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Our birds haven’t done this… yet. ‘Rat bird’ feels at home
(via Fark) I’m all electioned out after the avalance of posts leading up to the big day. So time for some other stuff. Brandy, in the new house, can we get some of these?
(via BoingBoing) There are pictrues here. I think it would be prefect to hide the lab in which I do my evil experiments in my labcoat. Speaking of the house, an update for those who are interested: Starting with the background: We put an offer in on a place and got a contract on it just before the first of the hurricanes hit this year. Then the house was significantly damaged by those hurricanes. We agreed to delay the closing date from October to December to give them time to do the needed repairs. Current update: They told us this weekend that they would not be able to complete the repairs in time. Not because the repairs are taking a huge amount of time, but simply because SO MANY houses in this area need similar repairs (new roofs and water damage to some walls and ceilings) that there is a huge backlog for such work to be done. It hasn’t even started yet, and no roofing companies will even commit to a date yet. So anyway, since they are not going to make it, we get another chance to decide if we want to extend again, or to just ditch it. So… we got the mortgage company to extend the rate lock we have for another month and a half. So we’re probably going to go ahead and give them more time. For one thing, financially the longer we wait, the easier it will be. For another, while we might poke around at some other available houses, we’ve kind of decided that we like this one and are willing to wait for it, as long as we CAN based on what the mortgage people will or will not allow. I have a few quibbles with the master bathroom, but otherwise we like it. The dollar per square foot ratio is better than most other things we looked at in our price range. And we like the layout. Like the neighborhood. Etc. The key is of course that it actually get fixed. Roof repairs will have to be up to current standards, which will be better than the roof it had. They are required to put it back how it was when we looked at it before we signed the contract basically. If they can do that, then we want it. If they can’t… well, that is another story. But from what we understand, the repairs are very doable, and they already have the insurance payments and all that… it is just a matter of contractor availability to get it done. Although there is a chance that they could get a call tomorrow and the repairs would be done in a couple weeks, chances are we are talking about January at this point. Or perhaps later… We shall see. OK. I voted for Kerry. I think Kerry would have been a better choice. I think Bush has made wrong decision after wrong decision and has generally made things worse. I think if things play out as expected and he gets his 270 electoral votes, those trends will continue for the next few years. However… it is not the end of the world. He will do his thing for 4 years, and then there will be someone else. He will do upsetting things. He will do stupid things. But it isn’t going to bring the end of civilization as we know it. The fact that he won is not a huge miscarriage of justice. The people who voted for him are NOT stupid or evil. They just have different opinions of the right way to approach the issues of the day. The whining is already starting. Hey, people, if Bush wins, he wins. Get over it. He will have won fair and square. The process will have done its job and a president will have been selected, and he will do his job for the next few years. I think Kerry would have been better than Bush. But the truth is that in the end Presidents come and go. They do have a huge effect on the direction of the country, but there are a lot of other things that effect what happens as well, and there are instituional constraints on just how far a president can take things. Sure, damage can be done, but in the grand scheme of things, not THAT much. Anyway, if Bush wins and you were a Kerry person… just move on and start worring about next time. And please, try to remember… he’s not insane, he’s not evil, he just disagrees with you (and me) and has a different approach to things. Thinking that way is completely counter productive… and annoying. Both sides just need to start learning again how to respect and understand the other side instead of villifing them. The deep divides in the country are unhealthy. And the “hate” that is seen on both sides toward the other is a big part of the problem. Come on, just be rational and calm and move on. One network just called Ohio for Bush. This should be over now. Don’t worry Kerry folks, it will suck a little bit, but it won’t be THAT bad. :-) Well, looks like another thing that I think is important probably won’t happen this time around, which is divided government… A democrat in the white house and a republican congress is OK. A republican in the white house and a democratic congress is OK. But have the same party in charge of both branches… no matter which party it is, and you have bad news. Basically because the government can actually DO something. When government is divided, government can be deadlocked, and it raises the bar for action from things that have a slight majority of support, to things that have a LARGE majority of support… much better. The less government can actually get done the better. But, while it isn’t all over yet, looks like we’ll be all red again… The networks are being SO timid. I understand why given how they screwed up in 2000… but back in 2000 they would have already called Florida for Bush and would be thinking about calling Ohio… and the election… for Bush. The margins are thin, but are there. It is possible they will change, but getting increasingly unlikely by the hour. We shall see. But come on news networks. I know you want to be conservative, but this is a little too wussy. Go out on a limb a little!
After the music lesson came home to watch the results trickle in. I’m switching channels every time a commercial comes on. No swing states have been called yet. Almost all of the precincts in Brevard have reported their results. 219 out of 223. Four are apperantly very slow. :-) Looks like lots of my candidates lost. Big surprise. :-) I’ll wait to tablulate my won/loss ratio until all the results on all the races are done though. But it was a very cool owl! Meanwhile, I am very tired and feel sick. Dunno if I’ll actually manage to stay up through all the results. We shall see. Just a reminder that in every presidential election since the 1904 election except 1976, the taller candidate has won the popular vote. Kerry is taller. So I am going out on a limb now and will predict that Kerry will win the popular vote. I am not yet willing to make a prediction on the electoral vote. Although the “height factor” has only failed twice in the last 100 years, even on electoral vote. OK. The biggie. President. And Vice President. First the candidates:
OK. It is 21:57 UTC. I promised myself I would leave and go vote at 22:00 UTC. So I have no time to write anything. So just a quick summary, then I am out of here… Peroutka… right wing nut. No way. Cobb… left wing nut. No way. Harris… completely off the spectrum. No way. Brown… Ditto. Nader… He did a lot of good things on consumer safery, but the complete anti-corporate, anti-capitalist and absolutest nature of his campaign is a complete turn off. Every time I see him on TV I just shake my head. He has turned into a bit of a nutcase and Don Quixote. No, he is not a possibility. Badnarik… Oh why oh why did the Libertarians let me down. Normally I would vote for them. If they had nominated anyone even vaguely competant this year, they would have my vote. Someone with libertarian principles, but a sense of reality and knowledge of when to be practical instead of idealistic. But no. They go and nominate someone who is on some other planet. So they deprived me of what would have been my vote. Bush… On a fer issues I agree with him. But very few. He has mismanaged domestic policy in many ways. His justice department tramples on civil liberties. And of course he has completely mismanaged foreign policy. There is no way I could ever vote for W. Kerry… I don’t really like him. I disagree with him on many things. I disagree with him on more than I agree with him. I do not WANT to vote for him. Florida has no write in option for President. I am unsure of how much I will like a Kerry presidency. But all the other options are eliminated. And although I disagree with him more than I agree… I still agree with him more than anybody else on the ballot… at least the ones that are sane. So, as much as it pains me to do it… My vote: John F. Kerry / John Edwards (Democrat) Only two more to go, but I am rapidly running out of time. Just under 3 hours until the polls close, but only just under 2 hours until I have to take Amy to her music lessons. Brandy got through in 15 minutes. But that was during a morning lull. I’ll be going when bunches of people are getting off work. So my lines will be longer. So I have to hurry… Damn them at work for making me actually do work during the work day… OK, Senate:
OK. I had hoped to listen to both of their debates off of c-span.org. I missed them when they were on TV. But there is no time. So a quick glance at the sites. First Bradley… He has a few interesting ideas, and a few bizzare scary ones… basically he is a kook. Next… Betty Castor… OK, I’m pissed that I am running out of time. This senate race deserves a few hours of analysis. But I’ll skim quickly though her positions. I didn’t really see anything that grabbed me either pro or con in what I saw. Mel Martinez… His website was hard to navigate and to get to the real policy stuff. And again, I am running out of time. But he’s got stuff about protecting family values, and backing W’s approach on the war on terror, and has closely aligned himself with the W campaign. I don’t feel I know enough about either of these gusy to make a truely informed opinion. And that is my fault. Should have called in sick from work today to finish my research properly, watch the debates, etc. But my gut reactions are fairly neutral to what I saw on Castor’s site, but some things on Martinez I react to negatively. So, I’ll make a snap decision. My vote: Betty Castor (Democrat) Oh my, we’re finally at the national races!!! These are the ones that will actually determine the direction of the country and the world for the next few years. The house doesn’t look like it is extremly likely to switch this year, but where the balance is still matters somewhat. And you never know, there could be upsets. For my house district, the candidates are:
OK, first thing, Pristoop was a Physics major. Big points for Pristoop! Also, looking at his issues list at first glance it looks to me like I agree with him on 17 out of 22. That is 77%. For me, that isn’t too bad. Of course, a large part of that is because a good number of the issues have to do with opposing the W foreign policy. If it was mroe heavily weighted toward domestic issues, my agreement level would surely drop. Meanwhile, looking at Weldon’s issues page the agreement level is 50 out of 111, or 45%. Much lower. And when you look at the specific items I disagree on, I feel more strongly about them. I am running out of time, so I won’t look around for more opinions and thoughts and editorials. My decision is made. My vote: Simon Pristoop (Democrat) |
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