The Unexpected

This praying mantis was hanging out on the side of the Palace Theater at 1pm today. I'm not sure I've ever actually seen one "in the wild" before. I definitely would not have expected to see one downtown. A quick Google shows that this is the State Insect for Connecticut, so I guess there must be more of them in town.

WWII Exhibit

The Mattatuck Museum's exhibit about Waterbury and World War II opens this week with a reception on Thursday, 5:30-7:30. So far (installation is still in progress) it's looking like a good exhibit. Yes, I am biased... but so far the comments I've overheard from museum visitors have been great!

The exhibit, of course, ties in with the Ken Burns documentary. Burns will be in town on September 10th. Full information about the exhibit and related programs at the museum are online at the museum's website.

Getting a Facelift

The Soldiers' Monument on West Main Street at the Green got a makeover today. I don't know if you can tell from the crummy cameraphone photo above, but the bronze has deteriorated over the years, not just turning green but also corroding a bit. But now, just in time for the Ken Burns visit, it's being restored.

Train Travel Time

Update 2/1/2008: This seems to be my most consistently popular blog posts, if only because it's so darn hard to google for the train schedule! For the current train schedule, visit the MTA website.

Here's a little bit of history from the Waterbury American in 1941:



Today the train to NYC takes 2.5 hours, give or take ten minutes depending on which one you catch. In 1941, you still had to transfer in Bridgeport, so why did the trip take half an hour less sixty years ago? Did the trains run faster then? If so, that's certainly not what would have expected.

Also, for whatever reason, I've assumed that the train schedule was better in the past (that mythic era!). But in 1941, there were still only 8 trains a day from Waterbury to New York.

Maybe there were more trains in 1900. Or maybe it's only in this era that people like me want later trains from the city (as I've moaned about before, the last train back to Waterbury leaves Grand Central at 9:07pm -- so if I want to do anything in New York in the evening, I have to stay there overnight or drive part of the way -- and driving defeats the point of taking the train).

Brass City Brew Fest

The Second Annual Brew Fest will be Saturday, September 15, 1-5pm.

This was a great event last year, except for the icy weather. It's being held about a month earlier this time, so we won't all be huddling in the sun for warmth.

Full info on the event website: www.brasscitybrewfest.com

Click here to go to my blog post (with pictures) from last year.

City Services

I tried calling the Water Department this morning to find out why I've been billed for service from before I bought my house. The woman who answered the phone did a terrible job of explaining my bill to me. She kept quoting numbers that didn't match the numbers on my bill, and she couldn't clearly explain if I was being charged an estimated amount or an exact amount. She did explain that when I bought the house, I bought the water bill (although the seller made a payment to them at closing which was supposed to cover the expenses). I tried calling my attorney, but he couldn't figure out much either.

My house does have a remote water meter sensor attached to the front porch. In theory, the water bill is an accurate reflection of the water usage. The numbers on the meter inside, however, are a lot higher the numbers on the bill. This caused me to panic, because it seemed to suggest I might end up owing hundred of dollars for water used before I bought the house.

Meanwhile, I'm still waiting for one of the city-issued blue trash receptacles. My house used to have one, every other house on the street has one, but mine is gone. The orange recycling bin is also gone, but the refuse department was able to get me a new one immediately. For the blue trash bin, the best they could do was put me on "a list." This was several weeks ago. Not having a trash bin means I have to store the trash in the basement and bring it out in time for pickup on Monday mornings. Home Depot has bins that look compatible with Waterbury's trucks. Maybe tomorrow I'll call the refuse department again, ask how long of a wait there is for the blue bins, then ask if the HD bins will work. It's probably too much to hope that I could get a refund on my taxes for buying my own bin, but storing my trash in the basement isn't a lot of fun.

The phone line isn't a city service, but this seems like a good place to mention that it isn't working. The phone thinks it's in use and has been since sometime last night. AT&T says they'll send a repairman on Wednesday between 8am and 5pm (I don't have to be here). The problem seems odd to me, since anyone calling me will get a busy signal, even though I have call waiting. Tech mysteries.

Back to School

Summer's almost over. Judging by the weather, I'd say that summer is in full swing with no end in sight, but a shopping trip last week for new sandals taught me otherwise. I had a hard time finding new sandals, because the stores are almost completely sold out. I strolled past swimsuits to see if maybe there was something better than what I currently have, but all that is left are the dregs, and even they are being crowded out by winter coats. Forget trying to by a new summer dress. There aren't any in sight. Just endless miles of back-to-school clothes. Worst of all are the stores that decide to do a Christmas in July sale. I'm thinking about visits to the beach, and the stores are trying to get me to buy Christmas ornaments.

I'm sure the seasonal changeover is a system that works for the merchants, but I can't help wishing that I could buy my clothes when I need them.

Lucky Pennies

As I've been fixing up each room of my new house, I've noticed that each room, closet and hallway has a dusty old penny lying face up. In most rooms the penny is on the floor near the baseboard and would have been under the wall-to-wall carpeting the previous owner installed. There's also a penny on the molding over the front door.

I did some googling and learned that this is possibly a Catholic tradition. I found postings from people saying that this was something their Irish Catholic or Italian grandmother taught them. The basic idea (there were many variations) seems to be that you should leave a penny in each room to bring good luck for the next person to live there. Which is really very nice, doing something to bring good fortune to a stranger.

I wonder how long this has existed, and why pennies? Once, on a tour in Bath, England, I learned that the ancient Romans may have started the wishing well tradition--in their case making an offering to the gods by tossing coins into a well. What, then, is the origin of pennies in each room bringing good luck?

I think there must be a lot of superstitious things for the home. Crickets on the hearth, horseshoes over the doors, pennies in every room.

There is a store at the Brass Mill mall that sells mostly Chinese goods. I strolled through there a few weeks after buying my house and bought a bundle of white sage, because it had a label stating that burning the sage would dispel negative energy. It seemed a little bit like having a priest bless your new home. If nothing else, it smelled very nice.

My thanks to whomever it was who left the pennies. When it comes to luck, every little bit helps!

Tabitha Again

The woman who has been using my phone number for her credit scams is still at it. Wachovia called me today with an important message for Tabitha. Her name nowadays is Tabitha Hollister. It really amazes me that she's been able to keep this going for five years (at least). She applies for credit using other peoples' phone numbers and a PO Boxes in nearby towns. Collection agencies have tried hunting her down, apparently without success. She's changed her name only a few times, but sticks with similar-sounding names.

I guess what amazes me now is the length of time she's able to use the name Tabitha Hollister with my phone number. Given the pervasiveness of computers, I would think that creditors share information, but I guess they don't.

When I recently purchased a washing machine at Sears, I was able to see the names and addresses their computer associates with my phone number. There were two other people from years gone by, but neither was Ms. Tabby.

Fear Factor Home Edition

When I bought my house a month ago, the garage was locked and the seller had lost the key. Today I finally worked up the courage to go in through the broken-out, boarded up window (and successfully unlocked the door). Half the window board had fallen on the ground sometime last year (I'm guessing), and when I lifted it up while cleaning the yard, I got a good look at the creepy crawlies living in my yard. I had seen the same creepy crawlies weeks earlier in the back yard. I've wimped out and swiped photos from websites instead of taking my own photos (I might remedy this in the future).

The first photo (swiped from the state DEP wildlife website) is of the one non-creepy crawly. Northern Redback salamanders. They're really kind of cute. They have a funny side-to-side way of running. Sort of a mix between running and slithering. I saw them when I picked up a tarp in the back yard.




The woodlouse (below) is the least creepy of the creepys. They are living under every rock, board and log. When I pulled off the last remaining board from the metal window frame I had to crawl through, there were woodlice (and cobwebs) which had to be brushed away.



Woodlice are the cattle of the bug world. They huddle together in large numbers and get picked off by extremely creepy crawly predators. Which is why climbing through a window possibly hiding the creepy crawly predators made me think of Fear Factor.

Here's a Dysdera crocata (woodlouse spider) doing the predator thing:


I couldn't find a single photo of the woodlouse spider that really captured the full extent of its creepiness. The above photo gives you a good sense of its color--bright red legs and head, shiny beige body. The below photo gives a better sense of the view I get of them, although the brown body is typically fatter, almost ready to explode, like a tick that's completely engorged. So nasty. Some people are allergic to its venom, although supposedly it rarely bites.



I couldn't find a photo of the creepiest crawly, so I used this photo (below) of a centipede found in Hawaii. The centipedes in my yard are bright red and just plain mean looking. They make this Hawaiian centipede look tame.



So there you have it. Waterbury's creepy crawlies, some of which can cause a fair amount of pain when they bite. All yard work will be done with gloves, heavy shoes and thick socks!

Farmer's Market on the Green

The Farmer's Market on the Waterbury Green, an event organized by Main Street Waterbury volunteers, returned today. It's held every Thursday, 11am to 3pm, until mid-October.










A new feature this year - a different chef each week will grill up recipes using ingredients for sale that day at the market. This week was Rich Yost from Bay Leaf Gourmet.




Olive oils. Sadly, the organic bread maker didn't show this week. The fresh fish vendor was sick, so he didn't show either. Next time.








The live green pepper and eggplant. You never know what path volunteering will lead you down....


Joe Geary, representing the City, with Main Street Waterbury's Carl Rosa hiding behind him, and the Market Maestro, Marianne Vandenburg, to his left.


After the speeches, Market-goers got to enjoy the music of Carnegie Clapp.

Shaw's

One of the big news items this weekend was the announcement that Shaw's will be closing. Shaw's is an extremely conveniently-located and always-busy grocery store. The corporation claims that the store is "under performing," whatever that's supposed to mean.

Today while I was at Shaw's, the PA system ran a commercial that started by criticizing the way other supermarkets have been closing their fish departments, then cheerily assured shoppers that Shaw's will never close their fish department. Ha-ha! Very funny.

I haven't heard anything about what will replace Shaw's. Certainly I hope for another grocery store. I kind of hope we can get a Whole Foods store, even though they don't carry some of my staple foods--but they do have so many other good things you can't find anywhere else, and it would be a lot more convenient than driving to West Hartford.

Home Depot en Espanol

The other day the self-checkout machines at Home Depot had a glitch that defaulted their spoken language to Spanish, even if you selected English. The woman monitoring that section immediately came over and overrode the machine for me, apologizing for the inconvenience. I really didn't mind at all. I can cope with a register in Espanol--numbers are numbers.

Just as I was finishing my transaction, a man (white) started using the register next to mine and became furious when the machine started speaking Spanish to him. He absolutely could not cope with it. Nearly 25% of this city are native speakers of Spanish, 40% in the downtown area (where Home Depot is located), and this man freaks out when the register speaks Spanish.

Maybe he's from the suburbs.

My New Neighborhood

One week ago, I moved into my first home (very exciting!). It's one of the historic Scovill Row homes, built during World War I to help ease the housing crisis of 1916. It needs a lot of cosmetic work, but it's a great house.

Several people I know have responded very poorly to the idea that I would move to this neighborhood (in the North End, off Walnut and Oak Streets, just below Long Hill). They've insisted that this is a bad, dangerous neighborhood. So far (thankfully), I have no idea why they think that. Yes, there are several large apartment buildings that have been abandoned for years. Yes, at some point in time a previous occupant of my house added bars to the first floor windows and fortified the back doors.

The people who live in this neighborhood appear to all be elderly or families with young children. In the afternoon and evening, there are dozens of children running around the neighborhood. The only dogs I've seen are small--a beagle and little yap-yap dogs (last I checked, the bad neighborhoods have lots of Rottweilers and pit bulls, and I haven't seen or heard any sign of them here). There are maybe three cats who saunter down the sidewalk like they own it. I saw a possum one night and fireflies another night.

I haven't heard any noise after 11:30pm or before 8:30am. I haven't seen any prostitutes or johns, drug dealers or junkies.

Within 24 hours of moving in, I was welcomed to the neighborhood by a very gracious lady who lives across the street. Everyone else I've encountered has been friendly.

To all of you who think this is a bad neighborhood, think again. It might be a little run down in parts, but it seems like a pretty good neighborhood to me!

Downtown Tag Sale

Saturday, June 16, 9am-1pm

I think they are expecting 65+ vendors, who will set up tables, etc. on Bank Street, South Main Street and Exchange Place. Lots of crafters, some jewelry makers, and, of course, an assortment of old stuff!

First Thursday at Mattatuck Museum

I took a short break from work this evening to enjoy First Thursday at the Mattatuck Museum. Tonight it was held in the courtyard--beautiful weather, beautiful art, beautiful music!

Rotella Magnet School

Belated congratulations to Rotella Interdistrict Magnet School, recent recipient of the Ronald Simpson Deserved Merit Award, the highest honor given to magnet schools in the country.

Waterbury's magnet schools seem to be really great all around, and definitely seem to be better than regular schools. It's great that we have one of the best schools in the country. Maybe someday all of Waterbury's schoolchildren will be able to attend schools of that caliber.

Victory for City Hall

After long months of wrangling, the Board of Aldermen finally voted to move forward with the Option 4 renovation of our Cass Gilbert-designed City Hall building. Hooray! Option 4 calls for the complete restoration of the building--I can't wait to see how beautiful it will look when the project is completed!


I've been a little irritated that DePillo refused to allow Option 5 to pass, since it would have saved taxpayers millions of dollars over the next several years.

Option 5 would have funded the construction of a new fire house, allowing the current one to be renovated for office space. This would have allowed to city to move out of rented office space, and allowed for the consolidation of the Education Department in the Chase Building, which would then allow the city to get grant funding for the renovation/restoration of that structure.

I'm sure DePillo will yammer on about how he saved taxpayer's money by threatening to block Option 5 with a referendum, but as far as I'm concerned, he has cost us money. Eventually, the city will have to find some other way to stop renting office space, so I won't get too riled up about it.

Ultimately, I think all of Waterbury should be proud of what has been accomplished. The Town Hall building in Watertown has been languishing under scaffolding for years. Other towns and cities in the state have also been unable to move forward with the renovation of their main buildings. But here in Waterbury, we're going to get the project done.

Palace Block Fest

Summer Launch '07 -- Sunday, June 3rd, 12-6pm
Music, Food & Brew on East Main Street
www.summerlaunch.com
Six hours of music in the afternoon, Blues Traveler in the evening at the Palace Theater.

Main Street Waterbury Earns National Recognition

Main Street Waterbury Website

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Connecticut Main Street Center


Press Release
Waterbury & Winsted Named National Main Street Communities

(Hartford, CT - May 8, 2007) Connecticut Main Street Center (CMSC) announced that Waterbury and Winsted have been named 2007 National Main Street Communities by the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Main Street Center. Friends of Main Street, Winsted and Main Street Waterbury, both nonprofit organizations, have been recognized for outstanding accomplishments toward the goal of revitalizing their historic downtowns.

National Main Street Program Accreditation is a partnership between Connecticut Main Street Center and the National Trust's Main Street Center to establish standards of performance for local Main Street programs and provides accreditation to those that meet the standards. The National Accreditation designation process evaluates established commercial district revitalization programs according to 10 performance standards. These standards provide benchmarks and guidelines on how Main Street organizations should be functioning and serve as incentives for improvement.

Connecticut Main Street Center

Connecticut Main Street Center, a statewide nonprofit corporation funded by The Connecticut Light and Power Company and the State of Connecticut Department of Economic & Community Development, is dedicated to economic and community development within the context of historic preservation. CMSC is committed to bringing Connecticut's commercial districts back to life socially and economically by providing education and training, resources and technical assistance, and advocacy.

Since the Connecticut Main Street program began in 1995, participating communities have generated over $487 million in public and private reinvestment in their downtowns. Over the same time, 340 net new businesses have opened and 1,886 net new jobs have been created. For every $1 spent on a local Main Street program, $65.93 has been reinvested in Connecticut Main Street downtowns, making the Main Street initiative one of the most successful economic development programs in the country.
Website: http://www.ctmainstreet.org

Connecticut Main Street Center
Kimberley Parsons-Whitaker
Associate Director
email: kim@ctmainstreet.org
phone: 860-280-2556


May is National Preservation Month!