Where'd the money go?

So as we were bumping along the dirt road leading to my house the other day, I asked my mother why the county just didn't go ahead and pave the road. They have to grate it probably once every month, and it is still horrible.

She told me that last year the state legislature passed something that included $35000 for road improvements on that very road. And the road had been oiled not long after, but there has been no improvements.

So where did the money go? I mean oiling a road can't take that much money. And why couldn't they have asked the residents to chip in for paving and just have got it done?

I asked my mother this, and she said that before the measure was passed, years before, the residents were told that they would each have to contribute between three and five thousand dollars to get the road paved.

But why didn't they try again when they had some money to offset the costs to the residents?

Now the road is dangerous. When somebody travels down it the cloud of dust is so thick behind them that you cannot see if there is anything behind them. Also because one side is slightly better than the rest of the road drivers have taken to driving on the wrong side of the road. Impenetrable dust and drivers on the wrong side of the road, joy. Also pickup trucks and SUV's tend to speed down the road at insane speeds while cars must take it slower so as not to fall into one of the ruts. Oh, boy, speeding large thing into back of slower car.

So at what point does it become more cost effective to actually pave the road? Right now I think they are paving once every 2 months, when the road gets so bad that it should be once every 2 weeks. And I think that the condition of the road is actually getting to the point where it's doing damage to my car. I mean, cars have suspension for a reason, but if the road itself is so bad that the suspension is worthless what kind of damage can you do?

So why do I have any right to complain? Because I'm willing to chip in to get this road paved. I'm poor, and my contribution would be only one... maybe one and a half hundred dollars. But I feel that this would be cheaper in the long run than constant regrating of the road. And there are other people in my household who would probably be willing to contribute if the costs were offset with the money that was appropriated for use on this road.

Unfortunately, in this state... somebody will have to die on this road before anything happens. It's been proven time and time again. And even then the family(s) will have to petition and become political to even get enough money to offset costs.

Ok, enough of my daily rant.

In other news... Torn is available for sale. Found out yesterday when curoiusity took ahold and I plugged my ISBN into amazon to see if it even acknowledged the existence of the book. Not only did it acknowledge it but had it for sale. Yippee!

Ok enough for today.