Just left City Hall, where I was nosing around a bit. Sounds to me like the verification process for the Trinity toll road referendum petitions will be over long before Sunday. Indications I got were that the city had hoped to make an announcement today but that now it’s going to be tomorrow.

What does that mean? Of course I want it to mean that they feel O.K. about ending the count early because they’ve already hit the magic number and it’s a go for a referendum in November.

But as soon as those words leave my keyboard, I am forced to recall my personal history on political prognostications. Generally, where I predict a cakewalk it means a piano is going to fall on somebody’s head instead. I always feel terrible afterward, and I always say, “Oops.”

Bit of a breathless moment until then. --Jim Schutze

• Schutze