I was living in Cambridge during the 1978 blizzard. I remember a fire truck stuck on the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge between Back Bay Boston and the MIT campus for several days. I cross country skied over the tops of cars stuck on Storrow Drive in front of the BU campus. The only thing moving were Red Cross snowmobiles ferrying medical stuff around the city.
Man you gotta drive 93 through Boston at 3am on a Sunday to get light traffic like that now. I'm dreading my annual visit. 2 frigging hours to get 5-6 miles from the tunnel to the Braintree split. I miss Boston at times, but only notionally. 1000 miles to the south, in America, we have better roads, better people and better guns.
Got a funny story from the blizzard. Had a 66 Chevy 4wd, just out of HS, had stayed up and driving during both legs of the storm, pretty crazy how hard it came down 1st then couple days later it snowed at afoot an hour at one point, thunder and lightening, i mean things you never seen before, started checking cars buried along the road, if people where trapped, got a couple people to the Newton Police station, their fuel had run out, they where pretty cold, remember how they just loved the heat coming up off the floor of my truck. Anyways, no point trying to get home, 8 miles from my hose in Newton Upper Falls was never plowed, tried but the snow was higher than the hood, it was light snow kind of fluffy, even in granny gear it flowed up and over the windshield. Gave ghat up too many places to end up in a ditch dead stuck. Went back to the PD station, offered to give any cop a ridehome or to the station, but needed gasfor it cause was down to 1-/4 tank, the Sargent was all for it, said here, give this to the garage out back, give you all the fuel you need. Ended up I gave the foreman of the shop his wife a ride to the house, he setme up sith all around tire chains, greased and changed my oil, new wipers, anything I needed. Got a official Newton police permit to drive around, it was ten days of the craziest things you can imagine, couple people offered me thousands of dollars to get their wife or husband home, i was too honest a kid at 18, to abuse the permit restrictions, got screamed at, people running out and yelling stop, insane behavior, threatened one guy pulled a revolver on me to stop for him. I did stop if it looked OK and picked up bread milk etc, from Cumberlandsfarm store in West. Newton, if I was coming back along that way. One trip the Sargent sent me on was for a bank manager whose bank some robbers came thru the roof of the bank vault, guess cleaned it out pretty good over a few days. The guy was a out the most nasty ungrateful fuck i have met. Wanted me to round up his family trapped all over, expected me to do it, and at my cost. Guess bankers are cheap bastards. Got to give lots of pretty nurses rides, they where all really sweet, got a few kisses and invites for a "cup of coffee" wink wink, big windfall for a18 year old. It was a once in a lifetime experience, took cat naps, so for most of the back to back storms I was out in it full time. A buddy rode along some of the time, we got to share what happened, mostly though I was pretty busy, loved every minute. Did'nt give it much thought after things died down, one day mail man had a registered letter, big manilla envope, inside was a eautiful, all caligraphy, gold leaf embossed thank you letter, with an honorary Newton police badge, gold plated with blue enamel inlays, top shelf police badge too. Last thing my young and dumb ass expected. Thing is back those days hardly anyone had a FWD pickup. It was a rusted out gas station plow truck, 292 straight six, manual tranny, all good Dana and Spicer driveline, couldn't kill those trucks, put a flat bed on it, the salt sander the gas station had in it rusted it all to hell. Even had factory split rims. Heater bake you out, that came in handy big time keep the windows clear. Think total almost two weeks drove errands for the cops. They all remembered me even decades later, saved my ass one time big time., kept me from prison, got jumped by some crazy Arab college students, wealthy families back home, ended up beating the living shit out of three, one guy thought I killed him, their consulate guardians filed attempted murder charges on me, some one, no idea who it could have been, lost all police paperwork, real mystery, nobody ever explained how it happened, it sure was another story, and it was really effin crazy.
During the late 1980's and all during the 1990's and into the 2000's, I was an East Coast sales manager for a few different companies. I traveled up and down the East Coast and drove in all sorts of conditions in all sorts of cities. I hated driving in Boston perhaps the worst of any East Coast city.
Hood scoops on a station wagon/multi bugs/a Pinto?!
I grew up outside of Boston and would go that route to avoid pike tolls.
I was only 15 in 78 but had fun running the streets of Dover/Sherborn on a snow mobile,did a few runs for folks med wise,the cops actually for once really liked me!
If the California Air resources board sees that they'll be wetting their diapers for weeks.
ReplyDeleteI was living in Cambridge during the 1978 blizzard. I remember a fire truck stuck on the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge between Back Bay Boston and the MIT campus for several days. I cross country skied over the tops of cars stuck on Storrow Drive in front of the BU campus. The only thing moving were Red Cross snowmobiles ferrying medical stuff around the city.
ReplyDeleteLooks like A Mafia mooooovie.
ReplyDeleteHow anyone could commute to work facing THAT every day is beyond me.
ReplyDeleteNemo
It’s worse nowadays.
DeleteIrish
Man you gotta drive 93 through Boston at 3am on a Sunday to get light traffic like that now. I'm dreading my annual visit. 2 frigging hours to get 5-6 miles from the tunnel to the Braintree split.
ReplyDeleteI miss Boston at times, but only notionally. 1000 miles to the south, in America, we have better roads, better people and better guns.
I Noticed no SUV's or Pickup Trucks
ReplyDeleteGood ol' Detroit steel.
Delete-lg
Got a funny story from the blizzard. Had a 66 Chevy 4wd, just out of HS, had stayed up and driving during both legs of the storm, pretty crazy how hard it came down 1st then couple days later it snowed at afoot an hour at one point, thunder and lightening, i mean things you never seen before, started checking cars buried along the road, if people where trapped, got a couple people to the Newton Police station, their fuel had run out, they where pretty cold, remember how they just loved the heat coming up off the floor of my truck. Anyways, no point trying to get home, 8 miles from my hose in Newton Upper Falls was never plowed, tried but the snow was higher than the hood, it was light snow kind of fluffy, even in granny gear it flowed up and over the windshield. Gave ghat up too many places to end up in a ditch dead stuck. Went back to the PD station, offered to give any cop a ridehome or to the station, but needed gasfor it cause was down to 1-/4 tank, the Sargent was all for it, said here, give this to the garage out back, give you all the fuel you need. Ended up I gave the foreman of the shop his wife a ride to the house, he setme up sith all around tire chains, greased and changed my oil, new wipers, anything I needed. Got a official Newton police permit to drive around, it was ten days of the craziest things you can imagine, couple people offered me thousands of dollars to get their wife or husband home, i was too honest a kid at 18, to abuse the permit restrictions, got screamed at, people running out and yelling stop, insane behavior, threatened one guy pulled a revolver on me to stop for him. I did stop if it looked OK and picked up bread milk etc, from Cumberlandsfarm store in West. Newton, if I was coming back along that way. One trip the Sargent sent me on was for a bank manager whose bank some robbers came thru the roof of the bank vault, guess cleaned it out pretty good over a few days. The guy was a out the most nasty ungrateful fuck i have met. Wanted me to round up his family trapped all over, expected me to do it, and at my cost. Guess bankers are cheap bastards. Got to give lots of pretty nurses rides, they where all really sweet, got a few kisses and invites for a "cup of coffee" wink wink, big windfall for a18 year old. It was a once in a lifetime experience, took cat naps, so for most of the back to back storms I was out in it full time. A buddy rode along some of the time, we got to share what happened, mostly though I was pretty busy, loved every minute. Did'nt give it much thought after things died down, one day mail man had a registered letter, big manilla envope, inside was a eautiful, all caligraphy, gold leaf embossed thank you letter, with an honorary Newton police badge, gold plated with blue enamel inlays, top shelf police badge too. Last thing my young and dumb ass expected. Thing is back those days hardly anyone had a FWD pickup. It was a rusted out gas station plow truck, 292 straight six, manual tranny, all good Dana and Spicer driveline, couldn't kill those trucks, put a flat bed on it, the salt sander the gas station had in it rusted it all to hell. Even had factory split rims. Heater bake you out, that came in handy big time keep the windows clear. Think total almost two weeks drove errands for the cops. They all remembered me even decades later, saved my ass one time big time., kept me from prison, got jumped by some crazy Arab college students, wealthy families back home, ended up beating the living shit out of three, one guy thought I killed him, their consulate guardians filed attempted murder charges on me, some one, no idea who it could have been, lost all police paperwork, real mystery, nobody ever explained how it happened, it sure was another story, and it was really effin crazy.
ReplyDeleteDuring the late 1980's and all during the 1990's and into the 2000's, I was an East Coast sales manager for a few different companies. I traveled up and down the East Coast and drove in all sorts of conditions in all sorts of cities. I hated driving in Boston perhaps the worst of any East Coast city.
ReplyDeleteDrove 47 years to and from work on the 405 and the 5 socal, my colon clabbers just thinking of that nightmare.
ReplyDeleteHood scoops on a station wagon/multi bugs/a Pinto?!
ReplyDeleteI grew up outside of Boston and would go that route to avoid pike tolls.
I was only 15 in 78 but had fun running the streets of Dover/Sherborn on a snow mobile,did a few runs for folks med wise,the cops actually for once really liked me!