"Melinda Shore" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Judy wrote:
Alaska takes such pride in scenes like that. Clearly, they still do
exist.
But I think most likely at the majority of polling places, things looked
pretty much like they did at most in the lower 48. We have an "Elmer" (or
two) here - and I'm sure you do there. (In our case, that would be my
FIL.)

Hah! But sure, this is an aging agricultural community and
there are a lot of old-fashioned names. Everybody turns out
on election day and there's an election day dinner at the
grange.

Actually, my FIL's name isn't Elmer. There are some, of course, but I was
thinking mainly of the characterization, not the actual name. I can
guarantee that my FIL was the biggest and most popular character at the
voting location. And we were commenting that it has been a lot of years
since anyone put on a dinner at the grange hall - which used to also be the
voting location. They'd probably still be doing it but the hall got in such
bad shape that they had to sell it.

We had an extremely hotly contested race for highway
superintendant, though. That was kind of exciting.

We had one of those a couple of elections ago. The guy running for
(incumbent) superintendent hadn't attended meetings in over a year but still
thought he ought to have the job. He used to be the highway guy but, among
other things, got caught claiming hours when he was working at his other
job.

In our 2008 races, it was the senate seat, long held by fairly powerful
Republicans. It was lost last time by the Republican. Apparently even
these bred-to-be-staunch Republicans don't like you beating up your
mistress, even if she eventually decides not to press charges. So, horrors
of horrors, a Democrat got elected. And even worse, has done a pretty
damned fine job. Even serves in the National Guard. Party affiliation
aside, he really reflects the local community as well as anyone can.

The Republican up against him had NINE tax liens against his business for
failure to pay. He tried to come out against illegal immigration but his
stance lost some of its shine when it became known that not only had he
hired an illegal to do his housekeeping, he hadn't paid the taxes on her
employment.

I figured that if you voted for him that you pretty much gave up your right
to claim that you voted for the man and not for the party. That should have
translated to around half a dozen votes - cornerstoned by his wife and
mother. He ended up with just over 40%. Proving that some people believe
that any Republican must be better than any Democrat.

Ah well. It's over again. For a little while.

Judy

"Melinda Shore" wrote in message
...

I get those kind of boarding bills. I grit my teeth, say "I
love my dogs!" in a falsetto voice, and write the damned
check.

And I, for one, am thankful that folks like you are out there! Pet
sitting has provided a vital supplement to my income. To turn this
full-circle, I nearly broken the four digit mark on a job I did a couple
of months ago, but I ended up spending almost the exact same amount of
money on vet care. Granted, it was spread out over a few visits, so it
wasn't quite so vomit-inducing, but still...

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Janet Boss" wrote in message
...
In article ,
"Suja" wrote:

Loudon and Prince William
have gone blue! That's one trend that will be difficult to reverse.

So amazing, isn't it? I was over-the-top thrilled to see PA and VA go
blue.

Let's hope that continues in future elections! I think that trend this year
was probably more prevalent in more parts of the country than anyone would
expect. Although MI traditionally is blue my county is traditionally red.
It was blue this election for only the fourth time in 152 years.

Kathy

"Judy" wrote in message:

Actually, what I heard was that they were voting for him so that the seat
remained Republican. Then if/when he goes to jail, the governor would get
to name someone to fill his seat. It could even be the governor herself.

It is my understanding that thanks to shenanigans by a former governor, the
governor can only appoint a temporary replacement, and they'll have a
special election to fill that seat. I'm sure Palin will win handily if she
runs, but not sure if she wants to be a junior senator of a party that's not
in power. And tie herself to all that pork that Alaska enjoys.

Suja

"Melinda Shore" wrote in message:

If you believe what people were writing to the Alaska
papers, it was more along the lines of "UP YOURS,
OUTSIDERS!!"

It's the 'Stevens Effect', where people tell pollsters that they aren't
going to vote for a convicted felon, but do so anyway because they've been
happy with his performance to date.

Suja

Suja wrote:
"Janet Boss" wrote in message:


So amazing, isn't it? I was over-the-top thrilled to see PA and VA go
blue.


Now, now, let's give the people of PA some credit. They've been blue for a
looong time; turning it into a 'battleground state' was all illusion,
propagated by the McCain campaign. I was shocked to see Indiana turn blue,
happy that NC will likely be blue as well (provisional ballots typically
favor Democrats, and Obama has a lead already), and Missouri has had its
'bellweather' status stripped.

Last I heard (admittedly I haven't looked today) they still hadn't
called Missouri. They may end up having to do a recount, as the
difference, with over 3 million voting, was less than 6,000 votes.

So even if we end up red it will have been so close as to almost make no
difference. And we resoundingly elected a Democrat (Jay Nixon) for
Governor, which surpirsed me since Hulshoff has been very popular, and
Nixon has had some scandals as AG.

Robin Nuttall wrote:

Suja wrote:

"Janet Boss" wrote in message:


So amazing, isn't it? I was over-the-top thrilled to see PA and VA go
blue.



Now, now, let's give the people of PA some credit. They've been blue
for a
looong time; turning it into a 'battleground state' was all illusion,
propagated by the McCain campaign. I was shocked to see Indiana turn
blue,
happy that NC will likely be blue as well (provisional ballots typically
favor Democrats, and Obama has a lead already), and Missouri has had its
'bellweather' status stripped.


Last I heard (admittedly I haven't looked today) they still hadn't
called Missouri. They may end up having to do a recount, as the
difference, with over 3 million voting, was less than 6,000 votes.

So even if we end up red it will have been so close as to almost make no
difference. And we resoundingly elected a Democrat (Jay Nixon) for
Governor, which surpirsed me since Hulshoff has been very popular, and
Nixon has had some scandals as AG.

I met Hulshoff once. He gave me the heebiejeebies. I was glad he was a
Republican.

"Suja" wrote in message
...

I'm just incredibly lucky that he is a
wonderful, wonderful dog.

He really is a pretty good sport.

If that had been me, someone would've been
bitten.

No kidding! I recently had to go to Promt Care for a scratched cornea.
It took all my self control not to kick the nurse practitioner who
looked at my eye.

For all his troubles, the dogs did get to enjoy a nice long walk, a
cheeseburger, and a little bit of my green tea frappuccino. I don't
ordinarily get guilt tripped, but it happened this time.

I always end up feeling like the cruelest person on earth, because I
invariably forget to take treats to the vet's office. Nor do I ever
stop for treats on the way home. I am for sure a dog abusing thug.

The receptionist did a double take. I told her that it was okay, I
was
expecting it.

I would have had to break that up into two visits, just to keep from
having a heart attack. That, my brane could've handled.

--
Shelly
http://www.cat-sidh.net (the Mother Ship)
http://esther.cat-sidh.net (Letters to Esther)

"Shelly" wrote in message:

Don't know, but next time, if you'd like to borrow Harriet's race horse
veins, you're more than welcome to.

I'm really hoping that we don't have to do this any more than once a year.
It was awful, listening to him whimper as the vet tried to give him the
ACTH, not to mention, the visual of the dog sitting there with a large
syringe hanging off his neck. I'm just incredibly lucky that he is a
wonderful, wonderful dog. If that had been me, someone would've been
bitten.

For all his troubles, the dogs did get to enjoy a nice long walk, a
cheeseburger, and a little bit of my green tea frappuccino. I don't
ordinarily get guilt tripped, but it happened this time.

I would have burst into tears, then vomited. Yikes!

The receptionist did a double take. I told her that it was okay, I was
expecting it.

Suja

In article ,
Suja wrote:
I haven't made a habit of taking treats to the vet and they charm some
milkbones out of the vet staff anyway,

Our vet passes out stanky low-fat dog treats like candy and
then gives us a bag to take home, so I've never felt as if I
had to take treats with.

The
post-vet walk is a tradition; we've been doing that forever.

And this is the really good part about going to Cornell.
The companion animal hospital is next to the large animal
hospital, so after a visit we walk down the road and look at
the horsies and the sheepsies and the moo-cows, etc.

They hadn't
had anything to eat, it took 30 minutes to complete blood draws from Khan,
and then we had to wait for an hour to go back for the second draw, as a
result of which, the dogs didn't eat until noon. I did feel like I owed
them big time.

And then some! It sounds like your dogs were patient and
well-behaved, though.
--
Melinda Shore - Software longa, hardware brevis -

Prouder than ever to be a member of the reality-based community