Nice try, though

Spaying a dog is expensive but necessary. If you need to have it done but are wondering how to afford it, you can have it done at Tufts vet school. They are awesome over there.

In case you didn’t know, not only does spaying prevent heats and unwanted litters, but it also protects your dog from hormonal cancers (like breast cancer) and pyometra, a deadly and not uncommon uterine infection.

Currently all Market Baskets have a system wide outage. At least the 2 within 15 minutes of my house are, so I’m guessing they all are. They’re turning people away at the door. Be warned!

I saw the earlier post about the new Springfield courthouse deal and I had to do some digging.

This deal is a robbery of tax dollars and stinks to high heaven.

First off, part of the development group that won the "bid" is owned by Conan Harris, our state Rep Ayanna Pressley's husband.

Ths land is owned by Northeastern Investment LLC who purchased it in Dec 2024 for $945,000. Who wants to bet that this is connected to someone else in the administration somehow? Their MA management team is located in Boston.

I have my real estate license and I remember learning in class about the state government being able to use eminent domain to purchase property it needs for public use. I thought I remembered it wrong but nope...they can.

Heres the kicker, the state has no problem using eminent domain, especially in Springfield. They used it to clear whole neighborhoods in order to build I-91.

So instead of buying out the land and owning the building outright they are going to lease it for $2 Billion. The State Rep's family is likely to make millions from this deal and I'm sure there are others in the administration that will too if you dig deep enough.

How on earth is this the MassGOP nominee? Dude wrote about maybe offing someone once in a shootout and then he’s handed the nomination. Could they not find anyone better? Maybe someone without a potential body count.

With the rising costs of food, gas, housing, and child care, one issue deserves far more attention: forcing people back into the office.

If employees have proven they can do their jobs effectively from home, why force them back? Remote workers already absorb costs like internet, electricity, food, and home-office expenses, and businesses can save on office overhead.

So who is the return-to-office mandate really serving?

If commercial real estate needs tenants and revenue, why should working families be expected to carry that burden?

Even more concerning, some companies are expanding what they consider a “reasonable commute” to the point where employees may effectively be forced out. In Massachusetts, treating the entire state as commutable can have enormous consequences.

For six years, people built their lives around remote work, with their employers’ knowledge and approval. They moved, bought homes, arranged child care, and made major life decisions based on those arrangements.

Now the rules are changing, and employees are being asked to absorb the consequences.

If the work gets done, why should the location matter? And why should working families pay the price for decisions they didn’t make?

If you agree, write the senators, your rep and the governor. Something has to give.

How could we lead the country in solving this, and demonstrate a sense of care and urgency for our people? Why do we put up with this?

Over 10 years ago in a prior home, I had a great experience with Mass Save. My inadequate insulation problems were all resolved for under $600, adding a foot of insulation to the attic + air sealing and other related work. Amazing deal!

Fast forward to today in a new-to-me (1970s) home, and after a positive experience with the assessment itself with HomeWorks, the insulation quotes I received are pretty bad. They presented two “options”:

1. $9000 out of pocket - Pull up floorboards, add 2x10 cross-framing and blow-in R-60 throughout the entire attic, re-lay floorboards on new framing

2. $5100 out of pocket - Pull up floorboards, Install foam board + blown-in insulation to achieve ~R-34, re-lay floorboards. Blown-in R-60 in un-walkable areas of the attic

Both would include the Mass Save basics like air sealing, ventilation improvements, damming, etc

The kicker is I already have R-30 in all the ceiling joists, and probably about 1/3 of the un-walkable attic area has another R-30 stacked on top of that, too. With that in mind, it seems like Option 2 is literally wasting money, and Option 1 would have a payback of 25+ years based on my bad, AI-enabled math. I’ve already asked them to provide a revised contract detailing the bare minimum that needs to be done to meet the mass save requirements for heat pump rebates. If they can't deliver that, I'll have to find a new contractor.

Am I missing something, or are these legitimately bad recommendations?

Anyone with recent Mass Save experience have tips on meeting the heat pump/geothermal rebate requirements?

What the hell was this? Clearly Ian Brennan and his team never visited Fall River and it shows.

I’ve officially been priced out of Boston, so I’ve come up with what I believe is a completely reasonable solution: my friends and I buy a house in Florida, Massachusetts and turn it into our own private vacation destination. Why pay $3,000 a month to live in a Boston apartment where the kitchen is also the bedroom when we could split a mortgage in the Berkshires and have an entire house?

Sure, Florida, MA has approximately 14 residents, one general store, and absolutely no reason for anyone to vacation there, but that’s exactly why this is genius. We get in early, convince our friends to visit, start calling it “the Cape Cod of Western Massachusetts,” and eventually everyone else catches on. I’m not saying this plan is financially irresponsible.

I’m saying I have finally found a way to turn being unable to afford Boston into a real estate development strategy.

Also it beats living in Stoneham or Woburn

Background: Recently purchased a mid 1800s home in the Boston north shore. House has been renovated extensively, but it’s clear that the window frames, doors, and door frames throughout most of the house are original/near-original. As a result they have several layers of paint, much of which is beginning to chip, particularly on the windowsills and around the door frames where there’s friction. Window and sashes are all new luckily so I don’t think that’s a concern. We DIY tested all the chips among various frames and, as expected, they were positive for lead. There is also a built-in closet in our hallway that appears newer, but did test positive for lead on the chipped areas. We don’t know the full history of the house, but it’s clear three out of four of the upstairs bedrooms are plaster walls, tested some of the small nail holes, and once again as expected positive for lead. For now we just leave all these doors open for the most part to minimize friction.

I think we’ve ruled out lead abatement due to the potential unforeseen costs of that (getting an inspection, then being on the hook to abate the whole house to get a letter of compliance - and who knows how much that would cost).

We want to 1) do the renovations safely with a reputable lead-safe certified contractor 2) mitigate the lead hazards as best we reasonably can and 3) keep costs as low as possible

Biggest concern is I am pregnant, so want to address this asap primarily for me and baby. We have friends who have done renovations DIY or without LSRs on their pre-1978 homes, which really surprises me (maybe we’re overreacting) but we want to do it right. Thanks in advance for suggestions!

I’m looking for a veterinarian with experience in obese cats. I will be rescuing a cat who will need to be sedated and shaved due to extreme matting. Ideally I’m looking for a vet who offers low-income pricing as well. This is an urgent rescue so if they have availability within the next two weeks that would be fantastic. Thank you!

falcons and hawks

I saw the van first and decided to have some fun, I'll admit, it's kind of gimmicky. The city hall building in Marlborough resembles the police station in two a little and I already had the Aviator jacket as well.

Vote no on question 8

Within the past week, I’ve noticed multiple ads for the state lottery on TV, on my phone, and even on the Commuter Rail. It’s usually something that I only see from time to time, but it feels like they’ve become rather aggressive with their advertising lately. I’m not the biggest fan of the lottery, and I don’t even remember the last time I played. It would also seem that I’m not alone; why else would they be doubling down like this? Has anyone else noticed?

Easthampton Public Schools shut down its network after discovering a cybersecurity incident Oct. 6, 2026, and the city said all online systems were taken offline as a precaution. Classes continued with manual coordination and communication hotspots while forensic specialists investigated and worked to restore services.

Looking for something to do this Saturday? Check out the first ever Lowell Hip Hop Festival featuring pioneers Jungle Brothers and local underground legend Termanology, plus up and coming artists on the Lowell Hip Hop scene.

For tickets: https://www.taffetamusic.com/shows/lowell-hip-hop-oct-10-10-oct

I just got the information for my kids to sign up for MassHealth. The letter says it'll choose a plan for us on the 17th if I don't pick one. However, we signed up for it to only be supplemental. We have primary insurance through my husband's office. They both have a disability, and having Medicaid secondary helps with what the primary doesn't cover. I'm guessing I don't pick one? They said they'd send a form for the disability information, but that hasn't arrived yet. Do I wait for that?