OMG, you guys, there is a grilled cheese cart in my neighborhood on weekend late nights and it is MADE OF AWESOME! Plus they make maybe the best fries I've ever had. (with malt mayonnaise! yum!!!) you could also get sweet potato fries but I didn't wait around for that. And the guys who run it are totally cute and nice and thrilled that people were into their thing. And there was a band, too, with an accordian. I am loving my neighborhood right now!!!

That's it. I'm moving to Baltimore.

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My dad must be lurking. He called me the other day and asked me to make him grilled cheese sandwiches when I come over today.

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OMG, you guys, there is a grilled cheese cart in my neighborhood on weekend late nights and it is MADE OF AWESOME! Plus they make maybe the best fries I've ever had. (with malt mayonnaise! yum!!!) you could also get sweet potato fries but I didn't wait around for that. And the guys who run it are totally cute and nice and thrilled that people were into their thing. And there was a band, too, with an accordian. I am loving my neighborhood right now!!!

I a) want a grilled cheese sandwich and b) want one of those carts!

I have a full blown head cold. I should have stayed in bed, but I dragged myself to the farmer's market totally hopped up on cold medicine. Of course I ran into a few people I hadn't seen in ages, and was very spacey and congested and probably acted like a freak.

I think I will go back to bed for a while.

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I'm researching voter ID requirements for new voters in Virginia on my brother's behalf. (He's back in Moscow now for a few weeks but returning to the States next week.) Anyone have experience here?

He's worried that he doesn't have anything official that shows his VA address - he sublets a condo and doesn't pay utilities, hasn't changed over his driver's license, etc. But he has been living there for the past year. His paychecks still show his Moscow address. He's got a check from the IRS that was mailed to his VA address, and he's changed one of his bank accounts from online to paper statements, but hasn't received anything from them yet so he's concerned. Anyone know what's required? Would early voting be a good idea to minimize potential problems or at least give him time to scramble for something more if need be?

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Can he get any kind of printout from the bank with his information, either off the website or from a branch? That might count. But early voting is a good idea.

If VA won't accept it, maybe he can get an absentee ballot from his old address? (I mean, I assume he has an American license from a previous address he hasn't changed?)

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brenda, does he have his car registered?

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He doesn't have a car. He usually votes absentee in Wisconsin but now that he's registered in VA I don't know if that's possible. That's another reason early voting would probably be a good call though. I think he comes back from Russia on Monday so that would leave him a little time to regroup if need be.

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Hee. Going after the hockey mom demographic, boy band style: [link]

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Here's some VA voting registration information. If I'm reading it right, he can go in and fill out the absentee voting form in an office, though it's not clear on what ID you need.

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He won't be absentee if he votes in VA, but from that link, I think this is the key bit:

Special Federal ID Requirements for Certain First Time Voters

For persons who registered to vote in Virginia by mail, federal law requires them to show identification (ID) when voting for the first time in a federal election if they did not send a copy of one of these IDs with their voter registration applications. Voters subject to this special ID requirement will have the phrase "First-time Federal" after the “ID Required” item in their on-line voter registration record. Any of the following types of ID are acceptable:

1. A current and valid photo ID (for example a driver’s license);

2. or a current utility bill, bank statement, government check or paycheck that shows name and address;

3. or another government document that shows name and address (for example a voter card).

He registered through a voting drive, not at a state office or by mail, which is why some of the confusion I think - it's not directly addressed in any of the stuff I've seen. This seems to suggest that his IRS check (or bank statement if it comes in) should be sufficient.

I think what he's really trying to find out is kind of unknowable - with all the shenanigans going on right now with trying to block eligible people from voting, which is certainly going on in VA, it's a matter of how obstructive the poll workers are likely to be, or how likely they are to challenge him. And again, I suspect that's much more likely to be an issue on Nov 4 than in early voting, so I'm going to strongly encourage him to go in ASAP when he gets back to the States.

Thanks all! I'll be sure and let you all know if anything eventful happens.

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