I had the next few days all planned out.
In a perfect world we would be carving the pumpkin on Saturday, taking the kids trick-or-treating on Sunday, anxiously awaiting Tuesday on Monday, voting on Tuesday, and spending the rest of the evening watching the election returns, in front of Fox News, with a nice high speed Internet connection.
In the world we actually live in, the company I work for called late yesterday afternoon. They need me in the Baltimore area next week, which would normally mean that I would have to leave Sunday morning and drive all day, missing Halloween, election day, and all the fun that comes with them. After a few properly placed phone calls, it turns out I am flying this week, and I don't leave until Tuesday morning, which is good, because the kids were quite upset I might not be here for "their night".
Because of the short notice, today was filled with doing all those things that need to be done when you have to leave town on short notice, and can't do some of them on the weekend. You know what kind of stuff I am talking about. On top of all that, Gidget needed to renew her driver's license and we had to vote early, since I will be out of town on election day.
We left the house around 1:30pm to get the driver's license taken care of. Upon arriving to a virtually empty parking lot, we were quite happy, because we would be in and out in no time. We got the kids out of the truck, and walked to the door. As I opened the door, I saw the sign "CASH ONLY". Well, shit. I never carry cash anymore. I have become so dependent on the bankcard I never really need it, until we go to DMV to get a driver's license renewed. So, we were out the door, into the truck, down the road, into the drive-through ATM, and headed back to the DMV within 15 minutes. When we pulled into the lot, my heart sank. There was but one spot available, and when we got to the door, we could hardly get in, due to the line. (sigh)
After a 45 minute wait, or so, we were finished, and walking out the door. The kids did so good waiting in the line, I promised them McDonalds Happy Meals when we were done voting.
We arrived at the county voter's registrar office around 3:15 and thanks to a very considerate fellow voter, we got an excellent parking spot. The line was coming out the door, but did not appear too bad. As we took our place in line, we could see about 200 people inside the building in front of us. As the line progressed and we got inside the door, we realized there were two lines. One to fill out the "early voter application" and the other to actually vote. As we waited I chatted with a school teacher in front of us who informed me, amazingly, of almost every election procedure ever known. I learned more about that woman, and the voting history of the state of Georgia, in the time we waited in the first line, than I know about most people I have known my entire life. She was very cool though. (Hi Margaret, if you ever read this).
In the final line, they were calling peoples names as they verified voter precincts on the computer, so the line was not really necessary. Gidget and Margaret were both called before me, in fact, I waited about an extra 10 minutes before they called my name. While I was waiting another woman began speaking to me about the evils of the system and how close this election will be. She went off on a rant about Ralph Nader and how he is going to ruin the election again. She ended her tirade with "anyone who votes for Nader is a moron". My name was called.
As I finished and placed my ballot in the box, I turned and noticed the same grumpy old woman standing first in line. I leaned down and picked up our youngest son, and as we walked past the woman I said to him, "Just think, next week President Nader will be leading our country".
I have NEVER seen someone turn that red since Gidget was in the final stages of labor. That lady was quite pissed and I just chuckled as we walked out the door and took the kids to get their happy meals.
All in all, voting was quicker than renewing the driver's license, and I can rest assured that my vote will be counted on election day. One thing I noticed was the sheer number of people turning out to vote early. If this turnout is any indication, this election may set a new record for voter turnout.
Sitting here tonight I realize that I need to find a different (inexpensive) hotel to stay in this time, as the one I usually stay in does not offer FOX News and has no high speed Internet connection. How in the world am I expected to survive without the basics? Boy how things have changed in the past few years. :wink:
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