Rest in peace, Jeff Barnard.

One of Worcester's great voices passed away.  Jeff's blog introduced me to the Worcester blogging scene and enriched all our lives with his warped, wonderful view of Worcester.  He will be missed.

Do Not Stand At My Grave And Weep- Mary Elizabeth Frye

"Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am in a thousand winds that blow,

I am the softly falling snow.

I am the gentle showers of rain,

I am the fields of ripening grain.

I am in the morning hush,

I am in the graceful rush

Of beautiful birds in circling flight,

I am the starshine of the night.

I am in the flowers that bloom,

I am in a quiet room.

I am in the birds that sing,

I am in each lovely thing.

Do not stand at my grave and cry,

I am not there. I do not die."

How did this story start?

Either National Grid, Thiro and the City of Worcester were embarrassed by Clive McFarlane's column and Jeff Barnard's post on Monday, or the remedy for Coolidge Road was already in the works.

At 8:15 Tuesday morning I saw a Thiro truck heading down Coolidge Road.  (I assume it was to fix the streetlights, or at least scope it out).

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After a Google search for Thiro I found this finding from OSHA from 2000.  It probably explains ambiguous use of tenses in the "ZERO INCIDENTS ARE ACHIEVABLE" quote on the safety page of their website.

Mangled corporate speak always makes me laugh.  I imagine there's a large banner somewhere in their workspace, and I have visions of the crews heading out and tapping the motivational sign like they do in college football programs.

Jeff Barnard for City Council!

I would vote for his tax plan.  It makes sense, and it rewards behavior that the City of Worcester desperately needs.

I've never met Jeff, but seeing that his blog is always full of well thought out ideas, he's probably too qualified and too smart to enter politics.  I can still write him in though, despite Bill Eddy's disapproval.

2010 is going the be the year of Dual Tax Rate and Affordable Housing debates.  I hope all involved remember that we are in the middle of a recession and budget crisis created by the same bad ideas.  New ideas like Jeff's make sense and might actually work!