Wednesday, November 9, 2016

November 8, 2016

 This morning I woke up early so I would have time to vote before going over to unlock the house and then going to work. My mom still isn't feeling well so she ended up going to vote with me because she couldn't drive. There was a decent line at the voting place but it moved pretty quickly. We ran into one of the paras from the school and talked for a little bit. She told us to look for her headband when she got out to her car. She didn't wear it in to vote because she thought they might think she was crazy. I would say that is accurate because it ended up being a giant red and blue bow. Like huge. It was pretty funny.

I had some time after voting so I hung out at home for awhile before heading over to unlock the house. It took me way too long to reconnect the smoke detector in the basement. I struggled with it for a minute before having to go upstairs and get the small ladder. And as soon as got up on the ladder it immediately went back in place, even though I felt like I was doing exactly the same thing I had been doing while standing on the floor. Annoying.

At work this morning I worked on finalizing my presentation. I added a couple more slides and made a handout. I included the monthly budgeting worksheet, a copy of all the PowerPoint slides, and a sheet with a list of resources. I worked on it up until the last minute but I was happy with the final product.

I went to lunch early so I could get back in time to set up for the class. I ended up having plenty of time but the class started late anyway because I had a walk-in patron. I checked the registered patrons right before the class and there were only two so I only printed out two sets of handouts. Then when the walk-in showed up I was worried that I wouldn't have enough so I went up and printed another set. By the time I got back it was after two o'clock but the second registered person hadn't shown up so it was all unnecessary.

The class itself involved a lot of talking on my part, like for more than half an hour straight. I am not used to that much talking, especially talking that is above my normal volume. I could definitely feel my voice start to go by the end of it. Makes me a little worried about Thursday night. Anyway, the class today went well. Sort of. The lady who registered was really happy with it and said she got a lot out of it. The walk-in was not as happy. He only saw the title of the class and not the description so he read into the title what he wanted and was expecting something different. In the conversation after my presentation he brought up the fact that he had just written a book about finances. And the conversation kept steering back toward the book, making it feel like a very purposeful book plug. He had a good conversation with the other patron, but it was slightly annoying when he kept going back to the fact he didn't really like the class. Afterward, when I looked through the evaluations, he said his favorite part about the class was the title. I think that is kind of funny, even though it was not intended to be.

After work I headed over to the house to lock it up. It looks like all the carpet is done upstairs and it is at least laid out in the main room in the basement. Definitely in the home stretch. The main carpet guy thinks they can be done by the middle of the afternoon tomorrow. They apparently typically get paid upon completion so I said I could stop by during my lunch break and write him a check. My last check. I ordered new ones but they haven't showed up yet. I just checked and they were supposed to be here tomorrow but there was apparently an issue processing the payment. I was never notified of this so it's just been sitting there, doing nothing since the the 31st. What the hell VistaPrint? Nice work. Now they aren't supposed to be here until the 22nd. I'm going to have to give me my some money and have her write the checks for me to cover this month. Not cool.

Once the house was locked up I stopped by my sister's before heading home to pick up the birthday treats she made for my mom to take into work. This month she made pretzel bites, little bite-sized soft pretzels. And they are really good. I may have eaten way too many before, during, and after dinner.

I tried registering with Cox again after dinner and it was another fail. Just for the hell of it I decided to try the online chat again. This time it went much better. Instead of telling me the website wasn't working she went ahead and just registered for me. I was then able to log in and change the temporary password and all was good. She asked if there was anything else she could help me with and I decided to ask about scheduling another service appointment to get the internet. I didn't figure this could be done but I was mistaken. She offered me one tomorrow morning, which didn't work because I work tomorrow, and the next available time wasn't until Sunday morning. I'm a little worried that I will end up with the same technician because it is the weekend. That was an uncomfortable experience the first time around and I don't really want to experience it a second time. Also, I don't trust his ability to do his job. So fingers crossed.

Tonight I went back and forth between watching internet things and election coverage. For most of that time the election stuff was on mute because it's all a bunch of talk and speculation. I prefer reality, not what could have been or what might be. When I was out of YouTube videos I watched The Hole on Netflix. It wasn't a great movie, probably not even a good movie, but it was decent. It was kind of like a Goosebumps story but with cursing.

As for the election, I feel like I'm in an episode of Black Mirror. And tomorrow, when it turns out that Trump has won, I will definitely be in an episode of Black Mirror. It just doesn't seem real. I get nominating an actor or comedian as a Governor or a Senator. It's risky for a state but not the entire country. Nominating a third-tier reality TV star who is only interested in himself and has few if any redeeming qualities, as the President of the country just seems absurd. I am of the opinion that politicians are all the same, regardless of the party, so it doesn't really matter who is nominated because the outcome will be very similar, just with a different label. The system is too big to change and everyone who thinks they can change it is either saying that just to get elected, or they actually believe it but quickly get sucked into the system. I don't think the solution to this is to nominate a nut job with no political experience. Or even experience just being a decent human being. I think he may be the embodiment of the caricature that international people envision when they think of America, and now here we are. It's crazy.


Anyway, I'm going to bed. I can't stay up all night waiting on the states that are too close to call. Life goes on, at least for a little while, and I have to work tomorrow.

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