Approximately how many voters vote at one US polling place? If you can't
answer that, how close is a polling place generally to one's home? Can
everyone usually walk there? Or is there one per small/medium town? I'm
curious because I read about there being line-ups. I'm hardly an
experienced voters, but in the six elections I've voted in, I've never had
to wait in line to vote.

The American public seems to be very particular about its irst ladies. I've noticed that, while the first lady is expected to be a public figure and sometimes speak out on certain issues, too much outspokeness or independence seems to be frowned upon.

I wonder how accepting they would be of a noticeably shy first lady - someone who does her job, but you can tell that she feels kind of nervous or awkward?

The strangest thing about the whole US election is that they kept getting people on TV who would say "I voted for Bush because..." and then proceed to list a personal circumstance that, from my perspective as an outsider, would make Bush the least desirable candidate.

I've never seen that in a Canadian election. I've seen people say "I voted for this candidate because of this policy" and proceed to name a policy that I disagree with, but I've never seen "I voted for this candidate because of this personal circumstance" and mention the candidate who I would find least helpful if I were in that particular circumstance.

I'm going to bed. I call it for Bush, since I don't know what I'm talking about and I'm of no influence whatsoever.

Incidently, to be a born-again xian, do you have to have not been xian at some point in your life? Can it be hereditary? Like if your parents are born-again xians are you automatically one too?

Reasons why I am grumpy:

1. I have to be on call on Remembrance Day, so I quasi-lose my day off and don't get paid overtime unless I'm actually given work.

2. My mommy doesn't want to bake for xmas, which is doubly distressing since I had scheduled my diet to end on xmas.

3. One of my pairs of good black office pants (the most flattering pair) has an unfortunate seam rip, and I can't fix it because a) I can't figure out which seam it is from the inside, and b) I can't figure out how to get the white thread out of the fucking sewing machine! There are instructions for threading it, but not for taking the thread out! (And yes, I tried doing threading instructions backwards, but that doesn't quite work).

I get to see a baby tomorrow. Maybe that will make me feel better.

So when either Bush or Kerry wins a state, do they get ALL the electoral votes in that state, or do the electoral votes get divided between the two based on the percentage of votes they got in that state?

St. George station. I get off the Yonge line train and head towards the stairs to go down to the Bloor line. There's a huge wave of people coming up the stairs, blocking my access down. I see a big bulky guy who looks like a football player also trying to head down the stairs, so I move behind him, hoping he would clear a path for me. Dude turns around, catches my eye, and gives a grandiose "Ladies first!" gesture. Gee, thanks.

I wonder if it's considered false advertising to say that something is on
sale at a reduced price when it's not - when it's really the same price it
has always been.

Spinelli Quartana Chardonnay is rather dry, so it would be good with some
creamyish food, but it's a bit too sharp by itself. It's very inexpensive
though, so worth buying for a dinner or something.

WARNING TMI POST!

For my entire post-pubescent life, I have been able to pull out hairs of any kind with little to no pain. Basically all I felt would be a tiny prick of acknowledgement. "Hi, this is just to let you know that a hair has been removed right here."

Today I attempted various types of hair removal that involved pulling out hairs at the root, and it HURT. Like it was actually PAINFUL, and I have no idea why. I hope this isn't permanent.

I probably am going to end up watching the US election tomorrow. I don't feel 100% good about this course of action - I put myself on a US news media blackout over a year ago and it made me a better person, so I really shouldn't be breaking it. The correct thing to do would be go to bed nice and early and catch all the analysis in the newspapers the next day, but I know I'm going to end up staying up late and watching it on TV. (Stupid, I know, to fret about doing something harmless in the privacy of my own home that all my friends and family and neighbours and co-workers are probably doing too, but what are blogs for if not excessive personal introspection?)

However, I have made several concessions to the fact that I should not be watching this at all:

1. I will watch only CBC Newsworld. No US stations.
2. If I turn on my TV from 8-9, I can only watch MASH.
3. If I turn on my TV from 10-11, I can only watch the Daily Show.
4. If they haven't decided who won by 11, I have to go to sleep.
5. NO EATING CAKE! Cake is reserved for elections in which I can vote myself.

How come when there are security guys running alongside a car, they always
have to have one hand on the car?

An English Gentleman by Sky Gilbert is one of those books (like What Was She
Thinking? by Zoe Heller) where the narrator ends up saying more about
himself than the topic he is discussing. The main character (narrator) is
given some letters from J.M. Barrie to his adopted son, and sets about
debunking some of the scholarship on the topic. Meanwhile, his own life
parallels what's going on in the letters, and he ends up revealing more
about himself than insight into the letters.

The letters aren't real - I had to google to find this out, which is
testament either to the author's skill or my own ignorance. Other than

Apparently my supers aren't allowed to come to a tenant's apartment unless the tenant fills out a work order. Even if the tenant is home and specifically requests that the super come by. I find that strange. I understand the rule for when the tenant isn't home, but you'd think it would be okay if the tenant is home.

I don't understand why Global Vote 2004 inspires such anger. I can totally see why an American might not care what the rest of the world thinks. What I don't understand is why, instead of shrugging it off or laughing at it, they would take the time to send an email full of spluttering vitriol. It really sounds like some of those commenters feel that their manhood has been threatened or something, and I don't understand how what is essentially an internet poll would inspire that sort of reaction. Or, if those people get that angry about something as innocuous as an internet poll, why they haven't died of a heart attack yet.

ETA: I wonder how this demographic would react if the message was just "Vote." Would they choose not to vote because they don't want any foreigners telling them what to do?

Polish mnemonics:

tani = cheap because people with tans look cheap
drogi = expensive because drugs are expensive
maz = husband because of the French word it sounds like
smutny = sad because smut is just sad
chory = sick because it sounds like coughing something up
zielony = green because jello is green

Okay, it's been a while and I don't remember. Anyone remember how long it
usually takes to determine the winner of a US election under normal
circumstances?

As I'm walking down the stairs into Museum subway station, I see this little
dog walking down the other stairs across from me. Then I see two more
little dogs following it. Then there's this guy carrying another little
dog, then three more little dogs after him.

They all walk into the station, and a few of the dogs walk right under the
turnstiles. I thought for a second they were escaping, so I grab my
metropass and swipe my way into the station, prepared to catch them if
necessary. But the owner just casually makes his way to the booth and
fumbles through his pocket for change while the rest of the dogs
nonchalantly walk under the turnstile. Then they all make their way down
the stairs together. The stairs look a bit difficult for such little dogs,
but they all manage just fine.

The guy sits down on a bench on the platform, and all the dogs just mill
around him, casually sniffing stuff. They aren't on leashes or anything,
but they're really well-trained - they don't run away or wander too close to
the tracks or bark or even pay any attention to all the other people on the
platform, most of whom are fascinated by this big clump of dogginess.

Unfortunately, my train came at that point. I guess the dogs were going in
the other direction because they didn't get on the same train as me, so I
didn't get to see how they all managed that. In retrospect I should have
followed them to see what happened.

There's an ad on the subway advertising Mark's Work Wearhouse. It gleefully
announces that the store is conveniently located "halfway between Leslie and
Bessarion subway stations!"

Um, that's not helpful. To be helpful to subway riders, you need to be AT a
subway station. In fact, that's as unhelpful as you can be while still
being on a subway line.