I go to town meeting every year, and as much as we're all annoyed by the cranks who monopolize the microphone, it's not really practical to limit individual speakers to two minutes - especially when there are big ticket items to be discussed.

Nextdoor. The app is a hellscape of suburban anxiety, but the business referral piece seems to be really effective.

It’s a dig at a previous post about people bringing their dogs to the store.

I got my $15k rebate check from Mass Save within 8 weeks. I had to send additional documentation (which my vendor was happy to provide), but it wasn't some sisyphean ordeal.

It took about 8-10 weeks for us, and no one came out to check anything. We were asked to submit additional paperwork, which may have delayed things.

Ha - fair.

Massachusetts and Rhode Island have the largest Catholic populations in the country, so I guess it must be the French part that we're missing out on.

It's as much a thing in New England as Mardis Gras. I've only ever seen King Cake on the Gulf Coast (e.g. New Orleans).

I’d heart heartbreak hill was tough, but I had no idea until I got there

FWIW, a 2000 watt portable generator is enough to power the average refrigerator. Home Depot has some for under $500.

Yeah, they're great for trail running but lousy for roads. I either use screw shoes or studded running shoes (Icebugs). The studs compress up into the soles like on snow tires.

Nah, I love running in the snow. Put sheet metal screws in an old pair of running shoes and it's like having studded snow tires.

Westminster is central Mass, though.

Yes, it tested positive for asbestos. The abatement cost around $8000, and we should eventually get reimbursed for about $4600 from the Zonolite trust.

It’s worth removing the flooring, but be prepared for surprises. When we did ours, we found vermiculite and some janky wiring - both of which had to be taken care of before we could proceed with the new insulation.

Most museums have free or greatly reduced pricing on certain days. Some libraries also have museum passes you can check out.

Yeah, I’m in MA. We used Bill Wenzel Geothermal out of southern New Hampshire. The upfront cost was substantial (we have two four ton Waterfurnace 7 units), but there are 0% interest HEAT loans available from Mass Save, $15k back from the state, and a 30% federal tax credit as well as renewable energy credits that you can choose to sell. The same tax 30% credit applies to solar as well. We calculated our payoff at 10-12 years based on the oil rate last January/February. The solar covers 100% of our annual usage, including the geothermal heating. The geothermal subreddit (r/geothermal) is a great resource for information.

We did solar that covers 100% of our use and dumped our oil furnace for geothermal this summer. I don't know how much space you have, but vertical loops don't require much room at all.

I get mine done at a small local garage, and they have a line painted on the wall to check the headlight height.

Headlight position is checked during the annual inspection, so they should at least be correctly aligned for part of the year.

-Blue Moon in Gardner

-Moran Square Diner in Fitchburg

I called it a “gas room heater”. It was brown and ancient, looked something like this: https://i.imgur.com/0GYADpB.jpg

Yeah, unfortunately there’s no right to being comfortable. You’ve got a case if cranking the heat doesn’t get you to 64 where you sleep, but otherwise I think you’re out of luck. I know exactly what kind of heater you’re describing, too - I rented an apartment that was exactly the same setup. I ended up sleeping on a couch by the furnace during the winter.

It’s supposed to be heat for every habitable room. Get a cheap digital room thermometer. The minimum requirements are a heating system that will reach 64 degrees at night and 68 degrees during the day.

https://masslandlords.net/massachusetts-heat-laws/

https://www.mass.gov/info-details/massachusetts-law-about-winter-heating

I suspect you might vote no if you worked in the dental insurance industry.