wrong way driver

Given the number of one way streets around Boston, we've all seen wrong-way drivers, however given that this is a slow time of year for unusual events along the river, I'll take what I can get.

This wrong-way driver was heading east on the westbound side of memorial dr. I'm assuming he or she did not realize memorial dr. is a divided highway, with two lanes on each side. I guess they also did not notice that all the cars were parked facing them and there were cars headed towards them in both lanes...

Conveniently, the wrong-way driver happened to head the wrong way right in front of the two state police officers that are stationed outside the sloan school construction. I thought they might yell at him, which would have been exciting, however the police officers stopped traffic and allowed the offender to turn the car around and head off in the right direction. Such a happy ending.

appropriate exercise clothing

Nothing very exciting has happened on my lunch time walks the past few months. It has been more rainy so I haven't walked as much and there just are not as many people out and about now that it's colder. So, in lieu of a specific observation, I thought I'd rant about all the various inappropriate exercise clothing I've seen over the last few months.

First, there are the people who are inappropriately dressed for the weather. It was in the upper 30s and a girl was running in a tank top and shorts. A few times it's been super-windy and quite chilly yet people are out there in t-shirts, running pants and nothing else. No gloves. No earbands or hats. I guess they're just tougher than me.

Then there are the people who are inappropriately dressed for exercising. I've seen people running in jeans, cargo pants, fashion sneakers or casual shoes, polo shirts...I hope these people aren't going back to work right after their runs.

Finally, there are the people who are just exercising inappropriately. Across the Charles from MIT there was a man who was running in these little circles (I think he was also dressed inappropriately in cargo pants). There are miles of running paths so there is really no need to run in little circles. I guess he just liked the area. And then you get the people who like to think they're running but they're really not. Instead they're doing some weird movement that involves power-walking on their toes while shuffling their feet. I know you've seen them too.

Anyway, hopefully something exciting happens soon or else I'll be obligated to post another rant and that would just take this blog in a whole different direction.

Helicopter maneuvers

Today as I was walking past the MIT rowing pavilion I noticed a helicopter flying low over the Charles. I've see low-flying 'copters there before so I was not too surprised, but then as I approached the Harvard Bridge I noticed the police had closed it to pedestrian and car traffic. The helicopter circled three times from the rowing pavilion to the bridge and back and then took off, though I could still hear it nearby. The police then let the people and cars cross, but as I got to the intersection two officers took up posts on the sidewalk on either side of the bridge. No one was walking there at the time so I couldn't tell if pedestrian traffic was prohibited again. It seemed like if they hadn't already shut down the sidewalk they were going to do so soon.

The thing about our lunchtime observations is that we very rarely are able to find out why something happens. Instead we witness strange events that leave us confused. I'm assuming the helicopter maneuvers were planned since the state police seemed to be timing everything, but I have no idea why the 'copter was flying like that. Was it looking for something or someone? Inspecting the bridge? Practicing for an emergency? I suppose I could have asked the officers, however I would have felt weird, especially because I wasn't planning to cross the bridge so the sidewalk closure was of no relevance to me. This will have to be another one of those strange events we ponder for the rest of our lives. Or at least the rest of the day.

John Hancock is amazing

Now that the weather is getting a little colder there aren't as many walkers out during lunchtime, and thus fewer unusual events, however I did happen to have a funny conversation about two weeks ago. I was walking on the outcropping part of Memorial Drive and a foreign man stopped me and pointed to the John Hancock tower and asked if I knew what it was. I told him it was the John Hancock tower. He asked what that was so I said they were a financial company, like a bank. He just stared at me and didn't really react, which was disappointing so then I said, "John Hancock was one of the original signers of the Declaration of Independence."

That got him very excited. His face brightened and he exclaimed, "John Hancock was one of the signers of the Declaration of the United States of America? That's amazing!" He was being serious too, not sarcastic. He then asked me if it was the tallest building and I explained that it was a little taller than the Pru. He said something again about it being the tallest building so I mentioned that it was just the tallest in Boston. I didn't want him thinking that it was the tallest in the U.S. or anything like that. He made a final comment about not being able to take a good picture due to the bright sunlight and then I walked away, not wanting to spend my whole lunch discussing Boston history.

After the conversation I was very curious as to why John Hancock fascinated him so much. I thought of a few things...was it because...
a) he loves American history and was excited that so much of it took place in Boston
b) he was confused and thought the tower was named after John Hancock, not a financial company
c) he found it amusing that a financial company was named after John Hancock
d) he thought John Hancock actually resided in the tower and was amazed that he was alive after all these year

Take your best guess...I still haven't figured it out!

Arrest!

I was about due to witness something exciting at lunch and today it happened. I was eating lunch on the bench by the bus stop outside 77 Mass Ave. when a police car pulled up and the officers ran out to the steps on 77 Mass Ave. I looked over and there were already two officers over there who were patting down a man and holding his arms behind his back. The four officers then proceeded to handcuff him. By this point 3 other pairs of officers pulled up and walked over to the scene. MIT must have a well funded police department in order to send 10 officers to arrest a very subdued man.

Anyway, one of the responding officers was our friend Andy. I was excited because I've only joked around with him and I wanted to see him in his "professional policeman" role. He seemed to walk with a little more confidence and he wasn't smiling like usual, but otherwise he was the same Andy. Andy and his partner responded a bit later so Andy got to put on cute black gloves (probably in case he needed to handle the criminal) and interview one of the two witnesses (or I assume they were witnesses). Both were middle-aged men and one had on a suit while the other was wearing jeans and t-shirt. Our criminal seemed african or from a Caribbean island and his head was shaved.

After being handcuffed he just sat on the stairs and stared straight ahead and didn't move. This may be why the police called an ambulance. In addition to the 10 officers, two paramedics arrived and looked at the man, who still seemed unresponsive and then assisted him into the ambulance. He clearly did not have any bodily injuries so perhaps he was mentally ill? on drugs? or just didn't speak English?

I was considering walking by on the sidewalk to find out more info., but I had brought out a bowl with my lunch and it would have been hard to carry that around. I assume there is a MIT police blog because there are many unanswered questions. What did the criminal do to those two men? Why was he so unresponsive? Why did it take 10 police officers and two paramedics to handle him? Just some of the many questions I will ponder today...

Crazy Looking Running Shoes

Have you seen these yet? Aren't they crazy looking? I saw them for the first time yesterday evening. As I was winding my way through swarms of joggers along the Charles at 7pm yesterday, a girl ran by wearing these. At first I thought she was running in black ballet flats, but as she got closer I noticed they were weird running shoes. Then on my return trip to MIT, a guy ran by in a purple pair. Who knew they were so popular? Apparently they are Vibram's FiveFingers Shoes, which allow you to preform a variety of athletic activities while "barefoot." I don't think I'll be buying a pair anytime soon, but they sure are interesting.

Arts on the Charles

Although not as weird as our other sightings, I had the pleasure of being exposed to the arts while walking on along the Charles earlier this week. On Tuesday I passed by a man painting. He was facing the Boston skyline so I assumed that was what he was painting, however when I walked by and tried to sneak a look it seemed like he was painting a close up of the trees across the river. It doesn't make sense that he would position himself on the other side of the river to do a close-up...perhaps he was going to fill in the buildings later.

On Wednesday I walked by a girl at the MIT sailing pavilion who was assembling her saxophone. Shortly after walking by she started playing some Jazz music. She was gone by the time I returned so I guess she only felt like playing for a few minutes. It seemed like somewhat of an odd location to play, but at least she was good. There's no need to go the Symphony Hall or the MFA, we have it all right in our backyard along the Charles.

An actual lunchtime story - a mugging in progress!

Mid-August 2008, 1 pm

I went out for an afternoon walk, and as I was waiting to cross the street in front of 77 Mass Ave I could hear a man shouting something in the distance, but couldn't make out what he was yelling. This isn't entirely unusual on Mass Ave, so I didn't think too much about it. A few seconds later, a man ran by at top speed, running with dog along side him. Again, a little weird, but nothing too out of the ordinary. A few seconds behind him comes another man running at top speed, looking upset and shouting at the first man to STOP STOP. I thought it looked like the first guy had stolen something from the second guy, but it really wasn't clear. The light still hadn't changed, so as he ran by everyone waiting to cross was asking each other the same thing I was thinking - did he just mug him?

Everyone seemed to think so, but it was all a little strange. The first running man did seem to have something in his hands, but if you're planning on robbing someone, why would you bring your dog along? The second man was yelling at him to stop, but never yelled anything about being robbed or asked for help from everyone on the sidewalk. Maybe it was all just a joke.

Slugs part II, and an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction

This has absolutely nothing to do with lunchtime walks, but since you brought up slugs first, I'm going to continue the thread. Brookline seems to have some kind of slug problem, and almost every morning for the past few weeks I've narrowly avoided stepping on a different enormous slug dying on the front path of my building. I came alarmingly close today, but managed to stop in time. I agree, stepping on one must feel absolutely disgusting. Especially in sandals. And this morning I encountered the slug only a few minutes after walking out of my bedroom door and coming face to face with a huge spider dangling from the ceiling right at eye level. Ugh.

Now, on to somewhat more related material. This happened at the gym after work, so I'm 0 for 2 on actual lunchtime stories so far, but since it's related to MIT I'm including it. It's probably terrible karma to blog about an old man at the gym, but he was kind of asking for it this time. There is this little old man who randomly jogs around the floor of the gym all the time (not on the track, but just weaves through the equipment on the main floor). I see him a lot, and he's always wearing a short-sleeve button down shirt and really short shorts. Well on Wednesday, as he ran by me on the treadmill, I noticed his little short-shorts had a big rip in the back. And he had absolutely nothing on underneath. Charming.

Bats and Spider and Slugs, Oh My!

The highlight of my walk this afternoon was seeing a bat flying over the Charles. It was flying in circles just over the water near the Yacht Club (apparently that's where all the excitement is). This is the first bat I've seen out during the day and after observing it for a few seconds I realized I had probably met him before. A few weeks ago as I was leaving the library at 7:00, something nearly flew into my head as I entered the hallway outside Rotch. I assumed it was a bird, but once I got downstairs it flew by me again, this time low to the ground, and I realized it was a bat. People were holding the door open for it and it eventually got out, but continued to circle near the front of the building. According to information on the Mass Audubon web site, it is a large brown bat, however most don't come out until dusk or dark. Mating season is coming up so perhaps this bat was just a little restless.

I also saw several scary spiders on the green railing where Mem. Dr. juts out over the Charles. I first noticed these spiders on Monday during my walk. The entire railing is covered with spider webs and many contain numerous, large, black spiders. I guess they figured out that the combination of being over the water and being close to street lights attracts a lot of insects.

Finally, I can't resist mentioned the huge slug I saw this morning, even though it wasn't during my lunch time walk. As I was heading out for my run in Watertown I passed a huge slug on the sidewalk. It was about 6 inches long and an inch or so across. It made me kind of want to throw up since it was so yucky looking. At the time it was heading up the sidewalk, but given the fact that the sun was rising quickly and the sidewalk has a good amount of foot traffic, I didn't think it would be around much longer. About 25 minutes later on my way home I saw it again, further up the hill. It appeared that it's insides were oozing out, either due to an injury (I feel sorry for whoever stepped on it) or the sun.

Who knew I'd see so much wildlife so close to the city. I need to start bringing a camera along.

Our 16th President

Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 5:00 pm

This was not a lunch time walk, but rather a end-of-the-day walk. Because it happened on the Mass Ave bridge though, site of many lunchtime sightings, I think it counts.

I was crossing the bridge to get to the T, listening to my Ipod and minding my own business, when I noticed a man on a Segway coming my way. That in itself was a little unusual, because you don't see a whole lot of people tooling around Boston on one. Once he got a little closer though I noticed he was not only riding on a Segway, but was also dressed as Abraham Lincoln, complete with black suit, beard, and tall hat. It made me wish I had a camera with me.

The pudding stalker

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008

12:00pm

I was so excited by the bridge jumpers that I totally forgot about the pudding stalker I encountered right before I set off on my walk.

I was sitting in my usual spot near the bus stop to eat lunch and warm myself in the sun before heading out on my walk. I had finished my sandwich and was eating my chocolate pudding cup. When eating foods that are somewhere between a solid and a liquid, such as yogurt, pudding, ice cream, etc. I like to take small spoonfuls to savor them, though I don't think my style of eating is all that unusual. Or at least no one has mentioned anything, until the pudding stalker.

Anyway, I was eating my pudding and the man sitting further down on the bench said something like, "Wow, you really savor that pudding. Some people would eat it all in three bites." I agreed that I liked to savor it and then I turned away slightly because this man was clearly watching me eat. A few minutes later he said, "Is that dessert or the main course?" That sounded kind of dirty, but I replied that it was just part of my lunch. It was then blatantly apparent that this guy was infatuated with my pudding and I was scared that he may jump up and grab it. I casually got up and walked away, deciding to enjoy my peach elsewhere, lest this man desire that as well.

Attempted suicide or "harmless" fun?

Monday, Aug. 18, 2008
12:30pm

Today quite exciting things happening on my lunch walk and they involved emergency vehicles, an indication that today's events were quite interesting.

As I was walking back up Mem towards Mass Ave. a fire truck pulled up in front of the yacht club. My initial thought was that there was a fire at the club. Last week there was the strong smell of pot coming from the club so this pot smoker could have very well started a fire. However, as I walked by the club the Cambridge Fire Boat, which is docked there, was starting up and one firefighter was being helped into his dry suit. This was quite more exciting than I had expected.

Right around this time about 10 other emergency vehicles descended on the Harvard Bridge (which is actually crossed by Mass Ave. and is not near Harvard). I thought that perhaps someone was trying to kill themselves. Luckily, at this very moment, the guy who called 911 happened to walk right past me and was exclaiming to someone about what he knew. He kept saying, "I called it in! I called it in! They were jumping off the bridge!"

The emergency vehicles stayed around the bridge for a few minutes and then all left, so I'm thinking no one killed themselves. Who exactly was jumping off the bridge, though? And if you were to jump off the bridge why would you do it in the middle, rather than toward the edge where you could easily swim to shore? Maybe there were triathletes jumping off or Olympic swimmers. It would be a pretty tough swim from the middle of the Charles to shore. I did a quick search online but only found out that Houdini had jumped off the bridge for one of his stunts. Perhaps someone was trying to recreate that. Regardless of who these people were or why they were jumping, it made for yet another exciting lunch time walk.

Introduction

After observing yet another weird event during my lunchtime walk, I realized that between Andrea and I, we had seen some pretty incredible things - robberies, wrong way trucks on Storrow, bloodshed, joggers in sandals, etc. I decided that these things needed to be recorded if for no other reason than to give is something to look back on and laugh at in the coming months.