Now that's exactly what I'd expect to see there

We were driving, my wife and I, out through the desert country around Pinnacle Peak Road and Tatum Boulevard. I'm told the country there looks much as it would have looked before about 1880 though I fear the road and power lines tend to destroy the illusion.

And there, off to the right, maybe 20 metres from the roadside, was a bloke in his thirties riding a unicycle through the brush!

I wish I'd thought of that

I flew back from Dallas today. The customer presentation went more smoothly, and more quickly, than expected and I got back to DFW a couple of hours earlier than I'd expected. Just in time to miss an earlier flight to Phoenix that I wouldn't have taken anyway; it's not worth the hundred bucks to me to get back two hours earlier and the office sure won't pony up the extra.

The gate was crowded and there were no empty seats in the immediate vicinity. But there was one woman with her suitcase proudly occupying the seat by her side. This with people standing around. So this guy walks up and, as cool as you please, said:

'So you've got two asses!'

She got the point. And I had an uncomfortable couple of minutes trying to stifle the laughter. I wish I'd thought of it! (and had the courage to say it).

There's precision for you

Last week I received a mailout from the Maricopa County Recorders office, the people who run elections here. The trend is, it seems, to try and get as many people as possible to vote by mail, doubtless with the goal, ultimately, of not having walk in voting at all. Over this little black ducks dead body; I like the process of attending at the polling place and sticking my ballot in the box.

Hence the mailout; an application for permanent early voting registration. Obviously I don't intend to avail myself of the opportunity; methinks the travel has calmed down to a predictable level. That said, I'm off to Dallas tomorrow (Tuesday) on a mere weeks notice, to present at a customer internal users group meeting. And even if they *did* require me to travel the day before the next Presidential Election, I can always use the walk-in early voting system.

All of which is my typically long winded introduction to what caught my eye on the permanent early voting registration form; they had a section which lists the potential dates of elections. Obviously they don't print exact dates nor do they predict the next five or ten years dates, nope, they list the formulae by which the election dates are set.

This differs markedly from the system I'm used to where the incumbent government gets to choose a date, within certain limits, that it believes is most conducive to winning. Thus you can never quite predict an exact date. Not so here in the US it seems.

There's one we all know; the first Tuesday following the First Monday in November. Two more, the details of which I don't remember, and then this one, which cracked me up.

The Ninth Tuesday before the First Tuesday after the First Monday in November! Got that?

At least it explains this[^].

An accurate description

The other day I bought some Imation rewritable DVD's. The box proudly proclaims that they have a 100% shatterproof case. Upon opening them I could see why. The case is made of cardboard! I can't remember the last time I managed to shatter cardboard.