I am still really surprised at how easy the win for the President was.  I don’t mean to imply that it wasn’t a brutal campaign on both sides, but I am talking more about how clearly the President won.  He took all of the battleground states except Florida, which last I heard was still counting but with President Obama in the lead.

I expected it to be much closer.  I expected much more back and forth as all of the precincts started reporting.  I expected a long night.  I did not expect the President to tweet, “four more years” before midnight.  It was a very interesting night.

The best part about it is we don’t have to think about a Presidential election for a long while.  Next up for us in Massachusetts is the Governor’s office in 2014.  Let’s enjoy the quiet while we can.

All of the news networks are calling the election for President Obama.  I’m still awake only because I hope to hear Romney’s concession speech.

I expected this to be an all night affair tonight.  I did not expect anyone to be projected at least until tomorrow, if not even later.  The polls had been so close.  Just a few weeks ago the polls were pointing to Romney taking it tonight.

I am very happy.  I could not even begin to imagine the damage that a Romney administration could have done to the civil rights of Americans.  Not me, I’m a white male, but for women and minorities and homosexuals and non-christians.  I could not even begin to imagine an administration that would blatantly ignore science and reality.

I am very happy about the results of this Presidential election.  I have to say that I am more happy about the results of the Massachusetts Congressional and Senate races.  The Republican leadership in Congress openly stated that their goal was to get President Obama out of office.  That was all they wanted to do.  They did not work for their constituents.  They did not try to make things better for those they represented.  They simply wanted to unseat the sitting President.  Now they are stuck with him for another four years, and my representatives are all on my side of the aisle.

I am happy.

My name is Robbie and I approve this blog post… although I did not proof read it and I am very sleepy, so who knows what it actually says.

Four more years!

There were three national elections that I voted in today.  We are watching ABC’s national coverage and WCVB in Boston’s local coverage.  So far it is looking like at least two of the three races were won by the candidate I voted for.

Niki Tsongas has been reelected in our US Congressional district in what looks like a 2-1 landslide.

A few of the networks are calling the US Senate race for Elizabeth Warren.  Her lead is still only four percentage points, but it is looking like we will have a new Senator from Massachusetts.

In the Presidential race, it is still too close to call, and there are still Western states with open polls.  Still, President Obama has won the Electoral Votes from Massachusetts.

I’m optimistic that my candidates will sweep tonight, but it’s still way too early to know for sure.

Congratulations to Representative Tsongas, and Senator Elect Warren.

Cautious Optimism.

Driving home tonight, I was two or three houses away from ours when I saw a shadow move in the darkness of one of the yards. A shadow that flashed a white tail.

The deer are still out there! That was my first sighting in ages!

The onslaught of political ads is by far the worst part of any election year.  Obviously, the Presidential elections bring out the worst ad campaigns, and they start airing well over a year before the election.  I believe that the constant negative campaigning is a significant factor in voter apathy in this country.  I have no evidence to support that claim, but I would love to see a independent scientific study done.  The never ending stream of lying and hate just make me not care, and I have a feeling that many people feel the same, and that many more feel even stronger and end up staying home on election day.

Today, however, I learned about something even worse than the evils of political campaign advertising.

The only thing worse than the constant barrage of political advertisements is having to continue to endure said barrage after you have voted.  Having to suffer through the endless Scott Brown and anti-Obama commercials on WBZ FM in Boston was made infinitely worse when I had just left the polls where I voted against Scott Brown and for President Obama.

The good news, of course, is that it all ends when the polls close tonight.  For better or for worse, the insulting, insufferable advertising ends tonight.

I just cast ballot number 65 in Methuen Massachusetts Precinct 5. Get out and vote.

Prior to the disposal of the interloping rodent, I had done a cursory look around the bedrooms, half expecting to see a fuzzy corpse left for us as a present.  I didn’t see anything.

Tonight, however, just prior to bed time, Jen my beloved wife noticed a small splash of red on the side of the tub.  I then noticed a small but much larger splash of red in the hallway between the bathroom and the bedroom.  Jen then noticed another splash in the bathroom.

So this begs two questions.

First: were the blood trails left by the same critter that went out with the garbage?
Two:  if the answer to question one is no, then where is the little bastard?  More precisely, where is what’s left of the little bastard?

In the end it was not Patches who removed the mouse, it was I.  It got itself stuck in a plastic bag and while Patches stood guard over it, I managed to dump the bag without the little fuzzy piece of crap escaping.

Still, Patches is a hero.

Of course, this begs the question… was there more than one?  Now that Patches and I have established the Fellowship of the Squeak, will there be a sequel?  The Two Rodents perhaps?

If you don’t live in Massachusetts you can probably skip the next three paragraphs.

I just wanted to share a couple of links, partly so that I can find them easily if I need them between now and tomorrow when I get to the polls.

First, here is a link to a page that will let you look up the location of your polling site.  The city I live in just changed it’s polling sites from public school buildings to other locations.  This one comes in handy for us.  You need to give it your address, including city and zip code, and it spits out your poll site.  Very handy.

This next link is probably something that most of us already know quite well, but just in case… here is a link to a copy of the ballot that Massachusetts voters will see tomorrow.  I find this interesting as it gives the complete wording on all of the ballot questions.

Now, I don’t care who you vote for (well… I do actually, but not for the purposes of this little rant), I don’t care if you think your individual vote is meaningless, I don’t care if the weather is bad, I don’t care if the weather is good, I don’t care what time of day it is, I don’t care how old you are, I don’t care how young you are, I don’t care how far away you live from your polling site, I don’t care if the kids are home sick, I don’t care if you are home sick, I don’t care if you have to work late, I don’t care if you have to work early, I don’t care if you have to take a cab or a bus or a freakin’ skateboard…

If you are registered to vote…

VOTE.

It is so simple.  Just vote.  There is no excuse for a registered voter not to vote.  None. 

When tomorrow gets here, go vote.

Prior to buying our house I tried to get across to my beautiful bride that the location on the edge of the woods would result in an increased number of creepy crawlies finding their way into the house.  The primary example of that has been spiders, but the biggest examples have been things that have stayed in the yard and not come in the house, deer, turkeys, skunks, and what not.  The only real surprise was once finding a very small, very dead, garter snake in the cellar.  I assumed that our cat, Patches was responsible for the slithery little bastard’s demise, but I had no way to prove it.

There was one instance a few months ago where my beautiful, beloved bride told me that Patches seemed to be chasing something in the living room.  Whatever it was dashed under the couch and the cat followed it at first but then after a couple of minutes sort of stalked around the couch as if waiting for something to come out.  Over the last couple of days she had been acting in a similar manner around our kitchen stove.

Last night I was sitting up in bed reading (I started reading the Thrawn trilogy again so that I can better actively campaign against it being used as the next three Star Wars flicks.  No way, folks.  No way) and Patches went absolutely nuts.  She’s a cat.  She does that from time to time.  This time, however it was more than usual.  She was running around like crazy, jumping up and down, pouncing and slamming her paws on the floor.  I looked up over the top of my iPad and saw why.

A mouse.

Patches was standing at the base of one of our floor lamps.  On the other side of the base of the floor lamp was a little fuzzy brown mouse (as cute as can be) staring back at her.  Patches swatted, the mouse ran, Patches followed, the mouse reached the opposite wall, Patches flung herself at it, the mouse ducked and ran under the bed, Patches bounced off the wall and spun around and followed, the mouse broke for the closet, Patches caught up and swatted again, the mouse took the blow and skidded off balance, Patches pounced again, the mouse deftly dodged her and made for the closet again, Patches dove in after her but the mouse escaped in the clutter.  Patches spent the rest of the night (at least the parts I was awake for) stalking the front of the closet waiting for the invader to come out again.  At about 6:00am it did.  It broke for the bedroom door and Patches attacked once more.  We pretty much repeated the whole scene, only this time the mouse escaped by hiding under the dresser, which Patches could not fit beneath.

When we left this morning, Patches was still nobly guarding the bedroom, waiting for the hated interloper to once again show itself.  Patches the Brave.  Patches the Bold.  Patches the Protector, defender of our domain.

I gave her extra treats on the way out this morning.  Our feline hero deserves them, and more.

Just please, when you catch the little fuzzy bastard, don’t rip it apart and leave it on anyone’s bed, m’kay?  Thanks, kitty!