Nov 16, 2008 - 04:05:23 CST
There was mass grumbling in a Tuesday morning meeting from a usually somewhat restrained group of managers. And a group of retired executives expressed the same displeasure at a Wednesday morning meeting. But they weren't the only angry people last week from Bismarck and Mandan.There was also a Tribune letter writer who had little good to say about the situation, and another letter to the editor author seemed mad as heck and not willing to take it anymore.
Lots of folks were talking all over town.
But it wasn't the national economy that was causing all the angst. It was something much closer to home and obviously much more serious. It was the condition of Bismarck-Mandan streets after our 9-inch snow, blizzard and freezing rains.
"The blizzard we experienced in the south-central area of North Dakota has revealed glaring shortcomings," wrote Michael Philleo. "It has become painfully clear that either our tax dollars are being misspent or that we are not getting what we deserve from our tax revenue spent on road and highway services. City street crews failed in their duty to clear the roads that many people depend on for their jobs or to get the medicine they depend on daily."
Philleo exaggerated, no doubt for effect, when he wrote that he could single-handedly turn the country's recession around if he had a dollar for every car he saw in a ditch, stuck on ice or being pushed by a good Samaritan.
While the brunt of the storm hit Thursday, Nov. 6, the main roads only had somewhat clear wheel ruts (grooves) on Tuesday. That meant changing lanes or turning over mounds was often like sliding on a slip-n-slide. And the not-so-main roads to and from our homes were mostly slick, nasty and nearly completely covered with ice - for several days.
Bismarck Mayor John Warford said Monday that in many ways the condition of roads after such a storm comes down to sand vs. salt. A cleaning agent used here is a more environmentally friendly sand-salt mixture. A stronger salt solution would get the job done better and faster, but it would have more side effects, including rusting cars.
Other city officials further explained the road conditions being less than desirable for longer than desirable because of several factors, foremost being the wet, heavy snow - the worst in 11-12 years. Also, Friday trash wasn't able to be picked up until Monday, which was also an early pick-up day for Tuesday trash, moved a day earlier because of Veterans Day. The trash overload on Monday, thus, took more road workers away from the road.
Here's possibly another factor. Last winter, it seems every storm heading our way parted like the Red Sea and circled around Bismarck-Mandan, only to dump on the rest of the state. Maybe it was just our time to get nailed. And maybe we though we were still living a charmed life and forgot the Boy Scout motto: Be prepared.
Wednesday was to have been the day the roads would be tackled with a vengeance by the city. But the sun Wednesday and Thursday, with 50-degree temperatures, seemed to be the most effective road cleaner.
Here's the lesson. We are under the control of and must submit to Mother Nature. Her wind will howl when she chooses. Her snow will blow, day or night. Her rain will freeze when she dictates. And her sun will shine at her appropriate times.
Try as we might to control her power (sometimes fury and rage), we are at her mercy and should learn to appreciate the beauty of her offerings and her wisdom; patience is, after all, a virtue.
It sounds somewhat like being married. (Did I really write that?)
No doubt I'm in trouble once again, maybe even in a cold, cold dog house.
(You can reach Editor John Irby at 250-8266 or john.irby@bismarcktribune.com and go to www.bismarcktribune.com/blog/?w=thepaper&e_id=2671/ to read his blog.)
chamali wrote on Nov 23, 2008 1:49 AM:
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