This Is Framingham

So I’ve picked up waitressing while I’m looking for permanent work and after the first week, everything hurt: Feet, knees, hips and back.  I was dreading the dinner shift one day when I thought “Panza MUST have something”. One of the few luxuries of living downtown is that I didn’t have to get in the car and go to the mall or somewhere to look for quality shoes.
Ethan and I walked down there and I asked one of the store clerks what she recommended for waitressing.  She brought several shoes and cheerfully got different sizes when I requested.  I found these clogs called “Klogs”.

I tried them on but they were a little too loose.  The nice lady helping me fitted them with a different insole and they were prefect.  I was so happy  about my new super-awesome (and comfy!) shoes, it was such a relief to come home at night and not be in pain.  Thank you Panza for you great selection, friendly help and for just being there 🙂

I didn’t get to take a picture yesterday of the whole building so I’m just using an old photo taken of the old car dealership  in front of Walgreen’s on rt. 135.  Thanks to a tip from a nice reader, I found out that in this building, but to the right (and just cut out of this picture) is where a restaurant called “Wings Over Framingham” will be probably sometime in April.  I walked up to the window yesterday and saw they have some tables and chairs and a menu posted inside. ???? ?????

I know Framingham already has the awesome Chicken Bone less than a mile from here and on the same street, but I’m happy to see this moving in.  Ethan was thinking maybe Framingham will become the Buffalo Wing capital of Metrowest! onecard fawry

I was walking by the Franklin St. Plaza, which I call “Sad Plaza” because of it’s occupied to vacant store fronts (not to mention lack of building maintenance in general) , and saw that O’Brien’s package store was closed and had a sign saying it was moving next door to where “Giant Gifts” used to be.  So it’s not so bad for people who like having a package store in the area since it’s just the next building over, but it does add yet another vacancy in this particular plaza.  As of now, there is just the Dunkin Donuts, St. Paul de Vincent thrift store, Maenzo’s Barber shop, and the time-warp laundromat that people say the machines eat up their coins.
I REALLY wish this plaza would liven up but even when the economy was good, I have heard the landlord of the plaza is rather difficult to deal with and likes having a “losing” property.

As I’ve mentioned before, I usually avoid driving through the intersection of 126 and 135 because of things like the photo above.  This was taken in April of 2007 and it was very frustrating to get a green light only to not be able to go anywhere because there were two red lights stopping any traffic from moving. ????? ???? ????? 2022
This morning I decided to brave driving this way since it was early enough and saw this:

I’m not sure if the lights are synchronized now and like I said I usually avoid  driving this way (I’ll drive around Farm Pond instead even though it’s longer) but it would be great if now green always means go 🙂

A nice reader sent me a photo of the train station during it’s construction in 1885-86.  If you click on it you can see a larger version and some nice details.
Below is Ethan’s photo he took a couple of years ago when he did his post about the history of this building.

Ethan saw this article while reading through CNN Money today.  It talks about  Framingham’s small businesses and culture.  What I found most interesting is that in the slide show, “9 Stories: How we’re coping” Ken’s owner, Tim Hanna says they’re expanding this spring with what I think is a great idea:
“After acquiring and refurbishing an old diner car, Hanna made plans to add a 1930’s style diner, fitted out with black-and-white TVs, costumed waitresses, and a menu featuring classics like green beans, meatloaf and gravy.  ‘It will be like stepping back in time, which will be fun,” says Hanna. ??? ???????? ?? ???????? “With so much doom and gloom, it will be a pleasant break.”‘

I’m looking forward to the diner, assuming it will be next to Ken’s or at least in Framingham.  Since they own the land they’re on, I’m guessing it will be on the same lot. ???? ???? ?????   Anyway, that should be pretty cool to check out. ???? ???? ?????