Son Of Daughter Of Rail Runner Ranting: Part III

This morning I am doing my civic duty and have stopped reading Jean Teasdale in The Onion mid-pathos. I have instead joined a group! I have instead joined the heretofore unknown "AlbuquerqueBusRiders" group on Yahoo! The civic pride is shimmering off of my sweatshirt this morning like brightly colored Gatorade TV-ad sweat!

Say what you will about something as over, as blandly pre-2006, as Google, but it's still pretty cool. Not only did a search for something "light rail Albuquerque" turn up the 5, now 6, member AlbuquerqueBusRiders Yahoo Group, but also an unsigned screed against Light Rail in ABQ. Not just a screed, but a pretty darn funny one. Seriously, I have no idea as to the veracity of the arguments made by this page, but any web page whose very title says there should be a "moritorium (sic) on the Nob Hill Sector Plan" has got my confidence immediately.

My wife, who, when forced at gun point, actually looks at this blog, keeps reminding me that nobody ever clicks on blog links. That's a pity, because it you click on the "moritorium" screed (linked for your convenience above) you not only get some possibly very compelling (or possibly not) reasons why light rail is bad, you also get scathing(and pretty darn funny) criticisms of the consultant's pictures done for the circa-2002 "plan" for an ABQ light rail system AND gruesomely cool actual photos of wickedly smashed cars that have been creamed by light rail trains. Unfortunately, there are no photos of cars being smashed by buses, as buses evidently emit some sort of friendly force field making accidents impossible.

Just to be "fair and balanced", my swelling civic duty has also led me to join another Yahoo group! This one is Light Rail Now! (the name of which continues the liberal tradition of using imperatives in groups/causes, e.g. Move On! Democracy Now! Support the Troops! ...oh wait) This group has more members (272 as of my joining), and is national in scope. A quick glean of the messages for this group illustrate a regrettable lack of misspelled words, and a strong predilection toward words like "modal" and "exurban". Albuquerque gets mentioned at the Light Rail Now! News website for the Rail Runner stuff, and includes a little teaser:

"In addition to regional passenger rail, a light rail transit system for Albuquerque has been moved up as a possibility with the re-election of Mayor Martin Chavez, who made installing such a system a major campaign priority."

I am LOVING the use of the word "major" in that sentence. Okay, tomorrow will officially be "Grand Unification Analysis Day" here at 'Burque Babble, a day in which I will succinctly and profoundly distill and permeate the various plans, boondoggles and visions to achieve a pithy, yet all-encompassing summation of what ABQ and NM should do regarding mass transportation for the rest of recordable time. A lofty goal, but after all I have done almost THREE DAYS of research on the subject (at great psychic costs, I mean I could have instead focused my energies on Big Bill touching Diane Denish's leg or this woman getting a restraining order against David Letterman, et. al., for sending her secret signals via her television).

But that's tomorrow. First, I have to mentally prepare for such a definite, seminal analysis by getting back to that Jean Teasdale article, putzing around the house and watching the Blake's Lotaburger Chile Bowl from Deming. Go, Northwestern Iowa Tech - Ottumwa, Go!