I have just watched the evening news on TV, and am streaming NPR as I type. I cannot tell you the joy I feel at watching the CEO's of the auto industry with hats in hand coming before a Democratic Congress and needing to fill out a welfare form. "Who came here via commercial air? Anybody even fly first class? Who is willing to cut their multi million dollar salary? Chrysler, $1 sounds about right. Anybody else? Ford?" Of course, they'll all go home in their corporate jets with their multi-million dollar salaries. I'll be waiting to see what's next. Will the bankruptcy courts allow them to keep their multi-million dollar salaries while undoing the union contracts?
Now Al-Queida is throwing around racist slurs. What a difference an election makes!
So, besides having a wonderful day at the chipper shredder and getting the beds in the front yard mulched and making 7 logs worth of shitake and oyster mushrooms (knock wood-so to speak), and hearing the arrival of the sandhills (see pervious blog), and Marcia getting better by the day, I can hardly wait to see/hear the evening news. I can hardly wait for Rachel Maddow and Keith Olberman to get back to MSNBC.
Life is Good!
KG
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
Welcome Back!
It's a cold snap, first frost in many areas and it made for a nice cool day outside for Kay. I just couldn't stay warm in my long sleeves and light jacket and was forced back inside to warm for a while. The late afternoon glof with Stella found us ending up helping Kay finish the mushroom log spore plug insertions. I wore a warmer jacket with hood this time.
I still heard a of trilling birds but didn't quite recognize the significance. I heard it again and pushed my hood back and finally said to Kay "It's the first sandhills!" We could hear them over head but didn't catch a glimpse of any of them. But they were definitely there and we have been waiting and looking for them for several weeks now.
They are a wonderful part of fall here as they will winter all around here and cruise the prairies and wet lands at will. Often we see them at the small ponds chasing bugs and such for breakfast. A large group of 20-30 sometime hang out at a large farm just north of here near Romeo . They seem a little late but we're glad they are here!
mdt
Monday, November 10, 2008
Making progress
Hematomas are in dissapearing mode and I've made great strides in my transition to use of my cane. My rainbow colored ankle is losing some of it's magnificent color scheme. I'm even able to get on the glof mobile to take Stella out for her run again. Things are making obvious improvement. Even the x-rays look great!
It has been a bit different for me this time. My knee flex is already at 93 degrees and has been there since I came home. Kay and I both remarked that it looked like I was about three weeks ahead of where I was for the first knee surgery. "Looking" like more advanced is not reality as I had to get off of my own case as I realized that healing doesn't follow my observations. Tissue and bone still are just barely three weeks along in their healing progress. That healing process will not jump ahead even if the flexion and extension are doing great. Once this info sank in I was a bit kinder to my leg and efforts for patience. Exercise is still my full time job and eating good food that will provide the nutrition I need for healing and exercise is a primary concern.
It's strange that I seem to be hungry all the time. Kay has been great about making sure I have plenty of food at mealtimes and also snacks in between. There are still times that I forget or just get busy and delay eating for some reason. This has some rude consequences at times since I can get into a slump and need to eat quickly so I have the energy to continue my physical activity. It's an odd situation since my ability to eat large meals is compromised by pain meds and the subsequent lack of appetite. It is getting better though and I managed to eat steak and a baked potatoe last night and didn't wake up hungry at 4:30 am for my usual granola bar snack. I really slept much better for the first time in several weeks. Maybe I'm starting to turn the corner... time will tell.
It has been a bit different for me this time. My knee flex is already at 93 degrees and has been there since I came home. Kay and I both remarked that it looked like I was about three weeks ahead of where I was for the first knee surgery. "Looking" like more advanced is not reality as I had to get off of my own case as I realized that healing doesn't follow my observations. Tissue and bone still are just barely three weeks along in their healing progress. That healing process will not jump ahead even if the flexion and extension are doing great. Once this info sank in I was a bit kinder to my leg and efforts for patience. Exercise is still my full time job and eating good food that will provide the nutrition I need for healing and exercise is a primary concern.
It's strange that I seem to be hungry all the time. Kay has been great about making sure I have plenty of food at mealtimes and also snacks in between. There are still times that I forget or just get busy and delay eating for some reason. This has some rude consequences at times since I can get into a slump and need to eat quickly so I have the energy to continue my physical activity. It's an odd situation since my ability to eat large meals is compromised by pain meds and the subsequent lack of appetite. It is getting better though and I managed to eat steak and a baked potatoe last night and didn't wake up hungry at 4:30 am for my usual granola bar snack. I really slept much better for the first time in several weeks. Maybe I'm starting to turn the corner... time will tell.
Wednesday, November 05, 2008
Yes We Did!!!!
Probably the first change is that the east coast is waking up sleep deprived. I can only hope most people are as happy as we are.
From my 3.5 hour experience as poll observer, I can report that voting makes people feel happy. Really happy. Some seem to really enjoy how the little machine swallows their paper ballot and digitally reads out the number of people who have voted that day. But the looks on their faces when they leave the polling place are generally animated. First time voters are particularly pleased with themselves. Since I have no other election with which to compare, I cannot comment on whether the candidate (s) had any effect on people's joy in casting their vote.
Our little precinct was particularly well run. Doris and her staff have been doing this for 10 years or more and have it down. There were no provisional ballots cast all day. When I asked about them, Doris's response indicated her understanding that provisional ballots are not good. Several voters brought in their absentee ballots that they had not mailed, and those were duly cancelled and the voter given a ballot. There were also several challenges-not voter challenges, but obstacles for the poll staff. A visually impaired person with assistance dog used the special machine to help her vote. It has visual and auditory feedback so the voter can have privacy. An emotionally challenged young man came in with his grandmother, and had a small two year old type meltdown about signing the affidavit that allows him to assist his grandmother. He was about 6ft 2in, and Doris about 4ft 6in. She was calm, tried to reason, and knew when to back down and use the cellphone. The local police were quite familiar with him, and fairly easily talked him into signing the form. Voting got accomplished and he apologized to everyone and everyone was gracious.
There were lots of children on my 3-7pm shift, and they were as excited as their parents about voting. They all got, "I voted" stickers, which made them really happy. At the beginning of the shift, children and first time voters were given tootsie pops-probably left overs from Halloween. Even the struggling to be sophisticated 18 year olds smiled. Eventually the tootsie pops ran out, so the last first time voter got a round of applause-better than a tootsie pop any day.
There is one thing that I would change about the system. During early voting, a resident of the county could vote at any precinct in the county, but on election day, they had to go to their assigned precinct. This was confusing to many people, and many got turned away albeit with the name and address of their correct polling place in hand. One young single mother with three children had a mini-meltdown because she was sent to her polling place about 10 miles away. There was also some confusion about what county to vote in. Some people have Dunnellon addresses, but actually live in Levy or Citrus counties. Indeed, Citrus county is just over the river that runs through Dunnellon. The county thing cannot be helped-people just have to know which county they live in and which is their precinct. However, if residents of the county can vote at any precinct for early voting, they should be able to do so on election day.
In Florida, as long as you area registered to vote, you can change your address or name at any time. So, there were quite a few voters who had moved-even from one part of the state to here, and they were able to change their addresses with a fill in affidavit. The clerks have state computers that verify registration and show that a person has voted in real time, so that there is not the possibility of voting often.
There were no lines at our little precinct. At most, there were 8 voters and three clerks to serve them. There were no obvious attempts at dirty tricks. Since the ballots were marked by black felt tip pens, and the machine reads them and rejects any that are inappropriately marked, there were no hanging chad issues. Several times the machine rejected a ballot saying that more than one candidate was marked. The voter then proof read the ballot and tried again, and it went through. The last voter finished at about 5 min to 7pm. Apparently a car drove up after the doors were locked, but even the Obama people outside the polling place acknowledged that the digital clock at the store across the street read 7:02. The final tally for the day was just over 400 votes.
Everybody thinks that the poll workers know how the precinct is voting, but they are probably more in the dark than anyone who has access to TV or Internet. One of the county officials did tell us that the stock market was up over 200 points as he was leaving his office for the day. Otherwise, we were in our little world of voting.
The thing that these office of elections women really dreaded was an announcement from the governor's office that voting times would be extended. They had been there at 6am, and it was quite enough. Since we have had early voting since October 20th and really easy to obtain absentee balloting, I was with them about "enough already".
So, what a night of celebration! As one of our friends put it, "Barrack who's-sane Obama will head for the white house!" Yes we can! Yes We Did! Now we will! Time to get down to work!
Oh yes, Marcia got her staples out today!
KG
From my 3.5 hour experience as poll observer, I can report that voting makes people feel happy. Really happy. Some seem to really enjoy how the little machine swallows their paper ballot and digitally reads out the number of people who have voted that day. But the looks on their faces when they leave the polling place are generally animated. First time voters are particularly pleased with themselves. Since I have no other election with which to compare, I cannot comment on whether the candidate (s) had any effect on people's joy in casting their vote.
Our little precinct was particularly well run. Doris and her staff have been doing this for 10 years or more and have it down. There were no provisional ballots cast all day. When I asked about them, Doris's response indicated her understanding that provisional ballots are not good. Several voters brought in their absentee ballots that they had not mailed, and those were duly cancelled and the voter given a ballot. There were also several challenges-not voter challenges, but obstacles for the poll staff. A visually impaired person with assistance dog used the special machine to help her vote. It has visual and auditory feedback so the voter can have privacy. An emotionally challenged young man came in with his grandmother, and had a small two year old type meltdown about signing the affidavit that allows him to assist his grandmother. He was about 6ft 2in, and Doris about 4ft 6in. She was calm, tried to reason, and knew when to back down and use the cellphone. The local police were quite familiar with him, and fairly easily talked him into signing the form. Voting got accomplished and he apologized to everyone and everyone was gracious.
There were lots of children on my 3-7pm shift, and they were as excited as their parents about voting. They all got, "I voted" stickers, which made them really happy. At the beginning of the shift, children and first time voters were given tootsie pops-probably left overs from Halloween. Even the struggling to be sophisticated 18 year olds smiled. Eventually the tootsie pops ran out, so the last first time voter got a round of applause-better than a tootsie pop any day.
There is one thing that I would change about the system. During early voting, a resident of the county could vote at any precinct in the county, but on election day, they had to go to their assigned precinct. This was confusing to many people, and many got turned away albeit with the name and address of their correct polling place in hand. One young single mother with three children had a mini-meltdown because she was sent to her polling place about 10 miles away. There was also some confusion about what county to vote in. Some people have Dunnellon addresses, but actually live in Levy or Citrus counties. Indeed, Citrus county is just over the river that runs through Dunnellon. The county thing cannot be helped-people just have to know which county they live in and which is their precinct. However, if residents of the county can vote at any precinct for early voting, they should be able to do so on election day.
In Florida, as long as you area registered to vote, you can change your address or name at any time. So, there were quite a few voters who had moved-even from one part of the state to here, and they were able to change their addresses with a fill in affidavit. The clerks have state computers that verify registration and show that a person has voted in real time, so that there is not the possibility of voting often.
There were no lines at our little precinct. At most, there were 8 voters and three clerks to serve them. There were no obvious attempts at dirty tricks. Since the ballots were marked by black felt tip pens, and the machine reads them and rejects any that are inappropriately marked, there were no hanging chad issues. Several times the machine rejected a ballot saying that more than one candidate was marked. The voter then proof read the ballot and tried again, and it went through. The last voter finished at about 5 min to 7pm. Apparently a car drove up after the doors were locked, but even the Obama people outside the polling place acknowledged that the digital clock at the store across the street read 7:02. The final tally for the day was just over 400 votes.
Everybody thinks that the poll workers know how the precinct is voting, but they are probably more in the dark than anyone who has access to TV or Internet. One of the county officials did tell us that the stock market was up over 200 points as he was leaving his office for the day. Otherwise, we were in our little world of voting.
The thing that these office of elections women really dreaded was an announcement from the governor's office that voting times would be extended. They had been there at 6am, and it was quite enough. Since we have had early voting since October 20th and really easy to obtain absentee balloting, I was with them about "enough already".
So, what a night of celebration! As one of our friends put it, "Barrack who's-sane Obama will head for the white house!" Yes we can! Yes We Did! Now we will! Time to get down to work!
Oh yes, Marcia got her staples out today!
KG
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Till Baby Till!
Ms Marcia is getting better day by day. In spite of her incredible progress compared to last knee replacement, she has still has had a major trauma, and it does take time to make new tissue and get everything in place. So, she gets around fine, but needs to heal. This requires nutrition, ice packs, rest and exercise.
We made a trip to the surgeon on Friday. He took the dressing off and "allowed" her to get in the shower (which she has been getting in since discharge from the hospital thanks to saran wrap). Anyway, good to hear that she is indeed doing well, and it was a good opportunity for me to wear my Obama T-shirt in pubic. Got a good response too. Looks like Florida might just be turning purple!
Marcia is usually the garden tiller, but the job has fallen to me. We bought a new Mantis electric tiller last year, and I am so glad. It is very lightweight and easy to use. We recently had electricity and water extended to the Cronemobile Cathedral, so it is easier to get the raised beds watered, and to get electricity to the tiller. So, after a run to the bunnyfarm for bunny poo (hare do), I set my sights on tillin it in. Two beds done so far!
The bed of speckled butter beans that we had given up on is now bearing. I picked a basketfull the other day, and turned them into Caldo Gallego with the help of some store bought turnip greens. I know the ancestors are rolling around, as I bought the greens seperate from the turnips. Nevertheless, they did the job, and the soup was quite good. Looks like bean soup/stew over cornbread waffles for dinner tomorrow night, and there are quite a few more beans left on the plants for another day-other days maybe even.
In addition to tilling duties, I am the cook. Since I would often prefer to farm or landscape than cook, this has been an adjustment for me. However, for the moment, I am rather enjoying it. Last night, while toting the tiller across the yard, I caught a whiff of the great big basil plant-last hanger on in the raised bed that is earmarked for peas. It didn't take much to convince Marcia and Holly that a pesto pasta dinner would be a good idea. It was actually quite a fine idea, and today I was able to till and fence and plant peas.
Obama and I are on the same page in a number of ways. We are all about setting up infrastructure for the future. Today, I invested in fencing for the raised beds. Not only does it make sense for the peas and beans to grow up, but I'm afraid I'll need to bunny proof the greens. Some of the little plants show evidence of nibbling. Even though we encourage Stella to leave evidence of her existence near the raised beds, we do not have dumb bunnies.
In spite of the results, we are rather relieved to have the World Series behind us. Those late nights were wearing. Maybe another year for those Rays.
However, we are all about this election! Tomorrow I need to study up on my poll observer responsibilities, as Tuesday, I am on the 3-7 shift in Dunnellon. As an observer, my primary responsibilities are as snitch. I can only speak to the clerk, but I can make notes and report to Democratic Party contacts about things that don't look exactly right to me based on my study of the polling regs. My one inservice was presented by two lawyers who looked to me like children. Nevertheless, they presented well and were quite together! If Obama organizes the executive office like he does his campaign, we are in for quite a change-for the better!
Another sign that we are turning purple is that the Ocala Star Banner-Ocala's arm of the NY Times, announced Palin's Ocala rally on page 5. Astounding in this formerly reder than red county. Marion County Republican Executive Committee officer, Lewis Dinkins is quoted as saying about Palin, "The more she is exposed, the more people like her." What was he thinking???
Sooo, that's all the news fit to blog.
KG
We made a trip to the surgeon on Friday. He took the dressing off and "allowed" her to get in the shower (which she has been getting in since discharge from the hospital thanks to saran wrap). Anyway, good to hear that she is indeed doing well, and it was a good opportunity for me to wear my Obama T-shirt in pubic. Got a good response too. Looks like Florida might just be turning purple!
Marcia is usually the garden tiller, but the job has fallen to me. We bought a new Mantis electric tiller last year, and I am so glad. It is very lightweight and easy to use. We recently had electricity and water extended to the Cronemobile Cathedral, so it is easier to get the raised beds watered, and to get electricity to the tiller. So, after a run to the bunnyfarm for bunny poo (hare do), I set my sights on tillin it in. Two beds done so far!
The bed of speckled butter beans that we had given up on is now bearing. I picked a basketfull the other day, and turned them into Caldo Gallego with the help of some store bought turnip greens. I know the ancestors are rolling around, as I bought the greens seperate from the turnips. Nevertheless, they did the job, and the soup was quite good. Looks like bean soup/stew over cornbread waffles for dinner tomorrow night, and there are quite a few more beans left on the plants for another day-other days maybe even.
In addition to tilling duties, I am the cook. Since I would often prefer to farm or landscape than cook, this has been an adjustment for me. However, for the moment, I am rather enjoying it. Last night, while toting the tiller across the yard, I caught a whiff of the great big basil plant-last hanger on in the raised bed that is earmarked for peas. It didn't take much to convince Marcia and Holly that a pesto pasta dinner would be a good idea. It was actually quite a fine idea, and today I was able to till and fence and plant peas.
Obama and I are on the same page in a number of ways. We are all about setting up infrastructure for the future. Today, I invested in fencing for the raised beds. Not only does it make sense for the peas and beans to grow up, but I'm afraid I'll need to bunny proof the greens. Some of the little plants show evidence of nibbling. Even though we encourage Stella to leave evidence of her existence near the raised beds, we do not have dumb bunnies.
In spite of the results, we are rather relieved to have the World Series behind us. Those late nights were wearing. Maybe another year for those Rays.
However, we are all about this election! Tomorrow I need to study up on my poll observer responsibilities, as Tuesday, I am on the 3-7 shift in Dunnellon. As an observer, my primary responsibilities are as snitch. I can only speak to the clerk, but I can make notes and report to Democratic Party contacts about things that don't look exactly right to me based on my study of the polling regs. My one inservice was presented by two lawyers who looked to me like children. Nevertheless, they presented well and were quite together! If Obama organizes the executive office like he does his campaign, we are in for quite a change-for the better!
Another sign that we are turning purple is that the Ocala Star Banner-Ocala's arm of the NY Times, announced Palin's Ocala rally on page 5. Astounding in this formerly reder than red county. Marion County Republican Executive Committee officer, Lewis Dinkins is quoted as saying about Palin, "The more she is exposed, the more people like her." What was he thinking???
Sooo, that's all the news fit to blog.
KG
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