Home again after my week away, caring for two of my grandchildren, and socialising to some extent in my spare time, I sit at the computer thinking up what to write about. It is a funny thing that while deprived of the means of communication, my creativity seems to run riot, but now, back home, every creative thought and expression seems to have plunged into the inaccessible depths of my mind.
My daughter's computer is a laptop, and she takes it away with her, so for a whole week I wrote nothing. Of course, I could have resorted to pen and paper, but somehow this does not work.
The drive home was uneventful, apart from driving through a storm, which actually was quite severe in other parts of the city and has caused many homes to lose power. And by the time I unpack, put things away, check the mail, and drink a glass of wine, creativity is firmly on the back burner.
I am glad to be home. I have to confess to buying more books. I had a great time playing with my daughter's kitten, and have scratched arms and legs. He is very sweet, purrs madly, but is a scallywag. The grandchildren were pretty good on the whole, and I enjoyed them, but at times they have a regrettable propensity not to do what they are told WHEN they are told, and this occasionally made getting them to school on time, and to swimming lessons on time somewhat fraught. And when there are blood sugar tests and insulin injections to be done, time has to be carefully managed. My grandson seemed interested to know more about the USA election, which I found quite impressive.
Yesterday I was glued to the TV to watch the USA election results as they came in. Most engrossing, and I am glad that Obama has been re-elected. The USA's political system is so different to ours: voting is voluntary rather than compulsory as in Australia, and turnout is very low by our standards. Judging by the queues, turnout was higher in the USA in this presidential election, and I will be interested to learn if it really was higher, and to what extent. The USA uses voting machines, some of which are apparently very antiquated, whereas here we write on our ballot papers. The TV coverage I saw did not give the number of Electoral College votes of the states, so I had to rely on the commentary, and my old memories of past elections.
The USA is good at political rhetoric, but, unsurprisingly, given its size, diversity and complicated history including the War of Independence, slavery, the Civil War, its constitution and the division of powers, you can never work out what will be proposed or done by Congress.
My daughter's computer is a laptop, and she takes it away with her, so for a whole week I wrote nothing. Of course, I could have resorted to pen and paper, but somehow this does not work.
The drive home was uneventful, apart from driving through a storm, which actually was quite severe in other parts of the city and has caused many homes to lose power. And by the time I unpack, put things away, check the mail, and drink a glass of wine, creativity is firmly on the back burner.
I am glad to be home. I have to confess to buying more books. I had a great time playing with my daughter's kitten, and have scratched arms and legs. He is very sweet, purrs madly, but is a scallywag. The grandchildren were pretty good on the whole, and I enjoyed them, but at times they have a regrettable propensity not to do what they are told WHEN they are told, and this occasionally made getting them to school on time, and to swimming lessons on time somewhat fraught. And when there are blood sugar tests and insulin injections to be done, time has to be carefully managed. My grandson seemed interested to know more about the USA election, which I found quite impressive.
Yesterday I was glued to the TV to watch the USA election results as they came in. Most engrossing, and I am glad that Obama has been re-elected. The USA's political system is so different to ours: voting is voluntary rather than compulsory as in Australia, and turnout is very low by our standards. Judging by the queues, turnout was higher in the USA in this presidential election, and I will be interested to learn if it really was higher, and to what extent. The USA uses voting machines, some of which are apparently very antiquated, whereas here we write on our ballot papers. The TV coverage I saw did not give the number of Electoral College votes of the states, so I had to rely on the commentary, and my old memories of past elections.
The USA is good at political rhetoric, but, unsurprisingly, given its size, diversity and complicated history including the War of Independence, slavery, the Civil War, its constitution and the division of powers, you can never work out what will be proposed or done by Congress.
2 comments:
Gosh - shades of my childhood came rushing back there, with my father saying, "Do WHAT you're told, WHEN you're told." I had forgotten that!
My father insisted on the What and When.
I read somewhere today that the voting turnout in the US of A was less than in previous elections. At our recent local elections I voted electronically for the first time. I found it interesting, but surprisingly difficult. The swipe card I was issued could be inserted six different ways - and I suspect it took me twenty six tries to get it right. A dinosaur.
Post a Comment