Long Day for Danny

Danny lost his mind and signed up to be a Precinct Judge for this election*.  Lots of prep involved for that job (and relatively little pay), including dragging around the paper ballots in a suitcase that Bernalillo County usesas well as learning all the arcane protocols for dealing with the ballots.  He left this morning at 5:50 to head the four quiet blocks down to our polling location at Bandelier Elementary School.  I don't actually expect to see him again until 10pm tonight, although only about 150 in his precinct didn't make it to early voting. Of those, who knows how many will show up.  He has 7 poll helpers working for him, just for his precinct.  The precinct he's working for is just northeast of ours, 251, the East Nob Hill District.  We're 256, in the same polling location.

Wilde Bunch cancelled dancing tonight in honor of the elections, so I have a night off.  Actually, since I have no other commitments for evening events any more, that frees every night this week!

Since I couldn't get it together to do early voting, I'm trotting over to the polls about 9:30ish, one of the (theoretical) quieter times, avoiding the opening, lunch and post-work crowds.  We'll see if there are the 'hordes' of voters lined up for hundreds of yards the media is claiming will happen.

This time tomorrow, it'll all be over except for the shouting.

* I think when he signed up to do this, he was thinking he'd actually have 'retired' from UNM by now, and didn't factor in the house remodel either.  Didn't happen that way.  At least this stressor will be over soon.

Long Day for Danny

Danny lost his mind and signed up to be a Precinct Judge for this election*.  Lots of prep involved for that job (and relatively little pay), including dragging around the paper ballots in a suitcase that Bernalillo County usesas well as learning all the arcane protocols for dealing with the ballots.  He left this morning at 5:50 to head the four quiet blocks down to our polling location at Bandelier Elementary School.  I don't actually expect to see him again until 10pm tonight, although only about 150 in his precinct didn't make it to early voting. Of those, who knows how many will show up.  He has 7 poll helpers working for him, just for his precinct.  The precinct he's working for is just northeast of ours, 251, the East Nob Hill District.  We're 256, in the same polling location.

Wilde Bunch cancelled dancing tonight in honor of the elections, so I have a night off.  Actually, since I have no other commitments for evening events any more, that frees every night this week!

Since I couldn't get it together to do early voting, I'm trotting over to the polls about 9:30ish, one of the (theoretical) quieter times, avoiding the opening, lunch and post-work crowds.  We'll see if there are the 'hordes' of voters lined up for hundreds of yards the media is claiming will happen.

This time tomorrow, it'll all be over except for the shouting.

* I think when he signed up to do this, he was thinking he'd actually have 'retired' from UNM by now, and didn't factor in the house remodel either.  Didn't happen that way.  At least this stressor will be over soon.

I voted!

Instead of heading straight to work this morning at 7:55, I decided to drive by our polling place to see if there really were lines out the wazoo.

Not!

I parked in the nearly empty lot at the elementary school and stopped by where Danny was working.  All poll workers.  No voters.  Danny said there was a bit of a rush at 7 when they opened, but it died off quickly. 

The next building over was where my polling place was.  Nearly the same situation, but there were about 5 voters filling out the paper ballots.  I was the only person coming up to the tables with 7 already bored-looking precinct workers.

By 8:05, I was done filling in all the blanks.  Ran my ballot through the counting machine; I was number 31 for the day in my precinct.

Stopped by the other building to say bye to Danny (who was looking quite fresh and efficient).  Out in the parking lot, I showed a brand new voter which building to go to, and I was done.  I was at work and at my desk by 8:20.

I don't know where these massive voter turnout situations are on election day, but they weren't at Bandelier Elementary School!

I voted!

Instead of heading straight to work this morning at 7:55, I decided to drive by our polling place to see if there really were lines out the wazoo.

Not!

I parked in the nearly empty lot at the elementary school and stopped by where Danny was working.  All poll workers.  No voters.  Danny said there was a bit of a rush at 7 when they opened, but it died off quickly. 

The next building over was where my polling place was.  Nearly the same situation, but there were about 5 voters filling out the paper ballots.  I was the only person coming up to the tables with 7 already bored-looking precinct workers.

By 8:05, I was done filling in all the blanks.  Ran my ballot through the counting machine; I was number 31 for the day in my precinct.

Stopped by the other building to say bye to Danny (who was looking quite fresh and efficient).  Out in the parking lot, I showed a brand new voter which building to go to, and I was done.  I was at work and at my desk by 8:20.

I don't know where these massive voter turnout situations are on election day, but they weren't at Bandelier Elementary School!

Writer's Block: Secret Ballot

[Error: unknown template qotd]I stopped by our polling station about 8am on my way to work.  There was no line at all and nearly all the voting booths were available.  Although the Bernalillo County ballot was quite long and detailed, I had my completed sample ballot with me.  I was in and out of there in five minutes.  The county had about a 50% early voting tally from all the registered voters; it's estimated that of the remaining 25% of registered voters that are likely to vote, most of them will do so later in the day. 

The media, even locally, is going on and on about how long the lines will probably be, likely scaring off some people who might not want to wait forever to exercise their patriotic/national duty.

I don't think my situation is the norm, but right now I'm glad that I didn't do early voting when there really WERE long lines.

Writer's Block: Secret Ballot

[Error: unknown template qotd]I stopped by our polling station about 8am on my way to work.  There was no line at all and nearly all the voting booths were available.  Although the Bernalillo County ballot was quite long and detailed, I had my completed sample ballot with me.  I was in and out of there in five minutes.  The county had about a 50% early voting tally from all the registered voters; it's estimated that of the remaining 25% of registered voters that are likely to vote, most of them will do so later in the day. 

The media, even locally, is going on and on about how long the lines will probably be, likely scaring off some people who might not want to wait forever to exercise their patriotic/national duty.

I don't think my situation is the norm, but right now I'm glad that I didn't do early voting when there really WERE long lines.

The state of the nation, Obama wise

It has to be a foregone conclusion that NM is back to being a Blue state, although my scope of viewing is pretty small.

After voting today, I noted:

-  One yard sign for McCain/(Palin) in a hugely Obama neighborhood (ours)
-  Homes that had only one Obama.Biden yard sign were rare.  Most of them had two or more.  Some had 10 or more.
-  Hyder Park was completely surrounded by Obama/Biden yard signs at 8am.  Someone had removed all of them by 4pm, but I noticed more houses with Obama/Biden signs that might have plucked them from the park.
-  At Cornell and Central, there were about a dozen Obama/Biden supporters chanting at the corner.
-  At 11am, I walked out to the theatre loading dock to call my Mom (she lives in Louisiana and is anti-anything not white, don't ask) and there was a biplane flying overhead with Vote for Obama banners, making circles over the campus for a long, long time.
-  There were about 100 Obama/Biden supporters making hoohaw at Cornell and Central at 3:30pm, when I drove over to the business center for errands.  Lots of car honking and general glee.
-  Jimmy, who mans the front desk at A/P was yakking away with some other staff there about his voting for Obama when I walked in.
-  A radio commentator was talking about Obama when I tuned into the classical station on the way home.
-  At 4:30pm, a local weatherman was talking about the fantastic weather in Chicago, where Obama is going to make his acceptance speech.
-  I had THREE calls at home from live people reminding me that the polls close at 7, where my polling station is, and just gleeful about life.

John McCain...who?

It's all a bit overwhelming.   I can't even watch live TV right now.

And there are LOTS of issues to vote on.  Not just the presidential campaign.  

Five minutes and the polls close here.  Wonder when Danny will be home.

The state of the nation, Obama wise

It has to be a foregone conclusion that NM is back to being a Blue state, although my scope of viewing is pretty small.

After voting today, I noted:

-  One yard sign for McCain/(Palin) in a hugely Obama neighborhood (ours)
-  Homes that had only one Obama.Biden yard sign were rare.  Most of them had two or more.  Some had 10 or more.
-  Hyder Park was completely surrounded by Obama/Biden yard signs at 8am.  Someone had removed all of them by 4pm, but I noticed more houses with Obama/Biden signs that might have plucked them from the park.
-  At Cornell and Central, there were about a dozen Obama/Biden supporters chanting at the corner.
-  At 11am, I walked out to the theatre loading dock to call my Mom (she lives in Louisiana and is anti-anything not white, don't ask) and there was a biplane flying overhead with Vote for Obama banners, making circles over the campus for a long, long time.
-  There were about 100 Obama/Biden supporters making hoohaw at Cornell and Central at 3:30pm, when I drove over to the business center for errands.  Lots of car honking and general glee.
-  Jimmy, who mans the front desk at A/P was yakking away with some other staff there about his voting for Obama when I walked in.
-  A radio commentator was talking about Obama when I tuned into the classical station on the way home.
-  At 4:30pm, a local weatherman was talking about the fantastic weather in Chicago, where Obama is going to make his acceptance speech.
-  I had THREE calls at home from live people reminding me that the polls close at 7, where my polling station is, and just gleeful about life.

John McCain...who?

It's all a bit overwhelming.   I can't even watch live TV right now.

And there are LOTS of issues to vote on.  Not just the presidential campaign.  

Five minutes and the polls close here.  Wonder when Danny will be home.

The last hurrah

It's 60 degrees out at 9pm. Hard to imagine the high is only going to be a blustery 51 tomorrow.

Tonight, I shredded and froze 12 cups more of zucchini to use over the winter. It's still blooming amazingly, but it's only about 1/2 of the vibrancy of the summer months and definitely going all saggy. It's going to be a goner for sure when it freezes tomorrow night from this cold blast about to come through.

Bye, bye, zucchini...

The last hurrah

It's 60 degrees out at 9pm. Hard to imagine the high is only going to be a blustery 51 tomorrow.

Tonight, I shredded and froze 12 cups more of zucchini to use over the winter. It's still blooming amazingly, but it's only about 1/2 of the vibrancy of the summer months and definitely going all saggy. It's going to be a goner for sure when it freezes tomorrow night from this cold blast about to come through.

Bye, bye, zucchini...