OK, you guys may enjoy this (since it annoyed me). So I was going to the Celtics game on Friday night with the family and left at 4:30 so I could eat at Massiminos in the North End. Well my 5:30 reservations were a joke as it took 2 hours to make the 1 hour drive on the wonderful Mass Pike. The 1st reason was a large backup on the Pike due to 495 interchange exiters backing up onto the pike. This was caused by “paper ticket” commuters backing up the lanes. This backed the Pike up for 5-6 miles. The 2nd reason was “paper ticket” toll payers at the 128 interchange backing up all 3 lanes of the pike for 7 miles. This was total bullshit.
I found out today that this was done on purpose, a ploy by the Pike management to make the commuters “feel their pain”. The Pike acknowledged that they reduced the “paper toll” collectors to 2 people at each of the major toll points during peak time.
Does the Pike really think that actions like this will help? Do they think people are so stupid that they wouldn’t see for what it is, a holdup. How much gas was wasted by the thousands of cars sitting an idling? How much pollution does the Pike want to take credit for? How much wasted time for commuters? They have not lost a supporter with me since I have disdained them from way back, far before they broke their promise of removing the tolls in 1997. But now I will go active on harming their plans, removing their members and voting for Pike annihilation with fury. Dinner was superb and we only missed the first 8 minutes of the first quarter BTW. Thanks for hurting your own cause and advancing my cause… your demise!
From the Globe coverage it seems more like a sick-out to protest the authority refusing to pay overtime. The policy itself seems perfectly sane.
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p>BTW, Deval and DeLeo are both pushing to eliminate the turnpike authority.
of my 6 year old developing a old fusion device than Deval, DeLeo or myself getting what we’re “pushing” for.
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p>Let me work on getting you a source. Just keep thinking about the John Edwards love child story and then the proof 6 months later.
Maybe your “talents” would be better put to use at the Weekly World News.
and the Celtics game was a nail bitter to the end. The restaurant was packed and the Garden was sold out. Are you sure we are in a Recession???
Are you really suggesting that because the Celtic’s game is sold out at the end of a season going into the playoffs that that means there is no Recession? The game was probably sold out months ago. We could have 50% unemployment and it would probably still be sold out.
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p>And is it shocking that an inexpensive Italian restaurant near the Garden is going to crowded on a Friday night before a big Celtics game?
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p>People are still going out on the weekends. They are just not going out on weekdays as much and are not going to expensive places as much.
I’m guessing 50 people maximum capacity. There used to be lines out the door five days a week. If JohnD had bothered to talk to the owners, he’d know this is no longer the case.
Yummy
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p>Want to debate story about John Edwards love child next (wouldn’t it be a gas if he had won the Presidency?)
What LeBovidge said and your diary are only distantly related. No crow involved.
JohnD huh will never, ever, ever admit she’s lost an argument. It’s part of the troll pretentious liberal elite creed.
So that was meant as a joke? Even as a joke it is lame.
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p>Obviously we can safely assume that everything you say should simply be ignored as infantile trolling? Right?
I think the whole thing is a put on.
Massamino’s absolutely takes reservations. Are you calling me a liar???? In fact, I had to call about missing the reservations from 5:30 to 6:00… then call again moving them to 6:30 so there you go. Get your fucking facts straight before you go off slandering people. You could also ask my wife, and kids #1 and #2. Do you want me to insert a image of my scanned bill (I had the Veal/eggplant parm plate).
Massimino’s has a long standing policy of only taking reservations for large groups.
I called the night before and made 5:30 reservations for 4 people. I called at 5:30 while stuck on the Pike and changed them to 6:00. I called a second time at 5:50 to say we wouldn’t be three until 6:30 and we arrived at 6:40. Those are the facts and I have 3 other witnesses. So I don;t care what you say, what their website says… the above sequence happened.
I thought it was part of the “troll credo” to never admit being wrong… are you a troll? I have been wrong many times and admit it. It’s called honor. Maybe I’m not a troll after all.
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p>Here is the phone number for Massimino’s (617) 523-5959. Call and try to make reservations. I have offered my dinner receipt, sworn testimony of m co-conspirators (my wife and daughter had the gnocchi)… I also have the parking garage receipt and I can call the Celtics to examine their security cameras to watch me enter the garden. Would that be enough proof for the great and powerful huh to admit she made a mistake??? Huh, huh?
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p>Just a reminder, this is what you said?
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p>You’ll notice your comrade KBusch as not given the customary and obligatory “6” to your comment since KBusch probably checked and confirmed they do take reservations.
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p>YOU WERE WRONG and don’t have the stones to admit it.
Not only on me, but on KBusch. Why do you think that’s effective or justified?
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p>I was actually at Massamino’s over the weekend. They still don’t take reservations, except for large groups. They kindly pointed me to their website.
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p>”Reservations accepted for parties of six or more.“
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p>’nuf said?
I am not arguing whether they take reservations but I am telling you I called and got them.
No matter how offensive you find us.
I thought you were a woman. I will refer to you from this point forward as a man. I have never said anything about finding you or others gays “offensive”. Go grow some thinker skin.
You can assume most everything I say is diametrically opposed to anything you say. And since you will not want to hear anything against your views then you probably should ignore my posts. The last thing I want to do is engage in conversation with people suffering from cognitive dissonance. Waste of my time. I’ve tried asking huh to ignore my posts but she is on a mission or she is a sadist and wants to hurt me or secretly likes me (Hope/Change…).
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p>and…
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I was going eastbound toward 128 on Easter Sunday about 2:00 pm and ran into a backup just after the Natick exist. I took 50 minutes to go the next five miles and get off onto 128 South. When I reached the toll booth everything was moving smoothly through it, but the jam for the booth seemed to break suddenly a few minutes before I got there.
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p>The Pike often becomes dysfunctional on holidays but it did cross my mind that it might be some kind of labor action at the tolls.
and management made sure that the drivers felt the pain. I was in both the Friday traffic jam and the Sunday traffic jam. On Sunday, there were only three lanes allowing traffic onto the Pike at the 128 entrance. It took me over one hour to get onto the highway from 128 North. As I approached the toll plaza the reason became clear. The two fastlanes were located at the right side of the plaza and the ticket lane was located on the left side. 128 North drivers enter into the plaza on the left while 128 South drivers enter into the plaza on the right. I could not get to the transponder lane because of all of the crisscrossing traffic. Management had shut down the automatic ticket lanes on the right side of the plaza so all of the drivers from 128 South without transponders had to cut across the entire plaza to get a ticket.
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p>Long story short, it took me over one hour to get ONTO the pike on Sunday afternoon due to the closing of the automatic ticket dispensers on the toll plaza. Once I got onto the roadway I flew westward past 7 to 10 miles of stopped traffic going eastbound. On the way home from UConn I took route 20 to 495 North to Route 2 because I did not want to endure what the Union and Management of the MassTurnpike had in store for me.
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p>Friday was another horror show due to the traffic jam at the intersection with 495. This stuff has to stop. If union workers won’t show up managment should be compelled to take their place.
To NOT replace sick toll collectors with overtime-pay fill-ins. Given the Pike’s ridiculously poor financial situation, this was probably a decision made out of necessity to cut costs pretty much anywhere and everywhere they could.
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p>So right now you and John are alleging that the slow-downs were some planned plot, but I’ve only heard it here from the two of you. I’d love to see a link or any evidence that this is the case.
I said automatic ticket dispensers at toll plaza were not working.
Dramatic traffic jam on Easter.
I should not have had that 32 ounce tonic.
Oh, the lights are turned off on the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge.
To be clear, no one is responsible.
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Are you new to the ways of government? Don’t you know how they make the tax payers feel the pain when they don’t get what they want. Check out the areas which will be cut the next time your town wants a 2-1/2 override. These managers are experts at manipulation to make people give in. This weekend was a great example of this strategy and other than people’s dislike (putting it mildly) of me, I don’t understand why people are defending the Pike.
If you are trying to make it sound like a sick toll collector not being replaced is a good management decision then I would never want to work for you or own stock in your company. What if a few more toll collectors called in sick, would they shut down the entire toll annex? I mean that is your logic right??
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p>This was a move on a chess board, plain and simple. He also threatened mentioned today that the same thing can happen on Memorial Day so my advice is to spread the word to all neighboring states that Massachusetts is no a good place to vacation in since their roads suck at transporting people. Just think of the Pike/84 toll annex on Thanksgiving/Memorial-Day…
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p>Jut another note to Mr “Thunmb-stuck-in-butt” LeBovidge, the more you piss riders off the more they won’t drive on the Pike and the costs for the Pike are mainly fixed which means by disenchanting riders you will only make your finical situation worse so SMARTEN UP and try to get the riders to help you… moron!