WHOOPIE PIES!!!!!

Okay so while I was out of the office last week, my co-worker Brian texted me saying an agent sent us whoopie pies for the holidays. My first thought is Yay! Then I'm thinking who came up with the idea of whoopie pies and Where did it come from?

So me and my nerdy self went to Google and looked it up. Hey I'm on the train and I have time to kill. So I'm  thinking I'm going to get this really interesting story like it was a mistake or something.  But I find out Amish women made these with extra cake batter and filled them with cream. They would surprised their farmer husbands by putting this tasty treat in their lunch pail. So when lunch time comes, they open up their lunch pail and say "WHOOPIE!!!!!! "  Seriously???? How lame is that? That is 5 minutes I will never get back and if you are reading this.....neither will you!

Well until next time....

NEW EXPERIENCE.....CUBAN JAZZ CONCERT

One week ago I was able to experience a new genre of music......Cuban Jazz. I was invited by a friend from church and since I'm always trying to do something new I decided to give this a whirl.  It was a group of four of us and the concert was being held at the Berkelee Performance Center downtown.

As we were sitting there waiting for the concert to happen, we are all having a conversation and they are all assuring me I'm going to love it. So the lights go dim and the announcer of course tells us to turn off our cell phones and introduces CHUCHO VALDES!!!!!!!!!!  The crowd went wild and I'm thinking who the heck is Chucho Valdes? People were giving him a standing ovation and the guy didn't even start playing yet.  If you are like me and don't know who he is, I've attached his picture below. And you should Google him if you get a chance. This guy is amazing.

He comes out alone and starts playing playing the piano and man this guy was awesome! People say that I can type pretty fast but this guy can play that piano like no other. Then the rest of the group comes out and that's when things really get going.  How could I describe Cuban Jazz? It is like Jazz music on crack! It's amazing what a couple of congo's,  bata drums, and miscellaneous percussion instruments can do. I tell you every time I go to any concert I am always amazed at how much talent people have. And of course the people that know me well know that I always fall in love with the bass or drum player. Not because of how they look but they are the ones that keep the tempo of the music.

So they play for two hours straight and now I realize that I like Cuban Jazz music! If you like jazz....you will definitely like Cuban Jazz so check it out. And maybe it's because I'm getting older but, I enjoyed this concert more because it wasn't as loud.  (Stop laughing) The crowd was a little more low key and it was a little more orderly than your normal concert.  But I still walk away saying "I'm going to learn how to play the drums or bass guitar."  So I need to put up or shut up sooner or later, maybe 2013 is the year to do it. I see many changes coming in the next year and it's all good so why not add a musical talent to my list? I did play the clarinet for 5 years but that doesn't count. What's so impressive about playing the clarinet.....unless you are Kenny G ha ha!

Anyhow..... I'm so thankful I was invited because it gives me the chance to know people outside of church and experience more of Boston.

Well until next time....

OWNING A CAR VS. PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION

Oh man it's been sometime since the last time I blogged. I need to blog more often so I'm going to try to get better at doing that.

There have been many years that I have not owned a car and the years I have, I never took it for granted. (Well maybe when I was a teenager by getting a bunch of speeding tickets and fines) But when I got older I realized that driving is such a wonderful privilege. So this has been on my mind a lot as I create a plan on possibly purchasing a car.

My original plan when I moved to Boston was to buy a car after my first year. But that didn't work out due to financial reasons because the cost of living is much much higher here than in Texas. Well recently I have been thinking about it more and more and every time I tell someone who has a car that I'm thinking about buying one; I get the same response "Cars are so expense and a pain to keep up with". You are so lucky not to have a car. Not to be rude but I'm really getting tired of hearing that and I'm about to explain why.

Is it less expensive to rely on public transportation? Of course if you basically want to take it to work and home especially if you work in a big city like I do. But there are a lot of cons to taking public transportation as well. Let's see.... You have the rude people that you have to deal with on a daily basis. Regardless if it is 20 degrees out or 100 degrees out you have to stand out there. And let me tell you in the winter there are more delays so you freeze unless you are dressed in some sort of Alaskan attire. If it is down pouring out you have no choice other than to wait for the bus or train and get soaked going anywhere in the process. Or you have the idiot who thinks it is fun to drive through puddles just so they can get you wet on purpose. Yes people still do that. During the week the bus and train schedules run more frequently but during the weekend they do not. So if you miss a bus by 2 minutes, you could possibly be waiting up to an hour for the next bus and that is NOT fun. But if you live in an area where you have everything right there and you can walk (like near downtown) then having a car may not be too much of a priority. Here they have a service called Zip Car and you can rent a car by the hour or day and gas as well as insurance is included in the price. I remember a girl from my church recently moved downtown and she couldn't wait to get rid of her car and use Zip Car when she needed it. You do have the alternative of taking cabs but it can get quite expensive. You must and I mean must live near a bus or train line and depending upon what you can afford, it may not be the area you would like to see yourself living in. But sometimes you don't have a choice. And then you have the option of renting cars (which I do from time to time) but that gets pricey too at times.

Now owning a car you don't have to worry about any of that. You get in your car and go. Sure, you may have car payments, car insurance, gas (which isn't cheap) and maintenance to worry about but in the end you just get in and go. Now the really good thing about renting cars is you can drive different types of cars that you would not normally choose so that's pretty awesome.

So to all of the car owners out there....if you think it is such a great idea to not own  a car, try giving up your car for one month and then come back to me and tell me how great it is. And if you live in an area where there is no public transportation, move to an area where there is and give up your car.

If you cannot or do not want to do any of these things, you should never ever tell a person who does not have a car how lucky they are.

Well until next time....

THAR SHE BLOWS!!!!! WHALE WATCHING EXPERIENCE!

Last weekend I was able to cross one more thing off of my Boston Bucket List and that was to go whale watching.  I always knew that whales were graceful animals in the water but it was even more so when you see it in person.  We didn't see any of the whales breaching but they were feeding and that was just as cool.  In a couple of the pictures you will notice that there are a lot of seagulls swimming above the water.  This is because sometimes the whales lose a few fish when they come up to the surface so the birds swoop in and it is easier for them to eat.  Enjoy some of the shots I have below:

 

 

We took the whale watching cruise with www.bostonharborcruises.com and if you know what day you are going exactly book it online, the cost is $45.00 if you book it online and $47.50 if you book it when you get there I know that isn't that much of a savings but it would be if a family were going because you get a discount for the children tickets too.

So is this something everyone should do at least once in their lifetime...OF COURSE!!!  Make sure to bring a really good camera because although my pictures are good if I had a camera that could take several pictures in a matter of seconds you can get a series of great shots of these beautiful creatures.

Well....until next time!

THE BEST THINGS ABOUT WORKING IN THE FINANCIAL DISTRICT

Never in a million years would I have guessed that I would ever be working down town in a city.  Nor did I ever think I would enjoy it....don't get me wrong I love going out to a happening place which would be in a city where things are going on.  But to work there never would have thought I would.  So this is my office building:

And the reason why I enjoy working down in the Financial District is because there is never a dull moment...especially if I wander out during my lunch break.  There are always people walking around, lounging in the park at Post Office Square (in the summer of course) and there are many different eateries to visit within probably a good ten blocks.  You come across great people, stupid people, jerky people and mean people.  As much as I do enjoy working here, it really irritates me the attitudes of the people here.  (My co-workers are awesome though)  But even though I come across a lot of jerks here, I see some pretty funny stuff too.  And I have met some great people on the bus and the train during my commuting travels and I see them every day during my commute.  One of which I have become friends with and one who is my honey...which I'm sure you all know who I'm talking about. :)

But granted down town here is definitely not like the down town in New York...but there are alot of similarities.  For instance, we have a Chinatown, and a Little Italy.  In the winter, you see steam rise from the manhole covers, people bundled up but still being fashionable in their clothes.  Then there is Downtown Crossing which is filled with stores, delicatessens, restaurants...and of course bums.  But hey bums are everywhere...one time I was in Downtown Crossing with my co-worker and he was in McDonalds and I was waiting outside because I was not wanting to be tempted to get something from there.  Well I was approached by a bum and he asked me if I could give him some money to buy a sandwich for lunch and I didn't have any cash so I told him that.  He responded with "Well why can't you use your debit card".  Wow really????  Anyway where was I, then you have Faneuil Hall, Quincy Market (which is a foodie dreamland), and different stores to shop at. You always see lots of tourists walking around, taking tours, visiting the aquarium, riding the duck boats and more.  It is to my understanding that the area has changed quite a bit and it was much better years ago...but I can only go by with what I am able to experience myself.

So if you use your time wisely, you can really visit several things during your lunch break.  I always like to walk around with my co-worker Brian...he is like a walking Wikipedia seriously.  There is a ton of history here, and right around the area where I work.  Some of the old buildings and architecture are amazing.  The one place I haven't gone to yet, which is on my bucket list is the Boston Public Library...I have seen pictures and have heard that this place is amazing inside.  So when I do go, believe me there will be a blog about it.  

Even though this transition has been a difficult one, I'm glad that I have been given the opportunity to go through this experience.

Well....until next time.

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - THE ITALIAN BRINKS JOB? 1950

So this here is the old Brinks building:

You can kind of see the top of it in the upper right hand corner of the picture. It was a shame we weren't closer but this was the best picture I could get.

The date January 17, 1950  the crime of the century happens.  The Brinks building on Prince Street was robbed, $1.2 million dollars in cash as well as $1.6 million in checks and securities.  They say it was gang members...but according to our tour guide it actually ended up being 11 workers who worked at the building and had been planning the robbery for a year.  And they did this very meticulously by observing the employees daily routine from a building across the street.  As well as removing lock cylinders of many doors and had locksmiths make keys.  They also went into the building several times after hours to memorize the layout and practiced their entrance and escape.  They also reviewed the plans of the security system inside the Brinks building. 

So it took 6 years and it cost the FBI over $2 million dollars to solve the case by rounding up every suspect they could find when the only evidence was rope, adhesive tape, one hat and a witness observing a getaway car.

So one day one of the members involved in this heist confessed to the robbery after he was being held facing unrelated criminal charges and I guess he cracked and started singing like a little bird.  So on January 11, 1956 11 men were indicted and arrested for this huge heist.

I tell you what I'm always intrigued by these crimes that people pull off...granted these men were caught but look at all the detail they put into it.  These people are not stupid and you would think that they could use their brains for useful things in a career or something?  But then again...most people like this who has these talents will never get a chance to land a fantastic job because they will be looked over because of the fact they do not have a college degree.  Goes to show you that just because a person does not have a college degree...does not mean they are less intelligent than a person who does have one.  In many cases, the person without the degree is really the intelligent one.

Well....until next time!

THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!!! THE BRITISH ARE COMING!!!!

I was really upset that the tour we were on did not include anything about Paul Revere...but I found out that Paul is on a different tour.  Because there was nothing "DARK" about his part in history.  But since we went past his statue as well as his house I just had to take a picture and share...so here you go!

Yeah...so my finger got in the picture...but the group was walking fast and I had to take this picture while I was in motion!

Well....until next time!

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - THE INVASION OF THE BODY SNATCHERS!!!!

So remember when I mentioned Copp's Burying Ground in a previous blog...well here it is:

Now back in the late 1700's there were quite a few people who were called ressurectionists, ressurection men, grave robbers or body snatchers as I would like to call it.

This was needed because many professors needed cadavers to use during their lectures to teach and mold up and coming doctors.  How can you come up with new medical techniques or learn body parts without the body?  Some of these people were so good they would search the obituaries or hear about people who have died.  Then they would wait and watch to see when they were buried and in the middle of the night dig up the grave and remove the body.  Some were so good that they would only dig up a portion of the grave, put a rope around the underarms of the deceased and pull them out of the casket.  They were so good that they could do all of this less than an hour....but the only problem was some of the bodies were damaged by the time they got to medical schools that they did not last the entire semester.

Well this brings us to the best "body snatcher" of all. And he goes by the name of John Collins Warren, Jr. who was the son of James Collins Warren who was the founder of Harvard Medical School.  At first James Sr had no idea that his son was a "body snatcher" as he thought that he was getting the cadavers legally.  Even though he was the best and could produce a body in perfect condition that would last the entire semester he was very sloppy about it.  He was so sloppy he was lucky he didn't get caught.  

John Collins Warren, Jr. wrote this statement:  "Having understood that a man without relations was to be buried in the North Burying Ground, I formed a party...When my father came up in the morning to lecture, and found that I had been engaged in this scrape he was very much alarmed."  

I wonder how proud James Collins Warren Sr was after he found out his son was a body snatcher???

Well.....until next time!

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - THE GREAT MOLASSES FLOOD 1919

So when I think of molasses....I definitely do not think of floods....but this story was VERY interesting.  

So picture this...a tank that is six stories tall....filled with 2.5 million gallons of molasses.  (Geez....that's alot of molasses!)  It is January 15, 1919 and it is pretty warm at 40 degrees...that's warm in these parts...especially in January.  So between the unseasonably warm weather and then a faulty tank with cracks in it (which were covered by brown paint) this monster of a tank EXPLODES!!!!  Huge sheets of iron flying through the air in pieces...I guess kind of like shrapnel destroyed several nearby buildings including a fire station that was crushed by a huge chunk of the steel tank.  

A huge wave of 40 feet high flowed down Commercial Street moving buildings off their foundations, destroying wagons, carts, horses and cars.  The streets were flooded with this sticky debris of ruined buildings and by the time things got settled there was molasses sludge up to three feet deep.  Rescue efforts started right away but this molasses was so sticky that people who tried to help ended up needing to be rescued themselves.  

Commercial Street 1919

So in the end after it took two weeks of clean up there were 21 fatalities and 150 people were injured.  Purity Distilling Company's (owner of the tank) lawyer arrived on the scene very quickly and tried to blame anarchist saboteurs for this disaster.  But the company had to pay out about $1 million dollars in settlements which was a HUGE amount of money back then.  And the harbor remained brown throughout the remainder of the winter and spring.  It also took about 6 months to clean the structures and the cobblestone streets of this sticky mess.

Commercial Street today:

And even though it has been 93 years since this disaster...some say that on a hot day some of the streets in some parts of Boston still bleed molasses.  Now THAT is something I would like to see.  And if you are a history buff and would like to know more...pick up a copy of The Dark Tide by by Stephen Puelo it's supposed to be a good read and I'm wanting to read it.  

On a side note:  Did you know that molasses not only can be used as a sweetener, but can be used into making ethyl alcohol for drinking liquor and ammunition???  Talk about a very versatile ingredient!

Well....until next time!

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - THE DISAPPEARANCE OF OLD CHIN AKA DR. GEORGE PARKMAN

Okay....okay, so I have been slacking in the blogging department lately so let me continue the remaining stories on the Dark Side of Boston Tour.

Sooo...this story is a little interesting, you have three main people involved and they are:

1. Dr. George Parkman, who comes from a very wealthy family.  Every one knew him.  Always traveled by foot and was very shall we say frugal.  Owned many properties and was always lending money to people so was always collecting rent and payments on loans.  And in my opinion he kind of sounds like a loan shark pretty much.
2. John White Webster, was a popular lecturer and a mineralogist at Harvard Medical College.  And had many financial troubles.  His family has been forced to give up a mansion that he built in Cambridge.  He was in debt to a number of friends and one of the people he owed money to was Dr. George Parkman.
3. Ephraim Littlefield, was actually the janitor at the new Harvard Medical College.  He and his wife actually lived in the basement of the medical college, right next to professor John Webster's laboratory.  And he knew Webster as well as the other Harvard doctors well.  

So here the story starts where John Webster borrowed $400 from Parkman in 1842, and 1847 rolls around where little of the loan was repaid.  But he gave Parkman a note for $2,432 and this included what was unpaid from the $400 he already owed Parkman as well as another loan.  But this time the loan was secured by a mortgage of some of Webster's personal property which also included a cabinet of minerals.  

One year later he was still in financial distress and borrowed $1,200 from another person and secured this loan with the same cabinet of minerals that he used for the loan he got from Parkman.  Well the word was out on the street and it got back to Parkman that Webster had done this.  This outraged Parkman and then went to Harvard and demanded to receive the money from the sale of Webster's lecture tickets to repay Webster's debt.  So of course Webster was bothered by this as he didn't get paid so on November 23, 1849 after Parkman was done running around town collecting debts Webster visited him at his home and asked Parkman to meet him at the medical college that afternoon.  Parkman agreed and the last time anyone saw Parkman was about 1:45pm entering the college on North Grove Street.  Well later that afternoon Ephraim Littlefield found it odd that Webster's rooms were locked from the inside and hear a bunch of water running.  This was odd indeed.  On November 24th, Littlefield saw Webster with a bundle and he was asked to make a fire and he did so and didn't think anything of it at that time.  The following day Parkman's nephew along with a police officer was questioning Webster if he had known of Parkman's whereabouts.  And he did tell them that he had met with Parkman regarding his debt of $483.64 and was making an installment payment.

Well on November 26, this is 3 days after Parkman disappeared, Parkman's family not only contacted the police but then offered a $3,000 reward if Parkman was found alive.  Wanted posters printed up, posted and distributed; a little later $1,000 was offered if his body was found.  

As the days go on...Littlefield began to grow more and more nervous as some people began to link him to the disappearance of Parkman.  And he even became more suspicious as Webster's behavior increasingly became very odd. So he began spying on Webster watching from underneath the door and even though he could only see as far as his knees....he notice some weird movements.  At least 8 trips back and forth to the furnace.  After Webster left, Littlefield let himself into the room through a window since all the doors were bolted.  And he found kindling barrels that were empty even though they had been recently filled.  So wanting to know more he borrowed a hatchet, drill, crowbar and a mortar chisel and then asked his wife to stand guard. He got through two layers of brick but the stopped because he had to go to a dance, leaving the remaining layers for the next day.

He returns and is chiseling away and finally managed to get a hole in the wall and there was a strong draft and it blew out his lantern.  As he looked around he was ignoring the foul fumes coming from the room, he saw something.  And this was a human pelvis, as well as a dismembered thigh and the lower part of a leg.  When he saw this he began to tremble quite a bit as this is very disturbing and yelled for his wife and told her exactly what he had seen.  He immediately rant to the home of another professor, Dr. Bigelow who then found the Marshal and they all returned back to the room.  Now of course Ephraim Littlefield is thinking that the remains were of Dr. George Parkman.  But the Marshal didn't want to jump to conclusions and dispatched several officers to arrest Webster for the charge of murder.

At first Webster denied being involved and then blamed Littlefield for ruining him and tried to point out that Littlefield was the one involved.  

This case gets more and more interesting as not only was the few body remains found was identified by Parkman's wife as well as his brother-in-law, confirmation was made by Parkman's dentist.  And how...now remember my title is called The Disappearance of Old Chin...which was Parkman's nickname due to the protruding jawline he had.  And his dentist had to make a mold of his jaw to make a set of false teeth.  And he had kept the plaster impression because Parkman's jawbone was very unique and he identified  the jawbone found fit his plaster mold exactly.

And there you have it folks...the first usage of forensics to help solve a crime.

So no one really knows what exactly happened between Parkman and Webster...but word on the street was that Parkman demanded Webster to give him the collection of minerals since he had borrowed more money from someone else and neglected to pay anything back to Parkman.  

So...Webster was found guilty and sentenced to execution by hanging.  So in June of 1850 as a last bid to save his neck, Webster ended up writing a confession.  Admitting to killing Parkman but in self-defense and killed him with one blow to the side of Parkman's head with a stick of wood.  One blow...was all it took.  So the sentenced remained unmoved even with his confession and he was publicly hung on August 30, 1850.  He was buried in Copp's Hill burying ground which is still located in The North End of Boston.

So there you have it...one of the most famous murder cases happened right here in Boston...see so much to learn in Boston.  Lots of history and everything definitely was not perfect here.

Well....until next time!

JUST BECAUSE I WENT TO NUT ISLAND DOESN'T MEAN I'M A NUT!

So apparently on top of all the beaches located here in Massachusetts they have several islands as well and these islands that make up the Boston Harbor Islands.  http://www.bostonharborislands.org/  Alot of people go camping, fishing, or if they are fortunate to own a boat they go there and just spend the day at several of these islands.

Fortunately my friend Ann has so much knowledge of the Quincy, Milton, Weymouth and Hingham area.  So every once in awhile after church she will take me around and show me these areas so yesterday we went to Nut Island.  A very quiet little quaint island where people stand on the pier and go fishing, or just look at the beautiful views of the area and the Boston city skyline.

There is just something that is just so peaceful and calming about looking out on the water.

And there was several people on the pier some were fishing, and some were just looking out on the water

I'm not so sure about fishing in this water because Ann told me that the old sewage plant that closed years ago is still on this island but not in operation. So I wouldn't feel confident about eating any fish that came out of this water.  Ha ha!

Then I saw this weird seaweed by the rocks...it was pretty cool.  

You can't really see it in the picture but as I was taking this picture, I started to feel drops of water.  So I ask Ann "is it raining?"  And she said "What???"  I said "I feel water I think it is raining."  So she said "no it isn't."  Then I thought that maybe it was the water splashing up from the rocks.  Well nope...that wasn't it because I look up and see this

Okay don't mind my finger in the picture but these dark clouds rolled in and as soon as I took the picture a clap of thunder scared us and Ann said "let's go it's raining!"  Geesh....I thought I just said that!  Anyway it was fun as we had to speed walk back to the car and got just a little bit wet but we survived.  All in all we had a good afternoon.  She is such a nice person.

Well until next time....

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - MONEY MAKING SCHEME 1919

During this tour that I took, I still can't believe that Boston was a city of many trials and tribulations.  You would think that people would stop coming here.  But you have a guy who came to Boston from Italy.  This guy was a smooth talking guy....everybody liked him and when he talked people listened.

So he comes selling this idea to several of his friends to where if they invested their money he could double their money in 90 days.  Sounds like a good deal right?  Sounds like a familiar deal right?  It is because this gentleman was the one and only Charles Ponzi.  So now you are getting where the term "Ponzi" scheme comes from.  Bernie Madoff wasn't the only one who got busted big time.

So after a few of investments of Charles Ponzi's friends went through with no problem he decided to start his own business called "Securities Exchange Company" so he could "legally" promote his scheme.  Now in the meantime when he is getting tons of investors because word is spreading like wildfire!  So he goes to the Hanover Trust Bank of Boston and started depositing money he got from investors in this account so once he had a large enough balance in the bank he could impose his will on the bank and possibly become president.  He eventually bought a controlling interest in the bank after he deposited $3 million in the bank.  My July 1920 he had made millions of dollars and when people saw how successful his idea was they were mortgaging their homes and investing their life savings.  Alot of them didn't take their profits but they reinvested the money so they could make even more money.  People started to get greedy!!!!

Well the more money people made the more popular Charles Ponzi became until a Boston financial writer said that there was no way Ponzi could legally deliver such high returns in a short period of time.  Well when Ponzi got word of that he immediately sued this person based on the fact that he had no proof.  Ponzi won and received $500,000 for damages and was glad because it kept the focus off of his scheme as he knew it would eventually fail

And shortly after that things started to crumble, he got furniture that he received on credit that he could not pair for.  And people were thinking how could this guy that could double your money can't even afford furniture.  Then they found out he was putting his money away in a bank yet telling them not to use the services of a bank.  This turned many heads and things were good for awhile until.....the United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts  requested an audit to be done on the books of the company Charles Ponzi owned.  More people started asking questions and once the audit was done it revealed that he was $7 million dollars in debt.

So what ends up happening???  August 11, everything came crashing down Ponzi was arrested and charged with mail fraud and his investors lost in total of about $20 million dollars!!!  That was alot of money back then, just like when Bernie Madoff's scheme collapsed his investors lost a total of $13 billion dollars!!!  I understand when you have money you should invest it.  But like you always hear...if it's too good to be true then it is.  And alot of people back in the 1920's as well as recently in 2008 had a hard lesson to learn.  And it's not fair and I definitely feel bad for people who trusted these crooked men.  Who would have thought that this scheme started right here in Boston Massachusetts?  I would have never guessed in a million years.

So I guess the moral of the story is be happy when you are broke...because at least you won't be mad when you lost money you don't really have!

Well until next time....

ZOEY'S FIRST TIME AT THE BEACH

So a few weeks ago I had a rental car and decided while I had it, I was going to get done everything I needed to get done.  And since I'm not far from the beach I decided I would go and I wondered how Zoey would react to the beach.


Well we get there and at first she didn't like the way the soft sand felt on her feet but she got used to it and was anxious to head to the water.

She looks pretty happy and just getting used to things.  But she was really fascinated about the hermit crab we found and the seaweed...

And for one brief moment Zoey forgot about water being at the beach, saw a can floating in the water and tried to go get it.  Boy was she surprised!

I never saw her move so fast OUT of the water.  But all in all we had a great morning and Zoey got to see pigeons and thought about running after them but changed her mind.  I'm glad that I live not far from the beach and hope to go there more in the upcoming months.

Well until next time....

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - GREAT INFLUENZA 1918

Oh here we go again, another sickness.  Kind of makes you wonder why people lived here in Boston.


It started August 27, 1918 at the Commonwealth Pier in Boston.  After many sailors got sick they were transferred to Chelsea Naval Hospital.  At the same time some ships left to head out to Philadelphia and New Orleans carrying the virus.  The more people who had the flu it spread quickly.  During the height of this epidemic at Camp Devens, approximately 100 soldiers were dying per day.


By September 1918, the virus was not isolated with troops now it spread throughout the United States and many people that came in contact with the troops were infected.


The death toll in Boston was horrible.  It was so bad that schools and draft boards temporarily closed to decrease public gatherings, and even some retail stores reduced their hours to avoid having alot of people in one place.  


By October 1918, 3,147 people dies of influenza or pneumonia in Boston.  On October 1, 1918 202 people died in Boston just on that one day.  The tour guide also mentioned something interesting....she said that I guess there were some soldiers (62) were locked up for one reason or another.  And they were asked to become test subjects to receive a flu vaccination and were warned they could possibly die.  But if they didn't die they would be released and could go about their business.  All 62 subjects survived and were released.  Guess the government thought some of them were going to die...joke was on them.


So there you have it the flu shot was born!  Hang with me for a minute....the last few subjects were a little boring but it gets more exciting.  We have murder, financial schemes, waves of molasses, stealing, mob family and body snatchers coming up!


Next up....the Ponzi Scheme???? 


Well until next time....

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - STAMP ACT 1765

The stamp act....what is the exact definition?  According to Wikipedia it says:


The Stamp Act 1765 (short title Duties in American Colonies Act 1765; 5 George III, c. 12) was a direct tax imposed by the British Parliament specifically on the colonies of British America. The act required that many printed materials in the colonies be produced onstamped paper produced in London, carrying an embossed revenue stamp.^[1][2] These printed materials were legal documents, magazines, newspapers and many other types of paper used throughout the colonies. Like previous taxes, the stamp tax had to be paid in valid British currency, not in colonial paper money.^[3] The purpose of the tax was to help pay for troops stationed in North America after the British victory in the Seven Years' War. The British government felt that the colonies were the primary beneficiaries of this military presence, and should pay at least a portion of the expense.

Thomas Hutchinson was governor of Massachusetts at that time and resided in Boston.  This was his home that he lived in..

I'll need to get a better picture.  The reason why Thomas Hutchinson is mentioned is because at first he was one of several people who warned London not to proceed with with this Stamp Act and it could not be good to tax the Americans.....because they could lose more than they gained.  Well of course it was passed and I guess that kind of made the residents of Boston REALLY mad.  There were many protests because Hutchinson was accused of treachery and betraying his country.  


The protests got so bad that his home was ransacked and his collection of materials on early Massachusetts history was destroyed.  His family was able to escape safely while all of this was going on.  And if I can remember correctly this lasted all night and family silver, furniture, and other things were stolen.  Talk about looting...huh?  Also between 1625-1725 Boston had the most riots in the country totaling 28 according to the tour guide.  Guess Bostonians complained alot....just saying.


So eventually Hutchinson privately supported calls to repeal this tax but did not want to publicly oppose this act because it would provide additional fuel against him for his opponents.


So let's see......people complained about taxes back then...and they complain about taxes now.  How little times have changed and I guess this is why some politicians have security guards for protection to avoid what happened to Thomas Hutchinson.  


Next topic....the influenza crisis 1918!


Well until next time....

THE DARK SIDE OF BOSTON TOUR - SMALLPOX EPIDEMIC 1721

So this weekend I was fortunate to join some friends on this walking tour through Boston.  The company that does this tour is called Boston By Foot and they do several walking tours where you learn about a lot of history in Boston.  If you want to check out their website it is www.bostonbyfoot.org and I think I will be doing more of these tours.  


I was going to do the entire tour in one blog but it is just too much information I had to take notes (yes I'm kind of a nerd) and I probably would lose your attention.  So I have decided to do 8 blogs about each of the topics and let me tell you some of them are very interesting...and all of my information may not be exact, I'm going off of what I wrote and memory so here we go:


So apparently in 1721 a small pox epidemic spread across Boston 5,889 Bostonians had it and 844 of them died from this illness.  This worried many people because it was spreading fast and even though houses were quarantined in hopes to isolate this virus but it wasn't working.  Reverend Cotton Mather who was collaborating with a Boston physician William Douglass and many other physicians in the area had discussed the practice of inoculation and it was such a controversy.  The reason why is because it was taking the smallpox virus from one person and introducing it to a healthy person.  Sounds kind of crazy doesn't it???  But the theory was that if a person survived then they would be immune to getting it again.  Mather had learned about this procedure from his slave named Onesimus who was from Africa and this was done to him as a child and they have been doing this for years there as well as several other areas in the world.  


So in June of 1721, Mather pleaded with many physicians in Boston and they all slowly but surely tried this procedure and it worked and people would have the virus for about a week and recover.  By February of 1722, Boston was totally free of smallpox.


So I guess we can say this procedure of inoculation was started so many years ago and this is why we have to get all of these shots as children.  I wonder where we would be if this was never tried?  That was the first stop on this tour and history was never my strongest subject because I always thought it was BOOOORRRRINGGG!!! But this kept my attention and I was ready to go onto the next stop.


Next up.....Governor Thomas Hutchinson and the Stamp Tax Act in 1765.


Well until next time....

PILGRIMS, THE ROCK AND THE BOAT!!!!

So this past weekend was pretty eventful a group of friends from church decided it would be nice to go to Plymouth for the afternoon.  A good idea it was indeed.  First we went to the Plimouth Plantation....and yes it is spelled right.  The reason why Plimouth is spelled this way is because they didn't have any rules with spelling so it was spelled the way it sounded.  Well those of you who know me know that history is not my strong point but I really enjoyed coming here and learning about the indians and pilgrims.  So I will kind of walk you through my day.


First we went by the Wampanoag Homesite...

Now the people who work here are real Wampanoag indians and here they are making a boat.  It can take the men up to 7 days to complete making a boat. What they do is carefully burn the inside of this log and scrape the burnt part away until it is to the thickness they desire.  Also this technique causes the sap to seep through the wood to the outside and it is a natural sealer to the boat.  It was really neat to watch this.

Then the next thing we saw was one of the larger houses

This house would hold up to 3 generations of a family here.  All of the men stayed on one side and the women and children on the other.  Hanging on the walls on the side with the men hung things which were life taking. (bows, arrows, hatchets, knives...etc)  On the side with the women were things hung that were life giving.  (baby carriers, cooking utensils, clothing...etc)

This house was also the "winter house" which was made of different material than the summer hut which would only hold one family.  Then you have the "outdoor kitchen" and some days women would spend their whole day here making sure there was enough food prepared for their families for the day.

Yes...that is a real turkey they are cooking and they will eat it later.


Next we headed to the Pilgrim village....walking there was like turning back the hands of time.  We saw Elder Brewster

He was the pastor at the church and one weird thing is back then you were not married in the church and the pastor was not allowed to marry you.  You got married by the governor.  

This was the meeting house...or church and downstairs they had Sunday sermons and upstairs was the fort with cannons where people would watch over the plantation to make sure enemies would not come through.

The plantation was very small and we saw many of the people that worked there and boy I had to give them credit because of the clothing they had to wear and it was sooooooo hot that day!  I was sweating bullets and I was wearing short sleeves and capri pants!

We saw animals and their gardens...

My question is all of the vegetables and herbs and stuff where does that stuff go???  Who uses it?  Anyhoo...it was a great day so we were finished and we had time to go see Plymouth Rock!!!!

Um.....this is like a large stone...not a ROCK!  I was expecting to see something WAAAAAAYYYYYY larger than what you see here.  And then on top of that they had to put a gate/building around this thing to prevent people from chipping away at it to take pieces.  

And the last thing we saw was the Mayflower....

Now I thought that this boat was alot bigger.  But I guess way back then....this was big enough.  


So it was a great outing with great people all in all it was a great day and I actually learned something!


Oh yeah...I forgot about the funniest thing......

The MOOflower!!!!  Ha ha ha!


Well until next time....