Where the rubber hits the pavement. Or...the dirt road.

One of the things that has always confused me about the 'positive thinking' folks, the people who say things like, 'Well, things are just getting back to normal. Now houses will be affordable again,' is whether they understand that there has to be consequences.

Things are getting back to normal. That's just fine and dandy, innit?

But what about all the people who were building those houses? Back to Mexico? Or just missing 'overtime?' What happens to all those lost jobs?

What about the people who write mortgages? Or titles? Do we need a hundreds of those when the town is selling a hundred houses?

How many furniture stores do we need? How many meetings at restaurants are going to be canceled because not enough people show up?

And so on.

Use your imagination.

So when the city of Bend suddenly has a huge shortfall in fees, well....that's kind of where reality sets in, isn't it? Governments will always beg for money, but isn't part of their job to plan for the future? Like they couldn't have seen this coming?

It's one of the reasons that I thought they needed to slow down their grandiose plans. Watching their little programs detailing all the changes they were planning on Third Street it kept coming back to me, where in the hell did they think all the money was going to come from?

I watched the city council meeting for awhile on T.V. last night, and was once again struck by the fact that I could never do what they do. Too much work, for nothing.

But still, they better get their heads wrapped around the idea that the money has stopped flowing, and will probably be stagnant for years yet to come.

Juniper Ridge, hell. They'll be lucky to keep the roads paved.