Monday Nov. 5

Well, it is now the day before the vote. We have scoped out our candidates. Have you?

It was a quiet weekend filled with reorganization and cleaning. The reorganization will continue for a while. I just finished putting all my craft/needlework pattern books in the file cabinets where they will be easier to get to. I may have to shift things a bit and move the top drawer down a bit because it is almost heavy enough to tip the cabinet.

I am letting the remaining plants in the gardens go. When the cold finally kills them they will provide ground cover and I can work their remains into the container soil in the spring. So far the only certain notions I have for the spring include NO tomatoes or peppers. They have a spotty record on my patio because it warms up so slowly and then the heat concentrates because of the cement and white fence. I might try some strain of green beans and I definitely want to try a couple of different cucumbers--kinds that can't be found in our markets. The rosemary plants weathered our week away very well. The small one had started to wilt just a bit but has recovered nicely. The hibiscus plants didn't wilt but they are showing a number of yellow leaves. that might be due to the reduced light. All they had was what came in the window. I usually put on the larger grow light and the room light when we are home. I will check on their progress over the next couple of weeks to see if any permanent affects show up. I need to cut them back but don't what to do it while they are stressed.

Tuesday Nov. 6

The polls haven't opened yet. (Heh, Heh--it is only 4:30am. Our furry alarm clocks haven't "fallen back" yet.) But that is on our agenda first--even before grocery shopping. I have never been happy with voting against the worst evil because I don't consider a "choice" between bad and worse to be a real choice. However, this year I will do my best to retire as many Republicans as possible.

I found this almost first thing this morning. It is good as far as it goes on explaining why so many over-65 are declaring bankruptcy. The author's expend most of their pixels on the rising medical costs which has been covered so frequently that the only difference from one story to another is the case study to illustrate their point. The barely mention at the end the other side, the static or even reduced income from pensions. Or the fact that any pension that is pegged to the official inflation rate is not keeping up with the real inflation we experience because so many of our normal expenses are not included or are underestimated because of various accounting tricks. I will agree with the quote that we, as a society, are becoming quite "uncaring" about the struggles of the elderly and a whole lot of other people in the lower 80% of our society.

It is now 9:40am and we have finished voting and shopping. I was surprised and pleased that the polling place was very busy. I have never seen such a crowd for any election--presidential or other. The interest is very high and I hope it leads to the kind of changes I would like to see. We had a "balanced budget" amendment on the ballot which I voted no on. Before I would agree to such an amendment I want to see some limitations on what the government can spend our money on. High on that list I want a prohibition on tax and other give-aways to corporations. I am tired of seeing these companies promising a huge amount of jobs for a long period of time and then leaving before fulfilling their part of the bargain but not before raking in tax payer money. I don't want to see a situation where legislators have to cut things like education or health care for pie in the sky promises which are never fulfilled. Otherwise I voted a mix of Democrats with a couple of Libertarians but NO Republicans.

On the whole, I am not holding my breath even if a large number of Republicans are "retired." Tom Engelhardt has a good piece this morning which parallels my thoughts on the probable results of the election.