This and that

It irks me a bit that you don't get an "I voted" sticker when you vote early. In the last couple of weeks, there have been many, many stories in various news outlets proclaiming that early voting is OMG!!$#$!! Bad, bad, bad!(#(! Because, you know, it doesn't give people time to become fully informed before voting.

Translation: Any scandal one party digs up on the other party's candidate after you have voted just goes to waste.

At any rate, I did vote this morning. For once, the marker in my booth worked very well (so well, in fact, that I still have some on my index finger from when I had to dig the marker out of its holder) and I was able to mark my vote with a single, broad sweep. There were four questions on the ballot as well, none of them binding. It kills me how they can get away with wording thing in such a way that either 1) the voter gets confused and votes the opposite of what they intended, or 2) it is worded in such a way as to make the voter feel like an insensitive, selfish brute if they vote against it. A perfect example of the second is the way the question of whether or not Wisconsin should accept federal meddling money for Badgercare, the bare bones health insurance coverage for the poor. The sentence starts with the basic question, "Should the next legislature accept federal money to expand Badgercare", but goes on "so that more poor people can be covered by health insurance". Personally, I think if you don't already have a clue what Badgercare is, you should not be answering that question (or voting) at all.

The promised temperature drop (75 yesterday to only about 62 today) has rolled in, but brought beautiful blue skies with it. A perfect autumn day.

The Democratic candidate for governor must be getting desperate: the President is coming to town this afternoon, and she is actually going to appear with him, something she did not do when he was here earlier to beg for money campaign for her. Most Dems around the country have been distancing themselves from the POTUS. He's not taking any chances that people may walk out on him again; the particular ward in which he is speaking went 99% for him in '12.

I don't care much that he's here, but I do hope I'm paying attention around the time Air Force One is due to land. I'm just north of the usual landing track for MKE, far enough away that the noise really isn't a factor, but close enough that I can usually identify the airline on a plane if it is a sunny day. Why yes, I'd be more excited to say I'd seen AF1 than if I saw the President.

Hair appointment later today, and possibly a stop at the orchard before that, if I remember to take the checkbook with me. Silly place doesn't take debit or credit cards. It's probably been four years or more since I wrote a check for a purchase.

I've spent the last half hour importing the pictures from the camera and organizing them. Thanks to the way that the Canon software labels things, I have to go through and do a purge every so often. There are some pictures that appeared in three different folders. Now I've got descriptive names on folders rather than just dates, have filed the snaps in the correct folders and removed duplicates. I even deleted the shots in the camera. Note, however, that I've not yet emptied the recycle bin on the computer. Better to browse through those one last time before they are forever gone.

The impetus for the great picture purge was the pictures I took yesterday of several quilts destined for other homes. I was almost certain I'd forgotten to take a picture of a quilt I gave to an auction for cerebral palsy, but discovered a series of pictures of it still in the camera. Those, plus pictures of the "monster" quilts, will be posted shortly.

The quilt class over the weekend was wonderful. Only three students in total, myself and two women I'd met in other classes. Apparently, the shop has seen a decline in attendance at classes thanks to the availability of tutorials on the internet. Hmpf. This shop has a reputation for bringing in some top line teachers, the ones who don't generally post tutorials. Jinny Beyer, Ricky Tims, Margaret Miller, Carol Bryer Fallert...and those are just the ones I've taken, all at this small shop in Genesee Depot.

Anyway, my head is stuffed with all sorts of ideas on how to quilt the myriad tops I have waiting patiently to be quilted. Now I just need the time.

Apparently, the condo next door has been sold. I mentioned earlier that I saw lights on last week Monday. Well, I've seen more lights, and a long ladder moving places. There is a nice patio set on the patio, and a growing pile of discarded stuff in that unit's parking bay. Today, there is an SUV in the bay as well. The city still lists the bank as the owner of the condo; I'm assuming their records will take a while to update. Maybe I'll bake a batch of muffins tonight, and take myself over tomorrow sometime.