Gobama!

Or, my friend Deirdre, the rock star

Deirdre and I spent the weekend in the Reno area of Nevada, canvassing for Obama. It was an interesting experience. We met some angry people, some friendly people, some hostile people, and some hopeful people.

When we arrived at her place at Incline Village, we found the Rolling Stone cover from July--with Obama on the cover--signed by the man himself. "To the Bauers, thank you for your support. Barack Obama." This magazine was addressed to Emily, and we had left it there over the July 4 weekend. But given that the signature is addressed to the Bauers (and given that they have been providing shelter to Obama campaign workers for the past month or two), I guess it's theirs to keep. ;-)

We went to Reno on Saturday morning, along with about 2000 other Obama volunteers, to be met by a full rainbow over the city. Deirdre and I started counting good omens.

The campaign sent us to Sparks, and working there was a bit of a downer. The neighborhood we walked seemed like it could be friendly enough but this election has a lot of people on edge.

We each had a "turf", with a list of names & addresses of voters who have not been regular voters. We also had their age, gender, political party affiliation, and any indication of how they were expected to vote (based on phone polling). Mostly, we were there to "Get Out the Vote" (GOTV), but occasionally we had someone we were supposed to "Persuade".

Anyone who knows Deirdre knows that she can talk the paint off a post. She also is somewhat disarming. So, though we had fingers pointed at us and at least one door slammed in our faces, Deirdre remained upbeat and was the best companion for this weekend I could imagine.

On Sunday, they sent us to Sun Valley. Though more economically depressed, the people there were friendlier, overall (coincidence?) We had a number of people express their gratitude for our work and their anticipation of voting.

My favorite, favorite, favorite story from this weekend is actually Deirdre's. But she doesn't have a blog, so I'll share it on her behalf. :-)

We were down a dirt/gravel road, in a circle of three or four prefab/mobile homes. Deirdre walked up the steps of one of the homes, knocked on the door, and asked the older gentleman who answered for the name on our list, a woman's name. We'll call her "Debbie".

Deirdre: I'm Deirdre, with Obama's Campaign for Change. Is Debbie here?
MOTH (man of the house): No, she's not here.
D: Do you expect her later? Should I come back?
MOTH: No, she's not coming back till December, at the earliest.
D: Oh, is she out of town?
MOTH: You could say that... She's in prison.

(He then starts telling Deirdre about the pyramid scheme "Debbie" was involved in and how she used someone else's credit card.)

D: I'm sorry. Is she your wife?
MOTH: Nope, she's my daughter-in-law.
D: Oh! Is your son going to vote?
MOTH: Don't think so.... He's in prison, too.

At this point, I believe Deirdre just asked the man how he was going to vote. I can't remember if he was registered and going to vote for Obama, or unregistered and would have voted for Obama if he could. But he was a hoot, for sure.

The next gravel road over, in a circle of another four prefab/mobile homes, I walked by three dogs who started barking. This got a dog over on the left going, and then two more over on the right joined in. Deirdre and I were surrounded by six barking dogs and we just started cracking up. Maybe you had to be there, but we thought the whole thing was just hilarious.

When no one answered, we left literature and then revisited later, to see if the literature was still there. Often it was, but if it was gone, we made a second attempt to make contact. It was a long two days, and Saturday evening, I think we both were feeling kind of down. But Sunday was reinvigorating and we relaxed that evening, basking in the feeling of having done a good thing.

However you're going to vote, be sure to do it today. Enjoy the fruits of this wonderful democracy of ours!

I Seem to Have Touched a Nerve

I strongly suspect I am a proud member of the "small clique in Albany [that] have been running a very negative campaign against the candidates endorsed by the Democratic Party and the Sierra Club."

How did I, a humble lifetime Democrat (in fact, I'm leaving for Reno this evening to knock on doors for the esteemed Mr. Obama) end up running with such questionable types? I'm glad you asked.

First, go here and read the letter from Nan Wishner and then the letter from me. Hopefully, it will put things in perspective.

Honestly, I find it more than a little laughable that *I* am being accused of Karl Rovian tactics. I wrote a letter to a small, local website. The Sierra Club has blanketed Albany's doorsteps with an accusation of "negative campaigns". Have I missed something? Have other people written--or otherwise distributed--attacks on the local Sierra Club or Democratic Party candidates?

So, read the letters and then read the flyer and then ask yourself, "Who has the sour grapes?" I would be outraged if I didn't find their cynicism so laughable. John Muir is spinning in his grave...

Sorry It's Been So Long

Wow. Six weeks since I last updated. I'm so sorry. Of course, that assumes anyone is still reading. ;-)

So, we joined a multitude of our Albany neighbors at an Obama fundraiser ages ago (well, it *feels* like ages ago) and Deirdre B and I got the volunteer fever (someone gave me post-its with the infamous "Stop me before I volunteer again" slogan). But the Obama guy was more interested in the Bauers' place in Incline Village as possible housing for campaign workers. So, she and I went to the MoveOn website and volunteered to canvas in Nevada the first weekend in November.

We both got emails about a week and a half ago, saying that what they really needed was not people canvassing the weekend before the election, but rather people working on election day and the day before. Deirdre and I both work full-time, so that wasn't going to work. Meanwhile, I got a phone call from the Obama campaign asking if I could go to Las Vegas this weekend. That wasn't going to work for a multitude of reasons (including my lack of frequent flier miles).

Finally, Deirdre got a phone call last night (Tuesday, seven days before the election) asking if she could go to Reno this weekend. She called me and--voila!--we're going to Reno this weekend. The Obama campaign called me today to confirm I was going, and so it looks like we're set.

And, Obama did his "infomercial" tonight. I went to google to see if I could link to this wonderful video for this blog, and--I kid you not--one of the choices that appeared in the Search box was "barack obama antichrist". Wow. Frank says that Rush Limbaugh has said that Obama "hypnotizes" people. Because, heaven knows, it couldn't be that people are just disgusted with their loss of civil rights, the economy, or an unending war. No, it must be that he's "magic". Hello, Salem anyone?

My word I am sooooooooooo ready for this election to be over. Well, and for Bush to be on his way out and Obama to be on his way in. That would be nice.

Home Again, Home Again...

...Jiggidy Jig.

Whew. What a weekend.

Before
Last Wednesday, Emily tells us that her hard drive appears to have crashed. She got an appointment at the Genius Bar (Apple Help Desk) in Walnut Creek--the one in E-ville couldn't give her an appointment till Saturday. So, Thursday afternoon (the day before leaving for Santa Barbara), we went to Walnut Creek where the Apple "genius" informed us that, yes, the hard drive was dead. D-E-A-D, dead. Getting the rest of the information was a bit like pulling teeth. She could get her data retrieved by calling a phone number on a card. (Frank and I made the mistake of paying for lost data *once*. I would not recommend it.) We explained that we were leaving town the next day--what should we do about replacing the hard drive? Well, he suggested we buy one.

Well, okay then. Thanks. Um, any recommendations? Oh, sure. Okay? And? What might those be. Oh, well, here's how you take this one out and put the new one in. Okay, super. And, um, any specifications? (I'd just like to mention here that this guy is so lucky we saw him before the trip and not after. I think I might have had to bite him if I'd seen him after the trip....)

We eventually got specifications and we left.

Friday morning
Frank, Emily, and I went to a U-Haul pickup in E-ville at 9:30. The woman "assisting" us was at full capacity and it was not particularly comforting. After about 30 minutes, we had our 14' truck and Em & I went to Ikea to get her bed and a mattress. Then we headed up to Jackie & Yusuf's to get the furniture they so kindly gave to Emily (a dresser and two end tables) (along with the mattress and box springs they even more kindly gave me & Frank).

We got home a bit before noon. Frank helped us get the mattress & box spring out of the van and into the garage. Emily loaded the rest of her stuff into the truck. She and I had lunch. We ran some errands (including dropping off the painting that used to hang in the living room at Frank's office). Becky dropped off her screwdriver drill bits (thanks Becky!). And Emily and I hit the road sometime around 1:30 or 2.

The U-Haul truck drove reasonably well. The front seat is a bench, though, and I wasn't able to get comfortably to the gas pedal. So, after several hours, I was getting a bit of a pinched nerve in my back, from hyper-extending my right foot. We pulled over for an early dinner at the Copper Cafe in the Madonna Inn and then hit the road for the last 90 minutes.

We got into Isla Vista around 7:30. Unloaded the truck and immediately started on putting Em's bed together.

We finished building the bed around 11:30, and after a nice cup of hot tea with her roommate Lauren and their "temporary" guest Cooper (sleeping on their sofa till he finds a place of his own), we went to bed around 12:15.

Saturday morning
Boy, people like to party in Isla Vista. It was a bit surreal being completely and utterly surrounded by serious partying, into the wee hours. Some neighbors were going strong at 3:30, but I found my earplugs and all was good. Em slept with her roommate, leaving me the new bed. I felt a bit guilty, taking Em's bed the first night, but it was better than a sleeping bag on the floor, let me assure you. :-) It was quite comfy and I think Em will enjoy it this year.

Anyway. We found breakfast in the morning and then I took the truck to a drop-off in Goleta. Hertz picked me up and took me to the rental facility where I got my zippy little economy car. After getting roughly 11 miles to the gallon in the truck, I was thrilled to have the Hyundai.

I went back to U-Haul (the line was so long and the Hertz guy was waiting, so I left without settling accounts) and finished up there. Then picked up Em and took her to K-Mart for some essentials.

We took her stuff back home, and got things mostly organized, and then, I hit the road for home.

I felt a little bad about not taking my daughter to lunch before leaving, but: it had been a loooooooong 1.5 days, and I think she really wanted to get unpacked anyway.

I got to the Hertz rental at Oakland airport around 6:30. Frank picked me up, took me home, and made dinner for me (Thai shrimp). We watched a movie (Charlie Chan in Shanghai--pretty good) and I was in bed by 9 p.m.

I slept a good 11 hours and woke up Sunday feeling human again.

Em is all unpacked and has been enjoying cooking for her roommates. She made cinnamon rolls Sunday morning and then stir fry for them Sunday evening. A few of them are in downtown Santa Barbara today, looking for jobs. Oh! And I ordered a hard drive that will be shipped to her, hopefully this week.

And now? Back to my routine. <whew!>

Family Portrait

We have a new masterpiece in our house. A family portrait--created by Rene Garcia, Jr. and a gift from the dear and wonderful Dennis Vaux and Robert Allen. Suffice to say, this little photo doesn't do the piece justice. First of all--it's glitter (!). And second, it's sizable (a little under 4 feet wide and 5 feet high). It hangs in our living room, where we used to hang an abstract painting. In the next few months, we'll be deciding whether or not to paint the living room, and how to properly light this. And meanwhile, we'll just enjoy it.

Our sincerest and most heartfelt thanks to Dennis and Robert who commissioned this family portrait. And our awe and gratitude to the artist, Rene.

Twain Harte

We returned Saturday from a lovely, relaxing, sunny, hot week in Twain Harte. We're happy to be home, but when I win the lottery, I'm buying a place up there. During the summer, the teeny lake (courtesy of a dammed river from the Sierras) provides respite from the heat, as well as some of my favorite views.

And in the winter, you're never far from snow--Pinecrest and Dodge Ridge are a mere 30 minutes away--but getting there (and getting back to the Bay Area) is easy and mostly traffic free.

We usually stay in Cabin #20, courtesy of Twain Harte Vacation Rentals. And last year, probably the day after I got my diagnosis, I called the rental agents to see if our favorite house would be available this summer. I sort of assumed that the intervening months would be kind of crappy, and having the cabin reserved would give us something to look forward to.

And it did. The anticipation of the peace and relaxation we know up there provided solace during the year. And I enjoyed some happy meditation while we were there. As always, I was reminded of how tremendously lucky we are. To have the family and friends that we know is a special blessing.

In the past, we've gone to Twain Harte every other year for a week of blissful inactivity. Which means that, if we follow the schedule, we won't be going back until the summer after next. But I've reserved our favorite cabin for next summer, just in case.

A Couple Celebrations

Maggie turned 14 a little over a week ago. She had a few friends over for curry and cake and what I refer to as "sneaky Jane Austen". The girls watched Clueless (a contemporary version of Emma), and then they watched Bride & Prejudice (a Bollywood version of Pride & Prejudice). A wonderful time was had and she felt properly feted.

And yesterday I celebrated my "all-clear" with a BBQ at Terrace Park. Here's the cake (courtesy of my darling daughter, Emily).

And that's how we do closure, Karen-style.