By JT Szabo

I recently came across an interesting piece of information on how our state government wanted to spend a percentage of it's impending Federal stimulus cash.

Now, like a lot of you, I've been around Ohio for quite a while, and unfortunately I was rather unsurprised to find out that our Governor wanted to allocate close to 10% of the Federal stimulus monies destined for infrastructure...to TRAFFIC STUDIES.

Studies, of course meaning paying an outrageous sum of money to a "consulting firm" who gathers data on how roads are used. Sound like a racket? It pretty much is. Hmmmmm. How are Ohio's roadways being used? The answer, unfortunately, is increasingly becoming "to get out of Ohio". But that's for an entirely different rant.

My point today is simple. Ohio's leadership felt it much more important to dedicate a lot of money to "study" our roadways, while our actual roadways rot and deteriorate continuously. Oh, and by the way..."studies" don't "Stimulate" anything more than the consultant's wallet.

Fortunately, dear old Uncle Sam felt it necessary to step in and tell our Ohio leaders that they were essentially missing the point. And not a moment too soon, as our economy is firmly strapping itself in for the full brunt of the automotive shutdowns coming soon.

The Feds claimed that they would rather see the "Stimulus" money go to actual construction projects that, you guessed it, would stimulate construction jobs, and therefore our local, regional and eventually national economies.

So, today I will play the part of "Pro-Federal" and congratulate them for stepping in and preventing our Ohio leadership from making a huge mistake that could cost us all in the long run.

As always, I welcome your thoughts and comments. 

By JT Szabo

Dear Mr. Driver of the silver PT Cruiser whom I almost collided with in Troy Tuesday:

What's the hurry?

First, in case you can't recall the situation in question, let me refresh your memory. I was driving on West Main Street in my blue pickup truck, on my way home and minding my own business. You, in your silver late-model PT Cruiser, were in the process of beginning your entrance onto the above said street via a driveway in front of the Trojan Village shopping center.

Obviously, you're perceived right-of-way into oncoming traffic and thinking nothing of it was more important than the extra four to seven seconds of idling. And that's just above you.

So, as you might be surprised to learn, when you decided to bolt out of that driveway like an enraged bull shooting from the chutes at your neighborhood rodeo, I was quite perturbed at the scenario you had graceful dropped upon my buckled in lap.

Swerve, slam on the brakes, or T-Bone you into oblivion?

My preferred option would have been #3, but fortunately for you, and your insurance companies (both auto and medical), my love for my little blue pickup truck had me immediately spring to action to avoid your silver PT Cruiser. Bummer eh?

So, with the speed of a professional race car driver and finesse of a personal assistant, I was able to fit you into our fast-moving and congested lane of travel. You're Welcome.

Now that we've gotten the specifics out of the way, let me get back to my original question: What's the hurry?

Your disregard, or rather inability to regard, the surroundings you are in, specifically the traffic pattern presenting itself in front of your windshield is astonishing. How can one look at a busy street and say to themselves "ok, looks good to me" and just jump out into it?

So, wrapping my brain around this for quite some time, and I have come up with a few possible reasons for your erratic actions (in no specific order):

 1: You drive a PT Cruiser. Strike One.
 2: The discount tobacco store must have been closing soon
 3: You FAILED drivers ed. Just like high school huh?
 4: You are the most important person on earth. Obviously.
 5: You spend so much time on GTA3 instead of finding a job.
 6: You are a pizza delivery guy. I do like my pizza fast, after all.
 7: You drive a PT Cruiser. Strike Two, pal.

I could go on and on, but I don't want to.

So, what has me upset about this seemingly small line item in my Tuesday routine? Well, I had mostly forgotten about this incident, as I mostly shrug this kinda stuff off. UNTIL I had to cover TWO serious car accidents on the same street at about the same time on Wednesday.

Those accidents were a sobering reminder that this could have happened to me a day earlier. I wouldn't wish that on anyone...except you, Mr. Silver PT Cruiser.

We all live in Miami County, Ohio. There is absolutely no need to put each other's lives at stake for something so trivial as forcing your way into a busy street without consideration for everyone else. It is ignorant, dangerous and illegal, and I hope that should you continue to endanger the lives of our innocent neighbors and friends, you should receive what is coming to you...be it legal or worse.

Ok, with my rant over, it is time to get back to enjoying life. 'Cause, you never know what may happen down the street.

 

Swine Flu: Nope, Not Gonna Do it.
By JT Szabo

Holy Cow…er…Pig!

If you have turned on any kind of television, internet or radio device in the last few days, odds are you have been bombarded with concern and worry over the “swine flu”.

Well, I’m here to save you from all that needless concern. Not going to do it.

For a little over a month now, The Miami County Post has continued to grow, with more and more readers stumbling across our humble pages each day. And I really appreciate that, so I have decided not to reward you with undue burden or worry.

Apparently, the Swine Flu is a new and mysterious strain of the common influenza virus. No stranger to influenza am I, we’re old friends. Like a distant relative with frequent flyer miles, the influenza virus comes to visit my household every year at about the same time. And just like the years before, it comes…makes me miserable…then leaves without ever saying ‘you’re welcome”.

So naturally, when I first heard about this new variation, it seemed as if the major media outlets had called it a day. THE FLU! I said, waiting for the next story to come on. ‘Cause let’s face it, with the economy in the crapper, our once glorious auto industry on it’s way out to the slaughterhouse, and that little nuisance called a WAR, I naturally assumed that the flue would be a minor note in the newscast.

Nope. Not even close.

Finally, after watching some cub reporter tell me how to wash my hands and cover my cough for the forty-third time, I had nearly crossed the brink of insanity. Fortunately for me, they beat me to it.

I guess where I am going with this is, here at The Miami County Post, we don’t care. Sorry, but we don’t.

And it’s not that we aren’t sympathetic to the sick. But what about the Millions of people who just like me, get the flu. And what about the couple thousand people who actually die from the normal flu each year? Never hear anything about them. But add a little Latin-American spice to the story, a favorite barnyard animal, and voila! Instant storyline. It just doesn’t seem right to over inflate such a nothing story. “There’s a new strain of flu going around this year, so just be careful”. End of segment.

Unfortunately for us both, in order to reiterate the fact that I wasn’t going to hype the swine flu, since it’s the cool thing to do in journalism today, I had you read an article dedicated to the swine flu. And I truly am sorry for that. Just blame the media for making me do that and we will all be fine tomorrow.