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Or should I have said "Electoral afterglow"? Well, I suppose there are happy Obama supporters who are still feeling that. And I'm pleased enough that he was elected. This is the thirteenth Presidential election since I turned twenty-one. (Voting age is now eighteen but it used to be twenty-one.) I voted for a losing candidate eight times. (Yes, I often do vote for third party candidates.) One year (1976) I could not vote because I had moved -- and then moved again -- and could not register in time. This was the third time in all those years that I voted for the winning candidate. And it was the second time I had voted for a Democrat. The previous time was Hubert Humphrey in 1968 -- I didn't support him but someone persuaded me by asking "What if Nixon won by one vote?" I took a vacation day for election day (Nancy had the day off because the schools were closed -- they were used as polling places.) I also had a doctor's appointment for a checkup -- you know, annual physical. So... apparently I am not bad -- blood pressure okay and no obvious signs of imminent malfunction of any major systems. She did give me a bunch of things for my to-do list: see and audiologist (to test my tinitus and hearing loss -- used to get that done every year but have neglected it for quite a few years now), get cholesterol tested (never had any bad cholesterol readings, but she says it is a good idea to watch it closely for anyone with elevated blood pressure), etc. Then I picked up Nancy and we went to vote. I got to do it instantly. Nancy had to wait behind two people -- they had the check-in at two different tables, depending on last name and Nancy's a D and I'm an L so I got to check in at the table that had no line... but it really only took her about three minutes longer than me. We decided to treat ourselves on this day off so we went out to lunch (Panera Bread) and then drove over to a Starbucks. They were have a special promotion -- a free cup of coffee to people who had voted. As you might expect, there was a line just to get inside. I suggested going to a local coffee shop, such as Brewed Awakenings, but Nancy wanted to participate in the Starbucks coffee give-away. The line moved suprisingly quickly (but the free offer was for a "tall" standard coffee not one of those fancy things, so it did not take much time to process orders) and soon we had our coffees. Most people were taking their coffee away but we found seats in two comfortable easychairs and sat there with books we had brought in with us and read. It was a very relaxed way to pretend we were on a mini-vacation. Of course it was back to work on Wednesday... and the same for today... and tomorrow... and then off to Providence with Jill tomorrow night for class. Ah, but then comes a weekend. Of course we have a gazillion things to do, but I'll have to make sure we get out for at least one good long walk together.
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