Democratic Primaries @ MindSay 
I had the worst conversation today. Ever have one of those conversations where someone says something and you instantly get a headache? Yeah, it was one of those, man.
I was talking to a neighbor and somehow we got onto the upcoming election. We were chatting away about the people running when another neighbor made his way up the steps and saw us. He comes over to say hello when he hears what we're talking about. He says, "Yeah, choosing between Clinton and Obama is going to be tough."
"Well, I can't vote in the Democratic primary anyway, I'm registered Republican, so I don't get much say there," I say.
"Dude, the primaries are over."
"Um, no they aren't."
"Yeah, they are. We have to choose between Obama and Clinton."
"Yeah, for the primary."
"No, dude, they're it. That's it."
"Actually, dude, you need to read the newspaper once in a while. They are both Dems, which means they really can't run against each other past the primaries. We haven't finished our primary yet. In the end, which ever one of them wins the primaries at the very, very end will run against McCain probably. I think Paul is still there, but he doesn't have a chance in hell."
"Oh, that doesn't make any sense."
"So who are you going to vote for?"
"Oh, I don't vote." And he skips away into the sunset holding some flowers and whistling "Home on the Range." Ok, I made that part up.
At least he knew who some of the candidates were, although his face went blank when I mentioned McCain and Paul. But the whole conversation gave me a headache and it almost became a migraine at the close of it.
How hard is it to watch the news or read a newspaper once in a while, ya know?
Boy! Who knew election day could be so exhausting! I got off work at my daughter's school around 1:30 pm and decided to just take her home early. I didn't know how long it would take to vote, but I knew that there was a possibility the lines would be long. Because I got to the voting area around 2:00 pm, I lucked out. The lunch crowd was gone! The demigoddess was charming everyone and asking if she could have an Obama '08 sign. They didn't have any more, but they scrambled to give her a bumper sticker and a very nice Obama poster.
After casting my ballot, I was reminded to remember to come back at 7:15 pm so I could caucus. When my husband got home he was about as excited as a puppy about caucusing. When we arrived at the polling place, there were about 300 people lined up waiting for the last ballot to be cast so they could begin the caucusing process. I thanked God that we got there early. The crowd and the disorganization was a mess. Apparently, this has been the case everywhere. Andreux called me from San Antonio around 8:45 pm to tell me he was still in line waiting to caucus. The polling areas had never had to accommodate this many people caucusing before. Many people who have caucused before said maybe 20 to 100 people would show up. Today, people showed up in droves! As of 9:45, my parents were still at their polling stations trying to do step two of the Texas Two-Step Primary Voting Dance.
Here is a video explaining the Texas Democratic Primary voting process. Oddly enough, the reporter doing the story is actually a distant relative of mine on my mother's side. She was excited when we contacted her about our Benton-Briggs family reunion back in 2000, however she wasn't able to attend.
Texas Democratic Primary Voting Video