Damn Image Hosting

Hello to anyone who actually reads this. The site where I do image hosting is down so the pictures aren't showing at the moment, but they're fixing it. In the meantime, enjoy the other posts and I'll post tomorrow - doorknocking and the debate tonight...

The Christ...

...is very popular here, as evidenced above.

Had my digital camera also not pooped out on me, I would have also shown you a picture of the "Jesus Mobile." It was an old RV with "Jesus" in big letters on the back and along the sides with scripture on the sides.

It was like the "Mitzvah Mobile" popular in NYC where Jews can go in and dance a mitzvah, but I fear that the Jesus version might only let you in if you're voting for George W. Bush.

By the way, the picture above is rather small, but the bumper sticker reads: 1 cross + 3 nails = 4 given.

Meanwhile, the Promise Keepers were down the street two weekends ago.

Have I really been in God's country for two weeks now? What's a Zen Catholic raised in a Jewish area of Syracuse to do?

On the other hand...

I know what I said about the polls in a previous post, but it always feels nice to know that we're moving up in the polls, craptastic as many of them turn out to be. Iowa is seriously becoming one of the most important states to win in the electoral map. It's gonna be a dog fight and we're all gearing up for that. It's not always easy to remember, but every day in the papers, there's something there to remind us.

I've been encouraged by the amount of Kerry/Edwards signs we're seeing on our doorknocking journeys. And I'm still ridiculously impressed by their absentee ballot system here. None of that ridiculous signing up for an absentee ballot, giving the good reasons why you wouldn't be around on Election Day, and then waiting with baited breath for a piece of paper that the Board of Elections might not ever count. By the way, New Yorkers, be sure to fill your absentee ballot out in a pristine manner or else your vote will be spoiled.

Did you know that in states like Iowa where they allow absentee ballot regardless of need that if a voter makes a mistake before Election Day and your ballot is spoiled, they will send you a new one? They assign specific ids to voters and log them accordingly. In fact, if you sign up for an absentee, decide to go to the polls anyway, all you have to do is go to the polls, bring the ballot with you, they mark it spoiled, and then you can go vote on a machine. That is serious coordination, folks.

I'd like to see that in New York:

Voter: "Hi, I got an absentee ballot in the mail, but I'm here now."
Crotchety poll worker (CPW): "Um. Okay. I'm not sure how to handle this. Hang on."

Crotchety poll worker calls over Surly poll worker.

CPW: "This voter got an absentee ballot but wants to vote on the machine. What do I do?"
Surly poll worker (SPW): "Well, f*&! them."

Yeah, I'm sure it would be a very special exchange.

I should give New York poll workers more credit than that, but I can't. Well, that's not true. Some of them are nice. And helpful. And knowledgeable about the voting systems.

But they are few and far between.

However, in Iowa, I have found hope for the future.

Didn't think I'd ever say that, but hey, I didn't think we'd have a president who couldn't finish a sentence with two hands and a flashlight and was fairly illiterate. Or that Paula Abdul would resurface again. I've been wrong in the past, but the one thing I've known since 2002: John Kerry is consistenly underestimated. And as I said during the primaries, I'll say it again: if we all work a little harder to get some folks to vote - and tell the truth about the situation our country is facing, we'll win.

So I'm feeling good. Now if I could just get some sleep...

Just because you speak Spanish...

...doesn't mean you can write it. I've been meaning to take a picture of this from the moment I saw it and today was a good opportunity as I hit the bank. Hey, at least they're trying. They even got the tilda over the n in Espanol. They're only missing a consonant.

It's still funny as hell though.

So today was a BUSY day. We kicked some ass left and right. Created and printed two huge mailings that got dropped out of the door today, finished up what was left on all of our to do lists, organized some stuff, even had to go back and do a whole day or so of work - and we even had time to go and pamper ourselves (las unas y los dedos del pies - who speaks Spanish now?! Sorry. Must be the 'roids talking) - and we got done before 8:30pm.

In campaign world, that's kicking ass and taking names.

Of course, I'm not sure I can see straight, but that's another story.

After my day of being shot in the ass with steroids, I gotta say that I feel strangely refreshed. And though my experience with 'roids thus far have been fairly positive, I am suddenly reminded of Jim Carrey on "In Living Color" as Vera De Milo:

"Try my steroids! Remember, Vera says, 'Live fast! Die Young and Pretty!'"

Well, as long as I don't grow a beard between now and Election Day, I'm in good shape.

Jess and Megan keep making fun of my 'roid rage, but I don't let it get to me. But that's because I could probably bench press them with my pinkie in a week.

In the meantime, there have been a flurry of media stories on Iowa, and needless to say, I'm finding every single one of them true. Here's a good one to keep you until tomorrow.

I'm going to bed tonight. Oh baby.

Shot in the ass! And you're to blame, Iowa...you give love...a bad name...

This is a pic I took when Jess and I went out doorknocking.

So here's a confession I've got. About three days ago, I noticed some bumps on my upper arm. The next day, I noticed more on my other arm, some on my ankles, some on my wrist.

I was convinced I had chiggers.

Or an allergic reaction.

Either way, it was weird.

Anyway, Jess and Megan were worried about my condition and suggested I see a doctor. So two days later, they're not getting any better, I'm thinking that they're some sort of reaction to something, and then I start to get freaked out.

So I go to the clinic to get them looked at.

Contact Dermatitis.

Otherwise known as: an allergic reaction.

It was most likely due to ragweeds and pollen in the air - all from that Harkin Steak Fry, I'm guessing.

Neeeeat.

So the possible cures are taking oral steriods or getting a shot.

Strangely enough, I opted for the shot. Go figure.

So I'm sitting in the clinic, looking at my arm, trying to figure out where the nurse might inject me, when she walks into the room and says, "Okay, give me your right hip."

In a second, the image of Delia and her cabin getting rabies shots at Bristol Hills flashed into my head.

Yeah. Steroids in the hip. Why didn't I think of that?

So I was shot with steriods in my hip, which sounds cool until your entire right leg from your hip starts to go a little tingly. Then you start feeling really tired. Then you start feeling really awake. The sun is too bright. The flourescent lights are too bright. You can't sleep. The right side of your body is tender. You feel out of it. Your ass falls asleep - all these things happened to me yesterday.

And of course, insert your favorite 'roid rage joke here - I've heard them all today.

You're probably asking at this point - um, do you work?

Yes. I work a lot.

Today we also went doorknocking, which was interesting because we ended up leaving as the sun was going down and it's really hard to go doorknocking when you can't read the driving directions or the numbers on the houses. The picture above is from driving around Ankeny. It's a strange mix of suburb in the middle of farm land - and this is a dead corn crop, basically. In fact, all of Iowa is ridiculously dry this time of year. I should buy stock in chapstick or body lotion.

As if my day hasn't been funky enough, I came home to a hotel room that was once again opened and this time with lights on and my bed turned down. Megan and Jess scoured the area for perps (I've been watching a lot of "Family Bonds") while I called the front desk. Mr. Peppy Manager Chris answers again, this time more serious.

Apparently, I am a Hilton gold member, so I get complimentary turn-down service.

Did that just happen today?

Because I hadn't been getting turn-down service since I got there. Chris seemed surprised. Meanwhile, Jess and Megan are feeding me lines to tell him - "This is a safety concern." "I should feel secure when I leave." All I can hear is Chris asking me, "But I'm concerned about your security, are you okay?"

Phew. Good thing I had been injected with steriods earlier in the day to deal with that.

Bottom line: they're gonna fix my door. And it better be fixed by the time I get home tomorrow night. Or else I'm gonna 'roid rage it up.

Day to breathe...

If you haven't clued in yet, the pictures from this post and the last one are not ones I took. But that's because I've been too tired to take pictures. And I figure that you might not want to see another picture of my office space. Hell, I don't want to post another picture of my office space. So there.

So besides the fun stories I told you yesterday, the other thing that we did was go walking for absentee ballots on Saturday morning. That was fun. It seriously was. See, there's something nice about being in a state that is not only 1)organized about their absentee ballots (it's a science here), but also 2)counts the absentee ballots. I even got a badge and everything. But we had no lanyards or string to put them around our necks, so we had to hold them in the palms of our hands. Megan and I felt like we were in an episode of "Family Bonds:"

(knock-knock)
Me: "Absentee ballot collection." (hold up my badge to the peephole)
Megan: "We need you to look in your peephole."
Me: "Open the freakin' door!"
Megan: "We know you're in there, we can hear you breathin'!"

But it was actually quite nice and a little bit of fun. I got to talk to some of the voters here and assist one couple with filling out their ballots.

It also helped that when we went to the Iowa Democratic Party Headquarters, the guy handing out the clipboards to Absentee Ballot collectors was HOTTTT. He must have been the hottest guy ever in Iowa. And then we found out he wasn't from Iowa.

Um.

Either way, we'll be happy to go and collect more.

But yesterday, Sunday, we had a rare opportunity - a day off!

So we dropped off laundry, went to Target, and stopped by an orchard to get some apples and cider and pie. Then it was a nice couple hours of relaxation before a game of poker - but we decided to just hang out instead. Nothing terribly fancy, but it was nice.

So here's another fascinating Iowa food tidbit:

This place we go to order lunch, Chicago Dog and Deli, has an item on their menu called a "Walking Taco."

Yeah.

Here's the description: Walking Taco...Served in a Doritos bag with all the toppings

Call me crazy, but that sounds buhsgusting. Hey, why don't we throw some taco meat, lettuce, tomato, salsa, cheese, and sour cream in a Doritos bag, shake it up, and charge people for it?

And it's $4.00! Are you kidding? If I want to hurl, I can do that for free. Puhlease.

Oh, and reason #1204983498571248907 why Embassy Suites sucks - check this math out:
80 suites,
100 guests on average,
8 movies for rent via tv box =
ONLY ONE PERSON IN THE HOTEL CAN RENT A MOVIE AT A TIME.

Yeah, Megan tried to rent "Stepford Wives" and apparently, only one person can purchase a movie at a time. Check out her blog to read the whole saga. It's also the "Partner in Crime" link on the left.

(Scratching head)

Whaaaa?

More Ignorance...

But wait, are you ready for yet another fun adventure at the Embassy Suites?

So my hotel door is kind of screwed up. It looks like it's closed, but the latch doesn't connect all the way, so you get this sort of click like it's in, but in truth, it's not. And it reminds me of when I was in high school at a MUN Conference and our bathroom door was screwed up and when Lisa got a call from the "Security Council" at some obscene hour and she had to go to the floor, she had a hard time closing the door and all of us who were here roommates all offered the following advice, half-awake, half-asleep - and literally like this:

"Be firm."
"But gentle."
"It'll click when it's in."

Yeah, that was a bone to any FMers that actually read this thing. I doubt it.

But anyway, my hotel door is screwy. After Jess and Megan assisted me in attacking my blinds to make sure no one was in my room and that nothing was gone, I called the front desk where very peppy manager, Chris, answered. The conversation went something like this:

Me: "Hi, two things - there's something wrong with my door."
Chris: "Oh really?"
Me: "Yeah, the handle sticks funny so that even when it looks closed, it's actually open."
Chris: (short laugh) "Do you want me to come upstairs now and try to break in?"

Pregnant pause

Me: "No."

Slight pause

Chris: "Well, sometimes that happens, Ms. Matundan. Thank you for bringing it to my attention."
Me: "That's great. Do you think maybe you should have someone look at it?"
Chris: "Thank you for bringing it to our attention. Anything else I can do for you this evening?"
Me: "I'll have a 7:45am wake-up call."
Chris: "At 7:45?"

Did I stutter?

Me: "Yeah, quarter of 8."
Chris: "Okay, 7:45am it is. Thank you Ms..."
Click-click booo....

I hung up on his ass. Seriously, I haven't seen hotel service like this since I was at South of the Border on my way to Florida circa 1987. And they didn't have any service! You know what I'm talking about. "Pedro put the spark in yo' ark." The ridiculously stereotypical character they created so that kids could be amused as they drove down to Florida after about 8 hours in the car.

That should tell you everything.

Meanwhile, back at work...

We decided to check out Lucky's, the bar on Grand Street that Jess was excited about going to. Something about Crab Rangoon and a good time. So we roll up to this biker bar. In the back of my head popped that Sesame Street song: "Which one of these is not like the other?"

We had walked into the quintessential dive/biker bar where there were ten bikes on the street, the sounds of Danzig and Toby Keith. Everytime someone would leave the bar, the smell of diesel punctuated the air. We got a pitcher for about $6 (hello, Chestertown), and sat and took in the atmosphere. There were kids who looked prepubescent making out at the bar and a guy who looked like Blue from Old School at the bar. Apparently, this was Crab Rangoon. He looked like a sturdy old fella, the type that you always see camped out at the bar, talking to no one in particular and staring at everything that moves.

Megan saw a rat-tail at the bar. But not just a rat tail hanging out, a rat tail pulled back.

Which reminds me, did anyone see the pictures of Britney's wedding? I swear I'm not obsessed with this, but did anyone notice that her father-in-law has a mullet?

Okay, back to the story.

So as I was waiting in line for the bathroom, I saw a lotto machine. So Megan gave me a quarter, we promised we'd split the winnings, and I bought an awesome game called "Tropical Island" or something like that. But instead of scratch-off, they had windows on the back of the card, like the kind of count-down-to-christmas cards you get where you open a little window on the piece of cardboard with a happy family winter/christmas scene. Of course we lost. After yelling "Curses!" and shaking our fists in the air, some guy who was clearly out of it came over to the table to do a bit of staring before wandering off. He must have been distracted by something shiny.

Yeah. Iowa.

Things not to do when the boss is in town...

Today was mappy map day. So I thought you should see the big map that we created on our first strategy day. I'm so quickly learning this state, which is a good thing. But it's because I've spent hours each day looking at one - congressional districts, the regions we've created, etc. This day was devoted to map-making for our door-knockers.

If you haven't tried Mappoint on XP, I would say you're missing much. The program is fun - until it gets ignorant on you and decides that it is impossible to get from one address on the map to one down the street. I dunno. Thank god for my stressball.

But we have finally gotten most of the stuff we needed to do out of the way, now it's just tightening and executing. Yippidy do!

So now you're wondering about the title of this blog. By the way, if you haven't already noticed, I get loopy when I haven't slept much. I feel like I'm back in college. But after we got done with our data entry yesterday and things got quiet, I took advantage of the moment to breathe and decided to play a clip on my computer for Jess and Megan. And you all thought that this was going to be a serious blog about my experiences. Ha! I've known all along there would be stories like this. Just didn't realize they'd happen to me in such a short amount of time. You've been warned...

Now this clip was a favorite of ours in college, it's a radio prank this boyfriend got the dj to play on his girlfriend about a "toy" she had purchased as a prank gift (yeah, right). The dj basically tells her that they are recalling said "toy" because of some health problems that have developed and basically asked her a lot of personal questions about her and the use of her "toy" - okay, you get the idea. Hilarious. Especially if you've been in an office for 15 hours and counting.

So the bossman is in town and we all even got a little more dressed up than usual for his trip into Des Moines.

Lulled into a false sense of security by thinking he was in a meeting, I was not entirely prepared for him to walk in midsentence as the girl says, "You're recalling a vibrat...?"*

I turned halfway through the word to find him standing there with an incrdulous look on his face.

After a moment of "Ummmmm?" We all started laughing and I blamed it on no sleep. We had a good laugh. Funny, yes. Only something like that would happen to me. You heard it here folks, I am an ass, even unintentionally. At least everyone here shares my ridiculously healthy sense of humor.

As Narco or Heish would say, I won the totch award. Neeeeaaaaat.

*I have edited the story for two reasons: 1) this is exactly how it happened and 2) I realized exactly how many people and whom are reading this blog - apparently, this has passed along to family members and people who study elections. So being the responsible person that I am, I have decided to edit it to protect the innocent. Note the sarcasm in my typing. But either way, I'm starting to watch it...

To life, to life, hibatchi...

Yes, another picture of the office - do I lie to you? That's Jess walking by our map of Iowa.

Yet another day at the office, but the load was slightly less because early in the morning, we finished our data entry!

Now it's onto making maps. Just when we were feelin' pretty good.

But before I mention anything else, you're probably wondering about the title of this blog. Let's just say it was a sort of late night - one of the first ones we had, and we were enjoying a drink at our friendly hotel bar, Doozie's, and we were talking about Jewish wedding customs and I was trying to remember the name of the scroll, the marriage contact. Our fearless leader also happens to be our Jew in residence - and since I went to Fayetteville-Manlius High School, I might as well have been Jewish - and neither of us could remember the name.

You know how annoying it is when you know something and you just can't place it when you need it - I know you've all been there. We sat, frustrated for a few minutes, offering up possible terms that might jump-start our memory. Megan sat with baited breath - or a look of absolute indifference, I just can't tell.

In a moment of clarity (or delusion, you decide), I blurted out, "Hibatchi!"

I quickly hung my head down in shame. I knew that wasn't right.

But I was close.

Not hibatchi, but KETUBAH.

And wouldn't you know it, days later, Britney Spears gets hitched to the "You Got Served" guy.

Now, I don't remember exactly why we were discussing Jewish wedding customs or why the issue of Ketubah even came up, but ever since, we've been singing, "To life, to life, hibatchi, hibatchi..."

Bless my corns, we think we're funny sometimes. But it's mostly lack of sleep - or as I like to put it, an abundance of awake. It's more positive that way.

Hey! We got out early tonight! Well, 10, 10:30 - something like that. But we also didn't eat dinner in our wild attempts to get work done. Yes, we got work done, but I don't think we're ever going to go 12 hours without a meal again...

...at least, I hope we don't...

Yeah, so maybe this post isn't as serious or as politically illuminating as my last, but I make no excuses. I am tired. And sleepy. And when I'm not in the office, I dream about being in the office. Aaaaahhhh. Campaign life. I've missed you so.

No Sleep 'Till November

So it was yet another day in the office and I'm staring down the barrel of another few hours, if not more, of mind-numbing data entry. Mind you, we have done this all day. Neeeeeat.

But it's almost done and I know that we'll practically jump for joy when it's over. We've been doing it since Monday and it's finally almost there...I can taste it.

The last five or six days of blogs have all been from the office. Hey, I don't get free internet at the hotel, gotta do it when I can - and since I've spent the majority of my day and evening here - and someone is sitting at my desk for a moment, I thought I'd take the time to blog now.

I wish I could give you a fascinating morsel from my day, some minutae of campaign life from today that is terribly interesting. The truth, however, is that there is nothing we've done today that is remotely illuminating - with the notable exception of Megan's good deed for the day, which was filling the ice tray in the office refrigerator. Mother Teresa, indeed.

However, I have endured questions from the few folks I speak to from home (and by this, I mostly mean my mother and a few other surly folk - and I get it every time I talk to them) - do you think he's going to win? What about the polls? What about the "bounce"?

All I have to do is say pbbbbbbbbbffffffffttttttt.

That would be the Bronx cheer (the raspberry for those of you not from NY).

Lemme get out my soap box. Indulge me, I haven't done this since I stopped on my other blog and began this one. Oh look, I've been standing on it since the 2000 election.

All of us who are waiting with baited breath for Bush to go packing home have allowed ourselves to be swayed by the polls and many times, we give up too easily. But the polls do not take into account many things. I thank Michael Moore for pointing many of these out:

1. Which poll do you believe? Statistically, I have been taught that polls, while a good measure of general sentiment, are not entirely scientific. Especially when you consider the size of the sample and the response percentage. Like the Quinnipiac poll saying that Bush was pulling major ground in New York City, for example. Are you kidding me, Clark? The Empire State? Sure, we may have been lulled into re-electing that giraffe of a governor we've got (don't get me started, I've worked hard to get rid of that guy), and we have a tendency to elect Republican mayors in the best city in the world, but we are also the state that has two senators by the name of Chuck and Hilary and a 5 to 1 registered democrat advantage in NYC with a population of 8 million. And for those of you from outside the Empire State, compare Bush/DeLay/Santorum Republicans to Pataki/Giuliani/Bloomberg Republicans and you will swear the NYS Republicans are Democrats - because a majority of NY Republicans are Republican Lite. I was on the ground during the RNC Protest, I promise you that Bush is not exactly loved.

But back to the point, the Quinnipiac Poll was a sample of 150 likely voters. Um, yeah, that's accurate. And where did they poll? They say across the state. Well, there are more Republicans in Upstate than in Downstate, but either way, 150 likely New York Voters accounts to the population of a Brooklyn apartment. They probably picked Westchester on the map, decided it was between Republicans and Democrats and thought, "Hey, that looks good!" Scientific my ass.

2. "Likely Voters" are voters who have consistently voted in the last few federal elections. So chances are, they are more party entrenched. Not exactly the swing voters everyone keeps talking about - which is important because...

3. ...Polls that only include likely voters excludes the younger voters who haven't had a chance to build up to being a "likely voter" and the immense amount of new voters that have registered between 2000 and 2004 - and are continuing to register today. Every day, butt-loads of registrations are dropped off or mailed at Boards of Elections - and you bet that they aren't taken into account in these polls. Speaking of younger voters...

4. Voters who use a cell phone as their primary and sole means of communication are not included in the polls - which accounts for a large percentage of the registered voters. How many of you have decided to not use a land line because your cell phone is cheaper, offers free nights and weekends, and free long distance? Yeah, thought so. Polls are done by calling households, not cellphones.

5. The crucial group, unmarried women, are typically busy people. I know because I am one of them. And I also primarily use a cell phone and I also work odd hours. And this was also before I started in campaign life - if you wanted to get a hold of me, you had better take a number and get in line. And I find that's true for most working, unmarried women my age - we're too busy trying to break the glass ceiling, we don't have time for other things. So while my theory here is not entirely rooted in scientific process, I think that my basic premise here is sound. So there.

6. Polls, despite any appearance to the public, are weighted. John Zogby said so last week. The polls are weighted with Republicans.

So that's my argument to why the polls suck - especially because the only poll that matters is the country-wide poll on November 2nd.

Now, Bush may talk about how Kerry is a flip-flopper, but he's the biggest hypocrite I've ever seen. He said he wasn't going to be interested in nation-building - and look at Iraq. He said he'd be a compassionate conservative - um, I don't really need to go into detail here, do I? He said he would curb government spending - um, debt much? He said he'd protect and respect individual rights - and then pushed the Patriot Act and the Constitutional Marriage Amendment, amongst other things. He says that Iraq is now a democracy - and here at home, he stifles public, agency reports, and media that are contrary to what he believes. He said he supported the Assault Weapons Ban - and sat on his thumbs when it came up a week ago. I think this one is obvious, but he said that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction. He promised there would be no draft and it turns out there is legislation being worked on right now that would send all 18-25 year old men AND women to war... I could go on and on, but I'll leave you with this final thought on the matter:

As Al Sharpton said, he also didn't think he needed votes to be President.

So when people ask me whether or not Kerry is going to win or what I think about the polls, I go a little crazy. It's in our hands, folks. And given the percentage of people who agree more with Kerry on issues of choice, the economy, the misdirection and mishandling of peace in Iraq, health care, education, the environment, and civil rights - not to mention folks who are realistic enough to realize that our president should be able to read - I think we're in better shape than we think.

But either way, this race will be tight. So it is up to us - to get everyone we can registered, to make sure people go and vote on election day - and to keep fighting. Hell, I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe in it. So if you really want Bush out of office, then don't give up. Especially if Karl Rove has his way with the election system again. This thing will take all of us. So take the polls, throw them in the trash, use them in case you run out of toilet paper in the bathroom - because polls can say one thing. But if we all do what we can, then we'll show 'em what's up.

And that, my friends, is the pep talk that I've been dying to give.

And stop asking me that damn question!

Stress Balls and Coffee

Insert maniacal laugh.

I have caught up on the blog!

Muahahahahahahahaha!

Oy.

You wouldn't guess how much work we've been doing, though I have to admit that I've spent an entire day on a list and a map. But it's much better now than yesterday because now I can just look at one list instead of five or seven. Feeling good.

Of course, I'm completely fried.

But here's an interesting story from the day:

This morning, I was grabbing breakfast on my way out the door and was getting an English muffin (the unsung hero of the breakfast table, thank you Delicious Dish), and as I was waiting at the toasters, this older, short haired lady who was there before me comes up and says, no lie:

"Do you speak English?"

I think I blanched because she quickly said, "Oh, I'm sorry, the woman here before didn't."

Um, okay.

"Do you know which bread was mine? This one or that?"

I seriously think that I might have punched her in the neck if I wasn't still half asleep.

"Um, that one."

I pointed to the one that had her bread in it. I had seen the other guy put his bread in the toaster and since mine was the English Muffin, I used my awesome powers of deduction to come up with the correct answer.

Of course, I added, "I'm pretty sure that one's yours - the other gentleman placed his bread in that toaster." I indicated to the other toast. "So my guess is that is yours."

No thank you, nothing else, she just grabbed her bread and went on her merry way.

You know, this isn't the first time something like that has happened to me - in fact, I've gotten it worse in NYC of all places when a woman placed a dollar bill in my fist in a swanky bathroom and thanked me.

Yeah, you heard that right.

But I suppose I shouldn't try to assign a level of bad to worse experiences like this. I suppose I should just treat them all in one category: ignorant. So that was an awesome start to the day. Off course, it was brushed off as soon as I got my coffee, but nonetheless, I suppose that I'll never get used to experiences like that - nor should I.

We're not in NYC anymore, monkee.

So besides that, the day was busy trying to get this stuff taken care of. As for the title of this post, well, there is no campaign that can really get by without one or the other - and thankfully, we have both. I promised that I would post pictures of the things I see every day and so this is my cube. And I've seen it all day, so fair is fair. My stressball is that baseball on my desk and it is my best friend. Oy. Only 42 days to go. Yeah, that's scary.

It Begins

This is a picture of Indianola from the Steak Fry. I know, I promised to take one a day, but I haven't really seen the outdoors since Sunday. Seems like last week was the Steak Fry. Seriously, we're less than 43 days, so as one staffer here put it, we're "digging deep."

Today was a day of data entry and getting stuff ready for the last piece of the program. We were in the office for about 14-15 hours today, which is a good sign that we're digging pretty damn deep.

It wasn't that bad, really. What was annoying as hell was the program we were working with, it took forever. And besides my eyes going crossed, it felt good to be starting and getting some of it done.

We kept it light, though. Gotta. Because if we are stressed for the next 43 days, I will poke my eye out with my pen. That will suck.

So yeah, wish I could be more exciting, but I can't really make office work much more than that.

Harkin Steak Fry Day

It was Harkin Steak Fry Day today!

So this morning, we headed out to Indianola for the annual Steak Fry to drive golf carts for AFSCME and to get a local taste of Iowa - as well as see Sheryl Crow, Tom Arnold, and Elizabeth Edwards.

We made sure to get some bug spray and suntan lotion first, though. Don't want chiggers now. (read previous posts to find out what they are)

We got there and hopped into a golf cart, fastened my NY Yankees visor to the front and started to pick up folks from their cars to bring them to the event. After getting yelled at for having all three of us in a car, we started switching and alternating rides. So it was fun, got to meet some nice people. At one point, I had four 70-80 year olds in my cart, one next to me, two in the back, and one standing on the back, hanging on to the top. Hey, they wanted to ride that way. I made sure to go super slow, just in case.

So then we alternated jobs with more AFSCME members and went to assist this gentleman from the Steelworkers Union, Mark. He was the nicest guy I've met in a long time. A real person, you know? Fighting hard for his job, loving his family, his home, and had some great stories - and some raunchy jokes to tell. We were responsible for making sure that only hosts and buses parked in their respective area. So we were talking for a long time together, just hanging out.

There's a picture of Jess and Megan with Mark at the bottom of this post.

But the best pic I took all day was of Mark's tattoo that he proudly displayed for us:



So after our stint with Mark, we ended up going in to eat, it was close to showtime. So I had me a nice steak fry with beans and cole slaw. It was alright. It was a beautiful day, though. So we sat, enjoying the sun, listening to Senator Harkin and other politicians before Tom Arnold came on. He was great - and funny. The most memorable line was, "Look, I'm from Hollywood and I'm making good money and I want them to tax me more instead of giving it back to me - I'd be honored to have it go towards schooling and health care and social security."

You're my hero, Tom.

Then it was Sheryl Crow time. She is tiny. I mean teeny tiny. She's a stick. I could barely see her, but I could tell. As you can see from the first picture above, I wasn't exactly close to the stage, but it's very easy to tell she's tiny. She was great, had the crowd on it's feet and all of us singing along. She didn't play a two hour gig, but she played her popular, and we enjoyed it.

At this moment, we noticed a guy sitting down at the picnic table next to us. Very interesting. I say this because he was a medium-tall guy, not terribly skinny but not terribly fat, with shaggy hair, mutton chops, glasses, a short-sleeved button down, suspenders, shorts, and loafers with no socks. Apparently "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" isn't watched too often here. Megan and I were amused. I also saw an alarming number of mullets.

Then Elizabeth Edwards came on and we listened to her for a bit before being beckoned back to the golf carts. But they ended up having enough people, so we went back to the hotel. We were exhausted and have a big week ahead of us, so we wanted to get some rest while we could.

After getting lost on the way back, we finally made it, retired to our own rooms for a few hours before meeting up again for dinner and a drink (this is a theme, by the way, I'm sure I will be having a drink at least every night I'm here).

Then I taught Jess and Megan how to play poker. It was a lot of fun. We definitely will be doing that again soon.

Ah, but the heavy work begins tomorrow. Phew. At least we enjoyed our down time while we could. It's go time. So I'll try to be as good as I can, maybe it'll be like tonight where I do three at once, but I will update you. Be patient, We're trying to get Kerry elected here, we've got some priorities. I do hope you'll understand.

While you're at it, comment on the posts or click on the box to the left to sign the guest book so that I know who's been checking in with me. At the least, it'll make me feel loved. Not that your emails and best wishes don't...

But I can honestly tell you that it's very nice here in Iowa. The people are very friendly and nice. And the weather is beautiful and it's not flat as I thought it would be. I guess I should have paid more attention to the Dar Williams song repeating in my head about the "hills of Iowa." I'm not sure that I would enjoy it as much if I wasn't doing what I'm doing now, but it is a good slice of America. And I'm glad I'm here.

Down and Dirty

This is the billboard behind our office since the Firestone plant is also behind us. It's a pretty cool sign. I hope you can read it. If not, it says, "Export tires, not jobs!"

Today was a good day in the sense that we got a lot accomplished. Megan and I were sent in the morning to get some office supplies. If you know me, then you know I heart office supply shopping. I can't explain it and I won't try to, but I heart it a lot.

So we spent some time at Office Max trying to keep away from the stalker salesclerk. Yes, he was a stalker. The moment we walked in, he accosted us from behind the information counter, "Can I help you ladies find anything?"

"Um, thanks, no."

"Well, just let me know."

So we go down and aisle and head down another one and before we get to the end of it, there he is again.

"Can I help you ladies yet?"

"Um, thanks, no. We're fine."

"Okay then."

He stopped asking us after that but then I saw him at least three more times before we paid for our goods. He also was the guy behind the counter when we paid. What the hell? Creepy Malachi-looking kid.

And yes, that reference to "Children of the Corn" is fitting. In many ways.

So then we went to a luncheon with other labor women and Governor (and former Senator) Jean Carnahan. You may remember her late husband as the man who beat John Ashcroft after his untimely death. She is an incredible woman and she shared some interesting insights and her story with us.

After that, it was back to the office for a strategy and planning session. It went a long time, but we got a lot accomplished. Of course, we also know we have a lot of work ahead of us. So that's part of the reason I haven't been blogging in a while, it's been busy.

But right now, I'm multitasking. That's talent, kid.

Iowa, Iowa, Ioowa, Io-woa-wuh-oh, I, Iiii, Iowa

Ever since we landed, I can't seem to get the Dar Williams song "Iowa" out of my head.

Seems awfully fitting, it does.

It's actually quite beautiful here. The weather is awesome. Warm and sunny during the day, cool at night. Juuuust right.

Today, we spent our first day at the office, carving a space out of the office (trying to do it with the least disruption possible) and it took us quite some time. After getting our spaces and hooked in, we called it a day and headed to a local bar to have a drink and dinner to discuss more. It was a good time, except that we left pretty confused.

By this, I want you to conjure up an image of a veggie burger. What does that look like? A garden or a boca, with lettuce and tomato sandwiched in a roll, right?

Now let me pre-empt this by saying that Jess and Megan are both vegetarians and I'm a carnivore. Hi, we're in Iowa. It's meat country out here. I'm going to eat well. But alas for our vegetarian friends, this isn't friendly country.

So with that image of a veggie burger in your head, I want you to shatter it with this image: a beef burger with tomato and lettuce in a roll. Because that's what a veggie burger is in Iowa.

Yowsa.

And the picture up above is a view from our office as the sun set. Like I said, it's much nicer here than I imagined.

Goodbye Left Coast, Hello Midwest

So today we officially left Seattle for Iowa. Sad to leave a great city, but excited for the task ahead - gearing up for the big fight.

We left the hotel early in the morning so that we could beat the security lines at the airport - and Megan and I were chosen ones!

That sounds much more exciting than it really is. What it means is that we had a code on our tickets that meant that we were going to be specially searched! Yay! Yeah, it was cool for a second before the pat down and the officer with the rubber gloves opened every single pocket of my carry-on luggage and had me open my computer. That was neat. Not. Not neat at all, but actually quite painless and just added more time to our airport excursion.

So after getting through security, we hopped on our first plane that was to land in Denver. Got a window seat this time and took these pics from where I was sitting. The picture below is a picture from some altitude (I admit I was not paying attention to that detail) but all I noticed was that it was the tip of Ranier or Mount St. Helens - according to the passenger behind us - that was sticking out of the clouds. Pretty cool:



The next flight was alright, this time I was in an aisle seat, but I swear to god that the plane was circa 1950s. At one point during takeoff, the tray table in front of me actually fell out which made me quickly tack it back up for fear of some airline attendant coming down the aisle to beat me. I was seated next to a father and his daughter, which isn't much news until later when we landed and I'll get there, I promise.

Megan was seated across the aisle from me. There was a family behind me, which isn't much news except that the father behind me let his little girl sit in his lap - which isn't much of a story except that she kept kicking her feet against the back of my chair. At one point, she kicked the area where my head was and if I had gotten more sleep the night before and hadn't been so dazed when it woke me out of a nap, I'm sure I would have reached around and done something. Of course, it didn't help that their baby was in the aisle as well, screaming at the top of its lungs. The mother apologized to the father and daughter next to me where were directly in front of me - but said nothing to me as her daughter continued to kick up and down my seat for the entire hour and half flight. What happened to manners?

Which reminds me that the daughter in my aisle had a jar of cookies that she gladly shared with the family behind us, but none even offered to the stranger (and only person of color) on the plane. I say that as a joke, but seriously, I'm beginning to wonder...

And then as the flight went on, the father proceeded to lean his head on his daughter and drape his arm around her. Now this might seem cute and fatherly protective, but the manner in which he was leaning and she was sitting was a cause for concern - at least in my head. I began to wonder if they were not father and daughter until he said, "I was really proud of the things you said about our family the other day - and I know mom will be, too." As we were leaving the plane, she joked with him ,"I'm so happy to be home, I'll be mom has the water started in the washer for our laundry already." They laughed. I had a puzzled look on my face. Maybe it's cute, maybe it's slightly incestuous. I'm hoping for the former rather than the latter. Megan saw it too and she said it was sketchy at best. I'm not one to judge, but it was definitely strange.

Megan got to sit next to a girl who was wearing Daisy Dukes, flip-flops, a cut off shirt, permed hair, a tatoo on her hand, and with nothing to read. She kept leaning over to read Megan's magazine and making commentary. She was from Des Moines and so Megan asked her for some suggestions about where to go. According to her, there's not a lot to do in Des Moines, but stay away from downtown because that's where all the "snobby people" go.

Hi, we're from New York. Chances are, they will make us feel right at home.

So we got in, travled to Embassy Suites where we are staying - it's niiiice. The room looks like a bachelor pad, though. But it's still nice.

Then we went to a place called Centro that seriously reminds me of a Manhattan bar - it's considered a nice place to go - and met Judy, the staff person we'd be working with. This must have been the snobby place Daisy Dukes was referring to. We had a nice dinner, learned the lay of the land, and had a drink before cruising around a bit to learn the area a bit before retiring to the hotel.

Looks like we've got our work cut out for us, but hey, that's what this is all about. I might just like it here more than I thought I would...

Last Day in Seattle...

Sadly, it was my last day in Seattle. After a morning of paperwork and logistics for the move to Iowa, Megan and I headed for the fish market to take in the local sights and watch them throw fish.

As we were leaving the car, Megan turned to me and asked, "Remember that guy who worked at the fish market and dated Janet on the Real World Seattle?" I know you all remember the one - if you watch the show, that is. So as we turn the corner, who do we see behind the counter?



Psycho fish counter guy. That's right, he still works there. Amazing.

We strolled around the market a bit before stopping for crepes. The crepes were worth their own blog - they were incredible. I feasted on a crepe of strawberries, nutella, whipped cream, and powdered sugar - fantastic.

Afterwards, we headed towards the Space Needle so that I could go to the Experience Music Project and so that Megan could see the Needle. Turns out the EMP closes at 6, which sucked, but gives me another reason to go back.

So we went to the Space Needle instead. Took some awesome pictures, they will be uploaded into the imagestation album at the left (look for the link) shortly.

We headed back to the hotel to pick up Jess and then we headed towards the original Starbucks and then to the international section of town to a Japanese market much like Mitsuwa in Jersey. Then it was back to the hotel for a sleepless night of packing and wrapping things up.

Yes, I said I was sleepless in Seattle on my last night there. Sometimes I think I'm funny.

To the corn!

Primary Day

Aahh, Primary Day. In the past, I've been poll watching, but I much rather preferred what I did today because it did make me feel like I did something. Hard to believe I've only been on the West Coast for a week; it's seems much longer than that - and now I'm leaving it...

So it was actually another fairly laid-back day in the sense that we weren't exactly all frazzled, which has also been my other Primary Day experience. We had a nice lunch before heading to the office to do a round of phone calling to our members for about an hour or so before going over the Gregoire for governor campaign to do more phone calling. We then headed back to the hotel for a spell before heading to the victory parties.

We went to the Coordinated Campaign party first and had a drink and watched as the results started to come in. We then headed to the Gregoire party to hear the democratic nominee speak.

P.S. the hotels were very very nice. Very shi-shi-pee-pee-doo-doo.

We wore our AFSCME green Kerry/Edwards shirts, which I only tell you because we were trying to get in the news shots. There were TVs stationed around the room where the party was held and we were directly in front of the press riser. So as the speech ended, we noticed that the camera we were standing in front of was a live feed from the room, so glancing at the TV, we noticed we were in the bottom of the frame. Charles was fairly more visible and I noticed I was standing directly to the left of the reporter (his right since his back was turned) so we were trying to position oursevles so that our shirts would be more visible. So as I tried to look nonchalant walking sideways, this woman was trying to get in the shot as well and I nearly knocked right into her. She was looking directly at the camera and I was attmepting to get in the space next to her so that my shirt would be more visible. It was pretty amusing watching us all try to move into the spaces so that you could see the shirts.

Afterwards, we had another drink at the hotel, which is an understatement since the beer I got was practically two beers in a big-ass fluted glass.

By the way, for those of you who have read the previous posts, for the record, Pullyaup is pronounced "Pew-al-up." Yeah, not as it looks.

Tomorrow is our last day in Seattle since we're headed for Iowa on Thursday. I should change the address of this blog from "MonkeeinSeattle" to "Monkeeinafreakinwheatfield" or something like that. I am going to miss this town, despite not spending much time here - I can tell that I would be really comfortable here.

By the way, the picture below is a moment of levity today, not that we were exactly lacking in that today... but not only is it the only picture I snapped today, it's pretty freakin' hilarious. So yeah, that's Jess and current WA Governor, Locke.

I'm definitely getting sent to the chigger-infested field now... sorry, Jess.

Relaxation

So the day before the Primary, we got to relax. It was niiiice. I caught up on some z's - which I desperately needed since I feel like I've been going non-stop since before I got here. Spent most of the morning lounging in bed. We had a quick meeting to go over logistics and details and then tried to figure out what to do with our afternoon. After agreeing that we needed a laid-back day, we decided on the IMAX and a local bookstore.

So we headed to the aquarium to go see "The Eruption of Mt. St. Helens" and "Ocean Oasis." Now I've been to the IMAX in NYC, which was a huge freakin' screen, but this was something entirely different. The seats were reclined to an almost lying down position. The screen was a domed scrim with an intense sound system.

And I felt pretty nausous for the first half of the first film. It was waaay too much stimulus for my eyes and mind at first, but then I started to get used to it. It was pretty cool and very informative as well.

We then headed to the independent bookstore and unfortunately, the coffee shop attached to it was closed, but it doesn't matter because it was a bookstore and anyone who knows me knows that I haven't met a bookstore I haven't liked yet.

The only exception to this rule is Walden Books and B. Dalton Books because as my friend Meggan once put it, "It's where books go to die." Now I'm usually an equal opportunity bookstore goer, but those chains pretty much should die out.

So anyway, we get there and I immediately have five books in my hand and have to choose very carefully. So I still end up spending a lot of cashish, but well worth it, I figure.

Yeah, that was pretty much my day. Came back to the hotel to do some laundry, which ended up taking about four hours. Neeeeat. But it was maybe the most relaxing day I've had in weeks, which is saying a lot since it happens so very not often enough on the campaign trail. So sorry if this isn't as riveting as my past posts (are they really that spectacular?), but I promised to keep a log and so I am. Blah.

Finally!

Today, I finally got to spend a day in Seattle. After driving back to Seattle from Yakima in the ass-early morning, we finally got a day to spend looking around.

We went to Fremont and had lunch at a Greek restaurant before I got to play in heaven, er, at least heaven for me. It was an acoustic musical instruments store and it had guitars, banjos, dulcimers, violins, cellos, basses, ukeleles, mandolins, percussion instruments, harps - you name it, it had it, and I was happier than a monkee on crack, but we'll get to that later.

We checked out the flea market where I had an encounter with a psychic who was eerily accurate. So the outlook looks good - she wants to call me on Friday after meditating on me - I'm not sure what that means, but I'm sure it'll be interesting. It was actually a nice encounter.

We ended up perusing through the things and stopped at one where I loaded up on these awesome handmade wallets and coin purses. I'll just have to show you later, but my favorite purchase was my Elvis wallet - again, you'll just have to see it. It's fabulous.

We then headed north and east to check out the wineries and the Red Hook Brewery. We stopped at Columbia Winery to enjoy a free wine tasting and then hurried across the way to Chateau Ste. Michelle, which was gorgeous. Unfortunately, we got there too late because it was closed, but we did stop to take pictures of the stunning grounds and lawns - it was so ideal, I would have spent a lot of time there. The picture above is from the winery - and the picture below - I just thought they were cool.

Then, we had an interesting time at the Red Hook Brewery where we got the Sampler of six of their beers. They were supposed to be six 3oz beers, but they ran out of the 3oz glasses and instead gave us a little more than 3oz of each beer in a pint glass. Yeah. You can only imagine. I am too used to the regular Red Hook you get in NYC bars - these were fresh and fabulous. I'm a big fan of the Blonde. I highly recommend it. After a pint of the blonde, we were rushing back to Seattle for a dinner at Wasabi Bistro.

The Bistro was nice, a fairly shi-shi-pee-pee-doo-doo kind of place. There were five of us - me, Jess, Megan, Chaz, and his girlfriend, Carlin. And no, I haven't been able to eat sushi since my 21st birthday (I'm sure you can figure that out) and I thought I did well with my Yakisoba and one piece of sushi. I've got to ease back into it.

Afterwards, we tried to go to the dueling piano bar (how cool is that?) but it was closed, so we opted for Ollie's for some karaoke. It was interesting. When we got there, it was fairly dead with this very special guy on the mic who kept singing to us. He was very into it and very out of key, but we appreciated his spunk. Meanwhile, this crazy lady, Charlene, slapped Megan on the butt and before you knew it, we had slipped the karaoke guy a slip of paper for "Ice Ice Baby" and had a rockin' time. The crazy lady proceeded to sing "Summertime" and butchered it pretty well. Her boyfriend watched while we made fun of the fact that we could see his buttcrack when he sat. That was awesome. We also did "Wannabe" and had a good time doing it. We tried to slip one to the karaoke guy to have Jess do "I Touch Myself," but then the place started to get a little crowded. For a Sunday night, this place was hopping. So then Chaz and Carlin left and we were patiently awaiting for the karaoke guy to call out our selection, whereupon we'd probably get beaten by Jess.

Since Jess, Megan, and I are all New Yorkers, we decided to put in a request for "New York, New York" under the name "New Yorkers for Kerry." But then he didn't call us, though he called Charlene up for a super special (or totchy) rendition of the National Anthem. She was special indeed, especially since she kept retreating to the bathroom to do some coke. That was pretty cool. We waited for about another twenty minutes before we realized that karaoke guy was putting us off and we were pretty tired, so we left.

On the way out, we told Jess that "New York" was not the first song that would have been called and would have instead required her to sing the Divinyls. But then we realized we probably shouldn't do stuff like that with Jess since she's the boss of us and she swears that we're in trouble once we hit Iowa. I have every reason to belive that is true.

By the way, has anyone heard of Chiggers? Yeah, sounds derogatory, but aparently they are serious. They are these little insects like ticks that burrow in your skin and they only live in places like Iowa and Texas. Sweet. I'm going to need to get my roommates to send me some closed-toed shoes right now.

But if Jess wants to get back at us, she'll probably send us to some heavily infested Chigger areas. Most of the times, I don't regret being a smartass, but then I go and do something that I regret much later down the line when I least expect it. Rock.

Super Saturday

So Super Saturday has come and gone, and surprisingly enough, two volunteers showed up at the office this morning to do some doorknocking, so we gladly took them in.

There ended up being an odd number of us, so I spent most of the morning and early afternoon putting together additional materials. The good news is that the Shop Steward promised to get the bulk of work that we couldn't finish today done before the primary and bring in some good folks that would help. So we wanted to be sure they had enough materials for everything, so I spent most of the day putting it together. Turns out we were a bit off in our numbers, so making packets of materials took forever.

But soon, I was on the road, hitting some members at their homes. The picture above was a sign that was on one of our member's yards. It was fabulous. I loaded them up with some good Kerry/Edwards gear and went on my way.

I went to trailer homes, nice homes, townhouses, and shacks today. Definitely an interesting demographic out here. Everyone was really nice, though, so that was a nice thing to see.

After I finished up the map, I headed back to the office to do some phone banking and already our efforts paid off - more than half of the folks I talked to had received their materials and planned to take a look at them if they hadn't already. At least three of them said it made a difference in swaying their vote and about six said they were interested in future volunteer opportunities. So not a bad day at all, I would say.

Tomorrow morning, it's back to Seattle for a day of touring around the city with Jess and Megan (my supervisor and another member of the support staff whom I'm sure I'll talk about in much more detail in the coming posts - I heart the team we've got out here).

Tonight, I have to add in another picture to my usual one picture per post. When I wrote an email to my book club to tell them that I was being shipped to Seattle, I mistakenly typed that I might possibly be in "Tahoma" instead of "Tacoma." Well, I got a good ribbing from our former Washington State resident, Vivian, on the snafu. So I'm driving around Yakima today, hitting our member list and what do I come across?

A member who lived on Tahoma Ave. So they did send me to Tahoma, after all. Hahahahahahaha, I'm getting the last laugh now...

Burnin' Gas

I've been in a car for twelve hours today.

Seriously. The Christ.

Today was a day of "doorknocking"... er, "drop and dash." Instead of doorknocking as it were, we are putting a bag full of "lit" (campaign materials) on member's doors.

So Chaz and I hit the road at about 10am, aiming to go the furthest out and work our way back in. The drive was actually nice, we saw the "Wine Country" part of Washington, and like Napa, it was gorgeous. Set in the bare mountains, the vineyards seemed to pop out of nowhere, lines of tall trees scattering the landscape. It was kind of just nestled there. And it was a nice change of scenery.

After about two and a half hours, we reached our first door. Well, we had to find it first. And that included passing a Llama farm. That's right, a Llama farm. At first glance, I thought it was a horse, but after seeing the strange hair on them, I realized I was looking at a damn llama.

By our maps, we should have been finished with our first thirty houses in two and a half hours. Four and a half hours later, we finished and finally were able to get some food at around 4 in the afternoon. The maps and directions were not terribly accurate - they didn't take into account things like land masses. So we fought our way to about ten of the thirty houses on the list, getting terribly lost, and getting incredibly annoyed.

But we prevailed and only missed about two houses. Then it was some food and back to the next list which was twenty miles away. That list was a little bit easier, with the exception of this particular direction we found a few times on the second list: "Turn right onto (insert name) Street. Go .2 miles and turn right on local road."

Yeah, you try finding a local road in the dark. I'll bet it's really hard. Because it is.

But the highlight of the trip was meeting this member named Bertha. She was so excited to see us and asked why no one told her about the door to door because she would have helped and would have gotten a whole lot of volunteers. Why wasn't she on our call list for volunteers yesterday?

But she was exactly what we needed today to make us feel good. We loaded her up with signs, pins, shirts, bumper stickers, and she invited us in for a chat. She was an incredibly active member and plans to show a screening of "Farenheit 9/11" in her home for members and friends of hers who haven't made up their minds or are unregistered. It totally made our nights.

Oh, and two things that were of interest on the trip? A whole building that was the home of the "Mosquito Prevention Center" - are you kidding me? That's such a problem that they have an entire agency inhabiting one whole building?

The other interesting/scary thing I saw was definitely the Gospel School that looked like it was on lock down with these huge and imposing gates. Definitely was in God's country today. Might explain all the Bush signs...

But on the way home, I definitely was pulled over by a cop for going over 75 in a 70. But he was really nice about it (probably because I was in a rented car, or he saw the Kerry signs, or he saw the union materials) and since we were so close, just asked me to watch it. I've got some sort of guardian angel or something like that.

So that was my day. What will happen tomorrow? More of the same, but this time in Yakima itself, so it should be a little easier than where we were. The places we went to today were a strange mix of things, some very rural and run-down places and some really huge and beautiful homes in a nice slice of suburbia. I think that if I had to live anywhere in this part of Yakima, I would choose some of the neighborhoods we visited in the valley today. Just gorgeous places. And the sunset over the valley was pretty impressive; if I could have stopped to get a good picture, I would have. I think the picture above is a nice artistic slice of what we saw today.

Good news, though. We get to leave here on Sunday and head back to Seattle. So after yet another day of the drop and dash, I get to go back to the other hotel, take in some of Seattle on Sunday and then two days before the Primary. So I'm really excited about that, I finally get a day to hang out in Seattle!

'Till tomorrow...

Yakima Calling

So today marked my first full day in Yakima. What can I say about Yakima that hasn't already been written in volumes by Charles Dikkens (the famous Danish author)?

Okay, that was my lame Monty Python reference. Kudos if you know which sketch it belongs to.

But seriously. I'm in Yakima. The picture above is the view from my room/balcony/patio... thing. I leave it up to you to make a judgement on my surroundings based on that picture, I will do the best to fill in when I can.

Note the difference between the scenery here and the scenery from the western part of the state that is posted in the previous post.

So after finally meeting the AFSCME folks here and setting up shop until the primary, my partner in crime, Charles (or Chaz, as I call him), and I made up 300 bags of materials for our Super Saturday GOTV (get out the vote for those of you not in campaign life) efforts. After dodging potential paper cuts and mind-numbing pile-making, we retreated to the Safeway to get some groceries for the rest of the week. We then retreated to our respective hotel rooms to down some chow before four hours of phone calling for volunteers and Primary Day reminders.

It really wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

Well, with the exception of a few folks on the line, they were mostly nice and friendly (for those I could get). Chaz definitely got more interesting comments than I did - I'll have to explain that another time. But we're having one hell of a time trying to find folks willing to volunteer out here. I know folks are busy, but seriously, if we don't find more than the one volunteer we secured, Chaz and I will be busier than a one-legged man at an ass kicking contest trying to do door knocking and phone calls between now and the Primary.

The guy who works at the AFSCME Local we're working out of, John, also assures us that not only will it be very difficult to find volunteers out here, many folks out here are big dog owners. That may not mean a lot to many of you, but trust me, it means a lot to me and Chaz who will be doing a lot of door knocking. Think pit bulls and rotweilers and now you're on the bus with me.

I can't decide what exactly I make of Yakima so far. In many ways, it reminds me of Chestertown in that sleepy-small town kind of way. It also reminds me of places I've only seen in movies - a very rural place where there are cliques of folks who have known each other their whole lives and are fairly weary of strangers. This will make for some interesting stories tomorrow when Chaz and I formally start doorknocking. John put it this way: "They're pretty close-knit and have their friends, when organizers from international (which is essentially what Chaz and I are doing) come, they always look at you twice and say, 'where are you from? and what do you want from us?' It'll be challenging alright."

But that's okay with me. Didn't I come out here for the challenge and the work? Many call me crazy for liking this way of life, but I look at it as fighting for a good cause (ousting Bush and cronies) and meeting new folks whom I would never meet otherwise. Plus, it's such an interesting journey. The bulk of my campaign experience has been in NYC (at least my formative bulk of experience) and I guess that I got too used to folks in New York, what to expect from them based on things like the neighborhood they live in, the kind of response I could expect to get from folks based on the work they did, how to approach a New Yorker on the street with campaign materials, the kind of response I'd get from them - things like that. It's daunting at first, but nice to be in a completely different place. Here, I'm a total fish out of water and learning to swim.

And I heart it. It's what I thrive on. And I'm meeting such interesting people. And the weather is perfect. It's comfortable during the day and cool at night. For most folks, this means that it's probably slightly colder than what you might consider comfortable, but for a girl from Syracuse, it's juuuust right.

I don't know what to make of it yet besides the fact that I know that if I lived here, I probably wouldn't want to stay here all my life. But it's gonna be a great learning experience.

Come back to me after tomorrow and let's see if I have this rosy outlook, but I can honestly say that despite some of the sketchiness in my surroundings (and those national polling numbers - I just don't understand), I'm having a great time. And that's all that matters right now.

Like a Mountain Goat in a Tuxedo

That was a snippet of a commercial I heard during my ridiculously long drive to Yakima valley today.

By the way, it's pronounced: Yak-i-mau. Just in case you were wondering. The "locals" made a lot of fun of us New Yorkers trying to pronounce all the names out here. I'd like to hear them try "Houston Street" on for size. Unfortunately, that's the only one I can think of at the moment. I'm spent.

There's another interesting town I passed earlier today called Pullyaup. Try that one. Apprently, they can tell if you're from around these parts if you can pronounce it correctly. Try it out and let me know. I'll give you the correct pronunciation in a later post. Tricky, I know.

So I am definitely feeling the effects of jet lag, not to mention the confusion I feel when I want to chat with someone from home. I have to keep trying to mentally remind myself that I'm three hours behind, not to mention that my body is trying to keep up. Eating times are definitely interesting. I was so hungry at 8am, I thought I was going to eat my hand.

But I didn't.

So today has been fairly interesting, a lot of travel. I traveled to Olympia this morning, but first, stopped by the Kerry/Edwards office in Seattle. They might possibly have the best view of any campaign office I've ever seen, hands down. Looks right over the water - I would be happy as a pig in poop working there everyday. Doesn't matter what I would be doing, just happy as hell knowing that the view was awesome.

Spent a considerable amount of time in Olympia today, preparing for the trip to Yakima, map making, walk-sheets, flyers, sign-up sheets. Oh, and a good amount of time trying to figure out why there was suddenly a ridiculously large amount of money missing from my bank account - only to find out that they definitely screwed up at the hotel and now I'm patiently waiting for my ridiculously large amount of money to get back to my account.

Oh, and why is it that I cannot speak to someone directly at my bank? I end up having to call 1-800 numbers, listening to the same messages, only to hit zero over and over again and then get hung up on. Usually, the fourth time is the charm, but what the hell kind of annoyance is that? Especially when I'm on the other coast with no chance of going to my bank. Argh. Something I definitely did not anticipate before coming out here. Naive maybe, but whatever, I'm annoyed.

So we finally leave Olympia for the lovely valley of Yakima. By the way, every time that I mention to people from around here that I'm going to Yakima, this is what it looks like:

Me: Yeah, I'm headed off to Yakima today.
Them: (registers an immediate horrified/sympathetic/confused look) Oh. Ummm.... (pregnant pause) Oh.
Me: (suddenly worried look) Okay. That doesn't make me feel too confident.
Them: (head cocked to one side, slight smile) Have you ever been to Yakima?

So far, I've heard a few things about Yakima, such as: it's very desert-like, it's hot as hell, it's an "interesting" place, or there's NOTHING there.

And after a three to four hour drive, stuck in some traffic, some slight rain, and the most beautiful scenery I've seen in a long time (check out the picture up top, it was absolutely gorgeous), we finally got a glimpse of what we'd be seeing.

Based on looks alone, they were absolutely right.

It was like a wholly different world.

The green mountains were replaced by brown spotty ones. The lush scenery was replaced with prarie grass and bushes. We were definitely heading into Yakima.

So after getting a little lost here, we finally found our hotel, and after some issues with payment, finally got to move our bags in. We ended up at a diner for some dinner and then back to the hotel for some r & r. Of course, I've been forcing myself to stay awake so that I can get used to it here, and I think I'm succeeding, considering that it's 2am and it would be 5am back home. Speaking of which...

I'm going to head off to bed. But I have arrived in a place the likes of which I have never seen before. And it excites me a makes me slightly nervous for the task ahead this week (pure campaign and field work in a completely unknown area). But I will certainly let you know more about that tomorrow.

In the meantime, sweet dreams and good days.

LEFT COAST TRIPPIN'

So today, I traveled across the country for the first day in my journey to bring home Washington State for Kerry and keep it in the blue column. For those who aren't familiar with the situation, I left my job in New York City because I accepted a position with AFSCME where I am assisting in organizing the state. So I'm formally back in the game, back in what I would consider my element.

But you wouldn't know it by looking at me. I suppose I could do it much easier when I was slightly younger (I'm really not that old), but I'm exhausted from the travel and the orientation and the jet lag. Not a big surprise, but I was hoping that it wouldn't be this bad.

So at around 6am this morning, I hopped in a car (the seven sevens of Tel Aviv for those New Yorker paying attention) and headed to La Guardia for my first leg of the trip, an 8am flight to Denver.

Now, keep in mind that I drove to Syracuse Sunday morning, spent some time with family, got up at 4am to catch a Jet Blue flight back to NYC (it took an hour and we arrived shortly after 730am) so that I could finish (start) packing and cleaning up my apartment. So not only am I already pretty tired as hell, I've also been spoiled by my Jet Blue ride. For those who haven't flown Jet Blue, if you can, I highly recommend it.

Not to mention that cleaning and packing took me almost all night. I haven't slept in days. Oy.

So I get on the full plane, sitting in the middle seat (yikes) and am in the back of the plane. Not terrible, but not great. I'm not complaining, though. Oh, except for that screaming child two rows behind me. Given the time change, I'm not paying much attention at all to how long the actual flight will be. I passed out soon after take off only to wake up to the beginning of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. Hmmm, this flight is longer than I anticipated. After the movie ended, I was definitely in and out of conciousness - and all I know is that it felt like the flight was about five hours long. I know better than that, but it exhausted me, being in an extremely cramped place, and very uncomfortable. I don't remember ever being that uncomfortable in a plane - has anyone else had their buttocks fall asleep on them? Yeah, if you have, get back to me, but I seriously was uncomfortable for about 90% of the trip. I also had to use the bathroom really bad considering all the coffee I drank, but what is the protocol when the aisle person is completely passed out next to you? Yeah, that might have kept me a little bit more awake than I would have liked.

Which brings me to another question - when the hell did they start charging for meals on the plane? I was hoping for a nice airline breakfast. Instead, I get a stewardess wielding Au Bon Pain boxes asking if anyone wanted to "buy a sandwich." Um, no thanks, I'm not buying a bagel for $5 - especially since I'm from NYC.

Which brings me to yet another question - when did airline stewardesses become surly? Aren't they supposed to be cheerful and nice? Yeah, definitely wasn't feeling that this morning at all. So I'm hungry, exhaused, uncomfortable, and to top it off - my stewardess has a permanent puss on her face. But I'm too tired to care.

So we get into Denver and I have about twenty minutes before we board the next plane, which was also completely full of passengers, complete with screaming baby two rows in front of me. Now, I heart babies. But I did not heart them very much today.

I'm luckier on this leg, though, I have a window seat. However, I am seated next to a mother and her extremely fidgety child. He kept kicking the bottom of the chair. Awesome. By the way, it's about 11am in Denver, so I'm not really sure how long I've been flying, except that I'm still pretty beat. At least I had a good book to read, so I was engrossed in that before passing out. Not long afterwards, the extremely sarcastic flight attendant is crusing the aisle with the beverage cart and brusing elbows along the way. It's still close to 11am and the mother next to me orders a Bloody Mary. I began to wonder if I should have one, deciding against it since it was still early - when I realized it was afternoon in NYC - and she proceeded to then pass out, her little boy still kicking the seat. Whatever, I can see the Rocky Mountains from my window and I'm fairly content.

Too bad I still had to pee. Seriously, what do you do when the person next to you is passed out and still has their drink on the tray table?

So this is the very long way of telling everyone that I arrived in Seattle at around 2pm, Pacific Time. I assume that I'll be able to make my 2:45 orientation meeting.

I was wrong.

My supervisor here was right, it takes forever for the baggage claim. After twenty minutes of squinting at a conveyor belt for my suitcase (smartly, I took a bag that doesn't look like anyone else's or else it would have taken longer), I stop by the Avis desk to pick up my rental car. I'm here for two months, so the Avis desk sends me to the Northern desk where I am again relocated to yet one more Avis desk. Forty minutes later, I finally have the rental car and am definitely late for my 2:45 meeting.

I'm too busy making phone calls and figuring out where the hell I am before I finally take in my surroundings.

To the west of me lies the Pacific Ocean, blinking, deeply blue, and shining in the early afternoon sun. To the right, overwhelmingly large pine trees sway in the breeze. Directly in front of me is traffic, but at this point, I don't care. I've finally arrived and I'm finally spending time in what I consider the only West Coast city I'd ever consider living in. And it's as beautiful as I imagined it in my head. For the first time all day, a grin crosses my face. I'm here!

The grin is quickly met by confusion. Where the hell am I?

The helpful map Avis gave me is not very helpful. I take a look at the map I purchased in NYC before getting here. Unfortunately, neither of them indicate the exits. So after finally getting a hold of my supervisor to let her know I'm late, I finally snake my way throught the traffic to get to the hotel. The Space Needle is now plainly in view and I'm trying hard not to get distracted by my surroundings as I figure out where the hell I'm going.

I finally get to the hotel, which gives me just enough time to dump my bags before heading to my orientation. P.S. I haven't eaten yet. Neeeeat.

But I get through my orientation, meet the team I'll be working with, and get the final details of what is about to happen to me - I'm being sent to Olympia tomorrow morning before heading out the Yakima Valley, central WA, until the primary. Very exciting stuff. So sure, I'm excited, but I'm tired as hell, want to unpack (only to pack for my week in Yakima), and here I am.

So that, in a very specific way, is the beginning of my journey out here. I intend to write something every day - no matter what is happening and no matter how tired I am. So we'll see what happens with this blog, but I am going to be as good as I can. I'm sure that I will have so many stories to share, this is a good way for anyone who wants to know what is going on with me - at their own leisure.

Yes, I am the blogger who cares about you.

So tune in tomorrow, same monkee time, same monkee channel. On the next "Tales from the Trail" - TRYING NOT TO GET LOST HEADING STRAIGHT FOR THE DESERT.

Now, I must go and continue unpacking and packing, shower, and pass out. Have good nights all!

Cheers.