This Is Framingham

Last night I went to check out the tree lighting at the Memorial building.
I was surprised how packed it was.  It was kind of hard to move around and a lot of people would either not move or be pushy (crowds aren’t my favorite thing) but it was nice to see something bring people together.

It was pretty windy and a little rainy so after what seemed like 50 Christmas carols I was going to just go home and then Santa arrived on the back of an fire truck. ???? ?????  (!)

The kid behind me went nuts screaming “SANTAAAAA!  OH MY GOD!! SANTAAAAA!” what came to mind was how that girl was screaming from the ditch in “Silence of the Lambs”. ??? ????? ?????????   He had that same intensity and desperation in his voice.

Inside were lots of tables set up with cookies, local things and Starbucks giving out free hot chocolate.

As usual, good to see out Shopper’s world soldiers back in commission for the season.

The past few days of the police log have yielded a string of reports of people trying to get even better deals at the Framingham Wal-Mart.  Not many reports of stealing at any other stores. ???? go Is there something about Wal-Mart that is appealing to shoplifters? haz casino

SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RDWALMART CASEY CALLER STATED TWO MALES DETAINED,TOOK A KNIFE OFF ONE,CAUSING NO PROBLEM.  
     
SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RDWALMART TWO PEOPLE JUST RETURNED $840. IN STOLEN MERCH. 

SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RD WALMART CALLER STATED FEMALE SHOPLIFTER DETAINED,CAUSING NO PROBLEM CALLER STATED FEMALE SHOPLIFTER DETAINED

ARREST: 121 WORCESTER RD, WALMART  WALMART SECURITY STATED THAT THEY HAVE TWO PEOPLE THAT THEY COUGHT STEALING     

SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RD, WALMART  2 SHOPLIFTERS BEING HELD IN BACK OFFICE   

SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RD, WALMART (Shoplifter’s name) HELD IN OFFICE 

SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RD, WALMART CALLER REPORTS SHOPLIFTER IN CUSTODY NO ID 

ARREST: 121 WORCESTER RD (Shoplifter’s Name)  Arrested@ WALMART for LARC-SHOPLIFTING/MISD

SHOPLIFTER: 121 WORCESTER RD, WALMART SHOPLIFTER IN CUSTODY WALMART WILL HANDLE INTERNALY

We went to Uncle Cheung’s on route 9 last Saturday.  I always forget about this place but decided to revisit it to check it out.  I haven’t been here in probably 15 years.
We got there soon after they opened around 11:45am.  I’m not sure if it’s every day but they only had combination plates available.  The plates come with rice, egg roll and soup. can i use ivermectin on my cat
I got egg drop and Ethan got hot and sour.

The soup was really good, almost too good.  I found out later that they use MSG in their food.
For lunch I got sauteed Chinese cabbage (baby bok choy? ivermectin interacting with mosquito ) and Ethan got some sort of spicy chicken like kung pao.

The food was good, although probably not worth the minor reaction I get to MSG : (
The service was very good and friendly though. It’s clean and comfortable inside too.

Since were on the subject of December holidays I also went to Shuki’s , a Judaica store on route 9.  Another small business that sells religious items of the Jewish faith.  Everything was familiar to me in here, although I haven’t been to temple probably since I was bat mitzvahed and I’m not really practicing (besides guilt) but there was lots of interesting stuff in here.
They have an impressive collection of creative menorahs, dreidels and mezuzahs.

Everything they sell is from Israel to help support the Israeli people and economy.
I had a nice conversation with the owner about small businesses and downtown too.
I thought Joan and Ed’s was the only place to buy this stuff without going into Brookline so it’s great to have this nearby if I want to get something for a gift or myself.

jewlery:

candles:
 
books:

Since it’s that time of year, I thought I’d stop by St. Anthony’s Religious Articles to check it out. It’s right next to Simple Living Cycles on 135.
I know it’s kind of silly but since I’m Jewish I always feel weird going to a church for a wedding or whatever and I felt like going into this place would set off an alarm or everyone would “just know” and stare at me because I didn”t belong in there.
Of course that didn’t happen and in fact the people there were very nice and let me take some pictures.

They have books, mugs, sun catchers etc… I can’t imagine not finding a Christian item you might need in there.   It was pretty interesting just to look around.

There were some interesting items like the “Bible Bar” and a Santa with Jesus light-up ornament.

Obvioulsy I didn’t have too much to buy in there but just the fact that the woman I spoke with was so nice I’d like to let people know if they need something Jesus related to go to St. ???? ????? ??? ???? Anthony’s and support it.

 
I was curious what “Black Friday” would look like on route 9.  Since it was so nice out, Ethan and I walked up to the hill by Cabot House furniture (and Ginseng) to check it out. ????? ????????
It was pretty much what I expected, lots of slow moving traffic and red break lights, which is what you see above and the reason I try to avoid route 9 in general.

Then looking back down the other side of the hill, traffic was just as bad.  People were just waiting to be able to wait at the traffic lights:

Of course some jerk whizzed past 15 cars in the breakdown lane and then put on their blinker to cut everyone off “merge” when they realized the breakdown lane ended.  Real smooth.

I never even thought of walking to route 9 before but it’s not bad at all for a 20 minute walk on a nice day. ??? ????? 2022 ???????    It’s good to know there is another option to get there besides driving, especially on days like today. ??? ???? ???

I stopped by to check out Bedrock Comics on route 9 the other day.  When I asked the owner if I could take pictures and explained what I do, he said “Awesome, I’ve been waiting for you to come in here!”  His wife and mother-in-law run the candy shop next door and told him about the blog, I feel bad it took me a while to get here but I finally did.
The owner is one of the happiest people I’ve met and with good reason, he’s been collecting comics since he was 13 and then worked for Bop City Comics (previously downtown and in the old Marshall’s mall) and then bought the store and now calls it Bedrock Comics –and he gets the left over candy from next door : )
I can’t image how great that must be to be in a business that you can’t wait to go to everyday because it’s so awesome to be there.

I thought maybe comics have died down but they definitely have their loyal followers and collectors so it seems like people will always “need” their comics. 

I couldn’t help but feel like a kid again when I went in there even though all the customers were adults.
I was short on time that day but I’ll be back. ?? ???   I used to collect loser comics like “Stray Toasters” and thought it wil be fun to look through stuff like that when I have more time to spend in there. ???? ???????

A rare “yay” for route 9.