So am I.
"Mayor Menino set to get behind the wheel again; With 2 decades of city-provided rides at an end, Menino turns his focus to 21st-century driving" by Andrew Ryan | Globe Staff, December 17, 2013
Mayor Thomas M. Menino has spent the past 20 years steering Boston into the future. Now he is about to undergo a mission far more uncertain: steering his own car around the city’s famous streets.
Menino has his eye on a used Lexus, but it will not come with the cassette deck or high-beam pedal he had in his cars of yore. And the handle to roll down the window? That’s gone, too, replaced by a button.
“There was a button to turn on the engine!” Menino exclaimed of a car he recently drove. “A button to call somebody,” he added, working his way to a punch line. “I kept looking for the clutch!”
His favorite missing accessory will be the police officer who has driven him around, day and night, for two decades, subjected to Menino’s backseat driving.
Aides expected, even urged, the mayor to look into a car service once he left City Hall. But a few weekends ago, Menino went for an hourlong drive with his son. It felt good to be back behind the wheel, and he is not a car-service type of guy.
Last Saturday, Menino arranged to buy a Lexus sport utility vehicle. He and his wife own a Ford sedan, but Menino wanted a vehicle higher off the ground that will be easier to get in and out of. He is eager to drive to his new job at Boston University, where he will help launch an Institute on Cities.
So as Menino leaves office in three weeks at age 71, he will be serving as his own chauffeur, one of many changes as he adjusts to life after City Hall. He may have to learn again what it is like to stand in line, fight for a dinner reservation, and hunt for a parking spot.
Check that. He actually has a short-term plan for the parking. No, it does not involve a bright orange cone or other South Boston-style space saver. Menino recently purchased a year’s worth of valet parking at a charity auction, which should help him downtown....
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Related:
Menino’s childhood YMCA will now bear his name
Menino’s annual Christmas Eve stroll emotional
Mayor shocked, emotional after surprise birthday party
Menino skipping Walsh’s swearing-in ceremony
After private meeting, Menino to skip Walsh swearing-in
Also see: The city Menino built
Also moving on:
"Fraser resigning as Boston’s fire commissioner" by Meghan E. Irons | Globe staff, December 17, 2013
Boston Fire Commissioner Roderick J. Fraser Jr., who for seven years battled union leaders and led reforms of a fractious fire force, will resign in January, leaving open the department’s top two posts as the new mayor takes over.
Fraser, 49, submitted his resignation to Mayor Thomas M. Menino Monday, saying he will depart Jan. 6, the day Mayor-elect Martin J. Walsh, whose campaign was heavily supported by labor unions, assumes office.
“As I look back on my years here, I’m leaving a much better department than when I found it,” said Fraser. “And I’m proud of that. I felt it was time for me to move on and do something different.”
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Also see: Menino transit aide takes state post
