Anderson/Hatgidakis/Nelson/Metcalf: Newsletter

Old news: November 2006

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Karen
11/30/06
I look forward to the advent calendar starting, always fun to check out every morning. Gary, be sure to go to Mom's tonight and get your present from me. You can start to open one tomorrow :) We have all been passing around a nasty cold. Erika was home on Tuesday, Brent and Emily both stayed home yesterday. We'll see who goes back today. Emily does her job shadowing tomorrow night. She gets to go the emergency room -- hoping for some sick people to come in. Then on Saturday she goes to a debate tournament. Erika has a choir concert on Tuesday. I think Erika and I will try to finish up our christmas shopping on Saturday. Tonight we get to go shopping at Lowes -- the washer died on Tuesday and the fridge has been on life-support for a year, so we will see about getting some new ones.

I do have the big bag o' gifts at my place already. Can't wait to start opening them. Hope Emily has fun in the ER, Erika has fun at her concert, and you and Brent have fun buying appliances! --Gary


Lindsey
11/28/06
Livy's email doesn't work because she hadn't been on in forever and it closed so she needs to get a new one and check it a little more often!

Thanks for the info, Lindsey, and thanks also for the new reviews. --Gary


Gary
11/28/06
Hey, Livy! Your email isn't working. You asked me to send you the dog picture from Monday, and I tried (twice!) but each time the email didn't go through. And I got this error message: "Reason: Requested action not taken: mailbox unavailable." Have your lawyer call Windstream and see what's up! (If you don't have a lawyer, one of your parents will probably do.)
Livy
11/28/06
Hey everybody! I was so glad, not so much homework tonight, all I had was english and a little math. (Donna, laca is language arts and communication arts, it's like a drama class where we act and things like that, it is really fun!) Right now, I am helping my mom put up the Christmas tree in the basement, we have one upstairs, but we have more room in the basement to open them and stuff like that. We had to put 3 sections, the bottom, the middle, and the very top part, then we take all of the branches and like spread them apart. It already has white lights all around it, and has little mini pinecones (fake) and red berries on it. It is really cute!!! Then we are going to eat dinner in a little bit here, and watch Ice Age 2 the Meltdown, then we will decorate the tree with ornamints and such. But my piano was cancled tonight because Anna (my piano teacher) wasn't feeling very well, so I will have it tomorrow night. We also got a pillow case for my room, and the waterbed, now all we have to do is wait for the rug and we can take off the carpet and strip the wallpaper, and then set it up. Well I gotta go, dinner is ready! Talk to you all later!!!
Donna
11/28/06
An Andy Warhol bag, huh? That's pretty cute. Too funny about the card. I knew she'd sing. ;-) Sounds like you had a nice birthday!

I did some shopping Friday but much later in the day and to a couple of stores that were not all that busy. I'm practically done with my shopping and I've wrapped all the presents I've bought so far. I still have to find some Christmas cards I like. They all look the same this year.

Livy, what is laca?


Emily
11/27/06
It has been pretty quiet on here lately! Guess everyone is still sleeping off the turkey from Thanksgiving. We haven't been doing much around here either, just the usual. But, we did have a nice Thanksgiving, even though we didn't do much, and I had a fun birthday. Thanks for all of the birthday greetings everyone! And, thanks for the bday cards, Grandma & Donna. And, Donna, Mom did sing the song for me before I even read your note, it made us all laugh. I tried to go out on Friday and do some shopping with all of the birthday money I accumulated, but the lines were waaaay too long for me to want to wait in. So, I ordered the items I was looking for online. I got an iFlop for my iPod, and I finished up the birthday money this afternoon and bought an Andy Warhol bag. The iFlop should be arriving around Wednesday, and the bag in a week or two, but I will be sure to keep you posted when they get here. Thanks again everybody!!
Livy
11/27/06
Hey everybody! Nothing much really today, just school, and a lot of homework tonight though. I don't think I have had this much this year yet. I have english, math, science history, and even laca. Oh, and that internet guy came yesturday and had to go into the neibhors yard just to go to the cable box that they frnced in their back yard. But it is really running quite fast now, and much better too. Tristen and Teghan got school off today, but me and Lindsey had to go. But it was kind of fun actually.Well I gotta go, talk to you all later!!!
Karen
11/24/06
We had a very nice Thanksgiving. Emily worked from 8 til 1. Then we had a huge meal and we were very lazy for the rest of the day. Somehow Emily managed to get today off. So we are just about to head to the stores. Saw a few things that we thought we would try to get. Brent is even going with us -- he, of course, has to be home by 2:00. Hope to put up a few decorations later this week-end and that is about all of our plans :)
Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
11/23/06

Happy Thanksgiving!
Nelsons
11/22/06

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!
Donna
11/22/06

Happy Thanksgiving!
Erika
11/22/06

Happy thanksgiving everyone!
Grandma
11/21/06

Happy Thanksgiving, Everybody!!
Donna
11/21/06
We just had our big Thanksgiving meal and awards at work. I've always thought they should serve lasagna or hamburgers -- anything but turkey, dressing, pumpkin pie... It sort of takes the edge off all that food on Thursday. They had the infamous green bean casserole too. What is it with that dish? And have you noticed there's a new gotta have dish -- cherry surprise. It's cherry pie filling, whipped cream and other mystery stuff like pineapple and I don't know what else. Has anyone tried that yet? It's .... okay. I have a friend that has to serve it at every family get together. Last night someone else was telling me they were fixing it for Thanksgiving and they served it for awards today too. Sadly, there was no pecan pie.
Grandma
11/21/06
Back home, and Boy, did this weekend fly by! Had a really good time, Enjoyed the trip up and back. Was so nice to be at the Hadgidakis' house. Went to Open House at 42 street and saw all of Marsha's neat friends there, besides all the Chrismas decorations they had for sale. Also Open House at Bachman's, what a fairyland there! Santa had gone home with the reindeer but the place where he sat was really neat. Makes one a Believer again! John was feeling pretty good, hope we didn't make him ready to stay in bed today. Had some chili and wild rice soup for supper, umm umm good! Marsha and I went out for breakfast at the Longfellow Grille and had Waay to much food, but it was so good. Zach came over in the p.m. so it was good to see him for a bit, also got to see his apartment (not the inside). He claimed it was too messy, like I don't know what messy is! All in all a really nice few days. Also got to see what Livy's new bed will look like and met the salesman who sold it! I can see why he is a salesman, he does like to talk a little. Guess I will have Thanksgiving dinner, Amanda and I will go grocery shopping tonight. So anyone interested, come on over! Teghan has left for a play date with Kaylee. So I should find something to do. Really a nice day, doesn't feel much like Thanksgiving!
Karen
11/20/06
Gary, glad to hear that your computer is running well. Amanda, nice pictures. Fun to see the progess, when is it scheduled to be done? Waiting to hear how the Minnesota trip went....
Had a nice week-end (after a very busy week). We took Emily out to eat at Red Robin for her birthday. Had them sing Happy Birthday to her and she turned very red :) Did lots of christmas shopping. Our plans for Thanksgiving aren't too exciting. Emily has to work most of the day, so we are staying home. Been watching way too many cooking shows on the food channel and I'm getting ready for turkey dinner.
Gary
11/20/06
Hmmm, apparently everyone was waiting to hear if my computer was fixed before sending in any newsletter items.... :-)

The good news is, it is fixed, and running like a well-tuned race car. So feel free to write in again!

So what's everybody doing for Thanksgiving??


Gary
11/17/06
A few new pictures added today!

I'm taking my computer in for an upgrade today (new motherboard, processor, video card, and adding a hard drive), and they tell me everything should be done by 5 tonight. It shouldn't create any problems with my internet connections... but if we had a computer tech guy playing our Five Words game, the phrase at the top of his list would be "That shouldn't have happened." Anyway, if there is a problem, all it means is I wouldn't be able to update this newsletter page from home. So if you send in an item this weekend and notice that it is taking a long time for it to show up, the problem is on my end and not yours. Feel free to send things to me; they won't be lost, but may not show up til Monday morning.


Erika
11/16/06
Donna, Rudolfo is Emily's pet beta.
Gary
11/16/06
So I was at Best Buy yesterday, and filling the sidewalk and stretching around the corner is a line of guys in heavy Arctic-type winter clothes (and including several tents), waiting day and night for the release of the new Playstation 3 -- in stores tomorrow. Meaning they will have been out there at least three days and two nights, with temps the whole time in the 30s. Man, I'm glad I don't have an expensive and addictive hobby like that.

Oh yeah, I was at Best Buy to get a new video card for my computer. The more I looked at everything, the more I realized I should just do a major upgrade and replace practically everything. Expensive, yes, but hey -- it's my hobby, and I'm addicted.

One more thing: New pictures!


Donna
11/16/06


Happy Birthday, Emily! (Who's Rudolfo?)
Ryan, Amanda, Tristen & Teghan
11/16/06


Happy Birthday Emily!
Gary
11/15/06
Amanda sent in a bunch of pictures today of the construction progress on their new house, but I haven't had a chance all day to put them up here. My apologies, but I will get them up tomorrow -- Check back then!
Erika, Karen, Brent, Napoleon, T.J., Cocoa, Nicole, and Rudolfo
11/15/06


Happy Birthday Emily!
Paul Lori Linz and Liv
11/15/06


Happy Birthday Emily
The Hatgidakis Family
11/15/06


Happy Birthday, Emily!!!
Grandma
11/15/06


Happy Birthday, Emily!!
Gary
11/13/06
Ouch!

That's not going to make Dub too happy.... :-)
[later: if picture disappears, it was the cover of Newsweek headlined "Father Knows Best," with a large picture of the elder Bush in the foreground and a smaller Dub in the background]

Along those same lines, here's a good article on Bush Senior and Junior from a U.K. perspective (though the author is an American). It goes a little too easy on Bush Senior, in my opinion, but still a very interesting and revealing read.


Amanda
11/13/06
Ryan starts his new job today at GE! No, not dad's GE General Excavating, but General Electric. Yeah, like the fridges. He is a Technical Director. They work on GE locomotives that Burlington Northern uses. They fix the GE locomotives here in Lincoln. He will be a boss to the mechanics. He works these first two weeks 8-4 Mon-Fri. After that he will go to a night shift, or overnight shift. Not sure which just yet.

In honor of veterans day Golden Corral lets veterans eat free each year right around the holiday. So tonight we are going with Ryans parents & my mom. Its only Golden Corral, but its a nice gesture.

10 days til Thanksgiving, it doesn't seem possible!

They have the 1st floor floor up in our house, and nearly all the rooms framed in. They will work this week on framing the second floor and putting the roof trusses up. It's very cool to watch the progress!
Gary
11/10/06
Well, the newly-elected Democrats start arriving in Washington soon. The Republicans move out, so the Demos can start measuring for drapes. :-) I think it might go a little something like this....

Karen
11/10/06

Fun game, did better than I thought I would. Snowing outside now and a good covering on the ground. Hard to believe that just two days ago we had an all time record high of 82. Everyone gets the day off today -- except for me. Think Brent is taking Emily and Erika out for lunch at Hu Hot.

MMMmmm, HuHot.... I'm going to Tico's myself, with some people from work. --Gary


Gary
11/9/06
Dang, I knew I should have topped off my tank on election day; gas prices are starting to go up again. Anyone surprised?

Having fun watching the Republicans re-define themselves today, and give their variations on, "Hey, I never liked Bush either!" Rush Limbaugh throwing up his hands and saying he's been lying on his radio show for the sake of the Republican message but he's not going to defend the unworthy Republicans any more; and Joe Scarborough back-pedalling so fast he's making that beep-beep noise, today scolding the Democrats: "One thing the Democrats are going to HAVE to do is come up with some kind of health care plan. Too many Americans just can't afford health insurance." Hey, thanks for that advice, Joe -- I guess you Republicans were just too busy with eliminating habeas corpus to tackle it, huh?

I haven't watched Katie Couric's Corner News & Coffee Shop lately, but I heard from someone who did yesterday. She devoted two whole minutes to the election results, then nine minutes to the tragedy of Rumsfeld's departure. Then Couric interviewed Nancy Pelosi, looking the whole time "like she smelled a skunk." Aww, get used to it, Katie!

The Five Words game is over! Congratulations to Amanda!


Gary
11/9/06
Interesting article from the United Kingdom newspaper The Guardian: "Thank You, America" :-)

Bush is having lunch with Nancy Pelosi today. I'd like to be a fly on the wall for that one!

I'll be posting the results of the Five Words game tomorrow, so if you are not Amanda, Donna, Emily, Erika, Grandma, Karen, Paul, Ryan, or Sean and you want to play, you gotta get in today!


Amanda
11/8/06
Webb wins! We got the Senate!
Gary
11/8/06
It's starting to look like there actually was some vote-tampering in some key races -- but this time, luckily, they didn't tamper quite enough to win. Exit polls in all the other states were very close to the actual results; but in Virginia and Montana -- the two states that would determine which Party controlled the Senate -- the exit polls were quite a bit different from the "official" results. In Virginia, the exit polls showed that people were voting 52% for Dems, 47% for Reps; yet the official results were 49-49 with just a few thousand votes separating the two candidates. And in Montana, exit polls said the voting went 53% Dem, 46% Rep; but the official results there shows 49-48 with the slight edge going to the Democrat. Looks like they tried and failed to rig the results. Unlike 2000 and 2004, though, this time I think these "irregularities" will be investigated....
Gary
11/8/06
Funny article on Salon.com. The author watched Fox last night so you wouldn't have to! Read it and enjoy the spectacle of all those right-wing talking heads melting into little puddles. :-)
Gary
11/8/06
Yeah, he said he had decided to replace Rumsfeld (he's the decider, you know) a while back, but didn't want to announce it just before the election. Are you kidding?? That announcement would have helped the Republicans! Then again, he's not really tuned into such things, so maybe his story is true. Like he said in the press conference, "I thought we were going to do fine yesterday -- shows how much I know!" Nobody laughed. All in all, a little creepy, a little disturbing, this press conference. He fires Rummy, he takes little digs at Rove ("Guess I was spendin' more time on this election than he was...") -- weird, and very unlike the pre-election Bush.

Problem is, Gates is just another one of those same guys in a different suit. I'm thinking replacing Rummy was just a distraction, like when a magician waves his right hand in your face while his left hand is hiding the coin in his pocket. Hearings on Iraq will be starting one of these days, and this might have happened so Gates can sit in front of the panel and say, "Gee, I can't answer that, I wasn't here then" while Rummy is relaxing by the pool down in Paraguay.

There was another weird moment when I think Bush was listening to his earpiece and talking directly to his handlers. After he wandered off the subject on some answer, he looked down and said, as if talking to himself, "Stay on principle...I know, I know." I'm not sure about the first phrase, but he definitely said "I know, I know." And maybe he was talking to himself, but....

Later: Other people noticed this too, and they said the phrase was, "I'm anxious...I know, I know." Obviously responding to his off-stage coaches. :-)


Donna
11/8/06
So what does Bush mean when he says he knows the American people still expect a victory in Iraq? That creep has no plan to get us out of there until he says so. Oh but Rumsfeld's resignation had been planned all along. It's not his first rodeo, you know. I still worry he'll end up declaring martial law and refuse to leave the White House.
Gary
11/8/06
Ah, it's morning in America! :-)

So what do we have this morning? We have the House, the Senate, a majority of the nation's Governors, and a majority of the nation's state legislatures. The only thing the Republicans have left is: George Bush, whose approval rating is somewhere down in the 30s. And we have the knowledge that Karl Rove is not the scary genius we all have been fearing; he is, in fact, responsible for the biggest Republican defeat in our lifetime. The Republicans picked up not one House seat, Senate seat, or Governorship: the worst midterm performance in American history.

The only good thing that happened for the Republicans yesterday is that Dick Cheney didn't shoot anybody in the face.

The Republican politicians, with a few exceptions, are still acting like the power is still theirs -- warning the Democrats they better not act like winners, we're expecting you to cooperate and play nice. (The one exception I've seen was, of all people, Tom DeLay -- saying things like this represents a shift in thinking in this country, and his party had better pay attention, etc.) But most were still trying to make it somehow into a Republican victory, and condescendingly offering to share power if the Democrats would only approach it in the spirit of bi-partisanship....

The Right Wing still owns the media, and starting today (in fact, it started last night) the media will be going full-force to minimize this accomplishment and, worse, to pin all the failures of the Bush administration on the Democrats.

Matt Lauer this morning on the Today show, to Tim Russert: "Are the Democrats just going to continue to complain and tear down the President, or are they going to work with him for a solution [to the war in Iraq]?" Russert: "They've got two years. If they don't get busy and produce by 2008, they're gone." They were acting like the newly-elected Democrats are a new crew of busboys for their country club, and they had better perform better than the last one...!

Also maddening was Chris Matthews, all last night on MSNBC. In the early evening as the results came in, he was visibly in mourning for the "innocent Republicans" (yes, he used those words) who are getting "voted out of office just because they're Republicans." As the numbers came in showing that another one had bitten the dust, Matthews moaned, "He shouldn't have lost -- he shouldn't have lost..." When he interviewed Howard Dean (who is most responsible for the strategy that produced last night's Democratic sweep) Matthews still badgered him with "the Democrats don't have a plan" and "the Democratic Party seems to be in disarray." And worst of all were his remarks after Hillary Clinton's victory speech, late last night. Matthews said (not an exact quote, but very close to this): "A man could have given that speech and it would have been ok, but when she did it it sounded like fingernails on a chalkboard." He immediately went on to include Nancy Pelosi in this female-bashing: "When she takes on the President face-to-face, how will she do it without screeching and becoming grating?" He criticized Bill Clinton for standing behind Hillary during her speech "looking like Lex Luthor hovering over her," and he even criticized Hillary's clapping along with the crowd at one point: "What was that about? It looked Chinese or something." Whatever that means. Normally my attitude on Matthews is about 60-40 against -- sometimes he's ok, most times not -- but last night was 80-20 at best....

But forget all that for now. Last night was a great night, and amazing times are ahead -- starting today at noon, when Bush has a press conference about the election. Let's see if he can do it without smirking, without claiming it as a Republican victory, and without saying "The terrorists have won." :-)


Gary
11/7/06
Couple of great quotes for you:
  • Someone on one of the Democratic sites I go to wondered how many supporters Katherine Harris still has by this time, and another said, "I think it's down to just the eleven voices in her head."
  • On CNN, Jack Cafferty just said the neocons (neo-[new]-conservatives, i.e., Bush-style conservatives) "are toast"; and he also made a remark about how Bush was elected by a very thin margin "if he was elected at all."
    Wow! But remember: Even though everybody is doing it now, we hated Bush before it was cool! :-)
    Karen
    11/7/06

    I voted!
    Went in at 8 this morning (polls open here at 7), I was already #40. Quite often I go in at 8:30 -- 9 and I'm maybe 25....

    Again, high turnout... This is gonna be fun! :-) --Gary


    Gary
    11/7/06
    Some sleaze news and some good news. First the sleaze: The sleazy Laura Ingraham (Republican talking head, kind of an Ann Coulter-lite) has a radio program, and on it she urged her listeners to flood the Voter Protection Hotline -- the number you call if you're having any trouble with voting -- with phony calls. Which they did. I understand the Hotline had to go offline for a while. She is... words fail me. But I'll be nice and simply call her a "sore loser."

    This is interesting. There is a nationwide Election Incident Reporting System. It tracks the numbers of voting problems (of all kinds) and displays it in map form. (The map may take a while to load -- lots of people watching it today.)

    Now the good news. It is beginning to look like a record voter turnout. Some precincts reporting 70% and higher. When people show up to vote, Democrats win -- simple as that. (Why else would the Republicans focus on voter suppression?)

    P.S. Everybody, keep your heads down today. While Bush is cutting more brush, Dick Cheney is spending the day hunting!


    Gary
    11/7/06
    Hey, Donna, I'm afraid Gallup has been insulted by Montana Senator Conrad Burns (Republican). He's trying to retain his seat against the challenger John Tester ("the liberal with the conservative haircut"). Tester has come from way behind, in this heavily Republican state -- in spite of tons of Republican money being spent there, and a personal visit from Bush himself. And just within the past few days, a Gallup poll showed Democrat Tester ahead of Burns. But Burns dismissed the poll as "inaccurate" -- and then revoked one newspaper's credentials to report from his headquarters on election night because that newspaper mentioned this poll! :-) Burns' spokesman said, "Running a bogus poll on the day before an election to try and suppress Republican voter turnout is irresponsible and in poor taste." Gallup...bogus?? :-) I loooove watching all them desperate Republicans...
    Gary
    11/7/06
    Well, there are lots of reports of voting problems coming in from all over; but it doesn't seem to be fraud so much as just flaky machinery. I understand that there are new and untried electronic voting machines of one sort or another in 50% of the polling places around the country. Add to that the volunteer election officials in each polling place, who have had little training in operating them, and you got problems. Big problems in Ohio (home of Diebold, interestingly) and Florida, the two main trouble spots in 2000 and 2004. Maybe six or eight elections from now, we'll have these problems licked -- if we're still having elections then....

    The GOP seems to be focusing this time not on rigged machines but voter intimidation. First are the so-called "robo-calls": Your phone will ring late at night, and the recorded message starts talking about the Democratic candidate. At the end of the message, the voice says (as it must, by law) "paid for by the Republican etc etc." But you've already slammed down the phone before you hear that. All you know is that some Democrat called you at 2 in the morning. Then it does that three or four more times that night. Democratic candidates are reporting that people are calling them to say "If you guys call me one more time I'm never voting for a Democrat again!" I just realized I already wrote about this below. But it is a big problem, which Howard Dean himself (head of the Democratic Party) got on television this morning to warn voters about.

    More sinister are the automated calls going out to voters in heavily Black or Latino precincts, where the recorded voice informs them (rather, MISinforms them) that "if you voted in the last election, you don't need to vote in this one." And ends with a threat: "If you DO try to vote, you can and will be arrested." Other recorded messages tell people that their polling place has been changed, and gives them an address across town.

    The good news is, a lot of people see this going on and will follow it up with legal action, and even the media have gotten on the stick and are pursuing it. Bad news, the damage is already done.

    But the Republicans are going to lose today. And they're already putting together their fall-back stories. Just now, I heard Tucker Carlson (one of MSNBC's Republican commentators) say, "In a year like this, with so much going against the Republicans, if the Democrats take control of the House by winning only 25 seats -- as opposed to 50 or more -- couldn't you consider that a defeat?" Yeah, Tucker, right -- big Democratic victories everywhere, including taking control of the House, but YOU WIN! Pathetic! :-)


    Donna
    11/7/06

    Oh how the mighty have fallen. That is hilarious. So do you know if Bush got booed while giving that speech in FL? I heard he was back in Crawford to vote today. I voted absentee a few weeks ago. Why doesn't he?

    Olbermann's special comment last night was really good. I loved his last line -- Vote!

    Gary, keep the voting news coming. You're the best source for what's really going on.


    Donna
    11/7/06
    Emily, I keep forgetting to thank you for the pictures. I got them last week. They are so good. So how are you and Erika feeling?

    BTW Erika, Tristen and Teghan both got baby dolls from their Grandma Cathy and Teghan named hers Erika. We went for a walk and they both took their dolls with them. Teghan said that her baby was so good because it didn't cry at all and that she was a good mom. I asked her what made her such a good mom and she said 'my heart ... and my brain.' ;-)


    Gary
    11/7/06
    And another HA! :-) Remember Katherine Harris, who in 2000 was in charge of counting the ballots in Florida, and delivered the election to Bush?

    Yeah, that's her.... Well, as you may know she is running for Senate in Florida. But even with all the Republican money and machinery behind her, her personality and her positions were so repellent that she is waaaay down in the polls. Then the Republicans turned their backs on her. So a few days ago, Bush was in Florida, and Harris wanted to be on stage with him. White House said no. Harris persisted. White House said, maybe you shouldn't even come.... Harris said, OK, where do you want me? White House said, Why don't you sit out with the audience?

    And here she is, looking oh-so-happy to be there. And by the way, check out the body language in this "enthusiastic" crowd: crossed arms, and hostile faces....

    P.S. Paul just sent in his Five Words guesses. Thanks!


    Gary
    11/7/06
    HA! :-) Love this picture from Fox "News": They just can't bring themselves to say Democrats are leading!


    [later: if picture disappears, the headline read: "New Fox News polls show one party with a solid lead"]


    Gary
    11/7/06

    Woo-hoo! #1 at the polling place today. Now I just hope it gets counted. :-)

    Four more players in the Five Words game, meaning Amanda, Donna, Emily, Erika, Grandma, Karen, Ryan and Sean are our participants so far. And one of those newcomers turned in a perfect score! I'm impressed: This game looked really hard to me. If anyone else wants to play, get your guesses in within the next couple of days, and I'll put up the results on Friday.


    Donna
    11/6/06
    I just sent in guesses for the word game. That is harder than it looks. My last 2 names were Gary and Teghan so I'm not real confident in my answers.

    It is a pretty hard game -- harder than "Who Am I." Even so, I'm impressed with how well everyone is doing so far. Four people are already in -- Donna, Grandma, Karen, and Ryan -- and the leader of the group only missed two. So we're still waiting for a perfect score.... --Gary


    Gary
    11/6/06
    Election Eve -- I'm excited!
  • I heard this morning that absentee ballots in Ohio this election make up an estimated 25% of the total. That's a huge number, and it shows how much people in that state mistrust the voting machines (as well they should, after those rigged Ohio machines gave Bush the presidency in 2004). Anyway, there are so many absentee ballots that the election board is going to start scanning them today (but not releasing the results) in order not to delay the results of tomorrow's voting. These are all paper ballots obviously, which can be verified; and as they make up a quarter of the total votes, the machines would have to be massively rigged to sway the true results.
  • The Democrats are sending around 7000 observers into the polling places tomorrow nationwide (but especially the trouble spots like Ohio and Florida), to monitor the machines and watch for election fraud. (I still can't quite believe we have to do this in America, but obviously we do. Thanks, Republicans!)
  • But even without rigged machines, the Republicans have other tricks up their sleeves. Right now they are using automated phone-dialers to call people with recorded messages late at night, three or four times in a row. What's the trick? They identify themselves as Democrats, hoping people will get so mad at the messages that they will vote against the Democrat and for the Repub. Sickening. And illegal! The Republicans are claiming it is covered by "free speech" -- but unfortunately for them, it is the textbook definition of "harassing phonecalls." They are so far known to be doing this in 73 races across the country. Lawsuits can be expected, but of course by then the damage will already be done. And I suppose they hope if the Republicans get re-elected, the lawsuits will be thrown out.
  • Don't believe all the news-talk about the race "tightening" and the Republicans "recovering," etc. The talking heads on TV are just trying to make it a horserace to get viewers. Some races -- and a few important ones -- are tight, of course; but overall I believe it's going to be a Democratic landslide. This election, even though it's a mid-term, is all about Bush and Iraq. Bush's approval rating is now below 30% (according to MSNBC last night), which puts him lower than Nixon at his lowest (and I think those might be the lowest approval ratings for any president, ever; but I haven't checked). Only 8% nationwide support the current Iraq "strategy."
    Karen
    11/6/06
    Just sent in my answers for 5 word game -- tougher than it seems. I have a short day today -- get out at one for conferences. Had a nice week-end -- got a good start on my christmas shopping. Great weather for this week -- may get to 70 tomorrow. We had a ton of trick or treaters again this year -- about 400! Erika and Emily have been battling colds this past week -- Erika was home sick both Thursday and Friday and Emily slept in on Friday. So they are finally back to school, sure they will have lots of homework tonight. I got my flu shot yesterday so I am hoping that I don't get sick this winter. Time for school.....

    Great weather everywhere tomorrow (except a little rainy in the south); good for voter turnout! And you are our second player in the Five Words Game; Ryan was first in! --Gary


    Erika
    11/5/06
    Emily gets to shadow a doctor on the 25th, and shes really excited! She gets to wear scrubs, and they're ordering lab coats for them! She hopes a lot of people get sick, and hurt that day!!

    Ooh, let's cross our fingers! :-) Sounds amazing, Emily -- have fun! --Gary


    Gary
    11/4/06
    Erika, thanks for the rather mysterious countdown item, a few days after Thanksgiving....
    Gary
    11/4/06
    Wow, way to go, Tristen! Good game, too.

    Check out the new reviews today -- thanks, Emily!


    Amanda
    11/4/06
    Tristen got to go to her first Husker football game today! She loved it! We got offered the tickets an hour & a half before the game, so we really scrambled & her & Ryan missed the kick off, but it was great weather & a great game for her first time! And she got a Fairbury brand hot dog for lunch there at the stadium.
    Livy
    11/4/06
    Hey everybody! Well nothing much really today right now, just over at grandma's house watching the game. Last night I had Kylie and Haley came over and spent the night at my house, and it was really fun too. I think Donna was going to take me, Tristen, and I think Teghan to Eyes of the World, but I can't get a hold of her, because she is not here yet. But I gotta go, I am going to go see the last quarter of the game. Talk to you all later!!!
    Amanda
    11/3/06
    Did Sean do 5 words game?

    Ooops. No, he hasn't. I accidentally dropped his name from my bold-face list of hold-outs a while back, and kept carrying the error forward. Now fixed: Waiting to hear from Anna, Brent, John, Lori, Marsha, Samantha, Sean, and Zachary. --Gary


    Gary
    11/3/06
    New Halloween pictures today! Also, Ryan has jumped aboard the Five Words game. Anna, Brent, John, Lori, Marsha, Samantha, Sean, and Zachary have today and tomorrow to do likewise! :-)
    Gary
    11/2/06
    Okay, Grandma has joined the Five Words party, meaning Anna, Brent, John, Lori, Marsha, Ryan, Samantha, Sean, and Zachary are now in the minority. If you happen to see any of these people, light a fire under 'em! :-)
    Donna
    11/2/06
    Wow, I just watched Olbermann's special comment from last night titled Bush should apologize. That was amazing.

    Here it is, for those who missed it. --Gary


    Gary
    11/2/06
    Thanks for the new reviews, Lindsey! And thanks also for your Five Words. So Anna, Brent, Grandma, John, Lori, Marsha, Ryan, Samantha, Sean, and Zachary are the only hold-outs. Get 'em in soon, you guys!
    Gary
    11/2/06
    Hey, who wants a sneak preview of the Five Words Game?

    #9
    My words are:

  • Why, you little...!
  • MMmmmmm, donuts....
  • D'Oh!
  • MMmmmmm, pork chops....
  • Woo-hoo!

  • Of course, that's an easy one. The ones coming up on Monday are a little more difficult.... If you haven't entered yet, get a move on! Read the rules in my October 20 post below, then send your words to me.


    Donna
    11/2/06
    Yeah Bush will be here Sunday. Don't forget, he's also here to help Rickets. Odd though that Bush would help Rickets when his good friend Benny is trying to get re-elected. Mom read an article in the paper about a rancher Republican in the 3rd district that said Kleeb was the first Democrat he'd ever met. Can you imagine??? And he said he'd be voting for Kleeb. Bush may have his work cut out for him. And the poor guy won't be 'home' in the White House until next Tuesday he's so busy campaigning.

    Hey, bein' President is hard! It's hard work!! And I realize that Bush promoted him to "Benny" recently, but I'll always prefer his original nickname: "Nellie." --Gary


    Gary
    11/1/06
    Okay, the Five Words Game is happening! More contestants joined in today, so the players now include Amanda, Donna, Emily, Erika, Gary, Karen, Olivia, Paul, Teghan and Tristen. Jump in any time, the rest of you. Read the rules in my October 20 post below, then send your words to me. Do it for the children!
    Livy
    11/1/06
    Hey evrybody! Today I got up at 7:30 in the morning to get ready to go get my hair highlighted and cut. I got 3 inches cut of and some more highlights at my roots. My appointment was at 9 in the morning. Then me and Linz went over to eat lunch at my grandma Megrues house. She made a chicken alfredo, which was very good!!! I loved it a lot! But Linz had to leave before my uncle Dan got there because she had a hair appointment at a different place at 1, so she left. I really like it a lot. Oh, I almost forgot, last night for Halloween I was a 50's girl, I had a long blue poodle skirt with a poodle and a record on it. I also had a white blouse and some white and red tennishoes. I even curled my hair and put it up into a pony-tail and it was really cute! We got a lot of candy! I went out with Tristen, Teghan, and my friend Kylie. We had loads of fun, and Tristen even saw one of her friends from school. Well, I gotta go, talk to you all later!!!
    Gary
    11/1/06
    Are you Donna, Emily, Erika, Gary, Karen, or Paul? If so, you're cool! If not, you can be cool if you get your Five Words in by Saturday night. You've got three whole days to write down five little words. Read the rules in my October 20 post below, then send your words to me. You can do it!

    As if the Republicans didn't have enough to worry about, now they're so worried that western Nebraska -- one of their strongholds -- may go Democratic and elect Scott Kleeb that George Bush himself is visiting out there soon. Oh yeah, that will help! :-) (Story in the World-Herald.)


    Tristen
    11/1/06
    Hey everyone how are you doing? How did Halloween go? Mine went good, I got to trick or treat with my friend, I went with Livy and Kiley. I got 2 I said 2 bags full of candy!!!!!!!!!! That was the very best Halloween ever!!!!!!!!

    PS.this took me about-----10 to 15 minutes to write this message........