You know, come to think of it, I've never even SEEN an "I Voted" sticker, let alone gotten one.

Lis and I often vote on the way to Lis's work, so we usually vote around 8:15, 8:30 or so. And the ballot box has a little counter on it when we slide our ballots in, so we know how many people have voted before us at that time.

In the primaries this year, at 8:15, we were numbers 84 and 85. In the 2006 mid-term elections, at about that time, Lis was #111.

This year, we were #233 and #234. Again, this is a Presidential election and not a mid-term, so turnout WILL be higher, but the election workers were saying that this has been about the busiest they've ever seen Ward 1, Precinct 2. There was, like, a one minute wait for us, which isn't THAT unusual, but the precinct workers were saying that it's been constant throughput like that, since the polls opened, and, yes, there were people waiting when they opened the doors. So, at least by 8:30, our polling place wasn't backing up or anything, but it had been steady all morning.

Our polling place does not have "I Voted" stickers, but does have a bake sale, so Lis got a brownie, and I got some pumpkin bread. Does Massachusetts even typically DO stickers? I've never gotten one. I've gotten "Be Nice To Me, I Gave Blood" stickers occasionally.

Hm, Does anyone do blood drives outside of polling places? I think that'd be a good idea -- you could let people get double civic-duty points in one trip.

I've been so busy thinking about Presidential politics that I've forgotten to blog about Mass.

Massachusetts ballot question 1 terrifies me.

Massachusetts has a 5.3% income tax. There's a ballot initiative that would get rid of this. That would cut out 40% of the state budget, which is what the measure intends to do. The folks behind this claim that the state wastes 40% of the money, so that that would be fine.

Some of the "waste" they identify are things like paying for the Big Dig (I figure they must be thinking, "we already have it -- why should we have to pay for it, what are they gonna do, take it back?"), building schools, fixing roads, attracting bio-tech companies, and pensions.

We're already in a budget crunch.

And Massachusetts' tax burden is under the national average. We spend about 9.5% of our income in state and local taxes; the national average is 9.7%.

vonbeck had an interesting point about zombie attack:

If there was an outbreak of "Zombie Survival Guide"-style zombies, firefighters might be better able to take them on than police.

Several reasons:
1. Let's face it: firefighters deal with genuine adrenaline-pumping emergency situations more often than police. There are going to be more fires, and more SERIOUS fires, than there are hostage situations, bank robberies, or whatever.

2. Max Brooks-style zombies are slow, clumsy, and stupid -- but can ONLY be stopped by destroying the brain. Pistols CAN do that, but it ain't easy. Fire axes and crowbars would be much more effective.

3. Max-Brooks-style zombies attack mainly by biting -- if they bite, and penetrate the skin, you die and become a zombie. That's their main, and terrifying, attack. Most bites are on the limbs, mainly on the arms. Police wear body armor that protects their torso; that's virtually useless against zombies. Firefighters wear protective gear that covers their entire bodies, and would be bite-resistant, if not completely bite-proof.

I've been hearing people say, "This is the most important election of our time!"

Personally, I think that's false. I think the most important election of our time was 2000. . . .

Looking at election results:

"Once the avalanche has started, it is too late for the pebbles to vote."

Looks like the avalanche has started.