Well!

Our first Muslim Socialist President!

 

I went to Brew Works last night after a bit of housework, to watch the election returns. The Obama Campaign victory party was there as well, but the bar at least was still open to the public, and the place was packed. (You could still get into the party-controlled dining room or downstairs to the Steel Gaarden, if you wanted to check out the big-screen TV's and the excitement, but if anything it was even more crowded than out front: the bar was fine.) Anne got there around 10:00 or so, after being at the polls from 6:30 AM on. Some burgers, and beer, and some nail-biting (the networks seemed to drag things out, to make it less lopsided & more interesting), and then at 11:03 or so, almost immediately after the West Coast polls closed, they called California for Obama and that was all she wrote. The place erupted in cheers, people were hugging and shaking hands, wiping tears from their eyes...

 

We stuck around for McCain's concession speech (well done and well received) and Obama's awesome acceptance speech, and then went home around 1:00. What a night! Whatever comes next -- and the real hard part isn't even on the horizon yet -- last night we were a part of history.

 

Vote Early, Vote Often

Morning weigh-in: 173.5#, 10.5% BF

 

So I voted this morning before coming in to work. I arrived at exactly 7:00 when the polls opened, and there was already a line; it took me about a half hour to vote, and the line was the same length when I left as when I got there... I don't always vote early, so this may be more common than I think in the morning, but that was the longest I ever had to wait to vote. I was joking with the woman behind me, that the situation was like before a snowstorm when everyone stocks up on the bread and milk that they don't even need: we all heard about possible long lines so we went early, and created our own. All in all the process went rather smoothly, even if I was a bit late for work.

 

I think people are expecting trouble though. A cop car cruised by once, people had their ID ready (normally it's not necessary to show ID), and the ACORN vs voter suppression shenanigans has people kind of hopped up. Anne is volunteering in Allentown today, to help protect the rights of voters who might get challenged.

 

Tonight I'll be skipping the gym to do chores at home (mostly laundry-type stuff), then I'm joining Anne somewhere for the post-election nail-biting.

 

 

The Oil Fields At First Light

No morning weigh-in, but last I looked I was 172#.

 

On the ride in this morning I finally spotted the pattern: every Monday at about 7:30 AM, they play U2's "Beautiful Day" on the local station. The song really puts me in a good mood, and presumably does it for the rest of the Monday morning commuter demographic as well. It usually is a beautiful ride in too, in that "advanced nature appreciation" way you have to do it, gleaning what beauty you can, from the sky and the Interstate... Filled the tank on the way in, prices really have dropped.

 

Backwards:

 

Yesterday I went for breakfast with Anne, walking over to Southside to Blue Sky with her and her dog. Langston had a banner day, which started with him tearing into the garbage (he's on anti-seizure medication, which makes him hungry) and strewing it around the kitchen -- Anne said he looked quite pleased with himself. He was pretty agitated, tied outside Blue Sky, and he got into a fight with another dog, he was wound up for most of the rest of the day... Anyway, we also went for a mountain bike ride at Jordan later on. That was pretty nice, and I think a few things clicked into place for her there. If the learning curve is a wave, like body surfing at the beach, Jordan's easy enough that she was able to catch the wave and move forward . Kind of fun to watch, actually.

 

Saturday was an Allamuchy ride, with the usual Gang: Bob & Karen leading the ride, plus Doug, Eric B, Eric R, Greg, Butch & Mindy, and Nelson, but also Joe & Jon G, Keith, and Claude in a slightly faster group out front. We got in about 13 miles, maybe 2 hours ride time between 10:30 and 2:30 -- hard to believe we stood around for two hours, but there were a lot of blown-down trees & branches that we cleared as we came upon them. Leaf mold or something, had allergy problems which persisted through the rest of the day and into Judy's party.

 

The party was nice though, almost an Obama campaign meeting or something, except for the occasional Halloween costume (I was Franken-pimp, whatever that might be, while Anne was Joe The Plumber, complete with gigantic fake butt crack showing above her pants).

 

Friday night started with Frank P's daughter hosting an "urban fun ride" through Bethlehem, in costume for Halloween of course (except for me, d'oh), and after that we all went to Greg H's for a Halloween party -- I wore a mullet wig and that fake butt. Riding there through the Bethlehem trick-or-treaters with my butt hanging out was a total hoot, a moving wave of gut-busting laughter followed us as we rode up the street.

 

Tonight is yoga, followed by chores/laundry, and tomorrow is the election; we'll probably watch the returns at a friend's house. (I remember watching the 2000 returns at Weyerbacher -- it seems so long ago now! -- and the 2004 returns at Democratic Party headquarters in Bethlehem.)