We're parked in our winter home in Sarasota. We'll be here until April 1st and then resume our journey.
Ann and Andy arrived a couple of days ago. They want to trap the raccoon. I leave little gifts of apples and other things for him to find. Andy gets my current copy of "The Last Ship". I just reread it for the 4th time. It's a brilliant story, fulgently written in the style of "Moby Dick" with many words that send me to the dictionary.
We've cancelled our April cruise to Europe. We've decided we want to get on the road with the new Blue Bus more than we wanted to cruise the Atlantic.
We recovered a few things from storage. There's a place in the basement for a 3rd high-def TV so one can watch tennis programs outdoors. I brought back a TV from storage, but forgot the power supply. We recovered a lamp and some lawn furniture for the long pause.
6:01 AM: Last summer we visited Dixville Notch. They open the polls there one minute after midnight. Usually they go heavily Republican. For example, they went for Reagan over Carter 17-3. Today they voted for Obama by a margin of 15-6. This is the first time a Democrat has taken the Notch since 1964. It's finally over...the rest is just a formality
We've were camping for three nights in the White Mountains. It was cool in the mornings and evenings. You can understand why people like to vacation here in the summer. When the leaves change color in the fall it's a spectacular place.
There's a place here called Dixville Notch. During every election the 20 or so registered voters gather at midnight and cast their votes. By a few minutes after midnight the polls close and the results are announced around the nation as election news.
The results are always heavily tilted. This is the most "red" of all states. You see results like "Reagan 17...Carter 3". We drive up to the notch expecting a quaint little town. We are surprised to find a very posh resort with pools, clay tennis courts and a fabulous golf course.
The doorman invites us to go take pictures of the "ballot room" in the hotel and suggests lunch up on the mountain at the golf club. Many famous people show up here on election day. My own guy, Ralph Nader, has been here. Both Bush I and Bush II visited the room on election day.
We spent a day driving the road up to the top of Mt. Washington. The road is eight miles with an average grade of 12%. You have to use 1st gear all the time both ways. They recorded a wind up there of 231 MPH in 1934. People like to set records on the road. One guy was the first to push a wheelbarrow with 100 pounds of sugar up to the top (he was also the first to walk up backwards). Another was the first to ride a water buffalo to the top...lot's of firsts. I snap a few shots of the old cogwheel coal powered steam train. We rode it two years ago. When it pulls in about 60 old men make a dash for the three urinals, so you want to be finished with your business before the train arrives...
Lunch in the golf club is very good...we have a sandwich and leek and potato soup, white wine and finish by sharing a mixed berry pie with a "dollop" of vanilla ice cream. This morning we move on to the Coast of Maine.
It's two days before the election. This roving reporter has already voted. Come take a trip to an early voting polling place to see if the reports of unreasonably long lines are true.
There appears to be 150-200 voters standing in line to vote. About one voter every five minutes is getting in the building to vote. That's an estimated wait time in line of 12-16 hours.
As I stand there, many more cars drive up, look at the line and drive away. Elections shouldn't be so hard. Are they just incompetent or is something more sinister in play?
There's a report out on the Reuters wire that Vice-Presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, got "punked" pretty badly by the Montreal comedy team duo, the Masked Avengers. The Avengers called Palin impersonating French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Here is the audio of the interview . The audio is carried on the MSNBC website, so if the whole thing is some kind of incredible hoax, some big players have been taken in.
During the seven minute telephone call Palin:
- Agrees to take "Sarkozy" on a helicopter hunting trip to kill baby seals.
- Tells "Sarkozy" that "Joe the plumber" is not her husband.
- Thanks "Sarkozy" for complimenting her on the new Hustler porn flick "Nailin' Paylin", which he tells her is a new documentary on her life story.
- Agrees that taking current Vice President, Dick Cheney, on the hunting trip would not be a good idea.
The degree of absolute obliviousness comes though clearly on the recording, despite increasingly outrageous comments from "Sarkozy" during the telephone call. "Sarkozy" tells Palin that thay have a lot in common since "I can see Belgium from my house". After Sarah explains who "Joe the Plumber" is, "Sarkozy" likens him to "Marcel, the guy with bread under his armpit". Sarkozy names the Prime Minister of Canada as "PM Deaf Cars" and Palin discusses her cooperative efforts with that Prime Minister. You can't make this stuff up.
This year Habitat for Humanity is going to let me work on construction instead of boring accounting work. The schedule is Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday at 7:30 AM. I need to awaken before dawn and put my boots on. We went to dinner on the beach this week with George and Danielle, who we met last year. We had grouper picatta. The ocean view is good from the fifth floor of the restaurant at sunset. Were're playing doubles tennis in the morning again and hanging out at the pool and hot tubs.
