Nene

The clouds parted and the angels sang......Lowes called to say our Weber grill had arrived!

 

Day 2 was filled with house / yard work.

Not one of my favorite things, but we (Richard) got a lot done.

It was a hot day today, so out on the water we went. Richard fished, Neptune frolicked & I read / sunned myself. It was a good 1st day finished off by a nice steak on the grill. We can't wait until the Weber E320 arrives!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Richard & I received a notice in the mail the other day regarding plans to build a gated community (for people over the age of 55) up the road from us. We are not for it & neither are any of the neighbors. It's a beautiful piece of land & we think it should remain untouched. Plus there are a ton of other concerns too. So what do people do in this situation? They go to the scheduled town hall meeting at the end of the month. I'm blogging about this because it never was my thing to get involved. I have always hated politics & I blame this on my parents. They were very involved republicans & I would get so bored listening to them talk about it. And then as I got older, my brother & sister would talk about it. Boring, let's just drink beer & gossip. But that was the old me, granted I still like to drink beer & gossip, but I'm also concerned about the world I live in. I'm looking forward to the town meeting & getting involved....maybe they'll serve beer?!

Ms. Palmer - Thank you for your email.  Litter is unsightly, potentially dangerous and costs the taxpayers a significant amount of money to remove.  MassHighway does endeavor to maintain the cleanliness of our roadways.  In a recent year, 740 tons of trash were removed from our State highways. I know there are Massachusetts General Laws pertaining to the matter of littering and fines (Chapter 270. Crimes Against Public Health Chapter 270: Section 16. and Chapter 90: Section 22G. Littering; suspension of license -- Section 22G Disposal of rubbish etc. on or near highways and coastal or inland waters; penalties; enforcement; park rangers) and it is up to the police to enforce the laws.  As such, I have contacted the Massachusetts State Police and forward them your email.

On the matter of a local group you can join, I am not aware of any specific groups that deal with this issue.

Thank you for your correspondence.

Bonnie Polin

Bonnie Polin, AICP
Chief Safety Analyst
MassHighway
10 Park Plaza Room 7210
Boston, MA 02116
Phone: 617-973-7991
Fax: 617-973-8037
Bonnie.Polin@mhd.state.ma.us

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Hello Ms. Palmer,

I appreciate you taking the time to advise us of your concerns.  The State Police take all motorists issues seriously and attempt to address them if at all possible.  Littering, whether it is cigarette butts or other refuse being thrown out onto the highways of the Commonwealth is certainly a violation.  It may not be as high a priority as some violations or incidents that troopers respond to, but is one that certainly can be addressed by the State Police.  We will remind our troopers of these violations and their obligation to enforce them when encountered.

 I have also copied part of an article from the January 6, 2008 Boston Globe by Peter Demarco entitled “It May Be Nasty, But Is It Illegal?”  This is from his regular column that addresses the concerns and questions from motorists that write in.  Here is the part that addresses your specific concerns.

 Q. What about littering? Can you throw a cigarette out the window, for instance?

A. Definitely illegal. Not only that, but if you were to throw the cigarette in a wooded area, you'd be breaking the state's fire-prevention law. "Whoever drops or throws from a vehicle . . . any lighted cigarette, cigar, match, live ashes or other flaming or glowing substance . . . shall be punished by a fine of not more than $100 and by imprisonment for not more than 30 days."

Q. What if you're just throwing an apple core out the window?

A. Cardalino laughed at this one. Whether you throw an apple or a television set out the window, the law doesn't take kindly to littering. Under Massachusetts General Laws Chapter 90, the rules of the road, you can lose your license for up to seven days if you or a passenger is caught littering from your car. And we've all seen road signs stating fines of hundreds of dollars for littering.

If you were to throw a large amount of trash from your car - we're talking bags full of stuff - police could cite you for committing a "crime against public health." Under that section of state law, you could be fined up to $5,500 for littering within 20 feet of a public highway.

 Please feel free to contact me if you have any more concerns or questions.  Thank you.

 Sincerely,

Lt. Eric A. Anderson

Massachusetts State Police Office of Media Relations

470 Worcester Road, Framingham, MA 01702

508-820-2623

Since I have been commuting to work for the last 4 or so months, I have witnessed the disgusting habit of people throwing their cigarette butts out their car window every day. I hate it! It's disgusting! I think I'm going to look into joining an advocacy group. In the first 30 minutes of my hour drive home tonight, I saw it happen 3 times.

3 (butts) x 4 (30 min increments in my commute) = 12 cigarette butts (on average) that I see littered each day! That equals 4380 cigarettes butts a year & those are only the ones I see! Just plain gross!

Is it true that a cat brings its 'victims' into the house as a gift to its owners?!

First Petey started with mice, then for a while it was birds & not just one at a time, we would find multiples! About a month ago I rescued a chipmunk from him in the backyard, only to have one in the house last week. But get this & this is where I draw the line, he brought a frog into the house! It completely freaked me out because I didn't know what it was at first. The dog got all involved and I called Richard to the rescue. His response, 'This cat is getting out of control, his victims are getting bigger and stranger'!

We wonder what his reputation is in the neighborhood....it can not be good.

1. I'm actually cooking:

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. I'm Gardening:

 

 

 

 

 

3.  And I have a new home (Yup, I'm officially moving in with Richard!):