Learning the Poll Ropes

On October 13th we attended the Flannel-Up Festival. During the event they took photos. So here we are in our flannel!

Today I did a 3-hour shift as a poll judge at City Hall during early voting. I am so glad for this experience. Everyone who has concerns about voting security would be well served to understand the processes in their own states. I love watching people of all ages exercise their right to vote. The number of voters was steady, and the time flew by! It was actually quite satisfying to answer "how-to" questions of first-time voters. A couple of today's first-time voters were beyond the age of eighteen. One person told us, "This is my first time voting! I thought they picked jurors from the voter pool. But I got called for jury duty anyway, so I figured I might as well vote."

It is funny what people choose to share! We just smile, answer 'how-to' questions and direct people to the voting booths. During my shift we had two people on crutches come into vote. I asked each of them if they would be more comfortable sitting to vote. Each person's face lit up and they gave a huge sigh, and you could tell they were relieved. It is difficult to stand on crutches and fill in bubbles on a ballot in a lightweight booth. The person working in my area with me turned to me and said, "Wow! That was really nice of you to think about their comfort. I would never have thought to ask either one of them." I was surprised that the other person would not have automatically thought there might be a problem for the person to vote with limited mobility. My poll judge partner has been working at the polls for thirty-five years.

Joe made the decision this morning to forgo buying the lathe we saw yesterday. We drove over this morning and picked up the deposit we had given the seller. She was understanding about Joe changing his mind. Once he had gotten home and started looking into putting it in the shop, he realized it was going to be more of a project getting it up and ready to use than he wanted to take on at this time.

After I finished at City Hall, we drove to Maple Grove and bought groceries at Costco. When we got home Joe washed all of the fruit while I cleaned vegetables and chopped and diced them for our meals for the next five days. 

Tomorrow is the last day of the Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue fundraiser. It has been a terrific experience for me. I have enjoyed getting to know online guests through the past six days. I made new friends in the process!