Lockdown

There's no lockdown here (despite Washington State posting it's highest covid infection rates this week - over 1750 new cases today).  So what better time to go out for a dine in experience for what felt like the first time in months - and indeed was my first time in months.  Despite the increasing number of cases, Washington state actually loosened it's dining in restrictions last month.  It went from something like 5 people per table who had to come from the household, to 6 people per table regardless of household.  So I met up with some friends and colleagues (and ex-colleagues) for the first time in ages.  It was at a clubhouse attached to a golf course - I didn't join them for a round, I'm nowhere near ready for that - and fortunately there was hardly anybody there when we met up in mid-afternoon, so didn't feel particularly risky.  Good to catch up with my friends, and glad that everybody seems to be doing well.  God knows when the next time I'll be able to do something like this will be, particularly if the infection rates continue to get worse.      

Country Before Party

Blah blah blah, election, blah blah blah, time to put his big boy pants on, blah blah blah, an obese turtle on his back flailing in the hot sun, realizing his time is over, blah blah blah.  I'm sure you're as sick of all this as I am, and just want it over.  But Trump will cling onto power with his greasy little fingers for as long as he possibly can.  What a sore loser.  It's absolutely shameful the way his presidency is going down - and it's absolutely shameful that so many of the Republican Party continue to support, encourage and echo the baseless and dangerous rantings of this lunatic.  I think it's inevitable that one day I will become a US citizen, and have the right to vote here.  And when I do, I'm never going to vote for the Republican Party.  Never ever.  That is my stone cold promise right here right now.  I don't care if I increasingly lean right politically as I get older, it is just wildly irresponsible to challenge voting and democracy in the way they have in this election.  I just watched Biden's speech tonight, where he got about as close to declaring victory as he could without actually saying it - I obviously expect absolutely no reaction from Trump on that.  I think Biden is saying the right things about trying to bring the country together - even though I think that will be absolutely impossible to do while you have the likes of Fox News, conservative radio, Russian influence operations and QAnon - and in a nice touch someone nearby set off some fireworks after the speech.  I was hoping I might hear some fireworks on Tuesday night, but better late than never.

Song of the Week #30

Whilst there are people protesting to count every vote and people protesting to stop the counting, life must go on.  This week's song was written by David Bowie - and once you know that then there is no unhearing that in this classic.

Reaction

Although nothing has been confirmed yet, it seems like Biden has won the Presidency (which is good) but Republicans have retained the Senate (which is bad).  Some thoughts:

- My final prediction was spot on, though I take no comfort from that.

- The people who do the polling in the US should be ashamed of themselves.  For the second election in a row, they were shockingly so far off the mark.

- I had allowed a little bit of pre-election optimism to creep in, which was quickly crushed.  Never again, and never trust the American people.

- I see Trump has already submitted loads of lawsuits to challenge some of the vote counts.  What else would you expect from this thin-skinned asshole - he'll never concede defeat, even when he was legitimately defeated.

- Trump actually got more votes than he did in 2016, which is astounding to me.  I just don't understand the American psyche and how you could vote for him.  The government's lack of response to the pandemic resulting in thousand upon thousands of needless deaths should alone have condemned this government to have been crushed in a landslide.  I just don't get it.

- And the fact that so many Republican senators were re-elected is equally astounding to me.  Despite being vastly outspent, despite the outrageousness of confirming that Supreme Court judge in the week before the election, despite being a truly ghastly bunch of sycophants and weasels.  Unbelievable.  It means that if Biden wins the presidency, his ability to actually make much-needed changes is going to be significantly curtailed.

- In some ways, I guess in this shittiest of shit years that we should be grateful at all that Trump is seemingly going to be defeated - despite everything he's tried to stop that e.g. voter suppression, voter intimidation, Russian influence (which is still undoubtedly a thing), entirely false accusations of corruption and vote rigging, undermining counts, I'm sure a bunch of court challenges to come.

Now we have the joys of watching the results being challenged and dragged out in the courts for weeks and months to come.  Joy.  The day that Trump is not in the headlines will be a very happy one.  

Election Night

I'm writing this about 7 pm, I've turned off my phone, this will be the only time I go on the internet, and I shall not be watching any news tonight.  I have absolutely no intention of following the election results - if the early signs were good, I would have considered watching Fox News to enjoy their discomfort and unhappiness.  But alas, the very early signs were not promising, so I just cannot go through the agony of watching any of it.  I'll read the headlines tomorrow morning.   I thought I would spend the evening watching some DVR recordings, but there seems to be a bit of a pattern to some of the stuff I have been recording, none of which makes for appealing viewing tonight.  These are all genuine things I have on my DVR:

-  Agents of Chaos, a documentary about Russian interference in the 2016 election

- The Comey Rule, a drama about the former FBI director who got fired by Trump

- The Perfect Weapon, a documentary about cyber conflict

- 537 Votes, a documentary about the 2000 US election

- American Selfie: One Nation Shoots Itself, a documentary about the current state of America

- The Soul of America, a documentary comparing the current state of America to it's past

- The Campaigns That Made History, a documentary about historically important political contests

- Cats, the 2019 film based on the musical which I've already tried to watch twice and had to stop on both occasions because it was atrocious

Tense

A short post, I'm way too tense to compose something when so much is on the line tomorrow.  It feels like the future of the world is at stake.  The best result, Biden wins in a landslide and Democrats win control of the Senate.  The worst result, a repeat of 2016.  My final prediction - it will be a close one and somewhere between the two (and possibly nothing gets decided tomorrow).

Hates

A couple of my pet hates seem to have got worse since the start of the pandemic - and that is the amount of trash being thrown out by passing cars on the road at the bottom of my driveway, and the amount of cars speeding on that stretch of the road.  I think because I'm spending so much time at home, I'm a lot more attuned to the sound of cars going too fast.  And I'm almost OCD about checking whether any new trash has appeared near the bottom of the driveway since the day before.  The kind of trash varies - most commonly its fast food trash or empty cans of beer or energy drinks, but I've also come across rolled up newspapers that haven't been delivered, mail that looks as though it's been stolen, used masks, vehicle documentation, etc.  I'll go out and pick up the trash if need be - with my gloves and picker, it looks like I'm doing community service!  But since there aren't any sidewalks down there, at least it should make the cars slow down if they see me.  Though sometimes they don't, and if they pass too close to me then I will gesticulate at them (sometimes with 1 finger).