Overachiever.
My Mom worked elections for more than 30 years; she worked in the absentee ballot center. So, I decided last year that I would apply to work the absentee ballot center to carry on the tradition. Did so for the primary last August. On the application you have to declare if you are a Democrat or a Republican. Well, I’m Independant, I’ve voted for Democrats, I’ve voted for Republicans; but you have to put down one of them so I put down Democrat. Found that the processing is very well organized. There are 4 people per table with 2 being Democrats and 2 being Republicans. Each precinct is processed separately. Each person does a separate task for internal control purposes. It was very easy to see that the process was very safe and secure. Anyway, the Republican women at the table I was at drove me up the frigging wall. We were there from 11am - 9:30pm. They were going to have us come for 9am and probably stay until about 11pm for the General Election and there was no way I could survive that so I declined their request for me to work it.
BBBoo don’t know if you could lobby for a higher election wage. My community pays $20/hr.
Happy Birthday Nettie 
Glad to hear they plan on getting it. Seems like the roll out of it is uneven, not unlike the messy roll out of the first Covid vaccines. Plus, RSV is a seasonal surge, starting in the fall usually, just like how flu cases go up in the fall. The nice thing is that it is a one and done, not yearly like the flu.
It just got to Lincoln, Nebraska-my pharmacist said mine was the first one he had given. They are a big Midwestern multi-state regional grocery store chain with in-store pharmacies.
Chatted with bestie; Monkey got some gooshy-food in honor of his third Gotcha Day! 
Am polishing off a chicken pot pie.
Oh, and I can’t read … three closers tonight. Better, but still gonna be a looong night till I get home.
WTF a fourteen hour shift? Naw, naw … you schedule two 8-hour shifts, like a normal human. That allows for breaks and some overlap in handover.
Such a nice lazy afternoon so far! 
I’m currently watching a 2019 documentary about the early days of the video game industry, which I recorded a few days ago. Turns out one of the OTA channels I get is “Story Television,” and it’s all documentaries (of varying lengths). I love documentaries! There are daily themes: Military & Combat Mondays, Technology & Innovation Tuesdays, World Events Wednesdays, American History Thursdays, Modern Marvels Fridays, Unexplained Phenomenon Saturdays, and Biography Sundays. There are commercials, but I’ve never minded fast-forwarding through them.
Not nearly mundane/pointless enough. You could have just gone with “I’m thinking about eating an egg.”
(Don’t feel bad; mundanity is in my genes. 
)
They did, and I did! 
I rarely do surveys, but when someone’s customer service is really great I always give them the positive feedback. I gave the guy a 5/5 rating, and wrote a nice little note when they asked what he did well.
That’s a short day for an election officer.
Here, we arrive NLT 5am for setup and taking our oaths, the polls open at 6am, and we stay after the polls close (at 7pm) for as long as it takes to pack everything up, run all of the reports, and complete all of the paperwork. For the June election, I worked from 4:45am until 8:30pm. Everyone gets a lunch break and can take other short breaks as needed, and assignments (checking people in, handing out ballots, helping at the machines, etc.) rotate every couple of hours. Books/iPads/phones are definitely allowed during slow periods. We can step outside or go to our cars, but otherwise we’re not allowed to leave the polling area. Usually we chat with each other a fair amount; we just aren’t allowed to discuss any candidates or partisan topics. The pay here is $250/day.
At least out West, the heyday of avocado was about 1966-1970. We moved into a new construction house in 1967 with all avocado appliances and avocado wall to wall carpeting in most of the house. And yes, burnt orange wall to wall in the rec room / family room / second living room. We were utterly chic and totally stylin’ with the in-crowd baby.
In the mid 90s I lived in a highrise condo that had been built as an apartment building in about 1964. All the bathrooms on the even floors had Barbie Pink 6" floor tile, Barbie Pink 4" wall tile, a Barbie Pink sink, a Barbie Pink toilet with ginormous Barbie Pink 5 gallon flush tank, Barbie Pink toilet seat, and a Barbie Pink tub. The odd floors had the same design, but with what can only be described as Fresh Daisy Yellow tile & fixtures. Which color a few years later would be known as Smily Face Yellow. I lived on an even floor.
Not a décor to face first thing in the morning with a raging hangover.
The especially funny part was the building superintendent who’d worked there for years saved all the old fixtures whenever somebody would remodel. When some ancient original resident’s pink toilet finally failed or they dropped something and cracked their tub, by golly he had exact replacements available. They shore don’ make 'em like they used to. Thank gawd.
Better, but nevertheless good luck!!!
Happy birthday Nettie!!! 
My shift is 13 hours, but that is only 1-3 times a year and the bulk of those hours are sitting down doing paperwork or counting. I suspect the headache of scheduling twice as many people for shorter shifts isn’t worth it for just 1-3 days a year. Election polling places are pretty calm, cordial places here, unlike in many places. Rare for people to wait more than a couple of minutes. We’re strict about poll watchers keeping their distance and people who try to place candidate signs too close find the signs in a dumpster immediately. I probably don’t need to tell you which party most often tries to skirt those rules. Handing out the “I voted” stickers is the most fun, plus my little gaggle of lady workers bring in snack packs of m & m’s to give first time voters, plus they get a round of applause from us 5 workers.
It’s set by the County Commission, unlikely to change their minds. More people want to do it than they need so not much pressure to up the wage. Some workplaces will match that up to what your usual hourly wage is, like they do with jury pay. The vast majority of us are retired though. I’d do it for free, as civic volunteering but somehow can’t do that.
Howdy Y’all! It has been a day of inside in the a/c here. Waaaaaay too hawt outside. So sloth, nappage, day drinkin’ and so forth have been accomplished. Dawgs got et and now we await the start of fartfest.
red if the acolytes, lector, and I were to have a fartfest, I could begin the sermon with “In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Fart!” If that does not get me a speed pass for the handbasket, then nuttin’ will.
And now this…
< AHEM > CLEARIN’ THROAT < AHEM >
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY DEEEAAARRR NNNEEETTTIIIEEE!!!
HAAAPPPYYY BIIIRRRTTTHHHDDDAAAYYY TOOOOOO YOUUUUUU!!!
A lovely day in no. Illinois. Gone are the 95 temps. All hail 70s, a breeze, and lower humidity! Had a nice ride on Ariel. I am home with the a/c on and the windows open. Dinner was fresh corn on the cob and a blue cheese hamburger patty.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY
After unloading the 'yaks at the house so that I can put the new saddles on the rack, we went out to the Lummi reservation. 'Yakwife bought some frozen, cooked, snow crab and some smoked salmon. Damn that was expensive! Good thing she got a veterans discount. I think it was $170 before the discount. The smoked salmon was $30 a pack, and she bought two. I got a jar of smoked salmon with jalapeño ($20), that had the fisherman’s name on it. Good news is that I don’t have to kill, clean, and cook a live Dungeness crab. Bad news is I don’t know how to cook pre-cooked, frozen snow crab. I’m just going to steam it.
I had that bowl of porridge six hours ago, and I’m getting hungry.
My paternal grandparents had an aqua colored Westinghouse from the mid fifties in their house when I was little. Also, happy gotcha anniversary to Monkey!
The wedding planner got back with me yesterday with the bridal couple’s selection, so I got started on them today. I’m making pretty good progress and should have it done in ~12 more labor hours. That will make me ~$22 an hour for the job. If only I paid bennies to myself and had enough business to live on, I’d give up leaving the house to go to irk. 
I was a cheap date for supper tonight. I went to the CVS at Tar-jay to pick up prescriptions (the two cheapest ones that I take totaling less than $7), my 10th 'script was up, so I got a $5 Tar-jay card to spend, so I bought a side salad, a couple of chicken tenders and a cookie to go with the planned sweet corn for supper, with a total of $1.06 left for me to pay. Got out of there with supper and two prescriptions for less than $10. Win!
I crocheted an octopus and a crab. Go me! I need to pace myself, tho, thanks to achy fingers. But I have plenty of time.
Now, chillage.
Here’s the smoked salmon I bought today. (Mrs. L.A. bought the crab and the hot-smoked salmon. She won’t eat the jalapeño salmon.)
Flyboy The Do you know your fisherman? phrase reminded me of the old psa, “It’s ten p.m. do you know where your children are?” I have no idea why. It’s fun inside my haid.
As long as the kids aren’t in Josh’s can (right next to Sir Walter Raleigh), all is well.
The only thing harder to cook than pre-cooked crab is crocheted crab. Gettin’ it tender 'n juicy takes real talent.
Seriously, having been primed by Flyboy’s two posts about cooking seafood, when I got the FCM’s bit about crocheting, I momentarily wondered what sort of cooking “crocheting” was. Crochet, sauté, flambé, it’s all the same sorta Frenchified fine eatin’ ah figger. 
And Swampy claims it’s fun / wild inside his head. He ain’t seen nuthin’ yet.
peedin: Yaay for a ride in the relative cool.
Flyboy: Congrats on yakin’.
As to me:
Today was a day of utmost sloth. Damn near record-setting. I was glued to my easy chair all day. Didn’t even bother with lunch or snacks. Just sat and read and Doped. Come 5pm I finally got out of my post-wake-up gear (cozy track suit and yoga sox) and got sheveled.
We decided we wanted larger dinner but her Ladyship was unwilling to get dolled up. So it had to be someplace sorta middlin’ lest she feel tragically underdressed. By now we’re looking at gettin’ there around 6:15 or 6:30 on a Saturday, so it can’t be a place that gets stupid crowded either. After some debate settle on Longhorn. I’m not a big fan of national chains, but for a basic hunk-o-cow it’s plenty good enough and has been my go-to for no-frills BEEEF. IOW, it’s OK. Off we went.
Let me rephrase that. Was OK. Prices up lots, portions smaller, & the meat is a grade less than it used to be. The wine is borderline undrinkable as always. But at least they have more kinds to choose from than before. Oops. 
I totally get that everything everywhere is more expensive than, say, 2 years ago for reasons we all understand. Maybe they held the line too long or something, but compared to other places both lesser and nicer, I think these guys have fallen in the crack of cheapening their product while raising their prices to the point that vastly better / nicer eateries aren’t much more expensive, and folks on a tight budget will be priced down / out. Which leaves them who to be their customers?
OTOH, the place was doing a hefty business feeding hefty blob-o-cow to hefty customers the whole time we were there. Turning tables quickly; head 'em up! Move 'em out! Gotta be doing something right.
I wish them well whether I go back or not.
Ne’er the less, I’m fully calorified for this evening and much of tomorrow. Can’t beef about that. 
Now back home enjoying a neat scotch, a bit of dark chocolate, & yakkin’ w y’all. Bed soon, for a long day of sloth (or irk) begins early tomorrow. We shall see which.
Cheers all!!
It came out perfect. Very sweet crab.
Evening all. Reached swampy levels of sloth today, spent about 3-4 hours on the internet and then slept for 3.5 hours before getting up and nuking some Lean Cuisine for dinner. Still 84F at 8pm, so no break from the heat yet.
Flyboy, wonder how much of the cost was to pay the fisherman?
Wet one, wish we had some of that cool.
BBBoo, Oopsie, Cat Glove, thanks for the stories on Election days.
Nettie, my bad, a Happy Birthday to you.
OK, need to find some interesting stuff to do/read around the house until it gets late enough for me to ignore the afternoon sleepage and head off to bed again. Might even put some clothes on and go check the mail…or maybe tomorrow…
Take care all.
We DoorDashed some decent seafood, since I really didn’t feel like going out and dealing with DH’s crowd aversion on a Saturday.
Brief Hobby Lobby run for materials to build a little shelter for the TV in case the vent drips again. OK, it’s happened TWICE in eleven years in this apartment (both within the same week), but the potential cost if it happens again is high enough to be worth taking cautionary measures, we think.
Other than that, mostly slothing and indulging in cake, since nice sup brought me a cake, balloon, and fake plant yesterday. She knows I’m hopeless with real plants.
Maybe somebody should get you some potted herbs. At least that way you can eat the corpse after you kill it.
Happy latter part of birthday!! Jes’ keep practicin’ 29 'til ya git it right!
It was that time of the year again. I got my hair cut. The last time I got my hair cut was about a year and half ago - that was the first haircut I’d had in 5 years and I got it chopped short. This time around, I went a little more stylish. It’s still a bit in my eyes, but if the top was any shorter, the sides and back wouldn’t match (according to the girl who did the duty). I like it. She also did a decent beard trim for me, though I had told her that I never put a blade to my face anymore but she went ahead and did the neck shave. It looks good, but it stings like a bitch.
Before:
After:
