Yo Vote!

As I'm writing this entry on election day, the returns are coming in and it's looking more and more like the vote has been Baracked. Ohio just went to Barack and all the talking political heads are saying McCain needed to win all the swing states to have a chance. I'm not gonna use my entire post to write about the election, so let me talk about the first part of my day.

God opened up the way for me to have an orthopedist appointment today at Dr. O's office (the orthopedist who saw me for my earlier knee injury). As I was signing in, the receptionist told me that they didn't admit patients who had been in car accidents...something to do with the involvement of lawyers. So she referred me to another orthopedic office which was right around the corner. That office DID admit car accident patients and they could see me that day! Woohoo!! My appointment would be at 12:45p and it was a little after 8a when I made the appointment, so I had time to run some errands.

I dropped off some cash at my credit union (the first time that I've ever saved $1000 in my life!), hit the library and read more of "Tuesdays with Morrie" (an incredible book...my favorite line so far: "Everyone knows they're going to die, but nobody believes it. If we did, we would do things differently...learn how to die and you learn how to live."), went to Qdoba for lunch (gonna avoid them for a while...their burritos are good, but it made me too full.) and then headed back to the orthopedist.

Doctor Gilbert was a young doc, very cool and seemed to know what he was talking about. He seemed to think there could be an issue with my meniscus and possibly my MCL, so he had me schedule an MRI appointment. It'll be on Friday, so I'll report more on my condition after I get scanned.

After seeing the doc, I went to do my patriotic duty...VOTE. I had driven by Stonegate Elementary School earlier today and the line was crazy long...extending WAY out the door of the school. When I got there around 2p, there were barely eight people in line. So I was in and out of there pretty quick. The rest of the day has been spent here at home, working on various things. I've got a plan to reach out to our neighbors through community service, so I drafted a letter that I'm gonna send them on our community list serve, asking if they need help with anything...running errands, yard work, ANYTHING. If they do, the men of 37 Carona Court can help!

Now it's 10:22p...the election returns are still coming in and it's still looking like an Obama victory is eminent. Wow...the USA's first black president. Many have yearned to see this day. I don't think my generation can fully appreciate the magnitude of this event. Of course we grew up learning about America's history of white presidents, slavery, racism and all that, but very few of us have experienced 1950s and 1960s-type racism. To me, our parents and grandparents can appreciate what's happening today far more than us. I was hanging out at my parent's house the other day and my mom brought up the fact that my grandmother's grandfather was a slave. We are not that far removed from legalized slavery in this country, and here, on November 11, 2008, a black man will more than likely achieve the nation's highest position. Now non-white children really CAN dream about becoming president. Will we see a female president next? Who knows? But I think with President Obama about to take office, it's a lot more likely than ever before.