A Lefty Writes

Ah, awake and refreshed. Now I just have to figure out what to do with myself.

As far as work is concerned, I've been speaking with my former candidate about working on her staff. (I can say that out loud now without jinxing the election.) I think there's definitely a possibility that will work out, though I won't know anything for sure for a while and the job wouldn't start for at least a month or so.

In the meantime, I'll be keeping my eyes open for other employment opportunities but also taking the month of October to basically finish moving in. I'm working on a long list of things I need to do/buy/see/etc that I'll work through over the next few weeks.

I'll also probably do some volunteering for some of the municipal elections in Somerville. Nothing as intense as what I did for the Jehlen campaign... just a bit of canvassing or phone calls once in a while.

Posted by Daniel at 12:25 PM | Comments (0)

We won. Finaly unoffical results something like 57% us/ 43% them.

I'm going to sleep now.

Posted by Daniel at 10:21 PM | Comments (2)

Flurry of activity today. Last month I spent the entire day in one precinct getting out the vote. This time I'm running all over the district doing anything and everything. I took over for a poll checker whose car broke down. I did data entry at HQ.

It doesn't feel at all like 2:30, probably because I've been awake since before 5am. I got about two hours of sleep last night - which makes a noticeable difference - but I'm still pretty wiped.

Victory party tonight should be fun. I'm definitely looking forward to a beer...

Oh, and I forgot to mention; the weather is absolutely gorgeous today. Of course last election day it was overcast and rainy and I was outside all day. Today it's clear, cool and beautiful and I've spent much of the day in a windowless basement room doing data entry.

Posted by Daniel at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

Last Friday I had a US Congressman in my car!

Congressman Ed Markey (D-MA) held a fundraiser for our campaign, before which he and Pat stood in Medford Square waving to cars and holding signs. After the stand-out I had the priviledge of driving the Congressman to the restaurant where the fundraiser was being held. Does it make me a total dork to think that's kind of cool?

He's quite a character, too. I got to hear a lot of stories about when he first ran for congress nearly 30 years ago. (He's been in Congress for 29 years and was first elected at age 27. What have you done with your life?) What's was also interesting was that half the people who he mentioned that worked on his various campaigns are now state legislators.

The general election is tomorrow and we're pretty confident of victory. It hasn't been quite as insane leading up to this one as it was with the primary. (This is a good thing.) I also may get some sleep tonight, which would be a nice change from last time.

Posted by Daniel at 11:23 AM | Comments (0)

I'm very interested to hear what the President has to say tonight, because in recent days he's been sounding less and less like himself.

"Katrina exposed serious problems in our response capability at all levels of government. And to the extent that the federal government didn't fully do its job right, I take responsibility."

"To spread a vision of hope, the United States is determined to help nations that are struggling with poverty. We are committed to the Millennium Development goals. This is an ambitious agenda that includes cutting poverty and hunger in half, ensuring that every boy and girl in the world has access to primary education, and halting the spread of AIDS -- all by 2015."

"I call on all the world's nations to implement the Monterrey Consensus."
(The Monterrey Consensus puts a developed nation's financial commitment to helping poor countries at 0.7% of GDP.)

"The United States is ready to eliminate all tariffs, subsidies and other barriers to free flow of goods and services as other nations do the same."

Who are you and where did you put our president?

Posted by Daniel at 06:54 AM | Comments (4)

I spent today at the State House volunteering for MassEquality. Today was the 2nd Constitutional Convention, where the legislature was voting for a second time on a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman while allowing civil unions. (The rules here for an amendment is that before it's put on the ballot for the people it must get a majority of votes in 2 joint sessions of the state legislature in successive years.)

At the first Con/Con last year the amendment barely passed, but this year it was defeated with only 39 'yes' votes. In part that was because there's another amendment proposal coming down the pipeline to ban same sex marriage without any civil union allowance, so some who would have supported today's version decided to wait.

Massachusetts has been allowing same sex marriages for 18 months now, since the Supreme Judicial Court ruling came down in the Goodrich decision last year. Many legislators who voted FOR the amendment last year (and against gay marriage) changed their minds this year because since SSM became legal "the sky has not fallen, and the sun still shines over Massachusetts." So basically they've seen all of the positive effects that have come about but none of the negative predictions that some have used to argue against it.

Being at the State House, surrounded by people for whom this ruling is more than just a matter of principle, was very moving. There were tears during some of the legislators' speeches. When the final vote was announced, the pure, exultant jubilation in the room was deafening. For so many today was an affirmation of who they are, and this state's elected officials took a stand and said that they would not discriminate based on sexual orientation.

Outside the capitol when I was holding signs there were two elderly gentlemen nearby. They had a sign that said "Together for 50 years, married for one." On the reverse were pictures dating back to when they met in 1955.

As many said at the State House, the fight isn't over and there's work to be done. But today is certainly something to celebrate.

Posted by Daniel at 03:49 PM | Comments (0)

The federal government took its sweet time getting relief efforts to New Orleans, but when it comes to awarding contracts to cronies, not a spare second is wasted.

Bush may not have predicted that the levees would give way, but I think pretty much everyone saw this coming.

Posted by Daniel at 02:10 PM | Comments (0)

I just got around to updating my 101 in 1001 list. I've managed to get through a few more over the past months.

Unfortunately, I find myself in something of a pickle. A good few of my goals were rather geography-specific. I wrote them a year ago, when moving from Los Angeles was about the furthest thing on my mind. So odds are I'm not going to make to some of the San Diego or LA landmarks. I also hoped to visit friends who have been living abroad, but I wasn't able to make it before they moved. Some returned back to the States and another just changed abroad locations.

So I guess I'll try to get through as many as I can over the next few years. I'm about 20% finished in ~30% of the time, so I'd better get moving.

Posted by Daniel at 09:28 PM | Comments (2)

The average American has one testicle.

Think about it.

Posted by Daniel at 11:07 AM | Comments (4)

I've become quite frustrated with my cell phone recently. Well, it's not so much my phone that's an issue, but the quality of reception that I've been getting. Basically, Cingular isn't all that hot in Boston. Verizon seems to be the company with the best coverage (friends with Verizon phones get good signals where I get none).

However, I'm stuck in the middle of a 2-year contract with Cingular. I tried calling Verizon to see if they had any financial incentives for me to switch, but according to the sales rep I spoke with they absolutely do not. Heck, at this point if they offered to waive the $20 start-up fee I'd probably go for it.

I can't drive from work to home without getting disconnected at least twice, nor can I travel any other distance in the city or outlying areas for more than 5 miles without losing the signal. It's less of an issue that I get pathetic reception at home because I have the forwarding charger that sends all calls to my land line, but I still can't easily make outgoing calls on my cell.

Within a few weeks/months I'll probably suck it up, pay the $150 and make the change... that is if Verizon has any phones I like.

Posted by Daniel at 02:14 PM | Comments (2)

I want one.

Posted by Daniel at 03:07 PM | Comments (3)