Who said I was on the couch? Was just pouring myself a coffee in the kitchen when I happened to glance and notice him. He wasn't bothering anyone and seemed to be feelin' no pain, so I just sort of shrugged and let him be.

Ahhh, well. Mystery remains unsolved. That dude seemed to be having a great time, though.

Wait, you weren't the dude shambling up and down my driveway - and those of my neighbors - picking up stones the other day, were you? I was wondering about what was going on there but wasn't exactly interested enough that I thought it warranted going outside.

Corner marts like Sarah's Market (Concord and Huron) and Montrose Spa (Mass Ave) tend to carry it. Would imagine others in the city do, as well.

I ran into a similar situation about two years ago. Returned to my car the minute it was supposed to run out only to find a ticket that had already been issued sometime within the preceding sixty seconds. The city dismissed it on the first appeal. Granted, I'm a resident (no idea if any of that played into the decision) but it's worth a shot.

If memory serves, you can make that first appeal online. They'll ask you to submit documentation, so if you've got a paper receipt, scan it.

After that, just be prepared to wait. It ended up taking somewhere in the neighborhood of 6 months for them to process my appeal and send a dismissal notice. I actually ended up paying the ticket at one point (its existence was preventing me from getting my resident permit) so the response letter stated that they had found in my favor and would be dismissing my outstanding fine of $0.00. About 3-4 months after that, out of the blue, I received a check from the city for the fine that I had originally paid.

Partner and I used to really dig Passage to India and Masala but the former moved out of our neighborhood and the latter really dropped off a cliff a few years back, so we've been sort of scrambling for a new spot.

Nirvana was okay when it had the lunch buffet but we're otherwise sort of unenthusiastic. Singh's Dhaba has been hit or miss in our experience (solid entrees, bland/mushy apps). Punjabi Dhaba remains solid if you're near Inman and I've enjoyed the Maharaja in Harvard Square the few times I've tried it. That said, Spice Delight on the Belmont/Cambridge line has sort of scratched the Passage itch unlike anyone else, recently. Surprisingly solid.

Whatever you do, just avoid Jo's Kitchen (place that moved into the old Passage spot in Porter Square). That place is all heat and no flavor.

The broker cuts and pastes generic and often inaccurate descriptions of apartments to Craigslist, shows up late to show apartments that don't actually meet the specifications of the potential renter, makes a bunch of broad assumptions about the character of the potential renter on the basis of often racist/classist ballyhoo, photocopies a picture ID and submits a simple CORI check, facilitates the printing and stapling of leases and other paperwork largely pulled from standardized templates, and tells you that they'll look into those questions and then stops returning your calls once they've found some poor hapless college students desperate enough to rent the rat trap. Yeah, pretty much no actual work!

Cambridge/Somerville is exceedingly walkable. My partner noted recently that she has only actually used our car once (while grabbing stuff from work when the pandemic started) since her office relocated from Newton about 8 years ago.

So, we were lucky enough to be in a position to buy about a dozen years back and snagged the top floor of a duplex that had just been converted to condos. On the whole, great experience. Value has doubled over the last decade (which seemed to mostly be in line with the rest of Cambridge). As others have pointed out, Cambridge has low tax rates and a tremendously attractive residential exemption.

Noise can be an issue in old houses but we've always just thought of it as a part of city-living and have (mostly) been lucky enough to have neighbors who feel the same way. Maintenance is certainly a thing but I honestly sort of dig being responsible for it and take a weird amount of early-onset-old-man-pride in fixing things myself (...when possible).

Only suggestion I might have would be to possibly prioritize a 3-unit HOA over a 2-unit HOA. If you're in a 2-unit situation, you're sort of stuck really just hoping that the other unit-owner is going to be a thoughtful, reasonable neighbor. If you've got a third in the mix, chances are at least one of the two will be solid citizens. We've mostly been very lucky with the folks comprising the other half of our HOA (our current neighbors are swell) but there was a short period of time during which we were paired up with another owner who had severe struggles with mental health and that occasionally made our home life a little less than comfortable.

This is the correct answer.

I was going to recommend The Women's Lunch Place, which is an absolutely fantastic day shelter where my partner used to volunteer, but it looks like they're no longer accepting most clothing. That said, they posted a handy list of spots around town that are. Dress for Success is really well regarded and provides professional attire and networking support to women.

Oh, man... I haven't been to Au Pied de Cochon since the summer before the pandemic and now I'm suddenly desperate for it.

If only one of those responsibilities or obligations she had was to leash her obnoxious fucking dogs in Danehy Park. Instead, she walks around yelling into a phone and ignoring them while they make aggressive runs at leashed pups. I feel like I've really missed out on all those "smiles and comments with strangers" as she ignores everyone asking her to pay attention and leash her (ehhh, perfectly average lookin') dogs.

Am a guy but put the question to my partner. She's in her mid 30's and digs solo bar trips where she can either engage with strangers or just hang out and read a book while not being bothered. We both had pretty much the same short list immediately come to mind: Deluxe, Trina's Starlite Lounge, & Highland Kitchen. Back Bar is great but can be a little cramped. I would also toss the Behan in JP into the mix while she would suggest The Abbey in Cambridge.

So, I actually had an issue with this last year but the resolution was ultimately pretty okay...just took ages.

Got a ticket in August or September of 2021 that I disputed. By January, it was still under review and the fact that it was unpaid was preventing me from ordering my 2022 resident pass. After grumbling about it a bit, I decided the $30 wasn't worth the trouble and just paid the ticket in order to get my new permits. Sometime around February or March, I got a notice in the mail that they had finally found in my favor and were going to toss out the ticket and that I would no longer be on the hook for what was now listed as a $0.00 infraction. I was annoyed, grumbled some more, and went about my life. Then, about two months ago (more than a year after the original ticket, 6 or so months after they tossed out the ticket), I suddenly received a $30 check in the mail from the city.

Took forever and a day but everything eventually worked out.

Can't speak to the comforter and pillows but most places in Massachusetts will not/cannot take used mattresses as donations. If you run a search here, it looks like the option closest to the city is out in Walpole.

That said, Cambridge will pick them up for free as part of their mattress recycling program. You can find out more here.

Whatever you do, just don't be one of those derps who dumps their used mattress in front of a Salvation Army in the middle of the night on their way out of town.

I'm pretty sure Sumol is the one that I kept bumping into in Lisbon while briefly hunting for a case of Brisa to bring home. I think I grew to resent it simply for the fact that it wasn't Brisa. That said, I will definitely give it a shot if the Brisa search ends up fruitless.

I'm not typically a soft-drink person but the Portuguese have that stuff figured out.

This is an amazing level of detail. Thank you very, very much.

Lovely. Will drop them a line. Thanks!

Thank you very much! Will check them out.

Ahhh, Reddit... where a simple inquiry regarding parking enforcement on one side of the city results in an invite to administer backalley enemas on the other. May it never change.

This is spectacular news.