The 'N' Word at Diva Lounge.

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

The Somerville News has the story about the 'N' word being used at Diva Lounge that you guys were discussing here a few weeks back:  http://somervillenews.typepad.com/the_somerville_news/

Also ,what is the deal with a 50lb limit on garbage cans? I just bought a can with wheels on the bottom to make the chores easier and now Somerville is implementing its new garbage code with a 50lb limit. The trash guys left a sticker on my can that says it is too big and heavy for them. Can the just roll the can like I do?    Where did they get 50lbs from the airline security industry?

Comments

[denonymous.livejournal.com]

They can roll the can, sure, but they still have to lift it to dump it into the truck...

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

can they pull the individual bags out? I have had one can for three years now, and another I bought a couple of months ago when they were secretly discussing and or sitting on these new rules. Many people have this type of can. Will they exchange these cans for us?

[ceo]

You don't have to fill it all the way, you know. :-) I'm afraid I might be at fault for the new policy, due to my bad habit of trying to stuff all my trash into one can so as to save myself the unendurable backbreaking labor of rolling another can the 20 feet downhill to the curb. :-/

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

Maybe that is right, I sure hope so. The way it sounded form our neighbor was that there was a note on our can that said we can not use this can anymore and would have to get a new smaller one.

For anyone interested the new guidelines are posted here: http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/

[oakenguy.livejournal.com]

Why not just put less stuff in it? Use several cans?

I'm sorry, maybe I'm misreading your post and they rejected your can when it had only ten pounds of stuff in it...but after seeing some of the things Somervillains throw out (300 pounds of potting soil in one garbage can, leftover turkey carcasses that've sat in the sun for four days), I can totally understand why the DPW would want to enforce a weight limit and avoid having to reach inside massive trash bins.

[glowroper.livejournal.com]

Besides the overhead lift (repeated hundreds of times each morning!), there is the fact that for many streets, we cannot drive while they are emptying garbage cans - so pulling out poorly tied or stuck or broken bags individually would for sure cause traffic headaches.

[mrf-arch.livejournal.com]

Y'know, a 50-lb limit really doesn't seem like an unreasonable thing.

Expecting the garbagemen (who, frankly, have a tough enough job as it is) to have to pick out one bag at a time from folks' trash cans seems like it would be rather less reasonable, especially to those folks who already get stuck behind the trash crews on Somerville's narrow streets.

As far as expecting the city to change cans, I have to wonder why they should - all that'll happen is the bill for the new cans will come back to you in property taxes. (Or come out of some other city service)

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

Well there are plenty of people that just put bags on the sidewalk, so you should be happy to learn the new guidelines state that all trash must be in a can now.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

You expect the garbage man to reach into your giant trash can and remove every bag individually? What happens if a homeless person rips open a bag in search of bottles for return? Or if a nasty raccoon digs into the bags for a snack of moldy cheese? I'll tell ya what happens. The garbage man picks out a bag, pulls it from the can, and all your trash spills from the ripped up bag onto the street. And then he laves it there. I've seen it happen people put out naked bags which inevitably get ripped and rummaged through and the trash sits on the street for months, until it slowly degrades or blows away (I don't have street cleaning).

[danger-chick.livejournal.com]

Or someone throws out needles and someone gets stuck....

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

The thing is that I bought these cans with the lids because they were better at time when there were write ups in the papers about the rats and the city was ticketing people. This was a few months back, before they had these official rules. I am sure that a lot of people ran out and got cans like mine too. Now they come out with what might be "reasonable" rules except that people have already bought cans.
And the write up on their site (http://www.ci.somerville.ma.us/) mentions a link to regulations for the cans and I can't find the link that they are talking about. Nor I have recieved this mailer they mention.

[watchamacallit.livejournal.com]

All you have to do is refrain from piling the thing full of garbage and you're all set. Are the ginormous garbage cans the only ones that come with lids? I doubt that. You just happened to pick one that fits entirely too much trash. I'm assuming it's the huge square one with the attached hinged lid?

From what I recall, lids have been required for a good long time (or what that just Cambridge?) but the city never does much about it. My cans do not have lids but I don't put the garbage in them until trash day so it doesn't matter. Hell, I don't even take the trash out every week. Living alone has its perks. I don't fill a bag a week, recycling excluded.

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

I Hope it ends up that I just have to keep it under 50lbs. The lids are only required to store the garbage outside overnight, they actually recommend removing the lids on trash day. But since there are some can regulations floating out there (now) in the ether somewhere ii is going to come back to bite.

The thing is the city is often pushing some new initiative without thinking it through thoroughly, they push it out and then receive a backlash and then regroup and change it. This instance would be fine if they did not push this a few months ago only to cause a lot of people to buy cans and then come out with barrel size regulations afterward.

[philbot.livejournal.com]

Sounds like Diva Lounge's ownership is (now) doing all the right things. Good. I like that place.

[dani-namaste.livejournal.com]

I'm glad too. I was outraged when I read the initial piece; the way they're handling it now makes me feel much more comfortable about going there again. I couldn't believe the owner's comments.

[plumtreeblossom.livejournal.com]

I wonder what this means for those of us who have to put bags of trash directly on the sidewalk because the downstairs folks have already filled up our shared 2 cans. Will they not take those loose bags?

[seamraog.livejournal.com]

That's really something you have to work out within your building or via your landlord. As far as I understand it, Somerville has never officially accepted bags on the street as proper trash disposal.

I also imagine this new rule will make the DPW less forgiving about what they do and don't pick up.

[ceo]

Officially no, as loose bags are a favorite food source for squirrels and rats. Sounds like it might be time to have your landlord get you some additional cans (or buy them yourself and take it off the rent).

[cleanup-davissq.livejournal.com]

So it's you!!!

crap

[twe.livejournal.com]

Our neighborhood is so windy that the trash cans blow all over the place when empty. If I put my trash out in the can, I often come home from work to find it halfway down the darn block/in the street.

*sigh*

[nomirena.livejournal.com]

Oh, Somerville. I'm sick of your rules.

[ron_newman]

I'm not sure why you put these two totally unrelated topics together in one post ...

[artic-monkeys.livejournal.com]

yes you are right, that was a bad move.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

Ward 6 Alderman Rebekah L. Gewirtz said she agreed that Diva should have forgotten about the woman’s bill

Maybe Alderman Gewirtz would like to cover the bill of any racists in her ward.

I agree with someone who posted on the Somerville News site - I am not sure it makes financial sense, or even ethical sense to not charge a drunk causing problems.

I am sure these places have security. Have someone watch the woman and ring her out as soon as possible.

[kglue.livejournal.com]

The way I interpret that comment is that instead of allowing the woman to stay in Diva Lounge while trying to process her bill (and thereby giving the impression that they were letting her stay and continue to drink), they should have just removed her from the place and taken the loss.

Kind of makes sense to me. If someone were involved in a physical fight, I don't think anyone would question throwing them out without making sure they paid first.

[clevernonsense.livejournal.com]

Somewhat barely relevent--I used to work for a shipping company and we were "not allowed" to lift up packages of more than 50 pounds by ourselves - we were required to have a second person help (in quotes because that was the official policy, but rarely the reality). The reason we were told was it affected the company's insurance rates. It's likely something similar or union related.

[nowalmart.livejournal.com]

It might even fall under OSHA regulations.