Tuesday Stuff

I guess my computer needs a cup of coffee every so often.

This morning I decided that computers are just like people.  Every so often they’re feeling so out of it, they just can’t put one key strike in front of the other.

This was one of those mornings here in this upper room aka office where I’ve spent from late dawn to full light of day, waiting and waiting and waiting some more.

Didn’t matter if it was Internet feed or just basic computer moves----it’s been painfully slow.

Other days, I’ll sit down and the computer putzes along, not skipping a beat.

So, if there’s some way to give a computer a shot of caffeine when needed, I’d be happy to give it a try.

In the meantime, thinking about all I could have done while waiting for a website or a picture to load, has been frustrating at best.

Mama said there’d be days like this----I doubt she ever thought about computers having such days when she said that. 

Now the sun is shining through the window and another beautiful day beckons as well as the civic responsibility to vote.

I was thinking this morning how my idealism toward the great American tradition for civic-minded citizens has dramatically changed since I walked inside my first polling booth and marked up a ballot.

That had to be sometime in 1968 when I was 21.  Nixon ran against Humphrey, and I probably voted for the latter for President. 

A couple of years later, 18-year-olds were granted the right to vote, thanks to the 26^th Amendment.

These days, especially during this time of my long record of following my civic duty, I’m not so excited about how my vote will make any difference as I might have been way back when. 

In some cases, I do believe that votes do truly and purely count, especially in today’s election, which involves adding stability to our local district’s school maintenance and operation levies.

 

Seems like the further up the ladder we go with candidates and issues, however, our votes get lost in the wash.  

And, when Presidential winners are already declared before millions of people in the Western states even get into the polls to cast their ballots, a sense of futility reigns.

That's an aspect of our democracy where we need to enact another Amendment. 

Think about the early times in this nation when those who wrote the rules had not even conceived the idea of Idaho or California (where they're supposed to start raking their forests).  

Seems like the way we vote as a nation could be revisited. 

In today's election,  I feel like my vote will count.  Fortunately, so far, every election in my lifetime has provided an opportunity for the exercising of at least one vote on the ballot to make a difference, so I’ll keep doing my civic duty.

Plus, even with the Presidential elections, we can still cast our vote, with the conviction that we personally are not responsible for the debacles aka messes that often evolve from when “the people speak.” 

We can proudly declare to all who complain that we DID NOT vote for that person! So, our vote is always worth something. 

I’ve declared that very fact many times since 2016, and will, no doubt, repeat it often.

 

For today’s election, I’ll say in advance, one more time, that my most important box on the ballot will be the one I fll in that says “YES" for stabilizing the school maintenance and operations levy. 

 

So, even though my idealism of voting may have taken a hit over the decades, my enthusiasm toward some aspects of voting still exists.

Time to head to the polls. 

Happy Tuesday, and don't forget that Gonzaga men play Alabama State at 5 p.m. PST today. 

GO, ZAGS!