Karen
10/31/08
Not even 20 minutes since my last note. Erika had to close shop -- the candy was dangerously low. We think we had about 300. They come so fast and steady it is hard to keep track.

I took Mom over this morning after the doc appointment, and there was quite a line then too. So we both decided to take our chances on election day. --Gary

Oh, also: anyone looking for a Christmas gift idea may want to check this out -- but don't put your orders in til after next Tuesday, because in this case the price will certainly go down. :-)

But look at this promotional picture -- Obama looks like he's going to go long, while McCain looks like he's holding a baby with wet diapers. Ha! :-)

And don't worry, Teghan -- last night Rachel Maddow showed a survey of early voters, where the question was "Who did you vote for?" Six percent answered, "I don't know."

And what's all the talk of Biden being told to keep his talks short and canned?

Sample ballots are here. With a hefty ballot like this, I can see why the wait is long. Some people in our office voted early, on Tuesday. One person had a short wait, the other said the wait was "zero minutes." I really like going to my local polling place and voting on the day of the election, but early voting is starting to look better and better.... Here's the place if you decide to go early. As to Biden, that's all Republican wishful-thinking. I heard one Obama spokesperson comment on that, and he said, "Are you kidding? You can't put a muzzle on Joe Biden." Anyway, I can't imagine anything he could say at this point that would sway the results. --Gary

I'll do a quick udpate as I'm right here, but I'm sure Grandma will be on sooner or later and will comment. Yes, she's up and around. I was over there yesterday afternoon to make the T&t switch with Ryan, and later Donna and I were both there for supper (take-out from Boston Market) and Keith Olbermann. Grandma was vertical the whole time. :-) She started a new round of antibiotics yesterday, and a followup doctor's appointment is on for Friday morning. I'm sure there's some leftover tiredness and whatnot, but she is rapidly approaching back-to-normal. --Gary

We started off to the cafeteria, but from a block away saw a line stretching out back through the doors and out onto the street. Apparently everybody's schedules got messed up today!

So: back to the car, and we went to Arby's for lunch. Then back here, where we've been ever since -- and will be for a few more hours.

Tristen: Me and Teghan are having lots of fun playing with paper. I pretend like I'm filing paper. Teghan is in her own world.

P.S. Karen, since I was involved, I will answer your question about Tristen as she may not have seen this. The pocket protector is for her nerd Halloween costume. Last time I spoke with Teghan, she hadn't settled on a costume yet, so I don't know what she's going as. I will see them both on Tuesday, when they're going to spend the day in my office again. That'll be fun!

I'm willing to bet that they have lots of those signs available... :-) --Gary

I just talked to gma, she's having a rough day! Dang it!

Grandma has another doc appointment tomorrow morning, to check on the progress of these antibiotics. If they aren't doing the job, another type will be prescribed. The pocket protectors are 99 cents at Office Depot. --Gary

Are the girls going to dress up for the slumber party?

Txting is 2 hard 4 me 2 read...

Teasing, yes. I didn't realize you were doing it from your cellphone, so I'll cut you some slack. :-) --Gary

Yes, I found pocket protectors at Office Depot (across the street from Best Buy). U might be surprised to learn that u won't find them at the U of N bookstore any more -- a "discontinued item," the guy called them. I can get 1 2 u this weekend, or next 2sday at the latest when Tristen and Teghan spend the day at my office again. --Gary

Well, what does it matter, those protesters aren't "real Americans" anyway. Which I'm sure is what Palin said herself... If anyone has 15 minutes to spare, here's a great Jon Stewart video from last night's Daily Show on that very subject -- Palin and Bachmann and Pfotenhauer talking about "real Americans" as differentiated from the rest of us. It's worth your time! --Gary

Yow. I had to check the date, hoping it was an old story. It isn't.... --Gary

I concur about the secret service. I know they know what they're doing, but when I see the hateful crowds that McCain and Palin are stirring up, I get nervous too. And not just those two: Talk-show host and drug addict Rush Limbaugh is going out-and-out racist on his show. MSNBC just played a clip of his show today, where Limbaugh says (I paraphrase): "The media is all a-twitter about how they think I said Powell made his endorsement based only on race. So let me say it loud and clear: [cupping his hands around his mouth and yelling] Powell's endorsement was based ONLY on race!"

Despite the weird coincidences (that go beyond merely his name), it now appears that "Joe the Plumber" is not directly related to Charles Keating of Keating 5 fame. But all the other stuff is accurate. Even the press talking heads say he "isn't what he claims to be" when his name comes up. McCain has dropped references to him. Only Sarah Palin continues to make a big deal about Joe the Plumber. She never seems to get the word....

Beautiful day on campus today. The leaves have all turned, pretty much, but only a few are falling off. It's too warm to wear a jacket, but too chilly not to. Perfect fall weather. Classes are on break today, so the streets and hallways are empty.

Oh hey, I just remembered one other thing. You may have heard recently that William Ayers (yes, that one) was scheduled to speak here on the campus, in mid-November. I and a few others in my office were planning on attending. Despite whatever else you may have heard of him, he is a respected figure in the world of education. (Also, he was never prosecuted for his involvement with the Weather Underground, he never said he wished they had "bombed more" -- he said he wished they had "done more," and he is not "unrepentant" -- he said he regrets very much the things that group did.) Anyway, Ayers was scheduled to speak here until a few days ago. The University cancelled him because they had received death threats and bomb threats and felt they couldn't guarantee the safety of anyone who attended. Good work, McCain & Palin!

P.S. I didn't make it clear that Ayers was invited not to speak about "current events," but about education only. He was booked to speak long before McCain made his name a household word.

I do wish Obama had more secret service around him. That makes me nervous. Pretty sure the story goes that Powell wouldn't run for president because his wife feared assassination and he promised her he wouldn't run.

I heard on the news this morning that Qwest doors will open at 11:30 tomorrow but no word on when Hillary will speak. That could be a long wait. I hope I'll get to at least see the motorcade drive by on their way to and from the airport.

Joe the plumber is a plant. Any confirmation yet on his being related to Keating?

Some cool photos here of Obama's huge rally yesterday in St. Louis, from the Italian news site la Repubblica. I would have directed you to an American site for the pictures, but I couldn't find one. CNN, MSNBC, ABC, etc -- while they cover, live, every speech that Sarah Palin makes (which is to say, the same speech over and over), they scarcely mentioned this crowd of 150,000 people who heard Obama speak yesterday.

[Oops. YouTube pulled the video. Blankety-blank lawyers!]

Update update: He also for a time lived in Arizona, which is of course McCain's state. I'm just sayin'....

Update update update: And now, after many people checked the records looking for his voter registration and didn't find it, it suddenly appears there! Nothing odd about that, is there? Oh also, he's doesn't make $250,000 a year (as McCain said he did), and he's not a small business owner (as McCain said he was).

Update update update update: And the plumber he works for also is unlicensed. Plus, Joe the Plumber himself owes back taxes....

Update x 5: And OMG, "Joe the Plumber" is related to Charles Keating -- of the Keating 5.... (That one is almost too much, even in this crazy election. I'll wait til this is verified. But good grief...!)

I think the blinking and the weird bright eyes were due to some sort of ...uh, stimulant. And to continue my conspiracy theories, I wouldn't be at all surprised if "Joe the Plumber" was a plant of some sort. He's all over the news shows this morning including, God help us, a press conference outside his home -- in which he recited all the McCain talking points. Uh-huh. Meanwhile, the Republicans -- who have already stolen two national elections -- are asking the Supreme Court to get involved with their charges of Democratic voter fraud in Ohio.... Can't make this stuff up! --Gary

My favorite moment: McCain's deer-in-the-headlights look when he finally got Obama to answer his dreaded "how much is the penalty" question:

In closing, the words of Keith Olbermann: "I don't know about you, but I'm voting for this Joe the Plumber guy!"

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Note to Donna: You were wondering about Sarah Palin's polar bear pin that she has been so ostentatiously wearing recently, in light of the fact that she is fighting the attempt to have them declared an endangered species, and in light of the fact she denies global warming which is destroying the bears' habitat. Anyway, someone said she's wearing the polar bear pin to show people what they used to look like....

Yes, I am taking this week off. Nice to do nothing! :-) --Gary

At least it's not snow yet! I spoke with two people over the weekend -- one in Nevada and one in Colorado -- who had snow on the ground. --Gary

Update: A few hours later, I see now that MSNBC has changed their headline from "mostly cheers" to "boos and cheers," though the article itself still reads "polite applause."

Better to be "a guy of the street" than a guy of the gutter.

But seriously, folks, I'm beginning to worry about the level of craziness on the Republican side, the over-the-top, stampede-the-crowd statements by everyone from McCain on down, the vehemence of the crowds that McCain and Palin are drawing with people shouting "Kill him" and "He's a terrorist" and "Off with his head."

Watch the tape of the guy screaming, "He's a terrorist!" McCain seems to shudder at that, he rolls his eyes... and I thought for a moment he'd admonish the man. But he didn't. And now he's selling the Ayres non-story full-time. Yes, yes, it's all he has. True enough: he no longer has his honor. But we are on the edge of some real serious craziness here and it would be nice if McCain did the right thing and told his more bloodthirsty supporters to go home and take a cold shower. But McCain hasn't done the right thing all year. His campaign is appalling, as the New York Times editorial board said today--and more, it is a national disgrace.

Not much else new. Just very busy with school & activities back in full force. We are at the dance studio 6 days a week. It's become somewhat of a second home for Tristen, and she's loving every minute of it. She's doing so well, and doing GREAT in middle school. She's even hanging in there with band, loves her teacher this year. She did have a jerky 7th grader boy situation, but we pumped her back up. He was just your typical idiot boy (sorry guys...) who stepped on her shoe & kicked it & then laughed with a whole bunch of other boys. She was pretty upset. I told her first through gritted teeth, hey, you need to start spreading the rumor that your mom works with lots of cops. Then I told her to remember, people like that probably get treated real crappy at home, so they have to treat others like crap to make themselves feel better. I think hearing that made her feel better. She told me she was nervous to see him again & I said, no don't be, just be practicing your "I could kill you with this glare" stare. I told her I had perfected the look in my day... But other than that, life seems groovy for her.

Teghan too. She is LOVING 1st grade. She loves her teacher, Mrs. Woodward. She makes her a new picture or book or something everyday. She is doing math & is quite good at it. She also is doing phenomenal reading. She's doing dance & is so good at it anymore. She also started Girl Scouts two weeks ago. There's already 9 girls in her troop. One of the leaders is the mom of a new friend who she loves, Nadia. Teghan also moved beds last night. She's on the top bunk now! She figured she was ready, though a little nervous for falling off. She won't. Well I assume she won't.

Ryan's on the night shift now & we basically love it. He works a lot less hours in the week, he has every other weekend off (really a 3 1/2 day weekend). We've already had 2 fun weekends. The first weekend he was off we went to the New Mexico State game, which was great. Then last weekend when he was off him & I went to two parties, one for my boss, going away party at her house & then the other was a housewarming party for my hairdresser/our friends. They both were out in the Ceresco/Valpraiso area. The only downside to the nights is he goes in at 8, so he leaves the house by 7:30, so on nights he goes to work it's like OK, what do we do now... And then the weekends where he works (like right now) we have to stay kind of quiet in the house while he sleeps during the day. And he doesn't get overtime on his checks, which he's gotten nearly every check for the last 2 years. But, he also worked mad, crazy hours, and that's no more..

Anyway, enough about us. I was just going to write a little since it's all Gary's political blog, then I got carried away! (BTW, have of course been watching all the debates & both our radios are constantly dialed into XM 130 POTUS, all politics all the time til the election, but Gary's pretty much got the commentary taken care of....)

Well, they've done it again, only worse. This time they got the day right, running it after the debate took place. But they forgot one little detail. Take a look. They forgot to insert the name of the "famous person" who supposedly said their made-up quote. Pathetic! :-)

All my conspiracy theories about earpieces and electronic devices and whatnot turned out to be over the top. She unexpectedly went with the low-tech approach and just read everything from a stack of 3x5 cards in front of her. You do have to give her credit: She said right up front that she wanted to talk directly to the American people, so she may not always answer whatever question she was asked. And after that, her answers sounded like this: "Let me answer your question about tax reform by discussing energy," and then reading card A-12.

And when she said she thought the powers of the Vice-Presidency should be expanded beyond even the Dick Cheney level...wow!

The good news is, in 33 days she gets on the plane to Juneau and we won't hear from her again -- until 2012, when she runs for President...

At the last minute I switched #11 and #12. Overall, I'm pretty sure I enjoy January more than August. Hope your evening is bat-free! --Gary

Amanda, the homecoming displays are pretty far along, though not all finished. Even so, it's just as much fun to drive through and watch the students working on them -- as some of them will be, late into the night.

Enjoy the debate tonight, everyone!

(This apparently is a sneak peek at the upcoming Halloween episode.)

At the moment it's all just scaffolding and framework. (A couple of them very large -- two or three stories high.) But by tomorrow night they should all be very far along. And they all have to be done by Friday night, of course.

Here'a a page on the UNL site with the story, but the photos are all from previous years. (Hey, while you're on this page, scroll down to the "trayless dining hall" story and show the photo to Tristen and Teghan. They were impressed with this conveyor belt that took away our dirty dishes. :-)

2. September
3. November
4. December
5. April
6. May
7. June
8. March
9. July
10. February
11. January
12. August

Thank you.