You know, this bothered me all night long, keeping me awake, because I was sure my good friend Atman had lied somewhere in his details, as he always does.
For no particular reason, this:
http://triblive.com/opinion/ericheyl/10875004-74/toll-turnpike-commission
Ludicrous legislation takes toll on Pennsylvania Turnpike
Slam on the brakes.
That's what state lawmakers want to do to increasingly frequent instances of motorists skirting payment of Pennsylvania Turnpike tolls.
The problem wouldn't be nearly as prevalent had many of those same legislators years ago taken a detour around the lame-brain idea that directly resulted in turnpike travel becoming significantly more costly. How costly? Pretty soon only Saudi Arabian sheiks will be able to afford the outrageous tolls, though those guys probably prefer to fly their personal planes from Pittsburgh to Breezewood.
Those lacking private jet transportation sidestep the tolls in renegade fashion. They fly through toll booth areas without paying, despite the fact photos of their license plates are taken to make them easily identifiable scofflaws.
The Turnpike Commission lost $5.4 million last year to Chevy Suburban outlaws.....
Now, my good friend Atman insists Connecticut has no toll roads.
I'd like third-party verification on that, because I, franksolich, remember Connecticut differently.
And it is eminently possible my good friend Atman thinks his state has no toll roads because he drives by without stopping to pay.
During the late 1970s, early 1980s, many times I drove through Connecticut on my way to Springfield, Massachusetts, where I was oftentimes a guest of an elderly couple of Italianate derivation; he was an M.D.
It seems to me I recall toll roads in Connecticut at that time--but I could be in error. The memory's not as infallible as it was when I was young. Hence the request for third-party verification: yes or no, Connecticut has no toll roads.
Now, my good friend Atman might angrily insist, "but that was more than 35 years ago....."
But I'm under the impression that despite all these grandiose promises that something after it's paid for is going to be free, once a toll road or a toll bridge, it's a toll road for ever and ever, amen.
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I could never understand why people just zip by toll collectors after throwing some meager coins their directions; it's as if these living, breathing, thinking, feeling human beings are simply pieces of inanimate furniture.
<<<always found toll collectors a fascinating breed, and when given the opportunity, pause and chat with them, while digging around for coinage, asking how their life's going, asking how the wife is, asking if the kids are behaving, asking what they think about the weather, whatnot.
They seem to appreciate this, that someone is acknowledging them not only as human beings, but as
interesting human beings.
Of course, one should understand that there's no toll roads on 99.9999% of the mileage of highway franksolich travels; the nearest ones around here's in Kansas, and I don't go down south very often. There's some over in Illinois, and I do use those rather more often--but again, negligibly.
<<<so for me, toll roads are a novelty, and when I encounter one, I like to pause and see what makes it tick.
