My transportation dilemma.

As a veterinarian I am becoming a wealthy, wealthy man so I've decided to upgrade my daily transportation from the Bianchi Volpe I bought used 10 years ago for 400 bucks.  I thought about a sweet custom bike or even leasing a Honda, but I settled on a Bentley instead.  Because I want to roll in style.  It is totally affordable as long as my plan to win the lottery in the next 5 years comes to fruition.  My wife divorced me because she thinks I am an idiot with money.  Now I'm in a little bit of trouble because I may have overestimated my vast wealth by a smidgeon.  I'm having a hard time with the alimony on top of the mortgage and everything else.  I haven't even thought about selling the Bentley.  I might ask my parents for a loan to cover the car payments.

Does this scenario sound at all like a city with a 5 billion dollar drill stuck in the ground, asking for voters to approve a tax increase so that bus service isn't cut?

Does it sound at all like a country that can't take care of its citizens because its too busy writing blank checks to to companies that turn around and hand it to their CEO, or the military which in turn hands it to civilian contractors?

See you later.  I'm the not-so-wealthy veterinarian on the Bianchi.  I am happy and damn lucky to have a beautiful family and own a home.  But I'm disappointed with some of the decisions of our elected leaders.

The tunnel

I found this article rather interesting.  Could it have been that maybe McSchwinn was right about the big tunnel?  Remember that in the upcoming mayoral election please.  Our original toll forecast, from the people ramming this project down our throats, has now been downgraded more than 50 percent.  This is going to cost someone a lot of money.  Probably me, come to think of it.  Remind me again how much of the bicycle master plan is unfunded at this point?  Why is it that traffic forecasts concerning auto use are always this optimistic?  And why is it always the opposite concerning bicycles?

McSchwinn and the tunnel

Yesterday the Seattle Times wrote a nice piece about Referendum 1 passing. As usual for the Seattle Times, several people (that worked on the pro-Ref 1 campaign) were quoted about how the political future of McGinn is permanently ruined. My favorite was that "McGinn is a dead man walking". I think the only person in the McGinn camp given space in the article was McGinn himself. I'm not sure why the Seattle Times hates McGinn so much, but it is nothing new.
So I feel compelled to chime in and say: thank you Mayor, for trying to do the right thing. I think the tunnel is going to be a disaster. There will be cost overuns, Seattle residents will wind up paying for them, and I won't even use the damn tunnel because there are no downtown exits. As it is now, I occasionally use the viaduct.
The only good I can see from this tunnel is that more people will be compelled to ride their bikes due to the traffic congestion during construction and the tolls that will have to be collected to (partially) pay for it.
I'm still with you McGinn, keep up the good work!