Boston driving requires you to be significantly more "active" that in other cities our size. It's not becuase the drivers, the speeding, or even the close-quarters that maks things difficult - it is entirely due to the complete lack of road-planning.
I makes paying attention hard because you're not sure what you are paying attention to. Biking here is the same thing, but I have mentioned that before.
Boston road workers don't do a good job when it comes to painting over fading dividers, they litteraly leave them vague which makes it hard for drivers to find an indication when they need to change lanes, etc.
A lot of strange turns and "holy shit, I didn't know I was in the wrong lane!".
You're going to want to find a garage.
Even if you find street parking, much of the city has "resident only" parking. Which means resident parking from 6PM-8AM. I'm not sure exactly which streets have these as opposed to traditional metered 2hour/1hour parking but it's worth a try and to drive around a little bit.
My family is from the east coast, and so I grew up with a lot of sea food. I loved fried and blackened fish, especially mullet, flounder, and snapper.
You can eat some frozen fish with a little semblance of freshness – some fish, mostly your fatty fish like Salmon and Tuna – don't really lose anything so long as they've been flash frozen as they are caught. This isn't the case with most leaner fish which become dryer after they have been frozen.
Of course unless you have the chance to buy your fish straight off the dock, the vast majority of fish sold in other regions of the US has been previously frozen. This doesn't just include the landlocked states, but those that do not have access to a specific type of fish. If I live there I would skip the grocery store's seafood counter since you are just paying a premium for fish that they are thawing out in the back.
For the best taste it should be immediately fresh from the ocean and onto the plate is best. If not, they should be kept alive until being prepared to be eaten is the next best thing.
And what would be complete without a recipe that always pleases the family? So here it is, our family favorite; Salmon is in season right now.
- You will need to get a nice filet and put some butter down first on your baking sheet.
- Then layer with slices of lemon.
- Place salmon on top of lemon slices skin side down.
- Lightly salt filet side of fish and add a couple of slices of lemon on top.
- Cover with tin foil and bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes or until just slightly flakey.
- Serve with our family favorite dip!
What is the dip you ask? Well it is 1/2 cup sour cream mixed with 1/8 teaspoon of sea salt and 1/4 cup of dried dill weed.
You can serve this sauce on top or on the side but it must bee served with the fish or it is only half of the fun.
Life is funny, well, sometimes it is other times it is crazy, busy, or boring. We'll stick with funny for right now.
As a Bostonian I have been privileged if not blessed with the opportunity to have gone to one of the best universities in the country.
Just Because
Just because you live in Boston it doesn't mean that it is going to be any easier/cheaper/fun going to grad school. Sure you have the home field advantage, and that does offer a little bit of help in the terms of housing. For me, that meant buying my first house, my grandmother's former home, and starting there.
But in general going to grad school is different that just going to university. It is more like a job, and you need to better mean business.
That is why I wanted to put some thoughts* together today.
*Some of them are obvious.
Obvious Suggestions
- You can live with roommates
- As I said before, as well as elsewhere, my living situation was covered. And for that I am truly thankful. But I went to school with plenty of transplants, some from NYC and they almost all went the roommate route. The reason is, that $1000 a month worth of rent is cheap. But not when you are a starving graduate student, and not when your work situation is divided with school. That said, if you have one or two roommates, half or a third of that is a lot more doable.
- This is sensible, but I think that I should say it anyway, don't try and rent in the most expensive neighborhoods. It is just out of most people's pocket book and it won't do much for you, other than saying that you live/d there.
- Boston is great, you don't need to own a car.
- Get a support network setup. I actually thought it was a great idea and started a small one. You basically provide people with an information network. If so-and-so is looking for a place to stay, needs help, or anything else you keep your ears open. When you hear something that would/could be useful you pass the information along. I had business cards printed up, and had a small group. The cards weren't expensive and didn't have a hard time finding some that worked with our group's style. When somebody new came in you gave them a card and they copied the information and then they passed it on. Like that I didn't need to have a lot printed. But I think it cost about $20 for 100 quality cards, which is marginally cheaper than a trip to one of the clubs/lounges.
- This is one of the few cities in the US where, owning a car is really not needed. And in a lot of cases it is more hassle than anything because finding a parking space can take you a long time. That translates to expensive and a waste of time.
- My suggestion, depending on where you end up living is to ride a bicycle. This is a good option, at least as long as the weather permits. It is even cheaper than the T and you don't need to wait to catch a ride, you can just go wherever you want, where ever you want.
- I love to cook, it is in my blood, so this wasn't hard for me. But whatever you do, make sure that you prepare most/all of your own food. I knew one of the other grad students would just go to the Jamaican restaurants order a bunch of food that cost less than $10 and then eat it for a couple of days. Seriously though, this was way more expensive than actually making your own food. It was a pennies to the dollar sort of thing, and I don't even hold back that much when I shopped for groceries. I made clam chowder a couple of times a month during the winter and then just ate that for lunch. Things like that.
- Of course I did do comparison shopping, I just didn't limit myself to basic groceries only. I avoided Whole Foods, we'll label them bad for the average grad student, and say in contrast Market Basket is good. That should give you an idea of how to balance things.
- I had a house, and the next is good no matter what, but you should cut down on electricity usage.
- For my cellphone coverage I choose to use MVNO services, Ting for instance. I knew people going with more expensive operators but it didn't matter in the end. Just that I saved and they didn't.
- I found that it was remarkably easy to negotiate with the cable company for better rates on my Internet connection. You may make other experiences, but I was happy.
- If you aren't too picky you can easily buy most things used. I saved thousands a year getting the things that I needed used. It is achievable around here since you can get equally good stuff for much less.
Many of these things can be done on automatic, especially once you get used to the way things work. Take cooking for example, once you get used to cooking for yourself you will be able to improve and then you can cook for guests. Cooking feels like work when you don't know how to do it. Once you have gotten past that it really isn't that hard.
If you have the aversion to roommates, and I knew some graduate students who really hated having roommates, you should find a solution that is comfortable and affordable. Rent gets cheaper the further away you get, but that means your cost of transportation goes up, but it cost them in transportation expenses; they did manage to finish and not go broke though so I guess that there is a way to swing this. Just, not one that is that comfortable.
I think that this is about it for ideas. I could probably make other suggestions if I knew what type of questions you had. If you want them don't hesitate to message me on Facebook.
The Eagles fans living here in Boston are as passionate as ever.
There is an incredible group called the "Philadelphia Eagles fans of Boston". You can find them on Facebook by following the link, but if you just want to meet them in person they will be at a bar called The Point this year.
They rent out at least one floor of a bar every year and there are a lot of people that come to join in their revalry. If you go expect to sing. They sing the fight song every score and it really is a blast. I wouldn't find it half as exciting if we didn't go. And it is definately my favorite game-watching experience outside of being at the Linc.
I have a funny story, I actually made a stupid bet with one of my co-workers. Ended up loosing, which sort of sucked. But anyway they are a Giants fan, as a condition of the bet I had to go to the designated Giants Bar last December. My SO refused to enter enemy territory so I went alone.
The fans there were the most conditional fans I have ever met. Some left after Malcolm Jenkins got his second pick. To make matters even worse, they were polite to me! I have never been more disgusted with a fan base in my life. Fortunately, the Eagles won and I had a fun time trolling their love for Eli after his 3rd pick. Go Eagles!
The Crossroads in Back Bay is also good. I thought I made the mistake of going there one year, and I hesitantly expecting six awkward eagles fans with a small TV in the corner.
I was plestantly surprised though.
What I found was a sight to behold. They had two floors of front to back Eagles fans and constant chants.