A piece of the puzzle

Anyone who has ever tried to get around the Washington, DC, metropolitan area on a regular basis understands how bad our traffic has gotten. We hear a lot of debate about how to solve the problem, with proposals for road improvements and smarter development flying around as thick as the mosquitoes in July. But one thing you don't hear a lot about is the Potomac River, except that it presents a barrier to efficient traffic movement. But what if we were to use the river itself to move people? In today's Washington Post, columnist Steven Pearlstein discusses this very concept. I doubt it would be a magic solution to our traffic woes all by itself, but it makes a lot of sense to consider it as an integral part of a comprehensive transportation plan for the region (yeah, like that's ever going to happen...).

Steve Pearlstein's column from today's Washington Post.

I recruited a new BookCrossing member today!

Last night I received an e-mail from an author who had read some of my book reviews on Amazon. She wanted to know if I'd be interested in reading and reviewing her book. Of course, I rarely turn down a free book, but it occurred to me that this was an opportunity to promote BookCrossing. I suggested that she join BookCrossing and register the book before sending to me. After I read and review the book, I'll be passing it on to others, and this way she would be able to find out what all the book's readers thought of it. Apparently, she found this idea appealing, because she joined! Unfortunately, I didn't get credit for her joining for BookCrossing's current "Tell-a-friend" program, but it was cool that she joined!