Taking it to the Streets

You know how you can tell the entire world your mood at a given moment on all the social networking sites? If Blogger had a mood icon, right now I would select "I Want to Kick my City in the Coccyx and Call It a Bad Name."

Why? Because I am beyond pissed at them. If Pissed was riding a tricycle down the highway, I passed it on a Harley three days ago. Last week we received an assessment of the upcoming construction work that will be completed on our streets starting tomorrow. Yes, streets PLURAL because we are idiots who live on a corner lot. For the privilege of one full summer with interrupted parking, noise, chaos, jackhammers, diesel exhaust fumes, a ripped-up lawn, and stench (because they are replacing the sewer lines under our streets), we get to pay 10% of our gross household income.

At 8% interest over ten years.

Yippee!

Remember when I was rambling on about whether to take a tropical vacation or remodel the kitchen this summer? And then I got all excited about saving for a down payment on a new house? (I didn't tell you that part.)

This new development certainly simplified that decision-making process.

Here's the deal. I live in a mixed, blue-collar neighborhood that is likely home to many people on very fixed incomes. Nobody can be taking this well. But guess what? Last year's flooding caused a sewage system collapse a few blocks from us. Hence the massive street and infrastructure repairs mere feet from our house.

A sewage system collapse. That's a pretty important thing to fix. Important and disgusting.

I'm suddenly thinking of Lynyrd Skynrd's "That Smell."

I'm also wondering this: if the sewage pipes have been leaking for the past year, where has all the poo been going???