Rain, rain go away!

[TOMIMOTO]

Anyone want to buy a bike? I'm tired of staring at it in my garage. I rode more in March than I have in June.

[(K)]

Originally Posted by Sony

Actually my parents are not rich...My mother is a retired school teacher, my father is a retired general contractor. Neither of which made a ton of money. People who live on the island year round are usually not rich...people who have summer houses and weekend houses are the rich ones. My parents do not own a second home, their house on the vineyard is their only home and they worked their asses off for 20 years to pay for it, they bought property there before I was born when it was cheap 27 years ago. Other than food and gas being moderately expensive, everything else isn't bad, plus you don't really have to drive anywhere so you save on gas and insurance rates are low comparatively since there is a very low theft rate (where are they gonna go? All cars have to leave the island by boat.) My parents pay $2100 a year to insure 3 cars (theirs and my truck) and the majority of that insurance goes to paying to insure my truck since it's in Somerville year round.

$4.49/gal on Sunday at Oak Bluffs (near the touristy area, though). LOL holy moly. I also caught glimpse of a silver GT-R on the way to Edgartown, I wonder what that's like to have power you can't use. What's Vineyard life like all year round? I've noticed most of the locals are more sedate and friendly than your typical Mass-hole. In my mind, I picture it's like living in a small town or something. Not like hillbilly small town, more like your typical New England small town. Then again, once you leave the metro Boston area, everyone's nicer in comparison.

[Turbowned]

I know, and my friend's parents aren't rich either; their extended family shares a house out there. I remember food being ludicrously expensive, and of course gas but you're right about there not being much driving necessary. I paid $18 for fish and chips like 5 years ago; I wanted to kill myself!

[M-17]

Originally Posted by (K)

$4.49/gal on Sunday at Oak Bluffs (near the touristy area, though). LOL holy moly. I also caught glimpse of a silver GT-R on the way to Edgartown, I wonder what that's like to have power you can't use. What's Vineyard life like all year round? I've noticed most of the locals are more sedate and friendly than your typical Mass-hole. In my mind, I picture it's like living in a small town or something. Not like hillbilly small town, more like your typical New England small town. Then again, once you leave the metro Boston area, everyone's nicer in comparison.

Oh come on. The rest of Mass or metro Boston area isn't that bad. That is I rarely ever have a problem with other locals from another city/town. In my opinion the most surprisingly friendly locals to me are southern people, at least in my experience.

As for Martha's Vineyard I don't mind visiting that island, but I could never live there. For an odd reason I would consider having a house over in Nantucket though. The locals at MV are courteous and the island is pretty much well kempt. But I do agree that if can be a bit expensive. When it comes to driving the back roads are pretty sweet. but you gotta keep you're eye out for cops and cyclists in case you get a little too enthusiastic. So I yeah I guess over the years I do like MV.

[(K)]

Originally Posted by M-17

Oh come on. The rest of Mass or metro Boston area isn't that bad. That is I rarely ever have a problem with other locals from another city/town. In my opinion the most surprisingly friendly locals to me are southern people, at least in my experience.

As for Martha's Vineyard I don't mind visiting that island, but I could never live there. For an odd reason I would consider having a house over in Nantucket though. The locals at MV are courteous and the island is pretty much well kempt. But I do agree that if can be a bit expensive. When it comes to driving the back roads are pretty sweet. but you gotta keep you're eye out for cops and cyclists in case you get a little too enthusiastic. So I yeah I guess over the years I do like MV.

Yes it is and you know it . Actually, in my 17 years of living in New England, the majority of people I meet are generally agreeable people. That is, until they get behind a steering wheel. I think it's the roads here, drives people to do crazy things...

[M-17]

Originally Posted by (K)

Yes it is and you know it . Actually, in my 17 years of living in New England, the majority of people I meet are generally agreeable people. That is, until they get behind a steering wheel. I think it's the roads here, drives people to do crazy things...

Ah I see, if we're talking about road rage then yeah I agree with you. But I don't mind it. It keeps us alert, focused, and it will toughen you up. :happy0180:

Damn pot holes!

[Sovran]

I'm from Texas originally (first 23 years there), and I've definitely noticed a difference in the drivers here, though I agree that people are generally nice otherwise. I have a theory about it, though.

In Texas and many other states I've visited, the roads are well-marked. There's never any confusion about how many lanes there are on a road, which lane can go in which direction (left-only lane, etc), or what to do at a complicated intersection. My home town has a 5-point intersection that used to be a traffic circle (that's "rotary" in New Englandish) but has been converted to what we call the Death Star. Even so, all 20-30 lanes that feed into and out of it are clearly marked as to which one goes where. Overall, there are plenty of traffic lights, stop signs, yield signs, highway numbers, lane markers, and all the other stuff that makes a road easy to follow.

Here? Not so much. It amazes me how many weird (and not-weird) intersections aren't marked at all. Some roads don't have lane markers to indicate whether there should be 1, 2, or 3 lanes in each direction. Some don't even have center stripes, even though they're 4 lanes wide. I've found one-way streets with "one way" signs at only one end (how does that help?). Rotaries are designated as one-lane, two-lane, or infinitely-variable by nothing more than common consent and courage.

So how can anyone be a courteous driver when there's no common rule for what to do on the road? Everyone thinks they're doing the "right" thing, but when my right thing differs from your right thing, we're both going to call the other a Masshole. It's inescapable.

I think the real reason for it is the cost of highway maintenance in New England. Winter is tough on pavement, road paint, and street signs, and maybe MA residents aren't as willing to pay for highway repairs as some others. Either way, there's never enough money to keep the highways well-marked, and we're all Massholes as a result.

As always, YMMV, my $0.02, TIOLI, and so forth.

[Turbowned]

I agree that if the roads were better-kept, we'd have less Masshole-ish driving from people. It does get pretty dicey. Can we stop paying for Deval's helicopter flights and put that money towards fixing our infrastructure? Please?

[Partial Stall]

Originally Posted by Sovran

I'm from Texas originally (first 23 years there), and I've definitely noticed a difference in the drivers here, though I agree that people are generally nice otherwise. I have a theory about it, though.

In Texas and many other states I've visited, the roads are well-marked. There's never any confusion about how many lanes there are on a road, which lane can go in which direction (left-only lane, etc), or what to do at a complicated intersection. My home town has a 5-point intersection that used to be a traffic circle (that's "rotary" in New Englandish) but has been converted to what we call the Death Star. Even so, all 20-30 lanes that feed into and out of it are clearly marked as to which one goes where. Overall, there are plenty of traffic lights, stop signs, yield signs, highway numbers, lane markers, and all the other stuff that makes a road easy to follow.

Here? Not so much. It amazes me how many weird (and not-weird) intersections aren't marked at all. Some roads don't have lane markers to indicate whether there should be 1, 2, or 3 lanes in each direction. Some don't even have center stripes, even though they're 4 lanes wide. I've found one-way streets with "one way" signs at only one end (how does that help?). Rotaries are designated as one-lane, two-lane, or infinitely-variable by nothing more than common consent and courage.

So how can anyone be a courteous driver when there's no common rule for what to do on the road? Everyone thinks they're doing the "right" thing, but when my right thing differs from your right thing, we're both going to call the other a Masshole. It's inescapable.

I think the real reason for it is the cost of highway maintenance in New England. Winter is tough on pavement, road paint, and street signs, and maybe MA residents aren't as willing to pay for highway repairs as some others. Either way, there's never enough money to keep the highways well-marked, and we're all Massholes as a result.

As always, YMMV, my $0.02, TIOLI, and so forth.

If you think it's bad in the boston area, cruise north about 3.5 - 4 hours on 95

[Partial Stall]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

I agree that if the roads were better-kept, we'd have less Masshole-ish driving from people. It does get pretty dicey. Can we stop paying for Deval's helicopter flights and put that money towards fixing our infrastructure? Please?

Here, here. The amount of money I pay in registration fees is obnoxious, and lets not even mention all the tax revenue the states make on gas sales.....

[Sovran]

Originally Posted by Partial Stall

If you think it's bad in the boston area, cruise north about 3.5 - 4 hours on 95

Sadly, I've done that, too.

[M-17]

@ Sovran - I couldn't help but laugh a bit cause this is so true (rant between MA and Texas). I really wish we did put more effort into road conditions here in Massachusetts. I mean there's a street that has been in production to be repaved, but for 2, 3 years or hell maybe even more than that and yet its still not done. Its all groove with an addition of pot holes now. SMDH

[(K)]

Though I agree that confusing roads/signs are one cause of an unpleasant commute, bad driving habits must make up a large majority of the formula. Everything from improper use or complete neglect of turn signals, frequent and aggressive lane changes, cruising in the exit/merge lane, etc. Roads can be fixed based on where you are, but bad driving habits transcends borders. When I was buying new glasses a few months back, I overheard some of the other customers trading stories about how they INTENTIONALLY cut others off for various reasons. One woman said she had to be in front of others, she "can't stand being the last car". Sad, but that's the society we live in.