Since we are a tourist town, and since we are at the junction of two major interstate highways we have a great deal going for us. Some already in existence, and more to come. Some good things, and some things that are not so good.
Case in point: This past week Mary filled her gas tank in Leominster for $2.45 / gallon. I filled my tank here in Sturbridge, at the Mobil across from the Picadilly, for $2.79 / gallon.
Thirty four cents difference. Not three to four cents difference, but thirty four cents. The other towns in our area are low, too, but not as low as Leominster. They were at least twenty five cents lower.
Well, the first thing you are thinking is, "Well, duh, Wally, you are filling up at the most expensive place in town."
I know. No excuse. When I drive by Cumberland Farms, which traditionally has one of the lowest prices in town, it is usually filled with cars, and so the next place is the Mobil. Poor excuse, but when the difference is ten cents a gallon I can live with it. The difference is getting much greater, and now the Pilot gas station on old Route 15 is the least expensive in town, not Cumberland Farms. One would expect the Pilot to be more expensive since it grabs the tourists right off I-84.
Until now I could justify a "convenience fee" for myself, but no longer, the price difference here in town is too great.
I have to wonder how the Mobil can justify their price. Doesn't matter really, they will charge what they can for as long as they choose to. When a products price varies so greatly in a small locale one has to wonder a bit. I, on the other hand, have to change my ways.
They say it takes thirty days to start, and embed a new habit into your regimen. I'll let you know how I do around October 1st. Last evening I took the family out for ice cream at Friendly's, and then for gas at Pilot.
I know, I know, I am just too damn fun.
Monday, August 30, 2010
Sunday, August 29, 2010
So, That's What They're Doing
Well, I found the answer. Ever since last January I have been wondering whatever happened to the move the Pioneer Brewery was going to make from the Hyland Orchard to the old Basketville, and now I know.
Soon, we will have some suds to go with our subs at Subway in the Millyard.
"Sturbridge Brewery Reworks Plans
Soon, we will have some suds to go with our subs at Subway in the Millyard.
"Sturbridge Brewery Reworks Plans
08/30/10
A Central Massachusetts brewery with an eye toward expansion has had its “certified project” status revoked by the state Economic Assistance Coordinating Council.
Officially, certified status was revoked because Pioneer did not submit an annual report for 2009 to the EACC.
Basket Case
But that’s because the brewery was using the state’s Economic Development Incentive Program on a project to purchase and refurbish the former Basketville building at 413-419 Main St. in Sturbridge, an effort the brewery has abandoned, according to Jean Bubon, Sturbridge town planner.
Pioneer Brewing is located in the Fiskdale section of Sturbridge on the grounds of Hyland Orchard, but has planned to move away from the orchard since late last year.
Under the EDIP, businesses can take advantage of local real estate tax forgiveness, and an investment tax credit from the state in exchange for job creation and expansion.
Companies that run afoul of the little-used program generally do so by not living up to job creation numbers or failing to submit annual reports.
Pioneer was going to pay about $600,000 for the 12,000-square-foot former Basketville building, but it was going to cost almost another $600,000 to renovate.
The building has been vacant for about three years and has fallen into disrepair, Bubon said.
Instead of taking on that project, the brewery has signed a lease to move into 15,000 square feet at the Millyard Marketplace shopping center, at 559 Main St. Bubon said the move could happen in September, and “the investment they’re going to have to make in the building is minimal.”
Bubon said the brewery has been looking to move from the orchard to a location in the town’s commercial and tourist district for months.
Late last year, it was reported that Pioneer was moving from Hyland Orchard to Main Street and that Chris Damon, the orchard’s owner, would run a separate brewery at the orchard.
That move was supposed to happen in March, allowing Damon to brew beer under the Hyland name, a practice that was discontinued under Pioneer management."
A sports bar at the brewery would be neat. Hint, hint.--ed
Friday, August 27, 2010
"Marge, They Must Be Running A Special On Stupid Pills Up There In New Hampshire"
Seems that a lot of folks had the dose on their Stupid Pills increased lately. For instance, there is a couple from New Hampshire, Suzanne and Todd Connell, that happened to be at SeaWorld back in February with their 10 year old son, and witnessed the trainer, Dawn Brancheau being pulled by her hair into the water by a Killer Whale, and drowning.
I can't imagine being witnessing something as horrible as this as an adult, never mind as a child, and neither can this New Hampshire couple, they are suing SeaWorld for the trauma the tragedy caused their son.
"There seemed to be no plan as to what to do to save Dawn," the lawsuit said. "The SeaWorld employees were acting in an unorganized and chaotic manner."
Ya think?
Oh, I don't know, maybe Dawns family should be the ones suing since Dawn was obviously the one traumatized the most. No matter how you argue it, the victim is the looser, the witnesses don't even place.
Accidents, and tragedy's are just that. They happen. It's life. Unfortunately, a lot of the time they happen when someone is looking.
Give the kid a hug, show him you love him, and be there if he is scared,or has worries. That's what parents do. That's what you should continue to do. Money won't give you the power to do it better, or longer, or with more emotion. The money would always be the money that the kid was paid because he watched a girl get killed by the whale, and nothing more.
I can't imagine being witnessing something as horrible as this as an adult, never mind as a child, and neither can this New Hampshire couple, they are suing SeaWorld for the trauma the tragedy caused their son.
"There seemed to be no plan as to what to do to save Dawn," the lawsuit said. "The SeaWorld employees were acting in an unorganized and chaotic manner."
Ya think?
Oh, I don't know, maybe Dawns family should be the ones suing since Dawn was obviously the one traumatized the most. No matter how you argue it, the victim is the looser, the witnesses don't even place.
Accidents, and tragedy's are just that. They happen. It's life. Unfortunately, a lot of the time they happen when someone is looking.
Give the kid a hug, show him you love him, and be there if he is scared,or has worries. That's what parents do. That's what you should continue to do. Money won't give you the power to do it better, or longer, or with more emotion. The money would always be the money that the kid was paid because he watched a girl get killed by the whale, and nothing more.
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Tuesday, August 24, 2010
Know Your Audience
When a plan is to be presented for an event, or a project, it must be tailored for the audience it will be shared with.
Well, that certainly makes sense. Tell a fairy tale to a toddler, and one presents it a bit differently than if a similar story is told to a seven year old. Different understandings. Different expectations, and different responses.
Same is true when explaining about a municipal project. A presentation to a bunch of engineers would go one way, a presentation to local residents would be presented another.
Know your audience. This is a basic. Adapt your information for your particular audience. Engineers won't have the same questions, as residents would.
Something else to keep in mind about large public projects is what are the cost/benefits. Will the benefits from the completion of the project justify the cost, and just what are those benefits? Will the project correct a poor situation, a problem, a bad design, poor construction, or just be an overall good improvement? Each part of the project must be addressed. The project, as a whole, can be summarized, but specifics are then needed, otherwise it will come back to bite you on the arse. Those specifics must be tailored to the audience.
A historically bad intersection will be rebuilt along with several other during a large road rebuilding project, and we assume that it will be rebuilt better, and will have a better design, and function just as all the other intersections are being built.
We all know about assumptions, and we all know what assuming anything without asking questions will get us.
It will get us into a jam similar to the one we are in now.
We need to keep in mind a couple of things. One is to ask for information in order to fully understand something. We don't do that, though. Goes back to grammar school, and many of us didn't ask questions then either. The other thing we need to be aware of is that besides asking questions is that those folks in the know need to be fully aware of every aspect of the project in order to accept it, and explain it thoroughly.
It is obvious that a few years ago, when the Route 131 plan was presented to the Town, that those in the know failed to ask certain questions, and assumed that the engineers had addressed issues, and problems. After all, they were engineers. We now know what happened.
That all being said, and being unable to change it, what do we do know?
We wait.
I know, it is hard, but we need to give the TA time to follow through with our concerns, and demands for a fix. It took years to assume things would be right, it will take a little bit of time to plan a fix.
What should we expect? We should expect that the issue will be addressed by the town in short order, and that they will keep the residents of the town in the loop as to what will be done, and when. We should also expect that the permanent fix will be more than stop lines pushed twenty feet back, warning signs, or blinking lights. The fix will involve cutting into the embankment in front of the Center School, possibly having to move the Veterans Memorial a bit, installing a retaining wall, and redesigning the intersection to allow for access onto, and egress from Haynes Street for all size of vehicles, and it will all be done in conjunction with the current road construction.
These are expectations, they are different from assumptions.
In 2010, as in 1758, and our roads need to reflect our usage, and commerce, but reflective of modern times.
Now, in the meantime, the town needs to look across the street to Maple Street. Maple Street is an actual street, not a driveway to back of the Town Hall, and the Church as many using it would have you believe. It has always been narrow, and drivers have not treated it as an actual road. The diagonal parking alongside the church makes the road that much narrower.
Oh, crap. Scratch all that. One SNAFU at a time. We are still bantering about bricks around the Common. If we are fed anything else our little heads will explode.
I don't want to be responsible for that. Unless, of course, we have the right audience.
Well, that certainly makes sense. Tell a fairy tale to a toddler, and one presents it a bit differently than if a similar story is told to a seven year old. Different understandings. Different expectations, and different responses.
Same is true when explaining about a municipal project. A presentation to a bunch of engineers would go one way, a presentation to local residents would be presented another.
Know your audience. This is a basic. Adapt your information for your particular audience. Engineers won't have the same questions, as residents would.
Something else to keep in mind about large public projects is what are the cost/benefits. Will the benefits from the completion of the project justify the cost, and just what are those benefits? Will the project correct a poor situation, a problem, a bad design, poor construction, or just be an overall good improvement? Each part of the project must be addressed. The project, as a whole, can be summarized, but specifics are then needed, otherwise it will come back to bite you on the arse. Those specifics must be tailored to the audience.
A historically bad intersection will be rebuilt along with several other during a large road rebuilding project, and we assume that it will be rebuilt better, and will have a better design, and function just as all the other intersections are being built.
We all know about assumptions, and we all know what assuming anything without asking questions will get us.
It will get us into a jam similar to the one we are in now.
We need to keep in mind a couple of things. One is to ask for information in order to fully understand something. We don't do that, though. Goes back to grammar school, and many of us didn't ask questions then either. The other thing we need to be aware of is that besides asking questions is that those folks in the know need to be fully aware of every aspect of the project in order to accept it, and explain it thoroughly.
It is obvious that a few years ago, when the Route 131 plan was presented to the Town, that those in the know failed to ask certain questions, and assumed that the engineers had addressed issues, and problems. After all, they were engineers. We now know what happened.
That all being said, and being unable to change it, what do we do know?
We wait.
I know, it is hard, but we need to give the TA time to follow through with our concerns, and demands for a fix. It took years to assume things would be right, it will take a little bit of time to plan a fix.
What should we expect? We should expect that the issue will be addressed by the town in short order, and that they will keep the residents of the town in the loop as to what will be done, and when. We should also expect that the permanent fix will be more than stop lines pushed twenty feet back, warning signs, or blinking lights. The fix will involve cutting into the embankment in front of the Center School, possibly having to move the Veterans Memorial a bit, installing a retaining wall, and redesigning the intersection to allow for access onto, and egress from Haynes Street for all size of vehicles, and it will all be done in conjunction with the current road construction.
These are expectations, they are different from assumptions.
In 2010, as in 1758, and our roads need to reflect our usage, and commerce, but reflective of modern times.
Now, in the meantime, the town needs to look across the street to Maple Street. Maple Street is an actual street, not a driveway to back of the Town Hall, and the Church as many using it would have you believe. It has always been narrow, and drivers have not treated it as an actual road. The diagonal parking alongside the church makes the road that much narrower.
Oh, crap. Scratch all that. One SNAFU at a time. We are still bantering about bricks around the Common. If we are fed anything else our little heads will explode.
I don't want to be responsible for that. Unless, of course, we have the right audience.
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