Holiday Weekend: Important Info

So we have a weekend full of holidays, Jewish, Christian, and secular, and many in our fair city will be traveling to other states to see family, or welcoming out-of-state friends into town. Invariably, Massachusetts-related questions will arise. Let us provide some basic info:

1. That revolutionary new universal healthcare plan everyone's been hearing about all over the country, the one that is supposed to solve all our problems by placing responsibility on individuals and businesses? Turns out the governor (surprise) isn't into the whole responsibility-for-businesses part, and even without that, conservatives don't like it and it may not work so well elsewhere anyway.

2. Patriot's Day is a real holiday that pre-dates the marathon and celebrates the midnight ride of Paul Revere. Anyone who says different is just jealous because their state doesn't have as many holidays as ours.

3. We don't have to file taxes on Saturday. We don't even have to file them on Monday. They're due on Tuesday, April 18, if you live in Massachusetts or anywhere else that sends tax forms to the Andover, MA, processing center (New York, DC, Maine, New Hampshire, Maryland, and Vermont).

4. The Red Sox' magic number is 153.