The type of ratings Arbitron gets for $1

Two weeks ago Borderline got a letter from a company called Arbitron. The envelope contained a letter, and a crisp $1 bill.

Wow! People demand money from Borderline all the time -- I'm used to getting dunned for unpaid bills a few times a week! But getting free money, unsolicited? What's going on here?

From what Borderline understands, Arbitron produces "ratings" for radio programs, which stations and networks use to make programming decisions and adjust advertising rates. For instance, the data that Arbitron gathers help determine how much WBZ can charge Subaru of New frigging England for running 30 second radio spots during our drive-time commute. There is another company, Nielsen, which does the same thing for TV programming.

Anyway, Borderline pocketed the dollar bill and threw away the letter without reading it. Some people actually like to reveal their innermost radio habits to a bunch of statisticians. But not Borderline. I don't know how they got my name, but I sure didn't volunteer for help-out-the-advertisers duty. I feel no obligation to take part in whatever schemes this company uses to make u- I mean gather statistics upon which multi-million dollar PR decisions are made.

Then the calls started.

Every night at dinner. Early in the morning on weekends. Late at night on weekdays. Borderline never answered. There were hangups, recorded messages, and sometimes, breathing from a real live stats-gathering human. They used legitimate caller ID most of the time, but a few times they didn't. I could still tell it was Arbitron, because of the area 410 code. Later Borderline looked at the caller ID list for these numbers, and they all led back to the same number:

(410) 312-8222

If you Google it, this weird mashup appears, that seems to be charting telemarketers and the like who are breaking the federal "Do Not Call" list. Borderline signed up for this "Do not call" registry service several years ago, to stop the flood of unwanted solicitations at dinnertime, but Arbitron apparently feels they are above federal law because they have a "business relationship" (an exception to the Do Not Call rules) with me. Yeah, that's right. Arbitron thinks that by virtue of the $1 bill they sent me, they now own me and my time.

So, yeah, I feel used. It's almost as bad as when Patrick J Hynes and New Media Strategics tried to co-opt this blog for some corporate lobbying purpose.

Anyway, now Borderline is torn between doing nothing, or answering the phone and giving these jerks and piece of mind, or answering the phone and lying about all the fringe radio programs I listen to on WBRS, AM talk radio, and the like.

But I'll probably end up doing nothing.

Arbitron sucks!

Just what Waltham doesn't need -- A Big Box Lowe's On River Street

I can't believe this is even being considered. A big-box Lowe's Home Improvement store in a place that already has major traffic problems -- The River Street/ex-Raytheon area, right on the Watertown line. The News Tribune has the details, including furious neighborhood reaction.

"That's not going to work in our neighborhood," homeowner Chris Hayes said to applause from his neighbors. "The traffic is already brutal."

Several residents mentioned traffic and loud trucks brought in by a recently built Shaw's supermarket on River Street. They said major retail on River Street is too damaging to the nearby Warrendale and Rangeley Acres neighborhoods, and some said office buildings would be preferable.

They are absolutely right. There already is too much traffic there, and the streets around that site, many of them one lane in each direction, are not meant to handle thousands of extra cars and trucks every day. People with families live there. I cross River Street all the time at that intersection to go to Dunkin's with my kids.

There's another thing that the News Tribune failed to mention: Just down the road, across the Watertown line on Pleasant Street (aka, across from Russos) someone is building a big-box condo development. Guess how many extra cars that monstrosity is going to bring to the area once it opens? There's only two easy ways to get there, Pleasant Street and River Street in Waltham.

Here's my suggestion to Waltham citizens: Let your councilmen know what you think about the Lowe's juggernaut destroying this neighborhood, and let them know that they need to put up a fight, instead of sucking up to developers.

Tower Records sale? Yeah, right

Going out of business sales usually translate to major savings. Not at Tower Records. At least, not yet. I went to Tower this afternoon hoping for some deals, but nada. 15% off most stock, but the baseline prices are their regular prices, which are not cheap -- $13 to $18 for CDs, etc. There were no clearance bins or anything like that. The only extra discounts are for magazines and rap music -- 30% off.

So I guess that Metallica DVD that I had my heart set on will have to wait.

Or, who knows? Maybe the Waltham Public Library will have it ...

Waltham Public Library Sale

The Patrick Hynes/New Media Strategics blog manipulation story will continue to be updated at this link, but in the meantime Borderline needs to get back to the main focus of this blog: Waltham and Newton.

The Waltham Library Sale is going on right now, and if you've never been, it's very worth your while to check it out. The books are cheap -- I got about 10 and all were $1 or $2, including the hardcovers and recent bestsellers. There are some "premium" books which can be more expensive, but of the thousands of normal books there's a huge selection and there are great deals. It just started yesterday for Friends of the Waltham Public Library, which organizes the sale, and today it opened up to the public, and will be ongoing until Oct. 14. Visit the Waltham Public Library website for more information.

One interesting note about the sale: The FWPL guy at the cashbox said that on the opening night, restricted to members, there are a hardcore set of bookbuyers who rush in with boxes, grab certain books, run out to their cars, and run back in again for more. It's a zoo, he said. I suspect they are Internet book sellers grabbing textbooks and such which can sell for high prices online.

While I am on the topic of libraries, the Waltham Public Library is a really, really nice library. Better than the bigger and newer Newton Free Library, in Borderline's opinion. The Waltham library has nicer reading room, better garden, better kids space, and a video and music section where it's actually possible to find decent stuff to take out. Newton, however, has bigger fiction and nonfiction selections, and more periodicals. Newton also has local branches, whereas the Waltham library only has the Main Street building.

The Barn is a Zoo

West Newton has a secret shoe store called The Barn. It's off Washington Street, near the old National Guard Armory and Trader Joe's. And it's great -- the people there know their shoes and you can get some good deals. (see Borderline's review from last year).

But Borderline wandered in there last week and found that The Barn had become a zoo. The lot was full, and it was tough to get help. The reason? Back to school. Everyone takes their kids down there not only for school shoes, but also athletics -- they sell soccer cleats, balls, shin guards, running shoes, and everything else for the Fall sports season.

Waltham Shopper coupon nirvana

The Waltham Shopper (see Borderline's article from last year) recently has featured lots of coupons that are very good deals. The Asian Market on Waverly Oaks Road (Rte 60, see the Borderline review) has had $5 coupons in the past few issues of the Shopper, and Eaton Apothecary on Hope Ave also has a $5 coupon. Mal Elfman's has a $10 coupon, and Stephanie's Dry Cleaners, a $3 coupon.

But wait -- there's more! Tri-City Wings, and Asia Express have discounts and coupons for takeout food. The New Verona also has a coupon deal, dinner for 2 for $25.

I believe the Waltham Shopper is distributed in Waltham, Newtonville, and Auburndale, and comes bundled in the mail with local grocery store flyers.

Shaw's Obstacle Course

Anyone notice how the Shaw's in Waltham (River Street) has become an obstacle course in the past few months? The big aisles are filling up with giant pallets of soda and boxes of potato chips, while the narrower aisles have vendor display racks clogging up the aisle every 20 feet. Even the area where people line up to check out has racks of junk that you have to navigate around.

I also noticed in the past few months that the Star Market in Newtonville has replaced the blue Star sign that hangs over the Mass Pike with the orange Shaw's sign. A little-known grocery store history fact: Before the Pike was built, the Newtonville Star was on Walnut street, where the CVS is now. Yes, it was that small!