Some experience at least....

Just putting down that I got a job now at Casey's General Store, which I stared on 11/15 (interviews on the 5th and 9th). I asked to be a manager-in-training, but they choose another guy. HOWEVER, they still want me. (In other words, they wanted me and another and he just happen to got the position... probably due to retail experience!) So I am now a lowly clerk with them promising to promote me to assistant manager as soon as an opening occurs.

There is only two positions, cashier and cook, and its best to be trained with both. I had no choice! The first two days was being a cook, which I found to be no sweat. Being a cashier on the other hand... AUGH! I am typing this after my first day and you have to be constantly thinking. Worse, since I don't drink or smoke, I know little about restocking the beer (cook duty) or where the cigarettes are located behind me at the register. This nonsmoker can't believe the variety! ACK! The evening manager is also not very people friendly when it comes to instruction. I hope it doesn't rub off on me when... and if... I get promoted.

Not my type of job, pay isn't so great, but its better than nothing. I am desperate for job experience. Still got my other job just in case this one doesn't work out.

Rubik's Cube #3: Other Stuff

The solution I shown you in part 2 is what I considered the Standard Solution. I read it when I was a young child from a small booklet, written by James Nourse. Later I made a document similar to these three parts and this is a revision of what I wrote so long ago.

There is another solution which is far more advanced and, in my opinion, less efficient. However it has a lot of mathematical insight. I checked it out of my local library I don't know how many years ago after mastering Nourse's solution. According to my ancient notes, it is called The American Version. I don't know if that is what I call it or what they call it. Guess I should check it back out, yes? Here is one thing it has:

Orientate Option:  L+  B2  L-  F-  B2  F+

         Reverse:  F-  B2  F+  L+  B2  L-

On a solved cube, do the Orientate Option, then move the T face (+, -, or 2), then Reverse. Put the T face back in position. This will orientate two 2 corner cubes without moving any of the other cubes. You can use this in Step 4 if you wish.

Also there is this sequence that is helpful in Step 5 that is easy and interesting.

3 Edges Transfer:  (L- R+)  F2  (L+ R-)  B2

If you use this on a solved cube, you'll notice the FT, FB, and BP edge cubes all move clockwise when viewed from the R face; counter-clockwise when viewed from the L face. Reverse it to move them the other direction. VERY helpful if you misplace an edge cube on the T face!

If you combine that simple move with the American Version's concept of doing a sequence - move - reverse sequence, and you can move edge cubes all over the place! Reverse 3 Edge Transfer to return to your solved cube. Now lets say you want to move the TL, BL, and FR edges. To do this, think how to move those edges to FT, FB, and BP. My solution: B- F+ T- which moves the BL to BP, FR to FB, and TL to FT. (Note: it is useful to write it down and the T and F face colors! Very easy to boo-boo!) Do the 3 Edges Transfer and reverse my solution: T+ F- B+ and the result should be pretty!

Another idea. Do an L2, Step 5 position, make the R face the F face (which you do in Step 5 with the Best pattern), Step 5 Orientate, then a P2 (which reverse your earlier L2). Do this to another person's solved cube - who don't know how to solve it - and run away shrieking in laughter!

The 3 Edges Transfer is also useful when solving the "4th Dimension" edition of the Cube. This has four symbols that has to be orientated correctly to be solved. Heck, that's easy! Make the two faces without the symbols as the T and B faces. To do a half turn, do the 3 Edges Transfer three times. To do a clockwise turn, make it an F+ and B- instead of the F2 and B2; counter-clockwise, use a F- and a B+. This has to be done a total of FIVE times. Not good time wise, but it works.

Have fun!

Rubik's Cube #2: The Solution

Here is the solution is in 5 steps. If not already, read part 1 first or this won't make any sense! The first step is to do the 4 top edges: TF, TR, TL, and TP. Try to solve it yourself with just knowing the basics and terminology first! The solution then moves downward, 4 cubits at a time. Solve each step in order and do each step several times before going to the next one, unless you just want to solve the cube and display it. Don't memorize it immediately except Step 1 which is considered very easy. When your ready to go to the next step, read it all before doing it with your cube.

---

STEP 1: Top Edges ~ TF, TR, TL, TP



A.	Find the desired cue that is not correctly positioned

	and move the cube so that it belongs at the TF

	position.  Rotate a face to move the cubit to the B

	face.  Rotate the B face so it is at the BF position.

	If you displaced a correctly positioned	cubit, move

	it back now.  F2.  It is now correctly positioned.



B.	If the desired cubit isn't correctly orientated, do

	the following: F-  T+  L-  T-



This is a verbose way how to solve the top edges!  If you

understand the terminology but don't know the 'why', observe

what you are doing. Do not go to Step 2 until you think the

above is stupid!  For one, figure out how to correctly

position and orientate a cubit at the same time.  This can be

done in 3 moves (4 if you need to put a cubit back in

position).  Think ahead... don't drop the cubit to the B face

if you can position it without doing that.



Master this without referring to this step before continuing!

The steps will get harder and harder, and you should do this

step intuitively.







STEP 2: Top Corners ~ FRT, FLT, TRP, TLP



A.	Find an incorrectly position corner cubit.  If on the

	T face,	move the cube so the corner cube is in the

	FRT position and do the following to move it to the B

	face: R-  B+  R+



B	If on the B face, with the correct position at FRT,

	rotate the B face so the corner cube is at BFR.



C	If the T color is on the B face do this to orientate

	it: R-  B2  R+  B+



D.	If the T color is on the R face: R-  B-  R+

E.	If the T color is on the F face: F-  B+  F+



Start with the corner cubits on the B face with the T color

not on the B face.  That way the others may move to the B

face or get orientated, saving you some moves.  Note there is

no real orientation moves except the third part of this step.

If you have to orientate a correctly orientated cubit, just

use one of the last two moves to move it down and then again

to send it back up.



The top third is now solved!  This step is fairly easy to

memorize and if you just want to brag about one side solved,

go ahead and do this. It will actually make Step 3 easier.

You don't have to do this yet though.  Step 3 is considered

moderately difficult to memorize.







Step 3: Middle Edges ~ FR, FL, RP, LP



            Seq BF: B-  R-  B+  R+  B+  F+  B-  F-

            Seq BR: B+  F+  B-  F-  B-  R-  B+  R+



A.  	Look for an edge cube on the B face that belongs on

	the equator.  With the correct position at FR, rotate

	the B face till the edge cubit is at BF (if the F

	color is on the F face in this position) or BR (if

	the R color is on the R face in this position).  Do

	one of the above sequences, depending on where the

	cubit is.



B  	If there is none on the B face but there is

	incorrectly positioned/orientated cubits on the

	equator, just place it on the FR position and do

	either of the two sequences (skipping the B- or B+ of

	course!) to move it to the B face.



Two thirds done!  Now comes the most difficult two steps!







Step 4:  Bottom Edges ~ BFL, BFR, BRP, BLP



       Switch: R-  B-  R+  F+  B+  F-  R-  B+  R+  B2

    Orientate: R-  B-  R+  B-  R-  B2  R+  B2



A.  	Rotate the B face till you know you have the most

	correctly positioned cubits possible.  Use the switch

	sequence above to switch the BFL and BFR cubits if

	needed.



B.  	Correctly positioned, there is 7 patterns.  The

	'best' two have	only one correctly orientated cubit

	at the BFL position.  Do the orientate sequence once

	or twice to get them all correctly orientated; the

	second one results in the other 'best' pattern.  The

	others will result in one of the 'best' patterns.

	Since I lost Nourse's booklet, I'll leave it up to

	you to figure out which of the remaining 5 should be

	the F face!



Almost there!  Note you can skip the B2 in the above

sequences to save a move.  On the next step, parenthesis are

used to help you better visualize the moves.







Step 5:  Bottom Edges ~ BT, BR, BL, BP



       Position: 	(L- R+)  F+  (L+ R-)  B2

                    (L- R+)  F+  (L+ R-)



      Orientate:	(L- R+)  F+  (L+ R-)  B-  (L- R+)  F-

                    (L+ R-)  B-  (L- R+)  F2  (L+ R-)



A	If there is no correctly positioned cubits, use the

	position sequence to get one correctly positioned.



B	If there is 1 correctly positioned, at BF, use the

	position sequence once or twice to get them all

	positioned.



C	Now there is three patterns if not solved.  1)  All

	cubes not orientated, "Checker".  2)  Two not

	orientated at BF and BP, "H".  3)  Two not orientated

	at BL and BP, "Best".  Doing Orientate then position

	(also with the correct cubit at BF) will make pattern

	#3 with the other two.  With pattern #3, the cube

	will be solved!



That's it!  Note how the position sequence work.  This moves

all but the BF cubits clockwise.  If you need to move it

counter-clockwise, substitute F- for F+ and save yourself

from doing the sequence again.

Rubik's Cube #1: Basics and Terminology

Quick notice: I copy/pasted these three posts from an HTML document I already made. That looks a whole lot better than these posts (formatting, pictures), so e-mail me if you want it.

The is the first of two parts on how to solve the Rubik's Cube. This part introduces some basic facts you need to know before actually learning to solve it. It is highly recommended to have one with you when going through this!

This solution is based on the work of James Nourse. More info on him and alternate solutions on Part 3.

Basics

Instead of viewing the Cube as a single cube, view it as 26 cubits. 6 are single sided, the ones in the center of each face. These never move. If you have one with white on one side and blue on the other, they will remain on opposite sides. Use these for reference! 12 are edge cubits, having two sides. They are then in between two center cubits. The three sided ones are the 8 corner cubits.

Each edge and corner cubit need to be in a certain position in the cube, the position that shares all the colors as the center cubits. For example, if you have an orange and white edge cubit, it belongs in between the orange and white centers, no where else. A cubit is called correctly positioned if this is true. It is called correctly orientated if the correctly positioned cubit has the colors adjacent to the center colors.

Terminology

Pick your favorite color. Position the cube so that the center with that color is pointing up. This is the top (or T) face. Look at the face in front of you. This is the front (F) face. The faces to the left and right of the F face is the Left (L) and Right (R) face. The face pointing to the floor is the Bottom (B) face. The face pointing away from you is the posterior (P) face and is rarely used. While solving the cube, the T and B faces will remain the same while the rest will change places.

A + is used to symbolize a quarter turn clockwise. So F+ means move the F face one turn clockwise. Likewise a - is used to symbolize a counter-clockwise turn and a 2 to show a full half-turn.

Each cube location and cubit also has their own names. For example, the TF (or FT if you prefer) cube location is between the T and F faces. The TFR corner cube belongs on the common corner to the T, F, and R faces.

Test

To see if you understand the above, note the orientation of the TFR cubit. Do the following:

R+  T2  L+  B+  F-

When done, the corner cubit is now correctly positioned but not correctly orientated. The T face color is now on the R face. The F color is on the T face and the R color is on the F face.

Note: if you did this with an already solved cube, reverse the moves without changing the faces:

F+  B-  L-  T2  R-

Post-election - 2

THIS JUST IN! KERRY CONCEDED! 10:30 AM USA CENTRAL!

Its over! No 2000! Hallelujah! Blogger is sloooooow! I still want to elope to Antarctica! *yawn*

Seriously, with Daschle gone, this nation is going hard to the right I suspect, for good or ill.

Post-election - 1

I am typing this with only four and a half hours of sleep and we STILL don't have an official declaration for President, the results unchanged since I went to bed. At least we got Bush up to 269, which means he will be President since Congress is assumed to still be Republican (House count: 212-193-1 Republican with 29 still too close to call... ACK!). According to Real Clear, CNN, ABC, and CBS have *not* declared Ohio for Bush. Bush also has a real nice popular vote count. Lets see... Tom Daschle lost his reelection. Senate is 53-44-1 Republican with 2 still too close to call.

I may post something tonight. I need to send my e-pals some letters.

ELECTION DAY! - 2

Geared up and ready! Got my scorecard, scratch sheet to make notes, webpage showing our states map, and electoral college map by Real Clear. Hey, this only happens once every four years! This is faaaaar better than some bleeping sports game!!!

Quick reminder: all time is USA Central standard time, which is my time.

6:00 ~ Indiana (11), Georgia (15), and Kentucky (8) for Bush; Vermont (3) for Kerry. No big surprises yet. 34-3 Bush. Virginia and South Carolina too close to call.

6:30 ~ West Virginia (5) goes to Bush. 39-3 Bush. Ohio and North Carolina too close to call.

7:00 ~ Glob of states! Kerry got Connecticut (7), DC (3), Delaware (3), Illinois (21), Maine (3 with 1 tossup), Maryland (10), Massachusetts (12), New Jersey (15). Bush got Oklahoma (7), Tennessee (11), and Alabama (9). 77-66 Kerry. No surprises yet, although New Jersey was considered weak Kerry. Also no state has changed hands. Maine has something that allows one of its four EVs available to the other if a certain condition is meet, but this Illinois resident don't know what the bleep that is.

Later, South Carolina (8) went for Bush. 77-74 Kerry. BTW, if you catch any errors, tell me. I am multitasking! Also, Senate update: 40 Republicans, 34 Democrats, 1 Independent, 25 still to be called. Not surprised my state, Illinois, went to Kerry and now Senate elect Obama, the Democrat. Chicago!

Just before 7:30, North Carolina (15) and Virginia (13) goes to Bush as suspected. 102-77 Bush!

8:00 ~ Another large crop. Bush gained Kansas (6), Nebraska (5), South Dakota (3), Texas (34), Wyoming (3), and North Dakota (3). Kerry: New York (31) and Rhode Island (4). 156-112 Bush.

Things should be slowing down now. There is numerous other states too close to call from 7:00 and 8:00. Louisiana (9) declared at 8:30 for Bush. At 8:45 the Senate stood at 45-38-1. I also checked with NBC and they report Mississippi (6) for Bush, which is what's expected. Fox News did too shortly before the top of the hour.

9:00 ~ Utah (5) goes to Bush. That's all. 176-112 Bush. Note that Bush needs 94, 158 Kerry, and 249 is left. Most of the idle chit-chat is seeing how accurate the exit polls are, which is hugely responsible for the 2000 mess-up.

A little while later Missouri (11) and Arkansas (6) went to Bush. Still no surprises. Still like 2000. Ugh. Interesting side note: FNC, the 'conservative' network, REFUSED to acknowledge a win by a Republican Senatorial win in Kentucky even with 100% of the vote in! I guess they are conservative in counting, not politics! They declared him at 9:30. NBC rather show Obama's speech, being our new Senator. *patooie!* I don't care about Hardball on MSNBC. I thought they will play the same thing. The electoral count is the same at least.

I gotta to use the restroom! ... ... ... Back. NBC declared Arizona (10) for Bush and Pennsylvania (21) for Kerry. Fox reported Pennsylvania shortly later.

10:00 ~ Time to go to bed... NOT! Idaho (4) went to Bush and Washington (11) to Kerry. Current total is 197-144 Bush (207 with Arizona, which FNC declared at 10:20). Now if you think Bush is whipping Kerry, note that so far NO states has changed and California, not declared this early - for this state, its only 8 pm - is very likely to go to Kerry. It has the most at 55 EVs. South Dakota Senate race has only a thousand vote difference, 50-50. Right now the Senate stands at 50-41-1. This is critical because if Bush wins, the Senate is now officially Republican. Of course if it gets 51, it will be if Kerry wins. The House stands at 143-126-1, with 165 to be declared.

Later, FNC gave Montana (3) to Bush, NBC gave California (55) to Kerry. Assuming both are right, we get more realistic numbers: 210-199 Bush. That means Bush needs 60, Kerry 71, and there is 128 left. No states have changed, even now! Lots and lots of talk about Ohio on both stations and the dreaded 169-169. Here is what's left:

• Florida - 27 ~ leaning to Bush right now
• Ohio - 20 ~ really needed by Kerry
• Michigan - 17 *
• Minnesota - 10 *
• Wisconsin - 10 *
• Colorado - 9
• Iowa - 7 *
• Oregon - 7
• New Mexico - 5 *
• Nevada - 5
• New Hampshire - 4
• Hawaii - 4
• Alaska - 3

* Gore states Bush needs to win if Kerry takes Ohio. Iowa, Wisconsin, New Mexico is his best bets. Michigan and Minnesota isn't likely to go to him. Taking those 3 will make up the loss.

See why I wuv this a whole lot more than sports!?!?

11:00 ~ 51-42-1 in the Senate, so it will indeed be Republican. The only question is by how much. 6 races are uncalled. For the House, 173-150-1 with 111 still uncalled, so that is still anyone's game although the Republicans got a solid lead.

Fox News keep saying that they rather not declare California or Florida (27) unlike the other stations until they are absolutely sure. NBC has Oregon (7) with Kerry. With the more 'liberal' count, HA!, it is 237-206 Bush, 94 left, Bush needing 33 of that to win. No change! Nooooo-HO change!

Colorado (9) went for Bush at 11:20 or so. Alaska (expected to go to Bush) plus Ohio = 169 for Bush and a tie/win. Otherwise find 20 from the other states and you got a tie/win for Bush and a tie/loss for Kerry. News people are looking for "Can we go home now?" scenario. FNC and NBC has the same EV. The toss-up vote on Maine went to Kerry and New Hampshire goes to Kerry. 246-211 Bush. THIS IS BIG NEWS! OUR FIRST STATE CHANGE! Of course it only a puny 4 EVs. Also Lousianna elected its FIRST Republican! Time, 11:36.

AT 11:40 BUSH GOT OHIO! 3 points for a tie/win, 4+ an instant win... not counting the upcoming court trials of course! Now Kerry needs ALL the states to win! Bush is winning the popular vote also. Checking NBC. Haven't done that. Strange, they usually declare a state before FNC does. Now for my non-US e-pals, let me explain what I mean by a 269 tie/win for Bush. On a tie, 269-269, it will got to the House. It is ASSUMED it will stay Republican, therefore Bush will win. Checking House numbers: 202-183-1, 49 left. Still possible for a Kerry tie/win, but not likely. NBC gave Ohio to Bush sometime before Wednesday.

According to Ohio law, 0.25% difference will be an automatic recount. FNC is looking for all possibilities for a 2000 Florida happening at a 2004 Ohio happening and acting very nervous they just did a 'Florida'. For a Republican station, they are acting pessimistic!

12:00 Midnight ~ Alaska's whopping 3 EVs give a total score of 269-211 Bush. That means the ONLY way Kerry can win now is if 1) he wins ALL the remaining states and 2) take the House. A tone of closer has arrived. The only question now is what states will change hands. Of the states that is left, only Nevada went for Bush, the rest to Gore. That means New Hampshire went from the Republicans to Democrats with perhaps Nevada too, and all the other states the possibility of going from the Democrats to the Republicans.

Another thought. Assuming this holds, there will be no transition period, which is good. If there is a challenge, at least Bush can continue acting 'business as usual' and Kerry can wait, where last time both candidates required a transition period if won. Of course Kerry wouldn't just wait, but challenge Ohio. That is to be suspected. I just hope it won't be like Florida. A nice, calm count please! Bush is wining the popular vote also, thank God. Democrats considered Gore the true president since he won the popular vote by a half of a percent.

By 1:00 Michigan went to Kerry. I am still waiting to see how the South Dakota senate race will end. As 2:00 comes, Hawaii also went to Kerry. Kerry's campaign meanwhile has a wait and see type of attitude. Lets see how close Ohio really is once all of its votes is counted. Edwards did a short speech and that is all we will hear from them till daylight. The media seem to jump from "Bush will become President" to "How can Bush win without Ohio?" I can also tell how fatigued their getting. They are an hour ahead of me.

At 2:00, Brit Hume decided to go to bed. So am I! I am going to blog this, send an e-mail to my e-pals, and then hopefully get some sleep. Like 2000 I went to bed thinking Bush will be President. The current count is 269-242 Bush with 27 left over and it seems Bush will win at least two: New Mexico and Nevada. Wisconsin may go to Kerry and Iowa is dead even.

More tomorrow... I mean today!

ELECTION DAY! - 1

12:00 ~ I am starting this shortly after 12 noon and already there is several new develpments besides the 15,000 ghost votes in Pennsylvania (see next older post)

• Minnesota: move-on.org handing out leaflets within 100 feet from a polling place, illegal
• Wisconsin: tiers slashed on Republican vehicles meant to bring people to the polls
• Ohio: Lawsuit filled by voter saying she couldn't vote - Sarah White.
• Florida: Someone is calling saying your precinct changed

I am going to continue adding junk till who-knows-when. I am planning to record Fox News and MSNBC tonight and compare coverage.

1:00 / 2:00 ~

• Pennsylvania: Green party voter BROKE one of the machines and ran away before she was caught.
• South Dakota: Senator Dashel filed lawsuit saying Republicans were writing down Native American's licence plates.
• Arizona: Bomb threat, polling place moved from a school to a church.
• SPACE!: Astronaut voted by e-mail. First time e-vote happened.
• Wisconsin: Republican headquarters vandalized overnight

3:00 ~

Things are slowing down, repeating what's above. A few other things. Dish Network customers who have the latest console (not me... *sniff*) can watch 6 news stations at once! Fox News, the 'Republican' news station, had its latest poll predicting a Kerry win! The Laci Peterson trial is going on today (?!) and the Chief Justice hasn't covered from his thyroid surgery apparently.

I am going to take a break! More later!

Quick morning update

Already in Pennsylvania there is a report that four machines has did 15,000 votes before the polls even open! Also late last night a appeal court reversed a previous ruling. Republican may have observers at polling areas, while Democrats fear they intimidate minority voters.

Here is the current EV count:

Democrat: Kerry 262, Bush 261 (NJ tied)
Republican: Bush 289, Kerry 249
Real Clear: Bush 227, Kerry 203, 108 toss up.

Here is a score card I found.

An Election Nightmare

I walked in to the building where I voted every time there is an election. It is as I remember, except for one thing. There were two men dressed in a SWAT police style uniform moving around and looking. I tried to keep my eyes off of them and went strait to the person checking registered voters names.

"Brian Ogan", I said. After receiving my ballot - the infamous punch card - I headed to an empty booth, pausing to let the armed officer by. I think he looked at me. Did a quick smile and then scampered inside. I always had to reread the instructions to these darn things. Okay, this side up, got to get the pegs into those two holes, where is the thing you punch the holes with, etc. Flipped it over and I saw the names of all the presidential candidates running. Bush and Kerry was in 36-point size. Everyone else 8-point.

Taking my glasses off, since I am near sighted, I put my nose right up to the ballot looking for Badnarik. Think I found him. Noted the hole number, since their size is consistent at least. I straiten back up and put my glasses back on. Oh gee, I think I got some of my body fluids on it. Oh well. I grab the puncher and raised it high. Well as high as the string it was connected to allowed it. Noting the hole I stabbed it.

And that is when all hell broke loose.

I failed to notice that the platform was supported by rusty legs. It crashed. The booth then toppled over. I just stood there, dumbfounded, holding the puncher in me hand. One of the armed officers pointed his gun at me and yelled, "Put that weapon DOWN!" Everybody then screamed and ducked for cover. I let it go and the other one slammed me to the ground and put on some handcuffs. The first one then looked at the damage and noticed my snot and saliva on the ballot. He got his radio and said, "This is Officer number eighteen thirty-six, we caught a terrorist with a biological WMD. Possible flu virus." He then asked the one holing me if I was sick. He pulled out some dust and pepper from his pocket and hold it to my nose. Everyone else screamed and ran out of the building after I sneezed. "Yep! Bring along some bio-containment personnel."

And so came a number of FBI agents and men in biohazard suits. They put me into a bubble and shipped me to our local airport. Everyone thought my name is 'terrorist'. I got on a plane and was checked for the flu and other contagious viruses while on it. They discovered I didn't had the flu. When asked why I acted to be sick, I told him about the dust and pepper. They all laughed and one of the military doctors stuck a tweezer up my nose, saying, "You pretended to be sick, you spread snot all over the place, and damaged government property. You tried to subvert this election! TERRORIST!" He then pulled the tweezer out, taking several of my nostril hairs along with it.

got off the plane at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Since it was Ramadan, I didn't got my bread and water till late that night. Worse, the speakers kept playing over and over again "I love you, you love me" by the purple dinosaur Barney.

I was about to doze off when two MPs ran in, punched me a few times, and had handcuffs and a blindfold put on me. They then sent me to the interrogation room. First they shown that my plot failed, but the article they gave me didn't said who won. In addition, since I voted for the Libertarian candidate, the current congress and senate rushed through a bill that declared the party a bunch of terrorist-sympathizing anarchists. After all, a tape was just released with Badnarik screaming "ALLAH AKBAR!". So he too was arrested, for the second time in the past few months. They asked me a bunch of questions like, "Who else works in your terrorist cell?", "Where is bin Ladin?", "How can a cat send e-mail?", and "Do you have any Muslim friends?" When the lie detector machine went crazy after saying this, they started pulling nostril hairs until I spoke. Eventually I cracked and said I don't know where they live since they are just e-pals.

"They? THEY?!?"

"Well I just contacted someone last week on Interpals and..."

"Interpals? AHA! A new terrorist website!" The interrogator got on the phone and ordered Interpals to be investigated. They threw me back into my prison cell with Barney continuing his singing. I finally got some sleep.

I woke up in my bed, my alarm going off. "Its Tuesday, November second, and its election day!"

A Hint of What's Coming

Today I helped my mom vote an absentee ballot this rainy day. We decided to do this since she is in a wheelchair and was the first time I sent her to the Sangamon County Courthouse. Since I had to take her through the employee entrance, the only place a handicap person can go through, the security guard said we can just go on. Yesh, I should have brought in a water gun filled with red paint! The one advantage I got at the cost of signing several papers is a preview of our local ballot. The libertarian party is the ONLY third party group on the ballot. No Nader or anyone else. Of course we can write one in if we want, i.e. Micky Mouse. Oh, and while I was helping my mom vote, WAND, the ABC affiliate channel from neighboring Decatur, caught us on their camera and we were in their news.

The talk on the news of course is if a repeat of 2000 will occur. For the first time in our history, international observers will be involved! I don't know what will happen November 3rd, but we all fear a slew of law suits will follow and I won't be surprised if we won't know who won for at least a week... hopefully not any longer than that. There is also a number of reports of which the TV media promise to practice restraint on saying which state's electoral votes go where.

The other big news item is the bin Ladin tape. At least we know his is indeed alive. The news are zeroing in on a phrase he used which now believes to mean something important, his attempt to effect our election. Any state that gives its electoral votes to Kerry will not be attacked, those that give it to Bush will be. Although I am voting for neither, I guess I should be relived since Illinois is believed to be going to Kerry.

As of tonight, I say who freaking knows. A Democrat puts Kerry at 298, Bush 231 electoral votes. A Republican: Bush 286, Kerry 252. I have been trying to find an alternative and found this one, which leaves the toss up states a toss up: Bush 227, Kerry 207, and Toss Up 104.

Senate races: It is believed the Republicans will pick up a seat and perhaps more. However the Democrats does have a fighting chance in retaking the Senate. My state is going to give a seat to the Democrats. I got the most pathetic race in the nation! Our local Republicans are STUPID! The more interesting elections are in South Dakota (Senate minority leader may loose his seat!) and Louisiana where the Republican has a fighting chance to win the required 50% of the vote and leading by a wide margin, but could loose in a run off.

Finally something lighter. Here is some election omens! Also my request to all of my e-pals to elope with one of them to start a penguin breading career in Antarctica - the most peaceful continent on Earth - still stands.