I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m planning ahead a bit for the next couple of weeks. I’m taking November 4 off (not November 3, mostly because I’ve voted already, and I figure the important possible tense night to allow for is Tuesday night), and I’m thinking of just not reading anything political starting next Tuesday.
I don’t think this necessarily precludes me from doing more directly, like donating and helping with grassroots campaigns and such, but frankly, reading people emotional makes me emotional, even if I’m usually not interested in what’s going on, and this is nothing if not emotional. I feel like I need a break from wondering what life in America, what my life, will be like if Trump retains the presidency by whatever means, honest or otherwise. I suppose fear is good if it motivates you to take action, but I’m just not sure how true that is for me in this case. Maybe I’d be more likely to do something relevant if my mind isn’t full of what if’s and reading people freak out during my waking hours.
On a related note, I wonder if donating money is still useful at this late point, and what the best way to do so is that won’t land me on mailing lists until the end of time. I think that may be the most impactful thing I can do right now.
Still, yeah. At least the next phase is almost here and we can figure out where to go and what to do without at least some of the suspense. Anyone else going to hunker down in some form from current events?
I’ve already voted and got the text message that my ballot has been received and checked and will be counted so my personal die is cast. On the presidential level, both of the two likely outcomes are equally pernicious to me so I plan on paying zero attention to any of it–Faceplant’s new design is appalling and impossible to use so I’ve shut that tab down until/unless FB Purity catches up and fixes it, I’m steadily unsubscribing from pretty much all political email lists, and I have a massage scheduled for election day and that usually makes me pretty somnolent for the next 16 hours or so which sorts that mess out. Either people will smarten up or they won’t and I can’t do one fucking thing about it so I plan on giving in to my usual physical response to shortening days and colder weather, which is sleeping a lot and eating really good food. That seems like a sensible plan to me.
If some medical facility would offer the option of induced comas for the next month or so, I predict approximately a zillion people (Democrats mostly) would line up. I’d be there.
I’m not really invested in this election, mainly because the outcome is already pretty much guaranteed - a sizable Biden win and Democratic control of both houses of Congress. Nevertheless, I do wish the whole circus could be over by now, too.
I bought the box set of the Babylon 5 series last month which I’m planning to watch to keep me from obsessive TV and internet surfing. My modem died Tuesday and I didn’t have TV or internet access for 3 days. That gave me a head start in doing this and I’m really enjoying it. As an aside, I didn’t remember that each season had 36 episodes. I’m only halfway done with season 1. The show should keep me occupied a good long while if that’s what it takes to settle things.
Central Arizona here. As we have contract mail carriers, the mail has always been iffy. With all of the new Post Office issues, things have gotten worse.
I didn’t want to trust my ballot to the mail so put it in a ballot box on 10/16. I check the webpage daily to see if my vote has been counted, and yesterday I called the elections department to ask how often that box was checked. The very polite woman told me that the boxes were checked “regularly” and that they have been really busy, so they batch the incoming ballots and lock them up until someone has time to count them and its already at 25,000 uncounted ballots.
When I wondered how they could possibly catch up in the short time left, especially considering the workload was going to be even higher, she confidently told me that people would be working over the weekend. (Because nobody would be voting over the weekend, so all would be fine.)
I just checked on my ballot again, guess I’m going to have to go to the maskless polls and cast a providential ballot. Which won’t be counted either.
Other than that, our local dispensary has Stuck in the Pines available. I can smoke that all day, get things done and then zone out while watching netflix.
Just as well for my mom that she died in August of this year. If she was alive right now and died after, or just before, the election, I’d never know if it was all this tension that did her in.
My spouse had a good idea – sign up for one of those “text people to vote” programs and do that (text people, encouraging them to vote) on the actual day. It’s practical! It’s useful!
In (American) football, when the opposing player has the ball, and he’s running toward the sideline and you think he’s about to step out of bounds to end the play, you tackle him anyway. The reason is that if you don’t, if you ease up and don’t tackle, he may juke step, fake you out, run past, and be gone for a touchdown.
Ease up, don’t tackle, Isn’t that what happened in 2016? Hell, even if Biden wins we don’t know for sure if tRump will accept the result and abdicate peacefully. What if the ref says that yes, technically he stepped out of bounds but that doesn’t rise to the level of an impeachable offense?
No coma for you! One year! We may need you to help set up the barricades.
I take comfort in the signs that there will be a large turnout to vote this time. Yes, Hillary won the popular vote last time, but I think the mindset that Trump would be defeated in 2016 kept a lot of people home who would ordinarily have voted democrat. A lot of Bernie supporters also stayed home.
Heh. For some reason I was thinking 6 episodes per disk and 6 disks in the season. But you are correct. I don’t have secret episodes. Still, 95 episodes to go should keep me occupied during the possible shitstorm.
After reading about the looming Supreme Court ready to nullify the results… yeah, burial time. Not that I necessarily think it’ll be easy, it’ll happen, or that there’s no hope if it does. I just don’t need the stress.
Gonna contribute to the efforts to take the Senate before I do, tho’.
Still, 95 episodes to go should keep me occupied during the possible shitstorm. 