The Dirty Gig continues in the Boston area, with day trips throughout the state and over into Connecticut counteracting the effects of flooding.
With little time for Wi-Fi … but here are a few notes and some random photos.
First off, just let me say, Boston DID NOT get the memo that smoking is so last year … everywhere people hacking and smoking, blocking the entrances to businesses. Ha .. As one rude smoker passed me on the street and blew smoke in my face, I reared my head back just as I would do to dodge a punch. He was offended by that and cursed me as I walked on down the street amused. Already I digress …
Regarding the more positive charm of Boston … there is the unmistakable accent, which I really like. Even the locals like to joke about how they would “rather ride a train, than drive a cawhh.” And of course me and my Facebook buddies have traded notes about where to get the best “chowduh.” Well … on one snowy day, I actually had a day off and I left the rental car parked. On snowshoes I headed out (exaggeration) toward Trinity Church, Copley Square, the Prudential Center and all that (see previous blog).
While at Prudential Center I sampled the clam chowder, the lobster bisque and the Wi-Fi at Legal Seafood. I think Legal is a local favorite, even though there are quite a few locations … a bit of a homegrown, nice chain. Regardless, it seems to have retained the integrity of its humble beginnings:
Legal Seafood
I say total thumbs up to their chowder although I was a little indifferent towards and surprised by their lobster bisque. And I am man enough to admit I prefer a pre-package bisque … that found in the supermarket from the folks at Panera Bread. (And of course I love Panera bread for their pioneering the Wi-Fi restaurant concept …) Most important, Legal served up Wi-Fi … free and fast. So, as I dripped soup on my iPad, I tweeted and blogged about a great city, and enjoyed the world-class people watching in the Prudential Center.
My waiter was a little intrusive, reaching over my shoulder to serve me as I ate/blogged, or this might have been a perfect score. Great seafood, excellent Wi-Fi and all the amenities for a salty dog traveler. Legal Seafood — 6 pings.
One person in the chowder referral network recommended Cheers! They have chowder? I thought they only served beer and overpriced t-shirts. Whatever … I decided to check it out, although I have been there before. Did they have Wi-Fi these days? Well I don’t know. I asked to sit at a table, even though I wasn’t ordering food. The place was about half full, but nevertheless, they told me no table, emphatically. I left, muttering how my 20 blog readers would hear about this.
Lowest score ever awarded on the PingWi-Fi meter(?) … As I so aptly tweeted it at the time of the hatin … (if I do say so myself): “They didn’t know my name. They didn’t know didley squat! Hey Cheers, cater to your guests even if we are tourist schmucks and spread some Wi-Fi. Give me something to cheer about. You feelin me? — 1 ping, 1 ping only!
For several days, my Boston Wi-Fi hangout was a Starbucks on Boylston, overlooking one corner of Boston Common, near Chinatown. The place is always busy, and there is great competition for the few seats available. Somehow, I always got lucky in that respect. But get this …. As busy as the store is, one of the baristas knew my drink of choice after about four visits Take that Cheers! I did not expect this in Boston. I felt so honored that I decided to show some RG — reciprocal gratitude with a free PingWi-Fi t-shirt. But after my next two return visits to Starbucks, I still had not seen my friendly barista, who now even knew my name. I stopped by, carrying a shirt … and left. But, however unlikely in a city the size of Boston, later I was walking down the sidewalk about a mile away and ran into the barista. I was so happy … I had been carrying the heavy t-shirt all day. We exchanged pleasantries and I unloaded some Celtic green apparel. (Hopefully she will represent on St. Patty’s!)
Starbucks, where everyone knows your drink … at least at the good ones. Great Wi-Fi (at this one), consistently good java, and friendly people. Add some chairs for a perfect score — 6 pings.
Much of the traffic at this Bux is from neighboring Emerson University. Interesting … several times on my walk to The Bux I passed the Emerson radio station, WERS-FM. And I not only saw deejays at the helm, but also several bands outside unloading their gear for a studio performance. Check out the site. They have featured some interesting artists:
I wonder if WERS will do Ween things for the band’s upcoming March 19 show at nearby Brighton Hall? (Yes, finally, I will see Ween … actually it is the Gene Ween scaled-down version … more on that later.)
For the first month of my Boston visit I lived in the Hyatt, when I wasn’t working the Dirty Gig or trading schwag with baristas. It was interesting. I had been stuck on the nightshift at the Dirty Gig … and I think that is pretty unusual for guests at The Hyatt — if not unheard of. I say that because the staff certainly didn’t appear familiar with the concept. Even after several apologetic conversations in which I explained to the Hyatt staff that I “work nights/sleep days” … they just didn’t get it. I am grateful, because I really liked one of my resulting tweets on Twitter: “I am pretty sure the Hyatt maids are re-enacting a fight scene from Gladiator, with their brooms in the hallway.”
And then, the concept of cleaning the room, to accommodate my day sleep seemed to blow them away. Several times, I awoke to someone knocking on the door apparently wanting to change the linens in which I was still asleep and somewhat shrinkwrapped. I sent them away, slightly irritated, but civil. This prompted a call to management. They apologized. They treated me to room service … and then they proceeded to just skip cleaning my room all together. So, after working an all-night, 14-hour shift, I returned to an unclean room. This went on for days … perhaps a week and a half. Finally, when it seemed they had learned my schedule … ha … I was transitioned to the day shift.
Yes, yes … I know I am cranky because of my body not adjusting to the night shift … I tried to cut some slack for The Hyatt … hmmm … perhaps some exercise would chill my blood I deduced. So, I decided to venture down to The Hyatt’s indoor pool and sauna, since it was snowing all over Boston. Ha … “Who forgot to pack my swimsuit?” Out of necessity, I opted for a pair of Bermuda shorts and forged on. After all, I could cover up with a nice big terrycloth robe from my room in The Hyatt. Ha .. Someone left a petite robe for a rather big-arsed blogger. So, when I jumped on the elevator with business travelers, who were clad in coats and ties and overcoats … there I was … long-haired, partially bearded like a ’60s folk rock wannabe and wrapped in a white robe that was about five sizes too small. What were supposed to be plush, long sleeves, came down to my elbows. Ha … Did I mention someone also forgot to pack flipflops and I was riding the elevator barefoot? If I didn’t look like a Manson follower … or a Nilsson album … or whatever … well then I just don’t know …
How was theHyatt Wi-Fi? I ain’t gonna lie. Rather than pay a $9 fee for what should be free at a place as customer-oriented as The Hyatt, I plugged in my T-Mobile airstick from Huawei and it did what it do on 3G technology. Yes, I will pay $10 a pop at 40,000 feet on a two- to 18-hour flight. But I draw the line at buying Wi-Fi on the 21st floor of an otherwise high-quality hotel.
I did use the Hyatt free Wi-Fi extensively in the restaurant as I had my way with the $20 breakfast buffet. Do you know how many omelettes, sausages, yogurts, pasties, waffles, fruitcups, oatmeals and coffee I can put away in the time it takes to write one of these windy blogs. A lot! And the Wi-Fi buffet was all I could eat too, but only on the lobby floor – 4 pings.
Because of the demands of my Dirty Gigs job, I left the Hyatt and headed west, to Westboro in fact. Because of the “magic” that is GPS, my Garmin nuvi navigator persuaded me to take Highway 9 rather than the interstate. Although the drive took me about 15 minutes longer, I was in no hurry and saw some interesting parts of Boston that would have otherwise been missed.
Once in Westboro, I fired up the Wi-Fi at my new temporary residence — an Extended Stay America hotel (interesting … one of three within about a half mile on either side of 9). ESA is not the Taj Mahal and proud of it. They are purely about the economics of the stay, and assume the traveler is too. Ha … they also “let you” clean your own room six days a week. On the seventh day you rest and they take over. What the do provide is a full-size frig, an oven and all the utensils for some PingCuisine on the road.
But do they have Wi-Fi? Yes they do, albeit slow, it is free and is excellent for e-mail, tweeting and the like … but downloading videos for my morning Histweet updates and celebrity birthday shoutouts on Twitter has been frustrating … quite a slow connection.
Extended Stay is convenient to my current jobsite, clean enough gosh darned it, and my compliments to the chef (me) … but the Wi-Fi needs to step it up a notch — 4 pings.
Further west of Westboro, making mental note that I passed a placed called Marlboro, I encountered the spoken enigma that is Worcester. The best I can determine, the locals say “Wister … or maybe Wooster … or Wester, depending on who you ask. I really want to know what happened to the missing syllable … but no one seems to know.
What a treat. Worcester was once a booming city, and it is still formidable, although I would not say bustling. Now … it has a reputation for being a bit gritty … But I will say it is loaded with great architecture all over the downtown area. It has a pretty magnificent train station and it comes with seven large hills … ha … not unlike Rome. Pretty cool. (Wuster photos soon …)
And finally, just a tad East of Worcester is Shrewsbury. Here, just a few miles from my hotel, I have taken roost lately at Borders. I thought it might just be my last chance. I noted a huge store near Prudential Center in Boston discounting its merchandise and preparing to close, as many are nationwide with the book giant reorganizing. Well just let me say what a huge loss will be felt in the Wi-Fi force with the closing of so many Borders. In my humble opinion, Borders has retained one of the best Wi-Fi business models and infrastructures throughout my blogging career. Hats off to Borders and their Wi-Fi providers, formerly T-Mobile and currently Verizon.
So about this Borders … well like the neighboring city of Worcester, it sits up on a hill for starters … It is huge. It is not new, on the contrary is quite “broken in,” and it has an excellent little in-store café sporting Seattle’s Best Coffee treats. And the Wi-Fi? Unlike my neighborhood Starbucks, I have yet to be booted from the Wi-Fi network, no matter how wordy I get and regardless of how sloppy caffeinated I become.
Borders in Shrewsbury, Mass. already had it goin’ on with excellent Wi-Fi and everything you would expect … and then one of the coffee maiden’s here (does Borders call them baristas?) said the magic words “What is that PingWi-Fi thing on your t-shirt?” Ping … ping … ping … We have a winner – 7 pings … perfect score!
Know what I sayin?
