Sarah back to work

After a couple of months of barely scraping by, Sarah has decided to go back to work. To tell you the truth, I’m a little bit torn about it because — as she knows — I would love to be able to pay for our whole family just through my writing gigs; but, alas, while that one day may be true, the extra money now will certainly lose things up a bit. Two months of just covering expenses and scraping by with what little credit limit we build just isn’t working for us.

First off, I couldn’t be prouder of my wife. She went back The Gap of her own accord to see if she could get back on their schedule. They said yes, but it was only for $9 an hour, plus she would have to commit to 20 hours per week. That would be fine, except that want her to split that over five shifts each week; and with the prep and travel time, it would be more like working 30-35 hours per week while getting paid for 20. So, on Wednesday, Sarah started calling child care centers and hotels, seeing who was hiring in this poor economy. By Friday afternoon, she had three job interviews that were practically job offers.

Now, it is basically choosing between jobs at two Gymborees and a pre-school. The Gymborees would be weekend work only — about 10 hours each week — but Maggie could go to classes for free, something we’ve wanted to do since she was born. The pre-school would be a part-time gig turning into a full-time gig in the summer. The pay is roughly three times the  job, and Maggie could go to a pre-school class once per week, although we’d still have to pay for it.

Now, Sarah — pending the official job offers — is in decision mode. She’s actually talked about taking one Gymboree and the pre-school job, and that would require her to work five days a week and then seven in the summer. Keep in mind she is six months pregnant and will be giving birth to our first son in early May. If she just went with one, the pre-school job would obviously be the most lucrative, but that’s a lot of hours a week to be apart from me and what will be her two children. The Gymboree jobs won’t give us too much more money, but it’s less time intensive and has the fringe benefits of free classes for our kids.

I’d be happy if my bride took either job — whatever she feels is best — but either way, I’m so proud of her.

Ice Fishing: A cold-weather institution

If hitting the beach, Disney World or the early bird special officially makes you a Floridian; then trekking out onto a frozen lake in the dead of January at 6 a.m. to go fishing officially makes you a New Englander. I officially became a New Englander on Sunday.

I entered an ice fishing tournament with my neighbor Joe and a bunch of his friends in nearby Framingham. I’d only ice fished once before in my life, about 20 years ago when I was a Boy Scout and we went on some winter camp out. This was bound to be a different experience.

Yes, it was cold, freaking cold. It was 5 degrees out when we left, and even though I was wearing six layers, my toes were still freezing. Yet, the cold fell to the background as the seven hour tournament wore on. The cold wouldn’t have even been an afterthought if the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection ranger hadn’t come around in the first hour and made it clear there wasn’t to be any drinking whatsoever. I’ve been fishing in other states were drinking is “prohibited” but never have I’ve felt so oppressed to not tip back a cold one. Alas, my original dream of this day was gone.

However, it was still a pretty decent time. A lot of it was just sitting around and waiting (enter here where the drinking would have helped) but the excitement came whenever a flag went up on one of the traps. Ice fishing encompasses drilling a hole in the ice, setting up a trap above the hole  where bait and line are lowered from a device suspended on the surface and then waiting for a fish to spring the trap. When the trap springs, you have to sprint through the ice and snow because apparently the fish could get away. We all got a little sick of chasing down false alarms near the end, but it was fun nonetheless.

We were in a tournament where the anglers with the longest and heaviest fish took home some cash. Part of the reason I agreed to leave my wife and daughter at 5 a.m. was to  possibly score some walking around money, so I was disappointed when we finished out of the money. I probably would have had a better time if I was hanging out (and drinking) with some people I had known a little better instead of six guys I’d never met and my neighbor, as cool of a guy that he is.

Still, the main reason I went was to have the experience. After three years suffering through the Florida heat, I’m glad to have braved the ice to catch some pickerel on a cold winter’s day.

Hitting the freelance trail

After self-loathing for about a week (I believe my last two posts speak for themselves), I’ve hit the freelance trail with reckless abandon for the past two days. If this Great Boston Experiment is going to work, there’s going to have to be a lot less whining and a lot more trying.

I got frustrated this last week for two reasons: One, after going back and forth with the Improper Bostonian for a couple of months and seemingly finding a couple story ideas the publication would dig, my two contacts at the magazine have ignored all my e-mails and calls. Two, the pressure of not having a steady paycheck but having steady bills was wearing on me.

There’s no way to tell how the Great Boston Experiment will end. We could end up having to borrow money from relatives. One or both of us would have to become corporate wage slaves again. The freelance offers will eventually start pouring in and our money problems will fade away. We will continue to scrape by just as we are doing. It could be somewhere in between. There’s only one real way the Great Boston Experiment is going to fail: if we quit. We can either continue to strive, or we can give up.

While the pressure was wearing on me last week, I realized that I am not ready to give up on this. I have found a lifestyle where I can maximize my time with my family while still getting paid to do the things I love. Sure, the finances get hairy at times, and I wish I could just go out and buy ice cream and popcorn for my family without having to worry about the money; but anything worth having is worth striving for. And this is definitely worth the effort and worry.

I hope to post a new entry very soon talking about the next publication I am writing for.

Another month goes by

So we made rent again this month, again. Barely, again.

Boston Globe only publishes enough articles each month for us to cover expenses, which is what I expect and count on. But yet, another month rolls by without my getting published in another magazine or newspaper, which would really help in not having to always worry about covering expenses. I’m trying to remain positive and trying to find other reporting work, but something has to happen soon.

With finances the way they are, I’m starting to worry that Maggie’s birthday will be a dud and that we can’t take the vacation we have planned for later this year. This is great, I’m going from worrying about making rent and expenses each month to worrying about having enough money to pay for the things I REALL, REALLY want my family to have. It’s great to make arguments about how I’m freeing myself from being a Wage Slave, but at the same time not having the wages to provide these nice things for my family is tearing me apart from the Great Boston Experiment.

I guess this means we’re poor. Two questions: Can I live with it? If I can’t, what am I going to do about it?

I have begun to despair

“All we need is for ______ more story to be published this month, and we should have no trouble paying our rent.

Every month since we started this Great Boston Experiment, I have uttered this phrase to Sarah, giving her updates on our financial situation. I’ve even written this onto a couple of blogs for this site. Typically, I’m usually saying that we need one or two articles to run in the last two weeks in a month when we’ve already had four or five run in the first two weeks of the month, so I feel quite confident. Yet, it seemingly because a large problem/stressor every month since my editor at the Boston Globe doesn’t run my articles at the end of each month (for some reason unknown to me) and I am still unable to be published in any other publications. We’ve been able to squeak by the past two months because of several very generous anniversary/Christmas presents, but more and more the money situation of this experiment stresses me out.

This causes me great despair, for the first time in five months.

A good portion of the reasoning behind our move was sacrificing our need for money in exchange of the happiness of living our lives our way. While the way we are living is wonderful — getting to spend all our time together and not worrying about petty obligations — it is difficult to be happy when it is the 11th of the month, you’re going grocery shopping for the last time this month and you only have $36. Our available credit is gone, as is our little savings, my many attempts at other publications have resulted in nothing and the Globe barely prints enough articles for us to scrape by.

There were many other factors in this move that cause Sarah and I stress: not having anyone familiar around, the different weather, having to learn about a whole new area. Sarah, on many occassions, has expressed a strong desire to return to Florida, which causes me a great amount of stress because I feel it is her giving up  and because a return to Florida is impossible at this point. Until now, though, I handled all these stressors with little difficulty, believing strongly in the rightness of what we are doing, despite the problems. Lately, the stressors are overtaking me.

Tonight, for the first time since moving to Massachusetts, I applied for a job outside of the state. While I would consider being offered a job in the journalism field in the Boston area part of our Great Boston Experiment — even though I may not take it because I love making my own hours and working on my terms — this is the first time I have done anything that would bring about the end of the Great Boston Experiment. Whether or not I would  take an out-of-state job is a matter of many factors, but this is the first time I’ve considered that it might be better for me and my family if I go back to working full time plus in a different area of the country.

No one said this would be easy.

A Newcomer’s Boston: The 10 Best Restaurants in the City

Between our honeymoon, vacation in May and living here since September, Sarah and I have visited nearly 50 non-major chain restaurants in Boston and the surrounding area. We still haven’ t hit Eagle’s Deli in Brighton or the Union Oyster House near Faneuil Hall, but here’s our top 10 restaurants in Boston.

1. Black Rose Pub- Boston has several dozen Irish pubs, and out of the 20 we’ve been to, the Black Rose Pub on State Street near the Custom House is the best. The menu isn’t anything too beyond what you would find in most Irish pubs or just an ordinanary bar (hamburgers, fish & chips, reubens), it’s just the best of its kind in Boston. On top of the quality of the food, the beer selection is diverse enough and the atmosphere is awesome. The staff is all very friendly, and some are even from Ireland. With dark coloring, wood finishes, Irish flags, there’s definitely the feel of a quality pub. Irish bands and singer play the occasional night job; plus, you’ve got to love a place that features rugby on TV.

2. Ma Soba- Other sushi places in Boston are rated higher by the official mags and whatnot, but Ma Soba on Cambridge Street is our favorite. The restaurant offers quality rolls, including fish-free and cooked rolls, which is great when Sarah can’t eat raw fish because she’s pregnant. There’s a very modern atmosphere, even if the open tables are a little too close to other diners. We recommend the Gari Gari Roll, particularly because of the cream cheese.

3. Giacomo’s – This Italian restaurant on the North End’s Hanover Street is small; you’ve got to wait in line outside for a table to open up – rain, sun or freezing cold – and the place is crowded inside with just enough room to sit and eat. What you’ll find inside, though, is the best Italian food you’ve ever had. The menu isn’t terribly complicated, and the prices are low considering what you’re paying for. It’s well worth the wait.

4. Burton’s Grill- It’s a steakhouse with mouth-watering, delicious food that is hard to believe. Burton’s Grill has four locations in New England, but we went to the one near Fenway Park in Boston. The steak is all we’ve had but better than anything found in an Outback or Longhorn steakhouse. To boot, there’s a nice, dark, cozy and romantic atmosphere in Burton’s, making it a great spot for a date.

5. Mike’s Pastry- Pound-for-pound, this is the best food in Boston; the only issue is it’s all desserts. Also on North End’s Hanover Street, about a block from Giacomo’s, Mike’s has more tasty treats than anyone could ever hope for: canolis, lobster tails, black and white cookies, rum cakes, cheesecake, Boston cream pie and plenty more. If you’re having dinner anywhere near the North End, skip dessert at the restaurant and head to Mike’s. It’ll be slightly cheaper and 10 times better. There’s a long line to get to the counter, but it moves fast and the food is well worth it.

6. Souper Salad- This lunch spot has multiple locations throughout Boston, but our favorite is on Berkeley Street near Boston Public Garden. We get our food to go and eat in the garden by the squirrels and ducks and whatnot. The lunch menu is diverse, but we always get the walkabouts, which is a salad-sandwich wrap of sorts; Sarah’s favorite is the Buffalo chicken, and mine is the Bostonian, which has the turkey dinner wrapped inside it. Souper Salad isn’t open past 5 p.m. or on the weekends, so make sure you stop by during a day trip to the city.

7. M.J. O’Connor’s – Two locations in Boston, in the Park Plaza hotel near the Public Garden and on the waterfront in South Boston. This is our other favorite Irish pub in the city; and the food is a bit more Gaelic than at the Black Rose. The appetizers are the best. It has more of a bar atmosphere than a restaurant, but layout and lighting fit the mood just fine.

8. McCormick & Schmick’s - OK, it’s not a New England-exclusive restaurant or even based out of Boston, but the first time we went to this upscale chain was at Fanueil Hall, so it’s Boston for us. Very few steak and seafood restaurants actually pull off both types of food with excellence, but McCormick & Schmick’s does it with flying colors.

9. Fire & Ice- Call it Mongolian barbeque or grille buffet, there’s nothing quite as satisfying as an all-you-can-eat place where diners can fill up on multiple plates of dinners they put together themselves and are grilled before their eyes. Fire & Ice stands out because of its wide meat and vegetable selection, and the music playing over the loudspeaker is perfect for people who grew up in the 90s. The best part is, if you start eating before 4 p.m., your meal only costs $10.

10. Sprinkles- It’s just a little ice cream stand at the end of Quincy Market in Faneuil Hall; but they cover their soft serve with sprinkles, and it’s nothing short of magic. When you go, make sure you have the scooper put sprinkles on the bottom of your cup or cone before putting ice cream in it. Then, get sprinkles on top; and when you eat your ice cream, there’s a bonus, double sprinkles on the bottom!

Great Boston Experiment hits 1,000 views

I have no idea whether this is good for a three-month-old blog, but The Great Boston Experiment hit 1,000 views  on Jan. 2, which I assume was mostly friends and family lending support and catching up on our crazy lives. People who clicked over from reddit.com also contributed quite a bit.

Whether or not it is a significant milestone, we’re proud of the traffic this site has generated.  The top posts include Wage Slave, Yay, Public Assistance! (sigh), Twenty Reasons Boston is Unique to This Planet and Following A Dream. Thanks everybody for coming, and we’ll keep on rocking and rolling.

The city & your brain

The Boston Globe posted a brilliant, well-read story over the weekend about How the City Hurts Your Brain. The article is less about Boston and more about how an urban environment effects your mental function. Quoting from a variety of publications, the story says the number of distractions in cities (cars moving about, strangers chatting on cell phones, crosswalk signals) slow your mind to such a degree that your thinking dulls. Beyond that, the brain responds to nature and natural characteristics (trees, flowing water, etc.) soothes your brain and gives you increased mental function. The article ends by adding urban life leads to strangers interacting in unpredictable ways, which causes innovation.

Boston certainly has its share of mental irritants. I still haven’t figured out a quick way to get from Boston Common to Government Center without getting sent down some crazy busy street riddled with traffic lights (even though I’ve made the trek about 10 times). Yesterday, we got a parking ticket even though the meter was out of order, and we had no way of pumping quarters in for our 15 minutes each. It is an insane, bothersome place that can easily overwhelm a mind susceptible to rupture.

But I’ve always loved cities, Boston above all. Busy is irritating, but it also means life. Human life, and lots of it. There are tall monuments to civilization. A million things are all going on at once, and to me they are all far more interesting than watching a deer in a forest, a bird in a tree or leaves falling into a pond. I love that feeling that anything can happen at once; it’s certainly not for everybody, but there’s a reason more people live in cities rather than an urban environment.

In Marlborough, there is a running/bike path that cuts through some awesome scenery, and you can go for miles and not see a car and and possibly only see a handful of people. In Boston and Cambridge, there’s two running paths on either side of the Charles River. Very busy streets run along both paths, and each is always heavy with walkers, runners and bikers. Even in bad weather and in night, those Charles paths are used. Given a choice, I would choose the Charles paths every time.

Any place you live has that give and take. I’ve lived in that rural area, near rivers and surrounded by forests with large open spaces. Scenery is nice and is fun to interact with, but it gets old after awhile. I’ve been living in Boston for four months, and after 40 years, I don’t think it will get old.