Pre-election, phone, growth, etc

I'm gonna have to call it an early night tonight. Tomorrow is election day, and as an election judge I need to be at the polling place around 6 am to have time to prepare and open the polling place at 7 am. A very early morning for me!!!

Carmen had said she would call me this morning to come help her set up our precinct once the equipment was delivered. I didn't get a call for her till almost noon. It was after I got off the phone for a call I had made to Earthlink, my internet provider. Carmen said she tried to call me several times this morning but my phone line was busy. Huh? The phone line was not busy during the times she said she tried to call me earlier as I was sitting around waiting for her call.

I called the local phone company, Centurytel, to ask about this problem as Carmen isn't the first person to tell me my phone was busy when it wasn't. I put the other missed calls down to a mis-dailed phone number, or just talk. A few hours later the phone company sent a service guy out to check my phone line. The outside line works fine. He will have the software department check if the problem is something with their software. The problem *may* occur after my long use of my computer which ties up the phone line. While I disconnect and physically switch cables after finishing with my computer maybe the phone company's computer thinks I am still connected.

The phone guy also said that phones do go bad - even the basic old black phone I have. Or even the answering machine can go bad - which again is old (I got it as a gift from Jeff in the mid 90s. ) Still, I can understand a phone or answering machine going bad, but for them to indicate the phone line is busy instead of simply not ringing? Nothing to do but wait and see. It is hard to debug as how does one know when one doesn't get a phone call?

The phone guy took a few minutes at the end of his visit to comment about the ranch. He really thought it is nice (even with my fences and buildings that desperately need paint!), and he is a long time valley resident, someone used to the beauty of the area. He applauded my effort to keep it going as a ranch. As with what is common among long time residents, he plans to leave the Valley and move east of the mountains when he retires or can't take the changes to the Valley anymore. He, like most of the long time residents, takes the 'flight' over 'fight' approach. And one can buy more acres 'per dollar' east of the mountains than here in the Valley.

Back to Carmen: she was able to set up most of our precinct even though I wasn't there to lend a hand. Still, there is work left to do tomorrow morning before the polls open.

I got Earthlink straightened out today so I will continue to have internet access. They were charging me for one month of service when I was suppose to have it free. Then they forgot they were going to match other providers on price. I got it all straightened out, and hopefully they will remember this time.

I went uptown to deliver my absentee ballot to the courthouse. I will be working another precinct tomorrow and won't have the chance to vote in person at my precinct.

I finally took some time to look over the Flathead County Growth Policy draft revisions. You may remember my attending the meetings earlier. It appears the planners took some of my comments and not others. I wasn't the only person to comment about needing lighting standards to protect the night sky from light pollution and I am glad to see they added a policy to that effect. They also added wording about bicycle lanes in addition to bicycle paths, and also recommended the creation of a bicycling/bicycle trail task force. I believe I am the only one to mention bicycle lanes. Others also have mentioned the task force and the need for trail standards. So... sometimes one can make a difference.

Last night I opened another bottle of my beet wine. It has been several months since I last opened a bottle. I am glad to report it continues to get better with age. Or maybe my 'absence' from drinking any of it made my heart grow fonder. It sure tasted good last night and very smooth. Tonight it has more of a beet wine taste so perhaps the 'taste' is concentrated more on the bottom than the top of the bottle when I stand the bottle up.

I made another apple pie tonight. I'm eating larger pieces of pie each day. I need to continue to use up my apples - even if it means getting fat.

A wet rainy day today. I think it rained most of the day. A strong Pacific weather system is driving the rain all the way from the coast to western Montana without any breaks across central Washington, the usual case. With this weather system we have warmer than average temperatures. The temperature right now is 56 F, which is amazingly warm for now. Our overnight lows are near our average highs (mid 40s F). Kinda nice, even if wet. They'll be plenty of time later to savor the crisp Fall air.