Voder-Vocoder

I went to early vote this morning. This is the first of two Saturdays that the polls are open. It seems to me that they should be open Sundays as well.

There are five early voting locations in this county, so I had to drive a bit to get there, but the convenience of being able to vote on a Saturday morning made it worth it.

I had to wait in line less than half an hour; I should have timed it. The line went out the door of the county supervisor of elections branch office and into the next door, some kind of abandoned store.

Since there were voters from all precincts there (all in different congressional districts, state senate districts, state house districts, county commission districts, fire control districts, and sub-municipalities), they printed out ballots as needed. To get our identity, they swiped the magnetic strip on our state ID (driver license).

After filling out the bubbles on the ballots, we fed them into a machine that read them. There was no feedback on whether the machine read the ballots correctly. I have to hope that somebody performs spot-checks to verify that the optical scan machines are functioning properly.

This was our sail yesterday. The big blue arrow shows the predominate wind. The tide was initially against up as we went downriver. After motoring out of Port Sanibel behind Punta Rassa, we raised our sails when we hit the main Caloosahatchee channel. We sailed almost due south on a beam reach, using the motor for a while against the tide, until we got past the bridge. We use the motor most of the time we go under the bridge, because the wind is unpredictable there and the big boats have a habit of tossing us about.

We made good time all the way down to the Point Ybel Lighthouse on the tip of Sanibel Island. At that point we gybed around to a broad reach and headed for Estero Island. We gybed twice again, beating downwind. This annoyed the hell out of me, so I convinced the skipper to let me rig the jib wing-on-wing using an improvised spinnaker pole made out of the boathook. This let us sail east, directly toward our destination, at about the same speed. This is a lot easier to rig than the spinnaker.

After a while, we decided to head back, beating upwind and making good time, once we realized that the fairleads needed adjusting (again).

about 13 miles total.

Examples of appropriate places for partisan political posters:

• Party Headquarters,
• Campaign Rally.

Example of inappropriate places for partisan political posters:

• The local produce stand.

I’m not arguing against your first-amendment right to free speech. And I don’t want to infringe on that right at all, but you did just lose a customer, if only because I find your politics distasteful.

Get up; get up; the sun is up!
The dew is on the buttercup!
Get up; get up; the sun is up!
Now get your ass out of bed!

Caribbean Islanders are odd people. They always want to talk religion, even if you met thirty seconds ago.

Last friday: “You look like a priest. Are you a Jew?”

“No”

“You must be a Jew. Are you a Jew?”

I started ignoring him at that point.

And a few months ago, an islander woman started asking me about my religion. When I wouldn’t admit to one, she looked at me like I was the most evil person she had met.

People ask what I eat. Here it is:

The Diet:

Breakfast
• 1 quart of iced tea, prepared the night before and allowed to cool to room temperature before adding ice. (I like to start the day hydrated.)
• 1 cup Uncle Sam Cereal, served with non-fat milk, berries (straw-, black-, rasp-, or blue-), and 1 packet of sucralose.

Lunch
• Salad, prepared before work: Spinach or lettuce, cubed smoked turkey lunch-meat, cheese (reduced-fat feta, cheddar, or blue), nuts (pecans, almond slices, sunflower kernels, or peanuts), sometimes berries, and home-made vinaigrette.
• 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts, mixed with half a box of raisins. (I sometimes make this my mid-morning snack, if I have an opportunity.)
• Two reduced-fat low-moisture Mozzarella string cheese sticks.
• 1 quart of iced tea, left over from breakfast.

Mid-afternoon Snack
• 1/2 cup unsalted peanuts, mixed with the other half of the box of raisins.
• Water.

Dinner
• An identical salad, prepared with lunch that morning.
• Water
• 2 cups of low-cal yogurt (if I’m still hungry).

Happy December 5th, everyone!

Set up my 401k today. I’m now saving for the future again.

I am not saving for retirement. Retirement is for people who plan on eventually dying.

What kind of third-world neighborhood doesn’t have sewers?

And yes, my house is now full of sh__.

Update: Things are good now. The septic tank has been un-clogged, and the sh__ was cleaned out of the shower.

I am moved into my new (to me) house. I have not unpacked anything but my computer. The DSL is apparently working, except for giving me this funny error page once:

High-Speed Internet Setup

Unsupported Operating System or Browser

Error Details:

Error #: 10

Support Number: 1-877-646-3282

EMBARQ™ High-Speed Internet Setup was developed to run on the follow operating systems and Internet Explorer 5.5 and higher.

• Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional Service Pack 4 - (2kSP4 only)
• Microsoft Windows XP Home
• Microsoft Windows XP Professional
• Microsoft Windows Vista

You must use a compatible operating system or browser to run High-Speed Internet Setup. To restart your setup, first open Internet Explorer 5.5 or higher and go to http://install.embarq.com

HAL W CANARY 3
19012 SEBRING RD
FORT MYERS FL  33967-3525

The old phone number still works.

Yesterday I cut off about four inches of hair, down to a #6 buzz.

Today I got contacts.

They are not going to recognize me at work.

Ahh! There’s something in my eyes! Oh. Right.