month (which would be around May 10th) I move the flats outside to a stand-up cold frame/mini greenhouse that holds about 4 full flats. I’ll give them a couple of weeks there to adjust to the natural sunlight and temperatures. Then it’s into the soil.

This system has served me well for many years. After that first round of plants makes it into the soil I will often start my second round of late summer plants like watermelon and pumpkins, as well as a second round of things like lettuce and basil. These I will often start in the outdoor cold frame, but occasionally inside if we’re having a very cool summer.

This is just a brain dump of random music thoughts floating around in my head. Been meaning to record them for some time.

Best artist’s name: Michelle Shocked. Don’t listen to her, but you gotta’ admit, that’s a damn good stage name.

Best album name: Motörhead – “Everything Louder than Everyone Else.” Pretty well captures the Motörhead spirit.

Motörhead bonus – best Rock & Roll quote: “If this band moved in next door to you, your lawn would die.”

Tom Dowd

Most important person in Rock & Roll that you’ve never heard of: Tom Dowd. Seriously. If you appreciate anything about music recorded after 1940 you need to know who Tom Dowd is. His Wikipedia page doesn’t even come close to doing his life and career justice. Aside from working with, influencing, and creating music with everyone important in modern music, the man also invented nearly everything important about music recording. First stereo music recording: Tom Dowd. Eight track recording: Tom Dowd. The linear sliders you see on every modern mixing board: yup, invented by Tom Dowd. Wanna’ know who got Eric Clapton and Duane Allman together in the studio to record Layla? Tom Dowd. And he mixed it and produced it too. What do Aretha Franklin, Ray Charles, and Wilson Pickett have in common (besides greatness): Tom Dowd produced them. Oh yeah, and he worked on the Manhattan Project at Columbia University too. Starting when he was only 16.

Take the time to watch the most important biography/documentary in music: “Tom Dowd and the Language of Music” you will not be disappointed.

Best guitar solo: the solo Eric Clapton usually inserts into Badge by Cream. From the studio version to the live version on the Royal Albert Hall: London May 2, 3, 5, 6 2005 album this one always impresses me. I’ve seen Clapton in concert three times and I will never forget the first — in 1990 my college roommate, my girlfriend, and I drove over 100 miles across Vermont and New York State to see Clapton at the Saratoga Performing Arts Center. We got there late and I got to the top of the aisle looking down on the stage just as Clapton started Badge. He rocked the solo. I’ve never been the same since. (For real music fans – yes, this was the tour on which Stevie Ray Vaughn would die later in the summer. Never saw SRV – we arrived too late.)

Best band you’ve never heard of unless you live in Pittsburgh: The Clarks. Go to the web or to iTunes and download their 2001 “The Clarks Live“ album. It’s an excellent album and a great example of a band that really needs to be heard live. The Clarks rock on that album. If you like that, and you should, I suggest following with their latest record, “Restless Days.”

Best band period: Grace Potter and the Nocturnals. Grace Potter is a true artist, with a creative range that I haven’t heard in years. And she has, without a doubt, the single best female voice in music today. Screw today. Maybe one of the best female voices ever. I was introduced to Grace Potter via a performance at the Boston Music Awards several years ago. The video gives me chills it is so good. Don’t believe me? See for yourself – just promise not to play it on some shitty, tinny laptop speakers.

Take note that she was 24 years old when this was recorded and this is an original composition. You name me one other 24 year-old American Idol pop star wannabe that would dare to perform an original two and a half minute a cappella piece live in front of an audience and then kick ass on a Hammond B3 organ. You can’t. Search You Tube for Grace Potter and take some time to discover her band’s range.

If iTunes is more your speed, then I recommend starting with a 5 song EP they released in 2008 called “Live in Skowhegan.” (It’s a town in Maine, dumbass.) This is a good representation of the range of their catalog up to that point. But remember, this band needs to be heard live.

Last week I got a start on this year’s vegetable garden. We had had a week of unseasonably warm weather earlier in April (a high temp of 86.6 °F on April 7^th! Seriously – our last frost date is usually April 27^th) so I and a lot of people in New England decided to get going earlier than normal. I know full well that we could still see a frost and the soil isn’t nearly warm enough to sustain tender seedlings, so I’ve started anything tender inside in my basement, but I was at least able to add two inches of compost and some fertilizer to my beds and turn over the top couple of inches of soil.

Anyway, here’s a table listing what I’ve put in the ground. I’ll be tracking the progress throughout the season.

Massachusetts was a pioneer in the era of institutional treatment of the insane. All of  the good and bad that came with state run institutions can be found in the history of Massachusetts. In my town of Grafton, just1/2 mile from the Commuter Rail stop sits the main part of the campus of what was the Grafton State Hospital. Originally built in 1901, Grafton State Hospital was designed as a “farm colony” for the higher-functioning patients to grow food for the nearby Worcester and Westborough State Hospitals. I could never write a better history here than you will find at the incredible 1856.org site. (See http://www.1856.org/grafton/grafton.html.)

From 1901 until the hospital closed in 1973 (which was a disaster in its own right as the State began de-institutionalizing people with no real plan), 1,041 people died at the hospital and were buried in mostly unmarked graves. That’s more than 15 people a year on average. Incredible. And these were 1,041 people who weren’t claimed by relatives.

After the hospital closed in 1973 the property sat abandoned for many years until parts were taken over by Tufts University for the Cummings School of Veterinary Science and by the Grafton Job Corps program. (Some wonderful photographs of the still abandoned buildings can be found on the Desolate Metropolis website.) But neither organization took responsibility for the cemetery until 2009 when some Job Corps students responded to a Grafton citizen concerned for the veterans buried at the site and did a remarkable clean-up of the cemetery grounds in time for a re-dedication ceremony for Veterans’ Day 2009. (See this article in the Grafton News.) Well, actually, they really cleaned up and improved access to the cemetery, the grounds were still pretty open.

This has all really been a lead-in for a picture I took there today.

No Longer Forgotten

I like this view … most people are drawn to the major feature of the cemetery which is the remains of the stone base of an old water tower, but something about this view struck me. Buried in this row are veterans from WWI through Vietnam. All of whom died abandoned by their families and institutionalized.

For some general pictures of the site you can look here or here. And in spite of the speculation in the comments of these posts, the stone structure is the base of a water tower.

If you’re interested in using the picture above, a full resolution version without the watermark is available on Wikimedia Commons at http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Flags_VeteranGraveMarkers_B%2BW.jpg.

For anyone interested in such things, the technical details are:

I finally finished cataloging and writing mini reviews of all my Harbor Freight tools on my updated Harbor Freight page. If you buy from them it’s worth a read. Also check out the new data table using the WP-Table Reloaded plugin.

According to the little spinning Revolver Map in the sidebar I’ve had 10,000 more or less unique visitors to this blog since 7/31 of 2009. I think that’s kind of impressive … Most seem to come looking for information on the T-Mobile Dash 3G phone, followed by people looking for residential generator information, followed by people looking for info on smoking meat and making bacon. No matter what brings them though, 10,000 is a pretty big number for an amateur like me.

Ham

This year for Easter I decided to make a ham and infuse it with some extra flavor by smoking it myself. So I searched my local supermarket for a ham that wasn’t already smoked, which is harder to find then you might imagine. Perhaps if I had thought about this more than one week in advance I could have found a true fresh ham, but I settled for a pre-cooked and spiral-sliced unsmoked ham.

Basically, I followed a simple recipe:

1. Dry ham for four hours at 120° F in smoker.
2. Smoke with maple smoke for four hours at 140°.
3. Let rest overnight so smoke flavor can mellow.
4. Apply maple syrup and mustard base with seasoned salt rub. Wrap in aluminum foil, add cider vinegar and brown sugar solution to foil pouch, seal,  and  and roast at 350° F in oven for four hours.
5. When temp reaches 145° F, remove from oven and glaze with a seasoned brown sugar glaze.
6. Place in hot 450° F oven for 10 minutes until glaze darkens and caramelizes.
7. Pour off drippings, reduce, and thicken with cornstarch slurry.

The ham had a decent flavor, but I was totally disappointed in the Bradley maple bisquettes and the flavor of the smoke they produced. From the first wisps escaping the cabinet, something smelled wrong. The smoke was acrid and, well, smelled a little like an ashtray. After a few minutes it seemed to get better, but when the ham came out the crust tasted like an ashtray too. I was pissed. Maple was supposed to be a more mellow flavor than hickory, but in this case it was harsh.

I tried to salvage the ham and wrapped it plastic with another splash of brown sugar and vinegar. I think that helped a little. The inside of the ham had a mellow smoky flavor, but the exterior crust was bitter.

After a day resting in the refrigerator things got a little better. And glazing the exterior helped even more.

In the end, I’d call this a mixed success. I think the idea was sound and smoking the ham clearly added flavor, but using maple was the wrong choice. So lesson learned. I’ve always used hickory for just about everything, with a little mesquite for chicken and some beef. And I think I’ll stick to those woods.

My bottom-line advice: avoid the maple bisquettes in the Bradley Smoker.

I got stuck at South Station this evening as my train sat on the tracks not moving for twenty minutes past its scheduled departure time. It seemed that the MBCR couldn’t tell me why. My guess is that it had something to with President Obama’s unannounced visit to the MEMA Bunker in Framingham. The T-alert’s e-mail said the delay was because of a Police Action. If that’s the case then there is one seriously paranoid security idiot in charge, because by my calculation the tracks pass only within 2 miles of the bunker and it’s not like someone is going to divert the train. Plus, IT’S A HARDENED NUCLEAR BUNKER. But I’m missing my main point.

This incident got me thinking about how the T handles incidents like this and commuting in general. And they are really bad. So I thought I’d clearly lay out several demands. I thought about declaring this a T-rider’s Bill of Rights, but that seemed a little too extreme. So I guess this my list of minimally reasonable expectations.

The MBTA/MBCR Rider’s List of Reasonable Expectations

1. I expect to be told the reason for a delayed train. Someone knows the reason, and the crew has radios. Put the two together and the result is informed passengers.
2. I expect immediate compensation for a severely delayed train. The current system of filling out a form and waiting for some arbitrary decision to get a tiny little ticket for a free ride is unacceptable. And it doesn’t do a thing for people who travel on a pass every month. When a train is late by more than fifteen minutes the crew should immediately issue refunds to all passengers. Not ride vouchers, not free tickets. Real cash refunds for people who just bought tickets and a convertible-to-cash voucher for people with monthly or 12-ride passes.
3. I expect to be able to change my plans when informed of a delay. This means you open the doors and let me off, even if I’m on a subway. Yes that’s right. There was the story of a Red Line train stopped on the bridge just after the Charles/MGH stop. People sat on the train for 40 minutes. Unacceptable. And I don’t want to hear about any safety issues either, because if you can’t evacuate me safely from a broken train then you can’t do it from a burning one either, and that is a serious problem. If any train is stuck for more than 15 minutes at any point in the system I demand the choice of evacuation so I can walk to where I need to be if necessary.
4. I expect to exit my train at the closest door. Not the closest door you’ve arbitrarily decided to staff today, but the closest door. Open all the doors at all the stops, period. If you have a staffing problem, fix it. Bust your union if you need to or fix your pension problem … but staff the train and open the doors.
5. I expect to board my train when it’s ready, not at some arbitrary time. It is simply ridiculous that passengers are forced to stand in a giant herd at South Station for ten or more minutes until some designated time comes, only to board a train which has been sitting in front of them the whole time. Do us all a favor and just post the track number as soon as the train is empty from the previous run.

Five simple steps to competent service. Post your ideas in the comments.