My friend, taking the entire lane ABSOLUTELY IS safer than making love to the curb or the fog line. It puts you in front of cars, where they can and WILL see you. Where they will unmistakably recognize that they cannot "just squeeze past" (which puts you in imminent, serious danger).

And where did the OP say they were in the left lane?

Looking at the intersection in question, I can EASILY see some hyper-impatient motorist deciding to pass a cyclist by moving to the right (into the bicycle lane), in order to stay in the rightmost lane themselves.

Not in Massachusetts.

Statewide law here is that cyclists may use the entire lane, on any and every roadway (except limited access expressways - if it has exit numbers don't go there on a bicycle ...).

We have to use the right-most lane that allows travel in our intended direction (typically only matters at intersections or when making left turns).

But whichever lane we're in, we can absolutely use every last inch of that lane.

Wow, is it REALLY that shallow? I'd've expected another foot or two of depth, at least ... maybe three, towards the center.

(I've never seen it drained that I remember - maybe when I was a toddler, before my family moved out of Boston ... but not since then, for certain.)

At this rate, his GRANDCHILDREN could be retired before they fix it.

... it used to be. Truly. In the Before-Time, long long ago ...

>Normally the developer runs the HOA until they sell the last unit. An election before they sell at least half the units would be pointless - they own the majority beneficial interest. But usually they hold control until the last unit sells in case they need to do something like fix an error in the condo docs.

TIL. :)

Meh. I have an HOA on my house. Fees are only $50/month, the only rule for the entire development (of 100 units) is "do not park commercial vehicles weighing over 6 tons", and that's mostly because the roads weren't built to handle vehicles like that (meaning, they'd cause damage we have to pay to repair - private roads).

Honestly, at our next annual meeting - my first, since I only just inherited the house - I'm possibly going to suggest raising those dues slightly, to start putting money aside towards repaving those roads ... :)

It sounds to me like there was/is a huge conflict of interest here - the owner, who redeveloped the property, appointed themselves head of the HOA (which should be an elected position), then gave themselves the job of Property Manager ...?

...

Also, if I were the person who had bought that last unit? Suddenly tripling his fee for managing the property would be a gigantic red flag, and I would be very inclined to cancel the sale on the spot.

Certainly by what you describe, managing that property is NOT a $1500/month job. $500/month was probably being overly generous, in fact. I mean, what exactly are the fees covering? Lights in common spaces, maybe heat in those spaces, water and sewer bills if not somehow separately metered, snow removal from the front steps/walk, basic liability insurance, and money put into savings against future repair or renovation needs (e.g. repairing a roof leak, etc).

^^^ This. ^^^

Also, when cleaning it, sometimes they also take advantage of the opportunity to service/maintain the plumbing. :)

Unless they plan to wreck it .... why not just rent one from the MBTA ...?

Kinda last-minute there, yeah?

Yes, but also way more stealable than even the smallest car, or even a motorcycle. Hence why you don't just park it unattended at the curb .... unlike what you can do with a car.

This.

A longnose (or bakfiets as the Dutch call them), the kind with a cargo box in front of the rider, often has seats for children, complete with safety harnesses ... and absolutely can have an adapter put in so that a standard car seat can be mounted in the box.

The box also works for things like groceries or other shopping.

The main drawback to them is, they're big, mostly in their length, which can make them slightly more challenging to store at home.

You first.

You replied to me, not both of us. Not even a mention of u/lqmadique. So, yeah, it definitely appears as if you're dismissing my account, in support of his.

And u/Liqmadique's claim isn't equally anecdotal and devoid of actual data?

Well, it helped that this was my sixth trip there (fifth as an adult). :)

And, at first I thought I'd feel weird ... but actually, I didn't. Struck up conversations with other Guests while in line for some attractions now and then. Had other guests do the same - one pair of women who wound up sat next to me for one ride even jokingly said "Looks like we're your new family, now!" :)

​

>How did you decide where to stay and what to do each day?

Where to stay was easy - POP Century, on Disney property. I'd stayed there before, and really liked it^(1). Also, the room was largely going to be just a place to sleep, shower, and store my stuff ... :)

As for what to do? You have to plan out which park you're going to in advance anyway, right now - they still have the "park reservation" system in place from the pandemic. Plus, at WDW, if you don't make your dining reservations WELL in advance of actually getting there, odds are you're not going to eat at any of the sit-down "table service" restaurants at all (walk-up availability is rarer than snow in Florida, ha!!).

So what I did is, months beforehand, I made a list of the parks, where I hoped to have each meal, and which attractions I wanted to do (some marked as "must", some as "want", etc). Here's an example from an early draft:

>Day 3 - EPCOT
>
> ATTRACTIONS
>
>(NEW) GotG: Cosmic Rewind
>
>(NTM) Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
>
>Soarin'
>
>(NTM) Mission: SPACE
>
>
>
> MEALS
>
>B: (Q) Resort
>
>L: (T) Space 220
>
>D: (T) Rose & Crown
>
>... inquire about fireworks viewing ...

For meals, (Q) means a "quick service" - you get your food on a tray, and then go find somewhere to sit and eat. (T) is table service, you get seated and given a menu, then a server takes your order and brings you your food. For attractions, (NTM) = "New To Me" but had been there for a while; (NEW) = "new since my last visit".

Now, "no plan survives contact with the enemy", and I did keep refining things (as I chose dates, etc). So, EPCOT moved from Day 3 to Day 2, and I never was able to get in to Space 220 (I even went for a moonshot by checking if I could get a walk-up table ... no dice, sadly). Here's what my plans actually looked like, two or three weeks before getting there:

>Day 2, Friday 27 JAN - EPCOT (9am-9pm; early entry at 8:30am)
>
> EXTRAS
>
>Genie+ & A La Carte (GotG)
>
>
>
> GETTING THERE
>
>Skyliner
>
>
>
> ATTRACTIONS
>
>(NEW) GotG: Cosmic Rewind
>
>(NEW) Remy's Ratatouille Adventure
>
>Soarin'
>
>(NTM) Mission: SPACE
>
>
>
> MEALS
>
>B: (Q) Resort
>
>L: (Q) TBD
>
>D: (T) Rose & Crown

And even that, was only a loose guideline. I didn't manage to do Cosmic Rewind at all (I didn't understand that the queue was only virtual, and by the time I wanted to get in, it was already full up for the entire day - oops!).

Also, the Skyliner was down for maintenance that whole week (but I did get to use it to get to/from Hollywood Studios on Day 5!).

In practise? I got to the park, rode Mission Space (not much fun by yourself, sadly), before meandering over to the France pavilion on the World Showcase, to line up for Ratatouille (my 10yo niece had insisted I get pictures - I gave her video instead, heh). Then wandered the World Showcase, checking out the shops etc.

Around lunchtime, I was done with that part of the park, so I had lunch at a quick-service location, decided I was a bit tired, and went back to my resort for a brief nap (hey, being >50 sucks sometimes, haha). Then went right back to the parks, rode Test Track, and went to the U.K. pavilion for my dinner at Rose & Crown (fish & chips, preceded by a scotched egg - I'd had that egg the last time I was there, in 2014, and loved it so much that R&C was a "do or die" meal, ha!).

After dinner, hit up The Land, rode the "Living with the Land" attraction (an educational tour of some high-tech greenhouses - nice and relaxing), then found a good spot to watch the closing fireworks show before heading back to my room for the night.

The first half of the day was a little bit of a let-down, being alone - I hadn't yet acclimated to the idea. But after that nap? LOVED the rest of the day. And my days alone in Hollywood Studios and Animal Kingdom were excellent alone, too. (For the Magic Kingdom ... I have family in Florida, so I invited them all to join me there - including my nieces, ages 2, 5, and 10.)

Unfortunately, I got sick, and Day 6 - which was to be a day alone in the MK, to do the things I wanted, rather than what my nieces wanted - I spent in my room, instead. The whole day. :( And it turned out, I'd caught COVID ... probably on the plane, despite mask, vaccination, and up-to-date boosters. Not a brilliant end to the trip, but the days before that were wonderful.

​

​

​

^(1): Actually, a bit of a story: this trip was paid for with some insurance money form my mother having passed in June - I needed the trip, and it's planning, to help distract me from my grief. Anyway, I had chosen a "Preferred" room, which means it would be within a shorter distance of the main building. I'd also specified I wanted to be on the side of the building facing away from the pool, and on the second floor if possible.

Well, when I checked in, I was assigned a room in the 1950's section (POP century has sections for the 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s - where Art of Animation is now would have been the other half of POP, with sections for the 40s, 30s, 20s, 10s, and 1900s ... but the Great Recession torpedo'd those plans and eventually AoA happened instead).

Well, my mother was born in 1950, and I'd bought a small pendant that holds some of her ashes specifically to wear to WDW. I'd long wanted to take her back there (she'd last been there, with me, when I was only 14) ... so, symbolically at least, I did.

But, yeah ... the coincidence of being in the 1950s section, and my mother's birth year? Yeah, I sat and cried quietly in the room for a brief while. Really felt like she WAS there with me.

^(Edit: attempt to fix formatting)

No. Do what you enjoy, as long as it harms noone.

...

Seriously, friend, I just went to Disney World alone. No kids, no partner, just me. And (aside from catching COVID, damnit) had an absolute, smashingly good time of it. :)

Then it might be your walls, or your windows.

>The commuter rail is a god damned fucking disaster

Maybe your line, but not the whole system. The last several trips I've taken on the Lowell line, in either direction, have gone without a hitch.

Mostly subway, but parts of it are on the surface, especially the Green line.

Good information, but desperately needs to be reformatted. Giant walls of text are rarely welcoming to read, and this one is no exception.

Lexington Green has the field and statue, and also a Visitor's Center. Not a museum that I'm aware of.

Just a mile or two from there, though, is the Minuteman National Historic Park, where you can walk through the location of actual battles during the opening hours of the Revolution. The park also often has events and such that teach about history, and how people in that time period lived. Definitely worth the time to go.

As for GETTING there? The Minuteman Commuter Bikeway stretches from Alewife Station (the end of the Red line subway) through Arlington, right past Lexington Green, and up to Bedford. It's a bit far to walk (a couple miles), but not at all too far to ride a bike. (You'd probably have to rent one, of course.)

... heat rises. If your upstairs is colder than your downstairs, that's not circulation, that's insulation ... the insulation of your attic must be sorely lacking. Several years back, mom had an absolutely epic twenty-four inches of insulation put in the attic, here. :)