15 minutes until the first polls close. It’s a quarter ’til midnight and I plan on waiting up until a winner is announced!
I mailed my absentee ballot over a month ago right here:
and I have been anxiously awaiting for the rest of America to cast their ballots. My prediction is Obama with 360 electoral votes. We’ll see.
12:24 AM:
The news outlets are reporting the Indiana & Kentucky results. With only 1% of precincts reporting. How useless is that?
1:00 AM:
CNN Projects Vermont for Obama and Kentucky for McCain. McCain leads 8-3.
1:52 AM:
If Wolfie Blitzer points out, “We’re doing the math for you” one more time, I think I will become a Fox News viewer.
Okay, that’s a bluff. They don’t have FNN over here.
1:20 AM:
Obama leads 77-31. PA, FL, OH still up for grabs.
2:43 AM:
PA is being called for Obama. That puts him ahead 102-34.
Seems a little early to call, but what the hell.
FL is leaning toward Obama.
4:00 AM:
Still awake! Obama is now leading 199-78. Ohio goes to Obama. I think it’s time to bring the fat lady on stage. Who’s left? FL, TX, CA, VA….
And now Iowa to Obama & Kansas to McCain: 206-89
In other election news, Al Franken may become a US senator.
5:00 AM:
Not much has changed besides the shocker of McCain winning Texas. 207-135. FL & VA should be called soon.
And poof! There goes VA to Obama. 220-135. Looks like the Republicans will hold on to McCain’s senate seat.
Polls close in Kollifornya in a few seconds.
And the other shoe drops. CNN has called the election. We have elected the first African-American to the highest office in the land.
It’s six AM on the east coast. What are you waiting for?
Well, we’re back in Paris and it’s a cold, rainy morning. We have both recovered from our Swollen Neck Syndrome and now just have plain old colds.
The Vacation From Hell continued after Tuesday’s post. Tuesday was a mostly-rainy day, but we were too sick to go out anywhere. I couldn’t swallow without wincing in pain, so I ate enough dinner to keep from starving then watched CNN for the rest of the night (so much for getting away from politics for the week). Wednesday was sunny but cooler and we were still too miserable to do anything. Fortunately, the forecast changed from crappy to nice for Thursday and we spent a final day on the beach relaxing and watching Sarah have fun in the sun & sand.
Friday we packed up and got ready to leave. It was raining steadily and windy all morning. When we finally got in the car to drive to the airport, the rain changed to torrential downpour. The 120 kph autopista was moving at a crawl. Fortunately, we had 4 hours before our flight left. We finally found the rental car return (tha Màlaga was under construction and the heavy rain didn’t help). The return desk was on the bottom of the parking garage. There was at least an inch or water everywhere, so our feet were getting wet and we had to avoid the morons who kept driving around at full speed, sending spray everywhere. When we got the the exit of the parking area, we saw a wonderful 100+ meter walk to the terminal with no cover. So everything got pretty much soaked before we made it to the terminal.
This is about the time that Sarah morphed from the happy girl who I had just given a lollipop into the Child from Hell. We had the nerve to insist that she walk and carry (or roll) her bag, since we had our hands full. She never stopped crying and saying “uppy!” for the next 30-45 minutes. “My legs are tired! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! Uppy! uppyuppyuppyuppyuppy!uppyuppyuppyuppyuppyuppyuppyuppy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!”
And then she started again after we arrived at Charles de Gaulle. And then again after we had dinner. It was just meltdown after meltdown, all triggered in an instant by the stupidest things.
Then we get home to a dark apartment. The light switch does nothing. Fortunately, my flashlight is where it’s supposed to be for a change and I find the leakage current breaker tripped. Great. The fridge is still a little cold, but all the ice in the freezer has melted. maybe we won’t have to throw everything away.
On another note, I would like to say that I really HATE manual trannys that put reverse right next to first. I drove a stick for twelve years and reverse was right were it should be: below fifth. It just feels natural when you’re trying to parallel park; you slam it to the left & up to go forward, and then to the right & down to go in reverse. I was driving a tiny VW Polo and I couldn’t park for $h!t. I was never in the right gear.
Uploading slowly and not so surely. I actually got in the car and drove to an area where I can get a stronger signal. Click for larger image!
Sarah does some research on Spain
On the bus to Charles de Gaulle
Sarah strikes her trademark pose
Keeping Sarah occupied for the six hour wait after we missed our first flight
Negotiating a new ticket at the airport
Finally! The beach!
My shells, let me show you them!
http://longtermtourists.com/blog/more/sab_beach_6_buddy.jpg
Sarah plays with her new British buddy
Frolicking in the autumn sunlight
So....Tired....
Ice cream at the beach!
After missing our flight in Paris, we arrived in Málaga at around 11 PM. All our luggage arrived withthe plane, thankfully, although we weren’t too sure after about a dozen bags came across the conveyor and then no more did for about 20 minutes. We went to the rental car area and bypassed all the lines because I had used the online check-in. I was supposed to be able to go to the express counter in the parking lot, get my key and be on my way. But, apparently when I called to inform them I would be picking up the car late, they screwed up the reservation. I ended up geting a smaller car than I reserved (which never happens – seems they always upgrade you) after a long wait because they didn’t know what to do.
So we drive to the check-in place and pick up the keys for our condo. Turns out that they gave us one up on the hill and not on the beach like we were supposed to get. No view of course. The guy kept mumbling something about no ar-conditioning at the beach-front place or some other BS, and that we would have to wait till Monday to change if we wanted to. Monday we inquire WTF and they tell us that they have no idea, but we could move down to the other unit if we wanted too. As long as we pay the 35 Euro cleaning fee. Screw it. We had already bought a bunch of food and didn’t feel like moving all our crap.
Sunday, we go to one of the many restaurants that cater to the British tourists for breakfast (full English breakfast – very good!) and spend a nice day at the beach. Monday we spend an even better day at the beach. No clouds. But Danielle has a bad sore throat and sleeps most of the day. Monday night, we both have sore throats and aches and fevers and the occasional cold shivers.
Tuesday morning it is raining and Danielle can barely swallow. I can swallow, but it still hurts. We go to the Pharmacia and they give us some high-powered ibupofen and antibiotics. No prescription, no need to go to the doctor and pay for an office visit. Just drive five minutes and tell them what is wrong. And that’s where we are right now. It’s almost four PM and the sun is out again, but we don’t feel like doing anything.
Fortunately, Sarah is fine. I have some pictures, but I’m on a wireless network that varies from zero to full strength (usually zero, of course), and I can’t upload them.
We missed our flight from Paris to Málaga thanks to some incredibly unhelpful people at the Air France/Europa desk.
We made it there in time, but the Air France automatic ticket kiosks refused to check us in. So we went to the indicated check-in desk and showed them our reservation. They just looked at it, saw Air France and sent us to the other end of the terminal. Of course, that first counter was the correct one, but they saw Air France and neglected the “via Air Europa” below it.
So, by the time we got back to the correct counter, it was too late. So now we have to pay a lot more for another flight and drive from the airport to our condo at around midnight.
Should be fun!
He is waiting for somebody to stick something in his mouth.
“Life is a Minestrone“
My sister-in-law Dana and my niece Katie came to Paris to visit for 10 days. It was their first visit to Paris, so they had a full schedule and were out every day.
The four of us took a trip out to the Loire valley to the town of Saumur. Saumur is the home of l’ecole nationale d’équitation and the Cadre Noir. Dana, Katie & Danielle got their horse-fix for the week and we all enjoyed some good food & wine.
We also visited le château de Chenonceau, a beautiful castle built in the middle of the Cher river.
They thought I was daft to build a castle in the middle of a river, but I built it all the same! Then it sank into the river. So I built another! And it sank into the river! So I built a third. And it burned down, fell over, and then sank into the river!
Sorry. It’s a requirement.
Anyway, we also visited Versailles on a Fat Tire bike tour and enjoyed the gardens & the grand & petit Trianon and a picnic next to the grand canal.
Time for a quiet weekend of cleaning in preparation for Bob & Tiffany’s visit and a trip to München for Oktoberfest!
I finally got around to subscribing to the Vélib bike rental system. I had been taking out 7-day passes, but at 5€ a pop, the 29€ annual subscription made more sense than paying 100€ or so for short-term rentals during biking season. The Vélib website can show you in real time how many bikes are available at each rental station. Once you have a subscription, it shows how many rentals you have made and the cumulative time for the rentals.
What it CAN’T do is let you subscribe on-line! It lets you THINK you are, as you fill in all the relevant data on the forms on the site. But when you get to the end, it tells you to print it out and mail it in. Mail? WTF is that about? I want instant gratification! I am used to getting things NOW! In the US, I can order something from California and have it on my doorstep the next day. Why can’t I just click a button and have my subscription? Ironically, the 1 & 7-day subscriptions can be done at the terminals at most of the rental stations. They have the same requirements: I need to have a bank account with at least a 150€ balance (security deposit in case you “lose” the bike). I put my bank-card in the slot, select a 4-digit PIN and I am ready to roll for the next 1-7 days! But to get the year-long plan, gotta mail in a paper check via snail-mail and wait.
So I did, and I got something back in the mail in a few days – a rejection!
Seems I didn’t include a pre-printed RIB from my bank. A RIB is a slip of paper with your account number on it. All of the info on the RIB was also included on the application forms, but that was not sufficient. So I print out a copy of my RIB from a scan I made and send it back. This time it takes a couple of weeks to get a reply, but my subscription was activated about a week after I mailed it. I knew because I had to go to the terminal and confirm it when I tried to rent a bike (I already had a 7-day plan in effect at the time).
I try to ride into work in the morning when it’s cool. As long as the roads are dry. Since I’m dressed for work, I don’t want to get all wet & nasty on the way. The nearest station is about 500 feet from my door. Unfortunately, it is not a popular drop-off point. Several times I have gotten the last bike, or there have been no bikes at all. There is another small station just down the road.
One bike. Probably with a flat tire.
Another drawback is that the area I work in (La Défense) is not serviced by the system (yet). I drop off my bike on ave Madrid near the Bois de Boulogne and walk the rest of the 1.5 miles. According to the latest reports, 300 new stations in the banlieue are to be built. Hopefully, there will be a few in La Défense.
On Saturday mornings, I just grab a bike and basically try and get lost. It’s not too hard. Paris is not a geometrically laid out city. There are a lot of bike paths in the city, but in the more touristy places, you have to constantly dodge the pedestrians in the bike lanes. If there is a street market, cars & trucks will probably be blocking the path.
The opposite situation as pictured above can occur, too. I was riding out to the eleventh this week and I was approaching the end of my free 30 minute rental, so I looked for a dock on Blvd Richard Lenoir. No luck. I passed five or six stations, each one full of bikes and no free docks. Feast or famine.
Gaming the System
I mentioned that you get the first 30 minutes of each rental free with your subscription. They charge a euro for the next 30, then two euro for the next and then four for the next and all subsequent 30 minute periods. So you want to limit your rides to 30 minutes. The system is intended for transportation and not touring. Anyway, to encourage people to bike uphill, they have special stations (V+) at “high altitude” locations. If you take a bike at a non V+ station and return it to a V+ station, you get a 15 minute credit (cumulative). There is a V+ station near me. It is meant to draw people up from the Eiffel Tower to the Arc de Triomph. However, I can reach it from my apartment in a few minutes with no uphill biking. So now, when I’m not in a hurry, I take a bike at a station near me and return it to the V+ station. Then I take another bike and continue on. Each time I rack up the 15 minute credit. Oooh! I am so evil! 
You’re semi-evil. You’re quasi-evil. You’re the margarine of evil. You’re the Diet Coke of evil. Just one calorie, not evil enough.
