OK, so t's been a little more than a week since a 15 year old girl was hit and killed on the road near where I just moved to. It's a stretch of Tampa Road in Palm Harbor between Curlew Road and McMullen Booth Road. I drive down this piece of asphalt many times each week and even before this accident I had already noticed the lack of streetlights.
The street runs past a large shopping complex that is always busy having a Starbuck's, Panera, Mongolian Grill, and large movie theater among other things. On Friday nights it's even more crowded with large groups of teens "hanging out" as teens are inclined to do. When we left the movie theater with a half-asleep Remi in tow (seriously, he fell asleep watching Aliens vs. Monsters... something is wrong with this boy), we drove right past the accident scene... a pickup with a smashed front-end, ambulance crew working frantically at ground level, police directing traffic.
Just before getting to the scene, we spotted a group of three or four teens standing in the median of the road, just hanging out. I said something to the effect of "I wonder how often one of these kids gets hit out here since there are no streetlights..."
Now I realize a LOT of people move to Florida for the sunshine, but I also know people look at things like no income tax and think it's a great thing. Personally, I am very disappointed in the leadership in the state of Florida. Ever since I moved here I have been amazed at how many kids are taken (amber alerts weekly), how many seniors are taken (SILVER alerts... yes, no lie, Silver Alerts), and how many kids are killed crossing the street. Seriously, for the first couple years here it seemed like a weekly occurrence to hear about a kid getting killed crossing 19, or McMullen Booth, or Hillsborough after the school bus driver dropped them off on the wrong side of the road.
Is it me or does anyone else see a problem here? Are homeowners not paying enough property taxes to put streetlights throughout our cities or to hire bus drivers that have to pass a simple common sense quiz? For that matter, why would a school bus make a stop on a main road like US 19 or McMullen Booth or Tampa Road. I just saw a school bus drop a kid off the other day at the corner by a MacDonald's. Seriously, is that where that kid is supposed to be let off???
I have decided that it's time to get involved locally. I have no idea who the local representatives are but I am going to find out what can be done about something so simple as streetlights.
And maybe we can get the stop lights put in a spot where people can actually see them... just a thought...
***
This just occurred to me the other day...
I think Jennifer Aniston may have a penis.
Think about it... she's had three high profile guys (Brad Pitt, Vince Vaughn, John Mayer)... high profile breakups... and rumors of all the work she does to stay smokin' hot... so it started the thought process.
If I had Jennifer Aniston, what would be the one thing that would push me away from her? If she were God-Awful in bed, would that make me run for the hills. Or, lets say she was horrendous in bed AND brought a little pal to the show!
Now a high profile Hollywood couple like Brad & Jen isn't one thats easy to break off. There's all the tabloid stuff, EVERYTHING is public... and who knows, maybe Brad likes being the chick from time to time... But at some point it'll all fall apart...
She still looks phenomenal, but I would have to think long and hard (no pun intended) before I decided to take a date with Ms. Aniston at this point.
Peace out...
Heitz
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