Malden, this is your last chance

Driven by optimism or insanity, I just signed a lease on an apartment in downtown Malden, the once-vibrant city of my birth. I almost decided against it last weekend, when the Orange Line (soon to be my lifeline to Boston) was replaced by shuttle buses, and there was another bad omen this morning when the MBTA announced delays on the subway line. (The T site actually noted delays "between Back Bay and Forest Hills," which makes no sense. If there are delays on any part of the line, there are delays on the entire line.) Maybe the hot weather drove me to an apartment with central air-conditioning, or the screaming kids in the swimming pool next to my current home forced me into a high-rise with no backyards for blocks in any direction.