"The only thing that saves us from the bureaucracy is its inefficiency." ~ Eugene McCarthy.

Good morning and welcome. Today is Friday, August 22, 2025, and, I thought for just a few minutes I would put on my curmudgeon's hat and let off a little steam. Here in the Woodlands area we are in the midst of what I would call roads and streets construction chaos. It's as if the spigot was opened at the same time and suddenly there's hardly anyway for one to get from point A to any other point. Okay. I will go the back way this time. Gotcha! Construction there too. I'm all for bicycle pathways that traverse alongside our highways but do they have to shut down the entire roadway to repave the bicycle path? Oh my. I find myself exhausted by the time I get to the freeway and then I wait 10 minutes on the feeder. I told the wife when I left the commute into downtown Houston I pretty much looked forward to no longer having to fight the traffic, but, alas, we fight it even to get to where our local body of believers in Jesus Christ gather to worship and hear God's Word. That we do nearly every trip except for Sunday morning. I'll let you guess why it's that way on Sunday morning. And, while I am at it, may I say this about it, whoever called The Woodlands one of the most livable places in the United States, well, I'm not sure what they had been smoking but I'm almost certain it was not barbecue. No. I'm not finished yet. Could, in the name of all that makes common sense a virtue, any of these projects have one iota of coordination between them? I know.They do often forget to mark their hands, left and right, and, on top of that, they have the evidence but my understanding is Louisiana purchased all of the slow men working signs. I must admit Louisiana deserves them but they could at least loan a few to our construction crews here in this area. If you think I sound critical, I'm a wee bit sorry, and, yes, I do know they are only doing their jobs. How about working the midnight shift? How  about staging the work so people can make it to work where they earn money and pay an overall average of 30% of everything they make to cover national, state, and local taxes? (That sounds low to me but that's what the most recent data shows.) Okay. I now remove my curmudgeon hat and say a prayer for all the workers that they would be safe. And, I do know they will not be injured while hurrying because whether they have their sign or not they've got it going big time from their hearts. Sorry. That just slipped out.

 

I did not intend to be harsh on those who work in construction. They have a job to do and they work for an outfit that specializes in overhead. I have to share my priority when I was directing a large corporate information technology department, computer and telecommunications. I wanted the 200 people in our group to understand that our job was to help each person in our company to be more productive, whether they wanted to be or not. It was not to deliver technology which we did on a regular basis. It was to serve the person using that technology. Every day in every way. My point? All projects including road construction projects should be designed with the individuals in mind that utilize those roads. Often, it appears the work itself is paramount. That my friend is a different emphasis. I rest my case. I rest my fingers from the keyboard, and, I rest my rant, and, finally, I rest in Him. Yep. That's where one finds rest. Have a great weekend which means Sunday is the first day of next week, so, make sure you honor the Lord by showing up where folks gather to worship. Enjoy. May God add His blessings. Amen.