Old treadmill died; new one ordered

Some years back - maybe 10, maybe more - we bought a Weslo Cadence LX25 treadmill at a Wards store in Portland, Oregon. For the past 5 or so years, it's been a little funky. It would adjust the speed a little all by itself. There *are* some treadmills that have built-in workout routines that vary the pace. This is not one of those machines. Well finally a couple of days ago it got to the point where we just can't use it. And that's a BUMMER, 'cause I'd been pretty regular with doing 3 miles a day. But having it kind of skip a little speed - and then pick right back up - with literally EVERY step ...that's a little too much to handle ...and a bit dangerous, actually.

So what to do?

Well, we checked Consumer Reports reviews on treadmills (thanks to my bro' Pat for giving us a subscription last year), and then surfed over to Amazon and placed an order for a Bowflex Series 3 Treadmill. It's spendy (US$1,000 ...OUCH!!!) ...but if it lasts 10 or so years like the other one, then that's only $100 per year for my favorite cardio workout. And given that Shirley recently dropped her Curves membership and is now working out at home (in the room we call the 'dungeon' - since it harbors our Bowflex weight lifting machine and the treadmill and an inversion table) ...we're also saving on that monthly membership fee. But it's driving me nuts waiting for the thing to arrive; it's not supposed to get here until Friday (24 Nov).

Tampa's got the Blues

Our good Dem buddy James gave us a call this afternoon to let us know about a bunch of blues acts that were playing this evening at Skipper's Smokehouse. James is on the board of the Suncoast Blues Society, so he's got the full skinny on the local blues scene. Man, there is some awesome blues talent in Tampa! And for only $5 admission each, what a deal! Great music, old Florida atmosphere, grilled fish, beans/rice, cold beer. Yeah, baby! I've been dealing with a bit of a sinus infection, and this was just the ticket to kick back and relax with toe-tapping blues. We'd never been to Skipper's in the almost 3 years we've been here -- that's a bit of sacrilege, really, since this is THE place to catch the local music scene. Wednesday's are Reggae nights with $2 Red Stripe, so we may have to head back in a few days :)

Dems win! I am happily surprised

Yes, I am surprised. There were many voting problems including:

• Florida. Some Diebold machines showing votes as cast for Republicans when they'd been cast for Dems. The incorrect selections would appear on the confirmation screen; the voter could go back and again select Democrat candidates, and the summary would sometimes continue to show the choices as being for Republican. The official word was to the effect that these were machines in heavy-voting areas, and the machines were buckling under the strain.
• Indiana. Last night I read reports of 75 precincts that could not vote due to problems with the voting machines.
• Ohio. Of course. Some precincts where not a single machine would work.

I don't know if these and other problems were resolved in time for everyone who showed up to vote to actually be able to exercise their right.

And that's why I'm surprised. In spite of the expected issues with this immature technology, in spite of bad weather in some areas (which often bodes poorly for Dems), in spite of the 'October surprise' I feared would appear - but never did ...the Democrats have won control of the House, have won a number of governor-ships, and appear poised to have the majority in the Senate as well.

After George W Bush was awarded the slimmest of victories 2 years ago, he crowed about having 'political capital' and intending to spend it. I have sadly become cynical enough that I half-expected the Democratic leadership to take a similarly partisan stance and begin gloating.

Happily ...at least so far ...what I've been hearing from Nancy Pelosi (soon-to-be Speaker of the House) and from Rahm Emanuel (chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee) is far more sensible. They have been speaking of the fact that all members of Congress must work together if anything is to be accomplished to truly help better this nation.

Rahm Emanuel has mentioned, among the many issues desperately needing action:

...minimum
wage; direct negotiations for lower prescription drug prices; a vote
on the 9/11 commission recommendations; an energy policy in which we
take the $12.5 billion given to Big Oil and move it towards research
for energy independence and alternative energy and new sources;
slashing the interest rates on college loans in half; and pay as you
go rules on the budget; and also on stem cells and getting a vote on
that; and also on Social Security. 
...

The 2006 campaigning is done. I've followed our standard ritual on the day after Election Day and have removed the many candidate bumper stickers from my car. Now the real work starts.

Electronic voting: seemed to go smoothly

Shirley and I each voted today, and things seemed to go very smoothly. The folks working at the polls directed voters through the check-in, to the voting machines, and on to deposit one's voting card (which activates the machine) in a box on the way out. The verification screens correctly displayed my selections. So at least that part of the process was good. The sad thing is that we have absolutely no way to know whether our votes were counted correctly inside each machine, nor whether the totals from each machine will make it to the final tallies, nor whether or not those final tallies will be accurate. And if there are any questions ...well, that's just too bad, because the current state administration does not see fit to require a paper audit trail.

But it's still important to do what we can. If you are a Florida registered voter, you can vote early through Saturday 04 November; if you miss that deadline, then you will cast your vote on Election Day, Tuesday 07 November. Here in Hillsborough County, many libraries are open 10am until 6pm through Saturday for early voting (if voting on Election Day you must instead go to your designated polling location). The county has a web site about voting, and they do list all early voting locations ...but they post it as a Microsoft Word document, which shows yet again how out of touch Buddy Johnson is (local elections supervisor ...known to take time trading his company's stock while he should be working). For those who need the information in a more accessible format, here's the list of early voting sites  converted to a PDF file.

A real cowgirl

Makayla, our awesome little niece is going as a cowgirl for Halloween. As she explains it: "the kind of cowgirl that rides a horse, not a cow that is a girl."

I'll try and get a pic from my sis to post :)