November 9, 2016

 Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but Donald Trump won the electoral vote so he will be the next President. Once again I find the electoral college an out-dated and unnecessary system. I'm sure there are plenty of valid reasons to continue using it but I find it hard to wrap my mind around the idea that even though someone gets more votes they can still lose the race. The popular vote should be the vote, especially now that we have the ability to count every single vote.

Everyone at work today was pretty bummed out. And tired because we had all been up late watching election coverage. One thing they kept saying on TV was that everyone had forgotten about the rural white vote. And my first thought was that once white people have screwed things up. We just can't do anything right.

I updated my November display yesterday with some books on mixing drinks. Today I added some books on grief and depression. Gotta stay current.

This morning I updated my class website with all the links I mentioned in the class. I know I did some other things as well but nothing is coming to my sleep-deprived mind at the moment.

On my way home for lunch I went to the carpet store to pay the remainder of my bill. Originally I was going to swing by the house and pay the installer but I thought it made more sense to just stop by the store because it is on my way home, rather than way far out of my way home. And now the carpet is paid for.

This afternoon we had our monthly staff meeting. We talked about several different things, including my tech exploration programming next semester. I through out my ideas to get feedback on and a few were pretty well received. I also wanted ideas on scheduling, whether to continue doing two tech training classes a month and add in the tech exploration stuff, or to only do one tech training class a month and one tech exploration. I think the best idea is to keep two tech training classes but only do them in the afternoon, and instead of evening classes, we could do tech exploration. Now I need to start planning everything.

Our assignment for this meeting was to write about different parts of the operations manual and for the meeting our boss created a bingo game to play based on the sections we read. Instead of actually fighting to win, we just went around the table taking turns picking questions. It was pretty fun.

Throughout the meeting we working on coloring pages. We did our first round of kudos this month, where if you see someone doing something well or going above and beyond, you write it down and it is read off at the meeting. We got the idea from the childrens department and when they do it, whoever gets a kudos gets to pick a piece of candy or something out of a bowl. Our boss forgot candy so she printed out coloring sheets instead. I prefer that over candy so it worked out.

At the end of the meeting the lady who teaches one-on-one tech classes gave us all some swag she picked up recently at a conference. She made friends with several exhibitors and told them that she drove, while they probably flew, so she would be glad to take more of their stuff so they didn't have to carry it all back home. We each got lanyards and pens. We also got a couple key chains that were made out of a small section of what is basically an adjustable tripod. The product is something that attaches to a wheelchair and can be used to hold a tablet or some other device, and it can then be adjusted easily. Cool idea. Also a cool idea to turn them into key chains as promotional material.

After the staff meeting I went and weeded. I managed to finish the section of shelf I was on so next time I'll get to cross the aisle and start on a new shelf. Good times.

After work I went to lock up the house but they weren't quite done yet. I said that was fine and went home to eat dinner. After dinner my mom and I went back to see how it turned out. I think the whole place looks a lot better now but the basement in particular is a lot more inviting. I wasn't a fan of spending the money but I do think it was worth it. To say a few negatives, there is a lot of vacuuming to do, because apparently that isn't part of the process. The door to the bedroom in the basement no longer fits because the carpet is higher. That will require a lot of sanding the bottom of the door but I'm not in a hurry. The folding door hiding a pipe in the basement also doesn't fit but I think I might be able to get that one back in place with a little more effort. There was a whole bunch of old pad and carpet left in the garage, which I don't think was intentional, I think they were just in a hurry to leave. There is also one major squeak left in the floor, right in front of the kitchen. I didn't mark it because I didn't notice it before, unfortunately. I'll have to see if my dad still has some of the screws he used to fix the squeaks in his stairs.

I was going to relax tonight but instead I spent it looking at insurance for work. We had the meeting recently and then we had to go online to sign up for or waive coverage. I thought I just had to agree to what I already had but apparently we have to choose all over again. I can't remember what I chose last time and I don't remember where any of my documentation is that might list it. After a lot of research I signed up for what I thought I did last time but I didn't submit anything because I want to talk with the lady at work and see if she can tell me what I'm currently signed up for. I don't want to accidentally forget something.

Based on what my mom said about what she learned from the couple next door to me when she met them the other day, I knew they were moving soon. I didn't realize how soon until my dad just texted me and said it was up for sale online today. I don't know when they're moving but I kind of hope it is on the market forever so I can have some time to play my music loud or turn the volume up on my video games. I got online to look at the pictures and it is odd seeing the mirror image of my place. There are also differences, which was unexpected. There basement has a regular finished ceiling, not the drop ceiling like mine. It looks like what I have as a storage room they have as a finished room. I also like that they moved their fridge over in the kitchen. This was done out of necessity because it was too tall to fit in the normal space, but it means that they can more easily reach the cabinets that are normally above the fridge. They put a small deep freeze in that spot but I think it would be a good place for shelves or a small cabinet. I could also put a small table there to create more counter space. Possibilities.

Now I'm going to go to bed because it is almost 11:30PM and I'm freaking tired. Thankfully I get to sleep in tomorrow. I can't remember if I planned on doing anything tomorrow morning but I don't think it is going to happen if I did.