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I come to you today, a sad woman. I have lost my best appliance

If there’s one thing that’s become completely clear about California’s proposed system of bullet trains, it’s this: If the project is ever built, it won’t look much like what voters approved in 2008, when they OK’d almost $10 billion worth of bonds to help pay for it.

Intense bursts of red, yellow and orange leaves lit up the landscape outside the window of the Dixon Recreation Center. In the Northwest, the fall colors are spectacularly beautiful. Beyond the trees, young men set up cones on the perfectly laid out turf field for the flag football games on tap. A seamless gray sky enveloped the scene, and against it stood Weatherford Hall, the striking Grande Dame of the Oregon State University campus. The building initially conjures images from the Harry Potter Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, but keen architectural academia grandeur dashes any sinister thoughts. A magnificent open archway in the middle of the building, where OSU graduates flock to marry,  holds the eye. As I trotted on the treadmill, I felt thankful, thankful in the moment, and thankful in my life as I steam toward the final chapters.