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It’s Mine! All Mine!

27 Mar

Funny thing about closings: They’re pretty anti-climactic.

The hard work and discussion and heavy lifting had all taken place earlier as the process moved along.

All that was left was for me to hand over some money and sign lots and lots of documents.

So, I sat there at the table on Thursday signing page after page, initialing here, giving my full name there.

Meanwhile, my broker and my lending agent just sat and watched.

The whole thing took about a half hour and was really no big deal. We laughed, we joked.

It was actually fun.

And then, without warning, my lawyer stopped passing documents my way and I actually had to ask him, “Is that it?”

And that was it.

Without fanfare or a marking of the significance, I became a homeowner.

Just like that.

Not that I expected trumpets or balloons or even confetti, but, you know, this is a pretty big deal and it pretty much just passed. Continue reading →

Now I Feel Old

19 Feb

I’ve heard from more than a few friends who’ve been through it that buying real estate makes you feel more like a grown-up than anything else.

And then there was that day last summer when I was having back pain and felt old.

And we all know how much I’ve hated the college kids these past few months.

So maybe I’m sending out the wrong message on this blog about my true age, because when I got home tonight, what did I have in my mailbox? A membership application to join AARP.

No kidding. Continue reading →

It Is??!?

18 Oct

Did you know the Head of the Charles was this weekend? Yeah, neither did I.

Didn’t this event used to be a big deal around these parts? (I said the same thing two years ago.) Hmmmmm …

Quiet Down, Kids

17 Oct

Over the past two months, I’ve been in touch with my building management company a couple times about the increase, not just in noise, but in the lack of respect for neighbors in my building.

First there was the flute and violin playing next door, then there were the doors constantly being propped open, and then there were the parties two weekends in a row where college students would hang out right outside the front door of the building until early hours of the morning, talking loudly and smoking.

And it’s not that I have a problem with them smoking, per se, it’s just that the weather was nice those nights and my windows were open, and the smell of the cigarettes wafted up to my apartment.

And worse, on Columbus Day, I left the building and found all kinds of trash — cigarette butts, empty cigarette boxes, crushed cans of beer — in the flowerbeds outside the front door. Continue reading →

Grandpa Martin?

1 Aug

I think I slept funny last night, because my back’s been bothering me all day.

And it was no fun to have a four-hour meeting where I had to sit in an uncomfortable chair the whole time, but worse might have been walking around the office with my hand on my back, in a small degree of agony.

And worse than that may have been the feeling that if I’ve got back pain, then I must be getting old.

What’s next? Continue reading →

Don’t I Feel Old?

30 May

My sister turns 30 years old today.

When the heck did she get so old? It seems like just yesterday she was my little sister, playing with her Barbies in the basement or dancing in ballet recitals.

Now she’s a big working girl, a married woman, and we’re both in our 30s. Damn … Where does the time go?

But seriously, happy birthday, Mitzi!

(And on the good side, posting about Mitzi’s birthday means I get to post a reminder that mybirthday is just one week away. Woo hoo!)

I Always Did Like Saying "Coxswain"

21 Oct

Is the Head of the Charles really this weekend?

I remember when this was one of the biggest events of the year, when you’d make plans with your friends to go over, watch some races and make a whole afternoon of it, and it felt like the whole city was over there on the water.

In fact, I even remember when Mr. Stickman went out rowing on the Charles River on the same day as the Head of the Charles and got hit by the Brandeis crew team. (One of Vijay’s best Mr. Stickman strips from back in the day.)

Then last year the weekend was more significant because it coincided with games one and two of the World Series and, well, people had better things on their mind. Continue reading →

L is for Lame

17 Sep

Well, the good news is I’m not too old.

Ventured over to the Hynes Convention Center today for College Fest. It’s well-documented that I am a sucker for free stuff, and there’s usually plenty of it at College Fest, but this year I was there doing research for a magazine I work on for college students. I wanted to see what the students were into, what companies were promoting, what music was hot, etc.

So what did I learn? Nothing concrete, but based solely on the anecdotal evidence, companies just aren’t trying as hard these days to reach the college audience — or at least they’re not doing it at events like this one. Back in the day, when I was still a student, and even as recently as five years ago when I used to go to College Fest as part of the marketing efforts for my previous employer, the event stretched out over two halls at the Hynes, with the place bursting at the seems with companies and students. This year, only one smaller hall with fewer companies than ever.

I got to the Hynes around 1pm, and after going up and down the aisles twice, I left about 45 minutes later. Sure, the doors had just opened up at 12, but back in my day the kids were lined up to get in soon after it opened, and hung around to meet celebrities and get autographs (Jon Stewart was there one year, cast members of The Real World usually were in attendance, etc.) and of course, pick up all the free schwag. This year, the biggest line was to get an autograph from a Playboy model, and even that didn’t have people lined up around the corner.

I guess nowadays college students are more effectively reached on the Internet, and they know it. Or maybe they’re just too smart — or too lazy — to go somewhere to get marketed to, and more companies are targeting the students in other ways. In short, I thought this year’s College Fest was lame.

But back to my original, or at least my second statement, the one about the free stuff. I found it remarkably easy to clean up this year, despite being 31 years old and looking nothing like a college student. A grad student? Maybe. (At least that’s what I was telling people when they asked.) Regardless, I took home a bag full of stuff. For example:

* 9 t-shirts (3, maybe 4, that I could wear in public)
* 5 CDs of music
* 3 magazines (including the one I work on)
* 2 guides to Boston
* 1 guide to South Beach, Miami
* 2 plastic cups
* 1 pint glass
* 1 sports bottle
* 1 wiffle ball
* 1 block of post-it notes
* 1 mouse pad
* 1 copy of today’s Boston Globe
… but only 1 magnet.
I also won some Play-Dough, but I gave that back.

Still, I was struck by how lame College Fest had become. I expected to be there for at least a couple of hours, to learn some valuable stuff, and come home with two bags bursting with stuff, just like I used to. I mean, despite all that, I still had room for a bit more. Oh well. I guess times have changed.

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