Monday, September 25, 2006


Took a few days to prepare the street outside for paving, but once the paving machine & steamroller moved in late this afternoon, half the road for a long block was covered & packed down within minutes. I hardly had time to grab the camera.

Yipes. Right now, if the Mets had to play the Phillies for 3 out of 5 next week, I'd pick the Phillies in 5. Fortunately for the Mets, the Phillies will be playing elsewhere or not at all.

Noxious gas cloud sickens dozens in Elizabeth N.J.
This occurred several miles east & downwind of where I live, over by the Jersey Turnpike, a localized event. Heard about it on the radio. It was near a big shopping mall & the airport. The closest manufacturing industries to me are pharmaceuticals with excellent safety reps. The only really strong noxious fumes here today were awful cooking odors coming from the apartment beneath me, I had two fans running. I try not to imagine goat's head soup.

Comments:
I love it when road crews have to strip away the asphalt for repaving. It's almost like an archaeologist's dig; you never know what they'll uncover.

Parkersburg, like the Elizabeth street in your photo, was once laced with cobblestone streets. Many still remain and are, often, bones of contention.

City fathers would rather 'repair' them by covering them with asphalt. Local residents see the attraction of cobblestones but don't often consider the high cost of keeping the streets authentic.

Road work sometimes uncovers long-buried street car tracks. If you're in the right place at the right time, you can photodocument them as I've done several times here in town.
 
I thought of the many hours of hard labor required to lay the original brick street, & appreciate that it was so well-constructed that it continues to serve its purpose. A tribute to a lot of forgotten men.
 
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