Slightly Off Kilter

I didn't follow the election results on Tuesday. I don't like suspense. (I'm a person who reads the ends of books first.) Also, I knew nothing was sure until it happened. And I remembered November 2000 all too clearly.

But I looked after I woke up and I relaxed for the first time in months. We did it. We won.

These are my Treasures since my last posting.

• A bed full of cats on a Sunday afternoon.

• The whistle of a train in the distance

• freshly grated nutmeg

• movies: The Librarian: Quest for the Spear

• "Cock and Bull" Ginger Beer

• cats on my lap, snuggling

The weather was autumnal. Chill mornings, warm afternoons, cool nights. We got some rain on the 30th and 31.

We finally applied for permanent absentee ballots and voted by mail. This is an important election. Have you voted?

I've been doing more TWiki training, with three sessions for my department in the past 3 weeks.

Speaking of TWiki, the TWiki project has forked with acrimony and name calling. Bleah. :(

I spend a lot (probably too much!) annually on books, predominately at Barnes & Noble. They're convenient and I have a membership, so I get discounts. I currently have $200 in B&N gift certificates on my desk. I used credit card Rewards points to get them, choosing B&N over many alternatives.

But today, I was so unhappy that I am considering switching my book buying to Borders or Amazon.

I have always had excellent customer service at B&N. It has been obvious that customer satisfaction was important to B&N. If I was unhappy with a purchase, I returned it in salable, unread condition. I have always been satisfied with store credit.

Then I would take my store credit into the store and not only find a book I liked to replace the one I was returning, I would usually buy $20 or $40 or $60 in additional books. Every time I walked in with a book to return, I would walk out with new books purchased today. I'm the kind of customer you almost want to have return a book because it brings me into the store!

Today, however, that didn't happen. Instead, I walked out carrying only the book I had hoped to return and vowing to write this letter.

Today, B&N lost a sale. Today B&N made a customer deeply UNsatisfied.

A friend once told me a disturbingly educational story:

He grew up and went to college in a predominately liberal state. But that state consistently elected a Republican governor, etc. It wasn't for lack of trying. The liberal majority tried too hard.

While most of the "other side" voted for the Republican candidate, the majority of the voters split their votes: Democratic, Libertarian, Independent, Green, Pink, and Purple... A simple majority decided the winner. And the real majority lost every time.

More recently, I heard someone say "I know Barack Obama will win, but I'm voting for the Independent candidate. I don't like the 2-party system.". I'm annoyed and unhappy with this person. As far as I'm concerned, she might as well write in the name of the family dog... or her own name.

For years, I've been meaning to file for a permanent "Vote by mail" ballot. I never got around to it, mostly because our polling place was so close.

But last year, the polling place moved to a public school a few miles away. And the city went to "electronic voting machines" (wow. 1980s technology. How very disappointing. :(

And also, this year, I care more about the outcome of the election than I have in... forever, I think. So, I'm impatient. I want to record my vote and be done with it.

Therefore, earlier this month, I finally filled out the application (trivial; it's on the web) and got my ballot-by-mail last week. Rich liked the idea so he applied too; his ballot came yesterday.

As of today, we've both voted. Can I hibernate until Nov 5 now?

We had a little bit of rain at the beginning of the month. Just enough to say "Yes, it's October now."

Rich has been watching the debates. I have been reading the Twitter stream. I like my way better.

Rich and I worked through my three TWiki training presentations. Lots of good feedback and changes.

Rich bought a fancy ceramic knife. Sharp! Then he made a knife holder out of a canister full of bamboo skewers.