I am not a pessimist, I am a realist, and the few times I display some optimism it generally gets shot down. Like the time I was 90% sure I was going to get a job offer and didn't. Or this time, when MoDOT and City Council were being so cooperative about the possibility of changing the speed limit on our road.

MoDOT said they'd do a traffic study. The MoDOT engineer called me yesterday. He was super nice. I mean he called me personally instead of making me track him down. And he was really nice on the phone. But the result is-- cars drive 55 mph in the 55 mph zone and therefore they aren't going to change the speed limit.

I am astounded at this logic. Remember when the interstate speed limit was lifted and Montana had no speed limits? People drove 100+ mph and the highway fatalities skyrocketed and Montana eventually imposed speed limits again. People are lulled into thinking that it is safe to drive 55 mph because that is the posted speed limit. This is how speed limits are determined? By the average driver?? I thought there was something more to it, something involving experts and analyses, not 100 people whose only credential is a driver's license (if that).

As nice as he is, if it had been his daughter on that bicycle...

Well, it's a blow, because I really thought with everyone being so kind and cooperative that it was going to happen. But it's not over yet. Only I was so upset that I'm going to wait a few days before I look into the next step.