Texas has a budget shortfall of around $27 billion. The 82nd Legislative Session, starting tomorrow (and easily spotted by the increase in crappy, off-the-rack Sears suits on Congress Avenue), should be interesting and horrific for most Texans. (Krugman commented on Texas’ financial situation last week.) This also means I need to get off my ass and finally get a digital converter for the one TV without cable in my house, which is, of course, in my office. DirecTV doesn’t offer local access channels anyway, does it?

The news media covered President Obama’s moment of silence today for the victims in Arizona. No one spoke or made noise, so no news.

Matt Bai had a great column in yesterday’s The New York Times about political rhetoric and how it can lead to violence — or away from violence.

I’m reading a book about emotional intelligence (in fact, that’s the title of the book), and wondering if there are ways to improve the emotional circuitry of the brain. Aside from therapy, that is. Is there a way to exercise that part of the brain — the neural pathways leading to emotional center? I tend to be more logical, cerebral (which, I suppose, is why I’m reading a nonfiction book about this). Would it be better if I read more fiction that had more emotional pull? I don’t know.

Not that I don’t feel any emotion at all — I’m really good at anger, rage, frustration, exasperation and exhaustion. It’s the feeling the feeling in the moment thing that I’m bad at when it comes to the positive emotions.

Finally, for now, if you’ve been wondering which way your ceiling fans should be circling to help keep your house warm in the winter rather than cool, I’ve found the answer: clockwise. Since I have a two-story house, I’m doing counter-clockwise upstairs to force hot air down and clockwise downstairs to pull the cool air up. By doing this, I’m probably just canceling out the entire thing, but maybe there’s a chance of creating a tornado inside my house. Now that would be cool.

We all know New Year’s Eve is the night many people ensure they start the new year with a massive hangover. I’ve done it many times. (Inauspicious as that may be.) Further, it’s the night that all the amateur drinkers come to town to celebrate, get sloshed and then drive back to Manor or Cedar Park or Kyle.

But what is the city doing to curb drunk driving on nights like tonight? They’re promising increased patrols, forcing mandatory blood draws on suspected drunk drivers and urging people to call for a free cab ride home from Austin Sober Ride.

What the city isn’t offering is extended public transportation options on CapMetro and isn’t going to run the MetroRail at all.

NEW YEAR’S EVE
Friday, December 31, 2010
Saturday Level Service
Night Owl Service will operate
No MetroRail, UT Service or E-Bus

Further, the first thing I heard on the news this morning is that Austin doesn’t have enough cabs to handle all the people who will likely be calling for service. They said to expect up to an hour or more wait (and anyone who’s tried to get a cab downtown at two in the morning on a regular night knows that’s an understatement).

“We don’t have enough cabs for the demand for New Year’s Eve,” said Gloria Souhami with Sober Ride. “I would say that it would be fair to expect maybe an hour… an hour and 15 minutes.”

I’d wager those calling Sober Ride will actually be waiting longer than those calling Yellow Cab themselves. Cabbies are more likely to get a tip from someone who has directly requested them than from people who are expecting a free ride home.

Now, I understand the whole concept of personal responsibility and making sure you have a designated driver. Unfortunately, many times — especially on holidays — respect for responsibility fails in the face of celebration.

And those calling for government to get out of our lives should remember that every once in a while an ounce of prevention can equal a pound or more of a loved one’s flesh.

So if Austin really wants fewer drunk drivers tonight, here are my (few) proposals:

• Extend public transportation, including MetroRail, service;
• Continue to advertise Sober Ride;
• Encourage designated drivers; and
• Allow Austin Police Department officers to take people home rather than just issuing tickets for Public Intoxication, following them to their cars and picking them up for driving drunk.

It’s better to prevent a possibly fatal crime than just enforce the law — especially when the law comes too late.

Myself? I’ll be at the Austin Symphony with my family. Sober. And hoping a drunk driver doesn’t hit us on our way there and/or back.

(Please feel free to add your proposals in the comments.)