I finally did the math, and we had over 70% walk through the door. We had 419 ballots, plus 9 provisional. Two were surrendered absentee ballots. Two were on the inactive list. Not bad. The Bee article told of one precinct in '96 that had NO voters all day... the base was closed and no one lived there any more, but apparently the Election Board didn't get the word. I also discovered that I probably voted for a dead man. I voted for the Water Board incumbents, and apparently one of them died a couple of weeks back. Oops.

You might have figured out on Wednesday that my scanner is in operation again. Not on my machine, on Rich's. The Guru is torn between blaming a dicy logic card or a bad path. I really don't think it should be the latter as I reinstalled from scratch. Who knows.
Meanwhile, Rich is having trouble getting on the Internet, as Bill's system keeps trying to do what IT wants to do, not what RICH wants to do.
Me, I'm pleased with my laptop. When I first got it, I couldn't get the AC cord to work. Rich realized it was the modem cord, so I marched in the next day with machine and cord. Yianni, my salesperson, recognized me and apologeticly handed over the correct cord the minute I explained the problem.

Rich's sister called to find out when we're coming. It turns out this school year, in the grandkids, there are two high school graduations, two college graduations (Bernadette being one) and two confirmations. The last time there were two confirmations, (this years H.S. seniors) the Bishop of Pittsburgh messed them up by postponing that one two weeks, which meant that the family could only get to the North Carolina one. I've organized the motel and it's only a couple of miles from the in-laws' house.
I've also ordered some cardigans, as I had only one. The first two arrived yesterday and I love them. I hope the black one and the gray come in time. (I have tan and purple now.)

My nephew is getting married again. He did the deed some 4-5 years ago with his long-time girlfriend, but left her almost at the altar. They were separated within a week and divorced soon afterwards. He had told his mother the day before that he didn't want to get married, and she suggested he mention this to Julie, but he didn't till after the wedding. This new bride is a divorcee and according to my other foster-sister brooks no nonsense. This same foster-sis says she thinks they deserve each other (she liked Julie.) The new one's two daughters (8 and 11) sent the invitation. (December 19, the day after Bernadette gets home. I think not.) I also got a shower invitation, for "champaign and desert." This is all 500 miles away, so I didn't feel too pressured.

That sounds like as much fun as "putting the seeds in an owl." That's not how I roasted my pumpkin seeds, but there you are. There's never an owl around when you need one.

One of the Hallowe'en decorations is a "bomb" Rich and Vince made of red-painted broomsticks and an alarm clock face. I had a whole bunch of kids asking if it was real. The answer is "yes." "You want to blow up your HOUSE??" "No, I want to blow up Trick-or-Treaters!"

Last Friday night we went out to use up our last of the old Entertainment book coupons (only then I couldn't find it, and so we started the new book). It's a popular Italian place in Carmichael, and we ended up having to wait an hour. This was my fault, you see, since I hadn't brought a book. It was fun watching the little kids running around, though. Last year's total was $113.29. That's $73 of savings, and for things we'd have done anyway, so it was good.