Dorchester Center, MA

Last year, at the closing for one of my transactions, the seller walked out of the closing, so I smashed his piano!

Yes, I know that the title needs some explanation. I have tried to write this up a few different times, but there is just so much to write, so to make a verylong story short, here are some highlights (or lowlights):

• The final walk through went well, but we could not get into the garage and there was some extra building materials in the basement.
  
• Upon hearing that there would have to be a hold back when the seller walked into the closing, he abruptly turned and walked out of the building only to have the listing agents chase him down the street in the pouring rain in the middle of Boston.
  
• He ended up walking out of the closing a total of FOUR times before he was finally convinced that he could be sued for specific performance if he did not comply and sign the paperwork.
  
• The listing agents ended up agreeing to dispose of extra debris in his basement. The seller had of course insisted that this material went with the house since they were left over from the renovations. We are not talking about some extra tiles here, but a few truck loads of building scraps.
  
• I had to promise, in writing, that whatever was left in the garage when we finally got it open (the seller had conveniently "lost" the keys and swore that it was empty) I would get rid of. How bad could it really be, right?
  
• When I went to the prior owner's home after it closed to politely ask him for the garage keys, he pretty much slammed the door in my face.
  
• After we paid the locksmith to get the garage open, we found the seller left us a present: a grand piano! Since it was a wreck and could not restored (I had someone look at it), I had to take matters into my own hands:

Check out the youtube clip of me having to smash up the piano so I could get it out of there. The camera ran out of batteries just under two minutes into it.

Piano Smash - This is what happens when a homeseller leaves his piano behind...

Pope John Paul II Park Reservation
Neponset District
(617) 727-6034

Open year-round, dawn to dusk. Formerly used as a landfill and a drive-in theatre, the site of Pope John Paul II Park was once a barrier between the people of Dorchester and the Neponset River waterfront. The park now re-connects area residents to the resources of their unique and delicate river estuary by offering picnic facilites, soccer fields, play areas, paths for walking, restored salt marsh, and extensive plantings of native trees and shrubs. The DCR's restoration of the formerly degraded, contaminated site has also benefitted area wildlife: black ducks, mergansers, teal, Snowy Egrets, and Great Blue Herons, have been spotted at the park since it opened in June, 2001. Future improvements to the park will add restrooms, a fishing pier, a ranger station, and a link to the DCR's bike path network.

Directions:
MBTA: Take the Red Line (Ashmont branch) to Fields Corner. The #202 bus route passes by two of the park's entrances: at Neponset Circle and at Hallet Street.

By Car: Take US-1 South to exit 12, Rt 3A South and merge onto Gallivan Boulevard (MA 203). The entrance is located on Gallivan Boulevard. A second entrance is located on Hallet Street.