Fat Tuesday, Super Tuesday, miscellaneous

Photo via Susan Russell

If you are in a state voting today, make your voice heard!

Here is my first-hand report of the Democratic caucus in my neighborhood:

I voted at Pajarito Elementary School on the southwest edge of ABQ. Someone in line said he had talked to a relative who arrived there at noon and there was no wait. I arrived at 12:35 p.m. and there was a line from the door of the gym out to the sidewalk. The wind was blowing, (gently, thank goodness) and folks were cold. The crowd was mostly Hispanic and mostly 60+ in age, though there was a sprinkling of younger folk and they seemed to increase in proportion by the time I was leaving.

We found out there were two lines (A-L, M-Z) and I was in the second and shorter line. That helped us get inside sooner. I did not chat about preferences or political thoughts except generic pleasure at Dems eager to vote and that was shared. Folks were inconvenienced by the wait but pleased with the turnout.

No ID was asked for (something I cannot imagine in California where I moved from). I just signed my name and checked the box by my listing. Ballot was simple copied form. Some folks, perhaps chosen at random or every nth person, had a questionnaire to fill out; I did not. I filled in the box by my candidate's name and put the ballot in the box.

The entire process, exclusive of parking and walking to and from the gym, took 35 minutes. As I left the now-double line extended out the door and all the way to the curbside. I doubt those arriving as I left could bet out in less than 45-50 minutes.

There was a chap at the entrance to the school road off the main street with Hillary signs. Other than that I neither heard not saw any campaigning in the vicinity. Folks seemed in good spirits.

I would not want to get there at the end of the day when it is dark and even colder and have to wait outside. I take heart in people--well, Dems, specifically--being eager to vote.

On the computer front, I was ten minutes late to the Genius Bar (an Apple term, for all the PC folks), so had to reschedule. I go back again at 3:45 this afternoon, which means leaving in twenty minutes.

I will stay on that side of town afterward, drifting toward campus for my Russian class tonight. Maybe a green chile cheeseburger at the Frontier, read the first lessons in the text, see how much I can do in my workbook (learning Russian cursive--gackkk!). The printed Cyrillic alphabet is no longer much of a problem but the handwritten version is very challenging. The lowercase "t" looks like our cursive "m." Ugh. I so wish I could work around this particular part of the challenge but I also know that if a Russian ever writes something down for me I will need to know this.

Having class this evening means I will not be online distracted by election returns. I much prefer learning how things come out when it has all quieted down, so get my wish tonight.

And speaking of Fat Tuesday, a certain person has slammed on some weight, just after loving some. Feh.

Happy shriving. Play fair in the pancake races. Don't drown in butter on your blinis tonight. And repent, the lot of you. Hell, I may even repent myself.
--the BB