Well since we got this "stimulus plan" pushed through congress, one of the key points of it was supposed to be infrastructure. So here comes the road repair. Not a terribly bad idea. We all like to have nice highway or freeway to roam upon.

My problem is more with the road crews that are managing this debacle. Now I'm not normally one to put somebody down for getting a good paycheck. BUT...(and I hope there aren't too many cal trans people here) $18.00/hr to hold the sign that says stop/slow???Seriously....For that kind of money, I would think they could get somebody with at least an ounce of social skills. You don't have to come and give me a hug and bring me coffee, but would it kill ya to give a smile? Or a slight nod of the head as I pass by, just as a sign that you recognize that I've been sitting in front of you for the last 15 minutes waiting for you to turn that stupid sign from stop to slow.

Another great thing for me with these crews. In my lucky neck of the woods they are repairing a highway that I'm unfortunately forced to drive on at least 3 days a week. In a 2 mile stretch they stop us 3 different times. Now call me crazy, but wouldn't it be easier to just stop us once and let these people move the WHOLE 2 miles at a time. I would rather sit in one spot for 25 minutes then 3 spots for 15 minutes each time. You do the math, and can see that my way is better :)

In the past 4 months I have only encountered one person on these crews that seemed to have a personality. I was sitting there like usual and this guy holding the sign walked over to me and asked if I had to go all the way through or was I going to turn off. I told him I had to pass through the whole thing. So he told me, if I didn't mind a little extra drive time, he could give me a route that would save me about 15-20 minutes from waiting here for the lines to move. I was absolutely grateful and told him thanks about 10 times. You would have thought the guy won the lottery by the smile on his face (and mine). I guess not many people bother to tell people thanks around here when they do something nice. Which might be the reason that not many of these guys are all so friendly in the first place.

Oh well, I figure I have about 2 more weeks and they will be out of my hair. So for now I just bring a bigger size cup of coffee (and maybe a danish) and hope for the best.