push-up to vote

Update on my 100 push-up challenge: Because I completed 46 push-ups in my initial test, the program suggested I start at "Week 3" of the six week regimen. That means today's exhaustion test marked the end of my second week of training and "Week 4" of the program. Got that? Anyways, I completed 70 consecutive push-ups today. This program is tough, and I felt it was overly ambitious during my first week, but I'm beginning to think that 100 is possible when I perform my final exhaustion test on election day.

Speaking of elections, yesterday I voted. I'm not sure if early voting is being promoted or even available nationally, but here in North Carolina, it's received quite a push this year. I take my right to vote seriously, and I want voting to be easily accessible and straightforward (when I lived in Chicago, my district used the same "butterfly" ballots that caused some of the problems in Palm Beach County, and they truly were confusing).

Yesterday's voting experience was refreshingly straightforward - just a matter of filling in some circles like a ScanTron test - but it was a bit too accessible. When I began to show my driver's license, the election official emphatically refused to look at it. She said they would only look at it if there was a problem. I simply needed to give my name, address, and signature. Anybody could have voted for me. I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I think a process like that just opens the door for one side or the other to point fingers if things don't go their way. And I'm very tired of fraud charges from both sides. It troubles me that getting a library card, a simple process by most measures, is a more stringent process than voting in our elections.

Back to brighter subjects, we're taking Junie to her first football game in a few minutes. Off to Wallace Wade Stadium we go to watch Duke vs. the Miami Hurricanes. Pictures to follow.