Nannyberry

 

Got to the Town Hall about 6:15 a.m.   I moved the poll books and ballots out of the safe room and walked the "Vote Here" sign down to the road.  Put out the flag and when Chief Inspector Barb got there we started up the tabulator.  It stayed busy for the rest of the day.  Our lines never went out side of the building though I will say my Letter to the Editor imploring people to register to vote BEFORE the November election did no good.  Over 40 people wanted to register today.  Some people messed up their ballots and needed a new one issued.  There were a lot of absentees for our small community but we worked our way through them.  Two absentee ballots had been 'damaged' (ripped/gotten wet and then dried) so we had to remake those.  Everything takes multiple people checking that the intent of the voter is followed.  I realized by 4 p.m. I had neither eaten nor gone to the bathroom since I'd arrived.  By 7 p.m. all of the paperwork was finally done (as much as could be w/o the final numbers).  Early on in the day I'd realized the number on the tabulator was one more than the count in the poll book.  A member of the Town Board can come in and looked through the security camera backups.  We quickly found a girl that had bypassed the sign in area but gotten a ballot.   None of us knew her but through the wonders of social media and her pic snapped off the tapes someone recognized her, contacted her, and she stopped by after work to sign the poll book.   Actually, the day went pretty well and we were out of the Town Hall by 9:30 p.m.  Tonight I'm eating the sandwich I meant to be lunch and supper and watching MeTV.  Tomorrow is soon enough to find out how who won the election.

Sunrise

My prep day for election.  I pick up a latte and a sub sandwich and put them both in the refrigerator.  Tomorrow morning it's just heat up the latte, put it in a thermos cup, and put the sub in an insulated bag (there is a refrigerator at the Town Hall so all that mayo on the sandwich shouldn't go 'viral').    I'll probably run down to the Town Hall during the day sometime.   I'd heard from a village poll worker that the village clerk had a checklist that she goes by to make sure all paperwork is done completely.  I'd stopped by and asked if I could have a copy of the checklist but it was the same basic list the County Clerk provides.  It doesn't include the little things like all of the signatures on the security lock document or circling the last voter's name in red on the poll book (both things I've forgotten to do in the past).  The village clerk did say she uses colorful post-it flags that she puts on the documentation as a reminder.   I'll drop off those plus a manilla envelope labeled EL-125.  EL-125 is a new item included w/ the election materials from the county but no one including the county clerk was able during the meeting to explain it's purpose.   I brought the envelope home and tried searching the Internet - only found a place to order more.   So I e-mailed the state's election commission and asked if an EL-125 was superfluous in my situation.  The guarded response was "It may seem superfluous but is mandated by state law that it be available."  After the election, EL-125 will be returned w/ the rest of the paperwork - unused.   While bopping around will check the gas level in the car.   At home, I'll lay out the clothes for tomorrow. Put up the baby gate between the foyer and the kitchen plus move the dog's water and food dish into the foyer.  Whip will have access to her outside run tomorrow but the cats won't be able to escape via the doggy door into the Great Outdoors.   Won't bring any books to read.  Even w/ all of the early voting, we should have a steady flow of voters.   Then get to bed early.   Nothing like being prepared to steady one's nerves.

Autumn Color

 

Town Clerk Chris put a notice on the town website that she would be at the Town Hall from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. today for anyone who wanted to vote early.  Normally there is only a handful, if any, of 'in-person absentee' voters (as they are referred to up here).  They occurred when someone realized that they would be out-of-town/busy on election day and it was too late to request an absentee ballot.  Early voting is being pushed this year (I don't get why) and Chris wanted to make sure people could vote early if that made them feel more comfortable.  I told her I would be at the Town Hall w/ her.  I could check voter's ID, that they were already registered, and help fill out the top part of the absentee envelope for them.   Personally, I wanted to watch her back in case someone let election fervor get the best of them.  When I arrived, Chris told me she had woken in a sweat this morning after a dream that she didn't have enough absentee envelopes for everyone who would show up today.  If this early-voting becomes 'a thing' will have to work on streamlining the process for future elections to take some stress off her.  No one showed up for the first half hour so we kept busy by cleaning the toilets, vacuuming flies up, and checking if some of the last registrations had made it into the poll book.   Then people began to arrive.    Everyone was calm and glad to have this chance to get voting out of the way.  There were a couple who spoke of videos they had seen of election tampering and Chris nicely let them know those videos weren't real.  Funny, her statements to the contrary didn't seem to phase them.  They just kept talking about stuff they had seen on the Internet as if Chris hadn't said anything.    Some of the Town Board members popped in - to check if everything was going OK.  Maybe everyone is stressed out: the doomsday rhetoric of the candidates, the conspiracy theories of a stolen election, the media jumping on every minutia of the election.   I'm going to need a vacation after this one.

Gray Dogwood

 Library duty on Halloween night was a little different.  A few families that usually stop by did so tonight in costume and I pointed them toward a basket of candies the librarian had left for them.  Even had a group of pre-teens who came in to warm up.  All day it's been cold, windy, and raining.  They said they had trick-or-treated one side of the village and just needed a place to warm up for awhile before tackling the other half.  I showed them the goodies, told them where the bathrooms were located, and said to feel free and sit down anywhere they liked.  One boy must have been to the library before because he conducted his own tour.  Heard one kid say to another "This is a pretty cool place.  Should come here again."  Of course, maybe that was for my sake. (ha)  A man came in who was having problems figuring out what documentation he needed to register to vote.  He'd voted in the village for the August election but when he'd come in to vote early for this election the village clerk had told him he needed to reregister.  Seems he had legally changed his name last year.  Somehow the village clerk found out about the name change and insists he needs to reregister under his new name before he can vote.  Problem is he never bothered to change his name on any bills, accounts, or ID so he has no documentation proving residency under the new name.  We talked about it and after he figured out an action plan, he calmed down and left.  Later when Whip and I were our on our constitutional the rain turned into big flakes.  First Snow!

Part of the Library's Pumpkin Display

 What TV channel has the best shows for Halloween?  After the nightly constitutional, I turned off the lights, snuggled up w/ Whip's head on my lap, and turned on PBS.   First up was Nature -  a special on Transylvania's wildlife: Romania's brown bear to wolves (Whip woke up for that part) to bats.  It was great (and no political ads!).   Nova was the next program showing Wandering Worlds - part of their Solar System series.   A journey through the darkest, coldest, most distant places barely within our sun's gravitational pull: Planetoids orbiting in the Keiper Belt beyond Pluto, Icy fragments in the Oort Cloud in a sphere beyond that.  Spine chilling stuff!  Finally, a Secrets of the Dead episode:  Field of Vampires.  The spooky story of unearthing graves in Poland where the corpses were buried w/ scythes across their necks and padlocks on their toes.  The forensic work was interesting but so was the search of archives trying to find out why this happened.    I sat back on the couch.  Probably it was the same kind of mass idiocy as The Salem Witch Trials, The Cat Nuns of France, The Great Clown Panic of 2016, etc.  Where is Occam's Razor when you need it?

Sunset

It was getting dark when the dog and I went out to stand on the deck.  Today was beautiful - low 70's w/ a nice breeze.  We listened to the owls calling to each other.  Tonight I could hear both of the species I've seen here - Great Horned Owl and Barred Owl.    Throughout the year I can hear the barred owl this time of the day and I know they are around because occasionally I come across dead mice or voles hanging over a branch.  (Pretty sure they didn't climb up the tree or bush to expire.)  The great horned owls are probably more vocal just now because the males are establishing territories and checking out nesting sites within that area. They won't lay eggs but they do like to be prepared.  I like to be prepared also.  Election Chief Inspectors have to have six hours of instruction each two year period.  That's pretty easy to get just by attending any training session the county sets up.  I supplement those training sessions by attending webinars that the state offers.  There was one this morning put on by the state Election Board.  This one was pretty good and fast paced though some questions the presenter had to resort to "We do it that way because that's how the law is written."  Reminded me of a parent saying "Do it because I said so." (ha)

Highbush Cranberry

 

Public Test of the Voting Machine this morning.  It's always announced in the paper the week before.  It's always within 10 days of the election.  Our town always does it on the Monday of the week before the election at 10 a.m.  As long as I was clerk and then working elections we've never had anyone come to the public test.  We have shanghaied people who dropped by the town hall for other purposes into filling out test ballots but never anyone specifically for the test  This morning I stopped by downtown for a latte before heading to the town hall.  Got there an hour ahead of time and did setup: moved tables, chairs, setup polling booths, brought out the voting machine, and checked the materials sent from the County Clerk's office.  When Chief Inspector Barb arrived all was ready to start up the machine.   We were just about to start the test when Neighbor Mark walked in.  Yay!  Our very first 'public' at the 'public test'.  Mark stopped at the doorway and looked confused.   Barb and I had multiple ballots splayed out in front of us and we were making marks on all of them.   He had driven past the town hall, noticed our cars out in front, and hoped he might be able to vote early.   He had no idea we were there for the Public Test.   I knew the in-person voting procedure from when I was clerk but pretty sure officially only the clerk or their deputy could conduct it.   I called Town Clerk Chris.  She said I couldn't do it.   I handed my phone to Mark and told him to work out a time when he could meet w/ Chris.  Chris said she had some time right now and if Mark could stick around for another half hour, she'd come to the town hall.  Since Mark had nothing better to do while he waited, I got him to fill out a test ballot.  Barb reminded him again that this wasn't the real deal and Mark said he understood and to reassure her told her he'd written his dog's name in for State Assembly.  (Better than some of the options.)  Barb and I closed the polls, printed out our 'voter count', and zeroed out machine.  Chris arrived and had Mark fill out his real ballot in her office.  I checked the tabulator count against our ballots and everything matched.  Chris and Mark left.  Barb and I locked up t he poll books and ballots and we took off too.  For all of the fear-mongering, machination intrigues, and outright lies about voting machines I'm surprised no one bothers to come to the testing - specifically open for the public - of the machines.  But then, why muddle up a perfectly good conspiracy theory w/ facts?

Winter Berries

 Excerpts from Sheriff's Report:

Midnight - Caller states he bought this property one month ago and since then he has been hearing sounds of huge speakers with bass every few days.  Tonight he hears a noise like a wood chipper at a high rate of speed, a howling noise.  He states it sounds like a large piece of equipment and has been going on for 45 minutes.  Officer responded.  Noise was caller's heating system.

2:55 a.m. - Call from concerned renter states he believes his daughter and ex-wife are live streaming his location underneath his trailer.  He does not have proof.  Caller has called multiple times in the past with the same complaint.  Logged for informational purposes.

7:40 a.m. - Caller reports something has been going on at her address for about six months.  Believes someone is watching her.  She woke up to her dog deceased.  Nothing suspicious caught on cameras in yard.  Dog had no visible signs of injury, was acting sick yesterday.  Caller given statement forms to fill out.

11:08 a.m. - Caller requests officer to check welfare of resident who was in the hospital a couple weeks ago.  They are unable to make contact with resident whose front door knob is broken.  Officer reports all entrances to residence are locked and windows are all covered.  Company that owns the house will send someone with a key.  Keyholder had wrong key.  Dispatch did not locate resident in any nearby hospitals, so officer made entry by removing an A/C unit.  Nobody home.  Contact made later with resident via telephone, who was at a doctor's appointment.  Individual states everything OK, wants to be left alone.

12:36 p.m. - Caller at Walmart cannot find her car, thought it was stolen.  Walmart staff helped her find her car.

12:56 p.m. - Walk-in at Sheriff's Office reporting juvenile son told her in regards to an assault he committed yesterday.  She states her son told her he "beat up a girl yesterday".  Officer spoke with female about her son and things that happened over weekend.  Information will be relayed to other officers.

1:38 p.m. - ATV operator was observed riding a ATV in village.  Rear plate letters smaller than law mandates, appeared to be driving over 25 m/p/h speed limit.  Individual initially refused to provide I.D.  ATV had expired registration, was issued a citation for operating non-registered ATV on public roadway.

2:40 p.m. - Caller reports a neighbor left an envelope under a rock on the sidewalk and wants deputy to check on it.  Officer found envelope with a hand written letter to the complainant.  Caller and her husband don't want the letter.  Photo of letter will be attached to this incident.  This is a property dispute.

3:16 p.m. - Caller reports there is an extension cord running from a residence to the village hall.  Officer observed cord running to residence, person of interest is not there, may be out of state.

5:59 p.m. - Gas drive-off of a blue gravel truck at gas station.  Truck pre-paid $50 but filled tank to $100 so still owes $50.  Cashier didn't set up prepay properly so gas pump kept going after $50.

7:53 p.m. - Caller reports her 12 year old daughter ran away, headed north.  Criteria for reporting a juvenile runaway explained to caller who was given a juvenile runaway form.

9:04 p.m. - Caller reports female laying on the side of the road is wearing purple pants.  Officer advises this is the juvenile runaway reported earlier.

10:37 p.m. - Caller states female in contact with him is threatening to post photos of him on Facebook if he doesn't buy her a $500 gift card.  Female sent multiple nude photos to him but he didn't send any to her.  Caller advised to block female.

Watercolor Sunrise

 A bit colder - enough that I figured it was now 'chili weather' and made a crockpot.  Forgot it should simmer for six to eight hours and I was getting hungry after only four.  Best to keep busy.  Washed my sheets and hung them outside to dry.  Peeled that latest grouping of 200 flies off Mjolnir's window - since the end of August the count is at 3,200.  I'm running out of whiteboard where I keep track (I knew I had a fly problem out there but this feels like Biblical Plague stuff).  Filled the big garbage bin in Sleipnir with water so I can water the plants there throughout the winter w/o carrying buckets of water over snowdrifts from Mjolnir.  Played some Words With Friends (today is the one year anniversary of Sister Connie and I playing at least once every day).  Looked through the books on my bookshelf and picked out two more I could put in my donation bag.  Sometimes they stay in the bag and sometimes I pick them back out to put up on my shelf for a little longer.  Finally decided the aroma of chili was too strong to resist any longer.  I tweaked my usual recipe this time and got a more mellow taste by substituting tomato paste for one can of diced tomatoes.  Even Whip thought it was better.

Big Bluestem

The librarian called for a training session w/ the volunteers at the library.  The first item on the agenda was checking books in/out properly.  It's not difficult to do but there is a procedure to follow.  The librarian told the tale that someone, who infrequently works at the library, had stepped behind the front desk to check out her own books.  She had forgotten (or didn't realize) to switch to her account so the books were checked out under someone else's name (and the 'someone else' in question was not pleased.) A reminder, the librarian said, to check that all books get scanned, to close out of the system when you are finished w/ a patron, and to not let other people behind the front desk.  It was a quick meeting and afterward the librarian supplied sandwiches and brownies for lunch.  She told us the Library Board wanted pictures of all of the volunteers to hang on the wall.  They did this a few years ago and posted each of our individual pictures w/ our names.  You'll remember I'd taken down the picture frame, replaced my picture w/ one I'd cut out of a pamphlet (think it was a middle-aged Patty Duke), and put the pictures back up as they were before.  No one noticed the substitution for quite a long time.   Volunteer Brook balked at having an individual picture of her put up but was willing to be in a group picture.  A group pic will make it harder but if they mount it on the wall I think I can 'fix' that one too.

Autumn Color

 The county clerk held two election training sessions today.  I opted for the first one that started at 9 a.m. and went for two hours.   Good choice - less than 50 people so everyone had a seat.   First a sheriff's deputy gave a presentation in general safety measures (fire alarms, multiple exits, Narcan,  AED usage).  Then he covered bomb threats, active shooter, and hostage situations.  Training we haven't had before.  The county clerk said all of the election sites were already registered w/ the sheriff's department.   The County Clerk made an announcement that one of the villages didn't have enough poll workers nor did they have an Election Inspector.  Anyone in the county could help but they did need someone who already had election training.   The Clerk then spent quite a bit of time on absentee ballots and early voting (which here is better described as "in-person absentee voting").   There is also a new ballot allowing people who don't meet residency requirements (28 days) to vote only on the presidential candidates.  There is a secure bin built into the tabulator just for ballots that have to be hand-counted though the county clerk seemed fuzzy on how a person who has been here less than a month could use the usual ways of proving residency.  She said she'd ask the state and get back to us.  She went over new registrations too - change your name or move within the municipality and you have to fill out a new registration.  Making a note of a change like that in the poll book wasn't going to work.   She also went through how death notifications work.  Death Certificates go to the Register of Deed's office which, in our state, automatically sends it to the County Clerk's office which automatically removes it from the voter list.  The County Clerk went over the difference between a 'spoiled ballot' and a 'defective ballot' (something that most poll workers have to stop and think about since they are treated a bit differently).  In these type of training sessions the County Clerk doesn't go over every aspect of an election but instead tries to hit the things that have changed or that she's seen some municipalities struggle with.   There is a lot of paper work involved in every election  - every vote has proof behind it that someone cast a ballot and everyone that cast a ballot has their registration documentation on file at that municipality.   Don't tell me any foolishness about 'stolen elections'.

Autumn Color

Checked my Monthly To-Do list.  Still had an outstanding item from September - pick up 4 bags of potting soil. Tomorrow was forecast to be cold and maybe rainy.  Best get it done now.  Called a nearby nursery.  While many nurseries close down over the winter months, this one has diversified.  They added a craft beer establishment at the end of one of the main aisles and also rent out the venue for weddings/meetings, etc.  They make/deliver flower arrangements for funerals, weddings, and special occasions.  They would be open and maybe still have gardening supplies to sell.  Yes, they had big bags of potting soil and, yes, they had a least four of them.  Said I'd be over later in the day to pick them up.  My To-Do for October also had some things left to do: replacing the A/C filter and charging my portable car battery charger.  The A/C won't be used until next season - change it now and I can get the filters on sale and don't have to remember to replace it next year whenever it might become hot enough to need it.  Cold is notoriously hard on batteries - best to have the charger ready and at full power.  When I got to the nursery, the bags of soil were on a platform dolly outside ready to load.  A helper came out and managed to lift one into the trunk.  I grabbed the next bag and put it on top of that one in the trunk.  The helper lifted the next bag and put it on the bumper and slid it into the trunk.  I grabbed the last one, placed it on top of that one, then closed the trunk.  "Want a job next spring?" the helper asked.  I think they were only half joking.  Cool.

This year's fawns

Last night looking for other things to read on-line, I checked out my horoscope.  Don't get me wrong - horoscopes and astrology in general is a bunch of bunk but it was a cloudy night so couldn't go outside and find the real thing.  Tried Horoscopes.com.  I was born at the beginning of August - Leo.

 Leo - Group activities.  Chat w/ your friends afterwards.  Don't over imbibe but have fun.

Yesterday I picked up groceries and washed windows.  Did send an e-mail to the town clerk and in the morning had a cup of hot apple cider.   That's as close as I got to what my horoscope predicted.  I checked the rest of the horoscopes:

Cancer - Tune into the thoughts and feelings of others but reflect on situations before saying something.  Great day to attend online lecture on spiritual matters.

Virgo - Too much pressure on the job may make you want to chuck it all.  You may feel like going on a spending spree or over indulging in food/drink.  Good idea to be alone for awhile.

Aries - A close friend may pass along harmless but untrue gossip.  Don't accept as fact anything you hear today until you check the facts.  

Taurus - You don't tend toward frugality but you may go overboard on spending.  Frustration from all sides makes you want to get release by obtaining new possessions.  Treat yourself but don't impulse buy.

Gemini - Some failures from the last few days have you beating yourself up today.  Don't obsess over it.  Figure out what went wrong, learn from it, and let it go.

Libra - Inner conflict has you questioning your beliefs.  A legal matter will come to the forefront today.  it's a hassle but needs to be handled.

Scorpio - You might want to soothe your discontent by overspending or overindulging in food or drink.  Don't let this feeling get the better of you.  Treat yourself to a little something without going over the top.

Sagittarius - A minor quarrel w/ a friend or romantic partner has you down in the dumps.  This is an overreaction.  Too many demands from others could have you feeling used.

Capricorn - Pressures from the job may be mounting.  Foreign travel may seem more appealing than usual.  Good time to plan a future vacation.

Aquarius - Demands by friends, children, or that special person make you feel like you are moving in a dozen directions all at once.  Show others how to help themselves.

Pisces -  A number of deliveries, service people, e-mails, phone calls keep you jumping today.  Try to get a family member to intercede for you with some of these people or you may lose your temper.

These horoscope predictions are more specific than I remember from the paper plus these seem to have a few themes running through them.  Still, nothing to do w/ reality - unless a person wants to believe in them.  Hmmm ... similar to the current state of politics.

Autumn Color

Woke up this morning wondering why the presidential candidates were making a big deal about sanitizing pots before transplanting them w/ flowers.  Realized then that was probably part of a dream.  (They aren't are they?)  Yesterday not listening to anything political had been easy.  It was a beautiful day again and I'd been able to spend time outside.  I'd given in to my need to stay current and watched the Nightly News.  Will have to cut that out also - at least for a day or two.  This week the County Clerk has planned election training, the Town Clerk may need help for early voting, Barb and I conduct the public test, and then the election itself.  I know what is bothering my psyche. The election will resolve that.  Can only hope the election puts an end to the rest of the drama.