It’s State of the Union Day! Grab your scorecards and your red magic markers, and get ready to check the box every time the President says the word “jobs.”

He’s going to say it a lot. That’s a good thing. Personally, I wish he’d also say things like “raise the federal gasoline tax” and “It’s time to get serious about carbon cap and trade,” but neither of those seems likely to get a standing ovation this year.

2010 State of the Union. Pic | White House (Pete Souza)

Of course, the experience in the audience this year may be a little different, given that our members of Congress have vowed to show some solidarity by sitting together in bipartisan pairs. From the article: “the sprinkling of Republicans and Democrats across the chamber Tuesday night will be a carefully calibrated affair, more like prom dates than political marriages.” That’s weird-sounding enough that it may be interesting to watch.

Now, on to the local stuff.

It takes a long time to get to work, especially on the bus

The top story in today’s paper is about commute times. Commute times? Really? I once saw a New Yorker cartoon that featured “banal conversation starter flash cards,” a set that included the weather, commute times, and apartment rents (this is New York, after all). And it’s true. Talking about commute times is as boring as describing the way you brush your teeth, or that annoying problem you have with your computer where you click on the menu but instead this other thing happens and then the computer slows down and you can’t send email…(why do people try to tell me their computer problems?!)

So, at an average of 26 minutes a day, our commutes are long, but we’re still doing better than Washington D.C. (37 minutes).

My normal response to the commute complaint is, “Sorry, but you made that choice when you bought your house at the edge of civilization.” I have little sympathy for people who want to live far away from where they work and then expect to get there quickly. But what’s surprising about this article is that the surveyors actually bothered to look at the commute times of people who live IN the city, too. For once, it’s not all about cars! They measured the commute times of people in Norfolk who get to work on foot and by bus, and found their commute times were in general less than 20 minutes, except for certain neighborhoods. From the article:

“That means residents of Villa Heights and the eastern edge of Park Place share commute times similar to workers on the region’s outskirts. And they aren’t alone: people in Portsmouth’s Southside, Chesapeake’s South Hill and Norfolk’s Granby Village neighborhoods also reported lengthy commute times despite inner-city locations.”

Blame the bus. These are the people who will benefit most from improvements to transit in the city, including light rail and bus service.

So that’s interesting. I give the Pilot some credit for finding a slightly less boring way to talk about commuting.

A George Allen comeback in 2012?

You bet your macacas. Assuming he can survive the Republican primary.

New Norfolk library needs another $10 million

Right about now Norfolk mayor Paul Fraim is standing in the Selden Arcade announcing an additional $10 million for the new library to be built downtown. I’d like to see an IMAX theater in there, myself.

Changes suggested for HRT

John Cosgrove wants to do to HRT what he did to SPSA a year ago–replace elected officials on the board with state appointees. It might help. Although many are saying that Phil Shucet has matters in hand and no further overhauls of oversight are needed.

Lobby for better biking

The House Three Foot Bills, HB1683, HB2194 will be considered by the House Transportation Subcommittee #2 Wednesday morning at 7 a.m.

PLEASE CONTACT SUBCOMMITTEE #2 members TUESDAY.

Your help could make all the difference.

Homemaker tip #567:

Clean your toilet with Kool-Aid.