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Monday, February 28, 2011
An Argument Against Minimal Footwear.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Quick note while the muse is with me...
Today I knocked out a pretty excellent 7 miles (11.27 Km). I've figured out a loop which is about 2.45 miles long on relatively quiet roads (it's hard to call anything quiet here though). 3 laps and a brief out and back got me to just about an hour.
I'm starting to feel like I can add more days to my schedule. I've been really focused on staying relaxed while running and taking short but quick strides. My (Ache)illes is feeling better for the most part. The last time I ran I felt some pain in my right plantar tendon, but that didn't bother me today. I did gimp around a bit post run, but simple movement afterwards loosened everything up.
In a couple of weeks my wife and I will be moving out to where we will be spending the next few years. I'm starting to get excited about the prospect of living out there.
View Property @ Km 14.kml in a larger map - let me know if this sucker doesn't show up well.
For some reason, Google earth is sweet here, but Maps sucks.
Explore around a bit and maybe you mightwant to come visit - shoot me a note on the Twitter or the FB and I can email you a Google Earth Kml file for you to check out the surroundings.
All are welcome, we'll be living in a 4 bedroom (allocated as: 2 bedrooms, 1 guest room/office, 1 tv room) house. Grapefruits are just about ripe. We will soon have more avocados than is humanly possible to eat. We are actually going to cut down 1 of the 3 mango trees and there are tangerine trees and one bitter orange. That one, I can't wait to use for marinades...
Alrighty then.
Thanks for reading, I'm still working on another "Retrospect piece" but it's being tough to get time to write during the day...
Jay
I'm starting to feel like I can add more days to my schedule. I've been really focused on staying relaxed while running and taking short but quick strides. My (Ache)illes is feeling better for the most part. The last time I ran I felt some pain in my right plantar tendon, but that didn't bother me today. I did gimp around a bit post run, but simple movement afterwards loosened everything up.
In a couple of weeks my wife and I will be moving out to where we will be spending the next few years. I'm starting to get excited about the prospect of living out there.
View Property @ Km 14.kml in a larger map - let me know if this sucker doesn't show up well.
For some reason, Google earth is sweet here, but Maps sucks.
Explore around a bit and maybe you mightwant to come visit - shoot me a note on the Twitter or the FB and I can email you a Google Earth Kml file for you to check out the surroundings.
All are welcome, we'll be living in a 4 bedroom (allocated as: 2 bedrooms, 1 guest room/office, 1 tv room) house. Grapefruits are just about ripe. We will soon have more avocados than is humanly possible to eat. We are actually going to cut down 1 of the 3 mango trees and there are tangerine trees and one bitter orange. That one, I can't wait to use for marinades...
Alrighty then.
Thanks for reading, I'm still working on another "Retrospect piece" but it's being tough to get time to write during the day...
Jay
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Freaking Bolivia.
Today I went to Interpol to get some silly piece of paper to prove I am no criminal. We stopped along the way to pick up the last few pieces of paper I needed from one of Nataly's cousins and headed over to the police headquarters where Interpol is headquartered. I was reasonably confident that all of the ducks were in a row and then...
"Sorry we won't take your money - you're wearing shorts."
Huh?!
Last I checked it's 30C (cloudy) - which is something like 88 degrees - with 75% humidity. It's not enough that they're rationing sugar for some shady government purpose, they force you to wear inhumanly uncomfortable clothes in brutal conditions. Ugh.
"Sorry we won't take your money - you're wearing shorts."
Huh?!
Last I checked it's 30C (cloudy) - which is something like 88 degrees - with 75% humidity. It's not enough that they're rationing sugar for some shady government purpose, they force you to wear inhumanly uncomfortable clothes in brutal conditions. Ugh.
Retrospect Piece #2. Vermont.
What has gone before
I've had 24 hours to think on what I did in VT while I was there, but for some reason it's all pretty foggy. I arrived on Monday evening and left Friday morning. In between I visited with my Mom, my Brother, his new girlfriend and slouched around Rutland for a little bit.
My Mom had to work on Monday so Jackson and I visited with Alex for a bit and I had a few post-long-drive beverages. Eventually Mom got home and we chatted for quite some time. How was the drive kind of stuff, weather forecast kind of stuff, stuff kind of stuff...
Otherwise, the rest of this post is going to be pretty much a stream of randomly organized memories and so...
I drove to VT before heading to Miami because we thought I'd be leaving my Subaru with her to sell. We spent some time during the week trying to determine the feasibility of that and discovered that renting a car (big enough to haul my crap+dog) would cost almost as much as I still owe on the loan for the Cruck. It'd cost less to fly my Mom to Miami and spend a couple days touring the Everglades than the rental and the Cruck is now paid off...
So after a couple of days of deliberation my Mom decided it'd be fun enough to see her Grandson and Nataly in Florida to make up for the 3 day long drive she had waiting for her after she departed. Thanks so much Mom!
I emptied out a good chunk of my extraordinarily disorganized car on Tuesday, but left the 400 lb sculpture in the back and headed over to my Brother's house in the morning. There I got to drop off the block of rock that cost me 3 miles per gallon on my drive East and I also got to visit with Charles's new girlfriend.
Holly is apparently terrified that I don't like her. Whether I like her may or may not be the case. The truth is I don't actually know her. She did anger me, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. She seems pleasant enough and she makes Charles happy I suppose. Maybe some day I'll hear a good explanation of why she did what she did. Anyway...
On the running front, I came nowhere near knocking out 3x2-A-Days. I seem to remember only one actual run. Part of the problem? My brother is more than just kind of a bad influence (or perhaps it's the other way around). Whatever the case, put the two of us in a room together and you'd best hide the hoppy frosties. Was it sailors who coined the term "Groggy"?
Another part of the problem. I've been logging alot of my miles in VFFs recently and (this issue is still bugging me) my left achilles tendon has been troubling me in the mornings. It loosens up throughout the day, but in the morning I move around like someone in desperate need of a knee replacement. It's been getting better with days off, but not 100 percent.
I haven't said much about this injury, but it's been bothering me since November probably. I will chronicle it's evolution or (hopefully) devolution as time goes bye. Perhaps this is the problem - I'll see about modifying my form on my next run and see how it goes...
My Mom made my favorite dinner one night which inspired me to revisit some songs from Sweeny Todd. Anyway, she has made this really delicious meatball pie since I was in grade school I think. Meatballs, garbanzo beans, marinara sauce, so good. I think that that day I had made some bread to go alongside dinner too, but I'm not positive.
I did make another batch of bread in my mom's oven and it came out very well. Down here there are rumblings of a wood fired bake oven made from clay being built in our yard. That should be exciting. I'm looking forward to catching a yeast and baking regularly.
Somewhere in here Nataly and I finally pinned down the date for my departure to Bolivia. One way ticket. Woah. I'd be flying out with Jackson on the 27th of January. Ok away we go then.
That's all for now I suppose. I could go on, but this somewhat Joyceian diatribe has probably gone on long enough.
thanks for reading
J
I've had 24 hours to think on what I did in VT while I was there, but for some reason it's all pretty foggy. I arrived on Monday evening and left Friday morning. In between I visited with my Mom, my Brother, his new girlfriend and slouched around Rutland for a little bit.
My Mom had to work on Monday so Jackson and I visited with Alex for a bit and I had a few post-long-drive beverages. Eventually Mom got home and we chatted for quite some time. How was the drive kind of stuff, weather forecast kind of stuff, stuff kind of stuff...
Otherwise, the rest of this post is going to be pretty much a stream of randomly organized memories and so...
I drove to VT before heading to Miami because we thought I'd be leaving my Subaru with her to sell. We spent some time during the week trying to determine the feasibility of that and discovered that renting a car (big enough to haul my crap+dog) would cost almost as much as I still owe on the loan for the Cruck. It'd cost less to fly my Mom to Miami and spend a couple days touring the Everglades than the rental and the Cruck is now paid off...
So after a couple of days of deliberation my Mom decided it'd be fun enough to see her Grandson and Nataly in Florida to make up for the 3 day long drive she had waiting for her after she departed. Thanks so much Mom!
I emptied out a good chunk of my extraordinarily disorganized car on Tuesday, but left the 400 lb sculpture in the back and headed over to my Brother's house in the morning. There I got to drop off the block of rock that cost me 3 miles per gallon on my drive East and I also got to visit with Charles's new girlfriend.
Holly is apparently terrified that I don't like her. Whether I like her may or may not be the case. The truth is I don't actually know her. She did anger me, but that's a whole 'nother kettle of fish. She seems pleasant enough and she makes Charles happy I suppose. Maybe some day I'll hear a good explanation of why she did what she did. Anyway...
On the running front, I came nowhere near knocking out 3x2-A-Days. I seem to remember only one actual run. Part of the problem? My brother is more than just kind of a bad influence (or perhaps it's the other way around). Whatever the case, put the two of us in a room together and you'd best hide the hoppy frosties. Was it sailors who coined the term "Groggy"?
Another part of the problem. I've been logging alot of my miles in VFFs recently and (this issue is still bugging me) my left achilles tendon has been troubling me in the mornings. It loosens up throughout the day, but in the morning I move around like someone in desperate need of a knee replacement. It's been getting better with days off, but not 100 percent.
I haven't said much about this injury, but it's been bothering me since November probably. I will chronicle it's evolution or (hopefully) devolution as time goes bye. Perhaps this is the problem - I'll see about modifying my form on my next run and see how it goes...
My Mom made my favorite dinner one night which inspired me to revisit some songs from Sweeny Todd. Anyway, she has made this really delicious meatball pie since I was in grade school I think. Meatballs, garbanzo beans, marinara sauce, so good. I think that that day I had made some bread to go alongside dinner too, but I'm not positive.
I did make another batch of bread in my mom's oven and it came out very well. Down here there are rumblings of a wood fired bake oven made from clay being built in our yard. That should be exciting. I'm looking forward to catching a yeast and baking regularly.
Somewhere in here Nataly and I finally pinned down the date for my departure to Bolivia. One way ticket. Woah. I'd be flying out with Jackson on the 27th of January. Ok away we go then.
That's all for now I suppose. I could go on, but this somewhat Joyceian diatribe has probably gone on long enough.
thanks for reading
J
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Retrospect Piece #1. Drive: Colorado - Vermont.
Whew.
That was rather excruciating.
Last I wrote, I was just about to leave Colorado. Well...
It took me something like 2 weeks more to finally leave. I eventually just bailed, leaving the final cleaning and trash hauling to professional types. There was a storm coming and I wanted to be out of CO before it arrived.
I left Friday the 14th of January from Denver and motored out of CO with a Cruck ('03 Subaru Baja - for sale) full of the last remains we would be keeping, including a sculpture my brother made several years back at the Marble Marble Symposium. Darn thing weighed something on the order of 400lbs. My neighbor Dave graciously helped me get it into the back of the otherwise I'm not sure what I'd have done with it - I have a rock hammer...
Anyway, I totally plushed out the back seat for Jackson. Camping mat folded in half, comforter, 3 pillows. Dude was riding in style. He actually gets car sick so anything I can do to encourage him to sleep while we drive is good stuff.
Friday I wanted to log some miles on the road so we motored the entire day just stopping to pee, grab hideous fast food and that was it. We eventually made it to a Motel 6 I've stayed in before in Avoca, IA. It's clean and fairly hospitable, but despite Motel 6's promise of pets welcome, this specific Motel 6 makes you stop as you're leaving for a "room check" if you're traveling with a pet. I think that's idiotic, but...
I usually make the drive from CO to VT in 3 days, with stops around Council Bluffs, and Cleveland, but this time I wanted to stop in Buffalo and have a visit with my Stepfather and my Uncle who lives very near by.
So, Saturday I stopped in Davenport, IA for a run with Homey. As I was churning down the highway, I noticed a dude walking his dog on a trail and decided I needed to find it. That turned out to be easy as the next sign I saw said, "Somethingorother State Park next exit". We only did 30 minutes, me in VFF, he bare. It was cold and there was some fluffy white stuff on the ground. We only stopped a couple times to clean out our paws. It was a pleasant place for a run, but overall not too spectacular.
We eventually made it the better part of the way to Cleveland that night and would be able to meet my Uncle for lunch on Sunday. I hadn't seen him since I'd re-done my wedding in the States something like 8 years ago. It was good. I met his horse barn full of horse tennants, whom Jackson wasn't sure what to think of up close. We've met some on the trail before, but I've never put him into such close proximity to horses before. He was nervous. My Uncle had made a Lasagna which we ate with much gusto and around 3 he had to take off to go skate with a girl. Nice. An added bonus, his daughter stopped in and I got to see my youngest cousin for like the 3rd time. Faith is now a Sophomore at University of Buffalo. Man...
I had some slack time in the day, having told my Stepfather I'd be over in time to catch the kickoff of the Patriots game, so I popped open my phone and tried to locate a park to get in a run. Google Maps found a pretty good sized one close by and we went over there. This was a heavily used park which permitted snowmobiles and skiers and snowshoers, but it was big with dedicated trails for the noisemakers so Homey and I could get out without being run over.
There was snow, but no need for snowshoes, though by the throngs of people clumping around with the ungainly things on you'd think them a part of the uniform. Jackson and I just looked at them and smiled as we passed in our minimal garb. I expect we got some weird looks. I was wearing a t-shirt, gloves, Eagles Cap, jeans and 5 Fingers. All in all the park was really quite nice. After logging 30+ minutes running through the forest, Jackson and I headed over to my Stepfathers to watch some football.
There we had a very nice visit. Walter (my stepfather) had made a vegetarian version of Spaghetti with clam sauce. I'm not particularly a fan of Clams, or seafood of any kind found more than 25 miles inland, so the new take was intresting to me. He used my favorite bean, the Garbanzo, in place of the clams. It worked really well. I'll probably make it with a bit more butter, but mmmmm Tasty!
We watched a good chunk of the Patriots game, but Walter wasn't enjoying it too much as the Jets really seemed in control throughout the game. We ended up shutting it off, even though I was quietly rooting for the Jets, there was other stuff to talk about, you know like the impending move. Eventually we called it a night and said good bye - Walter leaves for work really early in the mornings and I expected I wouldn't wake up.
The next morning I spent a few more minutes visiting with Walter's wife Michelle and then hit the road to go visit my Dad in Ithaca. We were planning on a luncheon. Dad and I spent a couple of hours together talking about the move as well as my brother's new girlfriend. It was good.
I finished the drive to VT eventually arriving at my Mom's house around 7PM on Monday. Jackson and I didn't get a run in that day, but I expected I'd be able to make the missed workouts up during the days I was in VT. Oh well.
I'll have more tomorrow during Deneb's nap time.
Thanks for reading.
J
That was rather excruciating.
Last I wrote, I was just about to leave Colorado. Well...
It took me something like 2 weeks more to finally leave. I eventually just bailed, leaving the final cleaning and trash hauling to professional types. There was a storm coming and I wanted to be out of CO before it arrived.
I left Friday the 14th of January from Denver and motored out of CO with a Cruck ('03 Subaru Baja - for sale) full of the last remains we would be keeping, including a sculpture my brother made several years back at the Marble Marble Symposium. Darn thing weighed something on the order of 400lbs. My neighbor Dave graciously helped me get it into the back of the otherwise I'm not sure what I'd have done with it - I have a rock hammer...
 |
| Stuff is weirder in Nebraska. |
Friday I wanted to log some miles on the road so we motored the entire day just stopping to pee, grab hideous fast food and that was it. We eventually made it to a Motel 6 I've stayed in before in Avoca, IA. It's clean and fairly hospitable, but despite Motel 6's promise of pets welcome, this specific Motel 6 makes you stop as you're leaving for a "room check" if you're traveling with a pet. I think that's idiotic, but...
I usually make the drive from CO to VT in 3 days, with stops around Council Bluffs, and Cleveland, but this time I wanted to stop in Buffalo and have a visit with my Stepfather and my Uncle who lives very near by.
So, Saturday I stopped in Davenport, IA for a run with Homey. As I was churning down the highway, I noticed a dude walking his dog on a trail and decided I needed to find it. That turned out to be easy as the next sign I saw said, "Somethingorother State Park next exit". We only did 30 minutes, me in VFF, he bare. It was cold and there was some fluffy white stuff on the ground. We only stopped a couple times to clean out our paws. It was a pleasant place for a run, but overall not too spectacular.
We eventually made it the better part of the way to Cleveland that night and would be able to meet my Uncle for lunch on Sunday. I hadn't seen him since I'd re-done my wedding in the States something like 8 years ago. It was good. I met his horse barn full of horse tennants, whom Jackson wasn't sure what to think of up close. We've met some on the trail before, but I've never put him into such close proximity to horses before. He was nervous. My Uncle had made a Lasagna which we ate with much gusto and around 3 he had to take off to go skate with a girl. Nice. An added bonus, his daughter stopped in and I got to see my youngest cousin for like the 3rd time. Faith is now a Sophomore at University of Buffalo. Man...
I had some slack time in the day, having told my Stepfather I'd be over in time to catch the kickoff of the Patriots game, so I popped open my phone and tried to locate a park to get in a run. Google Maps found a pretty good sized one close by and we went over there. This was a heavily used park which permitted snowmobiles and skiers and snowshoers, but it was big with dedicated trails for the noisemakers so Homey and I could get out without being run over.
There was snow, but no need for snowshoes, though by the throngs of people clumping around with the ungainly things on you'd think them a part of the uniform. Jackson and I just looked at them and smiled as we passed in our minimal garb. I expect we got some weird looks. I was wearing a t-shirt, gloves, Eagles Cap, jeans and 5 Fingers. All in all the park was really quite nice. After logging 30+ minutes running through the forest, Jackson and I headed over to my Stepfathers to watch some football.
There we had a very nice visit. Walter (my stepfather) had made a vegetarian version of Spaghetti with clam sauce. I'm not particularly a fan of Clams, or seafood of any kind found more than 25 miles inland, so the new take was intresting to me. He used my favorite bean, the Garbanzo, in place of the clams. It worked really well. I'll probably make it with a bit more butter, but mmmmm Tasty!
We watched a good chunk of the Patriots game, but Walter wasn't enjoying it too much as the Jets really seemed in control throughout the game. We ended up shutting it off, even though I was quietly rooting for the Jets, there was other stuff to talk about, you know like the impending move. Eventually we called it a night and said good bye - Walter leaves for work really early in the mornings and I expected I wouldn't wake up.
 |
| Ithaca is Gorges! |
The next morning I spent a few more minutes visiting with Walter's wife Michelle and then hit the road to go visit my Dad in Ithaca. We were planning on a luncheon. Dad and I spent a couple of hours together talking about the move as well as my brother's new girlfriend. It was good.
I finished the drive to VT eventually arriving at my Mom's house around 7PM on Monday. Jackson and I didn't get a run in that day, but I expected I'd be able to make the missed workouts up during the days I was in VT. Oh well.
 |
| Winter Wonderland |
Thanks for reading.
J
Monday, January 3, 2011
Almost outta here...
That post title sounds a bit cavalier, but not sure what else to put up there for this one.
In less than a week I'm going to be driving out of Colorado and not coming back for the foreseeable future. I've got incredibly mixed emotions with regard to the undertaking, but the winds of change have been blowing hard the past year and a half.
I have a fantastic job and a really quality boss, but over the last couple of years my productivity has diminished to the point where if I am not actively repairing a computer, solving a network problem or wiping a virus, it's hard to notice that I'm doing anything at all. In short, I'm tired of what I've been doing for the better part of the last decade and it shows. Throw on top of that the potential for my wife's career to blossom into something truly meaningful, and a decision is almost made. The final clincher was the opportunity to be a stay at home dad to my (less than 2 year old) son in a distant warm place (Bolivia)...
Homey is moving with us and is excited to report that he will eventually be moving into a house that has both a Mango Tree and an Avacado Tree in an honest to goodness back yard. The house is on a dirt road on the periphery of Santa Cruz where I expect we'll be running together quite a bit.
In fact, I've made it a goal to log at minimum 365 runs of at least 30 minutes in 2011. There will have to be 2-a-days in there to reach that goal, but my hope is that Homey will accompany me on 90% of my efforts (anything less than 2.5 hours for sure). At one point in time he could knock out 15 miles in the mountains without problem, I hope to see him back in that kind of shape (besides he'll help with Jaguars)...
Since mid-October I've been quite the slacker. I went for a Thanksgiving day run of almost 12 miles in Vermont, but that was my most significant mileage in the better part of 3 months. I could make excuses, but if you read Brandon's Blog, I'd come off like a little whiner. With that hip, finishing Leadville is quite remarkable. Anyway the truth is: I was enjoying time down, working on upper body strength 12 oz at a time.
I've started getting back into the swing of things running wise. Jackson and I have gotten out for runs each of the last 3 days and today I went on what perhaps was my last trail run in Colorado for the foreseeable future. Homey and I hit the first trail we ran together - Rabbit Mountain. The trail is a lariat, with magnificent views both North toward Fort Collins and South toward Boulder. If the trail is dry, it's horribly rocky and not suitable for (me anyway) minimal gear, but with snow on the trail it smoothed out enough that the Treks were in effect. We actually knocked out the loop in just over 40 minutes which is my second fastest time out there - That's with snow and me not caring about the timing. Even with a bunch of 12 oz curls in the last several months, I made some real progress on my fitness this year...
Given my impending exodus, it's hard to know what I'll do race-wise this year. I will train to run a virtual Boston Marathon in April, and then make a decision about coming back to Colorado for the Steamboat 50 in September: is it realistic? is it financially feasible? would it be possible to convince family that visiting Colorado in September is a good idea? Lots of stuff...
Anyway. I've been dark over here for a bit, but expect that the next few months will provide more than a few things to write about. I hope that I have the time to scratch some stuff out.
Thanks for reading,
J
In less than a week I'm going to be driving out of Colorado and not coming back for the foreseeable future. I've got incredibly mixed emotions with regard to the undertaking, but the winds of change have been blowing hard the past year and a half.
I have a fantastic job and a really quality boss, but over the last couple of years my productivity has diminished to the point where if I am not actively repairing a computer, solving a network problem or wiping a virus, it's hard to notice that I'm doing anything at all. In short, I'm tired of what I've been doing for the better part of the last decade and it shows. Throw on top of that the potential for my wife's career to blossom into something truly meaningful, and a decision is almost made. The final clincher was the opportunity to be a stay at home dad to my (less than 2 year old) son in a distant warm place (Bolivia)...
Homey is moving with us and is excited to report that he will eventually be moving into a house that has both a Mango Tree and an Avacado Tree in an honest to goodness back yard. The house is on a dirt road on the periphery of Santa Cruz where I expect we'll be running together quite a bit.
In fact, I've made it a goal to log at minimum 365 runs of at least 30 minutes in 2011. There will have to be 2-a-days in there to reach that goal, but my hope is that Homey will accompany me on 90% of my efforts (anything less than 2.5 hours for sure). At one point in time he could knock out 15 miles in the mountains without problem, I hope to see him back in that kind of shape (besides he'll help with Jaguars)...
Since mid-October I've been quite the slacker. I went for a Thanksgiving day run of almost 12 miles in Vermont, but that was my most significant mileage in the better part of 3 months. I could make excuses, but if you read Brandon's Blog, I'd come off like a little whiner. With that hip, finishing Leadville is quite remarkable. Anyway the truth is: I was enjoying time down, working on upper body strength 12 oz at a time.
I've started getting back into the swing of things running wise. Jackson and I have gotten out for runs each of the last 3 days and today I went on what perhaps was my last trail run in Colorado for the foreseeable future. Homey and I hit the first trail we ran together - Rabbit Mountain. The trail is a lariat, with magnificent views both North toward Fort Collins and South toward Boulder. If the trail is dry, it's horribly rocky and not suitable for (me anyway) minimal gear, but with snow on the trail it smoothed out enough that the Treks were in effect. We actually knocked out the loop in just over 40 minutes which is my second fastest time out there - That's with snow and me not caring about the timing. Even with a bunch of 12 oz curls in the last several months, I made some real progress on my fitness this year...
Given my impending exodus, it's hard to know what I'll do race-wise this year. I will train to run a virtual Boston Marathon in April, and then make a decision about coming back to Colorado for the Steamboat 50 in September: is it realistic? is it financially feasible? would it be possible to convince family that visiting Colorado in September is a good idea? Lots of stuff...
Anyway. I've been dark over here for a bit, but expect that the next few months will provide more than a few things to write about. I hope that I have the time to scratch some stuff out.
Thanks for reading,
J
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Pissed off treehugger
So today is election day.
Yippie!
I went to do my civic duty and discovered that my polling place had moved. I suppose I should have known that and even better, I should have signed up for lifelong mail in voter.
I went to the location I thought was supposed to be our new polling place, but didn't see any signs from the road. Finally, I noticed a small kind of tell tale sign taped onto a door adjacent to a crowded parking lot. "This must be the place," I thought. Sure enough, as I was pulling into the parking lot I saw a big sign for Polling Place for Precincts X and Y.
The small sign I noticed from the road said that voting was on the third floor. I had to take an elevator to get there. I'd like to note that this place was an assisted living facility. Lots of folks in wheelchairs and ekg machines beeping. Weird.
Anyway, I grabbed the little sheet, wrote my name on it and handed my drivers license to the gentleman behind the table. He noted that my ID was expired, but if I was in the book, I could still vote. An election official came over to help us out when it was determined I wasn't in the book - perhaps I was in the wrong place.
Turns out, I was! Awesome. I could either fill out a provisional ballot there or go across the street to vote today. The official showed me the rather extensive form I'd have to fill in to acquire my provisional ballot so I opted to go across the street.
In the new place, I walked up to the table and greeted my neighbor who was working for the precinct. Obviously I was in the right place now. I filled out my sheet, proclaimed my ID expired, and started to run through the stuff told me across the street, but they wouldn't have it. In fact, they didn't even offer a provisional ballot. I had a recently expired drivers license with my picture on it, a neighbor who recognized me, and I couldn't even get a provisional ballot.
Ridiculous. I could present them with a utility bill, but my expired drivers license wasn't good enough. Had I voted with a mail in ballot, the only ID that would be on my form would be that it was delivered somewhere close to my home. Stupid. Just stupid.
Anyway. Aparently I missed a pretty darn cool run on Saturday (really wish I'd been more tuned into that one), and I wasn't even able to go run in the Monster Dash, because my little man was passed out cold and we didn't want to wake him up. Oh well.
Sunday we hit the Denver Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo." Oh man did Deneb have fun. That was the good stuff.
Thanks for reading,
J
Yippie!
I went to do my civic duty and discovered that my polling place had moved. I suppose I should have known that and even better, I should have signed up for lifelong mail in voter.
I went to the location I thought was supposed to be our new polling place, but didn't see any signs from the road. Finally, I noticed a small kind of tell tale sign taped onto a door adjacent to a crowded parking lot. "This must be the place," I thought. Sure enough, as I was pulling into the parking lot I saw a big sign for Polling Place for Precincts X and Y.
The small sign I noticed from the road said that voting was on the third floor. I had to take an elevator to get there. I'd like to note that this place was an assisted living facility. Lots of folks in wheelchairs and ekg machines beeping. Weird.
Anyway, I grabbed the little sheet, wrote my name on it and handed my drivers license to the gentleman behind the table. He noted that my ID was expired, but if I was in the book, I could still vote. An election official came over to help us out when it was determined I wasn't in the book - perhaps I was in the wrong place.
Turns out, I was! Awesome. I could either fill out a provisional ballot there or go across the street to vote today. The official showed me the rather extensive form I'd have to fill in to acquire my provisional ballot so I opted to go across the street.
In the new place, I walked up to the table and greeted my neighbor who was working for the precinct. Obviously I was in the right place now. I filled out my sheet, proclaimed my ID expired, and started to run through the stuff told me across the street, but they wouldn't have it. In fact, they didn't even offer a provisional ballot. I had a recently expired drivers license with my picture on it, a neighbor who recognized me, and I couldn't even get a provisional ballot.
Ridiculous. I could present them with a utility bill, but my expired drivers license wasn't good enough. Had I voted with a mail in ballot, the only ID that would be on my form would be that it was delivered somewhere close to my home. Stupid. Just stupid.
Anyway. Aparently I missed a pretty darn cool run on Saturday (really wish I'd been more tuned into that one), and I wasn't even able to go run in the Monster Dash, because my little man was passed out cold and we didn't want to wake him up. Oh well.
Sunday we hit the Denver Zoo for "Boo at the Zoo." Oh man did Deneb have fun. That was the good stuff.
Thanks for reading,
J
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