Misplaced in the soupy misery of 2009 is this odd, good news: the Nevada Department of Transportation finished work on the I-15 between the Spaghetti Bowl and Craig ... early? Yep. Ten months earlier than promised. The new ramps to and from Lake Mead Boulevard opened on Christmas, as if someone out there at NDOT harbors some mighty, unironically, good will. At first we were skeptical: Did they cut corners? Is there a missing ramp somewhere? But then we decided to cling to this shred of good news like it was the last piece of pumpkin pie. Unheard of in this century, a government agency finished a big, important project ahead of schedule, and we were here to hang our 2009 party hats on it.