Election Day

Harry and I went and voted this afternoon after we both got home from work. This new voting process seems more like a step backwards than forwards to the two of us. New York has been working on a new type of voting system ever since the famous “hanging chads” episode highlighted the sometimes primitive methods used for voting in the various states. This year was the first time that a new voting process was used here in our voting district. It doesn’t seem that we have made it more modern. Instead of having the turn down handles that we have used since I started voting (and for many years before that), we now fill in little bubbles on a scantron sheet and feed it into a scanner. I felt like I was back in school taking a test! I don’t understand why they didn’t develop a touchscreen type of voting system – maybe there are problems with that method that I’m not thinking of – but half of our news tonight was about the problems encountered today with defective ballot readers, and having to fill in sheets more than once because they wouldn’t go through the scanner, so it doesn’t seem like this method is without it’s problems. Oh well, now that we have switched to it, I’m sure we’ll be voting on scantron sheets now for some time to come.

And, as you can see from the above pictures, our cats have gotten used to their new food bowl. It only took a few days, and now their feeding schedule will be more regular – if we sleep in or come home from work late, their food is delivered on time regardless. By the way, one of the comments left on a previous entry expressed a concern about someone checking on the cats when we are away. We will definitely have someone check on things while we are gone. They won’t be able to check on the cats “in person” though, because as soon as anyone starts to open the door, both cats bolt for their favorite hiding places, and they only come out if it is me or Harry. That was the original reason that we decided to board them during our last vacation, because we thought the socialization would be good for them, but they came home super stressed. That was when we started looking for another option that wouldn’t be so stressful for them while we are gone. So hopefully this will become a good solution.

It is supposed to be in the mid 20s again tonight – just thought I would pass that on so that all of you who are in warmer climes can have a moment of gratefulness!