Given the geographic distribution of my online social circles, if you’re reading this, it’s probably even odds you’re doing so from a state that’s voting today in one of the Super Tuesday primaries.

As regular readers (a small, exclusive group) no doubt know, I am a big advocate for the exercise of one’s civic duty; our government gives us a lot (most of it’s even good stuff), so it’s our duty to take an interest in it, and do our part in determining how well it functions, and where it directs it’s resources and efforts.

The bare minimum a citizen can do in that regard is to vote and pay your taxes. Today’s the day to do the less expensive one.

So, if you’re in one of the thirteen or so states with polls open today, take a few minutes of your time to do the absolute least you can do in our participatory democracy. It’ll pay big dividends.

That’s my non-partisan schpiel; for me, it’s most important that you vote at all, to have your voice included. Plus, as I’ve said before: Voting is Sexy.

To put my partisan hat on for a minute, when you vote, I have a couple of suggestions, as you might expect.

I plan on casting my vote in the Virgina Democratic Primary for Bernie Sanders.

Why? Because I like his message with regard to correcting inequality with respect to income and opportunity. This country has a lot to offer, and unfortunately, a lot of the people in it don’t have the opportunity to take advantage of a lot of that, due to circumstances of birth, education, social situation, or whatever. Sanders’ ideas about opening up those opportunities to more of us resonates with me.

I personally managed to do relatively well in my adult life and career thanks to things like public education, a little bit of public assistance, federally subsidized student loans and mortgages, and all kinds of other things I probably can’t think of right now, which helped me get a leg up in terms of knowledge, health, and opportunity. I’ve spent a lot of my adult live giving that stuff back through a career in public service (and a short stint as a public school teacher).

I’d like more people to have access to those kinds of opportunities, and perhaps better ones. Sanders’ plans for spreading the wealth around a bit more, particularly in terms of education and health care look to get us there; even if his admittedly ambitious plans don’t all come to fruition, the attitude and optimism of the ideas will get us closer to the mark; getting people to talk about ideas are the first step to getting those ideas realized; and Sanders is one of the leaders in terms of starting that conversation.

Also, I should say, I’m happy to do my part, in terms of paying a bit more in taxes so other people can have the same opportunities that I had (and if we do it right, nobody’s bottom line goes up all that much, if at all, because we’ll make stuff more cost effective and better allocate resources). It’s only fair; my favorite bit of Christian scripture has to with “the least of these”. If you swing that way, caring for the poor and marginalized is pretty much your overriding mortal mandate; heck, it ought to be even if you’re not (especially if you’re not, as then it’s kind of all about how things are here and now, not in some afterlife). The thing is, if “the least of these” are better taken care of, then we’re all better off – rising tide lifting all boats, etc…Society as a whole is better off if everybody is healthy, educated, and able to more effectively contribute.

If that makes me a Socialist, well, I’ll gladly take the label. I think it’s the least I can do, given the opportunities I received; “Paying it Forward” is a very good thing, and it’s the direct opposite of the “Screw You, I Got Mine” philosophy the other side has been spewing since the 80s, and has only gotten frothier about in the years since.

Like I said yesterday, Primary day is the time to shape the conventional wisdom, not play into it. Today, I’m going to drive the conversation. The polls and such out there today don’t necessarily give Sanders the best shot at the nomination, but those are polls, not votes. No matter who I end up voting for in the general election, today I’m casting my vote for an ideal, in hopes of giving that ideal weight in the national conversation, no matter who ends up on the ballot in November.

And if you’re on the other side and can’t vote in the Democratic primary? I still think you should vote, but of the five or six folks still in the running on the Republican side, I’m not sure any of them really represent the kind of ideals I just spent three paragraphs pontificating on; I know all of them profess to speak from a Christian perspective, though I’m not sure any of them really walk that way, at least the way I read it. My suggestion? Vote your conscience, but if you could make sure your conscience has what’s best for all of us in mind, I’d appreciate it.

So, starting Friday evening, my house has been infected with the plague; everybody but me got some sort of bacterial gut infection, causing all kinds of awfulness all around.

Seriously, my house kind of looked like a combination of these two clips. Apologies in advance to the weak of constitution:

I suspect I was spared thanks to the “raze it to the ground and salt the earth” course of antibiotics I’m currently in the middle of (thank science for small favors), though I’ve been dealing with everyone else and the wonderfully nauseating smells being created, so it’s, you know, kind of a wash.

Otherwise, the weekend went okay-ish. My annual “Dinner and Dungeons and Dragons” event went swimmingly; the group had a good time, the food and company were great, and the party itself really got into their character concepts, and we spent more time improvising roleplay scenarios where all sorts of white collar crime was committed and waffles were consumed (especially the newbies, which really impressed me) than we did crawling dungeons. It was kind of brilliant.

But yeah, most of the weekend beyond Saturday afternoon involved lots of cleaning up bio-spills and running messes. I’ll be honest, I’m kind of relieveed to be working Monday.

Saturday was also the South Carolina Democratic primary. I called the winner (which wasn’t hard), though my spread was off by….a lot.

Tomorrow is “Super Tuesday”, which includes me voting (and if you’re in one of the dozen or so states and territories listed there, you should be voting too). Given the situation, I’m not going to call individual states – there’s too much going on for me to really do so with my amatuer-level time commitment.

My general trends – on the Republican side, I think Trump is going to solidify his dominance here, much to the chagrin of the GOP establishment. The party’s really starting to get nervous – Trump is a phenomenon (for good or ill), but he’s not *their* phenomenon, and a wildcard. Rubio (who oddly, has become the establishment guy) has started the attack, but it’s too little, too late. I see the party swallowing their pride, and going all in for Trump coming up (and framing it as he was their guy all along, because that’s how they play), and hoping they can shape him, but making plans to quietly deal with a Clinton presidency (which is unlikely to change the financial status quo much).

The outside possibility is that Trump finally realizes what the hell he’s gotten himself into, and up and quits this week after sweeping Super Tuesday, claiming that showing he could do it is just as good, if not better, than actually doing it – he calls himself a “winner”, then throws the election into chaos by freeing up all the delagates he’s won thus far. I think that would be some pretty amazing performance art, if nothing else.

On the Democratic side, I think it’s going to probably be a pretty good day for Clinton, though I expect a couple of surprise results, keeping Sanders in the game (and, probably most importantly, keeping his message relevant) for a bit longer. (Okay…guesses – Sanders is going to take Oklahoma, and do surprisingly well in Georgia – the Atlanta youth is going come out. Also, personally, I think Virginia’s gonna be close – within 5%). Mathematically, there’s no way either Clinton or Sanders can end it this week, so the game will continue a while.

I’m trying to be realistic here – I’m kind of in the tank for Sanders. I like his message, I like the insurgency, and I’m really kind of lukewarm to Clinton; I’m not a fan of “third way” politics or excessive triangulation (which is different than compromise), and I’m not a fan of the possibility that except for Obama, my entire adult life so far could be nothing but a parade of Clintons and Bushes. That, my friends, isn’t democracy; that’s a damned dynasty.

That said, in the likely scenario that Clinton ends up the nominee in the end of this, that’s where my vote’s going, because…let’s be honest, am *I* gonna vote for the Republican? Plus, I live in a swing state – my vote counts on the national stage, so in the end, I have to be pragmatic (if i lived in California with a Clinton candidacy, I’d probably end up voting for Jill Stein, because then I could afford idealism).

But, this is primary season. It’s the time to vote with your idealistic choice; to drive the narrative. It’s not the time to vote pragmatically. It’s the time to vote for the candidate who most accurately matches your views and ideals; the one you want to see on the ballot in November, not who the conventional wisdom thus far says is going to be there.

Make some new conventional wisdom during the primaries, that’s my advice to everyone right now.

This week’s kind of been a blur. I was sick last weekend, and still kind of am, only I’m taking a seriously high dose of prescribed of antibiotics to wipe out whateve infection has lodged itself in my skull and respiratory system for the last month or so. It’s like “scour the cities and salt the earth” strong, and it’s making me a little fuzzy as I work through the course, but in the end, I think it’s going to be worth it.

I’m kind of on my last nerve, not the least of which because while work has been getting done at the office, my building has been populated by lots of people all week (this is the kind of thing I do because it justifies my having it – when my team’s not here, I can lend it out to other folks for working sessions and training), mostly nice people (except for one asshole who I hate dealing with), but it’s been louder than normal, and it broke my routine.

I’ve been short-tempered when I haven’t been dead tired. It’s not been great. Apologies to any and all that have to deal with me.,/p>

Oh, and I have to be a good host and an entertaining and engaging game master this weekend, as my annual charity auction Dinner and Dungeons and Dragons event happens tomorrow. I normally really look forward to this, as we always have a lot of fun, but I honestly hope I’m up for it, and I give my guests their money’s worth of entertainment and comestibles (including the traditional bacon explosion). The game’s solid – we playtested it last weekend, and it’s a good balance of fun, silly, and challenging. I just hope I can bring the fun.

The rest of the weekend up until around 3pm tomorrow, though, is going to be a whirlwind of getting my house clean and getting the food made.

Oh, South Carolina Democrats vote tomorrow. I’ve been predicting things. Here’s my call for SC: Clinton’s going to do well, beating Sanders by around 15% percent; he’s been balancing expectations, though I think he’ll do a little better than conventional wisdom. Not *much* better, but he’s gonna beat the spread.

Super Tuesday next week’s going to really tell the tale – I’m not sure how it’s going to go (I’m not even sure which states are on the list), though I k now I’ll be voting, and making sure all my friends and neighbors do here in Virginia, which I think is going to look good for Sanders (his big event in Norfolk this week had more headlines than Bill Clinton coming to Richmond…that says something).

no music this week. I’m just enjoying the quiet right now.

Okay, so I screwed up and missed the South Carolina Republican primary on Saturday. my reading of the schedule was wrong, I had a gig on Saturday (which was *AWESOME*), and I’ve got this bronchial thing that won’t go away that I’m fighting and trying to get a doctor to look at, but apparently everybody else has it too, so it’s tough getting in to get looked at). I won’t count it as a winning prediction, but I would’ve picked Trump there anyway; sadly, the redneck racist vote holds a lot of sway there, based on the polls I’ve seen (not that I don’t know some really great non racist people in SC).

So, today the Republicans caucus in Nevada. I’m giving it to Trump again. Cruz comes distant second. Just a guess.

We’ll talk Democrats in SC later this week.

Not a bad week, all told. Work’s been, to my great relief, quiet, with no major crises looming or fires to put out. Made my boss happy a couple of times, rebuilt a few connections that might pay dividends later, and maybe cracked a bit of an issue that’s been nagging for a few months. I guess one can’t ask for more than that.

Outside of work, the big news is the car. With the regular commute and a couple of errands, I’ve got a little over 200 miles on the odometer (it was around 70 thanks to the dealership transfer when i took delivery). So far, I’m very happy, and I’ll be even happier once I get a little more used to the quirks of this particular transmission (I’m still a little shaky with the clutch engage point for first gear; if I don’t think about it, I’m fine, but the key is to not think about it). Still, very happy. Got my fancy embroidered floor mats yesterday (dealer didn’t have extra, and this one was off of another lot), the rear cargo mat should be in today or tomorrow.

Also, I have a gig this weekend! We’re playing with a bunch of other wizard rock types up in Northern Virginia for an all-day “Festival of Nerdy Love Songs”, which should be a lot of fun. Just the kind of thing I need. Plus…road trip!

Oh, and there’s a caucus this weekend – The Democrats do their thing in Saturday in Nevada (the Republicans do theirs on Tuesday). I’ll save my Tuesday predictions for then, though for this weekend, I’m going to predict a VERY narrow victory for Clinton (but again, not nearly as much as she’d want or need to dominate) – less than 10 percent, probably closer to five.

I want to be wrong, of course, and I could be. A lot depends on turnout, particularly of the youth vote, which could turn things toward Sanders, though that’s a big “if”, especially if there’s any confusion on the odd day for the Caucus. Let’s hope the BernieBros aren’t too busy making memes to come out and play nice (and not be too creepy). The big political monster in Nevada, the Culinary Workers Union (representing the many casino, hotel, and restaurant employees in tourism-heavy Nevada) has sit this one out in terms of endorsements, though there was some friction earlier this year with the Sanders campaign. I’m not sure what the influence, if any, is going to be.

So…have a good weekend, everybody!

When I had my beloved Pontiac Vibe totalled out from under me a few years back, what I really wanted was to simply grab the more modern replacement, because I loved the thing so damned much. Unfortunately, at the time, both the Vibe, and it’s sibling the Toyota Matrix, had been discontinued. I needed a small economical car, and prefer hatchbacks immensely (bikes and bass rig fit better), so I settled for the Toyota Yaris, which was very nice, but a bundle of compromises (a little small, four speed automatic transmission, etc), which I made due with. It’s still a pretty nice looking car, though, as this photo I took yesterday (apologies for the road dirt; it snowed here on Monday) clearly shows:

Since last summer, when I saw that Toyota (under the soon-to-be-departed Scion marque) was releasing what’s essentially the next generation Vibe/Matrix (actually, it’s the European model, the Auris, with a body kit) as the Scion iM, my resolve to make due with this perfectly serviceable little car started to crumble. I’d drooled a bit over models while I was over at the dealership getting the Yaris serviced; it was exactly like the car I had from 2006 to 2013, only with a few more modern conveniences, some more aggressive styling cues, and an available 6-speed manual transmission.

So, on Saturday, killing time on that side of town between dropping the youngest off at a birthday party and picking her up and taking her to dance class, I stopped by the dealership to look yet again and kill 20 minutes, and got talking with Anthony, the dealership’s Scion guy, and had a seed planted.

A few phone calls on my part and his later, I’m signing papers on Monday afternoon to buy a fancy black one (the only manual available in the metro area, sitting at another dealership), getting really nice deal, a zero percent interest rate, and a good trade in-price on my Yaris, that paid off the remaining loan balance and then some.

I picked it up after work yesterday. It’s pretty:

It felt weird, trading up to a new car after only three years, when I tend to keep cars a really long time (like until the wheels fall off or somebody totals the thing out from under me), but as nice as the Yaris was (and it was nice – you can buy it if you want – it’ll probably be sold by the end of the week), it wasn’t quite meeting my needs. I think I’m going to be okay with something a little closer to what I wanted in the first place that’s more fun and engaging to drive (read: four speed automatics are boring). I’ll get over my genetically encoded blue-collar instinct and enjoy the new ride.

I’ve had enough crap come down the pike in my life the last couple of months…I think I can deal with treating myself a little. People have done way worse in dealing with those mid-life crisis feelings.

If you’ve been keeping pace with me at all lately, you know that this has been a hell of a week.

the tl;dr version? Doubt. Uncertainty. Signs of problematic developments in the future. Headaches. Lack of sleep. Hopelessness. Depression.

As I mentioned earlier this week, there have been some awesome folks out there who have, upon seeing the state of me, been nothing but amazing and encouraging. I can’t thank those folks enough.

But now, It’s Friday. Heading into a long weekend. Valentine’s Day weekend (and I think I did pretty well in the gift-giving department). Deadpool weekend.

Thanks to a couple of really long and late meetings these past two weeks, I’ve got a couple of free hours on the books, so I’m leaving the office early, and taking my lovely wife out on an old-fashioned dinner-and-a-movie date. The fact that she wants to do a Deadpool-and-Chimichangas evening really kind of illustrates why we work so well together.

Anyway, thanks everybody who was patient and supportive this week, and a hearty (but polite) “bite me” to the other folks out there who made me need the patience and support in the first place. You know who you are.

Oh yeah….music.

1. “Heaven When We’re Home” – The Wailin’ Jennys
2. “Fightin’ on the Same Side” – The Hooters
3. “Dirt Bike” – They Might Be Giants
4. “The Lucky One (live)” – Alison Krauss and Union Station
5. “Thank U” – Alanis Morrissette
6. “Silly Little Man” – The Badlees
7. “The Plains of Memory” – Borknagar
8. “Rondo of Nightmare” – BABYMETAL
9. “Skip Under Lide” – Lumsk
10. “The One I Love (live)” – R.E.M.
11. “Don’t You (Forget About Me) -Simple Minds

It’s been a rough kind of week. Upheaveal, and Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt are currently in power in my organization, I can’t seem to get any of my concerns or questions answered, and none of the timelines I’m able to project from here into the new order seem to work out nicely for me. The best material thing that happened during the workday yesterday was that the cleaning staff changed out the urinal cakes in the men’s restroom, giving the whole place a nice fresh floral scent.

It kind of came to a head yesterday morning, so I took to the keyboard and threw the following plea out to social media:

feeling all kinds of discouraged today, people. Could use some good thoughts and some cheering up, if you’re of the mind.

thanks…

It felt really weird and needy to put such a thing up, but you know? It worked. My friends came through, and continue to do so. I got posts, emails, phone calls, all with the express purpose of checking in or making me feel better. Also, met my friend Chris, who I hadn’t seen in a while, for coffee after work and had a nice chat (and also got my hands on the first sold copy of the latest print collection of his comic, A Dog’s Life, “Who Let The Dogs Out?”), which was great. All of these things made me feel loved, appreciated, cared for, and understood.

I just wanted you all to know how much I appreciate you all. Seriously. I know some great people. You’re all awesome.

Okay, my head may have gotten a little swollen after nailing the Iowa prediction last week, so I’m going to go out on a limb again, and try and predict today’s New Hampshire Primary results. My predictions are not the least bit scientific – I take a look at the polls, the general sense of the media coming out of the campaigns, and what little I know traditionally about the electorate and how these things go, and take a wild-ass guess, which, really, is what most of the talking heads do anyway, so I’m in good company.

On the Democratic side, I’m going to call it for Sanders, by probably 15 percent, if not more; this is his home turf, and his independent streak works to his advantage in “Live Free or Die” territory. Also, I think some of the remarks this week from Clinton surrogates (including former Presidents, Secretaries of State, and Gloria Steinham) landed badly up there, and won’t do Clinton any favors.

On the Republican side, I’m going to give it to Trump, though not by as much as he’d like; maybe five percent ahead of second, which is probably going to be Rubio (despite his poor debate performance and inability to provide pancakes). The story, though, is going to be the strong showing by John Kasich, who’s been having a pretty good week under the radar. He’s going to hit third, or even second if I’m wrong about Rubio.

The photo above pretty much represents my ability to speak right now. Not sure where it came from, but I’ve got *another* bug running through my system. I did spend a while in the company of little girls at the dance school this weekend; maybe I picked something up there. I feel mostly okay, though I’ve got no voice whatsoever, save a hoarse, creaking croak that served me very well when I had to brief the CIO Wednesday afternoon, and the several times I’ve had to argue with other branches of the organization of what constitutes a successful electronic commerce test (my definition does not include every transaction dropping for manual review, while it seems theirs does…argh).

I took a day off this week, but it barely helped, though I got some rest. Luckily, I’ve got relatively few meetings the rest of the week, and my underlings have the job well in hand, so I can hide in my office and talk to people through email and save my voice.

My throat and it’s capacity for speech have been a primary focus of my week, though a couple of other things went down – My wife had a birthday on Wednesday; I think she enjoyed it. Also, it seems my totally unscientific predictions for Iowa were right on the money; it’s unlikely I’ll be able to turn this into a career in political commentary, but it kind of felt good to get it right. If I make a prediction for next week in New Hampshire, I’ll probably bobble that royally. We’ll see how I feel on Monday.