The house of greatness. sort of.

Not much terribly exciting happening lately, but I'll just give an update anyway.
Today's activities included:

Approached by man, with one more dog than he usually has, in park who asks if I have seen this one dog before. Apparently he found it tied up to a fence in the park. Obviously it was abandoned, it was a puppy wearing a chewed up collar, tied to a fence in a park at 7am with no owner to be found after much searching. >:(

Continued training of new people at work. I know this is going to sound conceited, but I really think I'm doing a much better job than whoever trained me. Except the student in London, she was a great teacher. Anyway, my trainee today was the new PhD student, and she did swell. She has guinea pigs, she lets me come over and hold them. Now I reeeeaaally want guinea pigs >.<

Had lunch with labmate and adopted labmate. Ate sushi. Gave shrimp one to someone else.

Requested updated crayfish licence. I'm sure that will take WEEKS. Ugh!

Sewed large piece of fabric into curtain for stairway, to prevent heat escape, while watching a movie. Fabric was fairtrade AND on sale. I am a consumer masterpiece.

Went to Ikea, the Swedish castle of dreams, to purchase a foam mattress for the foldout bed. This is in preparation for the impending visit of Soontar. It looks like I'll be taking the foldout bed, because it is just about the same length I am. Well, what do you expect from a bed frame you find by the side of the road? Also at Ikea I scored a large rug from the bargain bin for 50 pence. WIN.

So, this post is mainly about how great I am, now that I read over it again. Ha ha ha. That's terrible. Let's switch to the Pie, and how great she is, instead.

Pie is so great, that she will stand on the back patio letting my neighbor's cat try to catch her tail, while a squirrel on the next patio over scurries around. Even when cat sees squirrel and runs after it, right in front of the Pie, the most excellent Pie merely watches. Astonishing, because she LOVES to chase squirrels, at the park. The Pie has more restraint than *I* do at times.

Pie is so great, she recently cut her paw slightly on some glass (presumably-its everywhere), and has to wear a sock taped over one foot outside. She does not like the sock. Does she resist? Does she try to remove it? NO. and if it does fall off, she will go back and pick it up and bring it to me, so I can carry the foul, wet thing for the rest of the walk...

Pie is so great, she brings joy to those at that-place-we-go-to-for-therapy-dog-stuff-that-I-can't-actually-name.

That's all, please enjoy basking in the glow of our presence. XD
Ha, to even it all out I guess I'll mention that I ate foul McDonald's on the way back from Ikea, and I thought evil thoughts about whomever blocked my driveway with their car, and that the Pie does in fact lick her butt.

Voting, an absentee's tale

It's that time of year, folks. The time when our thoughts turn to our elected officials more than ever, and we are reminded of our right and duty to select them with due care. Living in the UK, I have already voted by absentee ballot. Today I will present, for your amusement, the steps to absentee voting, and, for your information, some of the websites I used to research candidates.

Step One: Find out where I'm registered. I used the county clerk's website from my last place of residence in the USA, it allowed me to confirm online that I was registered there.

Step Two: Request an absentee ballot. I was able to do this online, although I did telephone the office to ensure that I was in fact still registered and eligible to vote.


Step Three: Receive ballot in post, lovingly crumpled by USMail/Royal Mail/we'll never know who. Open ballot, smooth out. The ballot lists the candidates and you use a pencil to fill in the bubbles next to your choice. Just like standardized tests back home in school.


Step Four: Research the candidates on the internet. Easier said than done, I had almost no idea who was running for Missouri offices, Boone county offices, etc. Luckily I found a handy website that listed all the candidates running in each state, and their campaign websites. You might say "can you really learn about the candidates from 1,000s of miles away, using the internet?" Well, yes. I probably know more about each MO candidate than I did about the Ohio candidates last time I voted when I was registered there during college, and I'm betting more than many resident Missourians who are voting. So there.

Step Five: Complete ballot. Making sure to use number two pencil. (optional - spill lemonade on ballot. )


Step Six: Stand in queue with irate middle-aged women, bored-looking office dudes, and friendly old ladies at post office for half an hour. Pay extra for confirmed delivery option. Yay, my civic duty has been completed!




So, you want those websites?

For state candidates:
http://www.uselections.com/ (just do a search for your state name)
shows candidates' names and parties, has link for their websites if they have them.

http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
you can search by state, candidate name, even for propositions and such.

and of course there's the good ol' Google search and Wikipedia entry for many candidates/issues

For presidential candidates:
http://obama-mccain.info/index-obama-mccain.php
a fun and unbiased side-by-side comparison of the two main candidates, very easy to use.
Also has transcripts of the debates.
Did you know? Obama's car is slightly less fuel efficient than McCain's. And he has no pets?!
Did you know? McCain...well just read the part about 'spouses.' Shocking.

http://www.votesmart.org/
Probably the largest, most popular source of unbiased candidate info.
Has detailed voting records, speech transcripts, LOTS of info. A bit harder to use, but more info.
Can also look up state candidates and such on this site!
Why will neither major prez candidate take the Political Courage Test?

Well, those were the best sites I found as far as actual, factual information on the candidates.

One of the interesting aspects of this particular election is the age difference of the candidates. Its massive at 35 years. McCain would be the oldest president should he be elected, and Obama is only 47, pretty young as far as presidents go, if I recall correctly. I don't think it influenced my vote much, as I don't think McCain is likely to keel over while in office, nor do I think Obama's comparative youth is a big problem, but I wonder if it will effect the voting public at large.