Differences

Moving from one place to another will you will obviously see many differences. There are some major differences between ND and MA. Here are a few I've observed.

First and most obvious is location. The differences may be different than what you are going to expect me to say. Of course there is the big metro area of Boston and of course the presence of an ocean. That's not what makes it so different. When I lived in Fargo, I lived right off 32nd Ave S. Right behind Essentia, formerly Inovis. I had a gas station and a grocery store within walking distance. There is a strip mall connected to the grocery store that included a liquor store, a pizza hut, a dry cleaners along with a few other essential and non essential businesses. If the grocery store did not have a good weekly flyer, I had 2 other grocery stores within 2 miles of my apartment. It took me about 5 minutes to get to the local mall. Five minutes in the other direction took me to a brand new Walmart.

Here.... in Marlborough, MA... it takes me 10 to 15 minutes to get anywhere. Fifteen minutes to get to the gas station. There is a grocery story right by the gas station. There is a Marshalls right next the grocery store. Not much else in that area. Oh... a McDonalds is near by too. If you drive about 5 to 7 minutes down the road, you will find a shitty Walmart. There is a Uno's Pizzeria, Ruby Tuesdays, a couple local restaurants and a movie theater on the way to the shitty Walmart. If you head the other direction, you can find the local shopping mall. It's a nice shopping mall with all the basics (as long as there is a Macy's, I'm fine). This is about a good 15 to 20 minute drive away. Around the mall there is an Olive Garden and a steakhouse.

My point being, I moved to the middle of nowhere!


Second difference... Grocery shopping. Prices are very similar on most items. If you are looking for prepacked, non perishable items it is almost cheaper. I purchased 4 boxes of Cheerio's today for a total of $8. Not bad. Soda, or POP, as I like to call it, is usually on sale at one of the five grocery stores (all at least 15 minutes away). The only thing with pop cans is you have to pay a $0.05 deposit per can. As long as you bring the cans back, you get your deposit back. Moving out here has forced me to be more green (not with all the driving around I'm doing though!)!

Meat, however, is a different story!! Meat is so expensive!! Hamburger, on sale is $3.50 a pound!! I'm praying Sam's Club will have one of the big tubes of hamburger for cheaper. I have been obsessed with the tv show "Extreme Couponing". I might need to take that up just to be able to buy meat!!

The last thing I'm going to talk about is something that has been on my mind for a good part of the day today. Hurricanes! Hurricane Irene is scheduled to show up Monday. I was not aware this was an option. I knew that the weather would be different here. I was expecting things to much more mild due to the large body of water to my right. I was not expecting a tropical cyclone to make it's way this far north.

When I heard that they named it Irene, I thought it was a good omen. You see, my Dad's Mother's name is Irene. She is one of the women who I loved the most in the world. My dear Grandma shares her name with a storm that is supposed to produce winds at a minimum of 74 miles per hour. Wikipedia helps me define a hurricane as "... a system with sustained winds of at least...74 miles per hour. ... A cyclone of this intensity tends to develop an eye, an area of relative calm at the center of circulation. The eye is often visible in satellite images as a small, circular, cloud-free spot. Surrounding the eye is the eyewall, an area about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) to 80 kilometres (50 mi) wide in which the strongest thunderstorms and winds circulate around the storm's center. Maximum sustained winds in the strongest tropical cyclones have been estimated at about ...195 miles per hour.

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tropical_cyclone#Hurricane_or_typhoon)

This is telling me that I fit into the 80 kilometres that produce the strongest thunderstorms. I went grocery shopping today. I will probably head back to the grocery store tomorrow. I guess I know how to prepare for a blizzard. I will prepare in a similar fashion.


I am positive I will find a lot more differences. I am looking forward to discovering more about my community, especially the people.

Getting Started in MA

So, a really good girlfriend told me I should write a blog about my experience as a girl who has lived in North Dakota for most of my whole life and uprooted myself and moved to Massachusetts.  I think it's a decent idea.  I'm going to try it!!

So... some of you may think I live in Boston mainly due to me telling you, "I'm moving to Boston!"  That is not entirely true.  I live in Marlborough, Massachusetts.  I am about 30 miles west of Boston.  I can get into Boston in about an hour from where I live.  You see, there is not really an option to drive into the City.  Let me rephrase... there is no options for parking if you drive into the City.  Due to this, I do not drive into the City.  There is a train station about 10-15 minutes from my apartment (Southborough Station).  This is called the commuter rail. That takes an hour to get into the South Station in Boston which is the main station and is the closest to the water.  From the Southborough station to the South Station it costs $6.75 for one way.  Of course I want to be able to get back so it's $13.25 for a round trip.  Oh, and don't forget the $4 for parking.  I have taken the subway into the City once.  I basically was trying to find the Southborough station (first time without Ryan with me) and I got lost.  I had the Riverside Subway (or "T") station in my GPS from having dropped Ryan off for him to get to the airport.  That was about 20 miles from my apartment.  It does require going on the Turnpike.  With my exits, it costs 50 cents one way.  The T costs $2 to get into the station.  You can ride all day long on 2 bucks if you want.  If you leave the station, it's 2 more dollars to get in.  Parking here is $5.50.

This is a good reason I do not go into the City every day.

Marlborough is a very nice town.  I'm a little unsure of exactly were Marlborough begins and where the next town starts.  We live in a very residential area even though there is an office park at the beginning of the drive way to get to my apartment.  The closest gas station or grocery store is 10 minute drive.  It's a very pretty drive.  There are a massive number of trees.  There are some very beautiful houses.  It's a very nice location to live in (even thought I don't know where I'm at relative to anything else).  Without my GPS, I can get to Highway 9.  You can find anything on 9.  That is where my grocery store is.  There is a gas station.  There is a  Walmart and a Target.  I know where a movie theater is.  There are some restaurants that look nice enough to eat at.  I can get to highway 9.  I can maneuver my way around highway 9.  That's the only place I can get to and get home from without my GPS.  The roads are very confusing.  They don't always run east and west or north and south.  They curve.  They change names.  They merge with other roads and take on a different name and then branch out on their own again.  On most of the roads you can not take a left turn.  If there is a business on the left side of the road you want to get to, you have to turn around.  Some lights will allow you to do a normal 'U' turn.  Other roads will force you to 'exit' to the right where the road does a 90 degree curve and now you are waiting at a light to turn left.  It is a very bizarre thing for a girl from Fargo.

These are the things I have learned about my new City.  I have ventured out.  Some successful escapades.  Some not so much.  Nothing has happened to discourage me from venturing out, however I will not do it without a plan.  I need to have a mission.  I need to have a goal.  I need to have an address and my GPS.