Winter Rears Its Hoary Head

And other news from our house

I haven't had enough of autumn's golden days, but winter is at hand. We had our first hard freeze last night, and early this morning, the windshields were frosted over for the first time. I need to remember the possibility of windshield-scraping when I think about my departure time for work!

Tomorrow, I'm going to get out the rakes and leaf blower and clear away the leaves around the house. Out here in the country, we don't worry about bagging them up. Mother Nature either blows them away or rots them.

Firewood

Dennis usually helps the leaves decompose a little faster by running them over with the lawn mower.This year, I guess I'll mow the leaves because Dennis is devoting all his spare time to cutting firewood. He has already hauled home enough wood to last us all winter, and he says he has a lot more waiting. He is cutting up branches from some oak and hickory trees a co-worker removed around her house.

Now someone else has offered three oak and hickory trees that fell in his pasture. We are thinking about buying a log splitter. Does anyone have comments about the brand we should get?

Books, computers, and sewing machines

In other news around the homestead, I've been working toward my goal of setting up my office and sewing center in the back bedroom, aka Keely's room. My two sewing machines have been back there for a while already.

After analysis (hauling my books back there and realizing that they greatly exceed available bookshelf space) I'm planning a large floor-to-ceiling bookshelf on each side of the south window. (Yes, Keely, when I get the shelves built, I will give you the long bookcase that has always been in your room.)

Last Saturday, I bought a used computer for my new office. It has a Pentium 2.8 GHz processor, 1 GB RAM, 2 hard drives with a little over 200 GB total, 128 MB video card, and Windows XP. The previous owner reformatted the hard drives and reinstalled XP the day before I picked up the computer.

I will upgrade to 2 GB RAM and get a new monitor, and a "roll-y chair" when my discretionary budget permits (sometime after Christmas.) All in all, I'm pleased with my latest slightly-outmoded computer. We are now a 3-computer house, but we'll probably get rid of the little Linux machine in the hallway, which is really outmoded.

Holidays

And so we go, full speed ahead, into winter and the holidays. The holiday shopping season has begun. My store has been doing fairly well despite the nation's economic problems, and I certainly hope that continues. I've been training a holiday-hire employee for the last week. She is in her early 20s, and she's the mother of two little children. This is her first job.

Isaac, who works part-time at a grocery store, is dreading the season. He remembers how busy they were last year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. It's hard to predict what this year will be like.

Keely says she is going to cook Thanksgiving dinner this year, and I'm glad to let her do it, to tell the truth. I'll contribute the pumpkin cheesecake and anything else she tells me to bring.

Poll Worker Report

Working the election

Dennis and I were poll workers in the November 4, 2008, election. He was the Democrat judge and I was the Republican judge. (Yes, we really are registered that way.)

We arrived at the polling place at 5:15 a.m., the appointed time, and found the other poll workers already setting up the signs. Dennis and I hurried to set up the voting machines. We have a good system -- I read the directions and he does the setting up. It went smoothly, and we were ready about 15 minutes ahead of time.

At 6:00 a.m., we opened for voting. A line had already formed outside the door. With our new E-Scan system, the voters moved through at a steady pace. Each voter received a paper ballot and went to one of five privacy booths to mark it. Then the voter brought the completed ballot to the E-Scan machine to electronically record his/her vote. Many expressed appreciation for the quick and easy voting procedure.

Just one complaint

We had only one disgruntled voter. He arrived at the polls mid-morning, feeling cranky and hoping for a problem. He let us all know that he'd been listening to news reports about malfunctioning machines. We assured him that we had a very good and totally up-to-date system, but he was clearly dubious.

After he marked his ballot, he fed it into the eScan and read the message: "Your vote has been recorded. Thank you for voting!" Then he told us that was not satisfactory. He wanted the machine to also display a summary of what it had read from his paper ballot -- that is, to tell him who or what he had chosen on the ballot. (Can you imagine the bottleneck this could potentially create?!)

We told him that it was the voter's responsibility to ensure that the ballot was correctly marked before feeding it into the machine, but we would write his suggestion on the Sheriff's Report. (And we did.)

Our oldest voter was 101. He voted by the eScan with assistance from his son. We had quite a few voters who were in their 80s and 90s. They had all voted by eScan during the spring primaries, and they had no problem at all with it in this election.

We had to turn one lady away who wanted to vote. Her name was not in the voter roster, and when we called the county clerk's office, they couldn't find her name in their list of registered voters. She said she hadn't voted for over twenty years. Apparently her name had been inactive for so long that it was removed. She didn't seem surprised. It's a shame that she didn't check on her registration before Election Day.

Our son Isaac voted for the first time, and we, as election judges, helped him cast his ballot. That was a moment of pride and joy for us. I think he will be an informed citizen and a faithful voter. He is interested in history and current events.

By our unofficial estimate, based on the number of ballots used and the number of registered voters in the book, over 2/3 of the registered voters in our precinct came to the polls. It's possible that some also voted by absentee ballot. We didn't have any statistics for that.


Long Day

The polls closed at 6 p.m. Dennis and I closed down and locked up the machines, following the instructions step by step. Three tapes were printed from each machine, and all of the election workers signed each tape. One tape from each machine was hung on the door and the other tapes were for the county clerk's office.

As election judges, Dennis and I had the responsibility of carrying the briefcase with our election materials and results to the county clerk's office. We got there ahead of the rush and didn't have to wait in line at all. The girls went through the bag quickly and checked to see that nothing was missing. I am always relieved when we successfully complete that checkup!

It was about 7:30 p.m. when we got home. We attended two classes before the election and worked about 14 hours on election day. In this county for this election, workers will be paid $150 each for working. Judges who drove the results to the courthouse will also receive a small milage payment. At our house, these payments will go to Isaac's college fund.


eScan Success

In my opinion, the eScan performed flawlessly at our precinct. I like the E-Scan system because the paper ballot, marked with ink, is retained when the ballot is scanned. A numbered stub from each ballot is also collected separately. The number of ballots, ballot-stubs, unused ballots, and signatures in the voter roster all must agree, so it seems to me that the system would be hard to cheat.

If there was a question about the results, the ballots could be scanned again. No "hanging chads" will create uncertainty or confusion. In fact, if there is any problem with the ballot (such as too many votes or no votes at all or stray marks on the ballot, it's immediately apparent. The machine rejects the ballot, and the voter can correct the problem on the spot.

Christian County also provides an eSlate machine for voters with disabilities. It has a dial that the voter turns to select names on a lighted screen. Than a button is pushed to cast the ballot. It is more confusing to use and it does not provide a paper record of the votes cast, so we encouraged all our able-bodied voters to use the eScan instead.

I was quite surprised to read on the Hoptown Hall that someone was unhappy with the eScan's system of paper ballots. The voter seemed to feel it was a step backwards rather than an advance. I suspect that he was disappointed that it was so easy to vote.


Results

About 75% of our voters chose the John McCain/Sarah Palin team in the presidential race. In combined results for the entire county, the election was a little closer, but McCain still won: 13,669 to 8880. McCain carried the entire state, and in fact, Kentucky was the first state announced for McCain in the election results.

On the national level, voters in our county preferred Mitch McConnell (Rep.) for U.S. senator over Bruce Lunsford (Dem.) and Ed Whitfield (Rep.) for U.S. representative over Heather Ryan (Dem.) The electorate in other western Kentucky counties agreed, and both of these men are being sent back to Washington.

In state races, we returned Myron Dossett (Rep.) to Frankfurt as a state representative and Joey Pendleton (Dem.) as a state senator. Both of these men were incumbents.

For more results in Christian, Todd, and Trigg counties, see the Kentucky New Era's election page

The Season Changes

Beautiful autumn days

I stopped to photograph these yellow maple leaves on the way home from work tonight. I've had little opportunity to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather. Autumn isn't waiting for me; the leaves are taking on their final colors and, one by one, drifting to the ground. The old maple tree in the front yard has already lost most of its leaves.

The season is changing in another sense, with the election of a new President. He's not the person I'd have preferred for the job, but he will be the leader of my country -- my President for the next four years. I will pray for him and his family. May he be blessed with the wisdom of Solomon, because he's certainly going to need it.

Whooping Crane Migration

Helping endangered cranes survive

Carolyn Hall, of Bassett, NE, sent a link for Operation Migration, a group that is helping to establish a new flock of migratory whooping cranes. This flock will winter in east Florida and summer in central Michigan.

Eggs are collected in the wild and hatched in incubators. Even before the eggs are hatched, the baby birds are imprinted with the sound of ultralight aircraft, the "birds" that will eventually lead them as they migrate. The imprinting with ultralights continues as the baby birds are born, grow, and learn to fly.

This year's "crop" of whooping crane chicks is now migrating from Michigan to Florida, and the ultralights are teaching them the safest route. You can read a daily log of their progress in the Field Journal. Start at the bottom of the page to read the entries in chronological order.

Today's entry includes a video of the young whooping cranes taking some exercise after a couple of days on the ground due to weather conditions. With a wingspan of 7 to 8 feet and long legs stretched behind them, they are beautiful in flight -- and a joy to see, because they are rare and precious.

According to Operation Migration's Crane Count, the total population of all whooping cranes (wild and captive) was 539 on July 14, 2008.

Related: Whooping Cranes Threatened by Wind Farms

Trench Coat Travails

All's well that ends well

I've gone so long without writing a post that a couple of my readers have emailed to ask if I'm OK. I appreciate your concern. I am well, and my family is well. I've just haven't had time for the computer lately.

When I wasn't busy doing other things this week, I was busy in Keely's bedroom. (It's still called Keely's room, though she has moved out and has her own place now). I have my sewing machine in that room, and I'm planning to move my computer and my personal library back there soon.

Last weekend, Keely moved a chest of drawers and a vanity out of her room. I had some things in and on those pieces of furniture, so I had to find new places for them. I had to get the room cleaned up quickly because I needed to sew a trench coat I had promised Isaac. (You may remember that I hoped to sew this coat while I was on vacation a couple of weeks ago. Ha!)

Reason for the trench coat: On Halloween night, Isaac went to an "Alice in Wonderland" costume party (hosted by Keely and Taurus), and his character was the caterpillar. He wore the trench coat with a fez and a matching vest that Keely sewed for him.(According to my kids, the caterpillar is dressed like that in a non-Disney Alice film that they've seen.) We couldn't find a pattern for a regular trench coat, so we used a pattern for a long Matrix-style coat.

I had quite a time with that coat. It wouldn't have been bad, except that I decided to line it. The pattern didn't have directions for a lining, but I thought I could manage it -- and I did, but it took my spare time for the rest of the week.

About midnight Thursday night, I finished putting in the sleeves. Yesterday (Friday) afternoon, I came home from work, hemmed the coat, and put in the collar. I finished it at 7:30 p.m., took it to town, and met Isaac when he got off work at 8:00. Never let it be said that I break my promises -- though sometimes I cut it close!

Isaac donned his coat and went off to his party, pleased that his costume was cool (and complete). As for me, I came home and sat at the computer to read my e-mail and the news headlines. In just a few minutes, I was nodding over the keyboard, so I went to bed.

This morning, Isaac and Dennis talked to me a few times, but I dismissed them quickly and kept on sleeping. All in all, I got about 12 hours, and I loved it.

Was all that intense sewing worth the time and trouble? Of course it was, because it made Isaac happy. He said he got lots of compliments on his coat. Tomorrow, I'll try to get him to pose in it for a picture to post.