If you are thinking about voting for Giuliani for President, please remember: The very last thing you want to do is to give this person more power. Seriously. Trust us on this one.

Hells yeah.

I had a funny voting experience this morning, which I will shortly be sending to OINY. I usually go first thing in the morning when there's no line, but today I had to wait because there was a man voting in my district ahead of me, and he was having trouble working the levers. (I *heart* our old-fashioned lever machines. Ka-CHUNK! Vote!) Anyway, the people running things kept trying to explain to him how the levers worked, but he still said they wouldn't turn, etc etc etc.

After a few minutes of this, he goes back into the booth, pops his head back out and says "Wait, I think I know what the problem is -- I'm a Republican!"

(There are maybe 3 Republicans in my district, if that, and they'd forgotten to switch the knob over to that side, so he wasn't able to turn any of the GOP levers. Oops!)

Ha! Once many years ago, my father was a poll worker in Chicago, and the other long-time workers literally threw away a Republica ballot when they came across one, because they figured it had to be a mistake.

I guess it's true what they say, you can take the girl out of Massachusetts, but you can't take the Massachusetts out of the girl.

True fact. I actually busted a guy over the weekend who grew up in Mass but hasn't lived there in years. He has hardly any accent, but he kept having to say "Charles," (he was performing Charles's wedding) and I could hear the Mass in his voice.

HA!

My plan to get allmy work done so I can take a personal day this week is being twarted. The application I use is being Slllllllloooooooowwwwww.

Like still processing a button click since before I started this post slow.

Maryland is supposed to have those squirrelly, hackable electronic machines but as of last election, my district didn't. We don't have the kathunkers, we have a light up board covered by the ballot , but I don't know what tabulates the vote. Had the same machines in NC a decade ago. When you are done, it goes bweedledeebweep!

It was strange to reaccess the memories of exactly what we saw and heard in "real time" -- the confusion over whether it was a small plane that hit the first tower, the pictures of the second plane striking the second tower and with it the realization that this was no accident, the reports of the Pentagon under attack, the reports of bombs in other federal buildings (not true), the towers falling. I remembered how grateful I was for the ex-pat Bronzers board(s) and the folks who were there, including you.

Having that place, and each other, and watching the list of which Gotham and Mayberry Bronzers had checked in grow was really something else. I was amazed none of us were lost. You lost co-workers, didn't you?

After I got home from taking the children to school yesterday, I put the TV on. For about a minute. Then I shut it off, and reviewed the old board, instead. You're right, it was really strange to reaccess the memories. It also reminded me of the day, itself. I didn't have the TV on, because I didn't want the kids seeing it, so I got a lot of my news from Bronzers.

I had a little TV in the kitchen, and I turned that on in the afternoon. Julia came in the kitchen, and saw the shots of the towers on fire (they'd already fallen, I think) and yelled, "Fire! We gotta get outta here!"

I had to explain to her that it was far away. When I told her it was in New York, she mustered up all of her indignity, and with hands on hips, said, "New York Titty?" like it was her old stomping grounds. She still wasn't talking correctly, then, hence the "T" where the "C" should have been. That was only a few months after she'd patted my bum and told me she was "torry Bucky died," when she caught me crying, the day after The Gift aired.

Ben came out in the kitchen once (on 9/11, not after "Bucky" died) saw me crying, and when he asked why, I showed him what was happening on the TV. He told me not to worry, because it was only on TV, and so therefore, it wasn't real. I think that broke my heart, more than anything.

My mind's memory says I waited hours and hours for my mum and Scott to get out of Boston. I think the board clock is frelled now (for one thing, it's on the half-hour when real world time is on the hour), but still, they were home fairly early. I do remember wanting to take Ben home with me after the tea party, and really having to fight against that, because I knew it wasn't rational.

It was odd when people starting talking about it here, yesterday. I've read those WXing Buffista posts, and probably started lurking around then, but my online memories of the day are all Bronzer-related, and...I don't know, it was almost like seeing someone else's family talk about something that happened in my family.

so he wasn't able to turn any of the GOP levers. Oops!

If only this would happen in November. We have stupid electronic machines as the big expensive fix to the punchcard tragedy. Why we didn't go to a sane method like optical scanning is beyond me. Yeah, I know, more money in various pockets.

I saw a little while ago that Giuliani was way up on the potential candidate poll. Good grief. The run up to the next presidential election is going to be a brutal experience. I'm going to have to invest in hundreds of DVDs to make it.

I couldn't find this yesterday...

...a picture of Kirk and Spock mourning at ground zero

It's, um.... well, you gotta see it. Or maybe you don't.

Also-- why is Audrey Hepburn dancing to "Back in Black" on my teevee. If I didn't know better, I would think that they had filmed her ROLLING OVER IN HER GRAVE...

see, this is why I start watching everything 15 minutes after it starts. I dont' have to watch the commercials.

He told me not to worry, because it was only on TV, and so therefore, it wasn't real. I think that broke my heart, more than anything.

That's one of the hardest things about being a parent, I think. Seeing the world through their eyes, yet knowing one day they're going to see it through the eyes of an adult.

My Ben was four at the time. I had the TV on in the bedroom (and Nickelodeon on in the living room for him) and he kept coming in and asking why I was watching the show "where everything was on fire." Broke my heart.

I couldn't find this yesterday...

...a picture of Kirk and Spock mourning at ground zero

That's not the way out...

see, this is why I start watching everything 15 minutes after it starts. I dont' have to watch the commercials.