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Last Updated: Nov 14, 2008 - 7:07:51 PM |
I don’t know how many times I have thought about doing some sort of project, taking a trip, or buying something when it’s on sale, and then decided not to take the plunge. I’m sure you’ve been there. You see that electronic gadget that you have been wanting and the price has dropped, but you decide to wait. Then the model is discontinued or sold out and you’ve missed the deal.
A couple years ago, I thought I would build a garage. Lowe’s price on 2 X 4s and plywood dropped way down. By the time I got serious about the project, lumber went through the roof. A disaster or building spike somewhere had driven up the price – so much for the garage.
Now lumber prices, for obvious reasons, have dropped again. But now the economy is in the dumpster and rotting fast. How could I now justify the garage project?
It’s the story of my life, a day late and a dollar short. Two years ago, my good friend predicted our current economic woes. He said, “Mark, you should put all the money you have into buying gold.” It was about $550 an ounce at the time; in July this year, it was just short of $1,000 an ounce. Now it’s fallen to about $835, but some are saying it will go to $2,000 at some point. I didn’t buy even a nickel’s worth.
How many times have you had some regrets about how you handle your finances? How many opportunities do we all see come and go without taking advantage of the right time to strike?
Always a day late and a dollar short.
Last week during all the noise of the Wall Street bailout, the federal government announced that it will help the state pay for an $11.5 million rail project that will build 3.1 miles of track in Spotsylvania County, an improvement that will allow more trains to pass one another.
For one thing, it’s amazing how the money keeps flowing from Washington, but on the other hand, it seems like too little too late.
It’s kind of like buying a Hummer just a couple of months before gas prices skyrocketed and your macho behemoth costs two paychecks to fill up. Yeah, I own a gas hog too, but I justify it by telling myself, “At least it’s finally paid off.”
But it never ceases to amaze me that projects like high-speed rail and other mass transit initiatives have been being put on hold for years. Now that money is tighter than ever and traveling alone is costly, high-speed rail and other mass transit project are starting to get a little attention. I guess even government misses opportunities.
Amtrak is experiencing a record number of riders. Express buses from Chesterfield to downtown Richmond are packed every work day.
“Traveling in a car: that’s just one way to travel,” Governor Tim Kaine said last week while announcing the federal grant funding. He said the state has seen a tremendous uptick in the number of riders of mass transportation. But our movement toward more public transportation is now stifled because government funding is as tight as it has been in decades.
As usual, a day late and a dollar short.
I think that over the next few years as road-building dollars dry up and roads become more and more crowded, many more of us will begin to accept mass transportation as a viable way to get around. Even now, most people will tell you that riding a bus is not on their menu of ways to get from here to there. It falls somewhere behind bicycle and skateboard.
A few years ago, Chesterfield dumped its LINK van service. It costs too much money, our supervisors said. I wonder if our new board feels the same way. The problem is that now that it might be more accepted and get more ridership, it would be much more expensive to start it up again. But in two or three years from now, it will be even more expensive to start. So when does it happen? What will be the tipping point for our local government to get on board with mass transit? How many people will be to the point of not being able to afford gasoline before we make the decision to push for vans, buses, or light rail?
It will be interesting to watch how it happens; how we transform the way we travel around the county or commute to downtown.
It seems that all things move rapidly nowadays. Look at what happened to the financial markets in just a few weeks. Sure, it has been building for years with the whole sub-prime loan debacle, but our need for less expensive transportation has been building for just as long.
Are we going to jump on the bus now, or will we be telling ourselves in years to come how we should have gotten it started years ago, when we again say, “A day late and a dollar short”?
mfausz@villagepublishing.com | 751-0421
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