Gratitude Monday: Change of plan

Yeah—I had a plan for early voting.

I was going to put on one of my Women’s March tee-shirts and the pearls I haven’t worn since I left Korea in the last century, go over to the North County Government Center and cast my ballot for the electors committed to Kamala Harris and Tim Walz for president and vice president.

It was going to be a whole thing.

Then last Wednesday around noon, I was scrambling around my freezer trying to find something for dinner. It was a drizzly day, on the cool side, and I’m a little bit tired of my all-salads-all-the-time summer diet. So I pulled out a salmon fillet. Then I remembered: I don’t have any more lime butter, and I don’t have a lime to make more.

Okay—put the salmon back and took out a cod fillet. Then I remembered: I used up all the spinach and broccolini, so no veg.

So I put back the cod and pulled out a chicken breast. I could have <sigh> another Greek salad. About the 12,347^th such I’ve had in the past three months.

Fine.

I messed about the house for some time until I just decided—screw it, I’ll go get some spinach. Grabbed the car key and my wallet and headed out to Trader Joe.

(You have to understand: I don’t much like going out in the afternoon, and going to Trader Joe’s any time later than about 1000 is to immerse yourself in a special kind of chaos, particularly in the parking lot with all the SUVs. But I wanted spinach, damnit.)

Made a quick pass in the produce section, grabbing spinach, broccolini and arugula and hoofed it to my car.

NCGC isn’t on my normal route home, but it wasn’t out of my way, so I thought I’d swing by to see how voting was going. Early voting in Virginia began 20 September, and there were long lines at voting stations across the Commonwealth. I don’t like lines.

Well, like I said—it was a kind of dismal day, so I suppose many people decided it wasn’t a good day to wait in line—there was no line visible outside the entrance.

I had a choice—did I wait for a time when I could Deploy My Plan, or did I vote?

I parked the car near these and went in.

It took a little longer than usual because the machine that counts your vote didn’t like the first ballot I submitted. (In addition to the presidential vote, we had congressional and senatorial candidates to choose. TBH, I’m rather disinclined to vote for someone who’s held office since time began; but this particular incumbent does seem to be taking his job seriously, so I did mark the circle next to his name.) But in total it was less than 10 minutes out of my day, and that’s a good investment, I say.

(BTW: ballots in Virginia are printed in English, Spanish and Viet. I love that this no doubt eats the lunch of every MAGAt. Also--the Commonwealth leaflet on voting arrived in my snailmailbox on Saturday; more than a week after voting commenced. God damned confederates.)

Then I went home and had cod and about half a bag of spinach for dinner. Washed down with a glass of champagne.

So that’s my gratitude: my civic duty is done, my voice has been heard and if a bus hits me any time in the future, I can did happy knowing that I lived long enough to vote against the Kleptocrat three times. This time I hop it scotches the snake.

 

 

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©2024 Bas Bleu