Idle Thoughts...

Am I the only one who is getting more than a little pissed off about local government and their apparent lack of ability to prioritize and deal with the issue of high priced transportation?

The Government is seriously putting it TO us. Look at this.

Back in the day when gasoline was sub $2 a gallon it might have made a certain degree of sense to NOT deal with the issues of traffic, traffic flow, speed limits etc. However, NOW....it’s a different story.

The longer we wait to make this a red alert priority the more ALL of us will suffer.

I find it amazing that we have such a ridiculous situation as watching everyone completely freak out regarding the cost of fuel, yet, the number of tanks on the road has NOT significantly changed.

There was a time when drive through service was viable. At this point, I’m not sure we are doing ANYONE any favors by making window service at a drive-through available for any business that makes customers wait for longer than five minutes. Everywhere you look we have people waiting in a line of cars pumping exhaust into our fair city while accomplishing absolutely nothing. The streetlight situation is obscene. It didn’t really matter much in the past, what with 50% less cars on the road and fuel that was 50% the expense that it is today. But it certainly makes a difference now. Now, not only do we have more than twice as many cars on the road, idling in traffic at unnecessary stoplights, stuck in drive-throughs which are overloaded and take forever to get through, but also there is the flip-side of the argument. Once we actually get these vehicles packed onto the highway, and when traffic ISN”T at a dead standstill, why do we have speed limits which absolutely clog the highways ability to evacuate the traffic OUT of the area in a timely manner?

Am I the only one who sees that this is completely insane?

The solution.

Highways need traffic flow indicators spaced every so often which allow drivers to have advance warning of traffic conditions ahead. Speed limits need to be raised to 70m.p.h. in city limits and 80m.p.h. on the highway out of city limits. The law allowing people to pass on the right hand side of the road needs to be revoked. All passing should occur on the left hand side. The extreme right hand lane off an access road needs to have a speed limit which is low enough for people to actually have the ability to turn OFF and Get ON to it. Traffic lights THROUGHOUT the city need to me much more closely monitored for waste. They need to be synchronized and built with late night mode switching etc.

Folks, the more we bring traffic to a dead stop and having it sitting there, WAITING to move....the more unnecessary pollution we are pumping into the air in our fair city. The LONGER a trip takes to get from point a to point b, the more fuel we will expend, the more pollution we will create, the more stress we will place on our citizens tempers, wallets and their bodies. At a very basic level, this is bad for everything. Bad for business, bad for health, bad for creating unnecessary road rage, bad for creating excess pollution. Bad for making a trip across town cost a citizen much more than it has to.

We cannot do much about the explosive growth which has increased the number of cars on the roads, nor can we do much regarding the out of control inflation of the price of fuel. But what we, the citizens of this fine city CAN DO..........is make sure that when someone turns the key, that we aren’t flagrantly adding unnecessary pollution, frustration, and heat to our home here.

We do this by getting serious about dealing with the WAY we manage traffic on the roads. Keep vehicles moving....until they get to their destinations, and keep them moving to their destinations as fast as we can safely manage. Prevent.........cars from lining up on the highway to sit still and burn TONS of fuel while simultaneously producing TONS of pollution.

This isn’t something we need to talk about and kick around for a while.

This is something we need to deal with TODAY.

Staring into the Abyss...

All this time I have been desirous of being able to take the time to just stop.

To reflect, and ponder the state of my affairs, to stop and check for my position on the map and ensure I am still on my intended path or find out that I have wandered into the rough.

I had a curious twist of insight, when I realized that in my ulitmate frustration of not being able to get anything done, that no matter what my intention I wound up each time I had an opportunity to sit still......that sitting still has been just about ALL that I could accomplish. The frustrations mounted continuously until, poised at the brink of an incredible silent scream, I realized........that maybe sitting still is what I am being directed to do. That Spirit has stopped me dead in my tracks with neck problems for....a reason.

Funny how I wasn’t able to manage to put together into my head the curious synchronicity of having an overwhelming DESIRE to sit still and do nothing with the overwhelming physical circumstance of not being ABLE to do anything more than sitting still. Yet still, I fought it. I am conditioned by this world to believe that because it is my nature to be still and reflect that this is a bad thing. I have been conditioned by the necessity of playing catch-up all the time to experience extreme guilt or anxiety if I am not constantly using the free time I have to attempt to gain ground in regard to my to-do list.

But is that really it? Not just for me, I mean, but for all of us?

Could it be that the reason we have difficulty sitting still anymore is because we have difficulty dealing with our lack of purpose when no task defines us with it’s necessity?

Could it be?

To be able to sit still. To be able to acknowledge self in the silence of stillness is to not use the denial of the mundane to shy away from the issue that we all must....inevitably.....face.

What purpose do I serve? Why am I here? What the HELL is this all about?





Corny as it may sound, I’ve always believed that I was here to do one thing. I’ve always believed I was here for the primary purpose of giving love to everyone. Ok, there is that, but the primary reason I am here is to teach a little bit. Yet the primary reason I am here is to consume mass quantities of fresh pizza. Yup, that and the primary reason that I am here is to be the consumer of fine chocolate. That is, when I’m not doing my primary purpose of drinking only the best coffee. I try to work that in when I’m not doing my primary work, bringing hope and a smile to those who need it. But it’s not all sweetness and light you know, sometimes I have the unpleasant duty of my primary purpose, witch is to teach through adversity. To bring about the circumstances witch will enable a spirit to burn away all of it’s impurities, so that it may recognize it’s own divine reflection. However, my primary purpose here is to be a lover of women.
That is, until I have to fulfill my primary purpose of living by example. Then there’s that other thing, my primary purpose, which is to teach each and every human being I meet, of how incredibly special, and beautiful they are, which is usually a very difficult task because they have been taught otherwise. Sometimes, I am called on to engage in my primary purpose, which is to challenge belief structures and show that everything is all part of the same ...pie.

I guess until I am called upon for my primary purpose, I’ll just sit here a while and stare into the abyss.