my election day present

So last night we were sitting on the couch doing our civic duty of voting. In the northwest, voting is done by mail-in ballot. Of course, if you wait til the night before like we usually do, you can always drop it off at one of the many convenient locations.

Anyway, on with the story.

Because I'm a rule follower, I read all the directions on the ballot: use a blue or black pen, what to do if you make a mistake, keep the information top secret, put your ballot in the privacy envelope first, then sign and seal the mailing envelope twice, yada, yada, yada. Then I got started on my little rampage complaining about how when you vote at the polls in Ohio you get a little "I voted" sticker, but out here in Mother Earth Land (that's for you, Nat) you get the shaft.

Then I complained some more when we discovered that we didn't get to vote for mayor of Vancouver because we live outside city limits. Why should this matter you may be asking? Because there's talk of a new bridge being built. And to pay for it, they want to make it a toll bridge. And because they think that everyone will just take the old bridge so they wouldn't have to pay a toll, they're going to toll the old bridge too. AT A COST OF $13 ONE WAY! (Or so we read in the paper.) Since both Phil and I work in Portland, we both cross a bridge twice a day.

Uh-huh, you do the math.

Well, we voted anyway. And today Phil went to drop off our ballots at a school down the road. Would you look at what he brought home for me?