Reply #37: Somerville

[Squeech]

Born in Boston, never lived more than an hour away-- and that was in Providence, pretending to be a college student.

Yes, the cost of housing is outrageous. I bought a house almost 20 years ago, and its value has increased by just about a factor of 4. The good news is, there are young families with kids moving in; the bad news is, they're yuppies. There are also some student renters.

I'm a computer programmer, mostly working on archaic mainframe stuff.

Right now I think Romney will run again, unless he finagles a much better job. I don't know why the Dems can't elect a governor; there was an excuse for Bill Weld (I voted for him myself, mainly because he walked out on Ed Meese) but his heirs and assigns all sucked. I suspect that the circular firing squad is a major inhibitor-- five creditable candidates beat each other up and Mitt the Utahan looked good by comparison, I guess...

I liked Birmingham in 2002 and still do. I'm okay with O'Brien too.

I have no particular animus against the West, I just never get farther out of town than Framingham. (Gotta change that; I just found out one of my high school buddies now lives in Hadley.) I did think it was silly of people in the Berkshires to have a vote on whether the cities had rent control.

I'm surprised to discover that I don't remember who I voted for in the primary! I remember in 2000 I actually re-registered as a Repuke so I could vote for McCain, i.e. against Smirky. Elections here tend not to be surprises-- although when they are, they're unpleasant, as in the case of Ed King.

I fully expect the Sox to choke. I'm sorry anyone even cares about them, but I'm even sorrier about how vitriolic we get about the Yankees; that reflects poorly on everybody. We should endeavor to adopt Tom Lehrer's attitude: "Won't it be peachy if we win the game?" But nothing will happen if the Sox somehow win the pennant that didn't happen to Somerville and Allston when Brazil won the World Cup-- now *that* was team spirit :-)