Tuesday, March 16, 2010

An Open Letter to the Virginia DOT


Dear Virginia Department of Transportation:

I was merrily barreling my way north on I-71 (with my sweetie riding shotgun – a witness, if you will) and noted that there were men in orange vests with shovels by the right side of the road. I was in the middle lane. As I approached the little band of workers, one of them dipped his shovel into a bucket, and during a lull in traffic, took the contents of the shovel blade & flung it at a pothole in the right lane. You may find this hard to believe, the (What? Gravel?) did not actually make it to the pothole. The (What? Sediment?) scattered across the pavement like marbles hit by an aggie (another marble - not a Texas athlete).

In future you might want to consider a more efficient way of filling potholes. Perhaps employing a few of the orange barrels in your possession. Just an idea.

Sincerely,


The Bug


Dear Virginia DOT,


I, the undersigned, did witness the above described action on March 14, this annum, and do attest to the veracity of the above statement. I further make additional comment for the VA-DOT's consideration. While one commends the VA-DOT for its efforts to fill the myriad potholes left by the ravages of an unusually harsh winter, flinging by shovel some Asphalt concoction in the above mentioned pothole's general direction during lulls in traffic MIGHT not be the most effective means by which to repair said pothole. 

Sincerely,




Dr. M

This picture has nothing to do with the above-matter - but we took it while travelling through Virginia on the very day that the incident occurred.

18 comments:

  1. Oh, no...! Did any actually get into the pothole? Can you imagine what it did to the cars driving over it?

    I like your new avatar. It's cute. I can't decide whether you look surprised, or if you're about to sneeze :-)

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  2. Jo I took that picture after I was surprised by the spiciness of some Jalepeno Pringle chips. Yowza! Of course, I reenacted the surprise for the camera.

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  3. Thank goodness for stimulus packages!

    Love your letter, and the picture is a winner. Is that not beautiful country? Even if it is gray and brown at this time of year.

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  4. Gee, your highway workers and ours here in Canada must belong to the same union, or attended the same class on "The Fun And Pleasure Of Pot Hole Repair".

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  5. Are you still on vacation?? I thought you came back home. At least they are trying to fix them there...the potholes. I don't see anyone fixing ours yet....and I signed up for a study at the University. They are studying how old people drive. Hope I don't hit any potholes and start cursing during the study.

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  6. Oh classic.....around here, in Washington State, I believe it is a law that one DOT person must do all the work while no fewer than three others look on while doing nothing.

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  7. Brenda - we got home on Sunday.

    SWA - I believe there were actually three people by the side of the road watching the guy with the shovel - so it's the same in Virginia apparently!

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  8. Our pot-hole repairment have s spray-on pothole repair stuff that looks about at hard-wearing as porridge - and not the kind my dad made either, THAT would be hard-wearing!

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  9. Probably some community service yahoo.

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  10. All governments are inefficient. Some are just better at it than others.

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  11. I hope it didn't ding onto your car and mess it up.

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  12. Hehe, if VA is anything like CO those were likely people fulfilling community service requirements, Bug. I guess we can suss out how they actually feel about their community, eh?

    "Take that! Ricka-frack-rucka!"

    *pitch* *splatter*

    "And that! Stupid sobriety checkpoints, gah!"

    *fling* *scatter*

    "And my insurance rates are going to go up!"

    *hurl* *thud*

    "I thought it was legal to grow marijuana when you had a medical marijuana license, I really did."

    *forgets to throw anything, and stands with the other two busted pot growers, staring at belligerent, solid citizen Number 1*

    Each shovelful could tell its own story, I'd wager.

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  13. I've always wondered who provides the QA oversight for road repairs.

    At one time, about 15 years ago I found a civil engineering text from my local library covering road construction just to convince myself that people really applied some thinking to the process rather than just sending a gang of guys out on the road to play every day.

    I decided at the time that there is, at least, something that passes for a science to road construction and repairs.

    But now I'm not so sure that anyone really bothers to use it.

    I'm glad you didn't get a rock kicked up into your windshield.

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  14. Really, after years of working in labor relations I'm not surprised by this kind of stuff anymore. Just think your lucky stars they were only trying to fill holes in the road and not working with gas lines or electricity.

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  15. We do things better in the UK! Honest! The severe winter (by UK norms) has produced potholes by the hundred on local roads. At a lights-lights controlled junction near here, I watched workmen shoveling a mixture of tarmac and grit into potholes and stamping it down with their boots . . . this filled the hole magnificently . . . until the next vehicle came along . . .

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