A No Swearing Post

One of the joys of running with “Bumpkin” is that - besides being able to out run him despite being 20 years older - is the chance - and I quote a famous local blogger to “educate him.”

His latest rant was on Trucchi’s super market and the price of soda. So I will have to give Bumpkin some lessons on being a smart shopper. After all Bogofree is “Buy one get one free.” So for the next few weeks on our jaunts I will pick up the pace a wee bit and that forces him to breathe rather than talk and I can lecture him on how to actually shop for bargains.

A wake up call has arrived at the state house in the role of a budget amendment that will open up the books of quasi agencies to public scrutiny since your tax dollars are involved. The same will apply to the various non profits that get partial government funding and all of this is long overdue.

Why in the world is that local camp ground in Middleboro still functioning? Common sense says shut the entire facility down until they comply but common sense appears to run into legal machinations. I was impressed that Al Rullo managed to maintain some degree of professionalism with the bombastic owner of what amounts to a fecal hot spot shouting out every few minutes.

I get a phone survey about every two weeks but on virtually all I am excluded when my age is mentioned. Seniors very rarely fit into the little niche that they are looking for - that magical 25-34 age group. Now if the survey is political I now become premium since my age group shows up at the polls.

Limited lifetime warranty. What in the world does that mean? Usually it means exclusions all over the place. A few years ago in Old San Juan my wife - The Lovely Cynthia - was in the Coach store buying Xmas presents. A sales person showed me this wallet that sold for about $100 - $95 more than I usually pay - and said it had a “Lifetime warranty. Wears out we replace it.” So I said “I’m 65 and at my age that is really not cost effective.” He agreed.

On Route 105 there is extensive road work being done near the MBTA entrance - try reading that sign. Anyways, on two of the days there was excessive traffic in the area as I attempted to get through. What was the paid detail doing? Not directing traffic. Not even looking at the roadway. Today in Lakeville I saw the same on a road project. Tough to squeeze through but the “detail” was busy investigating the cosmic convergence of the hole being dug. Waste of money.

The beautiful new casino for Taunton is all set. $500,000,000 edifice with thousands of jobs. Where have we heard that before?

A sales tax dispute has surfaced in Massachusetts over online retailers not having to collect a sales tax. One solution would to be like New Hampshire and have no sales tax

A new group of potential fines will be discussed at TM to once again restore Middleboro (AKA - Middleborough) to the civil and cultural epicenter of the past. Now if they had fines for eyesore public buildings the town would be in phenomenal fiscal shape. Meanwhile if you light up a joint in public the local constables will be able to present you with a $300 ticket. There goes a summer visit by Cheech and Chong.

In Concord my assertion that TM is the “Purest form of special interest” surfaced with a ban on bottled water. That was it - just bottled water and that was the single serve size. I listened to the reasoning behind it and it made little sense.

What is with that pile of industrial trash on the corner of Lincoln and Jackson streets? It looks like the remains of what U.S. Steel could not sell.

Why hasn’t the state DPW dedicated a hard right turn lane at the rotary?