Random Thoughts

I haven't done one of these in awhile ... it's brief random thoughts for Random Topic Fridays!

Marquette Roundabout Nears Completion

The controversial Marquette Roundabout that the Michigan Department of Transportation has been constructing is nearing completion. Much of the inner-workings of the roundabout are built - all that remains are the two exit lanes, one entering the bypass from Front Street and the one exiting the bypass and entering Front Street. I must admit, when I first entered the roundabout this evening, I didn't go in the right lane. Oops! But I didn't think it was fully functional yet. There is definitely going to be a learning curve for everyone when this thing officially opens. Yes, there are still detractors of the roundabout - people blaming the city of Marquette for going forward with this type of intersection. But these folks don't understand that this is an MDOT project - the city of Marquette had nothing to do with it (although the endorsed the project from the beginning). More complaints state that it's a waste of money and there was nothing wrong with the old intersection. And another common complaint is that bigger trucks will have difficulty traversing the roundabout as well as winter plowing concerns. They're all legitimate concerns, but all one has to do is do a little research on-line and find that all of those misconceptions that people have brought up are exactly that - misconceptions. People are just afraid of change and something new. In time, people will get comfortable with the roundabout and there'll be no further complaints.

A Racial Firestorm

A story broke on the news earlier in the week about an interracial couple dealing with threats from two townspeople in their community they just moved to. It kind of hits home to me because its my mom's hometown and the one community we frequently visited as a kid and the Fourth of July celebrations. Two men came to the front door of this couple's house and told them not to get comfortable where they are and to move on, all because the male was black. Well somehow, this story made the local news and has created quite the firestorm of comments on the website of the local TV station. This town's credibility took a serious hit with this story - I don't care if it only involved the two idiots making threats. In this day and age, you can't be making threats at someone of a different ethnic background. We're living in the 21st century, not the slavery era. It's shameful what these two individuals did and thankfully, they were apprehended by police for their actions. Not only did they make threats, but they did damage to the woman's car, by removing the radiator cap, cutting the emergency brake line, and draining the oil from her car. How immature and senseless is this. If you don't like someone moving into your community, you keep it to yourself. Everyone is free to live where ever they like. After all, this is a free country.

Last Month of Summer

And sadly, we're beginning to enter the final month of the summer season. I am sure many people in the south and the east are glad that summer is nearing an end, because it's been so hot. Well, we've definitely had our fair share of warm days here in the U.P., but nothing like those two areas of the country have faced. I just love summer in the U.P. - there's nothing like it. And I tend to get a bit depressed at this time of year when I know that summer is coming to a close. All of the greenhouses are closing up shop for the summer around here now and all of the summer gear is on clearance. The grass is beginning to dry up and some of the flowers are starting to die off. The days are slowly getting shorter. And a major, clear sign that fall is around the corner - the goldenrod is getting taller and taller. Oh well, it happens every year and it's just one of those things we have to accept. The nice part is that fall is usually quite nice in the Upper Peninsula, even though we tend to get our fair share of colder days sooner than we like. But hey, it's the U.P. We're used to it by now.