Yesterday was the quintessential gorgeous fall day, and today promises to be so as well, but getting around in Baristaville wasn’t always easy. One reader who wanted to pick up groceries at Shoprite sent us this picture of a truck that managed to wipe out the traffic light at Broad and Bellevue, making it impossible to enter the parking lot. What is it with crazy accidents at Shoprite lately?
Another reader was furious when she tried to get into the parking lot at Nishuane School for soccer and discovered that it had been taken over by a film crew making a Bank of America commercial.
Here’s the letter she sent to the township and the board of ed:
Hello,
On saturday morning November 19 at 11am we arrived at Nishuane School with our children ages 4 and 6 for montclair town soccer to find the parking lot was blocked by a man in a black van who was not letting anyone park in the big parking lot behind nishuane school field. Instead, hundreds of families with young children had to park up and down the street, had to cross the street, etc just to get to the field. Upon questioning the man in the van we learned there was a bank of america shoot going on, and the production company, Minyanville, was responsible for blocking off the lot. The producer claimed to have gotten a permit to use this parking lot from Montclair Township, and also claimed he was told no one would be using the parking lot or the field this day. I would like to know who in Montclair Township is responsible for this gross oversight and for allowing a production company to block the parking lot used every saturday by hundreds of monclair soccer families, putting young children in danger having to cross a busy, congested road. Please explain to me how a public school parking lot is allowed to be closed off from tax paying citizens of montclair, from families who have paid for a soccer season, from families who use this parking lot every saturday. How can this happen, let alone without so much as a warning or an email? I would like some answers, and an apology.
Thank you,
Michelle Benner
Here’s some good news on the parking front: If you’re picking up Thanksgiving wine from Amanti Vino, you’re in luck. They’re clearing out the employee parking lot behind the store on Church Street today to make parking easier for holiday customers.
Yesterday was the quintessential gorgeous fall day, and today promises to be so as well…
You’re killing me, Debbie.
I am deeply disappointed in the Baristanet “community”. I have been here 24/7 for the last few days, squandering what surely will be the last beautiful weekend for probably four months in front of the ‘puter, and like 3 people have even bothered to say hello. (I had a romp with ‘gette yesterday, old reliable PAZ drifted through in a purple haze last night, and now Conan tips his hat on the way to the golf course.) Where is the misery? the disfunction? the mental squalor? Oh, pooh.
And now here comes Debbie rackin’ up the posts so she can skedaddle to the porch for the rest of the day and sip her pina coladas in peace. Argh! If I’m going to be miserable I want company dammit!
W/roo….Debbie’s just showing us how bad the quality of life is…here in My B’ville 2….Just move your peeps around make a new street and open up a new Shop-Rite and ….Vi-ola! Points galore!
True ‘nuf, Roo, I probably caused that accident in front of Shoprite on my little game.
I mean PAZ.
Thanks PAZ. I feel better now. Want a sip of my Gallo?
Kisses walleroo! Your posts always make me smile. Reading you is a delightful way to start this glorious day. I’m off to hunt for the perfect way to spend this perfect day.
Deb….This could be the base for your new book….Very Fellini-esque….. What other roads or sticky situations should I avoid today?
Ciao Bella
We seldom go to the Brookdale Shop-Rite for three reasons. There are six items we always purchase, that Brookdale S-R does not carry, that are carried by all other S-R in Essex County. From our residence the W.O. Essex Green S-R is closer than the Brookdale S-R and lastly (the wife says) that some items that she has checked, are less money at other Shop-Rites, than at Brookdale.
I know it’s a trip and a half, but has anyone checked out the brand new Stop & Shop on Blmfd. Ave. in W. Caldwell ? It’s amazing !
Thanks Dag, love you too, but you’re killing me…
RE: the film shoot at Nishuane… I’m one of the parents who had to park on the street. That wasn’t a huge deal, but the production company were pretty amateur about how they handled the situation. When I got there, no one was blocking the entrance, no signs said you couldn’t park so cars were going, in and having to get out again which was a big pain. We drove in then were told by a PA we had to drive out. The kid was polite, but whoever their location department was did a really a crappy job.
Yesterday my husband took my son to soccer at Nishuane and he reported to me with a grin that some woman went up to the man in the van and said, “Are you effin’ kidding me that I can’t park my effin’ minivan in the effin’ parking lot to take my kids to their effin’ soccer practice because effin’ B of A is filming an effin’ commercial?” Except she didn’t say “effin”–it was the Queen Mother of all swears!
It made me giggle, I asked him to say it again.
Yes, it was a slight inconvenience and perhaps it wasn’t safe to have kids cross the street but that parking lot is scary as it is on Sat morn. However, I think the F word was overused–it’s a precious word, people! The above situation only warranted, oh, I don’t know, one F bomb, or maybe even a few freakin’s.
Film shoots = desperately needed revenue for the district, so bring ‘em on. Better communication about the need to park elsewhere would’ve been more helpful, though. And definitely hang onto those kids’ hands tight when crossing!
I freakin’ hate those film production companies. They take over the place, they are invariably inconsiderate and often rude, and they act as though everyone around them should be grateful for the opportunity to bask in the glory of their presence. We’ve had them more times on my block than I can count, usually at the home of one neighbor in particular, who, if they had an ounce of self awareness, would at least offer to host the block party once a year, or at least pay for the keg for chrissake–anything, all I want is a gesture. Argh!
Rant over.
Obviously I need to get out more.
>>I know it’s a trip and a half, but has anyone checked out the brand new Stop & Shop on Blmfd. Ave. in W. Caldwell ? It’s amazing !<<
It's a very large store, and some prices are significantly under Shop-Rite's prices. $1.50 under for King Arthur flour, $0.75 under for chicken stock, and deals like 99 cents Italian bread on Fridays.
On the other topic of this thread, the store hosted a commercial filming a few weeks ago. All entering customers received a dollar off coupon for the minimal inconvenience, and the PA handling the gate gave me 5 of them (whoo-hooo!).
The self checkout in the aisles is a great service: you get a reader when you enter. You scan the bar codes of items as you put them in your bag. When you're done, you click the "I'm done" code, scan your credit card and stop/shop card, grab the receipt and you're out in under 30 seconds.
No line, no issues, just out the door.
Self checkout: another bad idea to put grocery store clerks out of work. They get YOU to do the work for them, without paying you. I ALWAYS boycott them.
Ah, one of my favorite topics, besides gardening, bad drivers, and inflatable rats – the grocery store.
The #1 reason why I continue to go to the Brookdale S-R is because they have baggers. Plus my cousin works there. Plus I suffered for years with that original teeny, tiny store and by golly I am going to enjoy the new store as long as I can push a cart.
However, they no longer carry my coffee – have to make a special trip to A&P. They quit carrying my bread, but I have yet to find out whether it’s the mfr or just S-R. It’s pure pandemonium at certain times/days but if you synchronize your watch it works out fine. And sometimes it’s well worth the $10 to have them shop for you and pick it up on the side!
Now, the self-checkout in the aisle is an interesting idea! My first concern would be, how will they know if a person has scanned everything? My cart is usually so loaded that unless the bagger really knows what he/she is doing, I end up dragging the poor kid out to the car with a second cart. So, are they really gonna trust that I’ve scanned all 300 items in that cart? I realize this could result in a loss of jobs for checkers and baggers, but it would sure save me a lot of time. I could just get some bins for the back of the car, chuck everything in them, and voila – no more wasteful bags to recycle!
However I do see radiocity’s point, and most of the time I do avoid the self-checkouts for those reasons…but when the store only has one human person checking (on purpose, most likely) and you don’t feel like standing in line at Home Depot for 30 minutes getting smacked by 2×4′s, the self-checkout can be a wonderful thing. (Get me the heck outta there!!)
I have heard nice things about the Stop&Shop in Clifton also, but I hesitate to go there for my weekly duty and then find they are missing stuff. And, I don’t have leisure time to spare to go there to browse. I guess when I retire, if they (and I) are still here, I’ll take the senior bus over and check it out!