It's election day, November 4th 2008. I am currently in Winston-Salem, NC. I woke up at 6AM, which I am trying to make a habit. I reset my alarm for 7:30 immediately afterward, anticipating that I would need all my strength to fully take in this "historic" day.
I listened to public radio, which has up-to-date election coverage. Of course all there is to cover before votes are counted is "people are voting", "people are having trouble voting", or "this is important, important shit". I listened to every bit of it, while I checked wikipedia for more up-to-date coverage. I assume wikipedia, being able to be edited by anyone else listening to public radio, would somehow offer even more up-to-date info. Wikipedia's current info essentially lists polling results, and from that speculates which states are "battleground" states.
North Carolina is one of those battlegrounds states. Obama has been shown in polls to possess a 1-2% lead, which is counterintuitive as it has voted for the republican nominee in previous elections since modern conservatism(militant neo-liberalism) has been out of the closet. I voted 3 days ago. For local political clowns, I did the "monkey-wrench" vote, with little forethought. For every candidate who controlled money, I voted conservative, and for every candidate who controlled social policy, I voted liberal. Wherever there was a Libertarian candidate, I voted for them on the (un)safe assumption that they would do better to protect civil rights. If my vote were mandate, then government would be unable to do much of anything at all. That's the idea.
I went to work, a food delivery job, at 11AM. Before arriving, I put a pouch of apple-blend Skoal smokeless tobacco in my lower lip. It was the patriotic thing to do. I spent the day leaving as soon as possible, staying out for as long as possible, and when I had to return to the store- spending unneccesary time in the bathroom and hard-to-be-seen-in corners so that I wasn't asked to do work. It was the patriotic thing to do. I felt "buzzed" from nicotine all day, stole sweet-tea to rehydrate myself often, and left early. It was the patriotic thing to do.
Upon arriving home, I re-heated leftovers and ate them, along with bourbon and coffee. I again turned on public radio, but instead of election coverage, I heard a segment on the sources and treatment of migraine headaches. It was a relief, ironically. Shortly thereafter, election "coverage" resumed. I decided to cover my time on election day, just to have an accurate picture of life on this day to someone researching american life, history, elections, or Cobe Soldo in the future.
I now intend to find a friends house with a TV-antennae, hunker down, continue my consumption of bourbon, and watch the election results. It's the patriotic thing to do.
I never found a TV- It's like I live in the stone-age. I did, however, continue my consumption of bourbon- it's like I live last century. I turned on public radio once again(which I pledge to never do hereafter). Results were slow, so I decided to go pick up a pizza. When I got home, in addition to eating said pizza, I decided to start watching a disk of Trailer Park Boys that I got with NetFlix. It's the patriotic thing to do.
When I was finished, I tuned back into public radio, as well as finding BBC coverage of the election online. I put it on mute while I listened to NPR. The "live feed" BBC set up was pretty unimpressive, so I started drinking more heavily. When I returned from the kitchen, as if by magic, the election had just been called for Barack Obama, and all the goodies ensued: a concession speech, an acceptance speech, and commentary I could've written if I had been given $10 and a reason.
While McCain was giving his concession, an interesting sensory mishap occured- BBC's video coverage materialized a few seconds slower than NPR's audio coverage. As a result, the entire event appeared phony. The emotions, which I heard ahead of time, had time to play in my psyche before I saw the very disgenuine faces morphed to match them.
This sensation continued until NPR decided to call it quits, very literally, and reverted to orchestral music(which was far more interesting). I've stayed awake and waited for the results of the election in North Carolina, for curiosities sake, but have not been graced with it yet. I heard that McCain was ahead with a few thousand votes, then Obama, and now I don't care because it's a moot point anyhow, even though I was "involved" somehow.
I will now go back to watching Trailer Park Boys, have some snacks, and P.T.F.O(pass the fuck out). It's the patriotic thing to do. Good night, and Good luck.
I listened to public radio, which has up-to-date election coverage. Of course all there is to cover before votes are counted is "people are voting", "people are having trouble voting", or "this is important, important shit". I listened to every bit of it, while I checked wikipedia for more up-to-date coverage. I assume wikipedia, being able to be edited by anyone else listening to public radio, would somehow offer even more up-to-date info. Wikipedia's current info essentially lists polling results, and from that speculates which states are "battleground" states.
North Carolina is one of those battlegrounds states. Obama has been shown in polls to possess a 1-2% lead, which is counterintuitive as it has voted for the republican nominee in previous elections since modern conservatism(militant neo-liberalism) has been out of the closet. I voted 3 days ago. For local political clowns, I did the "monkey-wrench" vote, with little forethought. For every candidate who controlled money, I voted conservative, and for every candidate who controlled social policy, I voted liberal. Wherever there was a Libertarian candidate, I voted for them on the (un)safe assumption that they would do better to protect civil rights. If my vote were mandate, then government would be unable to do much of anything at all. That's the idea.
I went to work, a food delivery job, at 11AM. Before arriving, I put a pouch of apple-blend Skoal smokeless tobacco in my lower lip. It was the patriotic thing to do. I spent the day leaving as soon as possible, staying out for as long as possible, and when I had to return to the store- spending unneccesary time in the bathroom and hard-to-be-seen-in corners so that I wasn't asked to do work. It was the patriotic thing to do. I felt "buzzed" from nicotine all day, stole sweet-tea to rehydrate myself often, and left early. It was the patriotic thing to do.
Upon arriving home, I re-heated leftovers and ate them, along with bourbon and coffee. I again turned on public radio, but instead of election coverage, I heard a segment on the sources and treatment of migraine headaches. It was a relief, ironically. Shortly thereafter, election "coverage" resumed. I decided to cover my time on election day, just to have an accurate picture of life on this day to someone researching american life, history, elections, or Cobe Soldo in the future.
I now intend to find a friends house with a TV-antennae, hunker down, continue my consumption of bourbon, and watch the election results. It's the patriotic thing to do.
I never found a TV- It's like I live in the stone-age. I did, however, continue my consumption of bourbon- it's like I live last century. I turned on public radio once again(which I pledge to never do hereafter). Results were slow, so I decided to go pick up a pizza. When I got home, in addition to eating said pizza, I decided to start watching a disk of Trailer Park Boys that I got with NetFlix. It's the patriotic thing to do.
When I was finished, I tuned back into public radio, as well as finding BBC coverage of the election online. I put it on mute while I listened to NPR. The "live feed" BBC set up was pretty unimpressive, so I started drinking more heavily. When I returned from the kitchen, as if by magic, the election had just been called for Barack Obama, and all the goodies ensued: a concession speech, an acceptance speech, and commentary I could've written if I had been given $10 and a reason.
While McCain was giving his concession, an interesting sensory mishap occured- BBC's video coverage materialized a few seconds slower than NPR's audio coverage. As a result, the entire event appeared phony. The emotions, which I heard ahead of time, had time to play in my psyche before I saw the very disgenuine faces morphed to match them.
This sensation continued until NPR decided to call it quits, very literally, and reverted to orchestral music(which was far more interesting). I've stayed awake and waited for the results of the election in North Carolina, for curiosities sake, but have not been graced with it yet. I heard that McCain was ahead with a few thousand votes, then Obama, and now I don't care because it's a moot point anyhow, even though I was "involved" somehow.
I will now go back to watching Trailer Park Boys, have some snacks, and P.T.F.O(pass the fuck out). It's the patriotic thing to do. Good night, and Good luck.
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