Happy US election day!!

mrsconn23

Did you vote early?  Are you voting today?  Are you going to find any election day specials?  Is the long national nightmare going to be over? (spoiler alert: I say not)

I'm probably going on my lunch break since it's 2 min away and I get an hour.  DH might go with me.  

Yesterday was such a cluster.  I did end up at Trader Joe's and Costco after work.  I came home to DH doing dishes...YAY! And I got my room picked up.  

DefConn didn't eat much dinner last night and was up at 5:30a crying because his 'tummy hurt'.  I gave him a banana.  I tried to go back to bed, but no dice.  
:: sigh ::  Need coffee. 

MNNEBride

DH is picking me up from work and we'll go vote after 4 PM.  I agree with you, mrsconn, the nightmare is not over.  But at least the political ad are done.

I have a busy day at work.  However, there is a dessert and a purse fundraiser being held on another floor and I must find time to go browse purses!  2 yrs ago I found a brand new eBags crossbody bag on the $5 table and I have used it constantly.

Heffalump

I voted early, the Saturday before last.  It was awesome.

DH is in a funk because either way, he's not going to be happy with the outcome.  I told Wooz she could sit up with me for a little bit and watch the election returns.  It will give us a chance to talk about the electoral college, and what second grader doesn't want to do that?   Besides, DH and I usually watch together and obv. he's not up to it this year.  I'm going to print us out a pair of electoral maps so we can color in states as they're called for each candidate, and tally up their electoral votes.  Wild times in the Heffa household!  There may even be hot chocolate.

bleve0821

DH and I voted this morning. #marriagegoal. We stood in line for an hour. 

The movers showed up yesterday and did not manage to finish boxing our house. Hopefully that won't push the schedule out by a day because they were supposed to load today. They packed up the towels that we had left out for morning showers, and the Redbox DVD that I meant to return yesterday. They left the other things on the same surface alone, though. Lesigh.

I had a handful of chips and two fun-sized Twix for breakfast because all our food is in boxes. 

charlotte989875

I voted Friday and to my shock and surprise H asked he was supposed to go to vote. He hasn't voted since 2004. 

Today will be insane at work, but I'm excited it's coming to an end. Just holding my breath for no major problems, on campus or otherwise. We had some pretty racsist writings scrawled on buildings a few weeks ago so I'm really hoping everything goes smoothly tonight. 

Im also picking up a few big bottles of champagne on my way home. 

kvruns

Took an hour and 15 min, probably would have been shorter if I went later this afternoon but I was afraid of rain so I opted for morning.  Almost had a fight in the line, due to disorganization people were in long lines and then one guy moved over to the correct line and a guy a couple spots back started yelling at him, then it calmed down then started again. It was crazy 

Heffalump

Confession: I found an electoral map with the states and # of votes labeled, but it was all off-center and some of the labels ended up in the wrong places.  I found another one that was perfect but didn't have the states labeled, and I didn't want to spend all morning on it, so I figured I could just label the states myself.

Y'all, I had to go to Google Maps for some of them.  I never remember whether Vermont is on the right and New Hampshire is on the left (no) or vice-versa (yes), and I'm still a little fuzzy on which of the rectangular states out west are which.  #geographyfail   

charlotte989875

You can also do your own predictions at http://www.270towin.com/ if you're interested...

ShesSoCold

I'm going to vote after work. I drove by my polling place on my way to work and it was packed. There's only 5700 people in my town and we have three polling places so it can't stay busy all day like that. Plus I have to leave work early to get my permit for the fence. The fact that the village offices close at 3:30 is working out great for me - will leave work at 2:30, get my permit, go across the street to vote, get home and work out before my sister stops by after work.

CharmedPam

I tried to vote already, and would have since it was not busy at all.  But I moved 1.5 years ago, and didn't think any thing of it because it was literally on the same street - just a few blocks down.  That was enough to change my polling station.  I have appointments all this afternoon, so I'll get it done in between those.  

I'm caught up with work emails now, the board (I think) and now I have to dive back into school work. boooo.  When will I win the lottery so my whole life can be a vacation? 

also, we stepped into Walmart on Sunday, DH and I, and everything was Christmas already.  Food, decor, housewares etc.  Everything.  Do we just skip Thanksgiving now?

lyndausvi

I  dropped off our ballots last week.   Can't wait till this shit show is over.


My niece is an OOS freshman at Alabama.  She was able to register there to vote.   Which I was very surprised.  I figured she would do an absentee ballot from from PA.   Wonder what keeps them from voting in both states?

tawillers

Heffalump said:

I voted early, the Saturday before last.  It was awesome.

DH is in a funk because either way, he's not going to be happy with the outcome.  I told Wooz she could sit up with me for a little bit and watch the election returns.  It will give us a chance to talk about the electoral college, and what second grader doesn't want to do that?   Besides, DH and I usually watch together and obv. he's not up to it this year.  I'm going to print us out a pair of electoral maps so we can color in states as they're called for each candidate, and tally up their electoral votes.  Wild times in the Heffa household!  There may even be hot chocolate.

Cute, heffa!

DH and I will go vote when he gets home from work.  He's usually home before noon on Tuesdays, so we should be fine.

thefanciestbeckler

I'm going to vote on my lunch break. My boss said I could leave to vote as long as I was voting for Trump.

He's an idiot. I told him I wasn't going to talk about my vote with him.

I'm going to dinner with a girl I used to work with after work. We're trying out a local bar/restaurant I've never been to that is supposed to be delicious. Plus they're known to have awesome drinks. I have a feeling we're all going to be needing drinks.

charlotte989875

lyndausvi said:

I  dropped off our ballots last week.   Can't wait till this shit show is over.


My niece is an OOS freshman at Alabama.  She was able to register there to vote.   Which I was very surprised.  I figured she would do an absentee ballot from from PA.   Wonder what keeps them from voting in both states?

It depends on the state, but most students can register either at their permanent address or at their college address, but can only be registered at one address. (At least this is how it is in Ohio). They just have to follow the normal election registration deadline. 

When they update their registration information they put in where they were previously registered (if they were) and an update is sent to that country's board of elections. 

6fsn

I went last week.  DH has to go today.  Early voting lines yesterday were taking 1.5 hrs.  I'm hoping it's just because the whole county had to go to one location and it won't be as bad going to separate locations.

6let did the electoral college in school yesterday but I'm really loving the coloring idea @Heffalump.

MIL is coming Friday and spending the night.  She has to leave first thing in the morning because she has her monthly breakfast with her mom and her friends.  I mean why would you have cinnamon rolls with your grandkids when you could see the same people you see every day/month?

banana468

I'm heading out at lunch to vote.

My state is decidedly blue so while I won't say my vote "doesn't count" I know how CT is going.  We also have local elections (remember those?) so it's important to me to stay up on that as well.

Regardless of how I feel about Hillary, there was something so fantastic about the look on Chiquita's face this morning as she said, "Mom!   This is the first time that a woman's ever been able to run for President!!"   She's 5 and doesn't need to know the issues yet - just that she's now living in a time where this is possible.

And I think that is pretty amazing. 

charlotte989875

banana468 said:

I'm heading out at lunch to vote.

My state is decidedly blue so while I won't say my vote "doesn't count" I know how CT is going.  We also have local elections (remember those?) so it's important to me to stay up on that as well.

Regardless of how I feel about Hillary, there was something so fantastic about the look on Chiquita's face this morning as she said, "Mom!   This is the first time that a woman's ever been able to run for President!!"   She's 5 and doesn't need to know the issues yet - just that she's now living in a time where this is possible.

And I think that is pretty amazing. 

I love this. I've heard the same thing from a few friends with daughters. 

Heffalump

lyndausvi said:

I  dropped off our ballots last week.   Can't wait till this shit show is over.


My niece is an OOS freshman at Alabama.  She was able to register there to vote.   Which I was very surprised.  I figured she would do an absentee ballot from from PA.   Wonder what keeps them from voting in both states?

I know it varies widely by state, but when we moved, there was a place to enter your previous address, and the BOE here will automatically notify your previous BOE that you are now registered to vote in this county and that they need to cancel your registration in their county.  But I have no idea if this is how it works everywhere.

MissKittyDanger

Not voting day for us {Canada} but I'm hoping the elections go well for all of you!! I'll be watching off and on tonight to see what happens.

Rough night last night. Fell asleep in the car on the way home. My head hurts, my stomach hurts, I feel awful Got some sinus spray, and it's pretty strong {like 2 doses in 24hr period kinda deal!} it works so idc.

Basically got home, and hopped in shower to help relieve congestion and headache. I sat in there for so long that H came up to see if I was okay.
Didn't eat dinner, and fell asleep on the couch. Gave up and went to bed at 8:30pm and idk WHAT happened, but stomach decided that it was sick of migraine and I got sick.
My health card is expired, so even though I was sick multiple times - basically emptying my stomach - a hospital visit wasn't an option. I need to get that fixed this weekend.

My stomach did calm down, and H brought me up fresh water and some flat ginger ale to help. Even pepto wasn't helping me


This morning I just feel rough. Head still hurts, but not as bad. I'm going to take a bath tonight to help.

Today is one of my friend's bdays. I texted her this morning to wish her happy bday and to make a plan to go out. She's doing university and work plus right now is midterms, so I don't get to see her much. Hoping next weekend we can go for bagels. Also I'm hoping to feel better by this weekend. We have a photoshoot Saturday and I'm hoping to swing by a mall on Sunday to pick up a gift card for my friend.


Tonight is likely a whole lot of nothing. I really need to do the dishes. We have knives and pots that can't be put in the dishwasher

SaintPaulGal

I dropped off FI's absentee ballot yesterday (he's out of town on business until tonight, due in juuust before the polls close and we didn't want to risk it.) In doing so I got to witness those monster lines some other posters mentioned in another thread.  Early voting numbers this year in my area are more than double the previous record and it was obvious that the infrastructure just wasn't there to handle the influx.  There is one early voting location for the whole county, and the line snaked through the whole office building, out the door, and around the outside of the building.  Yikes!  Thankfully I was just dropping off a completed ballot so I got to walk up to the front, certify myself as an "agent" and toss the thing in a box within a couple of minutes.

I'm going after work.  My polling place is literally across the street from my house.  I can't wait!

short+sassy

thefanciestbeckler said:

I'm going to vote on my lunch break. My boss said I could leave to vote as long as I was voting for Trump.

He's an idiot. I told him I wasn't going to talk about my vote with him.

I'm going to dinner with a girl I used to work with after work. We're trying out a local bar/restaurant I've never been to that is supposed to be delicious. Plus they're known to have awesome drinks. I have a feeling we're all going to be needing drinks.

Judge Judy for President!!!  If only.  She is way too smart a lady to ever run, lol.

I'm voting on my way home from work.  It will be POURING rain and thunderstorms all day.  Which is a bummer because I'd rather go home, park, and then walk to my polling station.

I have a ton of vacation time and am losing my job by the end of December anyway.  So I'm thinking about taking a bit of vacation time and leaving at 3:00.  Try to avoid snarled rush hour and hopefully not much activity at my polling location.  I will get paid out for whatever vacay time is left.  But, since it is paid as a lump sum, it makes me look like a high earner, and they tax the s**t out of it when people need that money the most (rolling eyes).

Maybe, just for my last paycheck, I'll claim it like I have 10 dependents, lol.

I just googled Election Day freebies.  Nothing near me.  So super lame.  However, I was very impressed that Zip Car is allowing people to use their services for free tonight to go to the polls.  For those of you more fortunate to have 7-11, Bob Evans, Krispy Kreme, and the like nearby, enjoy:

https://www.bradsdeals.com/blog/election-day-freebies-deals

DrillSergeantCat

Employees can take time off to vote in any election for which the employee is qualified and registered to vote, unless the employee's work hours commence at least two hours after the polls open or end at least one hour before the polls close. The employer may determine what hours are available for the employee to vote. - voting law

I'm just ready for the ugliness to end. I don't really care who is president because there are drawbacks to both IMO. I can't vote this year because I don't have an ID that matches my voter registration. I'll get that changed so I can vote for congressional elections in 2 years.

I pissed off a co-worker as soon as he walked in the door. I do all the HR paperwork for our branch and he dropped off his open enrollment packet yesterday and I didn't notice that he requested to add his wife to our plan. I got notice from corporate this morning that we'd need a spousal affidavit. As soon as he walked in the door, I had to tell him that we can't cover his wife because she has health insurance available to her at her place of employment but if that changes we can add her as that's a qualifying life event. This was all in the enrollment packet so I don't feel too bad and I literally just remembered that he warned me he was going to be in a bad mood today anyway because it's the anniversary of his father's death.

I have a lot of work to do today so hopefully the day will fly by. 

charlotte989875

thefanciestbeckler said:

I'm going to vote on my lunch break. My boss said I could leave to vote as long as I was voting for Trump.

He's an idiot. I told him I wasn't going to talk about my vote with him.

I'm going to dinner with a girl I used to work with after work. We're trying out a local bar/restaurant I've never been to that is supposed to be delicious. Plus they're known to have awesome drinks. I have a feeling we're all going to be needing drinks.

He's an idiot. And that's illegal. Which seems par for the course with him, right?

thefanciestbeckler

charlotte989875 said:

thefanciestbeckler said:

I'm going to vote on my lunch break. My boss said I could leave to vote as long as I was voting for Trump.

He's an idiot. I told him I wasn't going to talk about my vote with him.

I'm going to dinner with a girl I used to work with after work. We're trying out a local bar/restaurant I've never been to that is supposed to be delicious. Plus they're known to have awesome drinks. I have a feeling we're all going to be needing drinks.

He's an idiot. And that's illegal. Which seems par for the course with him, right?

Yes definitely par for the course. He was halfway kidding (he knows he can't prevent any of us from leaving to vote - especially since we get a lunch break that we can do whatever we want on), but it still annoyed me.

ETA words

charlotte989875

DrillSergeantCat said:

Employees can take time off to vote in any election for which the employee is qualified and registered to vote, unless the employee's work hours commence at least two hours after the polls open or end at least one hour before the polls close. The employer may determine what hours are available for the employee to vote. - voting law

I'm just ready for the ugliness to end. I don't really care who is president because there are drawbacks to both IMO. I can't vote this year because I don't have an ID that matches my voter registration. I'll get that changed so I can vote for congressional elections in 2 years.

I pissed off a co-worker as soon as he walked in the door. I do all the HR paperwork for our branch and he dropped off his open enrollment packet yesterday and I didn't notice that he requested to add his wife to our plan. I got notice from corporate this morning that we'd need a spousal affidavit. As soon as he walked in the door, I had to tell him that we can't cover his wife because she has health insurance available to her at her place of employment but if that changes we can add her as that's a qualifying life event. This was all in the enrollment packet so I don't feel too bad and I literally just remembered that he warned me he was going to be in a bad mood today anyway because it's the anniversary of his father's death.

I have a lot of work to do today so hopefully the day will fly by. 

Not to get all political science-y here, but varies significantly by the state.

Many don't have protections for workers to take time off of work. CT, D.C., DE, FL, ID, IN, LA, ME, MI, MS, MT, NJ, NC, OR, PA, SC, RI, VT, and VA all do not have laws requiring employers to give workers time off to vote. 

VarunaTT

I think since I don't have television, I'm not quite as political weary as most people are.  I have my feed that I have a few chosen conservative sites to keep myself informed and somewhat balanced.  But the fact of the matter is I'm a proud raging fucking liberal and the Republicans haven't had a chance with me since before I was born, probably.

I started crying at the live feed on my FB of people going to cover Susan B. Anthony's gravestones in their voting stickers and I really haven't stopped.  HRC is my candidate of choice, she would be if she were clothed in a male body, and the fact that she's a woman is damn important to me.  I've been involved heavily to peripherally in the Dem Party nearly all my life, so this feels like a moment where I alternate between not breathing, gleeful joy, and stifling fear.

K has officially changed her address.  She got the notice from USPS yesterday, so she's taking her voter ID and that note to our polling place.  Hopefully it goes smoothly.

In other news, my polling place is my alma mater's alumni center and I adore not having to go into a church to vote.

I'm grabbing some champagne for tonight.  No matter how it goes, Imma need liquor.

Also, last presidential election, the NYTimes did a cool interactive map that you could click on the states as they announced and it would show you how many routes to victory each candidate had left.  I haven't seen that they're doing that this year yet.  I really hope they do, it was so interesting.  @Heffalump, if they do that, I'll make sure to post the link, b/c I think Wooz would like it too.  More interactive and exploratory.

TrixieJess

charlotte989875 said:

DrillSergeantCat said:

Employees can take time off to vote in any election for which the employee is qualified and registered to vote, unless the employee's work hours commence at least two hours after the polls open or end at least one hour before the polls close. The employer may determine what hours are available for the employee to vote. - voting law

I'm just ready for the ugliness to end. I don't really care who is president because there are drawbacks to both IMO. I can't vote this year because I don't have an ID that matches my voter registration. I'll get that changed so I can vote for congressional elections in 2 years.

I pissed off a co-worker as soon as he walked in the door. I do all the HR paperwork for our branch and he dropped off his open enrollment packet yesterday and I didn't notice that he requested to add his wife to our plan. I got notice from corporate this morning that we'd need a spousal affidavit. As soon as he walked in the door, I had to tell him that we can't cover his wife because she has health insurance available to her at her place of employment but if that changes we can add her as that's a qualifying life event. This was all in the enrollment packet so I don't feel too bad and I literally just remembered that he warned me he was going to be in a bad mood today anyway because it's the anniversary of his father's death.

I have a lot of work to do today so hopefully the day will fly by. 

Not to get all political science-y here, but varies significantly by the state.

Many don't have protections for workers to take time off of work. CT, D.C., DE, FL, ID, IN, LA, ME, MI, MS, MT, NJ, NC, OR, PA, SC, RI, VT, and VA all do not have laws requiring employers to give workers time off to vote. 

This sucks for you guys. In Canada our Election Act guarantees us an hour paid to vote. Most people take off early or come in late. 

ILoveBeachMusic

I voted after I worked out this morning. I was worried about long line but only had to wait about 15 mins. There was steady traffic and the line was longer when I left than when I arrived. I'm so glad to have to see anymore political ads after today!

VarunaTT

@Heffalump (and @charlotte989875 b/c I think you'll like it too), NYTimes has the map up right now, but I'm not sure if they're going to do it like last year where you could interact with it as the night went on.  It's towards the bottom:  http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/upshot/presidential-polls-forecast.html

cupcait927

@VarunaTT  My mom was one of the people at Susan B Anthony's grave this morning and took all kinds of pictures. It was incredibly moving.

short+sassy

TrixieJess said:

charlotte989875 said:

DrillSergeantCat said:

Employees can take time off to vote in any election for which the employee is qualified and registered to vote, unless the employee's work hours commence at least two hours after the polls open or end at least one hour before the polls close. The employer may determine what hours are available for the employee to vote. - voting law

I'm just ready for the ugliness to end. I don't really care who is president because there are drawbacks to both IMO. I can't vote this year because I don't have an ID that matches my voter registration. I'll get that changed so I can vote for congressional elections in 2 years.

I pissed off a co-worker as soon as he walked in the door. I do all the HR paperwork for our branch and he dropped off his open enrollment packet yesterday and I didn't notice that he requested to add his wife to our plan. I got notice from corporate this morning that we'd need a spousal affidavit. As soon as he walked in the door, I had to tell him that we can't cover his wife because she has health insurance available to her at her place of employment but if that changes we can add her as that's a qualifying life event. This was all in the enrollment packet so I don't feel too bad and I literally just remembered that he warned me he was going to be in a bad mood today anyway because it's the anniversary of his father's death.

I have a lot of work to do today so hopefully the day will fly by. 

Not to get all political science-y here, but varies significantly by the state.

Many don't have protections for workers to take time off of work. CT, D.C., DE, FL, ID, IN, LA, ME, MI, MS, MT, NJ, NC, OR, PA, SC, RI, VT, and VA all do not have laws requiring employers to give workers time off to vote. 

This sucks for you guys. In Canada our Election Act guarantees us an hour paid to vote. Most people take off early or come in late. 

That is awesome!

Count me as someone else who was shocked to just read that workers in all states don't have protections to take time off to vote.

With that said, I think most elections are held on Saturdays.  That is definitely true in my state.  It is only the Presidential election that is on a weirdo Tuesday.  Of course, some people work on Saturdays, but a large % of the population does not.