3:15pm: Five-Man Crew From D&R Paving,

which did not work on the corner job previously, is now using one level to analyze the sidewalk's...flatness?

Remember when the curbs and sidewalks outside my apartment were dug up and put back together about six times?

Dudes with pencils in hand are outside studying the work...uh oh.

The Boston Fire Department: Another Reason Why Boston is a Poorly Run City

The Globe publishes a very interesting article claiming that Boston spends $452 per resident per year for fire suppression, ranking it first in per capital spending among U.S. cities. Mechanics in the department make an average of $134,000. There are all sorts of interesting undertones here; most interesting is that the unions own city hall and raid its coffers for their own benefit.

Take a good look at that link above. It is 10:00 a.m. on the dot, and there are 104 comments posted on the article. Let's see how that number increases when more union members respond. It'll be just like the ongoing police detail battle: members of the police union using the Globe website to publicly threaten citizens' safety. Remember, you're either with them or against them, no matter what the cost.

I look forward to wayward union yahoos commenting here as well.

Second Return of The Sidewalk Job From Hell

They're baaack. Constant destruction and re-pouring of this corner started before I moved into the neighborhood last July. That's right: this sidewalk job has been going on for over a year. This morning we see one man doing the work, three watching, and--my favorite--the "police detail" officer also watching.

I welcome anyone's attempted explanation of why anything in the photo is necessary.

Sidewalk Job from Hell, Year Two

Remember the city sidewalk job outside my apartment that took five months to complete last year? Last Friday at 7:30am, this guy showed up with a giant concrete saw and cut a lot of it up.

Sidewalk Update!

By lunchtime, both corners across the street had been dug up for the second and third times, respectively. The corner that was partially dug up for the first time last week is now totally dug up for the second time.

Both corners across the street are now filled with dirt. Work has ceased for the day, and the Everett cop who spent most of his detail shift in the bank drove has driven big SUV home.

Detail Cop from Everett PD just showed up in Mercedes SUV.

But the sidewalk on the corner across the street had already been dug up, then filled in with dirt. So he left.

Somerville Sidewalk Job Enters Month 5

Since I've been traveling for the past 5 weeks and worked at home well past 9pm last night, I thought I'd sleep a little later than usual today. But the Environic Corporation's excavator was outside my window just after 8, demolishing a few more squares of sidewalk on the corner across the street. When my lease started on July 15, this project had already started.

9:05am--a small loader and another excavator just showed up...