The Bad Day

Yesterday, we had an appointment with an agent in Newton (for the California readers, this is a suburb of Boston on the commuter line to Wellesley, where I'll be working). We thought that this would be another exercise in futility as far as apartment hunting goes. But then she showed us 2 fabulous, huge places, within our price range (okay, just at the outside edge of it), both of which were a short walk to a commuter rail station. We really fell in love with the first one we saw: it was .2 miles from the train station, it had gleaming hardwood floors, a dishwasher, space for a dining room/office, huge rooms, and it was in a beautiful old house with high ceilings and nice moulding and woodwork. It was right off the main drag, on which were shops and restaurants. It was also within walking distance to Trader Joe's. It was available immediately and we could have moved in next week. We signed a lease and wrote out some checks, and then skipped back to our hotel thinking: Could it really have been this easy?

The answer to that question is always no. As I sat down at the computer to look at the commuter rail schedule to figure out how long my train ride would be, I came upon a nasty shock: During the morning and evening commute hours, NO TRAINS STOP in ANY of the Newton commuter rail stations in the direction that I would need to go, which is outbound, or away from the city. HOW CAN THIS BE?? Todd and I have both glanced at the commuter rail schedule in the past, but we had never thought that we would need to look at it to see if the train just didn't stop at any stations. Bastards!! Who the hell has a station for trains that don't stop? We called MBTA, the responsible party. The customer disservice line told us that they don't have outbound trains stop in Newton during commute hours because "there is no ridership." WHAT ABOUT ME?! I had this hopeful fantasy that if I showed a little ankle or promised to wave down the conductor, they would let me get on. Obviously, I wasn't thinking straight. The only way I could go west on the commuter rail at the times of day that I needed to do so would be by riding the commuter rail all the way into the city, getting off at South Station (e.g., all the way into the city) and then riding the commuter rail all the way back out to the 'burbs. Besides being stupid, and an hour long ride to get somewhere that should only take 20 minutes, the train would get me to the Wellesley station an hour before I need to get to work. And there are no buses in Wellesley. Nope, no buses. Rich people don't like buses. So I couldn't just skip the rail altogether and hop on a bus instead.

Who would have ever thought that there would be commuter trains that don't stop at stations during commute hours? It's one thing to have both express trains, that don't make all the stops, and local trains that do, but this? Are you kidding me, MBTA? You can take your fake train straight to hell!

Todd and I realized that we were in trouble. After beating ourselves up for signing the lease, writing checks, and not knowing that the Stupid Train didn't stop at all the stations during commute hours (and how in the HELL could we have known that) we called the agent and told her to hold on to everything while we figured out what to do. We thought of maybe buying a second car (after all, this fabulous apartment came with 2 parking spaces -- yes, 2 -- and we only had one car). But wait. We don't have the money for that. And we don't even want a second car. Then Todd suggested he drive me to work daily so he could then keep the car and not be stranded. But it's a 20 minute drive to my work, which would be a 40 minute drive for him twice a day. To a job that's not even his. And, as I just alluded to, me taking the car would leave him stranded. And then, there was the inevitable: Get back our money, tear up the lease, and cry and cry. So that's what we did.

Or attempted to do. We luckily caught the agent on the phone before she headed to the bank with our money and had the owners of the building sign the lease. But she was in a rush and couldn't just tell us that she'd give the checks back and trash the lease. She said she would call us back, but then she didn't. So we called the bank and put a stop payment on all 3 of the checks, fearful that she would try to cash them. Much hand-wringing was involved.

In the meantime, ( as in, when we were holed up in our hotel room crying and rocking in the corner -- no wait, that was just me) we started thinking about what we really wanted. We don't want to live in the 'burbs. We just don't. (Actually, for a few minutes, what we wanted was to just go back to Oakland). But then we figured that we didn't move all the way to the Boston area to not do this right. We want to live in Somerville, or Cambridge, or somewhere else cool in the city. So we started looked on Craigslist for Somerville apartments in our price range and found several good options. We made some calls, sent some e-mails, and planned on going to an open house tonight. We realized it would mean an hour-long commute for me (and we realized that there was a train that would get me there on time instead of an hour early), but at least we could live somewhere cool. We decided to head over to Somerville to scope things out. Before we left, I decided to check the commuter rail schedule again because I wanted to look at what would be my evening return trip. I learned fast not to trust Stupid Train. And wow, am I glad I checked: I will be getting off work at around 5 pm. But the train doesn't leave Wellesley until something like 6:45 pm. There was nothing earlier that I could catch, unless I could skip out of work at 4, which ain't gonna happen. So, another great plan foiled by MBTA.

So, back to reality. We came to realize that the only way that I could make the commuter rail work for me is if I am west of my work and can therefore take the inbound train (e.g., heading into Boston in the direction of the typical commute). So this means that we can either live in Natick or Wellesley. I guess we could live in Framingham, but it is just too depressing, which is probably why it's so cheap. Although I could walk to work if we lived in Wellesley, is too damn expensive. And it's not like we could afford to even shop at any of the boutiques in the center of town (except the sale rack at the Gap, which I plan to hit). We did look at a lovely apartment in Wellesley today, but it was too small, even if it was a 20 minute walk to work. Dammit! Luckily, there are several good options in Natick center, right near the train. Natick center is cute, if sparse on the cafes and restaurants. But we don't have many choices here, people. And, one of the Natick apartments we saw today was pretty great. We'll be seeing several more tonight, for a total of something like 7 apartments today.

We went into Somerville last night anyway, just to spite Stupid Train. And as we walked around the wonderful Davis Square area, we promised ourselves that we'll only live in the 'burbs for a year, until my year-long position is over. Or we'll move sooner if Todd gets a fancy job or if it turns out that he won't really need the car. Then we ate ice cream to make ourselves feel better.

But what about that agent who has that signed lease and the (now invalid) checks, you might ask. Well, fortunately, she was willing to give us all that back in exchange for half of her usual fee, for her time and energy. She seemed genuinely sorry for our pathetic asses. Phew. That was a close call.

Cancelled checks: $60.
Agent fee: $300.
Getting MBTA's/Stupid Train's big warm welcome to Massachusetts: Priceless.