Skipping like a flat rock expertly thrown to say: Dad's birthday was great, we successfully surprised him both with all of us being there in the first place and with the cake festooned with 75 lit candles. I am so very tired and being at work feels weird and kind of dumb, so I will probably need to talk to y'all a lot today...after I catch up in here, which will most likely help ground me.

ETA: what I was actually coming in to say was that I am super tied and could sleep for a week so OF COURSE I have a 5k on Saturday. #planning #ReallyThoughtThatThrough

Dole, and McCain are presidential candidates I kinda feel bad for.

Dole felt like a sacrificial lamb. He never had a chance and had a hard time finding an angle to run on. I remember him talking about trying to unshackled the economy at the same time the Fed was raising interest rates to keep the economy from overheating.

McCain reminds me of the movie 'The Candidate'. In the beginning of that movie young Bill McKay runs for Senate with the freedom to be genuine because he has no chance at winning. His campaign manager writes down this reason to run in a matchbook "You Lose". As he starts to actually have a chance he slowly sheds all his idealism and because everything he hates about politicians. The night before the election he opens that matchbook again and the words "You Lose" have a whole new meaning.

I felt like that was McCain from 2000 and 2008. In 2000, he seemed energized and happy, being quite genuine with the press on his straight-talk express. Then came 2008 and he seemed like a man who had compromised everything. There was this one moment in 2008 at a rally when a supporter took the mic and started talking about Obama being a terrorist. McCain stopped her and said Obama was a decent man, not a terrorist. He seemed broken at the moment, like he had just opened that matchbook and realized that no matter what happened, he'd already lost.

Yeah, I feel like McCain fell apart there at some point.

My issue with the Trump business thing is that he doesn't seem to have actually been all that successful!!

I returned from Chicago last night, and tomorrow I have a FOUR AM meeting. Gross. But it's due to having to include people in China and the UK also. Still. And then I drive to Portland for a dance weekend.

Also, I must share my disappointment with my morning scone: I stopped and purchased a latte and a scone, which was $8 (!! This shit is expensive now!). And the scone had currants on top and a little icing and I was told it was a currant scone. Was it ridiculous of me to expect that the currants would also be IN the scone? Because they are not. And I feel cheated. Grump grump grump.

Yeah, I feel like McCain fell apart there at some point.

And then his concession speech made him sound like the old McCain again. I had never planned to vote for him, but it was sad seeing what the campaign did to him. (Tim planned to vote for McCain...right up until Palin was unleashed on the voters. Then he was [rightly] horrified that she would be a heartbeat away from an old POTUS and voted for Obama.)

I think McCain was horrified at Palin, too. I almost got the impression that he nearly threw the election.

Also:

Snow on the mountaintops after the cold rainstorm that went through!

I just got out of a webinar hosted by one of our vendors. They showed some sample screenshots of their product with fake users. Two of whom were Down, Neil and Dover, Ben. Really? Maybe they should have considered swapping those out before showing them to users who may not share their sense of humor. I found it kind of amusing, but I'm frequently 12.

I kinda feel bad for Palin too. She really got defined by "I can see Russia from my house", which, of course, she didn't actually say. That and I'm pretty sure she isn't well. Her speeches get so incoherent I can't think there isn't something wrong there.

And Gore, Gore really got shafted by the media. He was defined by saying he invented the Internet, which, of course, he never actually said. Then there was that terrible scandal, the sigh.

Went out, got my tires filled and the car inspected, mailed some packages, and had lunch. And took out the trash and got the mail this morning. Now I'm exhausted and avoiding dealing with the not-quite-dead roach still in my bathroom.