May 19, 2006

I’m on call this weekend, so that means I’m going to be busying myself around the house for the next couple of days. There are a boatload of projects just waiting to be done; rounding up the dust bunnies and getting them back into their pen, baleing the hay and making a lawn again, rearranging flowers, installing the doorbell so that Avon can call, the list goes on and on.

I must say that I’m quite proud of myself having just ridden the vacuum cleaner around the downstairs in record time, sucking up everything that wasn’t nailed down. I went crazy and didn’t even saddle it up, I rode bareback.

If I’m going to be at home all weekend, I might as well look my best, so I trimmed my beard up (to the huge relief of Earl), put on deoderant and brushed my teeth after supper. Just for kicks I’ll brush them before bed too, even though I probably won’t eat anything in between. Just for kicks.

I’m curious to see if my blog entry on Sunday night will talk about how productive I was this weekend.

I think I need a nap.

Last night I did something I haven’t done in a really long time. I wrote a letter to the editor of our local paper. I also wrote a letter to our local state Assemblywoman.

I’ve taken the approach that if we’re going to live here for a while, we might as well contribute to the area and make it a better place.

The reason for my two letters is related to my “road geek”-ness. An expressway was completed in our area a couple of years ago. This expressway connects the two cities and was long overdue. In addition, it passes by a decommissioned Air Force base that has been converted into a business and technology park. Local government is doing everything they can to attract businesses and industry back to our area.

When the expressway was built, it basically replaced a two-lane state route and retained the same route number. The area is also home to one of the shortest interstates in the country, which provides access from the Thruway to a busy interchange.

Businesses looking to build or relocate look at a map and look for good access. Seeing an interstate shield guarantees to the prospective builder that it would be locating on a “prime” roadway. This approach has been used in New York’s Southern Tier with the redesignation of NY Route 17 as Interstate 86.

I proposed that we redesignate our local expressway with the number from that short interstate route, Interstate 790.

To many, it’s not a big deal. But to key players in industry and technology, it could be a make or break proposition for locating to this area. Let’s see if my idea catches on.