I just couldn’t take it anymore

 

Have you ever had one of those e days where you had to vent or explode? I had mine today. Perhaps it's was a weekend of watching grown men acting like children or the 100+ heat. I just couldn't take it anymore. I don't assume to know all the answers, but I can't believe we still have people that think that all we have to do is throw up an arbitrary number, and the problem is fixed. Some still say all we have to do is have a flat tax where everyone pays the same. That would be great if we were on a level playing field, but we obviously are not. It's always been easy to go after the poor and label them lazy, unproductive, and say that they should be able to fend for themselves. It makes me so angry that I can't resist going after those that hold that mindset because I've been hearing that for most of my adult life. When I ask for the proof, all I get is personal stories of what their neighbor down the block does. We do need some serious reform but not right now, because it would be devastating. That's why it's easier having budget talks when the economy improves because then cooler heads will prevail.

The other thing that angers me is people who will put down Victoria and our newspaper every chance they get. Every Sunday morning I drive to the Speedy Stop at Crestwood and Navarro to buy a Houston Chronicle. I'm also a longtime subscriber to the Victoria Advocate. It is just my opinion, but I don't see that much difference in the content but the papers serve two different purposes for me. I get the local perspective from the Advocate of course but why do I need a local perspective from Houston? We should be proud and grateful that we have a daily newspaper, even though we don't always agree with the content. If we agreed with everything, it would be extremely boring. I wish those that continuously badmouth the City of Victoria would just leave because their sentiments are never constructive. I wonder how they would like it if Victorians badmouthed our surrounding cities all the time.

There's nothing that irritates me more than someone who posts something that they know will get deleted and then come back and blame the moderator because their childish post got deleted. There is a difference between being singled out, a questionable deletion, and intentionally posting something that is likely to be deleted. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out what gets to stay and what gets deleted. Perhaps I missed some that should not have been deleted, but I agree with the ones that I have seen deleted. I'm not a moderator, so I leave that to the judgment of the proprietors of our online forum.

I don't blame people for getting tired of the same old political post we get on our forum. I bet if we were to pull up posts from five years ago; the same-old arguments would be found. People don't read enough to support their statements. Personal observations can enhance an argument but the situation can change from time to time; making that observation invalid and out-of-date.

When they bury or cremate me let it be said that I had a conscience and believed that a prosperous country should take care of its less fortunate. It's the moral thing to do, even though some might call it a welfare state. I also think that healthcare is a right and not a privilege. I don't think I'll live to see the day when we're on a path to alternative energy or taking steps to combat climate-change effects.

Will Victoria become bicycle friendly?

I got on my bicycle this morning to go to the Victoria Public Library but when I got to Red River at San Houston, I found it blocked. I don't mind the barricades but the soft sand would have made it difficult. It's about a 5 mile trip that usually takes me about an hour. I usually take a detour behind Citizens to find me a place where I can cross highway 59 safely. I know what the students go through every morning, half asleep, trying to cross that busy thoroughfare while trying to avoid those that are running late to wherever they are going. That's an accident waiting to happen.

The bicycle riders in California, who avoided "Carmageddon" inspired me,when they stayed off California's Interstate 405 while it was being repaired. I've been on that highway, and I just can't visualize it without backed-up traffic. It just goes to show that if we ask the American people to sacrifice; they will but we never ask. As a state, California is a lot more bike friendly than Texas. Austin does a pretty good job; it is quite a sight, watching the bikers navigate around the University of Texas area. I couldn't do it because it's too hilly but those bikers can get to their destination a lot faster than one driving a car. I've never lived in Austin but my nephew tells me that cars don't get into the bike lanes because they've gotten used to allowing that 3 feet or so for their fellow commuters. He said that he even allows the space where they aren't any bike Lanes. It's habit forming, I guess.

I use our trail ride but getting across Airline can be treacherous, unless you are an old retired person, who can wait out those persons that are in a hurry to get somewhere. It's a boring ride because backyard fences aren't that pretty. I do appreciate the city building the structure for us. We have a bike trail in our park, but it's too far away. I hope they build one around the Lone Tree area and leave as much as the original landscape as possible. I know it seems like I won't be happy, unless they build a bike trail outside my back door, but you don't know what I'm talking about, unless you try to ride a bicycle in Victoria. I've had pretty good luck bicycling from Tanglewood to the Wells Fargo at Mockingbird. I do have to cross Airline and Sam Houston at some point, but I have a lot of lightly traveled back roads I usually take. I have never tried to cross the Navarro but there are a lot of traffic lights on that main thoroughfare. It's the motorists that don't care about the lights much less the bicyclists that I worry about.

I don't expect Victoria to designate bike lanes because we have too many negative people that will see it as a waste of taxpayers' money. We even have some (as holein1 calls them) north side elitist who think anything south of Northgate is not worth improving. They only think of the south side when they flush their toilets. We've had some bicyclists hit by cars but the only solution right now is for people riding bicycles to stay off the roads. I don't ride my bicycle that much to worry about it, but I bet a lot more people would be riding bicycles if we became more bicycle friendly. The larger cities have community bicycles where you rent one and leave it at the next destination. The malls and other business place have installed bicycle for their customers at the front entrance.

If you come across an old retiree slowly peddling his way across Victoria on a bicycle equipped with a light, mirror, and a small GPS unit mounted on the handle; go around me but please do not honk. I don't know why I have lights; I would never ride at night.