Announcemet people – Parktoberfest has been moved to Sept. 26th. A few key players were going to be out of town so we had to move the date.
Month: August 2015
8/26/2015: 277 Waltham for sale… again
Cue the circus music! 277 Waltham is back on the market. Again. This time with a reduced price of $899,888. That’s $100k off the original asking price.
Looks like the whole for sale & rent at the same time, renovated/unrenovated with no permits thing isn’t working out. Shocking you guys. Open house Sunday 12-2pm if you want to stop by and see WTF is going on with this place.
8/25/2015: Neighborhood residents shoot down Knights of Columbus development
W. Newton residents and local alderman have shot down a proposed developed at the Knights of Columbus. The proposal called for 5 residential units with garage parking underneath. The handicap accessible unit was only going to be 460 sq/ft — which is tiny.
Neighborhood folks didn’t like the “Motel 6” look of the development and fact that the garage design would likely cause residents to park on the street. At a community meeting on July 25th, neighbors voiced their concerns to the developers attorney. At an August 4th meeting of the Land Use Committee, the developers revised plan did not impress. Neighbors were still concerned about the density and impact on the neighborhood.
So right now, this development is nowhere you guys.
8/20/2015: Poison ivy on Randlett
Most of you guys know I get poison ivy every summer. Its all around the sugar maple in our backyard. Last year’s case of poison ivy was a real downer. I got it in the worst spot. Like THE worst spot.
Common sense says stay away from the sugar maple. But when you’re a boss you do boss things. Like yard work around the sugar maple. One year I ripped it all out. You’ll never guess what happened? I got poison ivy.
Some Newton bros must have been running into the same problem as me, cause they just invented SeeLeaf — a wipe that changes color when it comes in contact with poison ivy or poison oak. These wipes can be bought in 5 or 10 packs and each wipe can be used over and over until it comes in contact with poison ivy/oak.
Poison ivy looks different everywhere you guys. At the beach it looks different than it does in Newton. It does not go dormant in the winter. You can even get it from dead plants or vines. So maybe these wipes are a good idea? http://www.seeleaf.com/
8/20/2015: Review of Judith’s Kitchen
Hit up Judith’s Kitchen this morning with Management and the low to mid-level employees. Was gonna go yesterday but I work downtown and am terribly important.
Here’s what you need to know. JK is going to fill a nice little void in W. Newton. Coffee and breakfast breads for commuters in the morning. Make your own sandwiches for lunch. And plenty of prepared foods to take home for dinner. Oh yeah, good wine & beer selection too. Judy baby has Coors Light, so you can tell she’s a woman that enjoys the finer things.
Was kinda surprised after some of my blog posts that I was actually served food this morning. Wasn’t sure if it was gonna be hi welcome to Judith’s Kitchen or go f yourself. Thankfully, blog readership is in the dumper lately and Judy baby probably has no idea who I am.
8/19/2015: 825 Watertown St. listed for $1.8M
If you guys haven’t driven by, this house is gonna be huge. 5 or 6 beds, 5.5 baths and 5,700+ sq/ft. Expected completion late fall.
8/18/2015: Judith’s Kitchen opening tomorrow
This is coming to me from 2 very reliable sources. One being the internet. The other being someone who reads the internet. On his iphone 6.
First Judith told us June 1st. Then July 8th. Then I met her and she said soon. Judy baby — just open.
If tomorrow is indeed the day, I’ll be there and will report back to you guys.
8/18/2015: Tree pruning & cabling
Last 2 storms have caused a bunch of damage in the neighborhood. Tree branches falling everywhere. Crushing cars. My firepit. Look at my beer cooler! This close to getting crushed. Thank god it was ok you guys.
We have a 60′ sugar maple in our backyard. This thing is an insurance claim waiting to happen. Like in 2013, when one of the branches fell and almost came through our kitchen window.
After this happened Management used the internet to find Phil Mastrioanni. This guy knows trees like I know blogging. A real boss. Phil pruned the sugar maple and cabled two large branches together. Total cost was $1,100. Something to think about if you have big trees.
8/11/2015: French drains
Good day to talk about French drains you guys. Not much into French stuff, more of a USA guy so let’s just call them drains. Although I did go to France once and saw a bunch of old paintings and women with armpit hair. Everybody there was super rude. I was like um you’re welcome for WWII?
You guys know Randlett has a high water table. Which means on a rainy day like today, most of us are dealing with water coming up through the soil & rock and into your basement. Unlike the French, you’re gonna want to deal with this. The most effective way to stop water penetration is a drain.
Drains can cost anywhere from $7,500 – $10,000. Installation takes a few days and involves tearing everything away from the basement’s perimeter (even wood framing) to make room for the ditch. Ditch is made using a jackhammer which will rattle your teeth and send dust all the way to the 3rd floor. Big time mess — like WWII until we got invloved. Gravel & PVC pipe are then laid in the ditch and cement poured overtop. Ditch ends at a sump pit where a pump carries water up and out into yard.
8/11/2015: Randlett road repairs
When Dale wants something done, it’s gonna get done. Like when 161 Randlett was for sale and the yard looked like crap. Dale walked by and told me to mow it. But I think I had like a groupon to Blue Ribbon that night and didn’t want it to expire. Next day she told me to mow it again and I was going to. Swear to god. Wasn’t fast enough for Dale though. So she called the realtor and told her it looked like crap. Next day it was mowed.
Dale’s new thing is fixing the road. You may or may not have noticed that it too looks like crap. Road was last paved in 1978 and is not scheduled to be repaved until 2019. Not gonna work for Dale. So she went out last week and documented & measured each hole in the road. Then sent the following letter to the city;
Honestly, within like 3 days all the holes on upper Randlett were filled. Lower Randlett should be repaired soon. So you guys have Dale to thank.
8/9/2015: 277 Waltham no longer for sale
Looks like buyers couldn’t solve the mystery that is 277 Waltham St. I don’t know what was so confusing you guys. Seller was looking to sell. Or rent. Renovated. Or unrenovated. By July 28th. Or not. Price was $998,888 or maybe less.
I mean this market is so strong it takes an act of god NOT to sell. So not sure how this got messed up. But it got messed up real good. Good news is it’s still available for rent. For you guessed it $4,988. Renovated. I think.
8/4/2015: Storm damage on Randlett
Today’s storm has caused some damage on Randlett. Street is completely blocked near Bunker because of fallen branches. A car got crushed on mid-Randlett. My beer cooler was knocked over and firepit smashed. 8/4/2015 — never forget.
8/4/2015: Parktoberfest — save the date
We have so many parties it’s hard to keep track. Block Party, Christmas Party, Parksicle, Randlett Pork & Parktoberfest. You know the one with tent, kegs, football, barbecue, pizza oven, music — that’s Parktoberfest. Don’t forget to wear all your party gear. October 17th you guys.
8/4/2015: Judith’s Kitchen will open this year… probably
Management & I took the mid-to-low level employees (kids) to The Local for dinner. Stopped to peer in the windows at Judith’s Kitchen and wound up meeting Judith and some of her family.
All my blog posts about Judith’s had Management looking at me like…
After meeting Judith, Management was like do you think she knows who you are? Um… probably not? Only 3 people read the blog. And 2 of them are my parents.
Anyway, Judith is very nice. Hoping to open in August. Said inspections with the City have slowed her down. Came super-close to saying Judy baby just open but her family was there and they were nice too.
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