Well. I’m on your side. It’s not going to change but I’m in agreement with you. Fishing licenses are the same as I recall (haven’t bought one in years but CT wanted some huge amount of extra money for me as a MA resident and I live like 1 mile from the border)

Rhode Island charges 2x for out of staters (I am a MA resident who lives close to RI camps) What do you think is an appropriate “slightly higher rate”? Not trying to be antagonistic seriously what are you thinking would work? Would 2x like RI be ok?

Price Chopper? Stop & Shop? If you’re looking for a guy with some money then switch those out for Whole Foods.

My advice is stay away from Shaws.

Oh oh I thought of another possibility: book stores. Barnes and Noble or another local place. Come to Webster, Booklover’s Gourmet has events and I always see the older/grayer crowd in there. Yes I know it’s Webster so you won’t pick up any rich dudes (in all probability).

Good luck! I think it’s sweet you’re going to be wing woman for her.

That fits that is when I left CT and went to college and I know those folks had not bought the stone house by that point. The Stone house there technically owns all that property along the 5 mile river and the land right up to the dam and now there’s no trespassing signs everywhere. You can still stand on the bridge and look at the falls and damn but no swimming or going down around to the shore

The current owners of the property surrounding the dam and falls put up extensive no trespassing signs many years back and are sticklers for enforcing it. I am not sure when you swam there but I’m guessing quite some time ago?

I grew up in this area in CT (Ballouville, near Putnam) and moved away, and 20ish years later moved back and now live on the MA side of the border in this area again. It was a great area to grow up in and I’m happy to be back.

Whole Foods. It won’t be cheap but they have a lot of unique stuff.

Well it’s Putnam to be clear but it’s not that bad a drive from Worcester- straight south on 395 to Putnam Ct.

Following. I’m in Webster (south of Worcester) and found Joseph’s Jewelers in Putnam , CT (just over the border into CT) who did watch repair in-house (they did not send out) which was what I wanted. They fixed three vintage Omegas and cleaned up a quartz vintage Bulova I had and it was very reasonably priced. They also replaced a battery for me in a novelty watch.

I would vouch for them as a good choice if you are unsuccessful in Worcester. The father and son both work on watches and they also services clocks.

I know it’s not what you asked but I hope it still is useful. And I hope to hear about more choices - I’d love to find a dedicated horologist in Worcester.

My personal experience at St V’s has been good. I recommend them. I went there in the first place because that is Reliant’s local area large hospital for anything advanced and that’s where you get sent fir most specialists (my cardiologist, ENT, etc)

As a caregiver I have been involved in a lot of trips to Umass and my opinion (again not personal experience) is that it is not any better than St V’s in a general sense and the ER is definitely worse.
I have some very specific memories of ER experiences at umass belmont that have left me with a very bad taste. Pain management should be top on the list of priorities and I remember when finally some pain meds were given after a long wait and the patient finally had some relief and I was ready to smack someone i was so angry at that point. Enhhh healthcare sucks and I can’t say either is better hands down, unlike some people in this thread who give umass the clear victory. 🤷🏼‍♂️